Subject: Grail:"Unexplored Spaces"-'Keeping it together'
'Keeping it together'
by
LtComm Janice Hargen
-------
<<Stardate: 47307.29- 15:40>>
<<Main Engineering>>
It had been ten days since Janice had seen much of anyone. Ten days in
almost solitary confinement. She had been happy before when Epic had told
her that she would be unaffected by the General Quarters order. But she was
just as affected as the people locked up in their quarters. Since the rest
of the crew was confined, she saw little to no one in an entire day. The
only thing that was keeping her together was the fact that she could work on
the engines. The soothing presence of the warp core near her, and the fact
that she could drown her lonely thoughts in work kept her going day after
day.
Janice was no telepath, but she could almost physically feel the tension on
the ship. She was feeling a bit tense herself. Having almost her entire
engineering crew in confinement due to the General Quarters order made it
rather hard to get any work done at all. And Epic still wanted that probe
done by the time they reached the Great Brightness. Janice sighed, running
a hand through her hair. She had been up for the past three days - there
was no reason to sleep, as no one was around to watch her sleeping habits.
There was no reason not to move as fast as she wanted, for no one was
watching her, to see if she was human or not. But she rather missed it.
*Ten long days,* Janice sighed to herself. For a long time after she found
out that she was an android, she wanted to lock herself in a room, and never
come out, too ashamed of what she was, and to disgusted by herself to make
anyone else deal with her presense. But now she was glad she didn't try.
Janice had felt lonely most of her life - she was too afraid to let anyone
come close to her for fear that they would discover the truth. But this
loneliness was much worse. Much worse than anything almost she had
experienced. For before, she could at least interact with people, if only
from a distance. The most she could interact now was on communications, or
if one or two people wandered down for a shift. Most of the shifts were
nearly deserted.
Suddenly, the public address system came to life, startling Janice and
making her jump.
[To all residents of the Grail:
We are only a day away from the star cluster known as `the Great
Brightness'. Beyond that, another day to traverse that spectacular
expanse. But, effective 18:00 today, the General Quarters order will be
cancelled so that we might prepare for our arrival at the Kerestia
system and our much needed cure of this heinous Romulan virus.
I know it doesn't mean much in the face of the incarceration I
have forced upon you, but I am genuiny sorry it had to be this way. In
order to make it up to you, for your outstanding cooperation and
patience, once the virus has been contained, I will insure that we
remain in the Kerestian system long enough for any who desire it to
visit the planet that Ambassador Kyp Firespray has dubbed `the Shopping
Mall of the Beta Quadrant'.
Thank you again. Captain Terrakian out.]
Janice nearly dropped the piece of the probe she was working on. *Lifted?
Just like that?* She could barely believe her ears. She could feel a smile
begin to form at the corners of her mouth, and she let it come. She must
have looked odd, setting down to work on a half-finished probe with a grin
on her face. The exhaustion of loneliness was strong, but not strong enough
to keep her from smiling, at last.
Her hands flew, knowing that in little more than 2 hours, the ship that felt
like a tomb before would come back to life. Her concentration soared, and
she got more work done on the probe in the next 5 minutes than she did in 2
hours before.
Her commbadge chirped, breaking the fluid motion of her hands. She reached
up to tap it, holding the probe together lightly with the other hand.
=/\= Terrakian to Hargen. Commander. I want your report on that probe I
requisitioned by 16:00. I hope I'm not demanding too much.=/\
Janice stared at the probe for a moment. The guts of it lay across the
table - she was going to make sure this worked correctly. It had to - the
lives of everyone onboard depended on it.
"We'll see, won't we?" Janice replied, startled by the strain in her own
voice. She didn't realize how long it had been since she had spoken. Most
of the day, she figured. She could hear the commlink click almost inaudibly
as it ended the communication. Something only she noticed, with her android
ears. Janice quickly tapped on the console before her. She had
approximately 7 hours before they arrived at the Great Brightness. She had
a good 5 and a half to finish the probe and perhaps another hour to test
it. And a report to make on it in 20 minutes. She sighed and turned back
to the probe.
She quickly finished piecing back together the parts her hand was gently
holding together throughout the converstation and examined her work for any
flaws. *Not seeing any visual ones was the first step,* she thought to
herself. Pulling out the tricorder she had in her pocket, she examined it
for any internal flaws she couldn't see. Nothing again.
She straighted, her back groaning in protest. *I'm going to need a good
workout after this, or I'll be sore for days!* She checked the time - she
had five minutes to give this report.
She began typing furiously on a blank padd nearby, then tossed it on a
chair. *If I have to make a report, I do it in person.* she thought,
shrugging. She smiled, knowing that her pride wasn't the only reason she
wanted to make this report in person. She wanted to interact with another
person, if only for a few minutes. It would relieve the tension she had
been feeling for the past ten days. Janice walked out of engineering and
onto the turbolift, relieved that she would finally be able to see someone
other than that probe.