Serve, Set, Spike: Part I
Posted on Fri Oct 2nd, 2026 @ 2:01pm by Ensign Dani Harper & Sub-Lieutenant Osirin Acainus & Lieutenant Commander Ryan Keel & Josef Forstinger & Ensign Zera Leyar
Edited on on Fri Oct 2nd, 2026 @ 2:02pm
2,389 words; about a 12 minute read
Mission:
Maintenance and Recovery
Location: Court #2, Amberwash Beach, Southern Continent, Barisa Prime
Timeline: November 3, 2389
The referee for Court One had been paid in latinum--in advance--by Vashti, which he considered an excellent reason to take the tournament seriously.
He was a broad-shouldered Barisan man in his fifties, with sun-browned skin and an easy manner. It was obvious to anyone he had spent his life around beaches and warm weather. He had been refereeing local matches for years, mostly for recreational leagues and the occasional semi-serious tournament. The arrival of Astrea's crew had presented him with the pleasant prospect of being paid to watch Starfleet officers throw themselves into the sand.
He stood at the edge of the court and checked the boundary sensors. The thin line surrounding the play area remained dark beneath the late-morning sun. He glanced up at the net, then toward the two teams waiting on opposite sides. He motioned for Team Kappa and Team Zeta to come together at mid-court.
"My name is Guzan. I'll be your referee for the match," he explained. "Alright gentlemen, let's have some fun. Fist-bumps for sportsmanship, yes?"
Garo looked across at their opponents. There was his departmental comrade, Kash, paired up with Sub-Lieutenant Osirin--someone he didn't know very well. He bumped fists with one after the other.
"Good luck and good game, my friends."
Emiliano followed just after Garo, giving Kash a wink.
Osirin noticed the wink, but paid not attetion to it. At least not outwardly, but he was watching everything. Kash's only reaction was to just his chin out and smirk back.
"Let's do this, shall we gentlemen?"
Guzan waited for both teams to settle again and give him their full attention.
"Miss Vashti already explained, I'm sure. One set. Fifteen points to win, two-point margin. Seventeen ends it. Rally scoring throughout. We'll change sides at eight points. Umbajii?" he asked in his native dialect, checking to see if they all understood the rules.
When neither side seemed to respond, he raised the volleyball he'd been holding between his forearm and hip and gave it a brief look. He was checking that it suited him and wasn't underinflated or overinflated.
"Remember: if the line turns red, the ball was out. If that net turns red, somebody touched it. If you disagree with me, you are welcome to disagree quietly."
The makeshift bleacher on the southeast end of the court were beginning to fill-up with spectators--a mixture of Astrea crew and locals. Some were smiling as the match was about to get underway.
Guzan reached in the pocket of his tight shorts and pulled out a Barisan commemorative coin. He held the bronze-coloured circle up for everyone to see and pointed to it with his other hand.
"Where I come from, we used to call this coin a hekrah. We have not used it in generations but on one side of this hekrah is a bird, and on the other is a fish. I will toss this coin into the air and both teams must announce whether they want bird or fish before it reaches the ground."
Garo whispered back to Emiliano. "I think Xalanth is going to be cooking both."
The comment earned a slight snicker.
"Ready?" inquired the referee as he threw the coin in the air.
Without waiting, he flicked the coin skyward and it cleared maybe thirteen feet and, upon reaching its apogee, came twirling back toward the sand.
"Bird," Kash called out as coin was tossed.
As the coin hit the ground, Guzan gently placed his sandal over it and turned to look at both teams.
"Bird has been called by Team Kappa," he announced.
Guzan glanced toward the holographic scoreboards at either end of the zone, then back at the players.
"Everyone ready?"
"I'm ready," Osirin piped up.
"Kash, why don't you take the back line and I'll take the front. If we get serve first, you're up. Does that work for you?"
