It has been to long of a time, the appearance of the Borg has delayed so many beautiful ideas and plans that Arwa had on her schedule. The trip on the Exeter was brief, interesting, but brief. Now she had entered the classic warm vibe of the Golden Apple. Taking a deep breath she could smell the leather and smiled at all the interactions.

Her searching came to an halt as she saw Sonja sitting at a table. Walking to the table she took a seat “Good day Miss Thompson, I hope you are doing well”Life had been busy, in fact busier than Sonja had figured it would be. She had worked more hours than she could count after the Borg appearance. She had finally had a chance to unwind and decided to try our the Golden Apple, which she had heard nothing but good things about.

She was surprised to hear a voice behind her. She turned and smiled “Hello Arwa, I am trying that’s why I am here” she chuckled.Finally sitting comfortably, Arwa nodded to Sonja. “Well, I am glad you are trying to leave your comfort zone. It is not an easy thing to do, so it is quite a milestone already by doing it” Arwa raised her hand for the waiter “But I do have to apologize, I had this planned way before the actual Borg issue appeared.”

The waiter approached as Arwa lowered her hand. “Could I get a Coffee Latte?” The waiter nodded and looked at Sonja.Sonja thought for a moment “Can I get an Earl Grey Tea?” the solitary nod was all she needed.

She turned her attention back to Arwa and shook her head “Don’t worry about that we all have been incredibly busy after the Borg incident. At least we finally did it.” She smirked momentarily.Leaning a bit back in her chair “Well that kinda is the question, did we really do it? Now I try not not to approach this to much on psychology. But all we know is that the Borg retreated to their space,” Arwa pointed out. “But between daily working overtime and the Exeter mission, some relaxing does help.” She sighed.

The waiter came back with their drinks as Arwa gave a nod “Thank you”Sonja shook her head “I meant at least we are finally meeting as we had planned, but that is a fair point as well. The Borg will never fully be gone, but we know for now they have retreated. Why no one knows, but I can say I believe they will return.”

She grabbed her drink and took a ship letting the warm liquid run down her throat allowing for a moment of soothing.Nodding to her statement as Arwa took a sip of her drink “It sounds like a cycle that got its setting messed up and stands on repeat forever” Arwa smiled for a second on that “Did you make new friends while being off duty?” It was something of their last conversation.Sonja shook her head “I did not, but then again I was way too busy to do anything outside of work.” She wasn’t lying the amount of time she had to herself since the events of the Borg were zero. With the given situation, she had to admit that even Arwa had no time to sociallize with other people. Taking another sip of her drink listening to the calming background sound “Alright, what is your take on the whole Borg ordeal? What do you think their angle was to appear and without reason disappear again?”Sonja looked at him blankly “No one knows the Borg angle and let’s be honest hearing that same phrase every time ‘Prepare to be assimilated’ tells me that they don’t plan to stay away forever. They always have a reason for what they do. Possibly we weakened them and they need to regroup. I can’t say for sure, but I have no doubt we will see them again.”She raised a finger “I look this from a standpoint of the mind. What if the defeat of the Queen that former Admiral Picard did do, messed them up? You know shook their connection a bit and they are chaotic for a brief moment only to recollect themselves and go back to normal operations as” Arwa lowers her finger and picks up her cup and takes a another sip.Sonja nodded “I guess that’s another perspective, but I don’t look at things that way of course it might be because I am more security minded.”She leans forward “Security minded, do explain….I am curious on hearing all kind of perspectives” Arwa winks at her “Maybe I could make a paper on it. Behavior of the Borg and the thinking 101” She laughed at her own idea.Sonja chuckled at the remark “I look at things in the perspective of security. I look at the protection of a facility or ship. When I think of the Borg I always think they will be back. So I am always thinking how can we improve security and our protection protocols against the Borg.””Systematic thinking, interesting” Arwa takes a sip of the coffee, and you can see that she is visibly enjoying her time at the Golden Apple with the music, the people around, and the interaction. It is her place to be “So what about the people in security, on the base…what does your security mind say then?”Sonja looked “The team did the best they could given the circumstance’s. My shift did the best they could and I have nothing but good things to say about the work they did. None of us were ready for this and we should have been.””Not quite what I was looking for” Arwa spoke but nodded afterwards “But I am turning this into a counsel session. So my apologies, what do you think of the place so far?” She looked around seeing all the people “Such a wonderful gem among the decks”Sonja looked around and smiled “It does seem like quite a peaceful place. I think it is just what most of us need, especially after a long day of work or a long week of shifts.”

Sonja paused “I don’t mind answering questions but I did feel like I was in the chair again.”Sighing at that last comment “I have a knack of doing that sometimes” Arwa took another sip “The days are getting calmer now that the Borg is out fo the picture, the trauma session of Lost Fleet is almost over. I wonder what will be next on our path” Arwa legit didn’t know what else Starbase Bravo was going to offer seeing it already offered all sorts of madness.Sonja looked at Arwa “Don’t beat yourself up I think it comes with the territory of the job. Starbase Bravo has been crazy since the moment I started here. I never know from one day to another what I might encounter. The term ‘easy day’ is never something I see here.”

She shrugged “Truthfully this is the first assignment I ever had and I was thrown into the deep end.”Drinking the last of her cup of coffee latte “Ahh…yes every station has its own charm. Eos was a total chaotic dump and that is me being nice is summing up that place” Arwa placed the cup down. “So yea, Bravo might give away its own charm of messed up problems and I am here to do my part in fixing it”

Arwa blinked a bit “Well I try”Sonja decided to reassure “You do your job just as you should and your great at it Arwa. I know you get a bad rap, but you got this!”Fiddling with her fingers a bit as she smiled at that comment “Now who is counseling who?” Arwa winks at Sonja “But thank you I appreciate the gesture”Sonja shrugged “I am just a rookie at this, but I know when someone needs something.””But you are making progress in socializing with people” Smiling at her “Which is a good thing, glad to consider you as a friend, always open to having more friends in a big place like this.” Arwa took a deep breath relaxing a bit at the music. “We should do this more often”Sonja smiled “I am never adverse to having more friends, especially people that seem actually to care about me as a person. I do agree we should do this more often. It is nice to unwind.””Well, we have more opportunities to get to know each other. Be it here, or somewhere else on the station. But I think I will hit the sack as the lower deckers would say to me” Arwa smiled as she gets up from her table “Lets meet up again soon”Sonja smiled. “We can do that! Get some rest it’s deserved and it looks like you need it.” Arwa seemed like a nice person and Sonja could tell it was genuine.

“I will see you soon Arwa!”