Pre-Show

Posted on Sat Sep 6, 2014 @ 10:07am by Lieutenant Cassandra Kennings

575 words; about a 3 minute read

Mission: All this has happened before...
Location: Bridge, USS Castelnaudary

Captain's Log, Supplemental:

We're nearing Starbase Three-Nine-Zero and so far our approach has been ignored by passing ships, so special thanks to Tommy Gun for upgrading the camouflage on the hull. We're scheduled to deliver two of the crew to the USS Victory and we wish them Godspeed. Their mission is to evaluate--

"Pause recording." Captain Edwards turned in the helm chair at the sound of the bridge doors opening. It was very early in the morning, local ship's time, so she typically had the bridge to herself. Even a Defiant-class ship was considered understaffed with less than twenty crew members, so everyone pulled double or triple duty; her nighttime activity was to man the bridge.

"Hey Doc," she said, smiling. "Couldn't sleep?"

"That closet you adorably refer to as 'VIP Quarters' was getting a bit claustrophobic," Cassandra said, smiling and crossing the bridge to sit at the Engineering station. She sat back in the chair and crossed her legs, folding her hands in her lap. "So, I thought I'd venture up to see what was going on. Where's Penny?"

Tiffany blinked and scanned the ship's systems. "Looks like she's in the holosuite."

"You have a holosuite on here?" Cassandra said, looking surprised.

"Small crew, we had extra room," Tiffany said, shrugging. "Recreates environments. Gives the crew a chance to get away from things for a bit."

Cassandra nodded. "Very good. Suppose the ship's a bit small for a garden."

Tiffany grinned. "Still time to re-enlist and make one," she said.

"I'm still getting grief from Richard for the last extraction," she said. "How do you think he feels about me being across the galaxy?" She shook her head and ran her fingers through her multi-colored locks. "Why is it, every time I'm trying to get engaged you whisk me away?"

"Wait, engaged?" Tiffany said. "When did this happen?"

"Shortly before you came back for me," Cassandra said, holding up her left hand and wiggling her fingers, making her ring flash in the light. She got a grin and shrugged girlishly. "Apparently," she said wryly, "he loves me more than he dislikes you all."

Tiffany stuck her tongue out then smiled. "Guess we'll have to be a bit nicer to him," she conceded. "Ready for your mission here?"

"I think so," Cassandra said. "When was the last time we heard anything?"

"It's been a few days," Tiffany said, concern in her voice. "Find out what happened, report back. If you feel you don't need to stay, contact us."

Cassandra nodded. "You'll be in the area?"

"I think, based on the reports we've intercepted, it might be a good idea to hang around the Delta Quadrant for a while," Tiffany said, a twinkle in her eye. "I'm sure we could learn all kinds of interesting bits of information."

"Just stay out of sight. The last thing I need is more headaches," Cassandra said. Her voice was firm, but good-natured. Her friends weren't the most welcome people in the galaxy, but she loved them nonetheless.

"Don't worry," she said. "We're approaching the station now and no one's noticed our approach. We're just an ordinary patch of starlit space moving along."

Cassandra nodded and stood up. "I'll go get Penny," she said.

Tiffany stood up as well and walked over to Cass quickly, giving her a big hug. "Be safe."

"You too," Cassandra said, hugging her back and leaving the bridge.

 

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