On the Way to Charys (part 1)

Posted on Sun Dec 17th, 2017 @ 1:11pm by Lieutenant Commander Amber Quinn & Captain Ka'Tock & Lieutenant JG Djeneba Nastari & Ensign Alaiya Hernandes

1,114 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Cloud Surfing

ON

It had been one week since the Aurora had checked on the science team on Nal'Daya III. Radiation levels had dropped back to a normal range and the scientists were going to put medication in the drinking water to help the natives get better. It wasn't seen as a violation of the Prime Directive as they would have no idea why they were getting over their sickness.

Kizre Viiar had chosen to stay with the observation team, even though she'd been offered a position on the Aurora. Amber thought she would have been a good addition to the team. But she understood the other woman's desire to finish her assignment and help repair the radiation damage to the planet and its occupants.

And now they were on their way to explore a nebula in the Charys system. Amber was a bit relieved that Daniel had put her in charge of the survey. Partly because she was looking forward to exploring a nebula that was still mostly unknown, and party because not having the captain around gave her a chance to find some balance.

Since they had some time before they arrived, Amber hoped it would give the crew a chance to work out any lingering bugs. "Stat us report."

Hernandes brushed some hair out of her eyes and looked up at the commander. She could sense something going on, but she kept out of it. "All quiet, ma'am." She frowned. "Correction. There's a glitch in my console. Nothing much, just needing to press a little harder than normal."

"See if you can find out what's causing it," Amber said.

Hernandes wanted to laugh. "Yes, ma'am." There was a reason Hernandes was not Ops. She left the technical stuff to the people in Ops and Engineering. "It seems to be around the internal sensors around the brig."

The very clear thought wasn't lost on Amber and one side of her mouth quirked up. "And that requires you to push harder than normal?"

Hernandes's scowl increased. "Correction. It's the internal sensors in general. I try to switch from room to room, and it refuses to work." The Betazoid Latina's mind immediately swirled through a mix of Betazoid and Spanish curse words that would have made a Klingon blush.

Djeneba strolled quietly onto the bridge and settled down in a position at one of the science stations. She had over heard the last part of Hernandes's commentary and quietly queried. "Do you think the ship has rats?"

Hernandes looked over at Djeneba and gave her a tired stare. "If it does, my roommate's cats will love it."

"Cats or rats roaming the ship would both explain why those sensors were triggered." Djeneba stated seriously as she focused on the monitor before her.

Alaiya shook her head. "It's not the sensors themselves. It's the console. Hijo de puta!" She took a deep breath and let it out slowly and then looked at the Ops officer, who was holding back laughter. "Would you mind getting someone to fix this please?"

Nastari didn't say anything, at first, in response to the woman's foul mouth but she wondered if the woman referred to her console in such a manner all the time or just when she was tired. The small statured woman asked in a serious tone but her big dark eyes twinkled with merriment as she queried "So, how does a triggered sensor lead to a malfunction in a console?"

Hernandes after three tries, she sent the sensors to the engineering console behind her. Everything worked fine. Hernandes's head was not a pleasant place at the moment, so she felt slightly sorry for anyone who was in her head, but only slightly. She sent it back, the transfer was seamless, and then she had the same problems with the tactical console, only this time more. She ran through a stream of curses in her head for about 3 solid minutes in over 5 languages.

She took a breath and looked at Nastari. "It isn't the sensors themselves, it's the console. The console requires me to press harder on the sensor commands, but now instead of just internal sensors, it's external sensors, too." She frowned. "And targeting systems. Who was...Ah, yes. Mandran was the last person to use the console."

Nastari did not turn in her seat but she stated the solution without cracking a smile. Though she wanted too. "Obviously the other officer forgot to set them to default when they left the bridge."

The Ops officer walked over to Hernandez. "You know you can set the console to respond to each login with the appropriate setup, right? Then when he or she logs out, it goes back to default. As the lieutenant said, that's probably the problem."

As soon as the other officer touched it, the screen went black. Immediately, a laughing yellow face appeared, with the words "Thank you for playing! Come back next time for fabulous prizes!" After a few moments of flashing lights, the console turned completely black, and then completely normal.

"Well, I'm glad you have that straightened out," Amber said, trying very hard not to chuckle. "In future, no pranks on the bridge, okay?"

Ka'Tock came onto the bridge; he had a bit of 'spare time in between sessions and always drawn to the bridge ; more exactly the View screen, he had gotten so used to seeing it as a Helmsman that he felt a bit claustrophobic if he could not see it periodically. More than a decade behind the controls had given him a 'bad habit' of seeing what is ahead and without that vantage he sometimes felt like a tail spin of sorts.

First he looked at the view screen before even glanced to the personnel and took an extra breath, then he heard the screen with the laughing.

"I am still trying to get a handle upon the human Humor of... antics." Ka'Tock remarked. "Though I have mastered the art of retribution for practical jokes played." He smiled with his full toothy grin. "It is a matter of Honor to be sure to crush the joker in return for their actions." He nodded. "A very Klingon art of interaction."

The corner of Nastari's mouth curled up when she heard the other console say 'thank you for playing' she was curious though and so she queried "So klingons do not play practical jokes?"

"Well, if they do, it would not be the same way humans play practical jokes," Amber said, glancing at Ka'Tock and chuckling softly.

(To Be Continued...)

Lieutenant Commander Amber Quinn
Executive Officer

Lieutenant JG Djeneba Nastari
Nastari
Science Officer

Ensign Alaiya Hernandes
Tactical Officer

Lieutenant JG Ka'Tock
Chief Counselor

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