Tribbling Cadets

Posted on 30 Jun 2014 @ 2:34pm by Commander Norvi Stace & Cadet Sophomore Grade Alenis Taban & Nesh Saalm
Edited on on 30 Jun 2014 @ 2:34pm

2,339 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Episode 06 - Legend of Souls
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 2, Stace's Quarters
Timeline: MD 04 - 2100 hrs

[ON]

"Ohmigod Taban."

It was the only thought that ran through Nesh's mind at the moment. Since their trip to the bridge, the young Orion's mind was in a tizzy. She knew they were going to get yelled at, regardless of who was at actual fault. Accidents happen, right? Hopefully Taban didn't look too annoyed. Out of pure, 'scientific' curiosity, she stole a look over toward her roommate, curious as to what shade Cardassians turned when they were flustered and angry.

"Hopefully it won't be too bad, right?"

The male cadet shot a glance back to his roommate which was as unsure as it was possible to be. As far as he was concerned he was going to get the blame for this, even though it went against every shred of common sense he could think of to let someone keep tribbles aboard a ship: especially someone as disorganised and scatter-brained as Nesh. Part of him wanted to hurl her against a bulkhead. He could not help thinking that the 'Commodore's little princess' was going to come out of this one scot free, while he'd probably end up degaussing the ship's transporter pads with a micro-resonator for the rest of his field study. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt so angry inside.

Outside, though, he tried to remain calm, if anxious. He knew his size was an issue at times and, just like Solomon had become a master of, if he allowed himself to express his anger he would probably be seen as threatening.

Turning back to Nesh he unsteadily and unconvincingly answered "Sure... I'm sure it won't. Right?"


Deck 02

Stace seemed to have worked non-stop since arriving in orbit of Lyshan III. The comfortable yet restrictive uniform now, finally, lay on the floor of her quarters on deck two on the starboard side of the ship. Not strewn or cast off, but just in a pile on the carpeted deck under her bare feet. She had simply just stepped out of them and left them where they had fell. Instead, she was, rarely as it so happened, in a peach, silk nightie that was trimmed with lace about her chest and above the knee on the hem. Her hair cascading down her her back felt free, released from the grip of its usual ribbon. The gentle trill of a data padd in her hand was the only disturbance as she reviewed the day's reports. She yawned, threw the padd on the bed beside her and quietly closed her eyes.

Stepping out of the turbolift on Deck 2 the Bajoran/Cardassian turned to his roommate and asked "Are you sure Lieutenant Stace won't mind being disturbed? I mean... we can go to the Bridge. I think Chief Keval will still be on duty."

"... I think she'd rather us disturb her than a bunch of tribbles." Nesh fidgeted nervously, already attempting not to panic about having to tell her own department head what was going on. This was so embarrassing! "It's probably better everyone was informed now instead of later, I mean."

Sighing, Taban, nodded as they reached the door and, as he was on the right side, he reached towards the chime.

It took three chimes before Norvi rose from the gentle slumber she had slipped into. And as she wiped the sleep from her eyes, she slumped out of bed onto the floor, picking herself up and on tiptoes, eyes still closed, made her way to the door to answer it. Resting one hand against its frame for support, she called for the door to finally be opened. Her hair covered part of her face and she only truly snapped out of her dreamy daze when she saw both cadets looking anxious before her. She sighed, cocked her head to the side and then brushed her hair out of her eyes with one strident swoop of her hand. Now standing up tall, she raised an eyebrow to her visitors.

"There's only one reason why two cadets, at 2100 hours, are knocking on their department head's door. You're in trouble." She stepped aside with an amused sigh and allowed them to both enter her quarters. "I've been a cadet twice now in life. Do you want to tell me what's going on or shall I guess?" She narrowed her gaze stoically at them both but couldn't maintain her smirk.

Nesh's mouth opened the moment the door swished open, and a distinct noise that could have been the start of some form of formal sentence immediately died off when the Orion girl realized how much trouble she was going to end up in because of this.

It only took a skipped beat for Nesh to open her mouth again. "One of my tribbles escaped before we went off to survey the planet -pleasedontbetoomadohmigodplease- and it's been about ten hours and I'm afraid he's gonna end up reproducing everywhere and ohmigod I'm sosorrypleasedontbetoomad I'll make up for it somehow ohmigodohmigod."

"I knew those bloody pests would be the death of me," Stace retorted, shaking her head. "Come in before anyone sees you!" She emphatically stepped aside further into the room so the two could slip in quickly and then, turning to walk over to the replicator, offered them something to drink. "Scotch? Warm milk?"

Nesh was almost surprised Stace didn't rip her head off for mentioning tribbles in a negative light. Her eyes widened at the Trill's cool response, before nodding dumbly and stepping in at the invitation. "Uhm... m-maybe some water, please?"

"I'm fine thank you, Lieutenant." Replied Taban, his head hardly rising from a low stoop and his eyes fixed on the floor.

Returning with a glass of water and some coffee, the Trill could see by the agitation on the cadets' faces that they were not enjoying this admission and, as such, she decided to drop the irked attitude and help them as best she could. "Where did you last see him?" she asked softly and with a lilt of concern, handing the drinks over. "And I don't suppose you chipped him, did you? So you could track him easily?"

The part-Cardassian took a part step forward, but his eyes remained firmly fixed on the floor. "I, errr, I think he must have got into my bag, Lieutenant, and I only had it open when I was in the mess-hall. At least.... I think so. I didn't see it, though, but I found some fluff in my bag which I can only assume got there if the Tribble was inside the bag." He turned to his roommate to answer the second half of the question.

