Sand & Service, Part III

Posted on Thu Aug 27th, 2026 @ 2:22am by Master Chief Petty Officer Vashti Rao & Lieutenant Kah’lyn Chiara & Captain Remy Johansen & Lieutenant Commander Eirly Andersen & Lieutenant Commander Xalanth & Josef Forstinger & Samuel Wynters
Edited on on Thu Aug 27th, 2026 @ 9:37pm

2,594 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Maintenance and Recovery
Location: Amberwash Beach, Southern Continent, Barisa Prime
Timeline: MD 02, November 3, 2389 (After Part II)

[Continued...]

Josef took a moment to feel the sand beneath his feet, and look out onto the waves. A strange feeling washed over him for a moment. A reminder: he was standing not on just a beach, an alien beach, on a planet that wasn't Earth. Yet-it still felt like it in some way. He had never been to a truly tropical beach. At most, it was the Danube and its gravel shores. Yet, he missed it. Why did he miss it?

Kah’lyn had seen Josef standing, looking out at the water. Sensing his feelings, she excused herself and headed over to him. “A penny for your thoughts,” as the saying goes. She smiled warmly.

The Man took a good second or two to respond to the counselor, or even acknowledge her presence in the first place. "Make it 10 bucks, and you got a deal," he'd joke, cracking a smile that vanished quicker than it appeared. "Just, a bit of, I don't know. Whiplash? Looking at all this, I sometimes forget I'm not on Earth, well, until I look at the sky. Or the Giant Dragon Man, or Tenzi."

Kah’lyn nodded. “I can imagine how that must feel. The holodecks make a good escape from reality, but they’re no replacement for it. They do make a good party venue though.”

"When they dont malfunction or spawn sentience," he jokes, a sudden switch-up in his expression before returning to the former.

“True,” Kah’lyn grinned. “Why don’t you come join us? It’ll help take your mind off things for a little while.”

There was a slight hint of hesitation. Some thought comming up that Josef himself didnt quite understand why he was having it. But, in the end, he just gave the Counselor a nod. Rejoining the larger group once again.

Walking back with Josef, Kah’lyn smiled warmly before she headed to see if she could help Xalanth.

Meanwhile, someone was lurking, simply watching the goings on. His eyes were firmly fixed on Kah’lyn. No one was the wiser as he went about the course of his work, and no one would know who he was until he was ready to reveal it.

Remy sprinted on the beach, her hair in a ponytail and a sun visor shielding her eyes. Sam Winters, the owner and manager of the ship's main lounge, ran on her heels behind her, showing little signs of exertion. They both stopped short of the sign that Vashti had put up.

"Is it too late?" the Captain asked, "Or are you afraid of a little competition from the Captain?"

Tenzi spun around to find the commanding officer of Astrea standing less than two meters away from her with one of the bartenders from Paddy's Loft. She hesitated momentarily before coming to attention.

"Oh, Captain!"

Vashti and Emiliano turned and simultaneously straightened at the sight of Remy. Unable to believe her eyes and ears, the Chief of the Boat was astonished to see the Captain present for the volleyball tournament she had organized. Once more, she was warmed to see one of her role models taking an interest in leisure activities. Part of her knew she should not be surprised--she'd heard stories of Captain Johansen showing up at some poker games.

Xalanth popped his head up from the hole which he was digging to hold the coals. "Captain, nice to see you here, my friend."

Kah’lyn smiled as she saw the Captain. “Hello, Captain.”

Raising a hand, Keel threw the Captain a wave, pleased that she had opted to turn up. It was an opportunity to see her off-duty, something vanishingly rare in his time with the crew so far.

"We're all off-duty. You are all off duty," Remy reminded them. "Please, carry on. If I sense my presence here is dulling your fun, we'll get out of here."

Samuel kept to the side, as Remy's crew greeted her. He knew that it was important she be the focal point at that moment. Of course, he didn't mind it at all. It was proper. He also knew that, while they were in the presence of her crew, their displays of affection would be greatly curtailed. In most navy traditions, the ship's commanding officer was expected to uphold a certain level of sophistication in public. He could follow her lead on how things would unfold.

"Feel free to commence with trash-talking," she goaded as she walked over to Sam. "But be warned, my partner has a few years of experience on all of you."

