This thread is for character interaction away from, or not tied to, the main threads.  Have at!

ch'Pertha sat in the Rec Deck.
He stared at the triangular playing board on the table in front of him, its triangular spaces (nine per side) similar in nature to a three sided chess board*, so very different from the strategy games that ch'Pertha was used to back home on Andoria.

After taking another sip from his Srjula, he turned his attention back to the rules that he'd printed out from the Indi's database.
It'd been much easier to replicate the board, than it was to understand these idiot instructions.
He suspected that the rules were likely easier than they seemed to be on the page, probably due to translation quality.

As he read, he began trying to put the replicated Klin zha pieces in their starting array.



* Chess, another strategy board game, care of the Terran's.   ch'Pertha had, at least, played it a few times.

T’Lara preferred to dress demurely even when she was off duty; a simple gray tunic and lose, long black pants.  Her long raven black hair, which she usually had tied in a bun while on duty, now hanged lose over her shoulders.

She spotted Commander Ch’Pertha sitting by himself as soon as she walked into the recreation deck, but wasn’t quite sure if he wanted to be left by himself or not.  An ‘hello’ was in order though, if nothing else than for for politeness sake:

”Hello, Commander.  Having a pleasant evening?”

  The doors to the Rec Room parted slowly and allowed the entrance of another woman into the suite - the graceful form of the Independence's latest Department Head, Doctor Laila Abdool.

   The coffee - skinned woman was dressed in civilian clothes; a saffron-coloured Djellaba embroidered in the front with what looked like gold leaf in a design that first encircled around her neck, then went down along the front to where the garment stopped, just short of her ankles. The sleeves were embroidered as well with the same designs, the garment seemingly invoking an 'Old Terran' feel to it. A pair of gold-coloured slippers appeared and disappeared as she almost glided across the carpeted floor. While her coiled black locks were usually tied into a makeshift gathering at the base of her neck, they were on full display now in a mane that framed her dark features and fell just over the front of the dress.

   Brown eyes took in the room and it's environs, her attention quickly surprised at seeing the back of the Ship's Counsellor, T'Lara.  Just past her was a man with the azure tint that Abdool recognized as Andorian, Commander Naryss ch'Pertha. First Officer, and recently promoted she remembered as she mentally called up his medical file.

   She moved closer to the two Officers, and shifted the weight of the objects in the crook of her left arm, the pair of notepadds moved closer to her elbow, while the small leather case underneath them barely budged as she walked. The notepadds were light and moved easily, while the lack of the same indicated that the case was mildly heavier.

    As she slowed her progress and came up next to T'Lara, she could see that Commander ch'Pertha appeared engrossed in something. Abdool crooked her head to see what he was involved in and recognized the triangular board almost immediately. The Andorian was trying to set up a Klin Zha board - a game that was synonymous with Klingon culture. She brought her head back up when she reached the table and smiled in the Counsellor's direction.

   "Lieutenant Commander T'Lara." came the familiar, quiet tones. "A much more agreeable way to see you, considering how we last met." The words were carefully neutral in deference to the Vulcan, intended with respect the Vulcan inclination towards non-emotion.

   Once she'd spoken to T'Lara, she stood a little straighter as she addressed the Andorian Executive Officer in a more serious tone. "Commander Ch'Pertha, I'm Doctor Laila Abdool, recently assigned here from the Tellarite colony of Verkath. A pleasure to meet finally meet you. I hear congratulations are in order on your promotion and new responsibilities." As with how she'd spoken to T'Lara, her tone was respectful and neutral, her words carefully chosen. She also remained in place, not extending a hand that was normally a Human trait.

   She glanced down again to the board, then to the small printout that decorated one side of the table. She noted something on the board that was out of place, the corner of one side of her lips curled into a half-smirk as she looked to ch'Pertha and added in a questioning tone: "Pagh quvvam ghol, joHwI'?*

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* pagh quvvam ghol, joHwI'? - "No worthy opponent, my Lord?" (Translated from the Klingon)

ch'Pertha was, by essential nature, 'constantly watching' his surrounds ... and so was not caught unprepared by T'Lara's approach.
"Well, thank you Ltn Commander", he replied, placing his mug down on the coaster, and smiling welcoming at the Counsellor.
Unlike the Counsellor, ch'Pertha was very much the military man, very much Starfleet, and so even in his rec time, he sat here in uniform ... if not a dumbed-down, relax version.  Today, he was simply in the turtleneck, uniform pants and boots.

