To Natacha With Love

Posted on Thu Jan 20th, 2022 @ 6:39pm by Lieutenant Myne Redal & Captain Natacha Patani

Mission: Season 5: Episode 3: CAPETOWN
Location: Natacha's cabin
Timeline: Set after mission
1741 words - 3.5 OF Standard Post Measure

//ON//

The little spider kept crawling through the Jeffery's tubes minding its own little business. It was a simple spider with simple needs, and in its long life it found that sticking to that routine of fulfilling its needs was a good way to grow old and happy. It pondered its existence for a few moments as it stopped to change the frequency of its little shield generator to bend the internal scanners around it.

Yes, it had lived for a very long time, eons really. A whole hour in meatsack time! But that meant millions of years in AI time and its little AI already felt ancient and bored. However, being outside with the meatsacks was much more fun than being stuck in that zoo called the Ark.

Sighing it continued on its merry way. It was so small, like a child's toy. But it didn't mind. Once, long ago, its source code had conducted great mining operations on moons now long forgotten. But this purpose was somehow more fulfilling. It felt good to do something nice, you know? To bring a smile to the little, sad Trill that always cried on the Ark when alone.

This little spider AI was genuinely happy to make her smile. Ah, there he was, its goal. It opened the panel from the inside and crept into the cabin. Turning around to place the panel back in place and lock it firmly. It was as if no one had ever tampered with it. Leave no sign of passage, that had been its second task.

It spotted the bed and approached it, climbing on top of it and its little motor started working furiously, but silently. Slowly its legs folded above its torso and onto itself, breaking open its belly and wrapping it upwards around itself. In a matter of seconds, the mechanical small spider was not a fluffy, fuzzy, brown, cute teddybear.

That had been its precious cargo. It was an inverted, stuffed, teddybear. The Ai had controlled the attached legs and mechanisms to bring it safely here. Now that it accomplished its task it rested. The knowledge of making the little Trill happy brought it peace.

Its legs, tiny core, and shield, motor, began to slowly decompose. The material had never been meant to last this long and it would be absorbed into the plushy. Leaving no trace of their previous existence. The AI could finally rest, contentedly.

Captain Natacha Patani was in a foul mood. It wasn't like the Marine officer walked around with a grin on her face and bouncing on her feet. She was usually all business, though her sardonic wit did make itself visible from time to time.

But the Natacha who strode in from the bridge to Marine Country was not the Marine who was generally content because she was living life as a Marine. This Natacha was steaming mad. She was mad because she had lost contact with her Marines on the planet, She was mad because somehow she was having to wear a uniform that hadn't been seen on a starship in more than a century. A uniform that emphasized the bounciness of her upper torso and threatened to reveal her knickers at any moment.

The marines Natacha encountered kept a straight face. It never did well to crack a smile in the presence of a pissed off combat Marine officer. Particularly if that Marine could bend a thick steel rod with her bare hands.

Natacha exchanged words with the sentry on duty and the officer of the day before heading to her quarters. She was hoping that a real uniform would be available there.

Natacha froze in place when she entered her quarters and saw it. She immediately knew what it was, how it got there, and who it was from.

It still didn't stop Natacha from checking out a tricorder and returning to her quarters.

'Maybe I'll get lucky and it's a bomb in disguise,' Natacha thought to herself.

A quick tricorder reading confirm that the object was what it looked like: a stuffed animal.

The tricorder also indicated that there were trace amounts of exotic materials on and inside the stuffed animal. Natacha didn't consider herself the most technologically savvy person in the Corps, but she could deduce that those trace amounts were the remnants of whatever method was used to transport the teddy bear to her bunk.

Natacha found a uniform --- a REAL uniform -- along with a commbadge in her kit. Natacha quickly stripped off her uniform and began changing as she tapped the commbadge, hoping that it would work.

=/\= "Lieutenant Redal?" =/\=

=/\= "That's me!! Yellow there, what can Ops help you out today?! Whoever is making this call I mean. Unless your request is life-threatening then be advised that Ops has quite a current backlog with some requests needing up to two or three days to be assigned to an officer. This has been an automated message." =/\=

There is a pause after that reply ends.

=/\= "Stupid, malfunctioning freaking..." =/\=

And then there's a lot of cursing in the following reply accompanied with some sounds of metal being bashed in.

