Nearing the End of Paradise
Posted on 23 Jan 2026 @ 3:01am by Captain Sabrina Corbin & Lieutenant Commander Riah Amberlyn XMD
2,301 words; about a 12 minute read
Mission:
Lathira Shoreleave
Location: Lathira - Dravitia Cafe' & Book Shoppe
Timeline: Day 5 of Amberlyn's shore leave
// Dravitia Cafe' & Book Shoppe //
There was less than an hour before Dr Riah Amberlyn had it in her plan to return to the ship after a questionably pleasurable shore leave. She walked down the promenade of the little community where she had spent the last two days. There were shops selling handmade crafts, shops selling elaborate and expensive clothing, shops selling vintage books. The scent of old leather and real paper outside the latter caught her attention and she paused at what appeared to be an old fashioned display window which featured a overstuffed green brocade wingback chair, a worn tapestry fabric footstool and a small very antique table with a simple, hobnail light stand with a yellowed fabric lamp shade.
Books, real paper and clothbound books were casually arranged in the display, some on the table, stacked on the floor, a particularly well-preserved one leaning against one such stack. And a lovely one open to a page in the middle, turned printing down, filled the seat of the chair. Wind in the Willows the title declared, by the author Kenneth Grahame. Images of an anthropomorphized frog and a nattily attired mole engaged in a conversation on the cover staring back at Riah.
Something about it was just so appealing, so full of fancy, where she was already moving her mind from her less than satisfying drawings over the past four days back to the real world of professional medical officer aboard a flag starship for a Federation and Starfleet recovering from it's own maladies.
She walked into the shop to find it was not only a vintage bookstore, but also a small coffee shop or perhaps a bakery took up the back 1/3 of the shop. Once inside, the scent of pastries mingled with the scent of paper books and old glue. She approached a counter and was greeted by an actual young woman about 20 years old.
"Is the book in the chair in the window for sale?" asked Riah.
"The Willow's book?" asked the woman with a smile. "Sure. It's a little overpriced if you ask me, but yeah, Liz would sell it for sure. Let me look it up." She pulled out a modern civilian version of a PaDD, tapped a button and asked for unit for the price of the Wind in the Willows. "That's 400 gabols, or 744 Federation credits," she said, almost wincing as she said it.
"I'll take it."
The woman was positively gleeful. "Really? I mean, yes ma'am. I'll get it and wrap it for you," and she left the counter and headed for the front window.
Riah had plenty of money. She rarely spent anything on herself with the exception of art supplies when needed. Seven hundred and forty-four credits was excessive. But something made her want that book above any amount in her credit savings. As the woman returned and handed her the book to examine, Riah noticed Captain Corbin entering the shop. She smiled when their eyes met but quickly returned her attention to the woman holding out the book.
The doctor quickly checked the front piece, the date of publication was 2269, and it was in exceptionally good shape for that age. Back then, they still knew how to make a real book. "Where did you come upon the old Terran book?" asked Riah, leafing through the pages and entirely delighted by more of the precious images of animals and the forest in which they apparently lived.
"We got a whole ship's library worth of books about 2 years ago. The ship was salvage, but the physical library from it was extensive. Liz bought up about 2/3 of what they had. This book was in there. Not all were this old, but a few were," the woman explained.
Riah made the funds transfer, declined a fancy wrapping and added the book to her own reusable tote. "Is the bakery open?" she asked.
"Yes Ma'am. Try the hazelnut coffee if you like coffee. Thanks for shopping with us, too," she added. Riah nodded in acknowledgement.
As she wandered slowly to the back of the shop, Riah shook her head in disbelief. How insane it was to spend that much money for a 200 year old book based upon the picture on the cover. When she arrived in the small dining room she found Sabrina Corbin seated at one of the tables, a book open on the table, reading as she absentmindedly spun a delicate teacup in its saucer.
"Find one you like, Captain," Riah said softly.
