It must be Monday

Posted on Mon 1st Oct, 2012 @ 1:09am by Commander Paul Graves PsyD & Lieutenant JG Xavier Lee

1,816 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: http://sb109.sim-station.net/index.php/sim/missions/id/2
Location: Paul Graves' Quarters
Timeline: 0700 hours, day 2, before the Bretagne's appearance

"Tea, Earl Grey, in a teapot," Paul told the replicator as he sat to pull his shoes on. He rubbed sleep-grit from his eyes and slid his feet into the black shoes. He hated space-lag, the period of adjustment one inevitably had to make between time on the ship one had traveled on and the local time at one's destination. For him there was about a 12-hour difference, and his body felt every hour of it. He had only gotten about four hours of sleep, and already, it was time for breakfast on the station.

Paul glanced at the replicator not having heard the usual hum that meant it was processing food or drink. He sighed and walked over to it to take a look. Nothing was in the recess. Maybe the replicators here didn't have Earl Grey programmed in, though he'd always thought it was a standard.

"Tea, generic, hot," he said. This time, an awful whir and rumble came from the replicator and a faint acrid scent of smoke. Paul groaned and addressed his cabin communicator. "Graves to Ops scheduler. The replicator in my cabin is out of order. Can someone come by today to repair it?"

Xavier had not long left Sickbay. He felt much brighter and more alert than when he had first arrived there. As he ran his hand through his short dark hair, he knew he wouldn't be drinking again for a while. Not only had he got very drunk but he had made a complete idiot of himself in front of an old friend. Some things couldn't be taken back, and being sick on someone was one of those things.

"Ops to Lee," a voice suddenly erupted over the comm system.

"Lee here."

"Sir, you have a priority assignment in Lt Graves' quarters."

Xavier rolled his eyes. "I already have a full schedule, can't someone else handle it?" Xavier wasn't lying, in fact his schedule looked full for the next six years. The station was in such a state he wondered if he would ever finish its general repairs, never mind the refits and upgrades.

"Negative Sir. Lt Graves is a senior officer. Station protocol states repairs must be handled by the Chief or the Assistant Chief, and she has passed it on to you. It shouldn't take too long."

Xavier sighed. Not only did he have to fit in a repair he didn't have time for today but he would also have to suck up to one of the station's senior staff. This really was going to be a long day.

"Okay, download the details to my PADD, Lee out."

15 minutes later, Xavier was standing outside Lt Graves' quarters and pressing the door chime. He really hoped this assignment wouldn't take too long.

Paul blinked when he heard his door chime ring. That couldn't possibly be Ops already. Maybe Brian? "Come in," Paul said.

To his great surprise, the door slid aside to reveal an officer from Ops--a rather handsome--and irritated--officer, though he concealed the irritation well. "Hello," Paul said. "You're here to fix the replicator? That's amazingly fast."

"Well we couldn't have one of the station's senior officer's going to work hungry, now could we?" Xavier said, trying his best to use humour to hide his frustration and tiredness. "So what seems to be the problem Sir?"

"Oh, I was planning to eat in the lounge for the next few days," Paul said. "Once I thought about it, I felt certain my request would be laughed at and put at the bottom of the task list. I realized once I signed off how stupid it was to request same-day service for a replicator problem here. There are so many more urgent things to deal with."

"You're telling me," Xavier said smiling, thinking of his increased work load. He moved over to the replicator and pulled his tricorder out of his hip holster. "Hopefully it won't take too long, and I'll be able to save you some credits by not having to eat out."

As Xavier waved the tricorder over the replicator to get the necessary readings he took in Lt Graves' appearance. He was slightly shorter than Xavier, an inch or two, but they seemed fairly similar in weight and build. His dark grey eyes resembled Xavier's black ones and there was an air of authority about him that Xavier too liked to portray whilst dealing with professional matters.

"I'm Ensign Lee, by the way, the Assistant Chief of Ops."

"Glad to meet you. I'm Lieutenant junior-grade Paul Graves, the Chief Counselor. Honestly, Ensign Lee, don't even bother with this right now unless it's extremely easy to repair. I've seen the shape the previous owners left this station in. You really have a lot more necessary things to do than fiddle with a private replicator, though I thank you very much for coming by."

Xavier smiled, a little more sincerely this time. "It's okay Paul- erm I mean Lieutenant." Whoa, where did that come from? "In all honesty, you're doing me a favour. I over-indulged last night, and a nice, easy start to the day will do me the world of good." As he said this he studied the tricorder readings to hide the fact that his cheeks were now glowing red, though he was sure the glow from the screen was probably emphasising his embarrassment more than it was hiding it.

