Nige walked down the corridor still
half asleep on the way to the shower. There was nothing like a long hot shower
every morning to wake him up, however, he was often forced to cut it short on
this ship as there was only one shower onboard and people often started queing.
He now got up an extra fifteen minutes early to get there before anyone else.
As expected, the shower wasn't in use, so Nige stepped in and turned it on.
He tried to avoid sonic showers where at all possible, they weren't as refreshing
as the old water ones. Before he realised it, twenty minutes had passed and
someone was banging on the door wanting their turn.
"Hurry up!" the voice sounded impatient.
"Yeah, yeah, one moment" Nige called hurrying to dry himself off as much as possible. He stepped out with a towel round him and went to pick up his clothes. (The shower was actually located in a room, where people could wait their turn)
"Every morning I have to wait for you to get out of that damn shower! You should get here 15 minutes earlier!"
*Well duh! I do that already!*
"Sorry lieutenant, I'll try and be earlier tomorrow" said Nige stepping aside and letting the lieutenant into the shower.
"You'd better"
Nige put on his uniform and headed to Dinaras quarters. Every morning they met up and went to the mess hall for breakfast. It was certainly different than being on the Knight where they always had breakfast in Niges quarters. Breakfast never did seem right without Torasu trying to get his face in your food.
Nige rounded the corner on his way to Dinaras when he bumped into her room mate, the ships new intelligence officer, To Porat.
"Sorry" said Nige taking a step back
"Ohh no, completely my fault" she said.
An awkward silence followed
"Command.."
"Well I...."
They both started at the same time.
"You first" she said
"I was just going to say I'd better get going."
"Ahh, well before you go, theres a little something I need to talk to you about."
"Whats that?"
To looked around to check no body was about "You've been briefed on why you're here right?"
"What do you mean?"
"Cut the crap Commander, we both know what I'm talking about"
*Well shes certainly to the point* thought Nige
"Yes i've been fully briefed"
"Good. Listen, Admiral Pike has no idea I'm aboard, I was put here by Admiral Ross."
"What on Earth for?"
"To make sure you don't fail and to keep you on track, and if anything should happen to you, take over"
"Look lieutenant, I'm the best tactical officer there is! You can't honestly believe that you would be able to do this?"
"I know I probably couldn't. You're here because your the best, and only the best will do. If you fail, everyone on this ship is as good as dead, and so is the Federation for that matter"
"You think I don't know that?"
"All I'm sayin Commander is don't go growing a conscience or anything. Don't think about what you're doing, just do it, it will make things easier in the long run. I trust that those Romulans we ran into have been taken care of?"
"You could say that" said Nige
"Good." she was about to leave but turned to Nige again. "Look Commander, I've seen you're service record. It's one of the best I've seen. You've been in the fleet a year and are already a commander. I'd be worried about my career too if I were you, but just remember, this is a direct order from Admiral Ross, Captain Evans can't touch you, nor can Starfleet Command, you are completely protected."
"I understand"
"Good, I don't want to have to report to Admiral Ross that you've failed. You'd better get going, Dinara's waiting for you"
*Hmm... Dosen't Starfleet think I'm
capable of this? It wouldn't surprise me, I don't know if I'm capable of doing
this! However, at least I'm no longer alone on this mission, at least now I
have someone to talk to*
