"Lazy Day"
Previous Post: "Shadow Effects" by Julian
-=/\=-
Stardate: 60323.1120
Setting: USS ANUBIS - Deck 5 Forward Section
Talia sat alone by a window somewhere on deck five. She wasn't sure exactly where she was, but she knew that *this* window had the best view on the ship. It had been an eventful week, but now everything had become boring again and she hoped they'd be leaving the Station soon.
"Good Morning Miss Talia," an unknown man in a light blue suit offered.
She smiled and waved and hoped he would not come sit with her. Everyone here knew her and they always seemed to be hurt that she did not know them also. In seconds she realised she could put her fears to rest, the man continued to walk past her, leaving her to continue gazing out *her* window.
It was a lazy day, even the officers in the space dock seemed to move by slower than usual. Bina and Nan'ha's fight yesterday had ended with her learning a new technique of argument to use against her mothers, the "pout and beg" she'd named it. But the thrill of the fight had not lasted long as her stomach had started to feel icky. Chef said it was because she ate tatoe-chips for breakfast, she didn't like to be lectured to, so she had stuck her tongue out at him and left the Black Hole without delay. Unfortunately that meant she couldn't go back there today unless she apologized to him, and she really didn't want to do that.
Now, she was bored. It couldn't be helped. She didn't much feel like snooping or studying and she'd already used up all of her holodeck hours for the week. Her educational programs were too boring for a day like today and her Nan'ha had taken the fun ones offline until she finished her Tal Shiar Junior Officer Preparation Training: Module Four, and all she had left to do for that was the written test… and *that* was way too boring.
Sighing, Talia silently wished that she was back on the Orbital, playing Black Jack and visiting all the nice Riseans. She smiled at the memory, they had all been so nice, they made her foods that tasted like nothing she'd ever eaten before. Things from Risa. And they had sung songs to her and played games, it had been so fun. Nan'ha had promised they'd be at the Tangiers together for a vacation for over a week, but someone did something wrong and made Nan'ha very angry and they had to leave. She knew it must be the stupid engineer, he was always making her Nan'ha angry. He always tried to sit too close to her Bina, it made her feel icky inside when he did that, and she knew that it hurt her Nan'ha and made her mothers fight. He was big and scary, but she really wanted to bite him. She once asked her Nan'ha why she didn't have him moved away from them, but her Nan'ha told her that sometimes things are good for the ship even if they are not good for the family… she didn't much care about the ship, but she tried to be a good girl and not make too much trouble for him. Sometimes, on days like today though, when she was bored, she would go into a Jimmy's Tube and break some wires or poke holes in the jelly packs just to make him have to work harder…. But since he wasn't even the engineer anymore she couldn't even do that.
She wished someone would play with her now, anything to get her mind off of the boring day. She had wanted to go on the Bridge but things seemed too busy for her up there today, like something big had happened and she'd been left out of it, and she didn't like being underfoot, so she'd left.
She supposed she could go to Astrometrics, or the Science Labs… last time she was there crewman Ferrian had mixed vinegar and baking soda together and it exploded for her… he wasn't on the ship today but Maya was. Maybe Maya would turn into a monkey and play with her for a few minutes. That would be fun. Pushing away from the windowsill the girl set off to find the scientist, hoping that the woman would provide her with at least a little bit of entertainment.
-=-=-=-
Stardate: 60323.1120
Setting: USS ANUBIS - IGC: Enaii's Office
The Intelligence Liaison Officer sat quietly transfixed by the influx of reports coming into her department and the hive-like efficiency of her workers sorting and processing the data. She had to admit, she was proud of their performance during her absence for the last mission, they had performed at peak levels and things had gone off without a hitch here.
"Sir!" a young Lieutenant announced, interrupting her train of thought. "There is a priority report in from the Station for you. A complaint from Crewman Barrington in regards to Lieutenant Commander Maya."
Enaii's interest was peaked, yet she displayed a remarkably uninterested façade. "Patch it through to my personal console," she ordered and waited for the document to arrive. The man continued to stand at attention at the entrance to her office, painfully aware that he had not yet been dismissed.
The Queen Bee of the ANUBIS's Intel read the report with interest, though displaying none of her inner curiosity. This was clearly a situation that would need to be dealt with, she certainly couldn't have her attached scientist turning lycanthrope on her.
"Lieutenant," she ordered, causing the young man to step forward as she inputted data into a small padd. "Take this transfer order to the Zoology Station on New Alexandria immediately, then return here without delay."
"Understood!" the Lieutenant saluted, took the padd and left the room quickly.
-=-=-=-
Stardate: 60323.1150
Setting: NEW ALEXANDRIA - Section I - "Draxx Cafeteria"
"It's not healthy…" the attractive blonde argued as she took a bite of her cherry jelly on chocolate chip toast.
"Neither is your brunch," an almost identical looking woman replied, "But nothing I say will change either situation."
"How can you just dismiss this?!?" the first woman scolded. "She is our sister and without a firm commanding officer she could go downhill… not to mention the identity crisis she must be going through… will she still be the strength or will someone else be wearing the pants now???"
"I have not dismissed it," Elsie countered as she stirred her plain oatmeal, "But there is little I can do about it and worrying won't help."
