Chapter 7 – The Occupant
Jonathan strode to the Brig. It was even before breakfast. He had to get this out of the way, as soon as possible. Private Hamboyan was guarding the Brig. "Good morning, Eddie," he said.
"Good morning, sir."
"Has she said anything?"
"No, sir."
"Okay, let me in," Jonathan said.
"Yes, sir. I'll be right outside."
"Thank you, Private."
Jonathan walked into the Brig's vestibule. Sandra was in custody, behind a locked door. He pressed a button in order to be able to speak with her. "Well?" was all he asked.
"Well what?" she answered testily.
"Got any idea why you're in here?"
"I had a fight with Nyqvist."
"Right," he said, "anything else you wanna tell me?"
"No. I have a headache."
"Hunger, eh?" he asked.
"You planning on starving me?"
"No, just making conversation. Really, Sloane, do you have to make everything so goddamned difficult?"
"Captain, I shouldn't be in the Brig. You should be pinning a damned medal on me."
"Say what?"
"You heard me."
"And I have no idea what you mean," he said. "Care to enlighten me?"
"Look, I'll admit that last night was out of hand. But for the most part, things have been cool, right?"
"Not really, but for the moment I'll accept your premise."
She folded her arms. "I don't have to say anything else, yanno. But you need me."
"Need?"
"Yep. Look, you ever wonder why those MACOs don't riot all the time?"
"They don't because they're good people."
"In part, that's the reason. I'll allow that," she said haughtily. "But it's something else, too."
"Like what?"
"I provide a valuable service, Captain. Like I said, you need me."
He thought for a moment. "What?"
"Yep. See, I engage them for a few hours and they leave with a smile on their face and then you're set for, I dunno, at least a good few days, maybe a week. I rotate among them – also some regular Joe crewmen, too – and they're nice, docile puppies."
He realized his jaw was hanging open. "Christ," he finally asked, "how long has this been going on?"
"Almost since we were kicked back in time," she said, a little smugly. "Frankly, you could use my services, too. So come on in here."
"I don't think so."
"Why not? You've gotta have more stress here than anyone else. I know how to make that all go away, yanno. And I don't ask for a lot in return."
"You're being paid for it?"
"You honestly think I'd do this for free? Sheesh," she tossed her hair, "but it's not exactly money, as that's kinda useless here. It's more privileges, or things I like, you know, like a better shift, or I get to cut in front of the chow line. You gotta realize; most of this crew is pretty plug ugly. I don't just take it for the team. So of course I get a little … compensation."
"You make me sick."
"Try it, Captain. Trust me, you could use it."
"No, thanks."
"By the way, are you ever gonna let me out?" she asked, "Because this is the second time you've thrown me into custody without a trial. At some point, don't you think that the kids being born here are gonna have a lot of trouble even knowing what a democracy is if you keep doing that?"
"Crewman," he said, "don't you think they'll take one look at you and realize it's all justified?"
"Damn, is there actually going to be any breakfast? Because I am getting a hunger headache the size of our left nacelle."
"I don't much care, Crewman." He made as if to leave.
"Listen to me, Captain, you're going to want this before the year is up. Hell, now that you know it's available, you'll probably want it before then."
He slammed his hand into the panel to get the door to open faster. It hurt, but he wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of seeing that.
"Ta," she laughed a little at seeing his discomfort.
Once he was gone, she hit the communications panel. "Eddie, can ya get me something to eat? Maybe some sausage and pancakes, eh?"
"I'll call Lili, see what they have," he said.
"Not that old bat. I want you to serve me."
"Sandra, you know I'm not allowed to do that."
"C'mon, Eddie, after last week, I thought we were friends. You know, special friends."
"I'll call Ensign O'Day. Hamboyan out."
=/\=
The replacement crew got to the Bridge. "I'm not sure how long we'll be," said Captain Archer, "As always, let us know if anything gets strange, Ensign Bernstein-Rosen."
"Yes, sir," Karin settled into the captain's chair again.
Diana was again at the Science station, and Lucas was at Tactical. Chris Harris was piloting and Maryam was at Communications. Jenny, in Engineering, was only a communicator call away.
Jonathan looked at the remainder of the senior staff. "This is one of the worst parts of the job; I'm sure we all agree. Let's take care of this before it gets any worse." Hoshi, Travis, T'Pol and Malcolm followed him to the lift. Once out of there, they were joined by Jay, Will and Tripp.
"Feel free to improvise," Jonathan said, "just, you know, cover the worst of it. Obviously, we can't have the crew brawling."
They went into respective rooms where anyone not on duty waited.
=/\=
In the gym, Jay talked to the MACOs. "I am appalled and disappointed in so many of you," he began. "This behavior is completely unacceptable. I don't care who started it. All I care about is; you are MACOs. You are here to do a job." He sighed. "I know that there were some efforts made to break up the fight. Private Chang, I know you made an effort. And I appreciate that."
"Thank you, sir."
"Moreno," Jay said.
"Sir?"
"You will go on KP duty for two weeks for your part in the brawl."
"Yes, sir."
"Money," Jay said, a lot more angrily.
"Yes, sir?"
"And Myers," he added.
"Sir?"
"Getting involved with this was a lousy idea. Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir," the two women replied, almost simultaneously.
"I already have Hamboyan guarding Sloane. You will do that as well. That will be how you work this off. I don't know how long she'll be in the Brig. It may be a week or so. If she's out in less than a week, I will find you something else to do. Is that clear?"
"Yes, sir," they said, again, nearly at the same time.
"There is also going to be a harvest on Amity. People will get to enjoy the fresh air and sunshine. You will not go."
"Understood, sir," said Susie Money.