Gesturing to the seat opposite him, he continued, "You are welcome to join me.   How are you feeling today?
I understand that planetside at Dourap IV, went very smoothly, in large part due to your administration.
Thank you for that"

"Excuse me', he said, as his eyes then turned to the new arrival at their table, as Dr Abdool joined them.
As he was meeting Laila for the first time, informally, he rose and offered his hand in the Terran fashion, "Good morning, Doctor.  Would you care for a seat".

"And thank you.  Yes, I was just congratulating the Ltn Commander on her efforts there.
Yours also.  Fine work".

But then she spoke to him in Klingon, and his face went blank.   He'd left his comm-badge (with its inbuilt translator) in his quarters when he'd drifted up here, and he had no idea what she'd said ... though he suspect that it had something to do with the game on the table, as her eyes had taken it in just then.
"Ah, perhaps ...", he began to utter, not knowing himself where his sentence might lead ...

   At Commander Ch'Pertha's blank expression, Abdool's smirk transformed into a smile, one that showed a bit of white teeth as she stepped forward, shifted her burden to her left arm and shook the proffered hand. "You've nothing to worry about, Sir," she replied around a slight chuckle. "I was simply asking if you'd found anyone to play against. Klin Zha isn't a game widely played, so anyone who does sort of stands out."

   After she'd let go of the hand, she raised it in front of her and looked towards T'Lara. "Thank you for that, but perhaps a bit later? I've some reports and other paperwork to get caught up on and thought it might be good to come here and be seen. If there's one thing that's stayed with us since the beginning, it's that no work is ever completed until the paperwork's finished."

   "I'll leave the two of you to talk, but nice to meet you, Commander." She smiled again, this time the look rising and showing in her deep brown eyes. "And good to see you once again, Lieutenant/Commander."

   The amber-coloured Djabella swayed as the Doctor made her way first to the replicator, where she ordered and took a hot beverage cup, then moved to another table out of earshot of the other two Officers. She placed the steaming mug, then her other things on the table before she slid gracefully into the chair next to it. Once seated, she began to look over the first notepadd, her fingers making 'tic-ticing' sounds as she entered data into the small keyboard underneath.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:07, Fri 30 Aug 2019.

“Thank you, Laila” she answered softly, using her first name and dropping any pretense of formality.  She liked the good Doctor, and hoped they were close enough that she wouldn’t mind the colloquial way in which she addressed her  “- I am doing better” 

She was happy to talk some more, but it looked like the Laila was still busy with getting up to speed.  Later then, she hoped.

Turning her attention back at the Commander, she took the seat opposite of him
”Thank you, Commander, but I still feel like I haven’t done enough.  If only I could have exposed the saboteur once he came on board then this tragedy wouldn’t have occurred to begin with.  I should have interviewed him, and everyone else too” she still blamed herself, despite her training telling her exactly that this is the sort of thing she would be experiencing.  But she couldn’t deny the logic; if only she was more diligent then De Montaine  would still be alive.

Trying to push that thought of her mind, she smiled (if a bit a little sadly) at ch'Pertha and changed the subject:

"Is that Kin-Za?  I read a lot about the game and its history, but never actually played it.  Would you mind teaching me?”

Only after Dr Abdool departed did ch’Pertha retake his seat ... gesturing again for T’Lara to join him.

“Pffft”, was his response to her request, with a quirky smirk, “Maybe we can learn together”, he said, as he slid the data pad with the game instructions over to her.
“This translation of the rules is about as understandable as Klingon itself”.

Then, he remembered, “You speak Klingon, don’t you, Ltn Vommander?  Do you read it?
This is just a translation, but the ship’s computer had the original Klingon instructions available,” he continued, gesturing to the pad to make it available to her, “perhaps you could make better sense of it?”

“I could get you a drink, if you like”, he offered, pickup up his empty mug for a refill, “hope you check it out.
Then we can team up against the game?”

”Oh, Klingon writing is fairly simple.  They are not ones to overcomplicate things” she smiled lightly, and reached out to the pad offered to her  ”let me see what I can do”
Lowering her head slightly so she can look at the screen, she pushed a lock of raven black hair behind her ear, and away from her face.
”Some spiced tea would be nice, thank you”  she said softly, her eyebrows furrowing ever so lightly as she tried to make sense of the rules

ch'Pertha returned shortly, with spiced tea for T'Lara and a mug of the same for himself.

Sliding into he seat opposite her, he sat quietly and patiently ... choosing to to interrupt her concentration.
When she was ready, ch'Pertha listened to T'Lara's explanation of the rules.

