Bridge Tests: Part One
by Cpt. Jones & Cmdr. Taponstang
Yungchen could only vaguely remember what was entailed in the bridge test, but she remembered distinctly that she didn't like them. She did however, remember why she didn't like them. She loathed the idea of someone sitting on the sidelines telling her how to run a situation and why what she had done previously was wrong. There are no 'right' and 'wrong' ways with dealing with situations, so long as the objective was achieved.
Outside the holodeck - Yungchen suddenly remembered what she had to do. She had to go through a pre-selected sequence of events to prove she was capable of handling a crisis on a bridge. That's what this thing was all about.
The sad part was, she was flat out remembering what the control panels within the bridge even were, let alone where they were and what to shout at who during an emergency. It wasn't just the ship's terminology and crew she was trying to memorise when Jones walked in on her this morning - it was the ship itself.
What exactly the science officer did onboard a star ship literally millions of miles away in space did not improve a ground fighter's chance of survival. She had really been focusing on the departments within the ship, and who did what for what purpose.
The captain could have at least given her another day or two to get it all down pat. She walked through the doors and found a simulation of the bridge within. Jones was already there, waiting for her. "You're late."
"No, I'm not," she answered, too peeved to care how rude she was sounding. "I still have two minutes to go. You're early."
Jones seemed to be willing to let that one slide - for now. "So I am," he said, stepping aside to allow her access to the bridge.
But Yungchen was itching for a fight and Jones knew it. She had been taken away from her comfortable surroundings of death and mayhem and thrown into life here, without a word of either explanation or understanding. And ever since she arrived, she had been told what she could and couldn't do, like she was a first year cadet.
Pratt's timing was unfortunate - he really didn't need to put the administrator and the commander in the ring together so soon, but the fact that she had stopped herself from hurting him or even physically touching him with the intent to harm him proved there was still a decent command officer underneath all that savagery. He just had to find a way around it.
"How much do you remember?" he asked.
"About as much as anyone else who's spent their entire tour of duty fighting ground side."
Jones forced himself to remember what would happen if he allowed her aggression to guide them away from the objective here today. He knew better than she did that she had no idea how to assimilate with people outside a combat situation - and that even subconsciously, she was trying to change it back into a conflict of any kind by starting something with him. He was not going to let her win - for her sake.
"Well, at least you'll be able to fire phasers. However, fighting is not the only thing we do on a Star Ship. A good Commander knows his - in your case - her, weaknesses. When you Command a Star Ship you aren’t expected to actually DO all the functions, but know how they relate to one another and, who to tell to do what. Think of it as the brain telling the other parts how to function. With me so far?"
He could see her thinking it over, or what he thought was his question over, when, out of the blue, she asked, "If I fail this, I get to go back to Kepstar, don't I?" -not out of malice but as a simple matter of fact.
Jones was no where near the mood to be tolerant. His eyes took on a dangerous glint as his eye lids narrowed and he said it that cool, even tone of his, ”No you will not be going back to Kepstar.” With clenched fists, he started to move forward before reigning in the fight he could see she was working so heavily towards.
"You fail this, young lady, and I'll see to it you'll resit EVERY exam you ever sat for since you entered Starfleet, and then I'll make sure you're shipside for the rest of your career as a petty officer! Do I make myself clear?!"
Yungchen swore under her breath, very savagely. She didn't belong on a ship, and the sooner he realised that and sent her back where she belonged, the happier they would all be.
"That's IT!" Jones was willing to be tolerant with her, but such language directed at him was the breaking point.
Before Yungchen could react, Jones lashed out at her, driving her off her feet and skidding across the deck. "I have HAD IT with your spoiled brat routine!"
Yungchen barely had enough time to twist with the blow, but she knew she was still going to sport a deep bruise across her jaw.
"You can't have your own way, so this is your way of making every body else's lives a living hell! Well, it ends NOW!"
