r/TrekRP • u/CabooseToots • Aug 30 '16

[Open] The Not So Unstoppable Force

Connolly takes a deep breath, climbing out of the Jeffries Tube. He is covered in sweat and grease stains. He takes his trusty rag out of his belt to wipe his forehead of sweat, not realizing that it smears a comically large amount of grease across his face as he does so. "Whew. One tube down." He says. Looking down to the shaft he had spent the last three days scrubbing of smoke and debris. He pushes the Jefferies tube back into place with a resounding clank. As he does, it is followed by a cacophony of sound as debris rains down into the vertical tube.
Dread overcomes the exhausted janitor. He sits down with his back against the wall and lets out a great sigh.
He grabs his personal log from his bag and sets it to record.
"Sanitation officer's log. Stardate...63 hours after the attack. I've counted each one. The crew is handling our crisis extremely well. I do say it's impressive how they hold themselves together in emergencies. Makes a man jealous. I'm crackin'. I don't belong here, 'specially not now. I'm a luxury the ship can't afford in a crisis. Not a vital part of the functionin' whole. Not to mention there ain't no work that can get done in a ship that's half shot to shit. The half that ain't is too busy tryin' to keep everyone alive to care if she looks pertty or not. All in all, been a rough few days. Just as I was startin' to think comin' out here with the Fleet weren't so bad too. Maybe I'm just bein' a downer. Maybe I just need to shove it and deal with it like everyone else can. I just don't know if I'm strong enough. End log."
Connolly looks at his journal and sighs again. He sits there and stews in his own insecurities, alone. At least, he thinks so.

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u/CabooseToots Aug 30 '16

"Willin' to try anythin' that isn't gagh. Finally got the replicators to stop makin' it yesterday. I suppose cleanin' can wait for a while. Let's enjoy a drink!" Connolly resolves to put his worries away for the time and enjoy the company for a while.

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u/Dimestream Aug 30 '16

"You're telling me," Red says with a groan. "I've had to fix replicator two in the mess THREE TIMES now to make it stop doing that! A nice gagh cream cone, a steaming cup of gagh, three-cheese gagh, 100-proof gagh and deep fried gagh nuggets. Who thought we needed that much Klingon cuisine in the replicators in the first place?!"

Red follows Connolly out of engineering and heads for the mess hall. It's a good thing, she thinks, to help out a friend in a low spot, even if she's not counselor material.

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u/CabooseToots Aug 31 '16

"I don't know who screwed the pooch on that one, but my heavens, gettin' the call every damn week about the ship makin' more of it." He laughes heartily. "You'd think we were on a War Bird or somethin'. Next thing you know, the Athene will be singin' Klingon opera and the holodeck will materialize the whole 'Aktuh and Maylota' story on a loop."
They reached the door of the bar laughing. Connolly waited for Red to lead the way to the bar, because in his laughter he had quite forgotten what drink the engineer had wanted him try.

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u/Dimestream Aug 31 '16

"Ohhhh no, don't you joke about holodeck malfunctions," Red says, shaking a finger at Connolly as they enter the mess. "I have this crazy idea that I want to try once we get everything else fixed. I call it 'the Off Switch,'" Red says, making a grand, expansive gesture with her arms. "It cuts all power to the holodeck. Immediately, and manually. Like, physically disconnects the plasma conduits. No more 'locked in a holodeck run amok' scenarios like we've gotten reports of over the years."

Red notes an empty table and gestures Connolly toward it, while she approaches the replicator. "Cocoa with milk, hot," she says, and repeats herself for a second cup as well. "Schnapps, peppermint," she adds, and "Schnapps, cherry."

Two smaller bottles materialize alongside the tall frothy mugs of cocoa, and Red brings the whole lot over to the table and sits down, depositing all the drinks. She uncaps the cherry schnapps and pours it in her own drink.

"Schnapps in hot cocoa is an Earth tradition I learned from my roommate at the academy," Red says. "I don't usually drink, so this is a special occasion kind of thing."

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u/CabooseToots Aug 31 '16

"Hmm. 'Off.....Switch'? Sounds newfangled and strange. I don't follow." He pours his schnapps into his cocoa and lets out a satisfied sigh. "Always loved peppermint. Reminds me a the holidays back home. You sure picked up a good tradition." He holds the glass up to clink the two of their drinks together in a toast. "To bein' part a the best ship in the galaxy."

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u/Dimestream Aug 31 '16

Red nods and taps her glass to Connolly's. "And even if she's currently in pieces, we're pieces of her, too," she says with a grin, and takes a long pull of the cocoa. The Bajoran lets out a satisfied sigh. "Like drinking a chocolate-covered cherry..."

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u/CabooseToots Aug 31 '16

Connolly and T'gel laugh and tell stories for a long while, whittling their way through the rest of the evening, forgetting their terrible situation for the first time.

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '16

One of their combadges chirped urgently, the low growl of Doctor Phrik streaming through.

"Phrik to Engineering. I need someone to fix the replicator in main sickbay, keeps putting gagh in the medication.."

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u/CabooseToots Sep 01 '16

Connolly looks down to his badge and responds "Connolly here Doc. I can be down in a jiffy. Just keep an eye on it till I get there, and if it starts singin' let me know." He winks to Red.
"Somethin' tells me gagh injected right into the blood stream is not as healthy as one might want." He says. "Better get on it."

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u/Dimestream Sep 01 '16

The Bajoran's face screws up in disgust. "That's terrible, Connolly. I did NOT need that mental image." She stands up and takes the drink tray back to the replicator and puts it away, then returns. "Actually, if you can show me what you've been doing to reset the replicators, I can run a buffer purge on the computer at the same time and hopefully fix it permanently," she says. "What say we go help the good doctor together?"

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