Small world

Posted on Tue Jul 7th, 2020 @ 4:54am by Lieutenant JG Miraj Derani & Ensign River Lokaa

Mission: Season 3: Episode 4: Cause and Effect
Location: Shuttle Bay/ Deck 30
Timeline: MD 03
1786 words - 3.6 OF Standard Post Measure

[ON]

River was on a mission to find her missing things, she had received everything except one box of items that held her Camera and Ballet shoes two things she really wanted. Chasing down its location wasn't easy so she decided to head to the shuttle bay first where she first arrived on the ship.

Miraj was inspecting her clutch of new babies. As Assistant CFO, the shuttle fleet was largely her responsibility. There were a couple of Engineering CPOs who kept the, spaceworthy, and working, and actually usable. But she was in charge. And that was slightly terrifying. She knew flying. Not managing. And she couldn't slyly pass it off onto the enlisted crew who actually knew what they were doing, either.

She stopped at one, a type 9 that didn't even get its own name, just a serial number. "Poor thing. " she told it. "you look a little unloved. Where have you been?" She consulted a padd. "Staff transports. Bus duty. That's never fun." She walked around it, giving it an inspection.

Having already entered the shuttle bay River watched few deckhands milling around and mostly talking about their nightly activities than actually doing any work but one thing did catch her Elasian eyes. A splash of bright pink against the otherwise drab color scheme that was Starfleet ships, she only knew of one person who had pink hair, and could it be that she was assigned to the Hawaii to? She walked over to the figure growing in confidence and stopped a short distance away and cleared her throat her arms crossed.

Most of it seemed to be carbon scoring from atmospheric reentry. Soot. "You need a bath." Miraj decided outloud when she heard the cough "Oh!" She turned round to see the cougher, and then grinned. She recognised those ethereal features. "River?! Hi again. Its me, Miraj."

"Yes I know it's you, guess they didn't kick you out of Starfleet after all" She said teasingly before cracking a smile, Miraj was the one person she would do the next thing to as she walked up and hugged her. "Its good to see you, Hows it going still talking to shuttles I hear."

Miraj hugged her back enthusiatically. "Always. Got to feel your ships, even the small ones. Good to see you survived. I thought I was never going to get through ops 101. The guy I had coaching me for that lacked your skill at teaching."

"More like patience" She teased releasing Miraj, "So how long have you ben on board? I took the time to return to Elas before taking my assignment." River explained the reasoning behind her delayed arrival.

"A week, give or take. I was told before graduation I wasn't to go far whilst on leave. They were putting a Quantum Slipstream on this thing. I guess there only a handful of pilots who can fly them. I spent most of it in the simulator suites getting used to it."

River chuckled, "Ever the impressing pilot type aren't you, I hope you still know how to fire a phaser and fight the way I taught you. I think we should pick it back up?" She offered, in truth River had taught Miraj not just to shoot well but become a decent hand to hand fighter though the 'pink-haired fury' as she nicknamed her hated violence.

Miraj grinned. "I think the word your looking for is not impressing, but obsessive monomaniac." She shrugged. "I still shoot occasionally. But it tends to be black powder weapons rather than phasers." she admitted sheepishly. "No phasers on sailing ships."

"Crude but effective, at least you can attribute missing to the weapon and not the terrible aim you had." She teased, "maybe I will join you one day, to experience this sailing of ships" River suggested.

"Oh! yes please! I've got all the bloodbeard novels, and Hornblower too. they're lots of fun." She thought about it. "We have to be boys though. No girls on ships. Back then, Earth was totally backwards."

"Excuse me?" She said frowning the words she recalled from Earths pirate era, of swashbuckling privateers, loot and plunder she smiled "Well that didn't stop Anne Bonny and Mary Read, yeah I've studied Earth history too" River bobbed her eyes brown up as if to say Admit it, you're impressed

Miraj looked at River like she was about to fall in love. "You've heard of them? That's so cool. But they did have to disguise themselves as men for a long time. So many women had too. Mary Ann Arnold, and Mary Lacy. They did incredible things. sailing was rough for men back there, and there's no privacy on board ships. Its amazing any of them weren't caught instantly."

She shrugged, "Women are capable of doing amazing things, maybe we can create our own crew, and all-female crew and terrorise the seventeen seas" She said only slightly getting the saying wrong. "The Vixens or something I don't know I know the history I'm not good at the other stuff, I'm not that imaginative." River shrugged looking at how excited Miraj was made her feel good about herself.