Yungchen put her hands over her shoulders and flicked herself on to her feet. "Fine with me, sir," she said, swivelling side on and raising her hands.
Jones raised a finger and pointed it directly at her. "You're not doing this, commander. I'm not fighting you, and I'm not going to let you fight me. Either you accept that you're not going back to your old lifestyle and knuckle down here and now, or I'll call security and arrange to have you dishonourably discharged from Starfleet! Choose, commander - but choose now. Which is it going to be?" He could see from the flickering of her eyes that she was mulling the question over - that it wasn't as clear cut a decision as he thought it should have been.
Kicking himself, he suddenly realised why. "Yungchen, listen to me," he said, losing all formality, but not the authority. "You should never have been left in the trenches as long as you were. It was a mistake - one which will cost someone in Starfleet Personnel their careers if you have lost the ability to lead on a ship as a result of their negligence - I know you don't care, and that's three quarters of the problem - but it's not going to help you now. Do you honestly think the trench style warfare will last forever? Sooner or later you will have to go shipside, and at least I am willing to try and help. If you turn me down now, I can guarantee the next captain you get will not give a damn about your history and will only write you up as incapable of doing your job. Believe me, I'm not your enemy and I am trying to help you. This is the only way you'll see out your tour. You know that."
She did, but she still didn't want to face it. Her first day with Pratt had shown her just how incapable she was of working with civilians. She relaxed her stance and turned away from him, but if she were being honest with herself, it was really the truth of his words that she was turning away from. She had never asked to be made a permanent groundside fighter.
Starfleet had sent her there - and they had left her there. She was just doing her job. She had done what needed doing in order to survive and achieve the objective that Star fleet had required of her. She was always a hand to hand fighter, but Starfleet had made her the heartless killer.
She hardly even felt the captain's hand on her shoulder. "I've been where you are, Yungchen. I know how hard it is to turn back once the line of humanity has been crossed - but I know that like me, you have what it takes to make that change. You have the inner strength and will to do anything you want. Don't waste it being something somebody else moulded you into being."
No one had ever talked to Yungchen like this before. "Captain..."
"I will call Pratt off until we leave port, commander. You need time to adapt, and as of now you have it. I can't change the schedule of the exams - Starfleet Academy has arranged them, but I can at least allow you to stay focused on the objective here. Look at the tests - not as a reminder of what you have lost, but as an achievement of what you accomplished when very few others could. There have barely been a dozen people in history who have successfully made the transition from the kind of combat warrior you were into the civilian commander you need to be - but we both know you are capable of it. Just think things through - from a human perspective. The rest, will follow in its own time."
Feeling he may have said too much, Jones removed his hand and walked towards the exit.
"Captain," Yungchen said, as he reached the door.
He paused and turned without a word, however Yungchen said nothing. But then, she didn't have to. He could see the way her hands tightened around the bridge rail and her weight shifted on the balls of her feet.
'You'll do fine, Yungchen,' he thought to himself with a smile, then exited the holodeck.
Apperances: Part One
by Lt. O'Bannon
USS Valdezz:
"On final approach to McKinley Station orbit," helmsman Lisa Kenson of the cargo vessel USS Valdezz reported to her ships Captain. "And the Providence is still in orbit Sir". "Very good. Put us along side the Providence Lisa." Captain Joris Brak then turned to one side to address the young human sitting in the OPS seat. "See Brad, I told you we would get here in time, but we can settle the bet later." He looked across to the Tellarite at the security station and said on his way to his office: "Open a comm channel to the Providence please, Terry. And tell them the Viking will want to speak with their Captain privately".
USS Providence:
"Sir, a message from the cargo vessel that’s moving along side us sir. They say that the ‘Viking’ wishes to speak to you privately, Sir." The officer at the security station spoke as Captain Jones was getting off of the turbo lift. "What was that Ensign, The Viking? What’s that ship’s designation?" Capt. Jones asked as he made his way to the command chair. Just as the Ensign was about to reply Capt. Jones suddenly ordered, "Put it though to my office, thank you, Ensign," giving no hint of how hard it was for him not laugh when it dawned on him who the ‘Viking’ was.
