Qo'noSian Lovebirds

Posted on Sat Sep 12th, 2026 @ 7:57pm by Captain Robert Burke & Lieutenant JG Gianna De Luca

2,743 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: EPISODE 1: SHAKEDOWN
Location: Klingon Homeworld
Timeline: MD038

::ON::

Burke leaned against the bulkhead next to the airlock. It was fairly early, ship-time, but he was out of uniform. Dressed comfortably in a dark cable-knit sweater and a pair of jeans and comfortable walking shoes, he waited patiently for his charge to arrive. By his feet, a classic Earth picnic basket. He found himself wondering how he had begun to invest so much in a person he had known such a short space of time.

By all accounts this was uncharacteristic of him. He had thrived for years in being unattached and independent, being able to choose whatever assignment was handed to him without the guilt of knowing that there would be someone to leave behind, or drag across Quadrants in his wake. Perhaps knowing I have Hecate for five years has changed things, he mused, unsure. Burke was also unsure whether this was wise, getting involved with a crewmember so early into their voyage into the unknown.

What he was sure about was that he enjoyed her company, and that was why he had invited her on this impromptu excursion.

Gia had spent the better part of the past two hours trying to get some semblance of an outfit together that didn't look too cheap but also didn't look like she'd put way too much effort into everything. Effortless, that was what she was going for. An off-white loose-fitting button up blouse that was tucked into a belted pair of just above the ankle length jeans, some flat shoes for walking longer distances and jewelry was what she thought the appropriate for the occasion. A long tan jacket was held in the crook of her arm for just in case it got cold.

As she walked down to the airlock, Gia wondered if she was doing the right thing by accepting Burke's invitation. To an outside, would it be seen as him showing favouritism toward her and all the connotations that came with it? Personally, she enjoyed the company and the calming presence he brought with him. Maybe it could evolve into something more over the next five years, but it could also be potentially disastrous if things didn't work out.

Turning the corner, Gia had to smile when she saw him. What could she say: the guy looked good in and out of uniform. "Hey, sorry I'm a bit late," she offered a sheepish laugh.

'No apology needed,' Burke replied with a grin. 'It's nice to see you out of uniform,' he said, as he keyed in his personal code to the airlock, and motioned her through. 'After you, please,' he said gently as the lights on the shuttle the other side of the airlock began to wink to life. 'Let me show you one of the many privileges of being Captain ... my own personal yacht.'

"A girl could get used to these kinds of privileges," The knowing smile was kept on her face as she entered and looked around. The yacht itself was quite spacious and befitting of Burke and his tastes. "I must admit, this is the first time I've been invited onto the Captain's yacht before though."

His expression was serious as he slid into the comfortably-appointed pilot's chair, 'well ... this is the first time I've had one to invite a girl back to. My previous command didn't have one.' Burke broke into another smile, as he hefted the basket, 'I took the liberty of preparing us a small picnic. I hope you don't mind.' He indicated the craft they were currently inside, 'and I'm not trying to dazzle you with this. I thought perhaps a trip off the ship would make for a more discreet date.'

A date. Gia hadn't realised it was actually a date they were going on, but she wasn't going to complain about it or let him see the surprise. "A date?" She said with a smile and a slight blush as she took a seat nearby. "I like the sound of it. Good company and a chance to explore a little bit sounds like we're going to have a really good time."

'I hope so,' Burke replied gently, pleased that Gia seemed happy that this was a date. Slipping in to the comfortable chair, he activated the impulse engines, and began the undocking sequence. The process went smoothly, the only indication of their decoupling from the Hecate being a small alert, and a lighting of the console.

Burke wasn't a natural pilot, but knew enough basic flight control to set the yacht on a pre-programmed course to take them into Qon'oS's atmosphere after filing the appropriate flight path with the Klingon authorities. Though suspicious - the yacht alerted them to the persistent sensor scans from nearby vessels - it seemed the Klingons were willing to leave them alone for now.

'Space is quite beautiful isn't it?' he asked rhetorically as he leaned to look out the main window. 'Always surprising...' He turned back to look at Gia,' of course, it's not quite as beautiful as you.'

"You flatter me, Robert." Gia returned as she ducked her head to hide the smile that tugged at the corners of her mouth before she looked back out to the main window. "Space, however is eternally beautiful and will be even long after we're gone."

