Meeting the Captain

Posted on Thu Apr 17th, 2025 @ 11:32pm by Captain Kelly O'Connor & Lieutenant JG Axel Heskin

1,835 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Mission 8 - A Blast from the Past
Location: Gymnasium
Timeline: 2296/03/04 1600

Axel walked along the corridor of the ship, his goal the gymnasium. He was hoping to find an area to where he could do some handball practice. He wore a pair of dark blue shorts which hit an inch above his knees, Paired with the dark blue shorts would be a light blue t-shirt, and his runners were dark grey. Over one shoulder he had draped a towel and had a bottle of water in his left hand.

The door opened to the Gym, Axel gazing at the set up. A track for running, a place to lift weights, exercise bikes, to name a few. He walked inside, going to an area where he could do some warmup exercises before he started his run around the track. He didn't wish to get any sort of leg cramps. He sat down and began.

A petite redheaded woman strutted into the gym. She wore simple bright red short-shorts that left little to the imagination and showed off her powerful leg muscles. She wore a crop top black T-shirt that showed her porcelain midriff. As she got closer, Axel could tell that the woman had green eyes and a scowl on her face. Anyone else who was in the gymnasium pointedly away from the woman, who everyone else knew to be the Captain.

She sat down near Axel and started stretching. She was purposeful in her stretches, as if she was on a mission to conquer her own body.

He gave a nod towards the redhead, concentrating on his stretches. Axel wondered who this woman was, and yet didn't wish to question her as he didn't want to interrupt her. Companionable silence. That was what he felt. Once he felt warmed up enough he rose from his position, to bend over to stretch his legs a bit more. Then, he moved towards the track. A drink of water from his bottle, Axel placed the bottle on the side, and put his towel there. He was ready to start his run. He moved his neck to loosen it up, rotated his shoulders, then he set off down the track at an easy pace.

O'Connor was curious. She got a nod. Most people did not do that when they saw her. They usually looked away or ran in terror. It was even a great deal of fun to torture Brian Pendragon that way. So, who in the world was this guy? She finished her stretches and decided to run after him. Catching up easily, the diminutive woman said, "I don't know you. Where did you come from?"

A glance from Axel, noting that she was keeping up with him, then again he was at a leisurely pace, though her leg muscles indicated she had strength in them. "I am Lieutenant Axel Heskin, I am the Assistant Chief of Science. I am new." He rounded the bend of the track, still at his easy pace. It will be one full lap before he picked up a bit more speed. "And you?"

"Me?" she asked Lieutenant as he picked up pace and she matched it, a crooked smile forming on her face. "Someone who should have found out about your arrival the moment that you appeared. Who did you check in with when you got on the ship?"

"No one as of yet. I just got my quarters, then needed to do my running." Axel responded. "I have a strict schedule I must maintain, then I will report into the Captain, once I am cleaned up and in my uniform." He gave a sidelong glance towards the redhead, as they rounded the track, where he picked up his speed a bit more.

The redhead matched his pace, mischief sparkling in her green eyes. "I think I should report you to her. There is a strict protocol when boarding a ship. You are required to report to your superior officer and/or the Captain upon coming on board any Starfleet ship. That is how you get your clearance, routine notwithstanding." She clucked her tongue and said, "You really should have reported to the Chief of Science first. I know she's a pretty redhead."

"Ah yes I did meet her. It was a rather short conversation. That had slipped my mind. And you are right, that is the only way I could have gained access to this." Axel picked up his speed after the next lap came about. He was using his bottle as a marking point. His face was expressionless not seeming to be phased at the woman who was running with him. His mind though, was putting together the puzzle which ran next to him.

"You hardly remember meeting your chief?" O'Connor asked picking up her pace. "And such a pretty redhead? Perhaps we should have you examined. Doctors Stallworth or Devin should really have a good look at you." She smirked over at Axel. "Yes, I think I should hit the comm panel and declare the medical emergency."

A slight smirk, breaking the icy visage of Axel. "I had done a research of redheads. Not all redheads are the same. Some can give quite an impression while others do not. Yes, she is pretty but, she is the department head, and I do not wish to-- cross the line with her. We are in the same line of work. Thus, I will not cross that line." A glint appeared in Axel's eyes, picking up even more speed, this time he was going to truly test the redhead beside him. And he was having fun as well.