"What are you doing in charge of a cargo ship, you old pirate?" Queried Jones jovially. "I thought that you would have retired to Haven or some such world and be running around with pretty young thing that hasn’t heard of your reputation by now."
Jones hadn’t seen Joris Brak face to face for almost 10 years. Joris was the kind of informal commander that star fleet seemed to like to put in charge of the fleets cargo ships. Maybe it was Joris easy going manner but there was something about him that made people feel at ease around him. But Jones knew how quickly that easy going manner could change, That’s what the ‘Viking’ reference was about.
Jones remembered the day one of Joris crew gave Joris that nickname. Joris , Jones and about four other crewmen were enjoying themselves at a bar on a star base when a trio of Klingons decided that Joris had insulted one of them earlier. As soon as the Klingons let fly with the first punch Joris was all over them. In the end the Klingons went to the medbay and Joris and his friends were told that they were to report immediately to their ship. Even though all their shore leave was cancelled it wasn’t a totally loss, Joris nabbed one of the Klingons medals in the scuffle. All Jones can remember getting was a black eye and a broken rib.
"You know me John, I’ll stay on the bridge as long as I can, It took me to long to get me own command as it was, They’ll have to pry my cold dead fingers off of the captains chair before I give it up." Brak answered back smiling. "So your still in charge of a galaxy class star ship. I guess they’ll let anybody keep a command now, won’t they." Brak speaking to himself as much as Jones. "But… before we get into a contest over which one of us can insult the other the least subtlest, I'm here to transfer to you some more supplies for your ship and to hand over your new assistant chief engineer, one Lt Roary O’Bannon," he stated, looking at a PADD on his desk to make sure he’d gotten his passenger’s position correct.
"Ahh, so that’s the excuse you’re using to bother me with is it? I knew we were to get some extra supplies while we were still in orbit, but I thought it would come through the station not via a cargo ship. As for the engineer I didn’t think I would have to deal with him for another couple days at least. How is it that he comes to be on your ship then?" Jones asked.
"Well it seems that his last commander couldn’t wait to get rid of him. I was dropping off several cargo containers at the colony on Velden 4. The ship he was on was passing nearby and when I was having a nice chat with his captain, his commander found out that I was on my way to Earth. So after receiving a modest gratuity I agreed to act as a passenger ship, much as it seemed at first to the annoyance of Mr O'Bannon." Brak replied.
"I take it this O'Bannon gave you some trouble then, Joris?" Jones asked, remembering the personal file on this Lt Roary O’Bannon he read. It indicated that even though O’Bannon appeared to have satisfactory engineering skills, he seemed to quickly irritate and annoy his fellow crewmen. Jones wouldn’t normally have this man on his ship if he could help it, but O’Bannon was part of the deal he’d made to get Yungchen. "Don’t worry Joris, I'll make sure that he gets some ‘special’ duties as a reward for bothering you." Jones was already smiling, thinking of what truly tedious tasks he could assign O’Bannon for vexing his old friend.
But before Jones could get to invovled in his planing, Brak interrupted. "Wipe that look of your face John. I didn’t say anything about him annoying me. In fact he’s been helping out since he’s been onboard. I’ll admit that when he first came aboard he seemed to be in a bad mood, but if I was given the bums-rush - Going from my nice big officers quarters on a Nebular class ship to a non-com's room on a old cargo freighter, my happy camper factor would be pretty low too. He kept to himself for the next couple of days. I thought he was snubbing us at first, but then about a half a week after coming on board he showed up on the bridge and asked if there was any work he could do. So to cut a long story short in the last three weeks he’s pulled his weight, he fitted in fairly quickly and not spreading any rumours or nothing but I know of at least one of my crew members that's not happy to see him leave. But if you don’t want him, I'll take him of your hands."
