Chapter 9
So it came to pass, that night the Mess Hall was packed with almost the entire crew, all of the bridge officers, including Commander Cumbrae at the Captain's personal order, had amassed. The Vulcan had felt the gathering would be an inefficient use of the ships personnel, hence the order by Lennon to attend.
Although it was quite casual most people found that the mission was a good place to begin conversing. A small grouping of Engineers had formed at the buffet table when Doctor Dayne walked over to introduce himself. The Chief Engineer, Isaac Glatzer could only bring himself to point out how bad replicated food tasted. If he was back home in Israel then he could show to everyone the fine art in making food. The doctor agreed and in hearing this Ric Sara approached to challenge him.
" You've not lived until you've tasted my mother's spaghetti bolognese."
" No, not at all, when we get back to Earth, I'll show you a good meal American style," Dr. Dayne put in. Ric looked over at Isaac, who in turn looked over to Anel Jura. They all agreed American style food was rancid.
Isaac turned to the Bolian security guard nearby, "How's the food on Bolarus?" The Bolian looked up.
" You mean the Kurq'jeistal,"
" Never mind," Isaac replied.
* * * * * *
Across the room Science Officer Ruth Donnachie stood alone at a window and stared into a huge gas cloud that lay some way in the distance. She hadn't served aboard a starship since that fatal day three years ago when the Melbourne and nearly all its crew, including her husband fell victim to the Borg at Wolf 359. Only she, her daughter Lynne and a handful of others escaped the Borg's clutches.
Ever since, she had worked in research labs on Earth and made a quiet, comfortable home for her daughter and herself. Then this mission was dreamed up and it was necessary to have a full complement of science officers aboard to fulfil the ships 'official' mission. Ruth would have preferred to stay home but the admiral's orders were clear, she was the most qualified candidate at that time and wasn't in a position to refuse. However she felt guilty for leaving her sister's family to take care of Lynne for the two weeks this mission would last.
'Think of it as a holiday mum.' she remembered Lynne say, but she wouldn't want to spend her holiday stuck aboard a starship with science experiments.
The Captain had spotted his Chief Science Officer from across the crowded room. He hadn't had the chance to meet her for a prolonged period of time so now was as good a time as any.
From across the room she had noticed his approach and immediately stood to attention.
" May I join you Lieutenant?" He asked as he also stood by the window and stared into the beautifully coloured gas cloud.
"How are things in the Science Department?" he added.
Ruth looked back at him for a second before responding, "Fine Captain, we've finished unloading our equipment for use in the science scans. Now they'll probably just gather dust for the next fortnight."
" Well I'm sorry you'll not get the chance to use them, I hope you've got all the necessary data to transmit back to Starfleet."
" Yes, we've got enough falsified science scans to recreate an entire quadrant, I've just got to decide what to transmit back to Starfleet." replied Ruth.
" So I assume the science dept. have virtually no work for this mission" he said.
" Most of us are working on personal experiments at the moment, I'm quite busy trying to put up the whole 'Science Mission' net, but when we've finished I hope to have convinced everyone they WERE on a science mission."
" Good luck then Lieutenant, but if any of your staff have nothing to do then I have a ready-room that could use with a clean." the Captain jested. For a second he glanced around the room, spotting Commander Sara and Kestra Vall alone over in the corner and realised the two were becoming very good friends.
Ruth laughed out in response, "I'll keep that in mind,"
Suddenly the Captains combadge beeped rather urgently, and a junior officer called from the bridge.
" Captain, we've been hailed by a group of unknown ship claiming to be part to Maquis Resistance. The ships have charged weapons and are asking to speak with you, in name!"
Lennon abruptly jumped to his feet looking to see if his senior officers had received the same message, Sara's face seemed to agree with that assumption.
" Red Alert!" he shouted to gasps of disbelief from the crew, " All crew to battle stations. Senior officers ... report to the bridge!"
So it came to pass, that night the Mess Hall was packed with almost the entire crew, all of the bridge officers, including Commander Cumbrae at the Captain's personal order, had amassed. The Vulcan had felt the gathering would be an inefficient use of the ships personnel, hence the order by Lennon to attend.
Although it was quite casual most people found that the mission was a good place to begin conversing. A small grouping of Engineers had formed at the buffet table when Doctor Dayne walked over to introduce himself. The Chief Engineer, Isaac Glatzer could only bring himself to point out how bad replicated food tasted. If he was back home in Israel then he could show to everyone the fine art in making food. The doctor agreed and in hearing this Ric Sara approached to challenge him.
" You've not lived until you've tasted my mother's spaghetti bolognese."
" No, not at all, when we get back to Earth, I'll show you a good meal American style," Dr. Dayne put in. Ric looked over at Isaac, who in turn looked over to Anel Jura. They all agreed American style food was rancid.
Isaac turned to the Bolian security guard nearby, "How's the food on Bolarus?" The Bolian looked up.
" You mean the Kurq'jeistal,"
" Never mind," Isaac replied.
* * * * * *
Across the room Science Officer Ruth Donnachie stood alone at a window and stared into a huge gas cloud that lay some way in the distance. She hadn't served aboard a starship since that fatal day three years ago when the Melbourne and nearly all its crew, including her husband fell victim to the Borg at Wolf 359. Only she, her daughter Lynne and a handful of others escaped the Borg's clutches.
Ever since, she had worked in research labs on Earth and made a quiet, comfortable home for her daughter and herself. Then this mission was dreamed up and it was necessary to have a full complement of science officers aboard to fulfil the ships 'official' mission. Ruth would have preferred to stay home but the admiral's orders were clear, she was the most qualified candidate at that time and wasn't in a position to refuse. However she felt guilty for leaving her sister's family to take care of Lynne for the two weeks this mission would last.
'Think of it as a holiday mum.' she remembered Lynne say, but she wouldn't want to spend her holiday stuck aboard a starship with science experiments.
The Captain had spotted his Chief Science Officer from across the crowded room. He hadn't had the chance to meet her for a prolonged period of time so now was as good a time as any.
From across the room she had noticed his approach and immediately stood to attention.
" May I join you Lieutenant?" He asked as he also stood by the window and stared into the beautifully coloured gas cloud.
"How are things in the Science Department?" he added.
Ruth looked back at him for a second before responding, "Fine Captain, we've finished unloading our equipment for use in the science scans. Now they'll probably just gather dust for the next fortnight."
" Well I'm sorry you'll not get the chance to use them, I hope you've got all the necessary data to transmit back to Starfleet."
" Yes, we've got enough falsified science scans to recreate an entire quadrant, I've just got to decide what to transmit back to Starfleet." replied Ruth.
" So I assume the science dept. have virtually no work for this mission" he said.
" Most of us are working on personal experiments at the moment, I'm quite busy trying to put up the whole 'Science Mission' net, but when we've finished I hope to have convinced everyone they WERE on a science mission."
" Good luck then Lieutenant, but if any of your staff have nothing to do then I have a ready-room that could use with a clean." the Captain jested. For a second he glanced around the room, spotting Commander Sara and Kestra Vall alone over in the corner and realised the two were becoming very good friends.
Ruth laughed out in response, "I'll keep that in mind,"
Suddenly the Captains combadge beeped rather urgently, and a junior officer called from the bridge.
" Captain, we've been hailed by a group of unknown ship claiming to be part to Maquis Resistance. The ships have charged weapons and are asking to speak with you, in name!"
Lennon abruptly jumped to his feet looking to see if his senior officers had received the same message, Sara's face seemed to agree with that assumption.
" Red Alert!" he shouted to gasps of disbelief from the crew, " All crew to battle stations. Senior officers ... report to the bridge!"