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Side-sim: Sea breeze

Posted March 28, 2023, 3:33 p.m. by Lieutenant Achilleas Petrakos (Scientist) (Matt Evans)

Posted by Lieutenant Solal Segal (Oncology and Immunology) in Side-sim: Sea breeze

Posted by Lieutenant Achilleas Petrakos (Scientist) in Side-sim: Sea breeze

Posted by Lieutenant Solal Segal (Oncology and Immunology) in Side-sim: Sea breeze
Posted by… suppressed (17) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Achilleas was loitering outside an available holodeck while he waited for Solal. He had the perfect plan for them to hang out and relax in a low energy sort of way while also having lunch. He just needed to punch in the correct holoprogram, make sure his basket of food and stuffs was ready, and show Solal a bit of his childhood.

Sci Petrakos

Solal arrived, not too long after he’d been called by Achilleas. He hadn’t been told what the plan was, just that it was something low energy and relatively safe. Stopping outside the holodeck near Achilleas, he asked, “What are we doing?”

~ Solal

Achilleas answered with action by keying in the holoprogram and watching the door slide open. The sight beyond the door was of a twelve point two meter sailing boat. It was anchored in a gentle sea with barely any rocking to it. “I’m going to show you a favorite pastime of mine as a child. I’ve spent untold hours sailing in the Mediterranean either with family or by myself. Which is not what we’ll be doing but instead fishing while on a boat. Come on.” He led the way into the holodeck and onto the boat with basket still in hand. “Watch your footing.” He called back as he adjusted to the slight rocking.

Sci Petrakos

Solal stepped carefully onto the boat, gripping whatever was nearest for support as he did. “I have never been on a boat,” he commented as he sat. “Sometime I will have to show you the program of Paris V’alura wrote. It is remarkably detailed. I did not grow up in Paris, but at least it is in the same region of Earth as where I am from.” Then he looked around the holographic waters and at the boat, “So, how does one fish?”

~ Solal

Achilleas set down the basket of lunch and other stuff before he got out two fishing poles. He handed one to Solal before pointing out each of the parts of the pole. “So always have your dominant hand on the handle gripping it comfortably but firmly. This is the fly reel and the crank on the side is for reeling in any fish that bite on the line. The reel also important for when you cast out the line. You flip this part up for the line to go out and then you make this sort of motion to cast.” He matched his actions to his words and cast the line out a fair ways. “It will take practice to get good at that so don’t mind that you might not do well at first.” He reeled the line back in and held the hook a safe distance between him and Solal. “You want to be careful of this. Don’t try to cast over your head or in the direction of someone else but from the side where no one is standing. I know that’s common sense but new fishers need even the common sense stuff reiterated to them. Come over to the railing and give a couple casts to get used to it.”

Sci Petrakos

Solal stepped up to the railing and, as instructed, cast from the side. It didn’t make it that far into the water. For a first try it was decent but the movement wasn’t smooth enough to send it further out across the water. Reeling it in and trying again, the line made it out further. The third time was a decent cast out. He reeled it in and turned to Achilleas. “I think I have the general idea.”

~ Solal

Achilleas nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah you’re getting the hang of it! Wonderful!” He made sure to give ample praise for a good effort. “I think the holodeck safeties would prevent the hook from catching somebody but… I’d really rather not test it. Now normally during a fishing trip we’d have to attach bait to the hook but since we’re not fishing for actual fish the program will determine the frequency of how often they’ll bite. So sit over here with me and let’s see how it goes.” He kicked his shoes off to the side then walked to the stern. He took a seat on the edge and dipped his feet into the warm water while he cast his line.

Sci Petrakos

Opting to keep his shoes on and his feet dry, Solal sat next to Achilleas and cast his own line into the water. “I understand this is supposed to be… a meditative sport, of sorts. A way to trick humans into displaying patience.” He kept his focus on the bobber as he spoke.

~ Solal

“I’m not sure that there’s really any trick to it, meditatively or otherwise. It does provide you quiet and a chance to commune with yourself, nature, the fish, or whatever demons are bothering you at that time.” Achilleas shrugged and watched his line bob. “There’s something calming about the gentle rocking of a boat as you ponder things and let the gentle lapping of the water across the hull wash over your mind.”

