From: Masakog@aol.com
Date: Sun, 11 May 1997 20:47:29 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: USS CHESAPEAKE: Peace Offering
SD 90511.1808
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CSciO's Office
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MD 6.1700
It was, of course, part of her renewed efforts to suppress her
emotions; sitting in her office at 1700 hours was hardly "fun," especially
when she couldn't concentrate in the first place.
Anne managed to command the computer to play some music;
unfortunately, however, it was very *bad* music, being some kind of
"Tone Poem" by some 20th Century Terran composer who believed that No
Sound Is Dissonant.
Though she might well be shunned by contemporary musicologists
as a die-hard conservative (or even a die-hard obsoletist), Anne didn't
particularly believe that every interval was created equal. She firmly
believed in the proposition that all intervals were created unequal and
that every music lover had the unalienable right to listen to tonal,
consonant, and *beautiful* music without being classified as a "bore."
"Computer, stop playing that junk," Anne snapped. She had some
reading to do... once she could find the appropriate files. She might
have to contact the CSO, as well, about the little incident down in
Physical Sciences. She looked up irritably when the computer produced
a particularly clashing bit of "music" from its innards.
"I thought I said to *stop playing that junk*!" she said to the
computer. "What's the matter with you, do you *like* Anton Webern?"
There was a chime at the door; Anne turned around to see Clarissa
Darling standing at the doorway.
"Oh... hello," she said hesitantly, recalling under what
circumstances they had met previously. "What can I do for you?"
"I brought you something from Ensign O'Graeach," said Darling,
only slightly affected by the Webern. "As a token of his goodwill and
in apology for causing the mess with the lab rabbit."
"Computer, end program," said Anne, seemingly out of the blue.
The dissonant wails died away, and the room was filled with
Silence... or as much Silence as one was likely to get on a ship run
by humming consoles and whispering air circulators.
"He really is quite contrite, and he promises that such things
won't happen in future," said Darling, stepping forward and putting
a smooth silver egg on the CSciO's desk. "He just seems to have
a knack for getting himself into trouble and dragging others with him.
Anyway... he wanted you to have this as a token of his good intentions."
"Thank you," said Anne dubiously, studying the object critically.
"What is it?"
"Apparently," said Darling, "it's a sort of... paperweight."
"Paperweight?" said Anne. "Interesting."
Darling decided that it might be best to leave the unusual
properties of the object out of the discussion at the moment; she didn't
think Anne would appreciate being given something that helped people
to cope with dying.
"I should get back to work," said the Ensign. "With an officer
like Oz O'Graeach as my superior, I think I should keep a close eye on
things in our department."
"Mr. *O'Graeach* is in your department?" asked Anne with some
surprise. She had heard that name before, and hadn't he been present
at the mission briefing? As the FCO? Besides, Decker had said that
the rabbit-snatcher was in the flight control/navigation department.
"I thought you were in Security?" Anne added. Her look said what she
didn't verbalize: You were there to take my deposition this morning.
"He asked Ensign Keyrin for my transfer," explained Darling. "I
guess he was pleased with my piloting skills."
"That's... nice," murmured Anne non-committally. She could see
the attraction, of course; Ensign Keyrin could be quite kind at times,
but she was also a harsh taskmaster. A lot of the Security officers were
becoming burned out, or so went the talk around the ship. Not that Anne
listened to idle gossip, of course, but she *had* seen that side of
Ensign Keyrin from time to time. Ensign O'Graeach, judging from his
behavior on board to date, would be more likely to take it easy. He
didn't seem the type to run several drills on his department every day.
After Darling had made her exit, Anne picked up the silver egg
to position it better on the desk. Suddenly, she was filled with a
strange feeling, and she put down the paperweight very quickly so that
she wouldn't drop it. Then, gingerly, she held it in her hands again.
She held the object for a long moment, then put it down again.
Anne stared long and hard at the gift from the FCO. She
looked around her office and couldn't help but feel that there was
something missing in her life.
Maybe she should call up Myron and see how he was doing.
Respectfully submitted,
Masako Goto
Lt. Anne Murray, Ph.D.
CSciO
USS CHESAPEAKE, NCC-31813
masakog@aol.com
<<NRPG>>
Fabian: I hope you don't mind that I used Darling in this post. :)
All: Well.. how does someone feel secure and safe when she's not had
much experience with it for a long, long time? I'm not entirely
sure... which is why she's thinking strange thoughts right now.
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