Home Sweet Home - For Now

Posted on Sun Oct 4th, 2026 @ 11:56pm by Sublieutenant Juno Langley & Lieutenant Commander Mila Lynn

2,545 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Chapter IX: Shady Business
Location: Ourainavassa
Timeline: 2387-10-18, late evening

As she arrived at the airlock, Mila couldn't help but wonder what exactly had happened when the Captain and Subcommander had gone to see Bulok, the Ferengi merchant who had hired them to recover some cargo. When she had encountered Kaiae on her way back to the bridge, the Subcommander had seemed highly irritated, even more than she usually was after having to deal with Ferengi. When asked how it had gone, Kaiae had simply told her to go to the airlock to receive a new arrival on board, and to get the guest quarters sorted out. As soon as this person, and the supplies the Captain had gone to organise, were on board, the ship would depart.

So, an hour later, the Lieutenant Commander was waiting for whoever was going to arrive. She glanced at her PADD again to check the information she had about their guest, which wasn't much. Her name was Juno Langley, she was human, and she had been assigned the currently unoccupied Officers' Quarters on Deck Four that the Captain had used before moving into the Commander's Quarters on Deck Two.

Just as Mila was straightening her uniform, Stanley Ford, the security officer posted at the airlock while the ship was docked, called out. "We have someone approaching, unknown human individual."

"Thanks, Stan. That'll be our guest. Open the door and let her in."

It was indeed Juno Langley. She had made the necessary arrangements with Jeff. Now, all she had to do was sit tight. It would be a very boring trip, but at least Juno had her book collection to help pass the time. There was also the upside of when Juno returned to Drozana Station, she wouldn't be working for Bulok anymore. That in itself was a good enough reason to put up with Freya, Kaiae for a short while. The payment helped too. As she approached the open door, Juno adjusted her bag strap. It was fairly heavy, but nothing she was close to struggling with.

For a few moments, she admired the collection of sewn-on patches on her bag. The most prominent being an original mission patch for the sixth NX-class, Endeavour. This patch was unusual compared to other vessels in the class, being a vertical oval rather than round. It featured HMS Endeavour at the bottom, with the space shuttle and starship flying in the starry sky above. It had been a difficult item to obtain given its age, high collectability. It was also expensive. But Juno considered it to be a cool way to honour her highly celebrated, decorated paternal ancestor. Captain Beatrice Langley. The woman whose surname she adopted, rather than Ambrose or Hawkins.

Approaching Mila, Juno was instantly drawn to her vibrant blue hair. Mila's temperament seemed less arrogant, condescending than Freya, Kaiae. At least on initial observation. "I didn't expect your bosses to provide a welcome party." began Juno. She observed her new, temporary surroundings for a few moments. Then turned back to Mila. "Lead the way."

Mila simply nodded a greeting as Juno entered, before taking a good look at the woman in front of her. At first glance, she didn't look at all like what she had expected a Ferengi's hired muscle to look like. Instead of some burly combat veteran, she was looking at a woman her own age, dressed casually, carrying a bag covered in what appeared to be mission patches of various historical vessels. Sure, she was cute, but she certainly did not look like a fighter. Of course, she knew full well that appearances did not tell the whole story.

"You must be Langley," she said, smiling. "Lieutenant Commander Mila Lynn, Ceran Defence Force, on permanent detachment to this crew to serve as Chief Science Officer." Mila chuckled. "Yeah, I know. That rank looks ridiculous on me." She took her tricorder off her belt and switched it on. "The welcome party, as you call it, is a necessary precaution," she explained. "I'll need to do a quick recording of your basic life sign signature to feed into our security system, register as someone who is supposed to be here, rather than an intruder. Wouldn't want the system to throw you out of the airlock, after all. And I mean that almost literally, except that instead of an airlock, it uses the transporter. Once that's done, I'll be showing you to your assigned quarters for this trip."

She shrugged. "As for my commanding officers, the Subcommander simply told me to go to the airlock and expect you to come aboard, and to assign you a bunk. Oh, and she handed me some chip to analyse once that's done. Captain isn't back yet. So whatever happened when they went to meet your boss, I don't know anything about it."

