MISSION START That favour...

Posted on Fri Oct 24th, 2025 @ 12:18pm by Captain Jaivir Vohra & Captain Bethsabée Leroux & CLO-VR

Mission: Royal Mail
Location: Subspace communication
Timeline: Day 450
1871 words - 3.7 OF Standard Post Measure

There was always a sort of sound that could only be compared to a spring breeze rushing through the fresh leaves right before CLO-VR appeared. She'd vehemently deny projecting the sound, but there was definitely no technical reason why a hologram shimmering into appearance would make any sound at all. "Captain," Even though it was an honorific, it was clear it was stated without much deference in her tone. "We're within comms range of the Earth vessel Atlantis."

It wasn't strictly the Captain's chair.

That is to say, it absolutely was, because Vohra was sitting in it and nobody else on the Kama Nova had any desire to usurp the title any time soon, but there was a general understanding that the central position wasn't really indicative of total command. He called, by Vohra's own calculation, about 80% of the shots, 85% on a good day, but it was a little hard to argue with the fact that nobody actually took the ship where the ship didn't want to go. There was a line of thought that suggested he had very little say in the decision-making, falling more into the managerial aspect of doing all the ruddy dirty work. It was wrong but only by a little bit.

He slouched, a bit. Lounging was a whole mood and nonchalance sometimes came off as charismatic. Glancing up from the padd he'd been making a show of studying, he flashed a smile at the deadpan apparition of unholy torment and gave her a thumbs up.

"Let's give them a call then."

Beth had not expected the summons to the communication centre was Lexi sat there looking worried as she waited for the captain to appear. “They just contacted in the communication code you gave them and requested to speak privately to you Captain.” Lexi explained as she stood from the seat to let the woman sit down and access the communication console.

“Well then I better speak to them privately then Ensign.” The Captain said smiling a little as she sat down heavily in the chair and took the headset. She waited for the blonde to leave the compartment before she flicked the screen on and plastered a smile on her face. “Good Afternoon Captain.” She greeted softly. “Bit of a surprise to be summoned.”She admitted.

"Well, couldn't let it go too much longer without checking in with my favourite Earth Stargeek captain."

There was a slight ripple to the transmission, a blip that might have passed for a subspace clearing of the throat, though was likely just background noise. After all, it wasn't as if the communication relay had any kind of opinion about Vohra's antics, not if it knew what was good for it.

Leaning sideways to talk into his personal monitor, Javir ignored the squiggle that rendered Leroux's features distorted for a split second and offered the woman a beaming smile. "How is life in our neck of the woods treating you?"

“Earth Starfleet but close enough.” The woman corrected with a slightly chuckle.She had bend intrigued by the man since she had ast met him as he was human but he had no idea about Earth or anything. “We have a stayed out of trouble so there has been no need for my favourite non Earth Starfleet Captain to save my crew.” Beth answered back with a smirk as she looked at the the screen carefully this was unusual but she was starting to think that her debt might be called in.

CLO-VR shimmered into existence just slightly out of the picture and crossed her arms, looking at Vohra in a way that made it abundantly clear that even with her vast neural network, she had very little patience for this little song and dance. She muted the outgoing audio, "You'll have more than enough time to wine and dine her once we're on her ship. They need to divert course within the next half hour in order to be able to make the rendezvous."

All that transmitted via the video feed was a deadpan roll of the eyes towards a mark outside of view, though unless Leroux was gifted in lip reading, Vohra's retort was likely lost.

"Which means getting her to agree is tip-top priority. Trust me, Tink, you don't just tell a woman like Bethsabee Leroux that they're duty-bound to assist you." He flounced his hand in general towards the screen. "And now you're wasting time on charades. I'm getting to the point, scout's honor."

Beth raised an eyebrow as the feed was muted and she attempted to work out what was being said but it was useless other than she made out her name. She sat there patiently waiting as the other captain indicated in her direction again.

"Apologies," Vohra offered, his gaze briefly monopolised with the finishing touches of a pointed look before switching back to the viewscreen. The flip into casual good humour was a little more pronounced by comparison but not wholly insincere. "Slight hiccup with my auto-pilot."

“Well whoever you were talking to is more than welcome to join us but shall we get to what you need.” She suggested smiling a little more as the sound came back on.

