Something Else to Think About

Posted on Tue Mar 24th, 2009 @ 11:07am by Lieutenant Cress Maven & Captain Elsie Halliwell

815 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: In The Dark
Location: Arboretum
Timeline: Current

ON:

Lieutenant JG Skanda Sheedy was, as always, loathe to leave her beloved engine room, but she was no fool. She was aware that all officers needed off time from their jobs before they went space-happy. So Skanda decided to spend her off-duty time relaxing in the arboretum. Currently the hybrid was lying on her back in the grass, staring up at the ceiling-sky. Several people noticed her, but most gave her a wide berth. For the most part, Engineer Skanda Sheedy was alone with her thoughts.

As Commander Lane entered the vibrant area, tired and beaten by the intense morning he had endured, he took in a lungful of the crisp, fresh air and gently closed his eyes. The stress clinging to his temples and shoulders instantly fell away from him, like ingrained dirt does in a sonic shower, peeling off in layers to fall by his feet. He rounded a tree, clasping the rough bark with his rough hands and stepped across one of the flowered boarders onto the luscious grass. He noticed his Chief Engineer on the ground before him, and so made his way, quietly, to her as she lay.

Clearing his throat, he smiled. "Not disturbing you, am I, Lieutenant?" he asked "I don’t know about you, but this place always brings peace to me. Mind if I…?" He motioned to the grass him and nodded.

Skanda's eyes, which she had closed for a moment, flew open at the commander's voice. She sat up quickly. "Comman'er Lane! I-" Sheedy looked down, embarrassed, then looked back up at the Trill. "No' a' all. 'Ave a seat, sir." She leaned back on her elbows and gazed at him. It occurred to her that she had never seen Lane off duty. Or whatever passed for off duty among command staff. "It is peaceful 'ere, righ' enough. You come 'ere while... off du'y?"

Lane smiled at the woman on the grass, pulled his trousers up over his knees, and sat down next to her. "Oh, you're never off-duty when you're the CO, Chief," he said, widening his grin. "And please, relax. I'm not here in an official capacity, and so you don’t need to act like I am."

"Alrigh' then." Skanda lay back down again and let out a contented breath. She regarded the ceiling for a moment more before tipping her head to be able to see the Commander again, for he was speaking once more.

The Trill looked around them both and said, "It is peaceful, isn’t it? I enjoy it very much here. Clears the mind, I find." He sighed and looked around again. Fixing his eyes on her again, he relaxed. "So, how are you finding it here, Chief? You like it aboard the Archimedes?"

"'S a beau'iful ship, sir, and she runs like a dream. Excep' f' th' unexplain' malfuncti'ns tha' keep poppin' up, tha' is." She paused, thinking. "I do like it 'ere, I suppose. Much as I like anywhe'e." Suddenly she looked up at her commander. For the first time she noticed that he looked tired. Being in the arboretum surely helped that, but command was a lot for anyone to handle. "An' 'ow," she asked, "are you doin', sir?"

"Well, Chief," he said, relaxing back onto the points of his elbows, "I'm doing just fine, thank you… I'll hold together." He joined her in looking up at the ceiling, but then casually rolled over onto his side and grasped at the green grass with his hand, tearing several blades out of their roots and held them in his palm. "What do you make of the unexplained malfunctions, Chief? Do you think we can sort things out before Commander Arkham gets back? Get things running like a normal ship again?"

Sheedy blew a few strands of her blue hair out of her face and thought about the questions the Commander had put to her. "I've neve' kno'n anythin' like these malfuncti'ns. I'm confid'n' 'n my 'bilit'es as engineer, bu' this 's beyon' me. We're workin' as 'ard as we c'n. M' crew can't stan' me, but they're good people." She turned on her side to face Lane. "I 'ave ev'ry confi'ence in th' ship and th' crew, but I hones'ly don' know if we c'n fix i' before Arkham re'urns." The green-skinned woman chuckled lightly. "Bu' if'n we don', there'll be 'ell t' pay."

A smile split Lane's face as he grinned. "That's true. I sometimes wonder who the crew fears more. Me, or the Commander. And I have to admit to you now, I never wonder for long." He looked at the Chief's yellow eyes and fixed his own blue onto them. "We'll sort out these problems, Ms. Sheedy. One way or another. I can promise you that."


OFF:


Commander Coltan Lane
Commanding Officer

AND

Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Skanda Sheedy
Chief Engineering Officer

 

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