Paxis Interruptus

Posted on Wed Mar 16th, 2011 @ 8:20am by Lieutenant Commander Jonathan Mantell & Petty Officer 2nd Class Wally Ruiz

Mission: Shore Leave 1: Pacifica
Location: Holodeck 2, USS Arizona
Timeline: After "The Arrival to Pacifica"

The steam rolled up heavily from the water and the sounds of moaning and relaxation escaped Ru.

Ru had spent the last several days down on the planet, and during that time, he had very little time to relax, and no time to do any personal hygiene, and right now, he was killing two birds with one stone. One of the few things he had learned in Starfleet was to be efficient, and what better a way to be efficient than in personal health and morale?

Thankfully, he had reserved holodeck time before he had left for the planet, and thankfully that time coincided with the Shoreleave the Skipper had granted, which meant that even after his time was over, he could probably get away with spending a few more moments in this particular hot-bath, which was a damned good facsimile of the Hot-Baths of Andor, a wonderful tourist location he got to visit before the time-slip he experienced on the USS Swiftsure.

It was as close to heaven as Ru knew he would ever get, and he was enjoying it quite thoroughly.

In another part of the ship, the computer's emotionless feminine voice delivered the requested information without much ado: [Petty Officer 2nd Class Wally Ruiz is in Holodeck 2.]

The back of the metallic PADD hit the palm of his hand as the boy tapped it back and forth against his palm as he walked down the corridor. The PADD smacked against his flesh through the entire ride down the turbolift down five decks, and through the mostly-empty hallways. Most of the crew the boy passed were attired in the Captain's suggested uniforms of board shorts or bikinis, depending on gender, with robes, shirts or towels completing most of the outfits.

With most of the crew already on Shore Leave, and the Captain, as per usual, leaving all the remaining administrative tasks to him, the boy was left with one final duty before he could get to some Shore Leave of his own. Tapping the PADD against his palm once more, he flipped it up to glance at its contents. With the Security department heads on the planet, it fell to the Miran boy to deal with the aftermath of the report he held in his hand.

As the doors to the holodeck rolled open with a clank, the boy's heart sank. Everyone was on Shore Leave, everyone but Jack. He gazed at the hot baths with envy, and had to swallow to stop himself from drooling. It took all his willpower to resist the urge to chuck the PADD into one of the hot baths and dash off to his own quarters to put on some board shorts. The report wasn't a major problem, the situation on Braken had been resolved. It wasn't like the colonist's actions had created a real problem by the end of their stay, the small mob had been quickly dispersed upon their arrival and the medicine returned. So while part of Jack knew that the Starfleet crewmember in charge of guarding the medicine should be held responsible for letting the colonists get their hands on it, the situation was hardy so grievous to delay his Shore Leave.

Taking a break, Jack let it out wistfully. He was already here, he might as well get this over with. Then it was time for beaches, sand castles, swimming and whatever else a boy could do on Pacifica. Stepping forward into the Holodeck, the simulated environment of Andor that felt like a swirling mixture of temperatures, the boy looked about for the Petty Officer. Spotting the pink-ish skin of a non-Andorian in one of the baths, the Miran approached and called out, "Petty Officer Ruiz?"

Ru was somewhere between dozing and sleeping when he heard his name, but that part of him that cared about such trivial matters such as his name where wisping away, much like the steam that was being carried away on the winds of relaxation. He thought he had recognized the voice from some far off and distant place, from some different plane of existence, but it eluded him. Had his brain not been on minimal power, he would have recognized it right away, but as such, he was, for all intents and purposes shut down. He was so relaxed right now, that if Mother Nature chose to call right now, he would not have had any control or willpower to stop her from...er....coming to the surface, so to speak.

The boy tipped his head, staring at the unresponsive man. Perhaps he hadn't spoken loud enough, or maybe Jack had even said the man's name wrong. He never cared for the people who insisted on calling him Jonathan, so perhaps this was the case here. He tried again, raising his voice this time so it nearly echoed in the open 'air' of the holodeck program. "Petty Officer Rooz? Reez? I don't know how you say your name," the boy admitted. "Petty Officer?" He called again, waving the PADD over his head to beckon and indicate his purpose in interrupting the man's vacation time. "We need to discuss this."

