Athletic Recruitment

Posted on Thu Mar 7th, 2024 @ 9:01pm by Commander Fan Shuren & Lieutenant Minerva Zephyrin

1,732 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Season 1, Episode 0: "A Time To Heal"
Location: Starbase 5 (main); Roma Nueva (flashback)
Timeline: April 2403

The USS Zee-Magnees was parked in orbit of Starbase 5. The youngest crewmembers were still recovering from their trauma following the incident on Frontier Day and many were being transferred to medical ships stopping in transit at the base. The Zee-Magnees herself still needed some repairs and while Starbase engineers were on board, command training courses were cancelled. Instead, the soon-to-be COs and XOs studying under Commodore Laurul had been given a task: find gaps in the senior staff of their next assignments and, pending approval of their future Captains if necessary, find suitable candidates.

Lieutenant Commander Fan Shuren was therefore incredibly happy to find out that one of the other ships temporarily stationed at Starbase 5 was the USS Richelieu. And the ship was only there for repairs and not in need of much medical support. So obviously her Assistant CMO could be spared for a game of basketball in the Starbase's plentiful gym facilities. Shuren waited, dressed for the occasion and practising from the free-throw line, waiting for an old friend to arrive.

Lieutenant Minerva Zephyrin walked into the gym and just watched the Asian woman taking shots from the free-throw line from that entrance, leaning against the wall as she did so, twisting the braid she’d already tied her hair in and making a sort of tiara out of it. The reddish blonde nearly matched the freckles she had, those few of them, but she knew that her friend had asked her here for some reason other than just a basketball game. Call it a hunch. But even if she were wrong and it was just for a quick game, she’d still enjoy it.

She jogged over slowly, conserving energy for what was to come and slowing to a walk before crossing over the line to the proper court, “Breathe out, shoot, breathe in.” She reminded Shuren as the broad smile crossed her face, “You’re still breathing out as you’re shooting!”

“It’s been a hard habit to break,” Shuren admitted. She grinned and passed her old friend the ball. “How’s life on the Richelieu?” she asked as she got into a defensive stance, ready to block a shot or a move closer to the net.

Minerva chuckled and dribbled, faking a move as she made a between her own-legs move before backing out and cross-stepped to the left, eying the basket, "Oh, you know, the same old same old, natural disasters, pirates, pirates and welfare checks on planets. Nothing exciting, really." She once more made a move towards the inside before stepping back and taking a jump shot, the ball just over the outstretched hand of Shuren, before banking in off the backboard, "We're in for a longer repair right now, something about upgrading the weapons and deflector."

“Still working for Doctor Wollstein?” Shuren asked as she caught the ball and dribbled it toward the other half of the court. “He probably loves the downtime for weapons upgrades. More time for his staff to clean, drill, clean, drill, clean, and then maybe drill again.” She turned her back to dribble backward and try and push Minerva closer to the basket.

Minerva placed a hand on Shuren's back, then reached around to take a quick swipe at the ball, but missed and instead had to take a step back to get back between her and the hoop, then set her feet to prevent any further advances on the other officer's attack on the basket, "Oh, he loves it indeed. We've had five hours of drills a day, in fact, we're due to have an explosion drill in about oh.... Ten minutes from now, 'volunteers' are getting ready to be brought into sickbay to simulate burn victims, limb loss, all the like, with tags to indicate what the damage is. I had an unavoidable trip I just *had* to take off-ship, so I got excused for this one, in return for running the midnight drill for the night shift nurses."

Shuren smirked and tried to take a shot, but this time the added inch Minerva had over her was enough that her old friend was able to deflect the shot and take control. “Sounds like you have the situation well in hand then. You probably don’t want to hear my offer.” She resumed her defensive footwork, ready to get the ball back.

"Sorry, Shuren, I'm straight." Minerva winked at her before making a drive towards the basket, but even with a bump against the asian woman, never got her own shot off. A quick hand from her opponent flicked in and knocked the ball out of her possession. Her own momentum kept her going and she left the ball behind, hands fumbling to try to get it and failing, "What sort of offer are you trying to make?" She was intrigued even as she tried to catch up to where Shuren was speeding, knowing now the real reason she'd been asked to come for a game.

