14:00 Hours - September 9 - 2194
Captain Liao and Commander Ostermann made their way through passageways, hatches, compartments, and elevators as they traveled through the massive starship. Most of their journey took place along what was informally referred to as The Line. Technically it was the Firing Line Parallel Compartments, but that was simply a construction term that had very little relevance to the ship's future life. Crew, however, tended to refer to the compartments and passageways along the ship's central main gun as The Line. It ended up, more often than not, being a focal point for meetings and off-duty activity.
Even now, with the ship still uncommissioned and with only a tiny fraction of her full crew, the line was busy with activity. Though there were scant few sleeping quarters along the line, many of the widest passageways stretched along or wrapped around the ship's central gun. Newly arrived crew gravitated here; whether old hands familiar with the function of the line or new recruits unfamiliar with most onboard traditions, the line was simply a place where people ended up. The Olympus' gun was quite simply her physical, tactical, and societal heart.
The two ranking officers aboard the ship found themselves greeted by excited crew personnel who were settling in and getting to know each other. Karl replied to each greeting with a friendly, if formal smile and nod. In contrast, Dai was practically a social butterfly. She smiled brightly to her crew, answered questions swiftly enough that she didn't need to slow her pace, and made a point to ask the names of several personnel along the way. Tradition referred to people like Dai as "the soldier's officer," and she was proud of that.
Within a reasonable amount of time, the two officers reached one of the berthing areas, designated for officers and visiting dignitaries. Turning down a passageway marked with a dark blue deck, in contrast to the standard steel gray found throughout most of the ship, they passed a sign on the bulkhead that read "Officers Only." Karl barely even noticed the sign, and was surprised to find that his Captain was no longer leading the way. Looking back, he saw the small woman glaring up at the sign. She looked over at him.
"I don't have anything with me to pry that off. Can you get it?"
Karl blinked a few times, and looked at the sign. He thought at first to question why, but the man was quick. Without a word, he reached for the sign and yanked at it with his hand. Though built of sturdy material, in a multi-alloy bulkhead designed to withstand the stresses of interstellar flight and tremendous kinetic impact, the adhesive bonding them was no match for the big man's powerful grip. The sign came down with an audible ripping sound, drawing the attention of nearby personnel. Captain Liao smiled cheerfully.
"Thank you, Commander," she said with genuine warmth. Leading the way again, she headed into the berthing area to find her newest crew members. The task was not overly difficult. Some way down the corridor, the voice of a young woman could be heard chattering away happily.
"These rooms are much more spartan than I was expecting, but not as bad as I had heard about human vessels. I like that they each have their own bathrooms, that makes everything so much less complicated. Do you think the corridors in this part of the ship are less echoey than the rest of the ship? I do, I hardly hear any echo at all in here."
Dai and Karl rounded a corner into a small, open rest area for officers. Relatively comfortable couches were arranged in a near-full circle around a small holographic display, and a row of computers on the far bulkhead allowed for easy access to the extranet during off hours. Along the couch were arranged four people. The first, a turian male listening with amusement to the chatterbox next to him; a small blue asari woman fiddling with her head tails as she spoke. Just a few spots down from the asari was a salarian who appeared to be reigning in the desire to forcibly silence the young woman. Directly across the circle from the other three, a volus sat as best he could on a human-made couch, legs sticking out rather adorably. He was the first to see the two humans round the corner.
"Um," he managed to say, in that slow way that volus tend to speak, raising a finger to point. The others turned to look, and all three immediatly stood up.
"Captain, it is a pleasure," the turian said, instantly snapping to attention and giving a salute.
"You're the Captain!" The asari exclaimed. "It's wonderful to meet you, I'm Kimila, these two are Termidus and Kiran, and that's Topri," she waved her hand toward the volus, even turning to give him an excited smile.
"It's wonderful to meet you all," Dai said, returning Termidus' salute. "On Alliance vessels we don't actually salute while indoors, but I appreciate the gesture, Mr. Metridus."
"Blast, and I remember reading that now that you mention it. It won't happen again, Captain," the turian scowled.
"It's fine, don't worry about it. Today is fairly informal, I just wanted to meet the four of you, and it's nice that you're all here in one spot."
"I was hoping we would meet you today as well, Captain," Kiran, the salarian, jumped in as the asari opened her mouth to say something. "It seems our berthings have been mixed up, the document says I'm bunked with...with this young lady." He nodded his head toward the asari, who smiled cheerfully, seemingly unbothered by the interruption.
"I apologize, Lieutenant, but we're going to be full up as soon as we leave port. We will have individual berthings for both you and Ms. Danagi within a few months."
The salarian made a face, at least as far as Dai could tell, and she smiled sympathetically. Opening her mouth to speak, she had to catch a laugh at the look Kimila gave her new bunkmate.
"Don't worry Kiran, I never snore, and I don't sleep much anyway." She seemed genuinely concerned for the other's peace of mind, which apparently only irritated him. He gave a curt nod to the Captain, and returned to standing at attention. Already, Dai liked this bunch.
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This is a work of fan fiction, intended for the amusement of myself and those reading it. I am in no way affiliated with Bioware, Electronic Arts, or anyone else who has any official say over the Mass Effect franchise.
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