The Arrivals
Posted on Fri Jun 12th, 2026 @ 10:11am by Lieutenant Muffy Harrington
1,534 words; about a 8 minute read
The Arrivals
Lieutenant Commander Toulaine
Lieutenant Muffy Harrington
USS Churchill
Stardate: 2396.12.06
Time: 1900 hours
Begin Log
The shuttle Arapahoe came within hailing distance of Starbase 13. As per protocol, a cold, female voice crackled to life in the ops station. “This is the Shuttle Arapahoe with personnel bound for the USS Churchill. Permission to dock.”
The ops officer looked at the list of expected arrivals and then replied. “Shuttle Arapahoe, what personnel do you have on board?”
A female giggle sounded over the com “Well, I’m Lieutenant Muffy Harrington and the pilot is Lieutenant Commander Toulaine. Don’t you have the manifest of what this shuttle carries? I though ops was supposed to be on top of everything.”
The cold voice spoke again. “Muffy, sit down and be quiet, you are breaking protocol.”
Muffy signed and flounced down in her seat again and turned her back on Toulaine. “Fine.” She said, a little hurt.
The cold voice replied to the Starbase. “I am sorry for my friend’s excitement, she tends to say whatever comes to mind and she’s always excited about a new posting.”
Those in ops had stopped what they were doing and listened to Muffy gush and Toulaine reprimand and smiled at each other. They wondered if Captain Stewart knew what he was getting with these two women. Then the ops officer opened the channel back to the Arapahoe.
“Shuttle Arapahoe, you are expected, Please go to the secondary docking ring and berth 3. Directions to your prepared quarters will be uploaded to you when you dock. Welcome aboard Starbase 13. A message has been sent to Captain Stewart that you have arrived and where you are quartered here.”
Tounaine answered crisply. “Thank you Starbase 13. We shall proceed to the secondary docking ring and berth 3. Arapahoe out.” Then she closed the channel and carefully guided the shuttle into the assigned berth before turning to look at Muffy.
Muffy was still upset and was still staring at the back of the shuttle and the sleeping bunks. “Muffy, you have to learn how to guard your tongue, such uncontrolled outbursts cause more problems than solve them. I want this new beginning as much as you do and I’m just as excited, but I keep that to myself so that I don’t say something I shouldn’t. Please, understand, with me you can speak unfiltered all you want, but with anyone else, until they have proven safe, we have to keep certain things close to the vest.”
Slowly, Muffy turned and looked at Toulaine and then nodded her understanding. “So pretend I am visiting with my biological family and act accordingly.”
“Well, not as bad as that. Your family is…well…sorry but they are elitist snobs. I am so grateful you escaped that world. Now, let’s find our quarters here and then go get some food. I already miss Ian’s cooking.”
Muffy smiled. “Oh, so do I. I am so grateful he left behind that world of snobbery and found us and married Alice. She needed a good partner and he’s the best.” Muffy stood and slapped her thighs. “Okay, let’s go see what there is to see on this Starbase.” Without thinking about it, Muffy picked up both her and Toulaine’s travel bags and waited for Toulaine to stand and collect her special pillow that helped her sit for prolonged periods without suffering too badly. Then she waved for Toulaine to lead the way.
Toulaine limped down the corridor and found the two sets of quarters next to each other. “Well, at least they are next door to each other.” Muffy said and followed Toulaine into hers and dropped the travel bag on the bed for her. “I’m going to shower and clean up and I’ll meet you here in about 30 minutes. Okay?
Toulaine need and thanks Muffy for the help and then made her way into her bathing room and closed the door behind her.
Muffy left and went to her own quarters and dropped her own travel bag on the bed and opened it up and took out an informal uniform and put it through the refresher to take out any wrinkles and odors and then went to bathe and found all she had was a sonic shower. So she turned it on and adjusted the settings, stripped and then stripped into the box of a shower and closed the door and washed in the various frequencies used in sonic showers to get rid of dead skin cells and any body odor and then shook her hair out and brushed it in the sound barrage and all the hairs that fell out naturally were also destroyed by the sound waves. Then she turned off the shower and used the wiping cloth to remove any dust still clinging to her skin until her skin felt soft and smooth again. She then lotioned up, and went out and put on the clean uniform and brushed her hair and tied it back into a ponytail and added a little moisturizer to her face and was ready to go. She slipped into deck shoes and left to get Toulaine.
Toulaine met Muffy at the door, also in a uniform and cleaned up and ready to go. From the lack of a grimace, Muffy knew that Toulaine had used some of her pain medication, but she still took it easy to not distress her friend and sister of choice.
On the civilian decks they found a restaurant they both could agree on and went in and took a booth near the back corner and Toulaine sat with her back to the wall, watching both the entrance of the restaurant and the doors to the kitchen.
Muffy flopped down with all the ease and grace of a teenager and pulled her feet into her lap and started looking over the menu.
The server came over and set down utensils and napkins and glasses of water and asked if they were ready to order. Toulaine glanced at the server and then at the menu. “I will start with Andorian Cabbage stew, and then I want the double bacon cheeseburger and water to drink.” The server stiffened at the cold way Toulaine ordered and turned quickly from her to the smiling Muffy.
Muffy sent a quick look at Toulaine and then smiled at the girl who was serving them. “I would like the double cheeseburger, the largest basket of fries you have and an extra large chocolate shake with two glasses and straws and long handled spoons for both along with whipped cream and cherries on top. I want ketchup on the side and a lot of ketchup. On her burger, she wanted extra sauteed onions, extra dill pickles, and lettuce leaves, no mustard, mayo, or tomato or anything else. Thank you and oh, I will start with an order of mozzarella sticks and marinara dip for them and a lot of the dip.” The server smiled and nodded and wrote down the orders and took them to the kitchen.
Toulaine looked at Muffy. “I think it’s funny that she is afraid of the healer and turns for comfort from the woman who figured out how to weaponize estrogen”
“It’s because you put off the leave me alone vibe and the keep your distance vibe and I give off the pleasant, welcoming vibe. People do respond to how you appear and that scowl has been known to make brave men pee themselves. Whereas my smile has and even made a rival feel safe and secure around me. I will let you think on that.” Muffy answered.
“Show off.” Toulaine muttered and then the starts came out and she turned her attention to her stew and savored the food from her childhood, a happier time and a happier place.
Muffy hummed delightedly as she crunched her way through the deep fried mozzarella sticks. Then came the burgers, fries, and shakes. Muffy put the basket of fries within easy reach of herself and Toulaine and pushed one of the two shakes to Toulaine and a large silver canister with the same amount of shake in it was ready to refill as needed. Muffy then drug a few fries through her shake and scooped out the decadent chocolate shake with the fries and devoured both before turning to her burger.
When dinner was over, Muffy and Toulaine walked together, arm in arm through the civilian decks and stopped to enjoy a natural park area on the Starbase and looked up into the stars above them. They spoke of memories of sleeping out of doors when the weather was too hot to sleep indoors and the sounds of the night creatures and insects and how they both missed them.
“Well, it is now 22:30 hours, we need to get some sleep before we meet Captain Stewarat later.” The two women headed back to their quarters and wished each other good night and fell asleep, both to dream of the farm/ranch they both loved so much and missed so bad it was almost a physical pain. Tomorrow was another day, another adventure.
End Log
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