Samuel caught the hint and grinned as he put his arm around her waist, saying aloud. "Not sure how fair it would be, my dear, I mean, to try and match wits with the young kids here?"

"It's not stratagema, it's volleyball," Remy laughed. "I'm sure they can keep up."

The human man, now only in swimtrunks, had approached and stood next to the Andorian woman as she snapped to attention, he himself lagging behind even more. Looking comically lax next to her before Josef leaned towards Tenzi and whispered in a hushed tone. "So... does the Captain usually do this? Y'know, join the crew.

"I don't know," was all Tenzi could whisper back. It had been nearly ten days since Tenzi, Josef, and Leilani had been sprung from a makeshift holding cell after Vulcan Security had detained them in the chaotic aftermath of Ambassador T'Varel's death.

"I didn't even know she was bonking the barkeep," Tenzi added in a shrill whisper.

Well, Josef had been extremely apologetic about the whole... Detention Incident that had happened. To be honest, he was still kicking himself in the leg for it. But, seeing as she wasn't strangling him for it on the spot, itll be fiiine. Still, it seemed that the incident didn't exactly help with his tactfulness...

"Ah--wait, they're fucking ?" he whispered back.

Oblivious and coarse.

Tenzi jabbed an elbow directly into Josef's side with enough force to knock him off balance for a second.

Now, Josef had survived a grueling war, had faced many horrors, fought many battles, and had definitely taken a beating. He was made of sterner stuff.

Not sterner than a pissed Andorian woman's elbow, it seemed, as he promptly partially keeled to the side, the breath knocked out of him for but a second, a shocked expression at first, but then understanding. Yeah, probably NOT the best thing to discuss in front of the person. Especially when said person was the Captain of a Starship, the one you're currently staying on.

"Right-okay-sorry."

Tenzi whispered through gritted teeth without looking at Josef. "I swear if you get me thrown in the brig..."

"Tenzi," the Captain said gently. "It's meant to be a fun day where you get to just see me as a regular person. No standing at attention, no formalities. Relax, please," Remy said, noting the Andorian's stiff posture. "No one is on duty right now."

If an Andorian could turn red, Tenzi would have. Her antennae dropped so low their tips almost brushed her hair.

"Yes, Captain--err, ma'am. Remira--Remy."

She turned to Samuel and tried to force a smile. "Great to see you, Samuel." She felt she had turned the page on the awkward moment but then remembered the last time she saw him, she had sprinted out of Paddy's Loft with a mouthful of vomit.

Samuel grinned a friendly grin as he nodded his head in greeting. "Pleasure to see you again, Miss Tenzi. I do hope you don't need to run out of here for any...personal reasons today." He had heard the young Andorian woman and the Human from the past whisper about he and Remy's relationship. Outwardly, he gave no sign that he had heard them, while inside, he hoped that he never did anything to embarrass the woman that he loved.

Tenzi felt her face flushing in further. That evening of drinking seemed like so long ago in her memory though in truth, it had only been a couple of weeks.

"No way, Mister." She waved her arms outward indicating that would not be happening. "I'm here for the volleyball only."

The Andorian engineer had dressed for the sport rather than lounging on the beach. Her athletic bikini was a deep indigo that sat nicely against the blue of her skin, with a very practical racerback-style top and secure side-tied bottoms that would hopefully stay where they belonged when she threw herself after the ball. It was very difficult to imagine an Andorian taking beach fashion too seriously. Over it, Tenzi wore a loose, translucent wrap that fluttered in the breeze occasionally.

For someone as tall as Tenzi, she had chosen something that made movement easy. She could reach, jump, dive, and probably crash into her partner without having to stop and adjust too much.

Samuel grinned again. "Glad to hear it. Let's enjoy the sun and fun today!" He reached out and gently squeezed Remy's hand as he finished speaking. "So, who is up first?"

As Sam asked the question half the beach's attention was drawn toward the latest team's arrival.

The sun, the heat (however simulated) and the sand were too much for Kasper to decline, so he rocked up in all his glory: swimming trunks that rode slightly too low, flip-flops and sunglasses. A replicated boom box held in one hand by its handle was providing the cheesy music you would've heard back like 300 years ago that made you feel amped. At that moment it was Your Love by The Outfield.