"Not all redheads are the same? Is that a fact?" O'Connor asked with a smirk. "I would have never known if you had not told me. After all, we're all soulless creatures, befriended of the devil...." She picked up the pace effortlessly.

"Yada yada yada" Axel shrugging as he ran, "One more lap, then we'll see who wins. Yes? No? Mabye a tie?" He kicked into high gear, he loved running especially top speed, He had been likened to being a human cheetah. "That water bottle on the sideline that is the finish line."

O'Connor laughed, as she sprinted. "See you at the finish line, loser!" She gave him a wave as she took the lead.

An ear to ear grin became evident, Axel picking up his speed to where they were running neck to neck and the water bottle was becoming closer and closer. "Loser, eh?" he laughed.

Did he just take the lead?! O'Connor's brows furrowed. She was furious. Well, there was no way in hell that she was about to lose a race. They had not agreed on rules, so O'Connor did what any rational Captain would. She dove at Axel's legs, tackled him like a rugby player, just shy of the finish line. Once he was down, she popped up, and practically danced past the finish line. "Yes, loser," she informed him in a cheery, singsong voice with a hint of an Irish accent.

Axel could have sworn he had stars whirling around his head, the redhead could certainly tackle. He was dazed for a moment, only a moment, then looked towards the dancing redhead. He sat up from his prone position shaking his head. "No holds bar was it? Don't like to lose I take it?" his accent having a light Danish tone to it. He got up and moved across the imaginary finish line. then picked up his bottle.

"Captains cannot afford to lose. It is not my fault that you did not specify any rules to our race," she informed him haughtily. "Consider yourself having reported in, now."

"Well, that was actually a good check-in point." Axel took a drink of his water. "Would it be wrong for me to ask for an update as to what sort of mission we'll be dealing with?"

"Right now, boring reconnaissance of the neutral zone," O'Connor responded with a roll of her eyes. "We get all 'the exciting jobs.'" There was a great deal of sarcasm in her voice when she mentioned "the exciting jobs."

"I see, and you are someone who needs some sort of action but light a match and you are filled with enough power like TNT. No disrespect intended, Captain. Is there anything in particular we are searching for? Or just making the rounds to be sure we don't have trouble." Axel mopped his brow with the towel. "What do you like to do, Captain, besides utilizing your tackle?"

O'Connor favored Axel with a crooked smile. "That's right. Give me the action. We're just on a routine mission. Watching for any signs of trouble and scientific studies. It is about as exciting as going to sleep, unofficially. As to what I like to do, Mr. Heskin, well, I'm an old security officer. I like to stay fit and keep active. Nobody here has beat me in racquetball. Anything more, well, Mr. Heskin, might be prying."

"I've not played racquetball but I do play handball. Do you know how to play handball? Maybe similar to racquetball? That might be interesting to find out if handball and raquetball are similar, Perhaps we can look at the rules and find out sometime, as I would like to see just how good you are in either one." Axel gave a slight shrug and a half smile.

"Are you really challenging me?" O'Connor asked amused at Axel's audacity.

"Mmaybe, but it is also to see if the skills for either sport is the same. And if you are better than I, then that means I can learn from you. Logical, from my side of things. What do you think, if you have someone willing to give you challenge, that makes things more fun. Doesn't it?" Axel had a bit of a grin. Maybe later on he could blame the tackle that the Captain had done to win the race, for him having audacity, but, nothing wrong with a challenge, will make him more skilled.

"Handball is not dissimilar from racquetball," O'Connor answered with a knowing grin. "Challenging the Captain. Well, you have guts, I'll give you that, Mister Heskin. Set the date with my yeoman and I'll be happy to bury you."

"Or I will bury you, Captain." Axel gave Kelly a wink. "Always winning at something, makes life too boring don't you think?" Axel draped his towel around his neck, "I shall bid you adieu, Captain."

"Winning is all that is worth living for," O'Connor called back. She was not certain what to think of Axel. However, she was becoming fairly certain that she either would like him very much or want to kill him. Either way, it would be a good time for her.

Axel just tsked at the Captain. "Such an interesting captain, I must say." Wanting to always win just isn't healthy. Especially if that is what someone is obsessing over and wouldn't even want to accept a defeat gracefully. Shrugging Axel went to his own quarters.

 

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