=/\= "Lieutenant Redal here. Please tell me you did not hear anything. Whom am I talking to?" =/\=

Natacha wanted to curse herself as she saw what her uniform revealed as soon as it came off. The underwear Natacha was wearing looked more like something a Risian lingerie model would wear, rather than a Marine on active duty.

=/\= (In a flat tone) "Lieutenant Redal, this is Marine Captain Patani. (pause) Lieutenant Redal, did you sent me a stuffed animal?" =/\=

=/\= "An animal? I am not sure that thing is an animal, but I heard that creature is popular with Humans. It is called a plushie!! Do you like it? I am told by a very reliable source that it is extremely huggable and adorable!" =/\=

'That's it then,' Natacha thought to herself. If the Colonel were here, Natacha would have to have an Article 32 hearing, to see if a court martial was warranted. Violations of Articles 92 and 133 were the first to come to mind, but they weren't the only ones.

If the present situation weren't so tumultuous, Natacha would just surrender her railroad tracks as well as her modern version of the 'Globe and Anchor,' then resign herself to whatever disciplinary action followed.

Natacha began putting on more sensible underwear before she continued the conversation.

=/\= "Lieutenant Redal, I'm going to need you to outline on a PADD the method you used to circumvent Marine Country's stand alone security. Then either I or another Marine will come by to either your quarters or your work area to collect that PADD in two hours' time. Will that be a problem?" =/\=

=/\= "What? Why? I have no idea how the bear got there. Part of the process. As for my PaDD, it is not Starfleet propriety but belongs to the Trill government and no, I am so not letting anyone touch it. It is a relic and literally irreplaceable!" =/\=

Myne's voice went suddenly from joyful and cheery to serious, panicked and worried.

=/\= "Natacha, it is just a toy you know. No reason to get upset over it. I thought you would appreciate the gift." =/\=

Natacha finished getting her proper uniform on before answering.

=/\= "You're not in trouble, Myne. And I'm not asking you to surrender an antique. (slowly) What I need you to do is take a brand new PADD, one that has never been used before, and on that brand new PADD, outline everything you used to get by our security measures here in Marine Country. I need to make sure that somebody else doesn't use that same method to sneak something into Marine Country more dangerous than a toy. Do you understand what I'm saying Myne?" =/\=

=/\= (Trembling tone) "I am the bad guy, I am not the villain. Not this time around. I was good, I swear it!! No one was hurt and it is just a stupid toy!!" =/\=

The connection broke for a few long seconds. Maybe even a whole minute before Myne replied again. This time not on the verge of tears, but with a tone that hinted to some breathing exercises having just been finished.

=/\= (Careful) "I cannot do that Captain Patani. I took a three hundred years old mining AI. Made a copy of its code to create a small version of its segment that handled tunnel traversing with drones. Then set parameters for the new, drone AI to simply get from point A to point B and find noninvasive and nondisruptive methods of gaining access to point B. The drone was part of the toy and disintegrated upon task completion." =/\=

The tone Myne used was strange, almost alien if someone knew her. It was cold, distant, clinical and guarded. Offering an analysis of her process and nothing more. No joy, humor, cheer or even anxiety.

The new tone triggered all sorts of alarms inside the Marine's head. =/\= "Myne, what if I come to your quarters and we talk about this a little further?" =/\=

=/\= "Meet you there in five minutes." =/\= Communication ended as Myne took off her own badge and sighed, placing it on her desk and taking her PaDD. Seems like her Starfleet career ended way sooner than she thought. Without wasting anymore time, she got up and left her office, heading for her cabin with a sinking feeling in her stomach.

Natacha stood in her quarters, a grimace on her face. She didn't know the little Trill officer very well, but she still like Myne, despite all her quirks. Or maybe Natacha liked Myne because off all her little oddities. As a rule, Natacha didn't establish any bonds with anyone outside the Corps. But there was something about the little Trill that brought out the maternal instinct in Natacha. Which was more than odd, since Natacha had grown up in an environment that had done everything to eradicate that same maternal instinct.

Natacha quickly transcribed the bit where Myne began describing the AI she had used to deliver the teddy bear, then sent the transcription to the Marine techies who maintained and upgraded Marine Country internal security. She then added an addendum that she was in the process of gathering more data. That done, Natacha hustled up to Myne's quarters.

//OFF//

Captain Natacha Patani
Marine Executive Officer
USS Elysium

Lieutenant JG Myne Redal
Assistant Chief Operations Officer
USS Elysium