Sabrina looked up from the page at the sound of Riah’s voice, already knowing she was there.
She had seen her through the front window before stepping inside. Riah at the counter, absorbed in discovery, entirely herself. For a brief, unhelpful moment, Sabrina wondered if the doctor had seen her outside first, walking the promenade, Evan at her side, the goodbye unhurried.
The thought passed.
It didn’t matter.
She had entered the shop quietly, letting the door close behind her without ceremony. Coffee first. Always coffee. Then the shelves. Her hand had gone, as it so often did, to a worn Terran romance, something old, something certain.
Now she sat near the back, book open, cup warming the table beside her. She resisted the instinct to straighten when addressed, to reassemble the Captain on reflex.
“I did,” she replied softly, lifting the book just enough to show the cover. A faint smile touched her mouth.
“I have a weakness for old-fashioned romance,” she added calmly. No apology. No self-consciousness. “Stories that know where they’re going, and aren’t afraid to let people feel things along the way.”
Her gaze shifted to the empty chair across from her, and she tipped her chin toward it.
“Sit,” she said gently. “If you’ve time.”
She leaned back again, fingers resting against the page. “Did you enjoy the planet?” she asked. “The time away, I mean.”
"I did indeed," replied Riah. "A cabin on a lake in a forest. I almost filled my new sketchbook with reminders of the place, the flora and fauna. Beautiful. Cooked on an open fire. Fresh caught fish. Yes, outside," she added as Corbin's eyes offered surprise and approval. "Didn't spend any money beyond the venue until today. Bought an antique book for no real good reason other than it had pretty drawings," she laughed. "How about you? Were you able to let go of the ship for a while?"
Sabrina smiled at that, genuine and unguarded.
“That sounds… exactly right,” she said quietly. “The sort of place that stays with you even after you leave it.”
Her fingers brushed the edge of her book, not fidgeting, just present. “And I’ll defend buying an antique book for pretty drawings every time,” she added, tone dry but warm. “Some things don’t need a better reason than that.”
She considered the question before answering. Honestly.
“For a while,” Sabrina said. “Not entirely. I don’t think I ever do.” A pause, then a small, accepting shrug. “But enough to remember that I’m more than the ship.”
She lifted her cup at last, taking a measured sip. “I walked. Read. I got to know the bones of the colony. Let myself enjoy being somewhere warm and unstructured.” A faint smile returned. “That counts as letting go, for me.”
"I can understand that. Some things are hard to set to the side for a little while, even with to do so would benefit the situation." Riah's lack of words fit for a teen with a lot of questions thrust itself upon her heart, and she saw the image of a nattily attired Mole appeared in her mind's eye.
The doctor thought for a moment, a bit of a dip in the timing of the conversation. But perhaps the Captain had not been offended, as she took a sip of the tea. "What do you suppose you can do to take some of those warm, unstructured bones of the colony back to your life on a starship?" asked Riah, breathing over the top of her own tea.
Sabrina noticed it then.
Riah still standing. Still hovering, as if this were a corridor exchange instead of a borrowed pause.
Her mouth curved, just slightly.
“You’re making me feel like I’m already back at my desk,” she said, tone dry but not unkind. She gestured again to the empty chair, more insistently this time. “Please. Sit.”
"Thank you," Riah replied, taking the offer to heart.
Sabrina's voice was calm, but the request carried just enough weight to make it clear she meant it. As Riah moved toward the chair, Sabrina lifted her hand slightly and caught the attention of one of the café staff. A scone for herself, still warm if possible. Tea instead of coffee this time. Something light.
“And whatever my friend would like.”
"Thank you," said Riah. "Green tea and a scone, please."
The senior officer waited until the order was acknowledged and Riah was seated before settling back again.
“That helps,” she said mildly, as if the room itself had just exhaled. “Standing conversations have a way of turning into briefings.”