And then, was ready to play.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:16, Wed 04 Sept 2019.

   Dr Abdool worked casually on the reports she had been tasked with completing as part of her transfer from the planet to the Independence's crew and absently listened to the pair at the other table working to make heads or tails of the Klin Zha rules. T'Lara's pronunciation of the language was better than most non-native speakers, but there was still the odd word that made the Doctor cringe inwardly.

   She typed quickly, a flurry of 'tics' heard as she tapped out words on the notepadd, paused in thought as she answered a question, then came another flurry of sound as she finished. With a soft sigh, she pressed her thumb to the notepad's sensor and waited while it scanned her print and read it into the system.

    Once the last of the notepadds had been finished, she brought up her drink and sipped it while dark eyes regarded both the Commander and the Vulcan. From what she could tell, they'd managed to figure out most of the rules and ch'Pertha was in the midst of setting up the pieces. "Looks like you've got a handle on things, Commander." she smiled over the rim of the cup, "Looks like you're a quick study."

   She gathered the notepadds back into the small pile and stacked them back atop the small leather-clad case. She took the small stack and once again placed it into the crook of her arm, then took them and the cup she was using and rose from her seat and walked towards the Exec and the Counsellor.  "Mind if I sit in and watch for a game? I don't know the game well enough to kibitz, honestly."

Klin-Zha reminded T’Lara of Chess.  The objective was to eliminate the opponent’s ‘Goal’. Playing pieces could be captured (or ‘killed’, as the Klingons would say), by landing on the space they occupied.  The triangular shape of the board, and the unique abilities of each playing piece, made it different enough from Chess though that she couldn’t draw on previous knowledge to devise a coherent strategy.   Not that she was any expert on Chess either…

She smiled warmly to Naryss as he walked back from the replicator, carrying their drinks.  After setting her steaming cup on the table (the smell immediately reminded her of home), she moved her chair next to his so they can both look at the board form the same angle as she went over the rules with him.

”Start us off easy, against the beginner program” she smirked playfully ”Don’t want to get my ass whooped just yet”

It was then she noticed Dr. Abdool approaching them.  It took them some time to review the rules, and by that time she was done with her work, or so it seemed.
”We’ll be happy to.  And if you know the game at all; you’re already a step ahead of us!”

ch’Pertha nodded at the Doctor’s request, gesturing to another seat at their shared table.
“Please do”.
Although, he was quite engrossed in the explanation T’Lara was providing of the game.
His military mind already strategising and considering all the variable implications.

“Is this a two player game?” he asked his companions in general (one who might vaguely know the game, and one who’d just read the rules).  The triangular shape suggested three entry angles ... and made it uncomfortable, in his mind, to accomodate only two players.

   When the Commander asked about the possibility of three players, Abdool gently shook her head. "The game, when played, uses three sides to move pieces." She tapped the board's third side with a thin, dark finger. "From what I remember, the game can be played Open ... or played just like Terran Chess. It can also be played as a Closed, or Clouded game, where that third side is shrouded to the opposing player. You can see your moves, but not your opponents. I've never played anything but an Open game, Commander ... but I've heard that there are some players in the Federation that play both Open and Clouded."

   She looked at the board, then to both Commander ch'Pertha and Counsellor T'Lara. "Might be best to learn the easy game first. Learning more than that is like jumping into the deep end of the pool when you don't know how to swim."

   Although she wasn't sure how T'Lara might assimilate the game - a fair amount of Vulcans she'd met looked at games like this more in the same fashion as a mental riddle to be solved. As for the Commander, Klin Zha was a warrior's game ... something that she had little doubt as to how well the Andorian would pick up the game's subtleties.

“Oh, there are dozens of variations of Klin-Zha” T’Lara was much more comfortable talking about the game and its history than actually playing it.   “Each of the great Houses of the Empire have their own favorite version.  For instance, before absorbing House Thaxus in Kahless six-hundred and seventy one, House D'Ghor favored the Keve epetai-K'elland Ablative version.  A few short years later, however  -  “

She caught herself a moment too late.  Smiling sheepishly, she turned back to the board, leaning slightly closer toward ch'Pertha

“Lets play the Blockader first?” she suggested and pointed at the playing piece shaped like a warrior holding a shield in front of it

Settling in had been a pleasant enough experience for Dr. Lance, though his staff might (or might not) have found the experience the same.

He is an austere man, who brings no personal items to the medical bay, or even in to his office, and if any of his staff had had any, he required them to be removed.