"It looks like it's going to be a simple job, anyway, no more than half an hour."

"All right, then," Paul said. "And you can call me by my first name. It's just the two of us here; no need to be formal."

Xavier looked up from his screen into the man's eyes. There was so much depth there, it was like peering into his soul. Xavier was tempted to invade the soul, to find out all he could about the man in front of him, but there was strict rules about mind-reading in the Federation, not to mention his own personal code of ethics that he strongly believed in.

It was then that Xavier realised that he was reading nothing from Paul. Yes, he wouldn't invade his mind intentionally but his empathic senses normally picked up surface thoughts and feelings, from Paul he felt nothing, not a single thing. It was almost like he was being blocked, shut out some how and then the gold-pressed latinum dropped...

"Are you Betazoid?" he asked out of the blue.

"How did you guess?" Paul said, surprised. "My name is completely Terran because Mother liked the same names Dad did." Then he paused, sending a very light feeler out to Lee. "Are you?"

Xavier could feel as their two minds connected. ~Yes I am~ he replied telepathically. "Your mind felt closed to me," Xavier said with a grin. "Not many Humans have the discipline to shut their mind off to a Betazoid. Were you born on Betazed?"

"Yes, I was born there. Dad's job is on Betazed, so I've lived there all of my life," Paul said. "I've visited Earth a few times--aside from going to the Academy, but Betazed is home. I'm from Askellon. Where are you from?"

"G'tari Lands," Xavier answered. "I spent most of my life on Betazed, except for holidays. I always liked Earth, but it was never home, if you know what I mean? So is your father human?"

Paul nodded. "Yes, I know what you mean." He smiled. "Earth is nice, but it's not home. And yes, my Dad's from a place called Gloucestershire, which is located on one of Earth's northern islands. His family owns a huge house built back in the days when Terrans were mostly farmers. I've stayed there a couple of times with my grandparents. So what brought you to Earth for holidays?"

Xavier smiled. "You won't believe me, but my father is half-Human and his family live on Earth. They're from Birmingham which isn't too far from Gloucestershire if I'm not mistaken?" He couldn't believe the similarities between himself and Paul, it was really uncanny. He wondered if they might be related perhaps, somewhere down the line. He made a mental note to look into it when he had some free time. "Me and my brothers spent a lot of time with our cousins and other relatives on Earth. It's amazing how much we have in common," he added.

"Your family are from Birmingham...in Warwickshire?" Paul asked. "That's amazing. Those counties are right next to each other, though it's a very small border. My family live in Mickleton, which is in the northern part of Gloucestershire." Paul leaned his head to one side. "I've an idea. Do you fancy the pubs over there?"

"That's right," Xavier said with a huge smile. All thoughts of tiredness, hungover-ness, and sickness now completely erased from his mind. "Why, what did you have in mind?" Xavier asked.

"What about a pub hologram? I used to do a little holo-programming in school. Might be fun. We'd probably only be able to get the holodeck once or twice a month for it, but it could be a good project. Are you interested?"

Xavier smiled sincerely, "it sounds like a plan." He remembered some of the pubs he used to go to with his family back on Earth. They were very different from the ones on Betazed which were often bright and full of greenery. On Earth, especially England, the pubs were darker and smaller but also had a much more historic feel to them. Many of them had been preserved (or made to look as if they had been perserved) from the mid 21st century. There was a homely quality in those places, a quality that would fill the dark void that seemed to surround this station, based in the middle of nowhere.

"I'm sure I can swing it so we get more holodeck time than that, after all, it is within my field on this station," Xavier added with a wink.

"I don't think I'm inclined to argue with that," Paul said with a chuckle. He sighed. "I guess I shouldn't keep you from your schedule, chatting with you. Want to meet sometime this week, and we can talk it over more and start the planning?"

"Yeah, that sounds great, I'll have my people contact your people," Xavier said as he flipped his tricorder shut. "This is going to need a new part," Xavier said as he pointed at the replicator. "I'll get someone down later today to fix it, it should be done before you finish your shift, if that's okay?"

"That's more than fine. Thanks, Xavier. I owe you," Paul said.

"Great, I'll look forward to hearing from you." Xavier gave a slight nod in Paul's direction and left the room.

OFF

Lt.(jg) Paul Graves
Chief Counselor
Starbase Protector

&

Ensign Xavier Lee
Assistant Chief of Operations
Starbase Protector

 

RSS Feed