Sometimes, despite the advances in technology, despite the diversions the staff came up with, the kids themselves found the most enjoyment out of time honoured games such as kick-to-kick, marbles or jacks.
This was what had happened. Heavens knew where he’d got it from, but Yankri had produced a tennis ball, which he and Jason were now happily bouncing against the wall.
As little boys have a tendency to, they had made a huge, noisy game out of it, with much laughter and chatter.
It was only natural they should attract attention…
It was Yankri who felt the stranger’s dark eyes on him first. Curious, the little Andorian cocked an antenna towards him, then turned to face him.
"Hello." he said, dropping the ball. "What’s your name?"
"Maurice Shan-Mogaddí." the newcomer said softly, taking a hesitant step forward. "What’s yours?"
"Yankri. This is Jason Randall."
Jason, who’d been absentmindedly kicking the ball between his feet, looked up at the sound of his own name.
"Hi." he said shyly.
"Who are you on this ship?" Yankri asked.
"What?" Maurice replied, voice still soft.
Yankri sighed, and explained with gesturing hands,
"My mum is the transporter chief. So who are you?"
"My mum is a teacher - my other mum is the Counsellor’s assistant."
"You have two mums?" Jason was astounded enough to break through shyness. "Wow!"
"Well, not really." Maurice shifted his feet uneasily. "My dad went away a while ago. But my sister Shula has two mums. Berry is my adopted mum."
"Cool!" Jason nodded enthusiastically. "You want to play downball with us?"
The Betazoid broke out into a broad smile.
"Yeah!" he enthused. "Can I go first?"
"Yep." said Jason, scooping up the ball and tossing it to their new player, who served it.
A few minutes went by as they accustomed themselves to playing with three instead of two. It progressed with the usual accompanying giggles, grumbles and complaints, but finally they were going along fairly smoothly with only the occasional drop or miss. Then, after a particularly long volley, stopped only by a close miss by Yankri, Maurice asked,
"Jason?"
"Yep?"
"Who are you?"
Jason mumbled something, looking longingly at the ball.
"What?"
Jason repeated it, louder.
"Mum flies the ship, and Dad is Science Administrator." He was happy he managed to get all of that out.
Maurice smiled enviously.
"She’s a pilot?" He sighed. "Can we go to the bridge with you one day? See her fly it?"
"Dunno." Jason frowned in thought. "Maybe. I know she’s going to let Lily and me into her office. Maybe I could get her to let you in there. You’d see the bridge as we walked in."
Maurice was staring at his new friend, whilst in the background, Yankri laughed.
"Jason - is your Mum the Captain?"
"Yeah!" Jason agreed.
"Why didn’t you tell us that right away, then?"
Jason shrugged.
"I forgot."
"You forgot!" Yankri laughed. "If my mum was captain, I wouldn’t forget!"
"She’s just my Mum." he returned innocently. "Can we play again?"
Yankri looked at the ball in his hand and squeezed it.
"You want to?" he asked Maurice, who thought in return.
"Can we go on the bridge?" he asked wistfully.
"I don’t know. I’ll ask Mum later."
"OK." He jiggled a bit, then said. "Can we play now?"
"OK." Yankri agreed, launching the ball.Time marched on. Around the ship, people met for the first time, explored their new domains, got on with their tasks and generally lived. Here and there, there was the sight of a yellow coveralled technician from McKinley scurrying through the corridors. It was strange, but while the ship hadn’t been out of the Planitia yards long enough to have any experience, and many of the crew had been aboard less than twenty-four hours, but already the technicians seemed somehow out of place, as though they didn’t quite fit in. The Fairburn was beginning to gain its own personality as its crew became accustomed to the new surrounds. Soon all that would be left would be to prove themselves…
The orientation session was over, and Chiharu was privately relieved. Not that she disliked their company, and nor was she overly tired out by the tramping - she had gone much further when she was assigned to Starbase 26 and she’d been on the detail patrolling the perimeters. However she had only been aboard just on forty-eight hours, hadn’t had a chance to meet anyone else much, and even then there had been no one of her acquaintance on the tour, as she had been the only bridge officer that had been available for this one.
