Taking up an Invitation

Posted on Fri Aug 25th, 2017 @ 2:31pm by Commander Billy Jo Rhodes & Commander Ashe Rii'Na MD

2,330 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Celebrate Culture

On:

Rii'Na had been cleaning up a lot of the reports from after all of the damage to the station. The lists from the Promenade alone had taken a while to comb through. She rubbed at her neck for a moment thinking she could use some 'fresh air' in the next day or so otherwise she might go 'stir crazy'.

It was when she got to another 'stack' of reports that she remembered the offer from Miss Rhodes of a tour of the Athena Shipyards. That would most certainly be a break form the 'Office work' and still within her duties as Executive Officer.

=^= Commander Rii'Na to Commander Rhodes. I have been up to my earring in reports the last couple of days. Would it be possible to take you up on your kind offer to tour the station?=^=

"Sure thing!" Billy Jo replied. "I could do with a break myself. Beam on over and I'll show you the place. Just don't mind the dust."

=^= I'll supply the snacks and bring my duster with me. Rii'Na out.=^=

Rii'Na made a call past the Bajoran stall on the Promenade before heading to the Transporter room with a small basket on her arm.

"I need transport over to Athena. Log in return to be at my discretion."

"Yes Ma'am" came the reply from the transport officer. Rii'Na stepped up onto the transporter pad and waited to be whisked away. In mere moments she was on the opposite pad in the Athena Shipyards.

"Howdy, Commander," Billy Jo said cheerfully. "Welcome to Athena Shipyards."

"Ah, Commander Rhodes. I was taught it was rude to turn up empty handed." Ashe lifted the small cover inside the basket. "A thermos of fresh Rakta'jino, some Hasperat, mildly spiced and a pair of Jumja sticks for something sweet."

"That smells better than what I had planned," Billy Jo said, taking a moment to appreciate the aroma. "I've got me a bottle of home-grown moonshine, but I wouldn't recommend it if you're on duty. It's a bit hard on the uninitiated."

"By the time we finish I'll probably call it a day anyway. So an Earth style 'nightcap' might be nice." She smiled at the thought.

"Now do you prefer the formality or is Billy Jo better?" Rii'Na asked, knowing Bajoran traditions could make other uncomfortable at the best of times.

"Oh, honey, I'm just plain Billy Jo. No one around here stands on formality--unless the brass are doing an inspection. As far as I'm concerned, every day is casual Friday." She herself was dressed in a faded pair of overalls with various tools sticking out of her pockets. "So, where would you like to start?"

"I'm happy for you to take point on that." Rii'Na replied.

Billy Jo nodded. "We'll start in the cavern." Without explaining, she led Rii'Na to the turbolift.

The turbolift opened onto a cavernous room where several ships were in various stages of construction.

Rii'Na's eyes almost popped out. It lived up to it's name of the Cavern. "Sure lives up to it's name. So this is the main construction area?"

Billy Jo beamed. "It is. We can go from blueprints and diagrams to a skeleton slicker than a beaver in the mud flats." She led the First Officer around so that she could see the design department, the giant industrial replicators, then to the larger area where the skeletons were put together with work bees and special pods to manipulate the parts into the framework of a starship.

"From here it goes to one of the outer docking bays where the insides are put together."

"I did get a very good view of that from my 'ferry shuttle' on the way in to Typhon. It truly is a wonder, you are all doing a very fine job here. The finished ships should be a blessing upon the Fleet."

Ashe was taking in the sights and feeling like she was very small to the scale of the work being done. "I could be as small a bee buzzing around a temple. " She looked to Billy Jo. "You seem as proud as a mother doting about her babies, they probably feel that way to you; I would think?"

"Oh, yes. They often call me a mother hen." Billy Jo laughed. "But I'm mighty proud of my little band here."

"And they should be proud of their work as well. That kind of precision cannot be easy. Not something that I could do. Pop me in a sickbay and I'm fine, negotiations I can do, but using a work bee like that. I'll leave that to the professionals."

"It's like a well-choreographed dance. Sometimes it's a ballet, others its more like a hoedown." Billy Jo grinned. "There's nothing like watching one of my babies go from design to finished product." She nodded to a ship heading to an external docking ring. "That one is for Captain Mabrade. It's a redesign of an Akira-class."

"Lucky man. Boys and their toys indeed. I'm sure it will be to his satisfaction. Somehow I can see a lot of Station-sitting in my future, once that ship is up and running. Nobody likes to be tied down for too long." Rii'Na said, watching the ship on it's way to the docking ring.

"No indeed. If you have a stallion, you don't want to keep it in the pasture," Billy Jo agreed. "So, what catches your fancy when you aren't tied to work?"

"Nothing too fancy, some martial arts, dancing and nothing like sitting down with a good book, one that is tangible in my fingers. I know I could have it on a PADD, but it's just not the same." Rii'Na almost blushed, others had made a fuss about her'paper book' collection.

"I am a 'good little Bajoran' prayers do feature a bit, but I still do have my fun too. Nothing like a good 'girly' moment, a soak in the bath, something sweet, or some nice candles burning."

"We girls need our moments," Billy Jo agreed. "Every now and then it's fun to dress up fancy, smell sweet, and go out for good food and good dancin'. Can't let the boys have all the fun, right?" She grinned conspiratorially at the First Officer. "The boys need a little reminding every now and then that we're not just like them."

"Of course, the other usual reminders are so subtle." Ashe giggled for a moment. "So where would be a good place to have a bite and get to know each other? This place is amazing and looks like it could run on clockwork."