Well this is strange thought Jones. Joris was never one to give credit where it wasn’t due, but the man Joris was describing didn’t sound like the one the reports depicted. It could be that O’Bannon’s former commanders had had some problems with his attitude. But Jones knew O’Bannon’s last commander personally and he wouldn’t let his personal feeling towards other officer affect his report on that officer unless he thought it was relevant.
For the second time in as many minutes Brak interrupted Jones thoughts. "So, what you say John-boy, can I keep him?"
Shaking his head Jones replied "I don’t think so Joris. It’s too much paper work and he’s got strings attached. Sorry, but your going to have to poach some body else's engineer for the time being. And anyway, getting back to business. How long will you need to transfer the cargo over?"
"We’re ready to start transporting from this end now. I don’t think it’ll take more then one hour to do, one and a half tops. And as for O’Bannon, he’ll be notified when I finish talking to you. I’ve got him fixing a busted gel conduit in the liquid storage tanks at the moment," Brak answered with a smirk.
"Good. Can you also tell Lt O’Bannon to report to my office as soon as he gets on board the Providence. Even though I would like to chat away to you for longer, I’ve got a new crew to run-in and the ships problems are not going to wait for me to stop prattling to one of my friend."
"That’s OK. I know what it’s like. I’ll give O’Bannon the care package I put together for you and tell him to give it to you when he gets on board. Look after yourself, Captain Jones." Brak gave an exaggerated salute and the screen went blank.
"So it seems you may not be as bad a deal as I thought, Lt ‘O’Bannon." ‘Still, it’s not unheard of for newly assigned crewmen to get acquaintances of their commanders to put in a few good words on their behalf.’ Jones thought carefully. ‘No, Lt O’Bannon. I'll make my own decisions regarding my opinion of you, thank you very much."
Appearences: Part Two
by Lt. O'Bannon
USS Valdezz:
Roary was making his way to the Valdezz’s personal transporters and he was in a very good mode. His belly was full, he had on a fresh clean uniform and he gotten out of a nice warm shower no more then 10 minutes ago. Yes indeed this dimension definitely had it’s good points. He then noticed that someone was lying in wait for him inside a storage room further down the corridor. Seeing that it was Lisa who was trying to hide within the doorway he relaxed a bit. Only a little mind you. You don’t live the life Roary had without developing a heightened sense of your surroundings. Some may call it paranoia, but what ever it is, it had kept Roary alive a lot longer then many back home would of liked. Deciding to see what Lisa was planing he willing played along. As Roary got closer he noted that she wasn’t armed with any obvious weapons, also that the way she was standing showed several openings he could exploit in attack.
He stopped in mid-thought and chastised himself. No one in this dimension has taken any form of hostile action towards him since he’s been here and here he is coming up with a plan of attack to use on a young woman that has been nothing but nice, in fact she’s been very nice too him since he’s known her. Deception did not seem to be a preferred trait of star fleet personal. As Roary was walking past were Lisa was, she reached out, grabbed him by his arm and pull him inside the room, nearly knocking him over in the process. Closing the door as he cleared the doorway, she drew Roary’s head towards hers and kissed him passionately on the lips. As Roary recovered form this secret weapon of Lisa’s, she looked up at him with a pouting face and began to talk.
" So you were just going to leave without say good-bye or anything weren't you. What was I? Just some fling before you headed of to god knows where for 5 years...."
Roary quickly planted a kiss on her lips to shut her up and to give him some time to get an excuse together. He found himself strangely reluctant to release the embrace but then decided that he couldn’t keep her like this all day and gently let her go.
Lisa looked up at Roary and in a playfully angry tone said "If you think that by just shoving your tongue down my throat you can keep me quiet, You’re right," She reached up to continue what he had started, but Roary gently stopped her. " As much as I would love to stay here and lip wrestle with you all day, I am expected to report to my new commander.." looks quickly down at his watch "...in 15 minutes. And I would like to meet Capt. Jones without getting on his bad side straight away. I tell you what. I’ll let you walk me to the transporters. That way the last thing I see when I leave this ship is your face." And after saying that, Roary softly hugged her and kissed Lisa gently on the forehead. Lisa squeezed him tightly and as they released each other she kissed him on the cheek.
