Midnight snacks

Posted on Tue Jul 23rd, 2013 @ 3:15am by Ensign Maximillian Cobyassa PhD & Commander Aztala Germond & Lieutenant JG Joycelyn Westbridge

4,810 words; about a 24 minute read

Mission: Episode 2 - Whispers in the Clouds
Location: USS Unification
Timeline: Day 2 - 0100

In the mess hall looking over a PADD of standard maneuvers, LTCMDR Germond sighs and takes a sip of the Klingon Coffee she had gotten used to for all nighters. It was either that or some form of fruit wine and she didn't think the galley served synthehol. Looking at her chrono, it seemed to be either really late or really early, so she sighed and figured now would be as good a time as any. "Computer, our two new arrivals, Ensign Maximillian Cobyassa and Lieutenant JG Joycelyn Westbridge. If they're awake, please deliver a message that I need to see them in the mess hall as soon as possible. Also, be sure to confirm with them personally if they're awake or not." With the computer chirping acknowledgement, she mutters under her breath with a slight grin, "Let's see if the computer wakes them up to do that."

One was an intel officer so she expected him to keep a cool demeanor and possibly even play along, but the other one seemed to be pretty fresh from the academy and on his first assignment, so she figured that he would probably be rather nervous, especially when he saw her pale green skin tone and her old crown she still wore out of respect for those of her colony that were lost so long ago. Running her finger along one edge of it, she thought about the fields outside her colony. All the flowers and vines. The colony was abandoned now, but some day...

Sighing, she went back to her PADD and waited for any sort of reply to her summons.

Max hadn't gotten very far in his wandering tour when he started to hear a very faint chiming. It took him a moment before he realized that it was coming from him. Tapping his badge he listened quietly to the message.

"Ensign Cobyassa to Commander Germond. I'm on my way."

After he closed the communication, he muttered a curse under his breath. [I]That little rat..![/I] Getting called to meet with the senior officer at this time of night could only mean he was in trouble. He couldn't believe his roommate had gone and ratted him out and reported him so quickly. Could the man not take a joke at all? As he made his way towards what he believed was the mess hall, he went over all the details of the incident in his head as he started to form his defense.

Taking a deep breath before entering the mess hall's, Max hadn't taken two steps into the room before he paused mid stride, did a complete about face, and then quickly marched out.

"What the hell..?" Max was a little beside himself as he looked down at the massive tent that was forming in his trousers. Thankful for the late hour and that no one was around in the corridor to see, he tried to adjust himself a bit and took a couple moments to let himself calm down. Once things felt a little more relaxed, he decided to try again. But however much he tried to keep a calm mind, his body just seemed to have a mind of its own, forcing him again to turn around and escape before things became noticeable. Not quite sure why his body was acting this way; he hadn't even had a chance to look around the mess hall. Trying to calm himself and failing, he realized he'd need to think of something else.

Emerging from a nearby restroom a few minutes later, with the creative use of a tensor bandage Max felt prepared to try again. Entering the mess hall, he gave himself a moment to make sure things were going to hold before finally looking around the room.

The mess hall was for the most part empty. A couple of off duty officers sat off in the corner chatting amongst themselves. The only other person was.. Hello!? An incredibly attractive tall pale green skinned woman sat at one of the tables, a PADD perched in her hands. There was no doubt that this was the person he was looking for, her regal demeanor just radiated a natural aura of authority. The soft lighting in the room seemed to accentuate her figure, softening her features and giving her a.. wait a second.. what the hell was he thinking? This was the ship's executive officer who had called him to chew him out over his roommate's complaint. She had more then enough clout to kick his ass off this ship and send him packing back to the academy or even to get him sent home. [i]She can kick me and chew me out any.. FOCUS! Keep it together man![/i]

Making his way to her table, he came to attention in front of her.

"Ensign Cobyassa reporting Sir..Maam."

Looking up at the Ensign and noticing his obvious discomfort, she sets down her PADD, pulls out a hypospray, and gives herself a dose of her hormone inhibitors. “Sorry about that, the Orion brandy our Federation News Service liaison gave me during that interrogation probably sent my hormones wild. The Inhibitors will kick in in a moment and the air circulators will cycle them out of the air.” Putting the hypospray away, she holds up her empty mug, looking him straight in the eyes and completely straight faced. “Why don't you go get a drink and refill this Raktajino for me and we'll talk about why I called you here. By then, maybe things will have calmed down a bit and hopefully, the other person I called will be here too.”

