From: Jamie LeBlanc (plainsimplegarak_at_yahoo.com)
Date: Mon Oct 27 2008 - 00:23:30 PDT
“Twinkle, Twinkle” (Continued from “Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Crew”)
~*~*~*~*~*~
Location: USS STONEHENGE
Stardate: 2.81027.0212
Scene: Sickbay
~*~*~*~*~*~
“Am I crazy… or does it smell like tuna in here?” Sef Yelena wrinkled up her nose so the bottom matched her Bajoran ridges.
Arjam Jos turned and made a big deal about sniffing. “I don’t smell anything.”
Turning, the Bajoran doctor thrust an accusatory finger into his chest. “I thought Andorians had a better sense of smell than most humanoids owing to your hyped-up, antennae-heightened sensory system.”
The door was wide open and Ajran took the all too easy crack. “Well, then you must be crazy.” He grinned widely.
Lt. Sef shook her head and slapped him lightly, playfully across the cheek. “Jerk.”
“Never claimed I wasn’t.” He grinned a bit before picking up his stack of PADDs. “Want to get together for breakfast tomorrow?”
“Don’t be late.” She wagged a finger at him while heading out the door. “You stood me up this morning.”
“Not my fault that the CMO and the rest of the senior staff were randomly beamed off the ship and I had to cover until Makena came on duty!” he threw his hands up in the air with the most innocent look he could muster.
She shook her head, amused. “And just tell me that you’re not amused by your brother’s predicament.”
“Oh, if I could watch it on a big screen viewer, I’d have the entire medical staff over for dinner and a movie.” He winked, irascibly.
“I’d bring the popcorn.” She smiled back and gave a wave before the doors slid shut behind her.
Arjan waited a few seconds as Sickbay went silent before calling out. “It’s clear.”
Xordin popped his head out from behind an office wall, carrying a plate of replicated tuna covered in cream. “You sure?”
“I’m sure.” The Andorian shook his head a little. “Next time pick a less-smelly meal for Scarlet.”
“Izzy made me promise to give her tuna. This recipe is supposed to be particularly good for pregnant felines.” The young man replied earnestly. Arjan gave a low whistle, and the sort of catty grin that made you think he was up to no-good, which prompted the younger man to furrow his brows. “What?!”
“She’s got you twined around her little finger, doesn’t she, Princeling?” His sapphire eyes twinkled as he looked back at his trainee.
“No she doesn’t!” Xordin was quick to deny. “I just want to take care of her cat!” He opened a door and scooped the wobble-belly kitty up onto a tabletop, setting the food in front of her. “Besides, how can you say ‘no, I won’t feed your pregnant cat’? I mean the cat’s pregnant!”
Chuckling, the Andorian nodded his head a little. “I figured out that the cat was pregnant!”
Xordin rolled his eyes a little. “Jerk.” He murmured, partially flustered, partially amused.
“I seem to get that a lot lately.” Dr. Jos grinned, his antennae twining downwards. “Maybe I can add that to my title?”
“Civillian Jerk Doctor Arjan Jos?” Xordin grinned pondering that a moment. “Sounds good. I think it fits you.”
“If you call me that, there’s nothing stopping me from renaming you Princeling.”
The younger man rolled his eyes a little. “I already told you I’m not in line for the throne.”
“You’re closer to any throne than I’ve even been.” Arjan wagged a finger at him. “Unless you count the human slang for throne as a lavatory; and even then my ‘party so hard you puke’ days were done years ago.”
Xordin perked a brow. “Party so hard you puke? That’s a tern I haven’t heard before.”
Arjan waved a hand casually in the air. “You know, go out, drink, dance, be loud and stupid, pick up girls, etcetera etcetera…”
Grinning the medical assistant held back a full fledged laugh. “And this differs from your normal weekend conduct now in what way?”
Perking a perfect grin Dr. Jos leaned on the table to pet Scarlet as she ate. “I can remember what I did the night before, and I keep everything to a roar dull enough to not land in the brig.” He paused and gave an irascible grin to Xordin, “Though if you came along, I might make an exception on both accounts.”
“Should I be scared?”
