The First of Many
Posted on 17 Apr 2026 @ 5:50pm by Captain Sabrina Corbin & Lieutenant Commander Riah Amberlyn XMD
1,888 words; about a 9 minute read
Mission:
The Starfall Carnival
Location: Arawyn :: Holodeck 2 :: Seaside Cafe'
Timeline: En Route to SB 369
// Holodeck 2 :: USS Arawyn //
The doors parted with a soft chime, and the ship fell away.
Cool, salt-edged air met her first. Beyond, a rugged coastline stretched in dark stone and restless sea, waves breaking hard against the cliffs beneath a muted, overcast sky.
Captain Sabrina Corbin stepped inside.
The café sat just off the cliffside path, built of weathered stone and slate, warm light spilling from its windows. Inside, the contrast settled immediately. Heat, steady and contained. The scent of tea and fresh bread. A low fire in the hearth. Quiet, without isolation.
She chose a table near the window and sat, the sea framed between rising stone and sky.
A cup of Earl Grey waited for her, steam curling faintly.
Corbin allowed the smallest hint of a smile as she reached for it.
They had said they would do this.
Not once, not in passing. Regularly. Intentionally. Something kept, not simply meant.
She had not been certain, at the time, how easily it would hold once they were back aboard.
And yet, here she was.
She took a measured sip, the warmth settling into her hands, her shoulders easing just slightly as she set the cup back down.
Riah Amberlyn had earned her trust without question. In sickbay, there was no hesitation in her decisions, no uncertainty in her hands. Corbin relied on that. Fully.
But it was not only that.
There had been moments, quieter ones, where something else had begun to take shape. Conversation that did not feel like obligation. An ease she did not often allow herself with her senior staff.
She found, somewhat unexpectedly, that she wanted to know more.
Not as Captain.
As herself.
Her gaze shifted toward the door, more present now, less distant.
Corbin was not in the habit of opening that space easily.
But with Riah… it did not feel like a misstep.
She settled back slightly in her chair, composed, but no longer entirely guarded.
Waiting.
Riah had been looking forward to this chance to connect with Sabrina again. There first visit in the Cafe had been truly heartwarming and profoundly restorative. After the events on Lathira and in the tragic Nabharak Shoals, she was in need of restoration and a bit of heartwarming would be welcome as well. That sense of connection surged as she entered the holodeck and spied Sabrina at the table. Any anxiety vanished and she waved and stepped up her pace across the space. Taking a deep breath of sea air, she sat down with a sigh.
"I made it. We made it. We're here and I am SO glad. How are you my friend?" Riah said warmly, though the answer was waylaid as the waiter approached.
"May we offer you tea or coffee? A confection by chance?" the man asked with rather more aplomb than seemed necessary. But it did make Riah's smile broaden.
"Iced Jasmine Green Tea, lots of ice please," the doctor replied without hesitation. "And 4 black current scones, to share."
"Excellent choice. I'll return shortly," he assured them both and departed.
"Try again. How are you?" Riah asked Sabrina, with another full breath, relaxing more than she expected possible.
Corbin’s expression softened, just slightly, at Riah’s arrival. It was not a broad thing, but it was there. Recognizable, if one knew to look for it.
“I am glad you made it,” she said, the words quiet, but sincere.
She waited until the exchange with the waiter had passed, allowing the moment to settle again before answering. Her hand closed loosely around her teacup, lifting it just enough to take a measured sip.
“A great deal has transpired since we last had the opportunity for this,” she said, her tone even, but not distant. “I am as well as I can be.”
It was not dismissal. It was simply where she stood.
She set the cup back down with care, her gaze steady on Riah now, more present than it had been before.
“And you?”
A brief pause, then, more quietly,
“You lost one of your own.”
Not a question. Acknowledgment.
Her head inclined just slightly.
“How are you, Riah?”
She did not press beyond that. But she held there, attentive, the question offered with quiet weight as she waited for the answer.
"Mmmm," Riah nodded and looked briefly in the direction the waiter had gone. "Losing Melinda is hard to justify as being anything but senseless. There's just no comfort in saying she knew the risks of service in space. All that is romantic bullshit. She was a wonderful, bright and fully alive woman. Now she's gone, from here at least. I envied the freedom she had with life in general. Responsibility didn't weigh heavy on her. I wish I had learned her secret. Her job is being done by someone else, but someone can't replace the energy she brought to the whole Department."
The waiter returned, oblivious to the seriousness of the conversation and with a jovial greeting, he placed the scones and the green tea, ice sparkling in the glass, on the table. Riah thanked him as he walked away. She spun the glass with her fingertips, the chill helping ground her in the present moment, dragging her back from the sharp edge of grief, into the soft belly of it, a tolerable place ... mostly.