'Well, that's a morbid note to begin the date on,' Burke chuckled, guiding the ship into the planet's thick, cloudy atmosphere. The Computer did most of the work, smoothing out the entry, allowing him to concentrate properly on Gia, 'but you are right. Space is beautiful and vast, and way beyond our comprehension.'

"Indeed it is," Gia agreed with her own little chuckle, "We should be so lucky to be here. I wonder what it's going to be like a few thousand years from now if this is how far we've come in such a short time?" She wasn't trying to just make polite conversation to pass the time, it was a genuine interest to her to want to know happened next for humanity.

'Perhaps that far into the future, the Klingon Empire and Federation will have merged into one,' Burke replied casually as the craft dropped below the cloudline, revealing a landscape of rolling hills and grassland as far as the eye could see. Here and there were dotted some estates, presumably famhouses from Burke's uneducated guess. 'Maybe we won't even travel by starship at all. Just step into a transporter in, Milan, say, and step out on the Romulan Homeworld ...'

"That would be extremely interesting to see how that will work, especially from the technological side," Gia admitted as she took a look at the beautiful views in front of them, "But I fear we won't see it in our lifetime, unfortunately. This view looks gorgeous. Do you think it's farmland? Because that would definitely change the common misconception of Klingons if it is."

'Everyone needs a farmer,' Burke answered with a short laugh. 'This is all land attached to Great Houses as far as we've been able to work out. They're farmed by the lowest caste - it's not considered to be the most honourable work, but it needs to be done. We're currently flying over something called the Ketha Lowlands, fairly impoverished we're led to believe.' He nodded, 'it is beautiful though. So different from home.'

Gia nodded her agreement, "It really is different. Personally, I'd love to be able to go into a deep dive with studying the common misconception about Klingons and essentially challenge what we know about them. I think it would be quite interesting."

'Well ... we'll make sure that we stop by the liaison office and see if they can't get you some reading material if the Klingons are willing,' Burke replied, deflty piloting the yacht across the Lowlands towards the mountains ahead. Jagged and dramatic, as much of Qo'noS was, the mountain chain was vlocanic, ash spewing into the air from still-active vents. The Klingons he had talked to, briefly, had mockingly assured him that where he was headed was volcanically inert, but he still felt the thrill of risk beating in his chest.

Finding a flat perch of rock on the slope of the mountain, Burke programmed the Computer to land the ship securely, hanging back as it did the task efficiently and with little fuss. 'Alright. We're on the foothills of the Kri'stak Volcano, once of the Klingons most ... 'sacred' I guess ... sites. It's said that the Lake of Lusor, if we get there, is quite the sight. I thought a light jaunt as far as we fancy, and then back here to picnic?'

"We're headed to a sacred site?" Gia said with a raised of her brow, "Are we not going to commit an offence to them by being here, especially if we're not overly welcome in the first place?" She wasn't trying to be a killjoy or anything, she just wanted to make sure everything was by the book and there weren't going to be repercussions for it.

"In saying that though," she added in a softer tone with a smile, "I do like the idea of a walk around a volcano and a lake before we stop to get some food. Please tell me there's going to be coffee or caffeine of some sort involved too." It was an ongoing joke when it came to her caffeine dependence.

'Oh there's always coffee,' Burke replied with a smile as he suited up to go on a hike. He'd made sure his boots were hard-wearing for this. 'And don't worry about the 'sacred' part, Klingon religion is complicated.' He flipped a button on the hull of the ship, and the exit hatch opened, unfolding steps to the ground. 'They killed their gods, you know.'

Gia raised an eyebrow at the admission and watched him go about the shuttle, "I... I actually didn't know that. That's quite daunting to know they killed their own gods. I mean, how does one even do that? Were their gods actual physical beings or just spiritual deities like what people Earth worshipped thousands of years ago? I have so many questions about this, you've got me intrigued now."

'Maybe before we leave the system we can get a library download from the Klingons themselves. There was one guy at the welcome feast, seemed quite keen on our cooperation. Maybe I can get him to provide it.' Burke held out a hand so Gia could come down the steps without falling. 'Likely it's more myth than truth, but they seem to have a remarkable amount of artefacts relating to Kahless who was the one to do it. So ... who knows really.'