"I see you’re not taking as much stuff with you as you came aboard with. I hope this makes it into your duffle." Lisa handed Roary a small double picture frame. Opening it he saw a photo of her standing beside a window looking out onto the Gora Bolshoi nebula that he took, and another picture of both of them together standing in front of the warp core. Closing it carefully he put it into his duffle bag and replied "Of course it will, but I would have preferred a pic of that time we got stuck in the jeffrey’s tube under the secondary backup heat exchangers. I don’t know what it was but after having you drip sweat on me for three-quarters of an hour..." Roary had to quickly avoid a swat to the face Lisa through at him.
"OK. I give. I really do have to get going though." Roary lifted his kit bag to his shoulder, and held his hand out to Lisa "Come on let’s go". Lisa took his hand in hers and as they left the room she pinched him hard on his side. Before Roary could say anything Lisa cut in cheekily "I told you to never talk about that tube again, and if you say anything I'll pinch you in an area that will hurt more and for a lot longer." As they walk slow down the corridor, Lisa held onto Roary’s arm with both of her hands and rested her head softly against his shoulder.
"I thought it would be Lisa holding you up Roary." Stated Joris. "Hurry up and get on the pad, you’ve only got 7 minutes to get to Capt. Jones office. Here.." Joris said as he under armed a backpack towards Roary " Give this to your new Captain when you see him. He knows it’s coming so don’t think I'm giving you a bribe for him or something." Joris then hurriedly made his way behind the transporter controls. Not bothering to see if Roary had caught the projectile.
Lisa moved over to stand next to her captain, already she looked as though she was going to start crying. Roary moved onto the transporter pad and turned to faced Joris and began to speak "Thanks again for the ride Capt. Brak. Hope I wasn’t to much trouble." Joris looked up from the controls he was fiddling with. "That’s OK Roary, you weren’t any trouble at all. Not to be rude or anything, but if your going to see your new Captain on time we better cut the chit-chat." A bemused look then washed over Joris face. " Wipe your cheek O’Bannon.." Chuckled Joris, " not that it really phases me much, but I don’t think ruby reds your colour."
Roary wiped his cheeks confusingly at first. Then he realized that some of Lisa’s lipstick had rubbed off. Roary was about to thank Capt. Brak when he started to dematerialize. Joris looked up and saw that Roary was saying something as he was being transported. "No worries lad, you’re welcome aboard my ship anytime." Joris interrupted. And then Roary was gone.
Joris turned to Lisa and saw the sad look on her face and the tears about to fall from her blue eyes. " Don’t worry Lisa, soon we’ll be earth side and you’ll find yourself a new boyfriend."
"I don’t know captain. I really liked Roary. He was different somehow. I don’t know how to describe it but...." Lisa explained. Joris draped his arm over her should and started leading her back towards the Valdezz bridge saying "Stop trying to figure it out little lady and just enjoy the memories..."
USS Providence:
Roary re-materialized aboard the Providence into transporter room three and was greeted by a female Vulcan Lt dressed in a security officers uniform. Roary subtly prepared himself just in case the Vulcan decided to try something. Just because no-ones taken a shot at him yet doesn't mean it won't happen. Plus Roary’s come across enough Vulcan’s in his travels to never give them an opening. "Permission to come aboard." Roary asked, Suddenly remembering the protocol star fleet expects from a new crewman.
"Permission granted." Replied the Vulcan. She continued "I am Lt Serdor, you must be Lt Roary O’Bannon. Welcome aboard, I am to take you directly to the captains office. Leave your belonging here. They will be taken to your room while the captain is inspecting you."
