The last time I'd really had the chance to talk to Aunt Dizi was when I was about 12 years old. She'd just graduated from the Academy, and her friend Toby had invited me, Ma, Gram and anyone else in the family who wanted to come, to see her graduate. Apparently he'd managed to do this as a surprise for her, as she hadn't been expecting us. Her brother Kang, and his wife Zia, had also come to see her graduation, that was the first time I'd met any of her family actually. I've kept in on again, off again contact with Kang since then. He's actually hooked me up with some great copies of Shakespeare in the original Klingon.

Anyhow, since I was still pretty young when I last talked to Aunt Dizi, I hadn't realized how private of a person she is. She was concerned about how much information about her I was sharing on the BBS, and I hadn't realized any of it would be anything that might be a problem to be talked about. I also hadn't realized how hard she was still taking Uncle Trav's death. We discussed what was, and wasn't acceptable information for me to share about her, and I made it very clear I hadn't meant to do anything wrong.

Once we'd gotten all that sorted through, we spent some time catching up. She was glad to hear that I was getting along better with my mother now, and had realized what a two faced liar my father is. She told me she'd always been concerned by my favoritism of my father despite being an otherwise intelligent girl. She was surprised that it was her who'd inspired me to join the fleet, even though she wasn't surprised I had taken up flying given her and Uncle Trav's encouragement when I was young. She smiled when I admitted that the toy biplane has a special spot on my shelf in my quarters, despite the teasing of Kizel. Speaking of him, she likes him, admits that perhaps if he wasn't spoken for, she'd be tempted to pull some cradle robbing.

Having the chance to talk like this, it's left me feeling more like Aunt Dizi is an older sister than a hero. She's still awesome, but it's kind of nice to feel like she's less someone on a pedestal to emulate, and more someone who is happy to share her experience with me, to teach me, and someone to share my highs and lows with. I'm glad we've ended up posted on the same ship now. I am worried what will happen if she gets the department head position that rumor has it that Lt. Cdr. Kvorash is going to be leaving soon. Will she hold me to higher standards because she knows me, or will she treat me special? I doubt the latter, but if she expects more of me than everyone else, it may get in the way of my forward movement in my career. I'll have to talk to her about it if she does end up department head.

She asked me if I'd be willing to watch her cat, Delilah, when she goes on her next away mission. It seems the rumors about the Obama-class that Zyrah had picked up in the mess have at least a ring of truth to them. It'll be interesting to have a prototype on the ship. Also, it'll be interesting to figure out if my quarters are cat proof.

Zyrah and I just dropped into the Mess, and Aunt Dizi was talking with a few other people over her meal. Zyrah pointed out that one of them was the "old" cutie she'd seen with Aunt Dizi before the first portion of the mission they just came back from. He doesn't look old to me, early thirties at best? Anyways, as I mentioned the last time it came up, Zyrah thinks anyone over 29 is old, so what she says about age can't be taken at face value. I am surprised that she hasn't called Aunt Dizi old yet, since she's thirty-five, if I remember correctly. Klingons just age differently though, so maybe Zyrah just can't peg her age as easily. At any rate, I didn't mean to detour into that topic.

I didn't hear any of the conversation at the table between the four people: Aunt Dizi, her dark haired engineer friend, and then Noelle Connor and her gossip friend, Jana I think her name is? Some of the conversation apparently had been overheard by others in the mess, as there was a little bit of a gossip buzz floating around the room. Things like "Obama-class", "Admiral's Pet" "Blue Alert" and "Valkyries" came up frequently. Since Zyrah was always better at gathering useful information from gossip, without having to divulge anything in return, she went and questioned one of the tables of peons while I grabbed our meals from the replicator.

When Zyrah returned to our table, she suggested we go insert ourselves into the conversation Aunt Dizi and her friends were having. When I pointed out that it would be rude, she reminded me that I was her niece in all but legality. When I pointed out that I hadn't had chance to actually talk to my "aunt" in more than a few years, she shrugged it off. I asked her why she was suddenly so enthusiastic for me to get us involved in the conversation, where she'd been skeptical about my relationship to the woman and expressed caution and courtesy when I'd previously suggested talking to her. So Zyrah explained what'd been overheard, and why the Obama-class had been mentioned, also why they were likely calling Aunt Dizi an Admiral's pet. I was certainly curious now, but I eventually convinced Zyrah it would be better for me to reopen communication with Aunt Dizi in a more private setting, without the peons overhearing. Comments she'd made on the BBS made me believe she'd have things she'll want to sort out with me, and I didn't exactly want her getting mad at me where peons were likely to hear and relay the whole of it to the gossip network.

Only with the Bug meister off the ship could we get away with this, but Kizel and I got some fine quality time in on the flight deck tonight. The nice thing about dating a fellow pilot is that he understands what it is about ships that gets me all hot and bothered. I think the guy on watch at the flight deck enjoyed the show even.

Ol' Bessy really will never be the same.