"Who made you a Lieutenant Commander?" asked Juno, dryly, yet also wondering how Mila was of an equivalent rank Starfleet officers rarely obtained before their thirtieth year. "You're my age, at most." she paused, watching Mila do the scan.

Mila shrugged. "I was commissioned into the Ceran Defence Force at that rank only a few weeks ago," she explained as she ran the scans. "Cera is my homeworld. Independent colony, didn't want anything to do with the Federation. Before that, I held the operational rank of Lieutenant on this ship. And since the CDF probably don't think I'll ever actually serve there, they don't care about the rank. It's all just for show, really. And I'd much prefer if people ignored it." She grinned. "I only wear the uniform because it looks good on me."

A chime from the scanner indicated that the scan was completed. "Right, that's that done. Do you have any luggage other than what you're carrying right now? Just so that I can arrange for it to be brought to your quarters. Quartermaster didn't join us for this trip, so apparently, since there's nothing to do science-wise, that's the job I've been loaded with." The Lieutenant Commander sighed. "I've also got some other stuff to give you, but we should probably do that in your quarters. Turbolift is just down this corridor, follow me."

"I bet it looks good off you, too." thought Juno, before responding. She very much agreed Mila's uniform looked good on her. "I agree." Once the scan was complete, Juno confirmed she didn't have any other luggage with her. Minimalist was her approach. She then began to follow Mila down the corridor. Clearly, her time here was going to be an interesting, unconventional experience. A voyage of discovery. Literally. "I'd love to know how a bunch of pirates got hold of this thing."

She thought it was probably a very similar way to how Taryn, her associates obtained Penka. "It's not exactly something you'd expect to see in a surplus auction."

Mila chuckled. "No, you definitely wouldn't. This warbird is a one-of-a-kind prototype modification of the Mogai-class. How it ended up in our hands is a very long story. One piece of advice, though. Don't let anyone on board this ship hear you call them pirates. I don't know how much I'l allowed to tell you, since there's a lot of sensitive stuff going on, but just to set things straight. This crew was formed by a group of mercenaries and renegade Romulan officers to ensure the evacuation of civilians from the Romulan homeworld ahead of the supernova that destroyed the entire star system. The mercenaries were originally hired for that purpose by a Romulan admiral, but the majority of them have elected to stick around after the conclusion of that operation. Our current task is to ensure the safety of the people we evacuated."

While Mila was speaking, they had reached the turbolift. As they stepped inside, Mila pointed at a control screen next to the door, showing various destinations in Romulan characters. "Don't worry if you can't read Rihannsu," she explained. "One of the modifications this ship has, and the one that's got the most impact on daily life on board, is that the computer has been fitted with a voice-activated command system, based on how it's done on Federation ships. You just need to activate it." She demonstrated by pressing the topmost button on the control panel. "Deck Four, Officers' Quarters." The display briefly flashed blue, and the turbolift began moving.

"Intriguing." responded Juno. It was in fact, quite different to how Penka ended up in Taryn's hands. She chose to remain silent, finding conversations in turbolifts to be awkward. Maybe it was the British side of her, through her father. Her accent was, despite her upbringing, also British. Perhaps that was down to the fact her teacher also hailed from the same land as her father. Juno then decided to make an effort to overlook this awkwardness. "I was in the Starfleet Academy for a year, so I'm familiar with that system." a pause, a look at Mila. She was markedly shorter than Juno, requiring a slight lowering of her head. "But thanks. It's good to know."

Mila nodded as the turbolift doors slid open again. "That makes things a lot easier. The computer runs on a modified version of the Starfleet LCARS, just with a Romulan user interface slapped over it. Don't ask me how the people who built her got hold of it, all I know is that this ship was first built just after the end of the Dominion War." She stepped out of the turbolift. "To get to your quarters, turn right out of the turbolift, then it's the third door on your left. Standard officers' quarters with an en suite and a food replicator, again thanks to Federation tech. Mess hall is down on 13, normally there's freshly cooked food there, but the chef is also the quartermaster, so, not around for this trip."