"Well" thought Roary, "It looks as though Vulcan’s are as bossy here as they are back home." Roary gestured towards the door "No problems. Please led the way Lt. The backpack is a delivery for Capt. Jones from Capt. Brak."
Lt. Serdor looked at the backpack and then at the transporter operator. "It’s clean, Lt Serdor." Replied the operator. Seemingly satisfied with the answer, Lt Serdor lead Roary out of the transporter room towards the nearest turbo lift. Even though he didn’t show it Roary was stunned to see how clean and fresh everything looked and smelt. It amazed him how a ship as big the Providence was able to be kept in this good of shape. Roary remembered the information he read on these Galaxy class ship. They’re one impressive piece of workmanship. And he gets to spent 5 years playing around the inside of one finding out how it works.
The trip to the bridge went quickly and silently. Roary didn’t mind. It gave him a chance to prepare himself for the meet with Capt. Jones. Bluffing his way past Capt. Brak wasn’t that tough. But anyone that’s been put in charge of a ship as powerful as the Providence had to be special. Roary didn’t want to mess up now, he liked it here too much. When he got off of the turbo lift onto the main bridge, Roary was stunned. So much room, so easily laid out controls. Roary remembered working on ships that would fit into this bridge.
Lt. Serdor then pointed to a door a couple of meters from were they both stood. "That is the Captains office. He is expecting you." And with that said Lt Serdor reentered the turbo lifts and left. Roary walked up to the door and knocked on it twice. Quickly checking his watch he saw that he had around 30 seconds to spare. "Hmm . I’m early. Hopefully this will make a good impression." Pondered Roary.
"Enter." A voice stated from the other side of the door. So Roary did.
Entering quickly Roary took note of the room and the objects inside it. Looking to see if any of the objects could be use to assist in his escape, if it became necessary.
Captain Jones looked up from the PADD he was reading and noted the way his new Lieutenant had quickly scanned the room and its contents. And the way he moved was as though he was ready to be attacked at any moment from any direction. But all this was done very, very subtly. In fact the Captain noted to himself, that if it was not for his own extreme perceptiveness and experience, he would of not have been aware of the actions. This was very unexpected. O’Bannon’s records had not listed that he had any special combat training. But the abilities O’Bannon had just demonstrated were something he would expect to Yungchen possess. Not some mid-level engineer.
Captain Jones addressed Roary "Lieutenant O’Bannon. I would get you to have a seat, but I'm pressed for time today so I shall make this quick." Roary braced himself from the dressing down he apparently deserved.
The captain continued coldly. "My request for you to be transferred to this ship has nothing to do with your skills or any favoritism on my part towards you. Why it was done is none of your concern. But know this. If I hear of you trying to gain any leverage on anybody due to the perceived favoritism of your posting, I’ll have you butted down to a petty officer faster then you can blink. Am I understood lieutenant." Roary noted that the phrasing of that last statement wasn’t a question.
"Yes sir, captain sir."
"Chief engineer Lt. Cmdr. McKing is expecting you to report to him in engineering within the hour."
Realizing that his captain was probably not going to give him a chance to say anything more in response. Roary decided to just hand over the backpack Brak gave him and leave "Sir. Captain Brak gave me this package to deliver to you sir." Roary passed the backpack to Capt Jones and continued "Permission to leave sir?".
Taking the backpack Capt Jones answered "Permission granted Lieutenant." Roary turned and began to leave.
"By the way lieutenant." Jones queried "Which ground attack taskforce did you serve with during the Dominion Wars?"
"None sir." Roary answered, noting to himself the way the captain attempted to cover up his probe into Roary’s mental alertness, as a friendly question into his new lieutenants past. Turning around to face Jones he quickly continued "I was based on the USS Agasha for the duration of the war." Seemingly satisfied with the response, Jones nodded to Roary to continue to leave.
Once O’Bannon had left, Jones opened the backpack to investigate what Joris had sent him. "Where the hell did you manage to get this from." Jones pondered joyfully while examining Joris’s gift. "On second thought . I probably wouldn’t want to know."
