Knight to Queen's Level 1

Posted on Thu Oct 23, 2014 @ 4:20pm by Lieutenant Penelope Naroot

954 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: All this has happened before...
Location: Transporter Room

Penny slipped through the doors of the transporter room, whistling to herself. She walked up to a panel on the wall in the engineering alcove next to the transporter padd and pulled the panel off, then whipped out her silver wand and scanned exposed Heisenberg compensators. She was humming to herself, her hips swaying to the rhythm and when she'd poked and prodded it for a minute or so, she stood up and turned around, giving a surprised, "oh!"

"Sorry," she said, walking over to the transporter controls. "I didn't realize you were there. I probably should have seeing as the transporter rooms are usually manned, I just didn't think they'd be manned right this moment while we were doing system checks. Don't think I could do the job though. I mean physically I could, I can stand for a long time if I have to. Good for the leg muscles, right? Yours are doing well," she observed, glancing up and down at him, "but I don't know if I could stand here and watch the padd for something to come in all the time like that. Course that's usually cause I need to be doing something with my time. This is generally the point where someone says 'beep, beep, Penny, and I'm sorry who are you?"

Tom, still mulling over his meeting with the Counselor, had decided to spend the remainder of his shift in the Transporter Room. It had been a while since diagnostics had been performed, and it made the perfect, though dull, task to let his mind continue to analyze his future. In fact, he'd been lost in thought when the Lieutenant entered the room, and it had been her sudden outburst that brought his attention back to reality.

He wasn't sure what to do with what followed, other than allow his typical smile to return to his face. After days of dealing with frayed emotions and frustrated crewman, this was a welcome change. "Thomas Barnes, ma'am" he replied courteously. "Most call me Tom."

Penny laughed merrily. "Ma'am?" she said. "Brah, if you wanna get along with me you can call me Penny, or Pen if i you want, but I'm just a Lieutenant. Not ma'am material yet." She giggled and bounced on her toes a bit as if she'd just said a great punchline, then came around the console and nudged him aside. "Okay, scoot over Mister Tom Sir," she said, kneeling down and peeking at the access port under the console, scanning it with her silver instrument. "Gotta do a quick once-over."

"Once over?" Tom asked, trying to figure out what exactly she was doing. "The transporter's working perfectly. I think I'd know if something was out of order." He knelt down beside her to take a look inside the console. Tom continued to be baffled by her actions, and the strange tool she was using. "What exactly are you doing, ma'a... Penny?"

"Scanning," she said, casually. "Station engineering crews are doing the heavy lifting, so what better time for the Captain to have the lower-ranks learn the nooks and crannies of the ship by doing some extra diagnostics." She stood up and looked at the lights blinking on her silver tool. "So, until we get moving and I'm needed at the helm, I'm just flitting around like a fairy queen with my magic wand." She gave her tool a skilled flip, caught it and slipped it into the utility pocket of her uniform top and smiled at him again. "Personally, not my idea of fun, but it keeps me busy. Soon as I'm off shift though, I'm going surfing."

Tom slowly rose to his feet, not as means of caution, but more to process what in the galaxy was happening in his transporter room. He was the highest ranked enlisted person aboard, but even he was outranked by the lowliest ensign. As much as he wanted to protest the additional diagnostics, he couldn't quite bring himself to do so.

Then his mind flashed back to his recent visit with the Counselor. Have fun! her eager and encouraging voice resonated in his head. Slowly a smile slipped onto his face. "Surfing?" he asked, choosing to at least relish the moment for now.

"Yup!" Penny chirped. "The best way to enjoy the waves off the island. A test of balance and agility and it's awesome, brah. Have you tried it?"

"Can't say I have," Tom replied. "Tried a lot of things. Parasailing. Mountain climbing. Transjumping. Never surfing."

"Oh it's easy," Penny said. "Just have to know how to paddle in the water, then time it so you can stand up on your board right as the wave catches you, then just use your hips and legs. Think of it like a hula on moving ground." She swiveled her hips to demonstrate. "I'm off shift at 1630, you wanna come along?"

Tom was honestly intrigued by the thought of surfing. It was something he'd always wanted to try but never had the chance, at least not since his one trip to Risa. "Sounds like fun. Which holodeck?"

"Two," Penny said. "Wear something that lets you move freely."

Tom's smile suddenly felt more genuine. "1630 it is."

"Cool," she said, tossing her wand, flipping it in front of her and catching it. She gave him a smile and swished out of the transporter room, waving at him behind her as she left.

Tom stood there, staring at the door, still trying to figure out what exactly happened in the last few minutes. Choosing to ultimately embrace the moment, he chuckled softly. "Have fun indeed! Don't mind if I do."

JP

Penelope Naroot
Chief Flight Control Officer

Thomas Barnes
Chief Transporter Specialist

 

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