"That all depends. We have a mess hall here, but it's not a good place to have a conversation. For that, we'll need to go to the Promenade on the starbase. It has some very nice little restaurants."

"I'm happy to take suggestions. I'm still getting to know the place." Rii'Na replied, a little embarrassed. "Not the kind of place where you can see everything in a week."

"That's why I like it so much," Billy Jo admitted. "If you like Italian food, there's a nice little restaurant that makes the best pasta."

"Hmmmm, never really tried it. Always a first time though." Rii'Na replied. "I can always leave this behind as a snack for later?" She patted the basket.

Billy Jo looked at the basket. "Entirely up to you. We could snack now and have dinner later, too. I'm at your disposal."

"Snack and a quick status report will do. Then we can arrange dinner and come back for a night cap if you so wish." Rii'Na smiled. "Have to make sure all is well and that Mabrade knows I'm on top of things. I'd be a short lived XO otherwise." Rii'Na replied.

"You can always invite him to join us," Billy Jo said. "It never hurts to have a gentleman on hand when you're out for an evening."

"That's true." *But I would have another gentleman in mind* she thought to herself. "I am sure his time is precious though. CO's tend not to really have free time, as least as far as I have seen. You seem to make it work at least."

"Everybody needs some free time," Billy Jo said. "Even commanders. I hear you've found a good way to make use of your free time." She grinned cheekily. "Engineers gossip as much if not more than most."

"Now, let's have this picnic of yours and then you can get back to work," Billy Jo said. "Bring your friend to dinner tonight, if you wish."

"Makes me wonder where on the grapevine you heard that?" Rii'Na said, a little blind sided. "The whole of Beta shift has no clue, it is rather new for us. We had been trying not to draw much attention to ourselves." Rii'Na looked around where they stood, it seemed so spacious. She set down the basket and sat back against the wall, watching all the work. She pulled out one of the sweet Jumja sticks and started to nibble, trying to hide the blush.

Billy Jo just laughed. "Honey, I hear a lot of things. Most people on Typhon simply pay me no never mind. And the folks here are so used to me poking my head in they pretty much pay no attention, neither. So, I hear all sorts of scuttlebutt. Especially when someone sees a gentleman with a takeout bag knocking on a lady's door early in the morning." She opened the basket and looked inside, pulling out a small sandwich. "Now me, I generally keep my thoughts to myself, but I love a good love story. So tell me, how did you two meet?"

"So he was spotted on his Coffee and sweets run. At least the whole of Beta shift still has no clue. Now, this stays between us, He's wanting to let me settle in and not stir up a Hornet's nest just yet. The whole dating superiors and such." She blushed a little closer to the colour of her Jumja stick.

"Honey, I think that whole dating outside of your class, your race, or your rank is a bunch of hooey. If you ask me, as long as two people love each other and don't let their relationship affect their work, it's nobody's business but theirs," Billy Jo stated. She wasn't one to sit back and be silent if she had an opinion, and she wasn't going to let the poor First OFficer think she had to skulk around corners simply because she loved the wrong man.

"It all started after I had spent some time cleaning up the Promenade. I was getting sick of reports and not doing much of anything to help. I wondered in to Kindness Place, looking to get off my feet and at least get a drink. He wondered over with a glass of Bajoran Sweet wine and simply said 'I looked like I needed it.' Before either of us really knew it we were having dinner in the restaurant and off on a walk through the Arboretum. He walked me home; kissed me outside my door and thought there was a court martial coming, bless him. He stayed the night instead." Rii'Na felt like her cheeks were burning. "Life had been very interesting and wonderful ever since."

Billy Jo grinned. "So, you could say he did you a real kindness." She laughed at her own joke and then continued. "Wonderful is good. Everyone deserves to have something wonderful in their lives, but interesting? When I hear that, I think of the old Chinese proverb, . Honey, if you stick around Typhon long enough, you'll definitely find interesting times."

"I intend to be here for a while. I'm starting to settle right in, JC makes that all the better. Having him on my shift has been a delight. I don't think it's too bad, he is a Beta Shift lead after all." She took a good bite off the jellied sweet. "It doesn't bother me that he is Flight Ops or Human or a lower rank. He thought spending the night would end with a court martial." She giggled at the thought. "I think he is trying to be considerate but is a bit blown away that someone like me would be interested in him. That southern accent gets me every time.

"There's nothing like a good Southern boy," Billy Jo agreed. "Their mammas teach them how to treat a lady." She found a croissant and pulled it out of the basket.

"He is very sweet and makes me laugh. I do love the way he makes me giggle at the little things. It's early days yet..." Rii'Na replied with a smile.

"Same here," Billy Jo replied. "But there ain't no need to rush things."

"We are happy getting to know each other. Most non-Bajorans get all tied up into knots over how 'religious' we can be, it's actually simpler than they think. The Vedeks seemed happy when they saw me for prayers the day after I met JC. Maybe I was glowing or something but this male Vedek had this all knowing and cheeky smile on his face. I am starting to see things around me that remind me of James, for some reason he prefers JC." Rii'Na had another bite of the sweet Jumja stick.

"Honey, if we all had the same thoughts, beliefs, or culture, this would be a pretty boring universe." She looked in the basket and pulled out a ripe peach.

'It is why we are out here after all, and building ships like you do or the station. Makes me thankful for living here and now." Ashe looked out over the ships being made, A metal nursery that had a very good mother hen looking after it.

____
OFF

CMDR Rii'Na Ashe
Executive Officer

Commander Billy Jo Rhodes
Administrator, Athena Shipyards

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