Juno also nodded, following Mila out of the turbolift. "I guess I'm expected to pay for food out of the mess hall?" she asked, beginning to walk towards her assigned quarters. Considering she wasn't even a crew member, Juno was surprised she was being given officers' quarters. "If your boss needs a chef, you can let her know I can cook." continued Juno. "I could use something to do to pass the time."

"I assume the Captain will want to speak to you about tasks. For now, you're on board as a guest, and since we don't have designated guest quarters, I've gone ahead and assigned you this room." Mila chuckled. "Captain Mannerheim used these quarters before moving into the CO suite up on deck two. I've actually got one of the VIP suites, shared it with my brother until he decided to move back home for a while." She shrugged. "Here we are."

The Officer's Quarters on Ourainvassa were somewhat functional. They consisted of a single room, separated into a living area with a replicator and desk with a computer terminal, as well as a pair of comfortable-looking armchairs around a small table, and the sleeping area with a bed and a locker. A door from the sleeping area led to the small en suite bathroom.

"Home sweet home," Mila said with a chuckle as she sat in one of the armchairs. "These chairs aren't standard, obviously. Drop off your bags and take a seat, and then we can go over the rest of the welcome package."

Juno looked around the room for a moment. It was a marked improvement over the room she rented on Drozana Station. She carefully placed her bag on the bed, then briefly inspected the en-suite bathroom. "You chose well." said Juno, returning to the living space. Removing her jacket, she hung it up. Juno then selected one of the chairs, gently lowering herself into it. "It's a lot better than my quarters on that bloody station." Once she was comfortable, Juno crossed her right leg over her left.

"Don't even get me started." The young scientist rolled her eyes. "My brother and I spent a few months on that pile of junk they call a space station, before we ended up joining this crew. Now." She reached into her pocket and took out a small box, and a compact PADD. "PADD has all the standard stuff on it. Regulations, disciplinary code, deck listings, duty rotations, and so on. Not that most of it matters to you, but I recommend taking a look at least at the ship's layout, it's probably a bit different to what you're used to if you were Starfleet. After all, you never want to be in a situation where you need a bathroom but don't know where the nearest one is. With escape pods, you can always follow the rest of the panicking mob."

Mila chuckled at her own joke and handed the PADD to Juno, before opening the box, revealing a badge much like the one that was pinned to her own uniform, but different in colour. Where Mila's badge was black, with a bronze phoenix emblem, this one was silver, with the emblem in black. "Basic combadge. Works the same as the Starfleet ones. Also serves as your transponder for things like the door to your quarters, accessing the replicators, and so on. Oh, and since you asked, room and board is part of the pay package. Well, except for Renée's premium booze. She's the chef, bartender, quartermaster, and probably a dozen other jobs as well. And not here. So people have just been helping themselves to whatever she left behind the bar."

Juno accepted the PADD and perched it on her right leg. "Thanks. I'll take a look later." she replied. She couldn't help but break a smile at Mila's joke, something Juno did rarely. Once she had attached the combadge to her t-shirt, Juno raised a proposition. "If you ever fancy helping me help myself to some of that booze you just mentioned..." a pause. "...you know where to find me. Well, until we get back to Drozana. After that, well." another pause. "Let's just say my next job after this voyage will involve me living somewhere else."

"Of course." Mila returned Juno's smile. "Not a fan of being the hired muscle for a shady Ferengi, I take it?" She chuckled. "Can't blame you. That's my job done as far as getting you settled, anyway. Any questions?"

"He's a means to an end." a pause. "Or he was." responded Juno. PADD in hand, she stood up, ready to show Mila out. She gently tossed it onto the bed. Based on their time together so far, Mila seemed kind, genuine. Sweet. She was cute, too. Very cute. Juno also considered it nice to have someone around who was her own age. "Not right now, thank you. But I'll let you know if I think of anything."

Mila nodded. "Well, you know how LCARS comms work. Or you can text me via the PADD. I've got some work to do, our pilot and I have been tasked with analysing those flight records. The Captain will probably want to talk to you tomorrow, but for now, just get yourself unpacked and rest. It's been a pleasure to meet you, Miss Langley."

"The pleasure is all mine, Mila."

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