Not quite sure what the commander was talking about, Max gave a simple nod and went to get their drinks as he waited for his roommate to arrive.

Jocelyn was cursing under her breath as she made her way to the Mess Hall, she had been interrupted while making security modifications to her quarters. Out of habit she reached for her thigh holster only to find it missing, as ordered by the Captain. This brought on another round of profanity which she quickly stifled. She still felt naked without her pistol, a problem she would have to find a way to remedy, perhaps a pulse phaser disguised and weighted, that was a thought she would continue later.

Jocelyn stopped outside the Mess Hall to straighten her uniform and brush a stray hair behind her ear. She composed herself and stepped through the door to find the room empty with the exception of a green skinned woman whom she guessed was Orion, and a young ensign at the replicator. She made a bee-line to the Orion woman, and quickly glanced at the pips on her collar before speaking. "LT Westbridge reporting."

Looking up at the new arrival, she set her PADD down again. "Excellent. If you'd like a drink please feel free. Otherwise, please have a seat and we'll wait for the Ensign to finish with the replicator. I'd rather mess with both of you at the same time." Still straight faced, she clicks one more thing on her PADD, then clicks it off, flipping it upside down to get rid of the possible distraction.

Making his way back from the replicator, Max was shocked that there were now two hot females sitting at the table. The sigh of relief died quickly in his throat however as he saw the other woman's mannerisms. The serious expression on her face, her rigid upright posture.. she was security alright. [i]Judge and executioner then?[/i] he thought. He wasn't even being given a chance to explain. With a more somber attitude, he placed the Raktajino in front of the Commander and quietly took his seat.

Jocelyn noticed the Ensigns discomfort at the sight of her and allowed her hard facade to drop. She gave the Ensign a comforting look, [i]I'm not after your hide.[/i]. Turning her attention to the Orion woman she spoke, "Now, Commander, may I ask what this is about, and why both of us are involved?"

Taking a sip from her drink, she looked at both of them. "You're both involved because I'd rather just save time. I'm sure both of your answers will be mundane, as well. As for why I called you here, both of you were a bit late to our unscheduled launch. It's my duty to look into such incidences and see if there's a way to avoid them in the future and write up a final report yadda yadda yadda..." Waving a hand in the air at her rambling, she continues on. "That being said, I'd like to hear any excuses and thoughts on the situation directly from both of you. Lieutenant, I read that you were last on a Klingon vessel. Is that possibly a factor in the situation?"

"Not exactly Commander," Jocelyn let her eyes slip to the young Ensign for a moment, "You should be able to access the pertinent information in my personal file." Praying her hidden pain didn't surface, she quietly cleared her throat before continuing, "I would rather not speak of the details."

Sighing lightly, Aztala lets a little emotion into her face, revealing a hint of annoyance. "Since you were on a Klingon ship, I'm guessing your orders either went through the Diplomatic Corps or Starfleet Intelligence. If it was the Diplomatic Corps, I've seen things sit on their desks for weeks before they were handed to couriers for delivery. As for SFI, they're just as bad with all the clearance paperwork. One delivery I had to make took almost a year just in background checks." Turning to Ensign Cobayassa, she continues. "I don't recommend volunteering for courier duty if it comes up. The recruitment listing may sound all fancy, but couriers have to deal with constant piloting training as well as the red tape of every part of the Federation. On top of that, you get blamed when something or someone is late, no matter the circumstances."

"Umm.. and am I going to need to be looking for a new assignment soon?" Max inquired with a bit of a confused tone. While he was normally good at reading the situation, every time that he thought he might be in the clear, there were subtle undertones suggesting otherwise.

Jocelyns interest was piqued by the ensigns comment, [i]What could have him thinking that way?[/i]. She decided she would have to find out what happened, and she was going to start right now. "What would make you think that Ensign?"

"Well.." Max began, considering his words carefully "While I know that starships are their own entity and self enclosed environments in space, I was under the impression that in order to reduce the stress caused being in this self enclosed environment away from home, schedules were setup in such a way to mimic a standard planet side one sun solar schedule." he paused for a moment, looking between the two women. "So while I admit that I am very new when it comes to starship policies, and I am learning and doing my best to learn all related protocols and procedures, for me to be called here at 0100 hours would still be considered a bit.. out of the ordinary. And while I am normally more of a nightowl, the Commander had no way of knowing that."

