Shadows, Stars, and Strong Drinks
Posted on Fri Jan 9th, 2026 @ 7:26pm by Commander Daynah Ral & Ensign Nyx Calder
1,868 words; about a 9 minute read
Mission:
On the Trail
Location: XO's Office, SS Adelaide
Nyx had been on her best behaviour for exactly forty-seven minutes. That had to be some kind of record.
Now she stood outside the XO’s office, trying not to fidget and failing spectacularly. The corridor was quiet enough that she could hear her heartbeat, or maybe it was the low thrum of the ship bleeding through the deck plating. Either way, it made the moment feel too loud.
The plaque beside the door read Commander Daynah Ral. The name alone carried a weight she could feel — precise, sharp, like it belonged to someone who measured words before speaking and expected others to do the same. Nyx had read the file. Joined Trill. Decorated. Brilliant. Probably the kind of woman who could tell when you were lying just by the way you blinked.
Perfect.
She tugged at the hem of her uniform jacket instead, fingers drumming idly against the fabric. The trick was to look relaxed but not disrespectful, confident but not cocky, yourself but not too much yourself.
Which, in Nyx’s case, meant standing there like someone trying to smuggle fireworks through a customs checkpoint.
“Alright, Nyx,” she muttered under her breath, forcing a slow exhale. “No jokes about spots. Don’t talk too fast. Don’t—” She paused, smirked faintly. “—actually, yeah, talk fast. That’s your brand.”
She straightened her jacket one last time, pushed a strand of neon-tipped hair behind her ear, and pressed the chime.
“Here goes nothing,” she whispered, the grin creeping back despite herself.
"Come on in..." Daynah said with a smile as the doors to her office opened. What greeted her was not what she had expected. Ral knew that the new helm officer had come aboard, but she did not realize exactly how unorthodox the other woman was. "Ensign, welcome aboard. How can I help you?" Daynah smiled softly and pointed to a seat.
Nyx stepped inside like someone entering a funhouse that might also be a trap.
Light on her feet.
Hands behind her back.
Smile sweet enough to be suspicious.
“Commander,” she chirped, sing-song but controlled. She didn’t salute — she presented herself, like an acrobat stepping into the ring.
Then she immediately stopped moving.
Still as a cat.
Eyes taking in every inch of Daynah Ral with bright, sharp interest.
“You’re taller than I pictured,” she said softly, tone friendly but not flippant. “And less terrifying. Though, y’know… jury’s still out.”
She slid into the chair only when the XO gestured, crossing one leg over the other, swinging a boot once.
“I’m Ensign Nyx Calder. Your new pilot. Which is fun, considering half my teachers said I’d never make it past the psych evals.”
She took a beat, before revealing a crooked grin.
“Surprise.”
She leaned forward, elbows on knees, smile widening into something glittering and dangerous and sincere.
“So! Figured I’d stop by, say hello, let you get a good look at me before someone else gives you… an impression.” She twirled one neon-dipped strand of hair around her finger. “I tend to make those.”
There was a pause — deliberate.
Then, with perfectly innocent tone:
“If you’ve got questions, Commander, I got answers. Most of ’em even true.”
Daynah smiled as Nyx spoke. She reminded her of well herself. That is the part of her that was Jazra. "I can be quite terrifying if you wish. I do have another creature residing within me. That and one of my previous hosts was a Starfleet Captain who rather enjoyed making fresh Ensigns cry as pranks." She sipped the racktijino. "You seem to be quite unique. Better than most I have seen come in here. You would have to be crazy to want to fly a ship that does not exist. So, tell me why? Why did you accept this assignment?"
Nyx blinked once, slowly — not startled, but delighted, like Daynah had just handed her a wrapped present labelled DO NOT OPEN.
“Ooooh,” she breathed, leaning forward with her chin in her hands. “A spooky symbiont with a sense of humour. Now you’re speaking my language.”
Nyx tipped her head at Daynah’s question, and her grin twitched, like she wasn’t sure whether to laugh or wince.
“Why’d I take it?” she echoed, leaning back in the chair for a second. “Well… it wasn’t like I had a big menu of options.”
She rolled her wrist in a loose circle, searching for the right words.
“Back on New Sydney, I was… surviving. Flying under someone else’s name, doing courier runs I probably shouldn’t have asked too many questions about. My dad was gone, my brother was running things I wanted no part of, and everyone else just wanted me to be useful in ways I wasn’t keen on.”
A beat. A faint shrug.
“Starfleet caught me. Not because I was bad — I mean, I was bad, but I was good at the flying part. Just not the hiding part.” Her mouth crooked into a self-mocking smile. “Turns out using a dead girl’s licence number raises some eyebrows.”
