Taes expected it to be her own private beach.

The trail from her borrowed cottage had led her to the cliff’s edge. From that edge, a wrought-iron spiral staircase wound down to the beach. The hollow sound of waves under a cliff drifted up to her. In the dusty-pink haze of pre-morning light, every step felt cool under her bare feet. She steeled herself to the cold and the sharp scent of mineral salt. Swimming in the sea would be even more bracing.

Only in the distance could Taes see the half-sunken chapel. The patch of obsidian sand was hardly large enough to land a runabout atop it. There wasn’t room for anyone else on her private beach. Across the coast in either direction, the water sloshed against sheer cliff-faces. The waves weren’t so rough at this hour. She expected to be able to swim through it without much difficulty.

She hadn’t told Calumn or Nelli where she was going when she left the cottage. She wanted this time to herself, this beach. Even if the air was even colder than she imagined, the sea smelled sweet as she drew nearer. Smelled like a summer rain on stone.

And a young Trill was striding out of the water, having already challenged the sea before her. She was shorter than Taes and moving easily through the wet sand on strong legs. There was no flicker of surprise from the young Trill; she tracked Taes’s approach with attentive eyes.

Without thinking about it, Taes shrugged off the robe she wore over her swimsuit. She closed the distance between them, coming in closer than arm’s length away. She proffered her robe. How quickly she felt protective of this intruder in her morning.

“Want to dry off?” Taes asked.

The Trill reached for the robe, her palm swiping against the back of Taes’s hand as her grip closed around the terrycloth. Holding the robe close, she daubed it against her sternum, where the edge of her swimsuit met her skin.

“Thanks,” she said in an undertone. Nodding at Taes, she patted the robe against her shoulders and then started ringing the water out of her hair.

Staring at her expectantly, Taes waited for an explanation of the Trill’s presence. Only a short heartbeat later, Taes reminded herself that the wish for a private beach was little more than a wish. Taes straightened her spine and lowered her tone into the register she used for first contacts.

“I’m Fleet Captain Taes of the starship Constellation,” Taes said, standing tall. “What brings you to Caldos…?” She trailed off, implying a question of the woman’s identity.

“Questions,” was her answer, her eyes still on Taes. She snapped her head back, tossing her hair over her shoulder. Intently, she added, “What brings you?”

Taes smiled blandly. “Shore leave for my crew. I’ve been invited to share a few words at the Daybreak Festival about our, ah, experience at the Vaadwaur homeworld.”

She hadn’t intended to say that much. Certainly not about the homeworld. So Taes quickly added, “I’ll admit, I haven’t decided what I’m going to say.”

“Hm. Maybe that’s the point,” the Trill interjected. She hugged the robe around her. “How will you know when you’ve found the right path?”

Laughing out a half-hearted, “Heh,” Taes said, “I don’t usually know until after I’ve taken the wrong fork in the road.”

“I get that. I’m Tress,” The Trill smiled. It looked about as half-hearted as Taes sounded. She hesitated for several blinks before she said, “Ensign Tress Solenn. I’m a science officer on shore leave from medical school.”

Now Tress laughed, uncontrollably high-pitched in timbre.

“Think it might be a mistake? I don’t know if I’m any good for medicine,” she said.

Taes recognised that tone. How many times had she confessed to a stranger she couldn’t dream of admitting to a friend? She worked up to a warm smile.

“But is medicine good for you?” Taes asked.

“I saved my first life,” Tress said. Despite the lack of energy driving her words, her eyes sparked with awe at that admission. “During the Blackout. Wasn’t supposed to. But I did it. With these hands.”

Her hands balled into fists around the edges of the robe.

“How did that feel?” Taes asked.

Tress shook her head. Her breath hitched like she crossed a line she couldn’t uncross. “Like I stole something.”