It was thanks to the ancient Babylonians some four and a half thousand years ago, that Earth has a seven day week. They gave them each a name connected with the seven major celestial bodies visible to the naked eye. Three of those days still carry those name; Saturn Day, Sun Day and Moon Day.
Much had changed over the centuries; the way people lived and worked had vastly altered from those ancient times. Other races encountered as human explored the universe had their own concepts of measuring time; yet the twenty-four hour clock and the seven day week remained, carved in stone for eternity. As did the notion of the Weekend; which as everyone knew, started on a Friday night.
Telina an Andorian 4th year nursing Cadet currently in training aboard the USS Grus, had taken a while to grasp all the complexities involved in the human notion of ‘Standard Time’, but for her Friday was date night, and that made it special.
She had felt a little out of her depth when originally being assigned to the Saber class scout vessel; but the rest of the medical staff, especially the ships CMO had been kind and welcoming. She’d slowly got to know other members of the crew to, when they came in for check-ups or suffering from various aliments as well as during break and leisure time.
One person had stood out, though if you were to ask why, she wouldn’t be able to give you a definitive answer. What had started out as one simple drink was slowly becoming something more, between herself and crewman George Tyson.
Tonight they would be watching a movie called Titanic: a story of love, adventure, a ship that sails on water and a large iceberg. It all sounded very interesting, especially the iceberg. She’d seen one as a young child with the family, on a trip to the Khyzhon Sea: there were apparently plenty of people that didn’t realise that Andoria actually had large bodies of open liquid water. Some saw it as a harsh frozen wasteland, but to anyone born there, it was a stunning and beautiful place.
Telina had managed to get back there during the last major shore leave. The question of starting a family had quickly entered the conversation with her parents, or at least the three that still remained; her chada having sadly past away due to ill health, a number of years ago. As a Shen, she had a very important role to fulfil in keeping the family line going. They used her full name, which was usually a sign of their displeasure; Telina En’Sela sh’Rothul, what a mouthful; she was glad everyone at the Academy and now on the Grus, just called her Telina.
She wasn’t ready for all this creating a family business though; she was still young and thirsting for adventure out amongst the stars. Other thing could come later.
“You’re looking happy my dear.” Doctor de Havilland’s calm voice cut into her thoughts and she looked up at him.
“I was thinking about tonight.” Telina replied softly.
“I take it you have another date with Mister Tyson?” Frank smiled. “You like him a lot, don’t you?”
She played with a small curl of silvery hair behind her left ear. “George treats me like I matter, like my voice is important.”
“And your family don’t?”
“To a degree yes, they do.” She sighed. “Otherwise they wouldn’t have let me join Starfleet, but they didn’t realise a cadet could find themselves on the frontline as it were.”
“They didn’t want you to come back, did they?” He placed a hand gently on her shoulder. “They wanted you somewhere safe and away from any possible danger.”
She leaned into him, resting her forehead against the doctor’s chest. “I hate being shen, I hate the pressure and obligations, its put upon me.”
Telina cried, and not for the first time, whilst de Havilland just held her gently.
**********
The ships only official resident couple, didn’t have shared accommodation, that might come with a bit of shuffling around, after they’d got married. For now though, they just had to make the best of the difficult situation they had at the moment.
“You know if we managed to get our own quarters.” Ensign Chad Harris leaned one elbow against the wall a mischievous grin developing on his face. “Do you want top bunk or bottom?”
Ensign Cho, currently sat on the bottom bunk in her quarters, looked up at him. “Sometimes, your just impossible.”
“Only sometimes.” The grin turned into a full blown smile. “Is that good or bad?”
“I’ll let you know.” The Korean woman giggled, before careful holding up two dresses for inspection. “Which do you think; the red or the green?”
“Well the red one complements your skin, but the green one goes with your eyes.” Chad answered
Cho looked again at the two dresses. “That doesn’t help narrow it down thought.”
“You could look beautiful in a hazmat suit to me.” Chad leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead.
“You’re such a charmer.” Cho giggled again. “Unfortunately my best hazmat suit is in the wash right now.”
That remark made Chad laugh. “Wear the red one and I will see you in about ten minutes, only I should probably get changed to.”
The young New Zealander stepped towards the door but it didn’t open until he’d cancelled the lock, it swished open and he disappeared out into the corridor.
**********
Conference Room 2 had been converted into a miniature cinema, as was the case on many Friday evenings. The long black table which normally dominated the centre of the room was once more carefully secured to one wall, thanks to the skills of the Chief Engineer and his team in coming up with a plan to make more space in the room. Thirty-two chairs, including those from this room, the other conference room and a couple of other locations around the ship, now sat in four mismatched rows of eight, facing the main screen. The lights were dimed and the majority of the light came from the screen, as the movie progressed.
Telina and George had managed to grab two of the seats on the front row, as to had Chad and Cho; who in the end had worn the green dress.
“You know I find it illogical that anyone would design and build a vessel with insufficient escape pods.” Came the distinctive voice of a Vulcan who’d recently joined the science team.
“They call them lifeboats.” Someone from the back row corrected him. “And they didn’t think they’d ever need them, the ship was supposed to be unsinkable.”
“A perfect example of the naivety of the human race.” The Vulcan bemoaned. “That ship is clearly doing a very poor job of not sinking.”
A numbers of shushes from around the room, returned the silence, at least for a time, but Cho was having a hard time keeping a straight face. Tovan had only been on the ship five minute and already he’d developed the ability to annoy people just by opening his mouth. He certainly wasn’t fitting in like the other nine new arrivals, that was for sure. The movie continued and Chad held her hand softly.