Yet there was another reason for her relief - while they’d been touring Sickbay, Doctor Mem’ness had mentioned the record keeping facility, and Chiharu had suddenly remembered she hadn’t gone in there to check her records. She had stewed over this for the next few hours until she was finally released from the tour and could return.
Sickbay looked almost empty when she walked in. It took a keen pair of eyes to spot a pair of legs sticking out from beneath a biobed, and even keener ones to see the figures floating through the wards further into the complex.
"Hello?" she said tentatively, quietly approaching the one beneath the bed. "Who do I see about…?"
There came a muffled ‘thump’, and an irritated male face poked up from behind the bed top.
"Yes? What?"
Chiharu didn’t budge an inch. Planting her hands on her hips, she said,
"Who do I see about checking my records?"
"Ah, Doctor Willbanks." the medtech replied, waving a hand vaguely in the direction of the CMO's office. "If you can get a civil word out of her mouth, that is."
"Oh? What’s the problem?"
"Problem?" The man’s silvery face twisted into a grimace, but kept his voice neutral. "No problem. She’s my commanding officer, after all, sir."
"Right." Chiharu countered. "Well, I’ll go see her, then. Though some respect might have been good from you! I can see why you’re still here fixing things when everyone else seems to be leaving for the day. Thank-you for the information."
The man was immediately contrite, and stammered,
"I didn’t mean…"
She left him mouthing his words to himself.
She got some inkling of what the man had been trying to tell her when she got to the doorway of the office. Within, there was a woman, with an almost pixie-like beauty about her - except for the fact she had a fierce scowl on her face, was pounding at the PADD in her hands, and was swearing under her breath. Chiharu didn’t quite know how to take this.
She knocked anyway.
The woman looked up, her blue eyes flashing.
"Yes?" she spat, then on seeing it wasn’t anyone she knew, forced some semblance of cheer into her tone. "How can I help you, Ensign…?"
"Takahashi. Chiharu. Chi to my friends." Chiharu quickly returned. "Are you Doctor Willbanks?"
"Yep, indeed I am. Come in." Her tone was still short and sharp, but at least she was trying to be civil.. With an almost thankful air, she threw the PADD to the other side of the desk as Chi moved in.
"So, what can I do for you?" she asked once the pilot was in and Lisa had shut the door.
"I just needed to check whether my records have arrived from the Aristotle." Chiharu replied. "The medtech said that I was to come to you?"
"Hmmm, true," Lisa mused as she pushed a few buttons on her terminal. "though any of us really could do this…" They appeared on her screen then, and Chi watched the doctor half-heartedly read through them. "You haven’t had a med. exam in ten months, is that right?"
Chiharu shuffled her feet slightly. She’d forgotten about that, too.
"That’s right. I’m not due for another for two months, am I?"
"True, but something more recent would be best…"
"I could make an appointment if you’d like."
"That would be good. You can’t make it in tomorrow, of course…" Her monitor beeped as she changed screens. "How about Friday. Doctor Mem’ness is free then. Or Stavridis on Tuesday morning…?"
"Not you, Doctor?" she wondered.
"Well, I am…" came the hesitant reply, "but while I’m Acting CMO, I’m essentially working two jobs, and I can’t…" She tore a hand through already unruly hair and thought about it. "Next Wednesday?" she ventured. "At thirteen hundred?"
"I can do that." Chiharu affirmed. "Thank-you, doctor."
Lisa smiled weakly.
"You’re welcome."
Her eyes had kept darting towards the PADD throughout this exchange, Chiharu noticed, and now that the interview appeared to be over, she was making no bones about reaching for it.
Chi was no Counsellor, but she knew stress when she saw it.
"Are you going to the reception tonight? It starts soon." she countered, leaning forward in order to catch the PADD should she need to.
The woman looked at her again.
"I wasn’t planning to." came the flat toned reply. "I have a lot to finish here; reports and the like."
"But you look as though you need the time away from this, so, please come with me. You could have some fun!"
Lisa muttered something that sounded like "yeah, but whose?", then looked at the woman.
"Why?" she asked sullenly.
Chiharu shrugged and got to her feet.
"You look as though you need it. So come with me, please?" she held out an imploring hand. "Come on! Come?"
Lisa’s frown became slightly confused, her dark eyes softening slightly.