"How am I? I'm gonna take some time to get over it. I've lost lots of patients but that's different somehow. In spite of the separation afforded by rank, Medical is really a family and ...." She had to stop as the knot in her throat rose to cut off her voice. She took a quick double swallow of her drink, the cold again grounding her, the tea nudging the knot back down toward her heart. "On that happy note," she acknowledged with a spin of her glass, "Thank you Melinda Willeman for your life. May you move from life to Life and continue to bring joy to those in your company. "
Corbin inclined her head as the toast was given, lifting her teacup without hesitation.
“To Melinda Willeman,” she said quietly.
A brief pause, then, with equal weight,
“To Dari Avagard… and Del Bar’lark.”
She took a measured sip, setting the cup back down with care.
“I am sorry,” she said, simply. “For the loss to your department. To your… family.”
Her gaze held Riah’s for a moment, something more personal there now, before it drifted, unhurried, toward the window.
Outside, the sea pressed endlessly against the cliffs, waves breaking in steady, indifferent rhythm.
“It is a difficult thing,” she said after a moment, quieter now, “to ask people to stand in harm’s way. Harder still when the reason behind it does not feel… sufficient afterward.”
The words settled between them, not heavy, but not light either.
Her fingers rested against the edge of her teacup, unmoving.
“They mattered,” she added, almost to the glass, to the horizon beyond it. “That does not change.”
Silence followed.
Not empty. Not uncomfortable.
Just time, given to it.
Corbin remained there for a few seconds longer, her attention fixed outward, the line of her posture still composed, but the weight of it more visible in the quiet.
Then, deliberately, she drew herself back.
Her gaze returned to Riah, the shift subtle but intentional, as if setting something down rather than pushing it away.
“We will have some time at Starbase 369,” she said, her tone easing slightly. “Repairs alone will see to that.”
A small tilt of her head, the question offered with quiet care.
“What are you looking forward to?”
"Maybe a little less pressure medically. Just enough to keep me in line." Riah chuffed a short laugh. "Actually, it will give me time to think about a personal situation I need to do something about." She paused for a sip of her drink and wished it were a strong Old Fashioned instead of timid tea. She looked at Sabrina's face. "Can I tell you about it, without you taking it on as somehow yours to carry?" she asked.
Corbin considered her for a moment, then gave a small, acknowledging nod. “You may.” A faint trace of dry honesty followed. “I know I have a tendency to take on more than I should.”
Her gaze held Riah’s, steady, present. “But I will listen… and leave it with you.”
She lifted her tea in a small, grounding motion. “Go on.”
"Fourteen years ago, in med-school, I got pregnant. How that happened is irrelevant to this issue, but I had the baby, a little girl, and she was adopted by a lovely couple and I was free to finish school and take off for the stars, with no further communication with the adoption agency or the adoptive parents. I ended up on the starship Arawyn and as we were leaving 369, quite literally, I got a letter from that little girl who is now 15 and she wants to know who is her biological mother. Apparently the mother tracked down my information. I don't know how. It took a while, but I did reply from Lathira. I've now gotten a second letter, more personal than the first. I need to use some of my time replying and deciding what to do. She has suggested meeting in person. That's out of the question, but I have to tell her that. So that's a rough spot in my R&R."
Corbin was quiet for a moment after Riah finished, her gaze steady, thoughtful rather than distant.
“That’s… a lot,” she said softly.
Sabrina found she could not quite picture it. The choice. The shape of it. What she might do, if it were hers to carry.
Her gaze remained on Riah, steady, present.
“I can see why it’s weighing on you.”
Her expression eased, just a fraction more open.
“You don’t have to have all the answers immediately.”
Her hand settled around her teacup, grounding, her attention still fully on Riah.
“If you want to talk it through… I’m here.”
A faint warmth touched her tone.
“As your friend. Not the one in uniform.”
She let the moment settle between them, not rushing to fill it.
“We don’t have to solve it today,” she said quietly. “And we don’t have to spend all of this time on difficult things.”
She finished her tea, setting the cup aside with care.
“I have heard the station opened a new spa,” she added, almost casually. “Something recently completed with the expansion.”
A small pause, then, a touch more personal,
“I think I am going to spend a few credits and see if some of this weight can be set down for a while.”
She reached for a scone, breaking off a small piece.
“You are more than welcome to join me… if you would like.”
Riah relaxed. Surprised. She didn't feel judged; for the first time in years, she didn't feel that everyone who knew the story was judging her. Sabrina Corbin did not. And that gave Riah the freedom, at least for a little while, to not judge herself either. She took a deep satisfying breath and smiled.
"I'd love that. Yes. I'll join you." She paused. "Thank you. Thank you for just hearing me. Thank you. "
Sabrina Corbin
&
Riah Amberlyn
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