—- Deep Unexplored Space, USS Seattle —-

“Captain’s Log. We have disposed of the Borg transponders and as such the Borg Cube has left. We are no longer being pursued and after days upon days of running we are taking a break and just taking some R&R on an uninhabited planet that we have discovered. I have sent Commander Cruz down to the surface aboard the Pearl Jam, to explore the land mass and ensure we’re not all going to be turned into snakes or something.’ 

”I could use a few days of not worrying about trickster gods stealing my Holosuite, and crew. Or the Borg. Or anything really. We were meant to start off slow on the USS Seattle, but thus far we’ve been go, go, go. I understand the realities of captaining in Starfleet but a change of pace is most welcome. For now though I’m just grateful that the ship is in one piece, and everyone is safe.’

”Captain Hawthorne out.”

—- Ready Room —-

“We did not find any of the plants to be toxic, with no bird or animal life on the land mass there would be no reason for it,” Commander Adriana Cruz said.

”There are fish, nothing that would pose a threat to humans,” Lieutenant Commander Gabriella Miller reported.

Captain Nathanial Hawthorne nodded, “Okay, Lieutenant Young wants to rest the engines and do some maintenance after we’ve pushed them so hard. So I’ve sent out reports to Starfleet, but it’ll take at least four days to get there, and the same to return. Hence, we’re going to take some vacation time here.“

”Lieutenant Commander Tashai is already setting up things to create a compound for us to remain around during shore leave,” Cruz said.

”Excellent work, both of you,” Hawthorne said, “Cruz match up our shifts so every shift gets some sunlight on the planet. And then let the crew know they can go down to that one spot, but not when they have duty. Thank you both.”

Both women left the Ready Room leaving the Captain alone with his thoughts.

—- Captain’s Quarters —-

Nathanial Hawthorne changed into a swimsuit and a loose fitting pullover that could be removed easily. He was not sure. It had been a long time since he had really taken leave, and he was sure that most of his crew was the same way. He had been too career focused and only after awhile had he realized that the only thing that Starfleet Command saw in a Captain who took so little time off for personal matters, was a Captain who could not manage both a personal life and a professional one. He had thought that this sort of dedication would put him up with Archer, or Picard, but then he realized after years of doing this that they both had made time for hobbies and personal stuff. Whether it was looking for archeology things, or holodecks (well not Archer) or anything else.

”You replicating a swimsuit?” he asked his First Officer, who whatever gods be praised was also his girlfriend. Commander Cruz walked out of his bathroom wearing both a face and a one piece bathing suit that made him again thankful for however he’s pulled off pulling her.

”I don’t do bathing suits,“ she groused.

”One piece not two?” he teased, “That may help.”

”I’m not wearing a bikini,” Cruz said, “I’m not your Pirate Queen.”

She was referring to a Holodeck program that he’d made and created a character for Cruz whom he’d perhaps given a little too little clothing. She had objected and walked out. It was still a source of contention in their relationship, along with her calling all of Hawthorne’s pre-warp heroes “colonizers” and pointing out that his naval fantasies were really for white men only.

Hawthorne smiled, “I like it. It makes you look like a Vulcan, so much cloth.”

Cruz rolled her eyes, knowing he was joking. She doubted that she could improve on the design so she put on shorts that she had replicated and a large loose fitting blouse. They remained a couple, though over the course of their time together on the ship their relationship had developed into a sparring one more than anything. Mostly Cruz was quick to tease her CO about his fussy manual coffee or his choice of entertainment.

”Okay, let’s go have fun,” Hawthorne said.

—- Nuevo Mundo —-

There was about twenty people already there when they arrived and the Captain said hello to them and then the pair went off on their own. Eventually Hawthorne picked out a spot with a sandy beachfront and a shallow entry into a salt water ocean. They both sat on the beach, made out for a while and then lay looking up at the sky as it darkened.

”Maybe I’ll retire here,” Hawthorne said wistfully.

”What tomorrow? We’ll never see this world again after this week. It’s a fluke we got here in the first place,” Cruz said. The world was perfect for colonization, with no intelligent life, and perfect conditions for humanity, and a number of other Federation races. But it was so far out of Federation space that it would not happen for centuries, certainly not in either of their lifetimes.

”Do I get to bring my girlfriend if I stay,” Hawthorne asked.

”She likes running water too much,” Cruz said, “and sonic showers. Besides your XO needs to captain the ship if you abandon it.”

”You’d take running water over me?” 

Cruz laughed, “Any day.”

“I’d take you over running water,” Hawthorne said.

”Don’t go getting romantic on my old man,” Cruz teased again, then after a silence added, “I thought you were dead, and I’d left you for the Borg.”

”Turns out they didn’t even notice us. And I’m glad you did, the ship and her crew are more important than any shuttle craft worth of people,” Hawthorne said.

“Well it was a shuttle craft full of my favorite people,” Cruz said.

”You like Winfield that much?” Hawthorne teased.

“He grows on you,” Cruz nudged him in the ribs. 

—- Nine Forward, Lounge —-

”We’ll go to the beach tomorrow,” Lieutenant Junior Grade William Hume said. 

He’d just gotten back from doing a sweep of the beam down zone, looking for dangers and had found nothing. While the area was lovely there was something to be said for just enjoying a drink, some quiet music and relaxing on the ship. For the first time in days nobody was trying to kill them, which made his job a lot easier. 

Lieutenant Yuhiro Kolem sipped her own drink, and amaretto sour, “I could use some real sun. I know the UV lights on the Holodeck and in the spa are meant to be as good, but a real environment sounds lovely.”

Kolem knew that her boyfriend was not that interested in the difference between ‘real air’ and ‘recycled air’. The truth was that you were not meant to be able to tell the difference, but the half-Betazoid felt that she could even if realistically she knew that was impossible. It had been since they were at the wedding on Jupiter since she’d been outside of an artificial environment, and a real beach sounded lovely.

”I’ll wear a bathing suit,” she promised, feeling Hume’s interest rising as he thought about the possibility. Unlike her late father, she could not read minds, but she could feel people’s emotional state. Hume had been nervous about something for the past few days. Nervous about something more than the Borg that was. She did not pry, but she wondered what it was. Her abilities did not give her the insight she would have liked. So that left her with no choice but to wait for him to open up about it.

The Assistant Chief Security Officer leaned back wrapping his arm around Kolem. 

”Tomorrow you’ll see me in a bathing suit too,” Hume grinned, “It’ll be a remarkable day for you.”

”Can’t wait,” Kolem laughed and relaxed against Hume.