Subject: Grail: The Great Brightness - KitchenOps

- Continued after the Meeting -

- Joint Post by Corvette Hunt, Vincent Rogers and Frobo -

" So, you want some recreation in the mess hall, Mr. Frobo? " Corvette

asked inquisitively. Let's go talk to your head cook, Mr. Rogers and

see what he has to say about this.

Frobo stood there, looking at Corvette with a curious expression.

He couldn't help but notice a slight change in Corvette's skin tone.

Was this natural? Frobo was about to ask Corvette about it, but

decided it was best to leave stuff like that alone. He might end

up like that time with the drunken Bolian before he came to

Starfleet.

" Sure. He don't like visitors much, but I'm sure he won't mind if

you help him out with whatever he's doing."

"As I understand correctly, he is in sickbay, is that correct?"

"Yeah...I mean yes sir. They have some kind of field that keeps us

from getting sick, or so he says. It took a couple of minutes for

them to clean the PADD he gave me."

"Good. Let's go there then."

They both began walking towards sickbay. Corvette Hunt was walking

ahead, scanning every passing officer, every room, every corridor as

he was getting closer and closer to it's destination. ** What would

this little devil is up to? ** Corvette thought as he reached the

doors of sickbay.

Frobo walked quietly behind Corvette, humming a little Andorian song

he heard one time. Unfortunately, he couldn't remember how it all

went, so he resorted to humming the first few bars over and over

again.

"Here Mr. Frobo. Put this containment gear on. It will prevent you

from catching the disease."

Frobo took the suit and began trying it on. After putting on both

sleeves, he realized that he was putting the leg sleeves around his

arms. Blushing a slight blue, he took off the suit and tried once

again. After sliding the suit on, he made a little comment on how

many fasteners and straps were on the suit.

Finally, it all came down to putting on the helmet. Frobo took the

helmet and placed it firmly on his head. Looking around, it reminded

him of the holodeck program for the Earth moon landing. It wasn't

exactly the program he wanted, but it was fun anyway.

"This is one small step for man, one giant leap for...I can never

remember that one."

"Finally!" Corvette said as he had waited patiently for the little man

to put on his gear for the last 10 or so minutes. "Let's go in!"

As they entered sickbay, the view it depicted was truly pathetic.

People there where moaning in agony, or sleeping as if waiting for the

doctor to either save them or terminate their miserable lives. Even to

Corvette, who was in the eyes of many of the crewmembers a sadistic,

cruel and heartless person, (not that he wasn't), this was a spectacle

that just made him sad, and almost wanna go outthere and get out from

the scene as soon as possible. He extended his arm towards Frobo, both

to confort him as he was merely a child, to protect him, and also to

prevent him from running away.

Frobo looked around at all the sick people. The sight was almost enough

to make him cry. These people looked like they could really use some

cheering up, being connected to so much machinery and all. No wonder

Vincent wanted to make some sort of hologram thingy for entertainment.

"Let's go see your boss right away, kid." Corvette said as he saw the

look of dispair and tear's filled eyes from the little one.

They quickly reached Vincent Rogers, who was currently asleep. As

Frobo reached in to wake him up Corvette walked to the side of the

bed, reached for his pad, and verified Roger's physical condition.

Vincent slowly comes out of his sleep, fluttering his eyes as he

turns around. During his first moments of awakedness, he noticed

two forms standing over his bed. One of them was blue, which meant

that either Frobo was back from the meeting, or he forgot the

directions. The other figure was more human, but that was all he

could tell from first glance. Rubbing his eyes, things became much

clearer.

"Hey boss. You're looking better. Oh, I brought you some company.

This nice man wants to help you with some of the things."

Vincent's eyes jumped from Frobo to Corvette, trying to register the

situation. Why had Frobo brought the OPS officer here? He had heard

how some times they spy on people. Did they know his plans? Was

Lt. Comm. Hunt here to take him away? Vincent let some of his emotions

be known through the surprised look he gave Corvette.

"Let's get on to business then. But not here. Let's get out of sickbay

and go somewhere else."

=/\= "Hunt to Transporter room 4. Site to site transport to Mr.

Vincent Rogers quarters. 3 to beam there. Energize!" =/\

---------------------------------------------

As they materialized there, Frobo helped his chief get to a nearby

chair and helped him sit down. Afterwards, Frobo looked around

his chief's room, since it was his first time here. He couldn't

imagine how someone could live with absolutely no decoration in

their room.