“Maybe…”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Location: STARBASE ROMA: Andorian Propulsion Institute
Scene: Experimental Engineering Mainframe
“Bring the power up to seventy-five percent.” Kirla Ferr leaned over the newest engine prototype and squinted as she checked every last reading, as her Bolian assistant Jinrael worked the controls across the room. “That looks excellent, Jin.”
The young man grinned lightly. “Should we take her up to full?”
The Andorian senior engineer nodded lightly, “Yes, bring her up slowly.” As the engine hummed to life, she leaned back and let her antennae curl in pleasure at the hum of a well tuned engine. After a pause she looked over at the junior researcher. “Jinrael, are you going to be around next Friday for the field test of this engine?”
“I can be around all morning…” He stared and then bit his lip, “Though I would appreciate it if I could get off by 1700.”
Kirla perked a snowy brow. “Why? Have a date?”
Very slowly the Bolian gave a nod of assent, and turned up wide, pleading eyes to her. “She’s coming on the USS YORKTOWN, I haven’t seen her in six months…”
With a small chuckle she gave a nod of assent “Oh, I suppose you could have off…” eyes sparkling, she shook her head at the young engineer. “And don’t give me puppy dog eyes.”
“Why?” he asked, blinking.
“I never could resist them.” She paused, tossing her white hair over her shoulder. “My husband used to give me the same look; and I could never be mad at him when he did. He was adorable.”
Jin bit his bottom lip. “I thought you were separated from your husband – that you two didn’t like each other.”
She shook her head a bit. “Oh, don’t get me wrong, he was a jerk… a stubborn, uncommunicative, introverted, pigheaded jerk. But he could be an adorable jerk.”
“Do you miss him?” Jinrael asked, cocking his head to one side.
Kirla pondered that a bit. “Not really… but I wish we could, for once, part on good terms rather than on the heels of a horrendous fight. I would like to make my peace with him and move on. We both deserve a better life.”
“Well, I hope for your sake that you get it.” He grinned a bit. “Because honestly you’re the best supervisor this division has had in a long time.”
She blushed a slight violet tinge before waving him back towards the banks of computers monitoring the experiment. “Thanks.” And with a long pause she turned back to her readouts. “Check the antimatter mix equations, and tell me if we’re seeing a drop in efficiency?”
“No, Ma’am a 30% rise, just like you predicted.” He grinned back at her. “Looks like we will be ready for our test flight next week.
“Perfect.” She leaned back and smiled, reaching out to start the shut down process just as the blare of sirens filled the room. Kirla Ferr pinned her antennae down to the top of her head. “What the hell is that?!”
“I don’t know.” Jinrael yelled over the blaring alert as the room started to flash a distinctive shade of red. “Wait… sensors are reporting three ships incoming.”
“Ships? We not scheduled for any drills. What the hell is Starfleet up to?” Her gaze turned dark and cloudy and she started to pull up the front viewscreen. What snapped to life before her was certainly not the sleek silver-grey of Starfleet ships, but rather the jagged dark lines of dominion cruisers. “Dominion?! What the hell are they doing here?”
“You think this is a trick? An exercise?” the younger man looked about, wildly, wondering what sort of defenses came with the research station.
Less than a second later the Starbase ROMA was rocked by explosions as Dominion weapons tore into their shielding. Lights flashed and power surged into the research room as the computers flickered. “They’re trying to access the mainframe!” Kirla’s voice was a wash of horror and fury as she pushed the younger man out of the way, trying to lock down the core. “Filthy bastards, they’re trying to steal our propulsion research!”
Jinrael stood beside her, trying desperately to help. “What should I do?” he asked as smoke started to fill the room and the station rocked again.
“Get out of here, grab Dyston and Joll, make sure they’re OK. I’ll follow you in a second.” As the Bolian engineer lingered Kirla turned to him and snarled “Go! That’s an order!”
Jinrael dashed for the door and turned, unwilling to leave the senior engineer. “Come on!” he urged.
“I’m almost done.” She hissed back, mashing buttons on the control panel. “I’ll be right there—“
Her words were cut off by a shower of bright golden sparks. She threw her hands up to block the burn just as the entire panel exploded, forcing her backwards into the opposite wall in a spray of fire, blood and shrapnel. She heard Jin scream out her name before the entire world faded to white and then slowly, painlessly she faded into black.