Gia took his hand and walked down the steps, savoring the first touch of the grass in the field they were in. "Hopefully we'll be able to get the access to it so I can check it out. In the meantime though, I'm looking forward to spending this day with you and just forgetting about work-related things for a while. What do you say to that?"

Nodding with a large smile and a chuckle, Burke said, 'yes that sounds fairly good. No office talk.' The man pointed towards the trail ahead of them where it curved up towards the saddle of the mountains. 'Let's see if we can make it to the lake without mentioning our work, deal?'

"i mean," Gia chuckled as she looked to see where Burke was pointing, "I can quite easily separate my two lives, I just don't know if you'll be able to. But either way what can I take or do so you're not saddled with carrying everything from here to there?" She really liked him, more so outside of work than in it, and this would be an interesting proper first date where there were no prying eyes to stir up the rumor mill.

'Here,' Burke extended a hand with a light container for her. He intended to keep the heavier packs for himself out of a sense of chivalry but didn't want to put Gia out - he knew she was more than capable of carrying her share. 'Interesting, you don't think that I can separate work and private life?' he asked lightly, teasing her.

Gia shook her head and smiled as she took the surprisingly light container. "You might just surprise me, you know? I think you'll be able to contain whatever it is we've got going on here, and I think you're going to be able to keep it to yourself when we're in meetings, but I think you'll eventually crack and give in."

She herself was an extrovert when it came to interacting with people and her job, but on the outside when it came to her personal life including her love life and relationships, Gia didn't often disclose them to just anyone, and keeping the work/life balance was crucial in some cases for her.

He mulled over the point as they made their way up the mountainside. The way was steep, and a little more challenging than he had expected, but Burke was enjoying himself. The path was little more than a rut of packed soil and loose stones, worn out of the mountain by centuries of hob-nailed boots pilgrimaging to one of the most sacred spots in the Klingon Empire. Above them the sky was a roiling iron-coloured sheet, clouds covering the very peak of the mountains, and off to their side the mountain tumbled down to the Lowlands, neat fields and farmsteads supportively studded around imposing House fortresses. A surge of exhilaration caught Burke and he grinned at Gia, 'I'll probably give in, yes, if we stay the course. But there's no need to rush. Being wrapped in this blanket of secrets is quite nice at the moment, wouldn't you say?'

Gia took the moment to roll her mind over him agreeing with her. "So what, let's say a year or two of quiet, under the radar dating, and then comes the proposal and everything comes bursting out into the open?" It was a cheeky way to bring up the subject but a smile tugged its way up the left side of her mouth - they hadn't even discussed what they were yet.

"This view... it's just gorgeous." Gia admitted as she finally looked from Burke to their surroundings.

'That is is,' Burke replied softly as he looked at Gia, mulling over her words. He slipped a hand into hers. 'I wouldn't say that it would be secret up until that point. Just until we establish what we are - might not be easy for either of us when it comes out.' He shrugged, 'it's not unheard of on long-distance voyages though.'

Gia looked down at his hand interweaved with hers and felt a slight flush roll through her cheeks. It felt somewhat right to be in this moment with him, like it was a certain type of unspoken intimacy. "But what happens if we do eventually classify ourselves as something, whatever it might be, and then something happens that causes us to break apart? How would you propose that gets handled?"

He sucked in a breath, and puffed out his cheeks as he thought. 'Uh, well. I hadn't thought that far ahead,' he admitted honestly, 'I tend not to think about a break up before the relationship happens.' Burke shrugged, 'there are ways to deal with it - technically the Chief Medical Officer is your superior, even though you're slightly out of the chain of command, so you could report through them, and we'd only need to see each other at morning briefings and other formal functions until feelings were less ... raw, I guess.'

That already sounded too complicated. "Well," Gia stopped and let their connected hands go taut before tugging for him to come back to her and they were standing mere inches apart. "I really hope it never comes to that, because that would just suck and I like it here."

'Here is pretty good,' Burke replied softly as he cracked another smile.

::OFF::

Captain Robert Burke
Commanding Officer
USS Hecate

Lieutenant (JG) Gianna De Luca
Chief Counsellor
USS Hecate

 

RSS Feed