"Why me?" she scoffed, absentmindedly putting down the PADD again.
Chiharu shrugged.
"You need a break. I want to go, and I know no one else outside of a few bridge officers. Why not?" She raised the hand again. "Please?"
"Insistent, aren’t you?" she laughed, a real smile cracking her facade as she got to her feet, punching something into her terminal. "Alright."
Chiharu smiled as they left the room.
As they walked down the hall, Lisa turned to the pilot and said conversationally,
"Do you know Lieutenant Quellon from Exo-Botany?"
It was Chiharu’s turn to frown. Shaking her head slightly, making her straight black bob dance, she replied,
"No. Why?"
Lisa smiled distantly.
"No reason."
It was an interesting angle to see the Chief Engineer from - and definitely showed a side of him Lieutenant Daniels never wanted to see again!
The Security Chief had come down to Engineering on a mission, though his motives for taking on this mission were not borne of the Counsellor’s request. No. Though he would tell Rell and anyone who asked that he was down here to escort the Chief to the reception (as K’Teira was concerned he’d lose track of time otherwise), Daniels’ own reason was far more basic; and yes, selfish; than that.
He wanted to get away from the boring formal function as quickly and early as possible, and if he stuck to Rell, he could foist the Bolian off on to the Captain when she made her invariable rounds of the senior staff, and be on his way when the engineer started up on one of his epic sagas. Simple - he’d pay his respects and get away in time to see Lynn. A lot of Lynn.
And then, he told himself with shudder of anticipation and glee, the REAL party will begin!
In short, if Elek had accused him of being focused on his rendezvous with his female friend now, she’d be right.
Things were typically frantic in Engineering, Daniels noted as he ambled in, his thumbs looped into the sides of his dress uniform - having changed after the hot and grungy drill through the three decks. He always enjoyed being here in Rell’s domain - there was an air of excited anticipation the big man inspired that no other Engineering he’d seen had; not even his sister’s. Here Rell was King, but he was a benevolent and jolly ruler, so working here was a joy.
Yet in amongst the anthill of activity, the blue form of Rell was nowhere to be seen, and caused Daniels’ light-hearted plans to stop running pleasantly through his mind and for darker notions to take their place. What if Rell had already gone? Had he left in the time between Daniels’ check of his position on the computer and his arrival here? Was Rell in his quarters even now getting ready to go? Or even worse - was Rell stuffed up a Jeffries tube somewhere in the bowels of a ship where it was just plain stupid not to use the communicator to tell him it was time for the party? Or maybe he was over on McKinley badgering the personnel there to make one last hull check?
What if Daniels couldn’t find him in time? How would he get out of yakking to the Captain and the rest of the seniors? How was he going to explain how late he was to Lynn?
Easy. He shrugged nonchalantly, mentally shaking himself. Nothing of the quick succession of questions had touched his droll expression throughout. I wing it.
Slumping on into Main Engineering, he stopped the first crewman he found - a Tellarite woman holding a toolkit and a pile of PADDs. She might never have seen him over the top of her burden if he hadn’t deliberately stepped in front of her, but as soon as she did see him - and his formal uniform - she cried,
"Drixchtal! The reception! You’re here for Commander Rell?"
"Sure am." His plans were once again daring to surface in his mind; he could afford to drawl, "D’ya know where he is?"
"Well…" With a fluid movement of her porcine body, she turned and deposited the heap of data devices on a nearby console. "He’s on the warp core." she explained, walking off towards its blue column of light with a gesture for him to follow.
On the…? Invariably, his first thought was, How the hell did he get up there? His second thought was, How the hell am I going to get up there? and the third, rather bleak one was, "Yeah, Lynn; hi! Sorry, but I’m not going to be able to make it tonight… Why? ‘Coz I fell off the warp core and broke every bone in my body, that’s why! They’ve just finished scraping my feet off the decking now…"
Of course, the Security Chief seemed to be quite happy trailing behind the crewman as she led him to the small ladder set into the warp core shaft wall. Once there, she surprised him by not starting to climb as he expected, but instead tilting her head to bellow,
"Commander!"
Curious, Daniels looked up.
That was when he saw it. The side of a superior officer no subordinate with a sense of humour should ever see. The side that was normally hidden by bulk and dignity.