"Got it," Kash said. "Remember - block if you can; otherwise, three hits: bump, set, spike." He gave Osirin an encouraging nod. They'd taken some time before the matches started to fool around with the ball so Osirin wouldn't be going in completely blind.
"I can handle that," the Akadian responded. "Let's win this."
The referee then slowly lifted his foot from the sand, revealing the hekrah with its bird face showing.
"Kappa will have first serve," Guzan announced, rolling the volleyball across the sand past Osirin and to the Andorian in the back court. He then climbed the four steps up to the top of the referee stand which remained exactly at south side of mid-court, close enough for the Barisan to touch the end of the net.
Kash couldn't help but notice how tight Osirin's ass looked as he took his position in front of the Andorian. I'd like to do more than that, he thought to himself before forcing himself to turn his attention to the net and the other team instead.
Garo gave a thumbs up from the Defender position at the back of the court, while a grinning Emiliano stood near the net at the Blocker position. Neither man was particularly tall or athletic, but they were here for fun, and that was all that mattered.
With acknowledgments made, Kash bounced the ball once against the sand and caught it.
"Good luck to both teams," Guzan said from the stand.
He leaned back and raised his whistle, holding it steady between impossibly white teeth.
Kash rolled the ball in his hand, letting the smoothness slide over his fingers before tossing it in the air. As it came down, he struck the ball effortlessly with the palm of his hand.
Osirin moved to the center of the court, ready to move whichever direction the serve was returned. If it was returned.
On Court 2, Ensign Veqthar had spent several weeks preparing for this moment.
He had read the rules. He had watched recordings of professional matches from several worlds. He had studied common referee signals and made notes about rotations, service faults, net contact and boundary calls. He had even spent an evening studying the effects of wind on a volleyball's trajectory, which had earned him an uncomfortable silence from one of his Science Department colleagues.
Veqthar had no athletic ambitions of his own. He had volunteered for this position because Vashti had asked him weeks and because, after careful consideration, he'd concluded that referring was an activity in which any preparation could compensate for any lack of physical enthusiasm.
He stood beside the second court in a pair of white linen shorts and, what was commonly referred to on Earth as a Hawaiian shirt. His breathing apparatus was held in place by a strap over his collarbone and cinched behind his neck. He had even taken the liberty of having a standard whistle connected to his apparatus.
He looked from one team to the other. They were officers he knew. Perhaps not well but enough.
"Participants," he said, his voice slightly amplified. "This match will consist of a single set."
He consulted the small display on his wrist but he knew the information perfectly well.
"The first team to reach fifteen points will win, provided that team has a two-point advantage. At seventeen points, the match will conclude regardless of the margin. Rally scoring will be used. Court positions will remain unchanged except where required by the rules.
He paused and consulted the wrist display, sensing something was off.
"Right... at eight points, you will change sides."
Veqthar then glanced toward the net.
"Boundary sensors will indicate an out-of-bounds ball by illuminating red. Net contact will produce the same indication on the net itself. I will make the final call in the event of any disagree between the sensor system and my observation."
He had rehearsed that last sentence and took great pride in saying it. It sounded better on the beach than in his quarters.
"Questions?"
Dani looked over at Zera then back at Veqthar and shook her head in the negative.
The Bajoran returned the glance but also remained silent. Zera was familiar with this Earth game from the Academy, and surely playing on sand wasn't too different from playing on a court, right?
He again consulted his wrist display and reacted as though he had almost forgot something.
"Yes," he acknowledged at reading the display. "We must determine who will serve first."
Veqthar signaled to both teams--Josef and Ryan, and Dani and Zera--to join him at mid-court. When they arrived, he lowered his voice.
"The traditional method of determining first service is a coin toss. The problem with this is I have no coin."
The Benzite took a breath from his apparatus, a small cloud of gas flew away with the beach wind.
"And so I've prepared a scientific alternative, if you will."
He smiled at both teams, proud of his resourceful and use of science to determine the starting point of a game.