~*~
The attack was over quickly. Starfleet ships had been pursuing the small task force ever since it penetrated into Federation territory. It was a gamble for the Dominion; a few resources risked to have a chance at breaking into one of the Federation’s engineering research stations and transmitting information back. They were destroyed without remorse and without completing any step of their mission beyond sending ripples of panic into an already panicked Federation.
The record held that the timely actions of the ROMA Starbase crew; particularly its experimental engineering staff saved sensitive information from falling into the hands of the Dominion. The eighteen casualties, including senior engineer Kirla Ferr, were accorded the highest of Federation honors before bureaucrats went to dig up their next of kin and tell them the news…
~*~*~*~*~*~
Location: E4
Scene: Moon Surface
“You know what we need now?” Izhlana asked in an all-too chipper voice.
“No, Izzie, what do we need?” Matthew asked in his most patient, humoring voice. Peter loved that voice, or at least he loved that Matthew was so good at it. It was one of the things that told Peter that his husband would be a great father for Boone and Benham.
The aSec stared her chief down with the most unnervingly serious expression she could muster and said one word: “Marshmallows.”
Ronnie put a hand over her mouth and stifled a chuckle as Peter rolled his eyes. “Where in the world are we going to get marshmallows from?”
Izshlana was just about to shrug when, as if by magic, the mystical blue sparkle of a transporter appeared about two feet over Peter’s lap and a gigantic bag of marshmallows materialized, only to fall directly into Peter’s arms. Izzie grinned and clapped gleefully as the Brit groaned. “Oh God, she’s *watching* us too.”
Snatching the bag from her XO’s lap, the little Alterian set about getting sharp sticks for the rest of the senior staff. “Hey, I got what I wished for!”
Peter let his brows fall into a flat line across his eyes and stared across the fire. “How much you wanna bet she’s somewhere on the ‘HENGE, with *popcorn*?”
“I don’t own enough latinum to make that bet, Peter.” Aerdan replied, letting a roasting stick fall into his lap.
Urika Shar looked up into the star-filled sky and shook her head. “I hope we’re not required to sing, too.”
One marshmallow already lit on fire, Izzie grinned. “Oh, come on, a song from each of your childhoods? That would *rock.*”
Matthew shrugged a bit, “Might be fun… I have some drinking songs I knew in my academy days I could teach everyone.”
Peter frowned a bit. “Do I want to know?”
“I wanna know!” Izzie grinned merrily, stuffed a marshmallow into her mouth and took a seat beside the CMO, wagging the bagful of confections under his nose. “Hey, gloomy, your turn to roast some sugar!”
Aerdan;s eyes drifted upwards into the star-filled sky and slowly he frowned. He didn’t even respond when Izzie needled him in the side of the arm, so she took her pestering one step further and wrapped an arm around his thin blue shoulders. “Hey doc, what’s up?”
Blinking, the CMO turned towards her and shook his head. “Ever… ever get the feeling that something just went wrong and you have no idea what?”
“Yeah.” Peter said dryly. “Got that feeling when I tried to sit in my desk chair and got stuck in a tree this morning.”
Ronnie chuckled a bit as Aerdan shook his head. “No… not like that.” He paused. “I can’t explain it. I just got this weird gut feeling that something happened out there.” He waved a hand at the stars.
“I think you didn’t cook your meat enough.” Izshlana replied sagely. “Here, chase it with a marshmallow.”
He turned to her and slowly grinned, trying to shake off his feeling of dread. “How about this? I’ll roast one of these things and eat it if Matthew sings his drinking song…”
The chief of security grinned widely. “Deal.”
~*~*~*~*~
NRPG: The beginning of changes. Kirla is Aerdan’s (estranged) wife, and her death will set off his move. Sort of a bittersweet little moment.
I had to send this again because for some weird reason Yahoo ate half my addresses. Stupid frikken ghosts in the network. If you get it twice, apologies!!
Joy: Hope this is something fun for you to tag on!!
Margie: I’m leaving this open for your post. =)
Sabrina: I’m excited to see you post again!
~*~*~*~*~*~
Jamie LeBlanc
Lieutenant Commander Aerdan Jos
Chief Medical Officer
USS STONEHENGE
"Why do we fly? Because we have dreamt of it for so long that we must"
~Julian Beck
"Why do we fly? Because we have dreamt of it for so long that we must"
~Julian Beck
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