"Hopefully, a mutually beneficial proposition, Captain. We've got a bit of an unusual contract, one that would benefit from a tad more space than we have to offer." Vohra shifted in his seat to lean forward a little, hardly a necessary conspiratorial gesture but worth a shot in any case. "How do you feel about hosting alien dignitries?"

Beth smiled at the man a little more not entirely sure how it would be beneficial right now but she would at least humour him a little. “Depends on what would entail in hosting duties and how this would be mutually beneficial other than clearing my debt with yourself?” She wondered.

"Whoa, whoa." Vohra held his hands up, a gesture that was both defensive and placating. "Debt is such a harsh word, I'd like to think we were just in the right place at the right time with the right information. I don't make a habit of letting people get eaten by the scenery."

He winked, followed by a glance off-screen that once more interrupted his expression.

"Listen, last we spoke, you guys were a bit worried about your resource management. Given the trek ahead of you, I'd say that's not an unfair concern and the best way I can think to stabilise your situation is to find some trade options. This is a high-paying job with an influential delegation and your ship is bigger than mine." Shrugging as he laid it on the line, Javir then angled an index finger so that it pointed off-screen and swiped it, as if the information he was about to offer could be that swiftly deployed. "I'll send you over the details, just know that I've been informed you have less than an hour to make a course-correction if you want to be punctual."

CLO-VR didn't want to undermine the captain, since his persuading of the people on the other end of the line was paramount to getting this contact properly handled. She made sure to prepare the information package and piggyback it on the connection made between the two vessels. "Twenty-seven minutes." She corrected the wildly optimistic estimate.

Vohra's smile didn't dim, though it did appear a little plastered into place, giving the impression that the screen had frozen for a split second. "Apologies, Captain, there seems to be an echo on the line."

Beth looked at the information as it appeared through the communication array and nodded softly. "Your echo is right to give me a reminder on the timing." She murmured, her smile still in place.

"Yes, well, it doesn't really need its ego inflated further." The flicker of a deadpan was almost immediately replaced by the same smile, replastered. "You won't be on your own, I'm not about to abandon you with some alien dignitry and waltz off into the sunset. This job is just likely to run a lot more smoothly, and be a lot more lucrative, if our guest is...comfortable. An opportunity for you to get your name out there among the local trade networks, and a chance for me not to have to share my bed with some scaly princess." Vohra's brow furrowed in recollected distaste. "Again."

Beth sat back in her chair and thought about everything he had said as she flicked through the items that had been sent to her. He was very correct that they needed to get their name out there among trade routes. “So how many people do I need to arrange quarters… rooms for?” She wondered bringing up the crew master list so she could work it out instead of stressing her quartermaster out.

"One VIP, three consorts, six bodyguards, and a chef." CLO-VR stepped into the frame as she lost her patience waiting for the inefficiencies of Vohra 'woo'ing' the Earth vessel's Captain.

Beth raised an eyebrow at scene in front of her. “And what exactly are you?” She wondered thinking of EDEN from the future ship. Was this a precursor to that?

"What? I am the Central Logistics and Operations Virtual Representative of this vessel, you may call me Clover." CLO-VR put her hands behind her back and there was a shimmer of code coursing through her fluorescent blue avatar. "I will send over any additional requirements this contract has stipulated. Do you have a class four recreational facility available on board?" She then waved dismissively, "never mind, we will hook up the external projectors and provide the required facilities in the shuttle bay of your vessel."

Beth had no answer for that but glanced down at the PADD and smiled a little. “With 22 minutes spare you have secured a course correction.” Beth decided to just confirm with them both as she typed out a message to HELM to adjust and she would be there soon to explain.

It took a moment for Vohra to realise his thumbs-up of approval wasn't visible on screen, at which point he hoisted his hand higher and added a grin for good measure. Something about the expression plastered on his face held faint traces of save me energy but his tone remained chipper.

"Then it's a date! Once we get close enough, I'll pop over and we can chat about things in more detail." Without assistance his fixed grin seemed to say.

Without ceremony CLO-VR closed the comms channel. "You're making things way more complicated than absolutely necessary." She shimmered out of view. Her disembodied voice echoed through the small bridge area, "I've notified her Royal highness."

A sniff of reprimanded defiance provoked a toss of Vohra's head before he leaned back in his seat.

"Sometimes the only thing we have to look forward to are the complications we create along the way. You'll understand when you're older. Now," he continued before there could be further critique of his methods, "Let's put the foot down, shall we? A gentleman never leaves a lady waiting."