Ru had opened his eyes wide, startled at his name, and confused that anyone on this planet, and especially in this oasis of relaxation would know his name. When they opened, he saw a kid in a Starfleet uniform wearing the pips of a Lieutenant Commander. For several moments, while the Commander was working out how to say his name, slow realization dawned on Ru who this person was. Ru stood up, the change in temperature causing gooseflesh to show up everywhere on his skin. "It's pronounced 'Roo-ez' sir," he said. "How can I help you?"

Jack responded with a flick of his wrist, tossing the PADD like a frisbee disk at the Petty Officer. "That," he announced, "Could use some explaining."

Ru nearly fumbled the PADD, nearly catching it, it bounded off his hands and went straight up in the air. His quick reflexes acting, he went up for it, but misjudged it and sent it twirling downwards towards the deliciously warm water. Twice more his hands touched the PADD before he finally caught it with his wrist pinning it against his right thigh. He looked up in embarrassment to the Lieutenant Commander, still very much in his contorted position, holding the PADD to his leg so it wouldn't fall into the water.

The Miran Lieutenant Commander couldn't help but giggle at the NCO's antics. Even if the report did claim the man screwed up royally on the planet, he was at least entertaining. Was there such a thing as an Entertainment Defense? The boy fell silent again to let Ruiz read the report, but it didn't stop his movements. His eyes wandered, taking in the vista that the holodeck had created, and breathing deeply in the steam rolling off the hot baths. The program was one pleasant enough, but the hot, sticky feeling from the steam didn't mix well with the chilly air blowing around the outskirts of the baths. The boy shivered uncomfortably, fidgeting in his stance, wishing the Petty Officer would hurry up and finish reading so they could both get back to their vacations.

Ru finished reading the report, his eyes growing wider and wider as he did so. When he was finished, he looked up at the Commander. "Sir, this is not how I remember things happening."

Surprised, more at the man's speech at all than the content, Jack turned back to Ruiz with a quizzicle look. "Really?" he mused, his tone removed of judgement. It was possible that Ruiz was simply lying, but the boy just wasn't that cynical. "So what did happen, then?"

"While I admit that several of the native population did get past us on our LP/OP operation, we were not sleeping on post, nor did they get past us from within only three meters, like this report states. After everything calmed down and things were restored to order, my Alpha and I went back out to where we were stationed, where you stationed us, sir, and we got to looking around. He saw at most for tracks nearly a kilometer away down the road from where we were placed, and if you remember correctly, especially since you commented on it, that night was a new moon, so there was very little light. Granted, we could have been using out night vision goggles, but you know as well as I do how bad those things strain the eyes. This report shows negligence on my part, and I know for a fact I was not negligent. Even if we had been using the NVG's, we would have never been able to catch up with them in time to stop them from stealing the goods and damaging the shuttle. The next closest patrol to us was clear on the other side of the shuttle."

The honesty of the Petty Officer was shocking. Most people, when faced with their wrongdoings, tried to cover them up or blame others. This one just came out an admitted it. Jack's first instinct would have been to just get the Petty Officer reassigned, maybe to some starbase to handle cargo inspection or something, but the man's integrity was making him rethink that idea. "How long have you been in Starfleet, Mr. Roo-ez?" he asked, carefully sounding out the man's name.

The question hit him like a ton of diridium. Whenever someone was asked that question, it did not bode well. "Uh, I've been in for seven years, sir." He knew he was defeated. There was no question about it. Now he just had to take it like a man.

"Seven years," the boy mulled the answer over with his tongue. Seven years ago, Jack had been a research engineer on Jupiter Station. He'd had his own lab, his own schedule, his own goals and deadlines. The only superior he reported to was the Station Commander, who asked about his progress once a month, and once in a while gave him a few tasks. It was a huge relief from the daily pressures of running a starship's Engineering department, and the extra time gave him the ability to pursue some of his interests that he rarely had time to on a starship. The boy wondered if a similar change in pace and assignment might benefit Ruiz as well. "Have you been in Security the whole time?"