Duties
by Lt.O'Bannon
Roary silently thanked whoever it was that added an internal navigational program to the computer onboard this ship. He had spent nearly 40 minutes looking for his new quarters when he finally asked aloud in desperation. In response, an electronic female voice gave him directions and lead him straight to his room. There have only been a few times in his life when Roary has ever gotten joyously emotional towards a machine and this was most definitely one of them.
If he could he would have kissed this computer where ever its database was hiding - but as it was all he could do was make a promise to himself that he would take special care of her components, and when he had to compromise her systems he would try to be gentle about it.
When Roary entered his quarters all he could manage was to stand still and look about his new kingdom in awe. "This place is incredible!" Roary muttered to himself. He slowly made his way to one of the windows his room had and took in the view it offered. This is utterly incredible! He knew from reading it somewhere that this Earth was unpolluted and all, but he never thought it would mean it was virtually spotless. And yes, while there was still some damage that was done by that Dominion War, this Earth was still vastly different compared to the one Roary remembered. For one thing what where the hell did the land mass come from?.
"What the hell have I gotten myself into?" pondered Roary "These people obviously take a great deal of pride in their work and…WORK!!" Roary checked his watch. He had 2 minutes before he was supposed to report to the Chief engineer. "Shit! I'll be late!" And with that thought Roary raced out of his room for the nearest turbo lift. Try and get to the main engineering section in time.
Miracles happen. But not this time.
By the time Roary stepped out of the turbo lift he was 5 minutes late. "I could be lucky…" Roary thought. "The boss might be in a good mood". As he made his way into the main engineering work area, he saw a self-important little man whining to a man wearing Lt.Cmdr. pins and that all hopes of having a Boss in a good mood began to fade away.
"This is just not acceptable!" Pratt declared pompously. "The way the colonies supplies are being stored is atrocious If you do not begin to implement my following changes and modification to my cargo and your cargo decks, I will have no other choice but to write a report about the uncooperative and reckless attitude of the crew of this ship and its captain."
Seeing a chance to make up for being late and to get on his new boss’ good side, Roary seized the opportunity. "Sir. Lt Roary O’Bannon reporting for duty, Sir." Roary could see the relief in Lt Korrs as he turned to face Roary. He also saw that McKing recognized him, much to Roary’s own surprise. Then he released that Lt.Cmdr. McKing had probably read his file. ‘Gotta get use too people recognizing you boy,’ Roary thought to himself. ‘This place ain’t like back home.’
"Excuse me a minute please, Mr Pratt. I'll just take care of my new assistant then I'll be right with you." Stated McKing, then he turned to Roary. "Glad to meet you Lt O’Bannon. I don’t really have anything important for you to do at the moment. So if you wouldn't mind waiting until I'm finished with Mr Pratt I'll then go over the way I would like my section to run with you."
"Sir," Roary began, a little louder then necessary so Pratt could hear. "I know my way around Cargo decks and containers pretty well. I’ll go help Mr Pratt out with his modifications if you would like, Sir?"
McKing saw the look in Roary’s eyes, indicating that Roary knew Pratt was a pain in a lot of places, but he was still willing to keep this guy busy so McKing could get some real work be done. Mcking rating of this O’Bannon guy had just jump up several places.
Before McKing could give his consent Pratt interrupted. "That would be just fine, lieutenant. It’s good to know that at least some people aboard this vessel understand the importance of projects like my own and the need to fulfil certain obligations that Starfleet have to them."
Roary started to wonder what type of mistake he had just made as he grabbed a spare tool kit began to follow Mr Pratt towards one of the cargo decks.
Seven and a half hours later, Roary knew what type of mistake he had made. This Pratt guy treated him like a slave. Everything had to be done to Pratt’s specifications. Nothing was ever good enough and Pratt always seemed to be trying to prove that without his personal input everything would fall apart. Pratt hadn’t even let Roary take a meal break. Not that that really bothered Roary.
