Posted by Captain Kastarak (Commanding Officer) in Side sim: In the gym (everyone welcome)

Posted by Captain Kastarak (Commanding Officer) in Side sim: In the gym (everyone welcome)
It was a quiet evening, one of the few evenings that Kastarak did not seem to be acutely needed. Cdr T’Aria was in charge of Bridge. New crew rotations were in place. Engineering had reported all systems nominal. No patients in Sickbay. Mess hall service had gone without any incident. All was as it should be.

Kastarak was in his quarters – it was still odd thinking of this quarters as his, until just recently it had been Cpt Taggart’s. Taggart – he thought of Taggart – how Taggart had mentored him since his first day on the ship, and helped him navigate his life as a genocide survivor without a home. Taggart, though, had given him that home. But Taggart was no longer here. Incommunicado. Perhaps he was on the Mediterranean, as he had always wanted, sailing his sailing ship, making use only of those peculiar warm winds only to be found nestled in between the African and European continents.

Kastarak had experienced more isolation since becoming first officer, and even more, since becoming commanding officer. He could not help experience a sense of loss. No Taggart. No Sickbay. No patients to tend to.

He remembered how he had stood shirtless in the gym that day when Taggart promoted him to first officer. Both their shirts had ripped from the intensity of their sparring and workouts. The shirts had been low quality. Now, as captain, Kastarak had ensured that the synthesisers provided better quality gym shirts.

He quickly changed into one, – dark blue and somewhat compression-like with the letters CHRNV in white lettering across the chest – as if spurred by the impulsivity of the nostalgia of this moment. A pair of sweatpants replaced his normal slacks.

He moved quickly to the gym. Unexpectedly, it was entirely empty at this hour. It usually wasn’t. Curious, Kastarak thought of it, and looked around. There, in that corner over there, he had sparred with Dawson. There, by those treadmills, Kastarak had fallen once and received his first concussion. And there, just under the rings hanging from the ceiling, Taggart had promoted him.

He went to the rings, warmed up, and began his usual calisthenics routine.

Kastarak, Cpt
Commanding Officer

The rings were cool under his palms. He adjusted the straps by a few millimetres. He mounted the rings with controlled momentum and settled into an iron cross. The load distributed across his shoulders and chest with familiar tension. For several breaths, he felt only gravity and resistance. Then memory intruded—not visually, but also through muscle memory. The weight felt similar to that moment a few ago, when Taggart had stepped back after the sparring session. He remembered also the tension he felt throughout every single cell in his body that day, many years ago, when he was on that shuttle, escaping the destruction of Vulcan – in that moment....

Kastarak maintained the cross, sought to purge that memory emotion, but decided to let the body ride through the emotions like a leaf going down the rapids. He felt micro-tremors in the forearms. He released with control and transitioned, smoothly, into a flag. His body rotated, horizontal to the deck. Here, the sense of isolation sharpened. No Sickbay below him. No patient awaiting intervention. No Taggart observing from the edge of the mat. No Bridge with its many conflicting pieces of information and noises and buzzes. Here, and now, the ship was quiet. T

He held the flag a second longer than optimal. When he dismounted, he sat beneath the rings, hands resting on his thighs. Sweat cooled against his skin. His heart rate declined in orderly increments. The gym remained empty. All he heard was the sound of his breathing, the beating of his heart in his gut, and the soft hum of the fans.

Kastarak, Cpt
Commanding Officer

Near the doors a young Ensign, mouth agape. He caught the Captain looking at him. “Oh…uh, sir! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to disturb you but that was…incredible!”
The young ensign was in work out gear, so one couldn’t tell his position but he was a fit looking young man.

Nosferatu
Your Darkest Nightmare