As the two women sat and ate breakfast in relative silence, their sisters began to file into the room.
"Did you hear?" one of the new woman questioned loud enough for the whole room to hear.
"Is it true?" another asked as she served up a bowl of fruity hoops for a woman who looked distinctly child-like and sported sharply slanted eyes and a rounded face.
"It is… as predicted," a cryptic voice offered from an artificially darkened corner of the private cafeteria.
"Good for her!" one of the slightly older women announced as she sat down with a glass of orange juice and a newspaper printed in Binar.
"You can't be serious!" Katie countered in shock.
"She is," Elsie interjected, "She just hasn't thought it through."
"Well I'm sorry if being happy for our sister-in-law is unfashionable," the woman replied as she reached over to the plate of a woman nearby and stole a piece of sliced fruit, returning her gaze to her newspaper as she munched on it.
"Oh get over yourself," Katie hissed, taking a bite of her toast as if to end the discussion.
All of the sisters in the crowded room became quiet for a moment as Admiral Koneki entered, followed closely by the newly promoted Commodore James Simmons.
The former Captain stood dead in his tracks, he seemed not to be able to process what he was seeing. "Koneki," he finally managed, "What the hell have you done?!?"
-=-=-=-
Stardate: 60323.1240
Setting: USS ANUBIS - Bridge
Having not found the Shillian in the Science Labs, Talia had asked the computer for the woman's location and had swallowed her reluctance and sought her out on the Bridge. "Maya!" the girl squealed, pulling on the woman's uniform shirt.
The Scientist looked distinctly happy to see the child and had ruffled her hand through her hair. "Good morning Talia! Are you here to congratulate your mother or are you here to see me? I'm guessing you're here to see me since you're all the way over here and the Ready Room isn't even on your way to this station, but then again perhaps you didn't know your mother was in the Ready Room?"
The young girl watched the Shillian speak with her head slightly tilted to one side, much the same way as a dog might listen to a high pitched whistle. "Maya do monkey, go hide I seek?" she finally asked, having decided not to bother trying to figure out what the woman had said originally.
The scientist's face fell. "I'm sorry Talia, I have to recalibrate the sensors to pick up the trail of any number of ships that may have been involved in the attack on the MERCURY. It's a complicated process, but you can watch if you like, I'm trying to improve our sensor reception by adjusting the calibration echoes of the deflector dish and rerouting the sensory input of the… Talia???" the scientist questioned, looking around the Bridge she tried but couldn't locate the child. She wondered if maybe the girl hadn't understood that she didn't want to play hide and seek, but shrugging, she turned back to her station and continued her work.
-=-=-=-
Stardate: 60323.1250
Setting: USS ANUBIS - IGC: Enaii's Office
As the child entered the room, she fired her the laser phaser that one of the officers outside gave her at the floating PICA in the corner of the room.
"That looks like a fun toy," her Nan'ha said as she looked up from her work.
The child shrugged, "I guess, but it no make stuff es-plode."
"Well, I can see why your disruptor might be more fun," Enaii replied, "But at least you get to shoot whatever you want with that."
"Yup," Talia sighed, pointing the gun at a plant by the door and pressing the trigger. "Why you have green in here? It dies with you."
Her mother looked at the plant, "It's being taken care of by Ensign Riley so I doubt it will die."
"You should have flower then, pink one make Bina happy," the child teased and giggled.
"Don't push it," the woman hissed. "You haven't finished the written section of Module Four yet."
The child sighed. "Is boring day, I do it tomorrow…" thinking for a moment, she added, "Promise."
"Fair enough," the mother replied, she had never liked to work on a boring day when she was a child either, and her mother had never made her. "But you'd better get it done tomorrow or I will be very disappointed."
Talia nodded. "I play with you?" the girl asked, hoping her mother might have a few moments to spend with her.
Enaii shook her head, "Sorry Talia, I am very busy right now." The woman paused and then called her daughter over closer to her. "But I think I have something better," she said as she pulled a small cage out from under her desk. "I was going to give her to Maya, but I think you might like her better."
The child's eyes turned as wide as the full moons of Jupiter as she looked at the small monkey on her mother's desk. She couldn't manage to speak, and squealed delightedly.
"Her name is Capi, she was a friend of Maya's but a bad man hurt her," the child looked at her mother with utter disbelief, "Don't worry, you're Nan'ha made sure he won't hurt any more of Maya's friends." The child smiled and reached out for the miniature primate who immediately climbed onto the girl's shoulder and began grooming her hair, causing the child to giggle. "You'd better take good care of her or I will send her back to the bad man, do you understand me?"
Talia nodded vigorously. "I stand. I take good good good care! I ask Maya to show me!"
Enaii smiled lovingly at her daughter and kissed her gently on the cheek. "OK then, get lost, I've got work to do and you've already slowed me down enough."
The child stuck her tongue out at her mother, giggled and ran out of the room, the monkey firmly planted on her shoulder.
-=-=-=-
Lisa Mac Isaac {lisa_mac_isaac@hotmail.com}
Writing the hopes, dreams and future of:
Lieutenant Commander Enaii - Intelligence Liaison Officer
USS ANUBIS
And if you see no reason for giving thanks, rest assured that the fault is in yourself. 2005 post #264
~~Chief Tecumseh 1813