Vincent let Frobo aid him over to the chair. Not completely sure

of Hunt's motives, he thought this would be a good time to avoid

the situation with a sick ploy.

"I don't think this is a good idea bringing me away from Sickbay.

I'm not feeling that well." Vincent said, punctuating his sentence

with a hacking cough.

"Look here, Mr. Rogers. Your viral count is not as high as many other

crewmembers. Besides, I don't want to hear any more complaints from

you, nor any of your staff members. You have asked me for some

recreational facilities to be installed on your food court. That is

something I am not willing to do because of this." Corvette furnished

up a pad, and Rogers bio was on it. Starfleet's sentence towards

Rogers was highlighted.

Vincent gave Corvette a curious look, not even bothering to look at

the display on the PADD. Recreational facility in the mess hall?

Hmmm, it looked like Frobo came up with a better cover for the holo-

graphic equipment than he had. Not looking a gift horse in the mouth,

Vincent nodded his head.

"But it's not for me. It's for the rest of the crewmembers to enjoy.

It seemed to me a good way to liven up this...this crypt with warp

nacelles attached."

"That may be true, however, I'm willing to make an exception, but it

will come with a price. Mr. Frobo, will you be so kind to wait

outside? Thank you."

Frobo's eyes quickly glanced to Vincent, as if seeking his permission

to go out and play. Vincent nodded to Frobo and told him to go on.

Receiving the proper signal, Frobo turned on his heels and walked out

the room. As the doors closed behind him, an uncontrollable shiver

took hold of him as he shook off the eerie feeling in that room.

"I have three conditions. If you are willing to fulfill them all, then

so be it. I will extend your computer privileges a little more. You

won't have access to a holodeck, but I'll give you full access to

the communication's grid. Not the restricted version, of you only

communicating with a restricted and registered number of persons.

I'll even throw in a level 16 library computer security clearance.

That's the same restrictions a 17 year old terran has. You'll be able

to read, and educate yourself, in a wide variety of subjects, perhaps

even more that your lifespan permits. That is my offer."

Vincent listened carefully to Corvette's words. His eyes lighted up

as Corvette spoke, especially at the terms "extend your computer

privileges" and "level 16 library computer security clearance."

This would definitely take off 6 months of hacking time. That is,

when he could come across a minicomputer.

"What do I have to do?"

"Very well, this are my conditions. First, I don't want to see you

again in sickbay, nor any of your staff, unless it's because you have

died or have been seriously injured. Not because of a plague brought

onboard. Second. I want yours and your staff full cooperation with

both me and my officers in any endeavor that we ask of you. No

matter how illogical, irreverent or stupid the task is, I want it

performed without any objections. I won't put you in ridicule or

anything. Just call it, well, that we are preparing for the future.

Third. Last, but not least, I want every Sunday, at 23:00 hours that

you and your staff prepare a banquet for me and my inner staff. I

want it to have fresh food when possible. If that's not so, then I

want you to replicate the food, but prepare the meal manually, like

before replicator technology was developed. It must contain a little

bit from all cultures present, and if someone has a special request,

you'll grant him and prepare the mealing accordingly. This is my

conditions."

Vincent nodded his head listening to Corvette's conditions. The first

condition might be a little sticky, especially since the reason he was

in sickbay wasn't for the illness. The second condition he dismissed

as 'spookwork', like planting listening devices under tables and such.

The last one might actually be fun. That is, if he could stay awake

long enough to do it. Thinking about that made him crave another dose

of verbocain, but with spooks and medical staff watching him, that

wouldn't be a wise move.

"And of course, I don't want anyone else to know about this, not even

the captain. Is that understood? Or else, I'll remove this privileges,

and make your life a hell more complicated. However, I don't think it

necessary for me to threaten you, for I see it in your eyes that you

are not going to pass up this offer. What do you say?"

"I'll do it." Vincent said, and continued before Corvette could say

anything else, "I just hope the computer lets you do it."

Noticing the curious look from Corvette, Vincent explained, "It's not

everyday Starfleet gives someone sub-human status. I'm guessing that

they probably went to the trouble to make sure I don't rise above

that."

"Don't worry about it. My clearance and authorities can make up for it,

besides, I'm a far better computer specialist, and for that matter, a better

hacker than you, so I'll give you a lot more obstacles than Starfleet can

put you in order for you to make a security breach even remotely possible.

But I'll let you keep trying to find a loophole, as you have been planning

to do."

With that, and a devil's smile in his face, Corvette turned around and left

the room, not before watching little Frobo getting back into the room to

talk to his boss.

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