She tapped her knee twice, lightly. “So there I am, waiting to find out if I’m getting shipped home or spaced or whatever, and instead they ask me if I wanna trade all that in for a uniform.”
She paused, tone flattening in a way that hinted at something colder under the surface. “Going back to New Sydney wasn’t an option. Not if I wanted to stay breathing.”
Then, just as quickly, the spark was back in her eyes. “This assignment? A ship that doesn’t officially exist, flying into messes most sane people avoid? Yeah. It fits. Better than anything back home ever did.”
A small, honest shrug. “Guess it’s nice, y’know? Running toward something for once.”
Daynah smiled broadly. She was perfect, a better fit for this ship and its assignment than most of the crew. Despite the fact that Daynah was not a fan of the assignment. "Well allow me to be one of the first to welcome you home. The running toward something is the reason that I am here. I will let you in on a little secret. I hate Starfleet Intelligence, I believe it causes more issues than it is worth. So, I am here to keep everyone on the straight and narrow as it were."
Nyx blinked at that — not confused, just… intrigued. A slow grin curled at the edges of her mouth.
“Well, that’s comforting,” she said lightly, drumming her fingers once against her knee. “Nice to know someone on this ship actually wants us pointed in a straight line. Because no offence, Commander, but everything I’ve ever read about intelligence work involves… uh…” She wiggled her fingers vaguely, like conjuring smoke. “Shadows. Secrets. Double-crosses. People saying things like ‘we work in the grey’ while wearing dramatic coats.”
Her eyes glittered with humour.
“Back on New Sydney, the closest I got to spycraft was a stack of trashy holo-novels from a docking bay kiosk. According to those, we should’ve been betrayed at least twice already and someone should be monologuing in a dark corner.”
"We are currently dealing with Cardassians so we most likely have been betrayed three times already. As for the monologuing I am just getting started." Daynah laughed at her own joke before she continued. "But all in all you are right this business has us making zig zags. But we all have to remember why we are out here, what brought us all to the stars to begin with."
Nyx huffed a laugh, shaking her head. “By Cardassians?” she said, pointing vaguely at the bulkhead like the word might be lurking out there. “Yeah, that tracks. I kinda assume that’s just the default setting. If they haven’t betrayed you yet, it’s probably because they’re still deciding how.”
She shifted in the chair, more relaxed now, one boot hooked around the rung. “And look, I won’t pretend I signed up because of some big, shiny destiny. I’m not out here chasing noble causes or dramatic speeches under starlight.” A beat, then a crooked smile. “I’m out here because flying’s the only time my brain shuts up. Everything else gets loud. Too many angles, too many exits. At the helm, it’s just speed, vectors, and not dying. Very soothing.”
Her gaze flicked back to Daynah, open and earnest beneath the humour. “So if Starfleet Intelligence means zig-zags and bad vibes, fine. I can fly zig-zags. Just… helps knowing someone on the bridge remembers why we bothered leaving the ground in the first place.” A pause, grin returning. “Also? It beats New Sydney. Fewer people trying to own me.”
After meeting everyone that had been recruited for the Valiant, Daynah had quite a fair amount of misgivings about them. In fact she did not consider any of the crew save the Captain a friend, at least not yet. However, this Nyx was like a breath of fresh air. She was up front and did not beat around the proverbial bush, a trait that Trills often respected. In fact she reminded Daynah of one of her previous hosts. Jazra was just like Nyx and there was a part deep within Daynah that felt as if it had come home again. "I will tell you what. I will point out where the straight and narrow is, and you keep us there. I think that sounds fair. Now, come on I think we should share a drink and I should tell you about a young woman much like yourself." Daynah stood and pointed toward the door. "I have a couple of bottles we can share in the galley."
Nyx’s eyebrows shot up, delighted, and she pushed herself to her feet with a little theatrical flair.
“A drink already?” she said, hand to her chest like she might swoon. “Wow. I knew I made impressions, but this might be a personal best. First posting, five minutes in, and the XO’s inviting me to the galley.” She grinned, eyes bright with mischief. “I’m gonna start assuming I’m charming instead of just alarming.”
She fell into step beside Daynah, lowering her voice conspiratorially. “And I’m really hoping when you say drink, you mean a real one. None of that replicated, regulation-compliant, ‘this once had flavour in a past life’ stuff.” A beat, then a wicked smile. “Something mildly illegal. Or at least frowned upon. I feel like that’d really set the tone for my career here.”
"Ensign, we are about to become best friends. I have had a number of lives to acquire only the best. One of those lives was a Starfleet Captain. Any Trill that tells you they don't keep some of the belongings from the past is simply lying." Daynah said with a mischievous smile of her own and a wink.
A Joint Post By:
Ensign Nyx Calder
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Valiant, currently on the SS Adelaide
Commander Daynah Ral
Executive Officer
USS Valiant
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