"I will ask you one question to determine who serves first. The first correct response will allow that team to decide if they wish to serve or receive."
Veqthar paused for effect and raised a finger.
"Here is the question: what is the name given to the region surrounding a black hole beyond which electromagnetic radiation cannot escape?"
Dani looked at Veqthar as if he were speaking some language that the UT couldn't translate. She then looked to Luci and Rixi and asked simply, "You guys want to serve or receive?"
'Uh, serve?' Keel looked to Josef, then to Guzan, the gravimetric pull of his dignified mien demanding his attention. The man got the feeling that officiating for a transient Starfleet crew was somehow beneath his dignity, an imposition on his time, and he had no real intention of crossing him. 'Yeah we'll serve.' Better the ball be moving away from them with the way Dani was eyeing up Josef.
And for Josef's part, he seemed entirely unaware how the Green Woman was eyeing him up.
Keel smirked and winked in Dani's direction, 'leave the little guy alone, pick on someone your own size, Ensign.'
In a deflating moment, the Benzite science officer simply placed the ball in Zera's hands and sadly climbed the referee's stand near mid-court.
"Commence game," Veqthar said glumly.
Zera glanced at the ball and Veqthar before looking to the others. "Try not to eat sand?" He indulged a little smile before offering a 'good luck' fist bump to the other team.
Keel reciprocated the fist bump, and pushed the aviators higher on his nose. 'Try to avoid a ball to the face,' he retorted sweetly before turning to Josef.
'You want front or back ... Iceman?' Keel flashed him a smile, hoping he'd get the double-reference appropriate to the man. Surely the centuries in the freezer aisle hadn't addled his memory too much.
As Zera and Dani went to their side of the court, he inspected the ball. "I can defend after the serve if you want to guard the net."
Dani nodded, "I'll do my best."
With their positions sorted, Zera walked to the end of the sand court with the ball. He heard Veqthar say to begin, so he gave the ball a couple quick spins in his hands. Two was the golden number. The Academy hadn't been that long ago for him, so the muscle memory from his two years on the team was still sharp. He glanced briefly to the opposite side of the court to scope a target, then focused on the ball as he tossed it into the air and hit it.
The ball sailed straight over the net at a sharp angle, moving directly past Keel, forcing him to backpedal. Kneeling into the sand and sending it spraying, he caught the ball with an upward swing from his fist, just catching it with enough force to send it heading back over the net. He's damned good, he thought, suddenly realising that this wouldn't be a walk in the park.
The ball managed to land to an area Zera had occupied, Dani dove forward to catch the ball before it hit the ground, setting the ball up to be saved for another volley.
Veqthar had been meticulous by even amateur volleyball refereeing standards, once calling a net violation on Dani when it was more likely the sensor had been triggered by a gust of wind. Dani had taken it in stride though. Her heart wasn't in the game, she was more interested in watching Kash teach Osirin some basic skills.
Court 2's match was over quickly, with neither side putting up much of a defense, points were earned quickly and Josef was more than pleased to be on the winning team while neither Dani nor Zera seemed too upset by the loss.
The game on Court 1 stretched longer and had gathered quite a few spectators. It was a mixture of locals, Astrea crew, and other interested parties who were passing through Starbase 773. Watching a volleyball tournament this far out from Earth was more than a way to spend an afternoon--it was a downright spectacle.
~continued in Part II~
Lt. Commander Ryan Keel
Chief of Diplomatic Intelligence
USS Astrea
Sub-Lieutenant Osirin Acainus
Mission Advisor
USS Astrea
Josef Forstinger
Civillian
USS Astrea
Ensign Kash th'Kaasniik
Operations Officer
USS Astrea
(NPC of Remy Johansen)
Ensign Zera Leyar
Operations Officer
USS Astrea
(NPC of Jezra Siv)
Ensign Dani Harper
Science Officer
USS Astrea
(NPC of Remy Johansen)
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