Shuren gave a quiet ugh at Minerva’s joke and then smiled when the intrigue caught up with her friend. “I’ve got a promotion coming,” she said. “First Officer of the Yorktown. I want you there. We’ll swap out that hollow pip of yours for a solid one, and you’ll run sickbay. How does that sound?” She took her shot, both with her friend and with the ball. Where would they both land?

The shot was nothing but net. There was only a token attempt at contesting it, both in part to the question but also from the position that Minerva was forced to defend from. The ball bounced a couple of times before Minerva was able to make it over to retrieve it, which she did far more slowly than she'd started out doing. She then began to dribble idly while watching Shuren to be sure she wasn't just joking around, "You're serious." She remarked before making a stutter step before spinning to her right to roll around the defensive posture that Shuren had taken, driving down the end court line almost behind the basket, skirting the out of bounds but not quite, reaching around the adjusting Shuren to roll the ball off her fingertips into a beautiful off-balance layup that slipped through the net, "I'm in if you can swing it, even if I don't get the extra half-pip."

“It’s already swung,” Shuren replied as she took the ball and started dribbling it forward. “My command class has been working with Commander Karibuchi, soon to be Captain of the Yorktown. It’s considered—“ she was interrupted by Minerva’s very skilled interception and her own shift back to defense, “it’s considered good training to give prospective XOs some choice in senior staff. Easy A for me, since I already know one of the best doctors in the fleet. So the job’s yours. I’ll send details when we’re done.” Seeing another successful shot from Minerva she let out a breath. “Sooner than I expected. You’re kicking my ass here.”

"A new assignment, but what if I don't want to leave Richelieu?" Minerva blocked the next shot right back at Shuren, who caught it and zipped around her for a free basket, "Never mind that question.. Wollstein never liked my methods, but I'm just very thorough." She took the ball down the court again and popped a three-point shot without hesitation, then followed the ball in as she realized it was going to bounce off the rim, "How soon do I leave Richelieu? Won't take me that long to pack."

“Take your time.” Shuren beat her to the ball and started bringing it back. “We’re not launching for two months. I have another five weeks of training in the Zee-Magnees, the Captain is still parsecs away, and the ship isn’t even finished. So don’t rush to leave.” She faked left and when Minerva didn’t fall for it ended up checking her to the floorboards before taking a shot. “It’s on fire!” she cheered and then reached a hand to her friend on the ground. “Or rush to leave. Take a few weeks. Go home to Roma Nueva.”

Minerva patted Shuren's shoulder as she accepted the hand up, "And here I thought we were playing it gentle." She shook her head as she retrieved the ball and began to move up the court again, a bit more careful now, "I'd be more likely to take a trip about three systems over to go visit Trixie. She's doing some small performances in some schools and universities. Says she's got something else coming up that's pretty major, but is being vague." She didn't even fake the drive to the basket this time, but stopped and took a jump shot from ten feet away that didn't even touch the rim as it went through, "Maybe I can get it out of her in person."

“Give her my and Lucian’s love,” Shuren said. “He’s not coming, by the way. He’s needed on the Phobos. They wouldn’t let me take him.”

"Well that sucks!" Minerva made a gagging sound, "I haven't seen Lucian in... How long HAS it been?" She shook her head as she stole the ball from Shuren and bolted for an easy layup, "Two more for the win." She announced, letting Shuren know that if she scored again, she'd win their little game.

"New Years Eve 2401," Shuren answered. Unsatisfied with the prospect of winning by a mere point, she jumped high and tossed from before the three-point line. It went in, and she jumped for joy at the victory. "Good game."

Minerva shook her head gently, “Damn, though I had you there by a hair, but oh well.” She reached out and pulled Shuren in for a hug, patting her on the back and then releasing her, “So a new ship, new crew, new experiences? What now?”

"Now let's find the sauna and I'll tell you all about where we're going," Shuren said. "Ever heard of a place the Annexari Republic?"

“No, I haven’t…” Minerva pointed over in a direction where she knew the sauna to be, “I’m all ears.”

END

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