Lack of food was a pretty standard thing for him. But that wasn’t the point. Here, food was plentiful and breaks were part of his standard rights. Of course, Mr Pratt would take breaks, but if Roary took one he wouldn’t hear the end of it for about half an hour. But the most aggravating part was how this Pratt guy seemed to be trying to get Roary to revolt against his superiors!
Then again we all get what we deserve eventually.
Pratt got his after catching Roary having a break after working on some components of the power systems in cargo bay four.
"What do you think your doing!" yelled Pratt "I leave you alone for ten minuets and here you are goofing off! I see I am going to have to report you to your superiors!"
Roary just sat in front of the open flux relay hatch without seeming to take any notice of what Pratt was saying. ‘I wonder if I can get him to speak any faster so the breeze can cool me off some more?’ Roary thought to himself, letting a little smile appear on his face.
"I don’t see anything to smile at lieutenant. Its quite obvious that this ship, its entire crew and its officers are all incompetent and I will be sending a report to Starfleet command demanding summary dismissals for the lot of you!"
If Roary had a better understanding about where in the chain of command this Pratt’s so called power sat, he would have probably ignored him. But due to Roary’s ignorance, the perceived threat to his new found comfy life and strangely a sense of loyalty to the ship and the people aboard her. Roarys next actions were undertook to make sure that Mr Pratt would never get the chance to send that report.
As Pratt walked away to write the ill fated report, Roary grabbed the depleted Gamma shift capacitor that he had just replaced, ran a hidden by-flux modulator over its spilt connectors at a certain frequency and gently rolled it towards Pratt’s legs...
Upon impact Pratt was hit with the residue charge which was left in the capacitor. Pratt dropped to the floor and flopped around like a newly landed fish for about 15 second before he laid there motionless. Roary got up and casually walked up to the prone Mr Pratt, knowing Mr Pratt could see him clearly. Roary then bent down and whispered into Pratt’s ear coldly without a hint of jest, "I know you can hear me, and I know you know I did this. But the thing is in about 30 seconds you will go unconscious and when you wake up the residue charge will have made you forget everything that’s happened to you for about the last hour.
You’ll still get a strange feeling about events that took place, but you’ll never be able to remember them. So I'll say this once. If you ever threaten me, the crew or the officers of this ship ever again, you will be one of the few people to have ever know what it feels like to be thrown out into space without a space suit while the ship your on is in warp." As Roary finish his statement Pratt’s eyes showed just how full of fear he was. Pratt then fell unconscious.
It was about a hour after Mr Pratt had accidentally stood on the capacitor that Roary was finally on his was to get some food. He had spent most of that time explaining what had happened to the Med staff and to Lt.Cmdr. McKing That Pratt was walking around talking not watching where he was going and that he had stepped onto the capacitor. Everybody seemed to buy the story. It wasn’t a hard one believe. Lt.Cmdr. McKing told Roary to be more careful were he put the broken part down in future, just for good measure and that was that.
One thing Roary found out was that the shock had caused Pratt to become totally hairless until it grew back in naturally, and to be unconscious for about the next week. That seemed to make a lot of people happy. Lt Korr himself had asked Roary if he would like to go to ten forward for a drink when he heard that news. But Roary declined using the excuse of wanting to get to bed early.
Lt.Cmdr. McKing seemed a little disappointed but stated that the offer was still for open anytime.
Roary made his way towards one of the smaller mess halls on the ship. He noted that there were a lot of crewmen seemingly in a hurry to get away from some where. Just as Roary was entering the mess hall someone sang out from down the hallway, "Watch out for that crazy bitch".
Roary looked back down the corridor as he entered the mess hall. "What crazy bitch?" Turning to look for the growling sound he heard Roary saw a female in a commander’s uniform spin quickly towards him.
"Ahh, shit!" thought Roary "Ambush."