Daniels immediately collapsed into laughter. After all, it wasn’t every day a bridge officer could look right up the Engineer’s a…
"What?!" the voice came from beyond the blocking backside along with the clattering of tools being put aside. "Is it that time already?"
"Yes! Lieutenant Daniels is here to take you there!"
The backside wobbled ominously.
"I thought I recognized the giggling. Hold on." The sound of more tools being moved, then legs seemed to magically appear below the great black expanse as Rell unhooked himself from the ladder. "Coming down."
Rell unwittingly gave Daniels a demonstration of how fast he could make his huge bulk go as he descended that ladder, not even giving the Security Chief time to regain his indolent composure. And as was his wont, Rell was talking all the way down.
"Isn’t it funny how time gets away with you? Here I was thinking that I had another half an hour at least, yet here you are!" It was strange how Rell managed to finish a sentence and a climb at the same time; he brought his feet together and faced Daniels just as he finished enunciating the ‘are’. Smilingly he slapped the still intermittently sniggering Chief across the back.
"It seems I owe you a debt of gratitude, Daniels!" Rell exclaimed. "If you hadn’t come, I’d still be there, and I couldn’t risk alienating another Captain! Tell Brixip’rLssx she’s in charge here until I get back." He’d turned to the Tellarite without halting the flow of words, and the crewman nodded even as Daniels’ head spun. Oooh! He hated that! It was hard enough at times keeping up with the Bolian’s ravings, let alone with his tendency to hold five simultaneous conversations. "Make sure she does a check of that junction, alright? I’m counting on you!"
"Yes, Commander!"
Rell shuddered as the Tellarite proudly strode off.
"She will, too!" he laughed to himself.
"Wait a minute!" Daniels said suspiciously, jokingly glaring at the bigger man. "I thought you hated ranking?"
"I do!" Rell shuddered again. "But do you want to stop her?"
Examining the squat, muscular body of the woman as she strode away, the thick sinews of her limbs plainly visible under the cloth of her uniform. Daniels understood.
"No way!"
"I’m glad you see it my way!" Another hard smack across Daniels’ back nearly sent him careening into Engineering. Rell didn’t seem to notice. "Shall we go? I’m not fronting up to a party like this - well, not the first one, anyway. Did it at Utopia Planitia once though - thought the Lieutenant Commander was going to die of embarrassment right there in front of all those Admirals!"
Dirty clothes and all, Rell began moving so fast that the smaller (and it must be said, fitter looking) Daniels found it hard to keep up both physically and mentally.
"But as I was saying before," Rell was continuing as Daniels scooted forward, "that other Captain I alienated; boy, was that a long time ago…!"
Shit! He’s gonna bore me to death before we even get to his quarters! Daniels thought, grinding his teeth as he stomped along beside. Lynn, this’d better be worth it…!
Then he thought of a diversion.
"Hang on…!" he interjected, catching Rell in mid-breath. "What’s going on with that junction?" Please let it be something major so he’ll talk about that for a while!
Unfortunately for Daniels, Rell waved his hands dismissively.
"Oh, nothing Security need worry about. Just dotting the ‘I’s and crossing the ‘T’s for the Captain. Speaking of which…"
No! No! Don’t! Daniels rolled his eyes up, then screwed them tightly shut, waiting for the worst.
"…Never alienate your Captain; never put frothing richirdun in the decorative fountain, and never, ever leave in the ensuing chaos! It’s just too obvious!"
Aaaaaaarg…h? Daniels halted his mental scream of frustration when he heard how short the diatribe was, then narrowed his eyes suspicious when the actual words began to filter into his consciousness. For his part, Rell looked as though he had no idea he’d said anything surprising; a touch of some enigmatic Bolian expression touching his face.
Daniels ground his teeth slowly, feeling a laugh coming up from his toes, but not wanting to voice it. Silence extended between them until just before they got to the turbolift, when Daniels had to say something or risk exploding.
"You know," He tried to make his voice cheery, but it came out all wrong as he said the first thing that came to mind. "I’m going to have nightmares about man-eating blancmanges falling on me for weeks!"
"You really should see the Counsellor about that." Rell replied mildly.
It was then the two became friends.