He ran the med bay thru it's paces, and even use the holo deck for a few drills. Though he was no slave driver, he did want to know what his staff knew, needed to know and how they responded to the closest thing he could generate to emergencies.

He reviewed the medical records of the crew late in to the night, and called a few crew members in for check ups, some due to routine scheduling, other because he was curious about some aspect of their make-up or medical history.

He showed a wide expertise with the various races and cultures on the ship, even CDR Vex, as he had spent a little time on Orion, but it was many years ago.

Any who checked his Star Fleet records would find a long and varied career, several commendations, and even a few areas that required a pretty high security clearance to access. The man had been around.

While he was very rigid while on duty, he did on rare occasion go to the officers club and to any who sought his company they would learn he had no family, nor ever had any, quite literally he had made Star Fleet his home. Any who visit his quarters find them sparsely decorated, with a neo-Japanese esthetic, and esoteric Objet d'art from across the sector showing a tendency towards the abstract, no more than one or two from any culture, even that of Earth.

Dr. Layne finds his sickbay staff talented and dedicated, if in somewhat of a disarray.  The loss of one CMO, followed by a touch-and-go assignment of a second which promptly transferred, had left the medical department a bit scattered.

Sickbay itself has little in the way of personal decor, but in his new office, Layne finds a holopic of Dr. Marius De Montaine (the first CMO) and a small plaque that read:

In Loving Memory
Dr Marius De Montaine
Chief Medical Officer - USS Independence

"In my end is my beginning"
  - Mary, Queen of Scots.

As he did not know the doctor, Dr. Layne finds this less than the best place for such a memorial.

"I feel it should go where people can see it, and remember him," he explains to the staff.

Unless there is some serious objection, he will find a place next to the main entrance, where it will be more proudly displayed than the back on an office few, if any other than himself should ever see it.

As a member of the sickbay crew, Azami does her best to learn the ways of the new bay as quickly - and, more importantly, effectively - as possible.  This is somewhat confounded by the confusion brought about by the recent loss of its CMO, and the entrance of the new CMO.

Additionally, she keeps out of people's way as much as possible; the current crew are dealing with an upset in their lives, and the new CMO has their hands full with getting the Sickbay into the configuration they wish.  Better to remain a well-oiled part of the mechanism.

As for the memorial, she notes its sudden appearance at the front of the bay.  Another wound the ship has suffered, now given name and face to drive home the severity of their mission.  Another friend, no doubt, that T'Lara has lost.

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Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
OOC - Threw this in here just to add to the New People In Sickbay™ information.  Not really a lot to say from Azami's perspective, though.  :D

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This message was last edited by the player at 02:06, Mon 05 July 2021.

*Some character work*

She had hoped the gym would be empty.  Foolish; with a crew this size, it never is.  With a small grimace, she slips in – unnoticed, as nearly always.

It’s her first chance to actually use the facility; until now, between her duties, volunteer work, and Doctor Layne’s simulations, she has been kept – and kept herself – quite busy.  And she’s due for a workout; it has been more than a week since her last one, and before that?  Sporadic, at best, due to her use of a private, civilian workout area on the starbase upon which Azami had last served.  She has, the young woman ruefully decides, gotten out of practice.  Her father would express disapproval.  Her eldest brother would laugh and ruffle her hair.  Her other brother would likely smirk and fire off a cutting remark, leading either to their usual edged banter or an all-out war of words.

She thrusts thoughts of her family aside and moves an open area, free of equipment.

There, Azami begins a series of very light body-weight exercises.  Nothing special; these are designed as a warmup.  Once finished, she switches to a heavy bag and commences basic drills of striking and movement.  She doesn’t stick to specific combinations, instead varying her tempo and choices.  This is the true warm-up and cardio exercising for her, and she continues it for a good half-hour.  There are other things she might choose to do, but…not here.  Right now, the young woman decides, it might be best to simply stick with working her body back into its best condition.  Which, Azami admits as the sweat pours down her face and soaks into the collar of her workout shirt, could take some time.

Months, at the least.

Finally finished, the Petty Officer returns to an open space – a different one, her previous area having been taken over by two crewmen practicing Starfleet’s CQC system – and recommences her body-weight exercises, with a notable difference: now the exercises are no longer designed to warm up.  These ones, instead, are for building strength.  Another half an hour of this, Azami figures, will be enough to wipe her out completely before it’s time to sleep.

She’s definitely out of shape; her father would not be pleased.