Things had quieted down a bit aboard the Altai. Crews from Engineering were still mopping up the mess that came from the incident in the cargo bay, and Astrid still wasn’t exactly sure what happened. But, as the the old saying goes, “that was above her pay grade.”

After a quick debriefing of her team she dismissed them and say down to write her after action report, which honestly didn’t take as long as expected, and she was pleased with how her team handled the crisis. Once the report was completed she sent it to the Chief of Security, her immediate supervisor, and CC’d the XO as a formality.

She closed her computer, and headed for her quarters. She had yet to truly move into her new living accommodations so it was spartan. Astrid entered the bedroom and stripped out of her hazard suit and changed into a heather grey tee shirt with “STARFLEET” emblazoned across the chest in charcoal. That was paired with black shorts and white running shoes.

She walked into the gym a few minutes later. She took a few minutes to stretch before jumping on an exercise bike. She had been there for only a few minutes when one of her team members, Austin Grant, walked into the gym carrying a long black case.

“Hey Boss,” Austin greeted as he stacked his belongings along the wall out of the way. “Crazy day.”

“Yes, it was Mr. Grant. Hell of a first day,” Astrid replied through panting breaths.

Austin chuckled, “Ma’am, everyone calls me Percival around here.”

“Percival?” Astrid asked.

Austin smirked, “Not my choosing. It’s a reference to Sir Percival. You know, of King Arthur and the Knight’s of the Round Table?”

“I am familiar,” Astrid replied. She had stopped peddling and sat on the bike with her hands on her hips. “What makes you Percival?”

Austin grinned, stood and went to where his belongings were sitting. He unzipped the black case and drew out a black handled sword in a dark brown sheath. “I get uncomfortable stares carrying this around the ship.”

“I would imagine so. Why do you have it?”

“I’m a HEMA enthusiast. That’s historical European martial arts.”

“Like those weirdos that dress up and play knights, kings, and queens?”

“That’s SCA. No, this is real medieval martial combat. It’s very similar in concept to Asian martial arts like Japanese kenjutsu , but very different in execution.”

Astrid used a towel to wipe sweat from her face and neck, “Not a very useful skill in a universe that has phasers.”

“Tell that to my dad who was on the receiving end of a Klingon bat’leth. He lived to tell the tale, but his replacement arm bothers him.”

“Point taken,” Astrid admitted, “Well, Mr, Grant have a good workout.” He smiled, nodded his head and headed over to the bench press. She gave him a sidelong glance to appreciate the bulge of muscles.