Posted by Commander Mason Black (Executive Officer) in Arrival on the Odin - The search for room 717

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Paris Carisi (Armorer/Physicist) in Arrival on the Odin - The search for room 717
Paris sat almost bouncing with excitement as the Odin loomed closer and closer from the small window of the shuttle. The commendations Mason received for his bravery and valor had brought him from the USS Asimov to a ship three if not four times larger. The small intimate crew they had left was being replaced with a population of hundreds and Mason was going to be in charge of all of them. Everyone dreamed of being the captain yet the crew always turned to the executive officer for personal and professional matters. Mason was this man and he excelled at it. Squeezing his hand as she watched them moving towards their new home, Paris felt a wave of peace and happiness fill her. Soon their future would be filled with so many firsts: Their first anniversary, their first child, their first home.

Beside her Mason was somewhat calmer, but he held Paris’ hand and squeezed it back with a content smile. Outwardly everything looked like the disastrous events on the colony of Beltran II had resulted in advancement in his and Paris’ careers as Officers in Starfleet. They had discovered the secrets the private colonization corporation had been trying to hide moments before the colony was destroyed in a natural disaster that the corporation knew would happen. They had survived the disaster and the attempt of the corporation to silence them, evacuated a number of colonists to safety and in the aftermath, testified at the inquiry and halted the massive insurance scam payout that the corporation had been trying to pull without conscience of the lives lost on Beltran II. Their reward, commendations of Starfleet honors and a transfer from the light cruiser to the Odin, the Flagship of the Federations Meridian Fleet.

Inwardly things weren’t so positive for part of Mason’s life. His family were large scale jewelers and merchants of precious gems on Deneva, and in the aftermath of the inquiry his family business had experienced a number of setbacks as particular partners and customers suddenly withdrew contracts or suddenly required early settlement on business loans. Mason wasn’t truly worried, his family knew the business and their products were sought after, they had already taken steps to secure their borders as it were. Still, Mason felt uncomfortable that the reach of the corporation, even in defeat, was felt by people close to him.

Mason squeezed Paris’ hand once again, no matter what he knew that this woman would be beside him. Everything was good when they were together and her fire and drive always made him want to simply do better. His smile turned to a grin as he thought about her, and especially the way they had first become a ‘couple’ as her attempt to divert her mothers attention from her love life backfired with her parent’s surprise arrival on the Asimov. As a pure reactive decision, Mason had ‘agreed’ to play along and the two of them had been a couple ever since.

As they neared the ship, Paris looked at Mason, “How big is the USS Odin,” she asked again. When Mason told her they were being transferred to a larger vessel she really hadn’t thought much about the size. Seeing the Mythology ship was far different than just reading a spec.

“Seven hundred meters long,” he explained. “You know that game I like, rugby, despite that phobia of oval and small round balls I suddenly developed?” He paused and looked at her for a moment, a look of complete seriousness on his face but a smirk behind his eyes. “It is the same length as seven rugby fields and almost as wide as five of them side by side. Forty Five decks, split 50/50 between saucer and main hull. She’s big love, one of the biggest designs in Starfleet. It can carry around a thousand crew and civilians as part of its normal complement.”

“So it’s basically a floating colony,” she laughed laying her head on his shoulder. Right now Paris would hold his hand, curl up on his arm, and tell him every five minutes out loud she loved him. Once they were on the ship, they would have to tone it down some but the key to that sentence was on the ship.

“Pretty much,” he said and toyed with the ring on her finger that held the Denevan Fire Crystal that was his family’s heirloom which he gave her on their engagement. “And not a single volcano or bug colony in sight, I promise that much.” He gave the statement an exclamation mark with a kiss on her head, resting his cheek against it afterwards.

“You know how much I love you,” she asked staring off with her head on his shoulder. “Enough to follow you halfway across the galaxy and then into the unknown. Kiss me like you miss me,” she said as the captain of the shuttle announced they were landing in the hangar on the Odin. Tonight there would be plenty of unpacking and time to spend together. Paris just wanted these last few seconds of Paris and Mason before it became Commander and Lt. Commander.

Lt Commander Paris “soon to be Black” Carisi Armorer.

Reaching up, Mason’s fingers tilted her face towards his and he smiled down into her eyes. Bright blue and clear as day, he always felt his own pale grey-green’s being drawn into them as if he could never escape her pull. It was a sensation Mason craved whenever he was away from her and treasured when he was close to her. “Your command is my desire, especially now that you get to handle my weapon for a living,” he said gently and waggled his eyebrows for emphasis. Not letting the laugh on her lips pass, he let his lips find hers before the shuttle arrived at their destination.

Commander Mason Black, XO

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Hangar Bay USS Odin
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Paris looked around at the hangar and whistled. “Okay so where do we go now,” she asked looking at Mason.

“I would have thought someone would have been here to meet us,” she glanced around as if looking for something. “Maybe we should just ask someone,” Paris posed the question all women posed when they doubted their man had any idea where they were going.

“Excuse me,” she held up a finger to Mason as she approached a man working on a shuttle. “We just arrived on the ship,” she motioned back to Mason.

“Did you now,” Earl gave Paris a warm smile in a friendly tone. Maybe his luck was changing. She was blonde, seemed nice, and didn’t have a neck that could blind you. That was all Earl needed on his checklist.

“Could you possibly tell me where room 717 is?” Paris smile back. Her mom always said you caught more flies with honey than vinegar. She was not out to make friends but find a bed instead of a shuttle seat for a decent night’s sleep. If a smile would do that she would grin like a jack o’ lantern.

“Yep okay so you are looking for Room 717. I think that is on deck seven. Lemme check though,” the man held up a finger and boldly bellowed across the space, “Hey Earl. Seven one seven. That is on deck seven?” The tone of the man’s voice did not sound confident for belonging to the deck officer in charge.

“Why you wanna know,” Frankie yelled back gruffly.

“Because we got two new crew here and they want directions,” Earl shot back. “Can’t you just answer the darn question?”

“Why can’t you? You have been on the ship for the same amount of years I have,” Frankie shot back.

In truth, neither man knew exactly where a single room was on the ship. The Odin was massive. The rooms had rooms and room numbers but whoever really looked at room number. You needed to get to the mess hall, you found the room and pretty much memorized where it was based on your surroundings. This went for other common areas like the sickbay, transporter room, rec decks, and your quarters. Who really memorized room numbers and when did you need them? Well other than when you new like Paris and Mason.

“You are a real piece of work Frankie. A real piece of work,” Earl adjusted his hat turning back to Mason and Paris. The tall man with the dark hair seemed a tad old for a cadet. The blonde with him was a looker and might have been someone he would have turned the ol’ Synder charm on excpet for the large gem on her ring finger. “Take the turbo to deck seven. Go down about fifteen yards. It’s on your right. You can’t miss it,” Earl assured Mason.

Earl and Frankie....the first two who don’t know room numbers.