Taking Stock II

Posted on Sat Aug 13th, 2011 @ 5:08am by Lieutenant Jasad Broca & Lieutenant JG Toshie Minamoto & Lieutenant Torrna Maliya MD

Mission: Tomorrow's Arizona
Location: Mess Hall/Ship's Lounge
Timeline: Just before Strange Encounters

Jasad joined the ladies at the table, distributing the drinks that had been ordered. Taking his seat, he blew breath over the rim of his teacup, and then drank deeply of the Red Leaf Tea. It was awful, of course. Replicated Red Leaf Tea was always awful. Of course, it was impossible for him to be sure if that fact was a product of reality or merely expectation. It was practically a mantra on Cardassia that Red Leaf Tea should not be replicated. When one grew up listening to such declarations, the actual flavor of the beverage might be disguised by imagination.

In the starscape beyond the lounge windows, he could see that the ship was shifting position and slowing its speed. He nodded to the vast, mysterious expanse beyond the hull. "I think we have arrived at wherever we've been headed," he said. Some planets of the system gleamed as distant, false stars... though one grew larger and more recognizable as the ship swept near. "We've been so busy repairing damage, I haven't given much thought to where we are, exactly. Or when? Is it true we passed through some kind of temporal gateway?"

Maliya shrugged, all this mechanical stuff was akin to rocket science to her, aka she didn't get most of it. She was more focused on Minamoto now, trying to read her without reading her with a tricorder as she afforded the young Asian with time to get some food in her.

Toshie took her coffee that he brought and set it down next to the simple chicken soup meal she had ordered from the replicator. She tried to never order tea from the replicators, it was never anything like the real thing. She had her back to the starscape and faced towards the other tables and her eyes glimpsed around at the still-unfamiliar faces. "I don't know these days. I've been so focused on keeping this ship's power systems intact that I haven't been paying much mind to it. That's the problem when you stick three ships together...you get three times the problems."

Her eyes kept looking over to the doctor as she sipped at her soup. "Are you finished examining me, doc? Am I good to go?"

Maliya chuckled, "Actually, Lieutenant, I want you in Sickbay after you've finished. I need to treat your bruising and crush injuries. It's nothing bad, you have a mild concussion also. It won't take long, but I need to fix you."

"They say it's better to take a walk in the morning than at midday," Jasad said with a smile, quoting an old Cardassian proverb. Through the window, in the sparkling panorama of stars, it seemed that some of the celestial jewels shifted slightly. Jasad blinked, wondering if he had imagined it. Could it be ships in the distance? But no... ships big enough to be seen from here, even as a faint glimmer of reflected light, would have to be incredibly huge. More likely it was an illusion created by dying subspace fields. Certainly there was no danger. After all, it wasn't as though the ship was in-

"RED ALERT," came a voice over the intercom, "ALL HANDS TO STATIONS."

The interior lighting shifted to reflect the change of ship's condition status. Jasad sighed. He was tired. Minamoto had been pushing herself even harder than him. Now there would be no rest for the weary. Nor the wicked, as he was sure the Doctor must imagine him. "I think this melody is for us," he said, pushing up from the table. "Doctor, as much as I wish the Chief to benefit from your tender mercies, perhaps this is not the best time after all." He cast an apologetic look at his superior, hoping she might forgive him for intruding in the first place. Now the ship was on alert, and because of his coercion and trickery, she was not at her station.

Maliya threw one last glance at Minamoto, "Don't think I'll forget, Lieutenant." and with that said, she was dashing off to the nearest Turbolift to get to Sickbay.

Toshie didn't even protest to the doctor, she knew it wouldn't do much. Her head was throbbing like made, but she just concentrated on her soup. "Aye aye, doctor. Fine. I'll be there." She leaned glumly on her hand, listening to Jasad talk. "Why do they...."

Her words were interrupted then by the alert coming in over the intercom. Without missing a beat, she was up, abandoning her food and following her subordinate out the door. The look she gave him spoke volumes right then, but she didn't say anything to him. Instead she looked back at Maliya, "I wouldn't think of it. Got bigger matters to attend to right now."

Say what you would about her, but she wasn't going to let something like a concussion stop her.