“Grumblings in the Mess Hall”

Posted on Sun Nov 9th, 2025 @ 7:08pm by Avalon [ADMIN NPC] & Petty Officer 2nd Class Rennik Tol [Admin NPC]

Mission: Season 6: Episode 6: Conglomerate
Location: Deck 12, Crew Mess — USS Elysium
Timeline: MD2 - Late Alpha Shift
417 words - 0.8 OF Standard Post Measure

The hum of the replicators was the loudest sound in the mess hall. Conversations came in low murmurs, clustered at the corners, far from the senior officer tables that sat conspicuously empty.

Petty Officer Rennik Tol jabbed at his dinner with unnecessary force. “We rebuild the same damn sections every month,” he muttered. “Deck Eight’s bulkheads look like patchwork. I swear, half the ship’s being held together by willpower and spit.”

Across from him, Crewman Kara Loran, a Trill medical aide, looked up from her tea. “It’s not just Engineering. In Sickbay, the nurses are working sixteen-hour shifts. Every time we finish treating one wave of injuries, the next attack hits. People are burning out, Rennik.”

“Yeah, but Command doesn’t see that, do they?” Rennik’s antennae flicked irritably. “They stay up on the bridge, all calm and collected, telling us we’re coping. I’d like to see one of them spend a week crawling through a Jeffries tube at 0300 to fix a plasma relay.”

Chief Specialist Danvers from Operations leaned in from the next table, his uniform stained with conduit dust. “Watch it, Tol. You keep talking like that and someone’ll flag you for insubordination.”

Rennik gave a short, bitter laugh. “What, for telling the truth? We’ve been stranded for nearly a year, and we still don’t know how or why. All we get are orders to ‘maintain morale’ and ‘trust command.’ I’d trust them more if they actually told us something.”

Loran’s voice dropped. “There are rumors. Some people think the Captain knows more than she’s saying — about the Circinus region, about the signals we keep picking up.”

Danvers looked between them, frowning. “Rumors get people hurt, Loran.”

“Maybe,” she said quietly, “but silence does too.”

For a long moment, no one spoke. The air in the mess felt thick — heavy with the unspoken truth that everyone felt it: the distance between decks wasn’t just physical anymore.

Rennik pushed away his tray and stood. “All I’m saying is, if Command wants our loyalty, they could start by treating us like we matter — not just parts of a machine.”

Danvers exhaled through his nose, tired. “Careful, Andorian. Words like that start revolutions.”

Rennik didn’t look back. “Maybe that’s what it’ll take.”

As he left, the low hum of conversation started up again — not quieter, but sharper. The sound of something beginning to fracture beneath the ship’s polished Starfleet surface.