"And you had no right to assume that the Commander was either." Joycelyn gave him a slight smile, and thought to herself[i] He's good I'll give him that[/i] before continuing, "Let me assure you that you have that much to worry about, it was an inside joke."

Max gave a small shrug, "Well, if the Commander prefers, I can certainly make sure to book any and all future appointments with her around this time of night." with a small smile he looked over at the Commander to see her reaction.

Looking between the two of them with a slight look of confusion, Aztala intercedes. "This is just informal. if you were asleep, I'm betting the computer would have woken you up, but let's call the very fact that you even got my message a small miracle with the computer core acting the way it has. as for being up this late, most of the crew are working double, sometimes triple shifts and with both of you just having come on board I assumed you would be trying to familiarize yourself with the ship's systems rather than sleeping. If that was not a good assumption, then I'm sorry. Since we're all here though, I'm going to interrogate you both." Looking a bit unsure of herself for a moment, she continues, "I'll try to make it painless. Now then, where were we? Ah yes, you were both a bit late coming aboard for various reasons."

"I believe someone was trying to get out of telling you her part of what sounds like a very exciting story." Max said glancing over at Joycelyn with a small grin.

Jocelyn tensed as her suppressed feelings rose to the surface. Blinking her eyes in an attempt to hide tears she spoke, "Only if you find watching people die would anyone find it exciting." She gave the Ensign a mean look,[i] Now I may decide to come after your hide[/i], and continued, "Besides Ensign, I doubt your security clearance is high enough to be filled in." She quickly turned back to the Commander in order to hide her tears. She spoke, her voice cracking slightly, "If there is any part of the mission report you cannot access, I will have it cleared for you Commander. May I be excused?"

Looking down at her hands sitting on the table, her face had gone completely expressionless as if it were made of stone. Aztala responds to the Lieutenant's request with a simple nod. speaking softly, she simply says, "How about you, Ensign?"

As Max glanced briefly in the direction of the exiting security officer, it started to dawn on him the situation he was in and he wondered if he might be in over his head. This wasn't some passive 9 to 5 job pressing buttons and cranking out ship parts; this was a war ship heading out into hostile territory. This wasn't a game anymore, and the danger was all too real. There was no reset button here. If things went sour, people died. The look on the Commander's face confirmed his suspicions that she too was familiar with loss, and he wondered briefly if that was her own reason for having been up so late. He so desperately wanted to turn things around and lighten the mood, but every funny story he concocted in his head turned to ash in his mouth. After a few moments of silence, he simply shook his head slowly.

"Nothing special here.. just a sandstorm."

Still staring at her hands, Aztala replies, "A sandstorm huh? Do those happen in space?"

Max looked over at the Commander with a bit of a quizzical look, "Not that I'm aware of. However they do occasionally happen around starports. Our transport was grounded for a few hours because of it."

Finally looking up, Aztala studies the Ensign's face for a few seconds. "That makes sense. On another note, why was it you thought you might need to look for another job again?"

"Oh. Ummm. No reason. I just misunderstood your comment about volunteering for courier duty, that's all. Being called out in the middle of the night and then talking about future assignments all of a sudden had me wondering if I was already on my way out."

Max paused for a bit as he debated within himself if he should broach the topic as to what exactly had caused the Commander to schedule such a late night appointment. It was obvious that something was keeping her awake, but for all he knew it could be something similar to the security officer's situation and he didn't want to repeat his previous gaff.

Deciding on a more neutral approach, he decided to turn the conversation to something more mundane to distract the commander from whatever worries she might be having. "This being my first mission, I wondered if you might have any advice for me."

Thinking for a moment, Aztala's expression softens just the tiniest bit. "Well, help those you can and work with others as a team. The latter has probably been the hardest thing for me to learn because of how I was raised." She seems to suddenly remember her now cold drink and drinks the rest of it down.

"Is working solo even possible these days? Everything is part of a group of one sort or another. From Nature to the Animal Kingdom to the lifecycle of the drinks sitting on our table. Even those who are rejected or seek out to be the lone wolf inevitably become part of the system fulfilling their designated roles even if they aren't aware of it."