When the tea arrived, Sabrina wrapped her hands around the cup, letting the warmth seep in before answering the question Riah had posed.
“I don’t think it’s about recreating the place,” she said. “I can’t turn a starship into a coastal colony, no matter how tempting that might be.” A faint smile appeared, then faded. “But I can protect pieces of how it felt.”
She broke the scone in half without looking, steam rising briefly between her fingers. “Unscheduled time. Reading something that serves no professional purpose. Letting a meal take as long as it takes. Enjoying company with no weight of command. No restrictions.”
Her gaze lifted to Riah again, more open now. “And reminding myself that rest isn’t an indulgence. It’s maintenance.”
Sabrina took a measured sip of her tea. “If I don’t carry that back with me, then the ship gets less of me than it deserves.”
She paused, then added lightly, “And I suspect the crew would notice.”
"I think the crew would be grateful for a Captain that enjoys the earthy side of a coastal colony," Riah said thoughtfully. "Maintenance time. Whew, that's a challenge. Once upon a time, I kept a hand written calendar and I would block off time for myself. If I had to work or got otherwise scheduled, I'd manually cross it out, but move it to another time. That actually worked. I think I'm gonna feed some actual paper calendar parameters into the replicator, get a nice ink pen and some colored markers and try that again." She chuffed a laugh. "A concrete step in the direction I want to go."
The doctor was quiet a moment, sipping her tea. "Transitions." She blew gently over the top of the cup, the steam and the tender scent dampening her nose. "Back to the ship. I can feel the pressure in the middle of my back to get back there. I need to slow that transition down a little bit. Yup, need to requisition that paper calendar first thing."
Sabrina listened without interrupting, her attention steady and unhurried. When Riah finished, she nodded once, thoughtful.
“I understand that pull,” she said quietly. “That pressure between the shoulders. The moment where the ship starts calling you back before you’re ready to answer.”
She glanced down at the book on the table, then to the edge of her tea cup. “I still keep a physical journal,” she added, matter-of-fact. “Paper. Ink. Pens I actually like using.” A faint smile. “I’ve tried every digital substitute Starfleet’s ever offered. None of them stick.”
Her fingers rested lightly against the table. “Writing by hand slows me down. Makes me stay with the thought instead of managing it.”
She looked up again. “Kestrel Reach did that too. The community. The warmth. The sense that people knew each other without having to schedule it.” A pause. “I don’t want to lose that feeling the moment we clear orbit.”
Sabrina considered her next words carefully. Not as an order. Not as a directive.
“We set an example whether we mean to or not,” she said. “So maybe we do it intentionally.” Her gaze met Riah’s. Open. Inviting. “Once a week. You and I. No agenda. No briefing. Just… present. Coffee. Tea. A book if we feel like it.”
A small, dry smile followed. “We put it on the calendar so it doesn’t get eaten by everything else.”
She lifted her cup slightly. “Maintenance,” she echoed gently. “For both of us.”
"I like that idea a lot. Maybe a cafe on the holodeck." Riah lifted her cup as well. "To maintenance; for both of us."
Sabrina inclined her cup in return, the porcelain touching lightly.
“To maintenance,” she agreed.
She let the moment sit for a breath longer than strictly necessary before setting the cup down. Regret crossed her expression, real but contained.
“Regretfully, I need to return,” she said. “Duty has better timing than I do.” A faint, wry curve of her mouth followed. “I hope you’re able to put it off a little longer.”
She rose then, unhurried, gathering the book with care rather than haste. “We’ll make good on it,” she added, meeting Riah’s eyes once more. “The café. The time.”
Not a promise made lightly. Just one she fully intended to keep.
With that, Sabrina Corbin stepped back into the flow of the promenade, carrying Kestrel Reach with her as long as she could.
~~~
Captain Sabrina June Corbin
Commanding Officer
USS Arawyn
LtCmdr Riah Amberlyn, XMD
Chief Medical Officer
USS Arawyn
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