A Little Tour

Posted on Sun Jan 7th, 2018 @ 4:05am by

1,040 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: S1:2: Rubicon
Location: Engineering Office
Timeline: Current

Loren was familiar with his quarters, sickbay, the lounge, even the bridge, but knew next to nothing about the rest of the ship. He'd been on board for almost a week and hadn't really done much exploring. So, once his shift was over he changed into his secondary uniform a fresh pair of teal scrubs. He slapped his com badge on his chest, so others would know where he belonged and he could be contacted if there was an emergency.

Engineering was his first stop and the double doors slid shut behind him as he stepped into the department.

"Can I help you?" a young woman asked, stepping in front of the man to block his entry.

The corners of the Kriosian's lips curled up into a small smile as he stopped walking. "Hi, I'm Loren, then ship's new Head Nurse. I'm just here to look around, not steal state secrets."

From a corner, a man with blue skin looked up from the PADD he was reading, eavesdropping on the conversation.

"I'm sorry, sir, but unless you have business in Engineering, I'm going to have to ask you to leave," the woman replied.

"I understand this is a restricted area," Loren replied, "and I'm not trying to cause problems. So, I guess I can just g... wait, couldn't you just give me a tour? Wouldn't it make sense that I'm familiar with this area in case there is ever an emergency?

"And you think that, in an emergency, you're qualified to serve in Engineering with your...nursing background?" the woman asked.

Arivek stepped forward clearing his throat, "Ensign Selias, I believe you have reports to review? I'll handle this," he said to her.

The woman nodded and walked away.

"Is there a reason you want to see Engineering?" Arivek asked, looking up at the man.

"Curiosity mixed with boredom mostly," the nurse admitted with a sheepish smile. "But to answer the Ensign's question, I didn't mean to suggest that I could lend a hand in ejecting the warp coil. Hell, I'd probably wind up blowing the ship up. What I meant was that if there were a medical emergency here it would be a good idea to know my way around."

"I suppose that couldn't hurt," Arivek said, motioning for the man to step forward. "To the right is my office, I would request you not ever venture into there."

"Agreed," Loren replied, "that's better for everyone I'm sure. I'm Loren by the way. Loren Finahad."

"Arivek Zhuri, Chief Engineer," Ari replied.

"As I was telling your colleague, your rather zealous colleague, I'm the new Head Nurse, why don't you show me around. I'll even buy you a drink afterward unless that would be considered bribery."

Arivek stared at the man, "I don't drink," he said, candidly.

The nurse shrugged his shoulders, "It doesn't have to be alcoholic. It could just be a tea, coffee, even a soda if you want. I'm kind of partial to ginger ale myself."

"I uh..." Arivek looked away, searching for an excuse to give. "I don't..." He stopped, looking back at the man, "Alright."

"Good," the nurse replied smiling widely, not noticing the other man's discomfort, or at least if he did he didn't mention it. "Now how about that tour?"

Arivek cleared his throat. "Right." He began walking forward, farther into the room. "This right here is called the pool table," he said, his fingers running along the large table that held a top view of the ship and her major systems. "This is where I do most of my work if I'm not in my office or on the Bridge. It gives me a full display of everything going on aboard the ship."

Loren paused taking a long look at the console that had been pointed out. He was careful not to touch anything and wasn't quite sure what he was looking at. "Interesting, though to be honest, I'm pretty clueless when it comes to this kind of thing. I took an engineering course once. I barely passed."

"Do you desire further explanation or should we consider the tour a waste of time?" Arivek asked. "I'm not a fan of explaining myself to people when the information will go to waste."

"Sorry, your explanation would probably go over my head. Maybe we should just adjourn to the lounge, I wouldn't want to inconvenience you. Are you hungry?"

"I am not," was Arivek's simple answer.

"Well more for me," Loren said, "I'm starving. I haven't eaten since lunchtime. I'd prefer my own cooking, but for now, I'll just grab a snack. Anything you'd recommend?

Arivek looked at the man. "I hear the replicator is handy in those situations," he said, having absolutely zero interest in the conversation.

This time the nurse did pick up on the the undertone of the engineer's words though he had no idea why. As they walked towards the exit he said, "So what do you do for fun?"

"I don't." Arivek stopped in his tracks. "Look, if the tour is over, I must return to work. While I still don't understand why you would want to tour a facility you know nothing about. But congratulations, you have managed to waste a half hour of my time with your small talk. I pray we won't have to engage in that again."

Loren took a half step back giving the other man a quizzical look. Trying to keep his tone even he said, "We talked about why I wanted to tour the area. I am sorry if you feel I have wasted your time, I was just trying to be friendly. Life is more than the position we hold, or how efficiently we do our job. And, that's not my being naive. It's just good psycholgical and emotional good health."

"But I'm not pushy, if you don't want to talk with me again, I have no problem with that."

"I'm glad we have reached an understanding," Arivek said with a smile. He held out his hand, causing the doors of Engineering to open. "I do hope you find the replicator to your liking."

The nurse turned and walked out the doors shaking his head as he did so.

 

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