=/\=
In the Observation Lounge, the scene of the crime, Malcolm talked to the Tactical and Security teams. "I am disgusted at this behavior," he began, "I want to, I want to trust all of you. But this is beyond the pale. Mister Lattimer and Mister Reilly, how did you become involved in this?"
"Sir," said Mark, "it's, uh, it was about me."
"I am listening."
"Sir, my roommate, he, he decided to, um, to advertise about me to, uh, to the single women."
"What the devil are you talking about?"
"Sir, it's kind of embarrassing."
"Crewman, you will tell me," Malcolm's tone was stern.
Mark shifted his weight from foot to foot. "I, uh, I didn't put him up to it. He just did it."
"What did Mister Donnelly do that caused a riot? What could he have possibly said about you that would trigger such a reaction?"
"Sir, uh," Mark swallowed hard, "he told Ingrid Nyqvist that I was, um, really big. And he knew she would tell her friends. So I think that kinda started it."
"And you, Mister Lattimer? Is anyone touting your endowment?" Malcolm asked angrily.
"No, sir."
Malcolm looked at them before passing judgment. "We have the cross-training competency tests coming up. You will all participate in them, as expected. But you will stay on the ship during the harvest on Amity. And you will also spend that time doing dirty work, whether that's changing diapers or cleaning Sick Bay animal cages or purging intake manifolds. Is that understood?"
"Yes, sir," said Mario.
=/\=
In the cafeteria, T'Pol and Travis spoke to the Science, Piloting and Navigation department crew members. "Mister Novakovich, Miss Nyqvist and Miss Socorro," she called out. The three crew members stood up.
"We can't have this," Travis said, "you can't be just getting into fistfights. We need all of you to stay sharp, and not, well, not to hurt one another."
"You will spend the next two weeks studying the Starfleet Manual, in particular, its sections on personal conduct," T'Pol said.
"You'll be a part of the harvest on Amity," Travis added, "but you'll do the heaviest labor. It'll be a lot of hard work. Don't think of this as an easy detail, 'cause it won't be."
"Yes, sir," said Ingrid.
=/\=
In Engineering, Tripp talked to everyone in his department. "Torres, Shelton, c'mon, you know I got no time for this crap."
"Yes, sir," said José.
"You'll be purging intake manifolds for the next two weeks. You'll also be on diaper detail and anything else I can think of. Got that?"
"Yes, sir," said Kate.
=/\=
Once they were back on the Bridge, Jonathan asked for the intercom. "Ready," said Hoshi.
He nodded at her. "All hands, this is the captain. We all know what happened and I will not go into it. I have received a few more messages, and there are three more pregnancies. Of course that's unrelated, but it means that half of D deck is going to also become home to committed couples and their children. We'll do some more shifting. Join me in congratulating Travis and Julie, Josh and Karin, and Mara and Robert."
He paused for a moment. "With, eventually, seven children on board, our behavior as adults has got to improve. I want to be able to count on your cooperation. Thank you."
Once the connection was cut, T'Pol said to him, "Captain, one thing you should be aware of."
"Yes?"
"Ensign Jones slept in the Observation Lounge last night," said the Vulcan.
"What?"
"It seems her roommate was entertaining an overnight guest."
"Ingrid," Malcolm said under his breath, mentally crossing her off his list.
"We can't have that," Jonathan said. "I'll, uh, I'll think of something. Thanks for letting me know."
=/\=
In the galley, Craig, Lili, Will and Brian sat together. "Brian," Will said, "I know you tried to break that all up, but there were too many of them."
"Not to worry, sir, I can handle it."
"C'mon," Lili said, "it was just one of you and how many of them?"
"I dunno." He shrugged. "I just, uh, I didn't want any of them to hurt you."
"Oh, Brian, you're such a sweetheart," she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.
Will, watching, gulped, wishing it was him she was kissing.
=/\=
William Slocum's Personal log, November sixth, 2038
I have waited too long. I'll talk to her, probably around the time of the harvest. Seems silly to direct our energies and schedule our lives around it. It's as if it was 1438 instead of 2038, but no matter. Either way, love should conquer all, right?
=/\=
T'Pol's Personal log, November sixth, 2038
The crew's behavior, again, is becoming unseemly. It is fortunate that no one was seriously harmed in the brawl. But in the meantime, the crew needs to behave better. There is a possibility that their behavior will continue to worsen until all of the single human women have been claimed. It would, perhaps, be a good idea, for us to find alien women in order to appease the remainder of the male crew. However, I do not know where to start, as any moves in that area could jeopardize the timeline.
=/\=
Amanda Cole Phlox's Personal log, November sixth, 2038
So far, so good. My pregnancy seems to be going okay. Phlox says he's not even sure how long I should be pregnant, as Denobulans normally are expecting for eight months as opposed to our nine. He also says he can tell the gender now. I'm not so sure I want to know just yet.
=/\=
Brian Delacroix's Personal log, November sixth, 2038
I really didn't want her to get hurt. Lili's always been nice to me. I never thought I'd like someone who's, what, twice my age? Seems weird. But I don't like the other girls, not that way.
=/\=
Malcolm Reed's Personal log, November sixth, 2038
I had thought that there were perhaps a dozen available women, but now it appears that the number is more like eleven. I suspect that Ingrid Nyqvist is now off the table. Plus of course, technically speaking, Diana Jones had been as well. And so the ten little Indians remaining are Susie Money and Nan Myers of the MACOs, Kate Shelton, Colleen Romanov, Nyota Warren, Victoria Dietrich, Meredith Porter, Patti Socorro and Lili O'Day. Oh, and Sandra Sloane, who is in custody – and a good thing, too. So the figure is, in actuality, nine.