Sci Petrakos

Solal sat quietly for a few moments, and then nodded. “It isn’t dissimilar to meditation. It’s calming…” His eyes closed for a moment and he missed his bobber going down. By the time he noticed, the fish was gone and he reeled in an empty hook. He recast the line.

~ Solal

“While there was a sport around fishing once upon a time, the majority of people who would go fishing did it for the leisure. Some wanted to bring home fish for a meal and others just wanted to spend time doing the activity. Those ones would release whatever they caught back into the water.” Achilleas provided a bit of background info while just enjoying being on the water, even if it was simulated.

Sci Petrakos

Solal nodded. “I know. I’ve never been fishing, I have heard of it.” He gave Achilleas a look. “In some parts of coastal France, it is still popular, if somewhat frowned upon.” Then he turned his attention back to the water. “You sailed the Mediterranean when you were younger?”

~ Solal

“Oh quite a bit. My family has an olive vineyard on the coast of Greece that has been with us for generations. Typically the eldest child and their partner will stay on with their parents before they pass and then the cycle continues. I’m the youngest of thirteen children so that responsibility didn’t fall to me as is obvious and I was free to pursue my dream of Starfleet.” Achilleas reminisced fondly. “All of my siblings were taught how to sail. Mostly supervised in the beginning or a family cruise. Once you proved yourself you were allowed to bring out smaller boats. Then when you showed some expertise you were allowed to take the bigger boat and go into the ocean.”

Sci Petrakos

Solal nodded. “Thirteen children… That I cannot imagine. My parents wanted one child. They were going to adopt anyway, when I turned up.” He looked at Achilleas, “So why pursue Starfleet? You could have stayed on Earth and sailed for real rather than within a holographic recreation.”

~ Solal

“Sailing is great don’t get me wrong, but at the expense of sounding arrogant sailing has no mystery left in it for me. I enjoy it immensely but it’s not something I could do my whole life. Starfleet on the other hand, and being on a starship specifically, allows you to sail the stars and find a lot of new and interesting things. I was always fascinated with what is out there.” Achilleas said while pointing to the sky.

Sci Petrakos

Solal nodded. He understood that, more than he’d be willing to admit. “I could’ve been a doctor on Earth, in France. I could have worked at my parents’ hospital.” He shrugged, “I chose Starfleet instead.” It hadn’t been a logical choice. He would tell himself it had been, but there was no reason not to stay on Earth. No reason to risk the dangers of space travel. He remembered a mission the ogawa had undertaken after Achilleas left. He’d been exposed to romulan tuberculosis. Thankfully, he’d been vaccinated in time and had not caught the illness. But it had reminded him how dangerous this could be.

~ Solal

It was Achilleas’ turn to nod this time. “I had an invitation to the Daystrom Institute after the Academy but it still wouldn’t have gotten me out here. I’m not a medically focused scientist which might make my decision to come here specifically a confusing one, but the Ogawa needs a wider bevy of specialists than just medical. I think that I’ve done some good here already and I’m looking forward to what else I can do. Besides processing pregnancy test.” He scoffed a little bit at the end.

Sci Petrakos

“Processing pregnancy tests…?” Solal gave Achilleas a look, eyebrow raised. He nodded and shrugged, “There are no shortage of talented doctors in starfleet. I don’t bring anything particularly special to the table, that another doctor couldn’t do. But I am not human, not fully, and I didn’t think it made sense to stay on Earth.”

~ Solal

Achilleas waved a hand. “It was something Kane said during our roundabout conversation. If I couldn’t give him a concrete idea of what I brought ‘to the table’ then I’d end up processing pregnancy tests. As if medical can’t just wave a tricorder and find out.” He shook his head. “It’s sad to think that we’re ultimately easy to replace for our jobs.”

Sci Petrakos

Solal shrugged. “Such is the nature of things. It would be illogical to have a job only one person could fill.” He looked into the water and shrugged again. “If Starfleet doesn’t like how this illness looks, they could retire me. If they think I won’t be able to do my job anymore. Depending on how bad I get, they would be right to do so. Other doctors could possibly do my job better than me if my brain doesn’t recover.”

~ Solal

Achilleas thought of that somber notion. “It doesn’t seem as if Dr Bonner is making much headway in a treatment or cure. I get that you’re incredibly stubborn in not ‘being a bother’ and so you’re not getting treated as often as you likely should, but shouldn’t it be more effective? What if you don’t get better?”

Sci Petrakos


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