Starting Off the Day On The Wrong Foot

Posted on Sun Dec 3rd, 2023 @ 10:40am by Ensign Brooke Parker & Ensign Tobias "Toby" Dienstag & Chief Petty Officer Meredith Corden
Edited on on Mon Dec 4th, 2023 @ 11:14pm

655 words; about a 3 minute read

Mission: Mission 4: Through a Glass, Darkly
Location: Deck 5: Officer's Mess
Timeline: M4 MD04 (2268.07.13) 0800

Mornings in the mess hall were particularly busy. Some of charlie shift were eating before going to bed while alpha shift was sucking down coffee trying to prepare themselves for the day.

Toby was sitting at one of the tables alone. He was playing with his synthesized scrambled eggs with his fork which was unlike him. Normally he would be chowing down. But today he just didn't feel like it.

A young woman wearing a blue sciences uniform sat down across him, "Gold morning Toby," she said with a soft grin.

"Good morning Brooke," Toby responded with a sigh.

"Something the matter?" She asked innocently.

"Too much... Car Crash is at it again," Toby lamented.

Brooke nodded her head in understanding. She worked in science lab #2 and knew all too well the abuse which would come down from the mercurial Bulgarian science lab chief. Didn't help she didn't like men much. "Should I even ask?" She asked.

"She wants me to recalibrate the chronometer again, convinced the Interphase changed a setting somewhere, but I've been through the database, reconciled everything and there's no evidence anything is off... She wants me to do it by hand this time," Toby responded before he dropped his fork onto his plate in annoyance, "This isn't what I signed up for."

Meredith walked into the mess hall. She looked bright and cheerful this morning. She was smiling as she walked over to the food synthesizers and ordered some sliced grapefruit, toast, and scrambled eggs. She looked around, briefly scanning the mess hall, as she took her tray.

"Good morning Meredith," Brooke greeted the young woman as she approached them. "Don't mind Mr. Doom & Gloom over here... Problems with Lord Car Crash."

"Lord Car Crash?" Meredith asked.

"Sorry, our Science Lab chief, Lt.. Karashka," Brooke explained, "She's a taskmaster..."

"And we are her serfs," Toby interjected.

"Anything in particular?" Meredith probed as she set her tray down and took a seat. She wasn't sure she should have asked but now the cat was out of the bag, so to speak.

"Like I was telling Brooke here, she wants me to recalibrate the chronometer again... This time by hand... She's convinced the Interphase has the ship's chronometer off by a nano second or something," Toby responded with a sigh, "Just a waste of time as always."

"Is it off?" Meredith asked. "Do we even have an instrument independent of the ship's systems that could check?"

"Not as far as I can tell... Even if it were off, it wouldn't matter much... We are a century in the past without an exact date and time," Toby responded.

"Also, no one's hands are precise to a nanosecond," Meredith offered. "Not even Vulcans."

"Tis true," Brooke chimed in.

"Not according to her anyway," Toby responded with a sigh, "I hope she ends up getting that transfer she wants... Something about being passed over for promotion again." He shook his head, "Enough of my problems, how has your morning been Meredith?"

"It's been fine," Meredith said with a shrug. "Mostly paperwork so far."

"No juicy information about the mission?" Toby inquired, raising an eyebrow and leaning in, "You know how nothing filters down to us. The action is on the bridge and in those meetings we aren't invited to?"

"I wouldn't have this job if I went gossiping," Meredith reminded him.

"Boring," Toby responded with a chuckle before picking up his cup from the table.

Meredith laughed. "Yes, sir. Terribly."

"So is working in the science lab," Toby responded, "I think I'm going to talk to Commander about getting some more Bridge time. I've more than shown I'm capable."

"Definitely deserved, but good luck," Brooke commented, "The Commander is a tough nut to crack."

"I have to try though," Toby responded.

"Maybe you should talk to Dr. Kitchner, he's pretty good at giving advice on how to approach such things," Brooke offered.

"Good idea," Toby responded.

 

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