Meet and Greet

Posted on Sun Jun 29th, 2025 @ 10:17am by Lieutenant Christopher Jennings Jr. & Lieutenant Azrel Vox
Edited on on Tue Jul 29th, 2025 @ 7:33pm

1,161 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Mission 6: Echoes of the Interphase
Location: Messhall
Timeline: Current

Aze had finish packing some essentials for her trip down to Earth when she recalled that the new Chief Navigator was coming aboard around 15:00 and it was currently 14:56. She hoped he would visit the messhall before she was due to beam down to Earth.

The doors opened as CJ walked into the messhall. He was scheduled to arrived at 15:00, but things moved faster than expected and arrived thirty minutes. Check in was fairly quickly getting on board the Midway and now he was at the messhall getting a quick bite before checking into his quarters. The place was fairly empty, likely due to most of the crew heading out on shore leave. After grabbing a trey and placing a few items, the Chief Navigator looked around for a place to seat, not sure on whether to sit alone or finding someone to sit with

Aze waved at CJ. She didn't know who he was but he looked friendly. "You are welcome to join me if you like." She exclaimed.

Raising a curious eyebrow, he honestly had no clue that Trill were serving in Starfleet. Let alone, a cute one. Smiling CJ walked over to the table and sat down. "Thanks for the invite, the names Christopher Jennings, but everyone calls me CJ."

"Hi CJ. I'm Azrel Vox, most people call me either Vox or Aze. You must be our new Chief Navigator. I'm the Chief of Communications."

"It's a pleasure to meet you as Aze," Jennings replied. "Are you not going on shoreleave?"

"I am. I just packed some basics. I'm having a quick coffee before I meet up with our XO, Commander Commander Lucy Heartfilia,to beam down to Earth. The last time I was on Earth was my time at the Academy."

"I've spent the last few weeks on Earth visiting cousins and waiting on my next assignment. But Alpha III has always been my home. I had no idea that there were Trill serving in Starfleet."

"At last count, I believe there are 33 Trill in Starfleet and from that, there are a mere 14 that are Joined Trill, such as myself. It is fair to say that we are somewhat of a rare thing."

"You are indeed the first that I have come across," he responded with a smile. "How long have you been on the Midway?"

"Not long after she was launched. I am still having to liaise with my homeworld's medical services so the Midway's Chief Medical Officer can care for me if needed. Starfleet's information on my species is limited."

"After all this time, Trill still is handing out limited information to the Federation. But with the number of your people increasing in Starfleet. shouldn't all the medical information just be released?"

"You would think so wouldn't you. There seems to be a slight reluctance on the part of my government. Why? I don't really know. "

CJ took a few bites of his food. "The Chef is clearly better than the one on my last assignment."

"The food is good but sadly, if I want something from my own world, I have make it myself. "

"Have you considered giving Chef some Trill recipes to prepare?"

"It has crossed my mind, once or twice. It just might be a bit tricky to get the fresh ingredients."

Thinking for a brief moment, he smiled. "There has to be a trader who deals with spices."

"You could be right. I suppose I could chat with the chef about it further. Perhaps the chef has contacts. "

"Next time your home you should bring back as many spices as possible. Its the modern era, we should never really have to do without."

"I am due a visit in a few months actually, so I will see what I can obtain."

"What are your shoreleave plans?" he inquired.


"I'm going with our XO who will show me around. I don't any other plans. "

"Gotcha. How long until everyone has to return on board?"

"I think we have 7 days of shore leave. Best check with the captain."

"Will be sure to do that right away," the navigator announced. Probably will spend the majority of that time preparing for my Department to return."

"So, what was your last posting before being assigned to the Midway?"

Before answering the question, Christopher briefly went silent. His thoughts on the ship that had been destroyed by the Klingons. "The USS Henderson. A Ulysses class, which was lost way too soon."

"Oh, I think I read about the Henderson. When at my post on the bridge, in the back of my mind, I'm hoping I don't pick up any transmissions in Klingon. " She replied. Her fear of the warrior race was strong.

Jennings could hear a bit of reservation in the communications officer's voice. "How much experience do you have with the Klingons?"

"More than I would like. Some of my friends were on a transport that was attacked by Klingons. I lost four of my dearest friends that day. Once I found I had an affinity for languages, I made sure that one I would learn was Klingon so if I ever needed to, I would do all I could to prevent the loss of life of anyone else "

"Been trying to learn the language, but I have been struggling with it quite a bit."

"Well, I could help you if you would like me to. As a bonus, I could teach you some of my native language. " Aze replied.

A grin appeared on his face. "I would love if you could teach me both languages."

"Not a problem. Let me know when you would like to start and I will put together the material." Aze replied.

"When do you need to head out of here?" he inquired.

"I'm getting off the ship in about an hour. "

CJ smiled a bit. "Guess it will be a few days before I see you again. But you enjoy the time off."

"Oh I will. Before I go, I will teach you a greeting you can try out, if you come across another Trill whilst on Earth. A typical friendly greeting used on my world is 'Kouso vo quych iea' Which roughly translates to 'Peace be with you.' Have a try."

CJ attempted to repeat the words in which he completely butchered. "Clearly I am going to be quite the work in progress for you."

"Hmm, it wasn't too bad. Plenty of room for improvement. After shore leave, let's arrange a session to go over it some more."

"I would be glad to meet with you for a session." Looking down at his plate, he realized that he hadn't even begun to start eating.

"Great. You'd better eat before it all goes cold. I better get moving. It's been a pleasure meeting you and talking with you. Welcome aboard."

"Thank you."

"Your welcome. See you around."

Aze left the messhall to meet with her colleagues for shore leave.

End

 

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