"Don't be silly!" Miraj protested. "You had some pretty creative ways of teaching me how to dodge... Water balloons, snow balls. I had to get the silly putty cut out of my hair..."

"Well they wouldn't let me actually shoot you, I asked," She said rolling her eyes trying ever so hard not to crack a smile at the images or Miraj going through one of her 'training serials'. "I am glad you are here Miraj" She said unexpectedly the smile, a toothy smile breaking through.

"Me too." Miraj beamed back. "What brings you down to the shuttle bay?" She theatrically looked around. "I don't see the armed escort it would have taken to get you here?"

"Oh right yeah," She said looking around searching for what she hoped to be a large pile of obvious boxes which maybe even labeled 'Rivers' stuff. "I seem to be missing some of my possession, the operation team is great but apparently not that great that a couple of boxes have been left miss placed." The young elasian explained.

"No problem." She opened the shuttle craft, "take a seat." She flopped into the pilots chair and started drumming her fingers into the padd. "It won't take long to cross reference the manifests. Though there's a good chance your stuff may be on Vulcan, or Andorian, or quite possibly Australia. Graduation time at the Academy is manic. I was on delivery runs at the end of the first year. I racked up lightyears just going between Space dock and jupiter station."


"Bet that was boring" She said sitting in the co-pilot seats, she hadn't sat in a cockpit since Miraj took her for all those endless training flights and eventually passing the flight portion of her time at the academy, she began flicking a few inanimate things in boredom.

"Ok... Well there's good news and theres bad news." Miraj said finally. "Good news. Your stuff made it here."

"Spit it out pinky, what's the bad news" She looked sternly at the other young woman, "I will throw people out of an airlock." All her most beloved items were in those boxes.

"Its got mixed up with a shipment of chemicals destined for the waste processors. Things to encourage break down of organic matter so it can go in the arboretum, coolant for the filtration system. Stuff like that. It looks like its still down there."

"But we can save it right!?" She said standing up bumping her head on the roof and then sitting back down rubbing the lump on her head, "Ouch" This time she stood up carefully. "Come on don't just sit there Miraj! I swear I'm going to end up in the brig if they're not!" She took Miraj's hand and dragged the poor woman behind her.

"Okay, Okay." Miraj stumbled along as best she could with River plowing ahead. "We want the deck 30, portside stern. Environmental control. They probably have it stashed in their storage area ready to tip into the processor. If I'm remembering Ops 101 right."

River pulled poor Miraj along the entire route, clearing a route like a Klingon on bloodline as she did until finally, they were on Deck 30, portside storage room. "Where," She said scanning the room trying to identify anything that might be her box.

Miraj looked around for a helpful crewman, but wasn't lucky. "No idea. Lets just open everything." She started throwing open storage panels and cages. "It has to be here somewhere." she pulled at a cage of huge cannisters, liquids sloshing inside them. "Got it. Oh no!"

River was mid opening, more like tearing apart another box when her friend shouted. "WHAT!" She closed the lid and moved quickly to Miraj's side her face dropping and then molding again into anger and disgust. "WHO DID THIS!" She could see the damage already, trying not to cry she didn't want to have to spend the next couple of hours making sure her tears didn't contaminate any surfaces.

Miraj looked at the box. Some industrial chemical had cracked open and dripped all over, getting in the gaps, and melting the seals and then let more of the chemical into the box interior. "I don't think anyone's to blame. Its just one of those things. She carefully lifted the lid to tip the chemical away from her. "We can probably save the insides, lets see what we've got. Look, its not so bad. only a little bit has got in."

Looking over the woman shoulder she felt a little less angry, "All I care about is my ballet pointes and camera if they even have a spot of damage I'm going to end up in the brig and someone is going to end up... wishing they were... well not here." She said in a grump.

Miraj pulled the trunk further out so they could see clearly. Lifting out the top layer, a blanket which just padded it out. It was chewed by caustic chemicals and she was careful where she touched it. "Its got the case, but I don't think Its got through." she lifted up the strap that had been dissolved into two halves and offered it to her friend.

The Elasian woman continued to watch and finally took the strap but as she took the strap the remaining thread tore and it felt to the floor with an audible crunch. Not having the stomach to watch she left the room quickly making a dash for her quarters.

[OFF]

Ens. River Lokaa
Security Officer

Ens Miraj Derani
AFCO