Aztala nods slowly. "Yes with a Federation upbringing I'm sure you learned all that. Being trained to be the future queen of a colony on the Federation Klingon border, I was taught a little differently. I wasn't supposed to be a cog in the wheel - I was to be the engine driving those cogs and to act as the representative of the whole colony. My path was set and nothing I could do would change that. There was no teamwork for me - I had my responsibilities and the colonists took care of all the daily operations and tasks. the only person I worked with was my mother, and she was very strict in keeping me above the population. Hence why how teamwork may come easy to you, it's been a foreign concept most of my life."

"I don't quite follow what you mean by being trained as a queen, but typically speaking, a queen is most definitely part of a team and plays a most vital role in it. As a Team Leader, the King and Queen of a society are those that guide and direct that group in the same way the captain and the.. well, executive officer guide this ship. If the King and Queen are missing from the equation, then the rest of the group is directionless. And its the rest of the group's responsibility to look after and support the King and Queen. It's the rest of the group that grant the power to the King and Queen. Both parts rely on the other. In your example, yes, the engine does drive the cogs.. but engine is useless if it doesn't have navigation, warp drive shielding, or even the crew who run the ship. Its all a team effort. If the queen didn't do her job properly or really wasn't part of the group, the people simply wouldn't follow her. If it were a ship, the people would revolt and mutiny."

Max took a long sip from his drink. This conversation whet his mind and dried his throat. He looked over at the Commander and gave a big smile.

"So unless you had no followers and the group cast you out completely.. I'd say you were a pretty good team player."

The completely stony expression returning to Aztala's face, she waits for Max to finish before speaking. "From a certain point of view yes, but when you're raised in that position under the jurisdiction of the Klingon Empire, you don't exactly get taught to think that way. As for being a good team player as a queen, I'll never know since I'm one of the only 4 survivors of my colony after..." The same hard as granite look on her face, she lowers her head, her right hand reaching up to gingerly touch the thin crown she wore for just a moment, as if to remind herself that it was still real. "There were 214 of us living on that colony. Just living our lives as peacefully as we could. Then Ferengi slavers came. And while they were transporting us to who knows where, pirates attacked. In the end, the only reason anyone survived is because a federation ship appeared. Though by that time, the air in most of the ship had been vented."

Aztala's expression softened a little as she looked Max in the eyes, showing a hint of the soul-tearing pain she felt. "I don't tell you this for sympathy or compassion. I tell you this so you understand where I'm coming from. There are different ways of teaching and thinking that I had to learn when I applied for Starfleet. Learning to work with 'commoners' as an equal and as a part of that team was very hard for me. In some ways, I still don't get it and often times, the social mannerisms of many people are lost on me, to say the least." Aztala then waits for Max to respond, her eyes searching his for a hint at what he was thinking.

His eyes widened a bit as he heard her words and saw the flicker of her pain, his smile faltering briefly. With a low clucking of the tongue, his lowered his gaze and shook his head slowly. "Ada Ada. This is just not my day for making good first impressions."

He met her gaze again, giving her a more gentle smile, warm and personal. He was touched that the Commander would divulge such personal information about herself, that she trusted him with this knowledge. He was starting to understand now what people meant when people referred to the crews of their ship as their extended family.

"I don't Know if I could ever come to understand such a thing. It is not something an outsider was ever meant to fully understand. It is only an event the participants can says they have survived. But whenever I see the people whose lives have been affected by tragedy, it always causes me to wonder, if the departed could look back a final time before going off to meet whatever gods they have faith in, if they could see the survivors and their loved ones.. Would they be happy with what they see? While some use the experience to grow stronger, others are unable to let go of the past and are consumed with guilt and what-ifs. Would their lost loved ones be happy to see them miserable and filled with despair?"

He looked at her thoughtfully, gazing back at her. "But even with such a different upbringing and culture, and having endured so much, You're an incredibly talented woman to still be able to overcome all those hurdles and still be able to rise to such a high rank."

As the door to the mess hall opened and a couple of crewman entered, chatting amongst themselves, the external stimulus was enough to intrude upon Max's train of thought. As he watched the two enter and then looked back at the commander, the reality of the situation came to him as he realized just who he was speaking with in such a familiar tone.