Kasper was messing around with Malcolm as they walked in with the cocky attitude: they'd registered for the tournament because of their track record of winning, and it resulted in Eirly, Charlotte, and Luci walking behind, embarrassed that they knew the guys.

Malcolm's lightly tanned skin was glistening with oil as he walked alongside Kasper, Malcolm's gauzy beach shirt completely unbuttoned and catching the breeze, showing off his well-toned upper body. His pink shorts were just short enough to let everyone know he didn't skip leg day as he strutted along to the beats of the music that Kasper was playing.

Luci spotted Emiliano talking with Vashti and peeled off to go surprise him, leaving the other girls to just get on with the display the guys were putting on.

As Luci left the group, Malcolm raised his sunglasses to take in a better look at the scene before them, the crew splayed out casually; even the Captain had stopped by.

"Hope you still got it," Malcolm said, offering a fist bump to Kasper before they were in earshot of the crew.

"You know it!" Kasper grinned a wide grin and gave him a wink. "Hopefully the competition's good so we've got a bit of a challenge."

Charlotte lagged behind, taking in the swagger with amusement. At first there was disbelief, but then she remembered their first "date," and reminded herself that this was to be expected.

"Are they like this a lot?" she asked, turning to Eirly.

Eirly frowned at the sight of the pair and laughed, "I didn't know Malcolm could be that competitive, but Kas is always like this; you'll get used to it. They both love attention and make sure everyone knows it." She adjusted the hold on her towel in front of her and adjusted her sunglasses as they both walked on and talked.

While Emiliano wasn't exactly glum, he had wished Winters hadn't assigned her to the repair team while it seemed most of Astrea were off enjoying some much-needed rest. He was staring out at the bright blue ocean, thinking of her when he felt someone approach from behind.

Luci's hand slid to around one side of him before she appeared beside Emiliano on the other side, smiling as she realised it had been her to scare him and not the other way around for once. "So that was a long day, can we relax now? Sorry I'm late, by the way."

He turned at the touch of Luci's hand falling into his--not overly startled, but definitely shocked. An enormous smile spread across his face as he squared himself to her.

"Long day," he agreed with his silly smile. "I am so glad you could make it."

She had slipped an arm around him while he laughed softly. There had been a time not that long ago when even standing this close to her was enough to make him forget the languages he spoke. He recalled being beyond terrified of putting his foot in his mouth around Luci. Somewhere between their introduction and the return to Starbase 773, it had begun to change.

Before Emiliano could think too much about it, he leaned toward her and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. It was a small thing. Barely a second.

It was also enough to make him realize--immediately afterward--that he'd actually done it.

His eyes widened a little and he glanced toward the others, as though expecting someone to sound an alarm.

Tenzi, having seen it, decided to react.

"Now there's a minor historic event," she said with a grin.

---

Captain Remira Johansen
Commanding Officer
USS Astrea


Lt. Commander Eirly Andersen
Second Officer
USS Astrea


Lt. Commander Xalanth
Chief Security Officer
USS Astrea


Lieutenant Kah'lyn Chiara
Chief Counselor
USS Astrea


Josef Forstinger
Civillian
USS Astrea


Samuel Wynters
Ten-Forward Manager/Bartender
USS Astrea
(NPC of Maxun Spello)


Crewman Emiliano Echevarria
Operations Officer
USS Astrea
(NPC of JB Dorsainvil)


Ensign Tenzi Sh'reyva
Engineering Officer
USS Astrea
(NPC of JB Dorsainvil)


Lieutenant JG Kasper Andersen, MD
Medical Officer
USS Astrea
(NPC of Eirly Andersen)


Ensign Luciana Aguila
Structural/Environmental Specialist
USS Astrea
(NPC of Eirly Andersen)


Lieutenant JG Malcolm Beckett, MD
Medical Officer
USS Astrea
(NPC of Remy Johansen)


Ensign Charlotte Dawes
Nurse
USS Astrea
(NPC of Remy Johansen)


Master Chief Petty Officer Vashti Rao
Chief of the Boat
USS Astrea
(NPC of JB Dorsainvil)

 

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