"Yes sir. I studied Security at Boot Camp, then was assigned to the Ambassador-class USS Swiftsure. Afterwards, I was reassigned to the transport ship USS Drew Roche, then to the Sentinel-class USS Sentinel and finally to here, sir. Security the whole time."

"Did you ever, uhh, mess up on those?" Jack didn't know any other way to put it. He felt sorry for the man, caught in a bad situation, but the boy wasn't sure how to help. If he handled it, Starfleet JAG probably wouldn't have to get involved, and JAG could be murderous. But what was he supposed to do with a crewmember who couldn't be trusted to do his job? Even with Ruiz' corrections, the report was fairly damning of the man's performance. At the least, it warranted a removal from Away Teams and security patrols in restricted sections, and at the most...Ruiz could kiss his Starfleet career goodbye.

"No sir. In fact, I have several commendations for good behavior, outstanding performance and devotion to duty." Ru knew he was grasping at straws.

Jack could feel for the man's situation. The Petty Officer screwed up, albeit once, but that one time could still produce a black mark on his record. His career in Security might not last much longer unless something drastic happened. The trouble was figuring out what, what could he do to help salvage this man's career? The boy tried telling his mind that it wasn't his problem, that the Petty Officer did it to himself and he could sort it out. There were more important things to worry about. And then Jack remembered his own experience.

The Miran had once been asked by his department head to take on the assistant lead role of the department. It was thrilling and perfect, the first real authority he had ever worked with and Jack found it to be exciting in those days. He was eager and, for a time, things worked out. When they fell apart, the ship's XO offered him 'help' in the form of a transfer. In reality, Jack was shipped off to another vessel, shuffled into a backhole of the Engineering department and all but forgotten. He had to work and climb to pull himself out of that hole, and when he finally did, Jack never looked back. Until now, when he found himself examining that circumstance and wondering how it could have been different. He had persevered, but what would have happened if he had let it get to him? Would he have left Starfleet after such a short career? And what if the XO had truly helped him instead of conspiring to unload him from the ship?

As he pondered these thoughts, the boy couldn't help but feel a distinctive similarity between his situation thirty years ago and his situation now, with a few roles changed around. Now he was the XO, and someone else was the rising star in a bad place. Jack suddenly nodded to himself, he knew what had to be done. "All right, Mr. Ruiz. I'm not going to refer this to JAG, and I'm not going to fill out any transfer papers. You're staying here, unless you really want to leave," the boy promised the Petty Officer, smiling with the certainty of his words. "But I don't know about your job. What would you think about trying something else?"

Ru had known as soon as everything happened on the planet that his career was over, and he had escaped here to relax before the inevitable meeting with the XO, the Captain, maybe even an Admiral, then a review of his peers before he was shipped back to Luna a dismal failure. What he had not taken into account was that someone might try to take them under their proverbial wing.

Another thing he didn't take into account was that if he had somehow made it through this major incident, that he would no longer be in security. Security had been his entire adult life. He had been Security on his first ship, the USS Swiftsure, then on the transport ship USS Drew Roche, then to the USS Sentinel, and now here to the USS Arizona. What -could- he do? He wasn't gifted in the Sciences. He barely knew how to turn the proverbial wrench, didn't know a damned thing about Starship Operations, and was about as clueless in the Medical Sciences as he was in women. In short, he had no idea, and said as much.

"Hmm," the boy thought aloud. Even though this job came with some definite freedoms, like seeing more of the ship than Engineering, Jack wasn't quite sure if he liked getting his hands deep in ship's personnel yet. "Well," he said, more to himself than to the Petty Officer, "I'll think of something."

With that, the boy turned around and walked back through the holodeck doors, leaving Ruiz to his interrupted vacation.

Ru watched the very young looking Executive Officer depart. Ru had a great deal to think about now, and it just wasn't in him to enjoy this oasis any longer. "Computer, save program and end."

The computer beeped, then the vista started to deform and fade from view. Within a second, he was standing in a grided square room, dripping wet, cold and in his swimming trunks. He didn't even have a towel to dry off with. Sighing heavily, Ru exited the holodeck and made his way back to his quarters, which he shared with three other guys from Security.