"I.. I-I am soooo sorry!" he said as his face began turning bright red in embarrassment. "I.. used to have a friend back home who was training to become a priest and we used to have these kind of late night philosophical discussions all the time." Wait a minute. Not only had he just been discussing such an intimate matter with the Commander about her own personal life, did he just say the word home to a woman who had just finished talking about having lost hers?! Open mouth and insert foot, hell he was already upto his shin! His mind reeled with his own impertinence as he began to sweat profusely, his speech on the verge of babbling "I am soooo sorry! So sorry! It'll never happen again, I swear!"

Smiling just the slightest bit, Aztala reached out, placing her hands on his to try and calm him. "It's fine. Don't worry about it. Besides, everything I told you is pretty much free to view since it's in the public part of my service record. As a non-Federation citizen, I had to get sponsorship and the whole event is laid out in the reasons to join section right past the normal prerequisite Orion pheromone paperwork. If anything, I'm thankful to be here. I joined Starfleet so I could try to prevent disasters similar to what happened to my people and the Captain is likely the first one to recognize that and let me take more responsibility than sitting behind a desk at a starbase all day. I'll admit that I don't have the explorer's heart that many on board do, but I honestly want to help people and that has to count for something." Aztala sighs heavily, pulling her hands back and rubbing her temple with her right hand, her eyes closing. "I guess that reporter got me a bit more tipsy than I thought. I don't usually talk this much or so openly."

Listening to the Commander's explanation, Max calmed down a bit. At her last statement, he gave her a bit of a questioning look. "We have a reporter onboard?" Still being new out of the academy, he didn't have all the ship's positions memorized yet, but he didn't remember there being a ship's reporter position onboard starships. Perhaps it was a diplomatic mission of some kind, at which point he was sure he wasn't authorized to hear the details. "Nevermind. I'm probably not authorized to hear that anyways."

Still intrigued by the Commander's story, he couldn't help but inquire further. "What happened to the rest of your tribe then? Did they join you aboard this ship?"

Nodding slightly, Aztala decided to tackle the less personal subject first. "We have a Federation News Service Liaison on board. If you want to schedule an appointment with her, go ahead but be sure you go over the 'speaking with reporters' briefing file before you do. She has no clearance and she's really just here as a test to see if she can get more support for the ships out here from the rest of the Federation. As for the other survivors, I was the only one to pass the entrance exams for Starfleet and we haven't kept in touch, so I really don't know where they went, to be honest. The last I heard from them they had all gotten a job on a freighter hauling ship parts between Earth and Vulcan."

Max found it more then a bit of a sad ending. He couldn't believe that after all they had been through, they would just split apart like that. It was natural for someone to want to fight to protect and prevent the same thing for happening to others, but for them to simply abandon their queen like that and scurry off.. Unacceptable!

As he thought things over, he caught the Commander's eyelids drooping ever so slightly out of the corner of his eye.  Suppressing the urge to smirk, he pretended not to see.  It looked like he had accomplished his mission of distracting her in forgetting whatever it was that had stressed her out from that reporter's meeting.  He let out a small yawn.

"I'm so sorry Commander, it looks like my lack of sleep is catching upto me."

Looking up at Max a bit more alert, Aztala realizes how late it really is. "Ah. Yes. We should be getting some rest, shouldn't we? Tomorrow is going to be a very busy day indeed. Thank you for the conversation. If you will excuse me." Nodding to Max, Aztala stands and walks out of the mess hall back towards her quarters.

It wasn't long after that that Max followed suit, making his way back to his quarters. As he thought back on his conversation with the two women, he realized just how sheltered a life he had been living. He had never lost anyone close to him, and he couldn't even say he had ever really experienced any serious hardships before. He wondered if this was what growing up was about, to discover and experience hardships. Maybe it was time for him to 'grow up' and mature a bit. Entering his room, he saw his roommate peacefully snoring away. The smile on Max's face disappeared as he spotted an elaborate set of tape marks all across the floor, dividing the room into two parts. The words "Do not cross" written crudely on them.

That little! Well.. I guess maturity will have to wait a bit longer.. Going to the replicator and acquiring some markers, he began plotting his revenge strategy. The Commander was right.. it WAS going to be a busy night!

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