Nesh gave the second part of the question a long, hard, nearly intense moment. "... And I don't think the tribble trader we purchased them from chipped them. I didn't... even think about doing that myself."

Stace walked over to the desk in her quarters, and, en route turned to face them. "I'm not entirely sure this is appropriate. Me in my nightdress. Just give me a minute." And with that she disappeared into her bathroom and slipped into her uniform. "There's something to be said about the efficiency and design of these things."

She sat at her terminal and placed a little silver device on her desk she pulled out of one of the drawers. "I came across this on a outpost near the Romulan border before the Wars when I was on a much larger ship. The trader wanted a lock of my hair for it. I was a sprightly young Lieutenant Commander at the time on a Galaxy class and didn't see the harm in it. The thought of how it could help me maintain my crew was too much of a lure." She paused and seemed to get lost in her own projected, sinister thoughts. "There are probably little Janel's running about some science lab somewhere with my old genetic make-up thinking about it, but I was a vain bastard in those days and fancied that the trader just wanted it for my genetic supremacy." She paused, tapped haplessly at her console and then the silver disk glimmered into life.

Now, a 3D blueprint of the Galileo sprung into life above the surface on her desk a meter and a half in length. It showed all eight decks of the ship. "The blue orbs you see meandering around the ship are Starfleet crew. The green; non-Starfleet personnel. It's linked in with the ship's internal sensors and is accurate by a meter. Now," she then continued, rotating the console around to face the cadets. "Show me where your quarters are and where you last saw him."

Nesh gaped at the scene in front of her. A whole map of the Galileo was at her fingertips! It wasn't something she'd see more than once or twice in her life, but even she had to admit that this was neat! It took her a beat of dumbfoundedness before she leaned over, pointing at the quarters on the map. "It's around there."

'And the mess-hall is here.' Alenis thought to himself. 'I was sat in this corner..." he paused for a moment as the realisation set in. "Rignt next to both a ventilation shaft and a Jeffries Tube hatch.' He cursed silently.

Stace zoomed in to their quarters and narrowed her gaze. "She's a small ship. Don't worry, he couldn't have gotten far." The Trill tapped at the controls on her console and the blueprint rotated around and then separated the decks, allowing all other decks to disintegrate out of view. "Right, what do we have here?" Stace said more to herself. She tapped again at her computer and a little square on one of the adjacent walls of the room began to blink. Stace planted her face in her hands. "Oh shit," she said under breath as she shot both cadets a look and with apologetic eyes, squinted. "Did you know a Jeffries Tube runs beneath your quarters with a hatch just outside? If your tribble has escaped to there then this is a bigger job than I can handle."

"... Oh." Nesh's slightly bewildered expression fell into sadness upon realizing what it all meant. "... Well, we were sort of headed for Ops anyway..."

Stace paused and looked at the two. She shook her head affectionately as she cast her mind back, only for a glimmer, to her own collective youthful mistakes. All five of them. She smiled as she rose and placed a comforting hand on Nesh's shoulder. "You'll fare a lot better with the upper brass if I come with you as the next rung up in your chain of command." Deactivating the blueprint, she slipped it into her pocket. "This might help us too. Come on."

"It's possibly worse than that, I'm afraid, Lieutenant." Added the man. "I was in the mess-hall very near both a separate Jeffries Tube section and a ventilation shaft. That trebles the possible search area." He sighed in frustration, his eyes downcast. "Thank you for your help, though, Lieutenant."

Stace returned the 3D blueprint back to the full eight decks of the ship as it rotated above the desk again in a fluid and circular fashion. Suddenly, after her tapping a few commands into her console, about sixty yellow squares across the display began to flash. After a few more taps they all connected with linear lines spreading throughout the entire cross section of the ship; every nook and cranny of her. "This is where your tribble could have gotten to from the two hatches. And that's not even taking into account the ventilation network."

Nesh's heart fell. Despite all of Stace's reassurances and calm smiles, even the Orion knew what this information meant. "... We are in so much trouble with Ops and Engineering. I can feel it."

Stace looked to them both. Both their hearts pounding in their throats with worry as the colour seemed to drain from their faces. She scrunched her nose up as she stood from behind the desk and placed both hands on their shoulders. "Listen. Part of being a Starfleet officer is learning how to deal with the mistakes you will inevitably make along the way. That's what makes us Starfleet. None of us are infallible." She paused for a moment and then reached into her pocket to retrieve the device. "People will respect you more if you approach an issue with at least some suggestion of a resolve. Take this." She handed Nesh the device. "Being a commodore's sister doesn't give anyone a free ride. Especially in this service. If things take a turn for the worst for you with this then as your department head I'll take full responsibility. But I want you to try to figure this out for yourselves first. Am I clear?"

Nesh nodded, smiling at the Trill. She was thankful she had checked off the little 'Science Department' box during her decision making process now. Even if she was in deep trouble, Stace had a way of making everything less... intimidating. "Yes ma'am."

Alenis bowed his head a little. "Thank you, Lieutenant Stace. I'm sorry we disturbed your evening." He glanced over to Nesh as if to ask silently if there was anything else.

But before Nesh could respond, Norvi cut in. "Don't worry, Taban. But take twenty minutes or so to come up with something to take to Ops and Engineering. Arrange a meeting with both department heads and take the device with you. You at least have that to your advantage. But knowing tribbles as I do, if left too long then that won't be much help to you initially. We'll be scooping them up with our hands." She paused and then nodded to them both. Good luck."

[OFF]

--

Cadet FG Nesh Saalm
Scientist's Mate
USS Galileo
[PNPC Kita]

Lieutenant Norvi Stace
Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

CDT(SO) Alenis Taban
Operations Officer
USS Galileo

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