Things have been slow, as we're just on standard patrol while the away team is off on their mission. News has been vague on the ship, especially for the peons and low ranking officers. This has left me and the gang with a lot of time to kill. Someone overheard the lieutenant with the weak stomach, some have started calling him Pukey, say something about starting a bowling league on the Shingen. He was one of the people assigned to this mysterious away mission we know so little about, so no one's been able to pump him for information, but with a little digging through the computer, Boq was able to find out about it. He's trying to get us to put together a team, so that when the league forms we'll be able to participate. He's such a social butterfly that way.

Kizel isn't sure he wants to play, and Shelly is absolutely sure she doesn't, but Zyrah says she'll likely be able to get Steve to play if Kizel won't. We were going to try out bowling last night, see who was any good and who'd want to play in our team, but we got sidetracked when we found out that Aunt Dizi had made all her holodeck programs publicly available. For once, I wasn't the one who was acting president of the Death Kitten fan club, Kizel was curious about her flight simulation programs and begged us to try some of those instead of the bowling. Since it sounds like the away mission that has us in a holding pattern, and is occupying the time of the man who's making the most fuss about this mysterious league, we could easily try bowling another time. Even Shelly was curious what sort of flight simulation programs Aunt Dizi had, though it took us a while to sort the combat, flight based combat, and craft design and testing programs from just the fancy flying stuff.

We tried half a dozen different programs, and the ones that we found easiest to work with, and the best at adjusting to our skill levels to challenge us without being over whelming had been the ones Aunt Dizi was listed as one of the designers on. We got so involved in the program we finally settled on that the people who'd scheduled time in the holodeck after us, ended up walking in on us because we lost track of time.

The thing I found most interesting was you could load a full set of craft specification, anything in the computer database, into the program, and it would let you fly it. Once we figured this out, we each had our fighter crafts loaded in, personal quirks and decorations included. Ol' Bessy, as I call mine even though the fleet has a different name for her, even had her same starboard pull to her, since I haven't been able to find an engineer who can figure out why the thrusters are ever so slightly out of sync. Every engineer I've ever talked to about it thought I was absolutely crazy, so I doubt many of them have actually taken more than the time needed to run an automated diagnostic. Granted, being a lowly little ensign, I'm surprised any of the officers in Engineering feel the need to give me the time of day, and most of the peons assume I'm like all the other officers and sneer up their noses at me. We've taken on some new crew, and one of the peons got promoted to officer recently, so maybe one of the fresh faces down there could sort out the problem. That said, it'll be weird to have Ol' Bessy flying straight, so I'd better do some practicing in a fixed version of her in the holodeck before I actually have it fixed if I find someone who does believe me.

The best thing about the holodeck outing last night was the race we had. We loaded in one of the meteor belt courses in the program, and the five of us (Steve isn't a pilot so he sat and watched) raced. Zyrah won overall, and was classy enough to accept bragging rights over this and the privilege of paying complements about the program to Aunt Dizi when she gets back from the away mission. Kizel and I laid a side bet over which of us would finish better than the other, and I won. He owes me breakfast in bed for the next week, even when his duty shifts don't coordinate with mine. The last time he owed me such, he came up with such an amazing selection of breakfast foods, and sometimes breakfast wasn't all I got out of him. I look forward to this week.

You know, since the party before the ship left, Shelly just can not shut up about that Eddie guy. She keeps insisting she can't stand him, how disgusting he is, but from the way she keeps going on and on, you'd think she has a crush on the guy. If only she'd just get over it and either admit she's turned on by the green slime, or if she'd just shut up about him already, we'd be doing great.

Boq found a holodeck program of an old earth game, mini golf, and he's wrangled the four of us into joining him. Kizel's skeptical he'll enjoy it, I'm curious about it just because it sounds so silly. Shelly is sour like usual, and Zyrah asked if she could bring Steve, from the party, along. Of course, when she did this, Boq suggested that Shelly invite Eddie, and when she blew up at the taunting, the rest of us roared with laughter. I'd feel sorry for her, except she's just being such an obsessive bitch to this kid. It's not his fault he was born of a species that just happens to foam green slime from the mouth.

The away mission everyone's abuzz about, Aunt Dizi is down there in the thick of it. Scuttle Butt says that she was enthusiastic about going, and Zyrah saw Aunt Dizi headed down to the flight deck this morning decked out in leather trench, thigh high boots, tank top, and more weapons than a small army typically needs. She was with a dark haired engineer, Zyrah said he was cute, even if he was a little old. Granted, she thinks anything over 29 is old, and I can't wait to tease her when she starts lamenting that she's an old lady.

Kizel and I have been a little awkward since we had our mini fight. He still thinks I'm over reacting, and is worried I want to break up, all because I thought a little too much about how it effects other people when one goes into dangerous situations. I suppose I have to remember that one signs up for the risk when they sign up for the fleet, and therefore should either accept it or avoid it. Making drama over it is just a waste of time. I'll have to see if I can make it up to him with some wild sex and a good dinner.