Lauren jerked awake as the shuttle docked at Scorpion. She gathered her small carry on bag and headed for the hatch, surprised at the number of people milling around the dock. She wondered what was happening when she was almost knocked over by someone shouting something about a strike. She was shoved to one side as she tried to push her way through the line of people and found herself staring up at Admiral Gataki's personal assistant. The young man was exactly that, young, perhaps 22 at the most but he had been working for the Admiral for some time now and he certainly knew his stuff. If you had any questions you needed answered about the working of Scorpion Ship Yards he was the one to ask.
"Good afternoon Lieutenant Baker. It's good to see you again. The Admiral asked me to come escort you through all of this nonsense. I've already requested that your bags be sent to your quarters."
"Specialist Boithos, so good to see you too. What's going on around here?"
"The dock workers are striking, the welders are striking, basically if they are alive and on this station, they are striking." His eyes rolled at the idea of the workers and their demands. "If you'll follow me I'll show you to your quarters and then the Admiral would like to speak with you."
"That will be wonderful. Thank you." She smiled up at the tall man and followed behind him as he set a hectic pace across the dock and towards the main bank of lifts. "So how are things going around here other than the obvious issues?"
"Pretty well, you know the Admiral. He called you and several others in because of the strike. The Pegasus is due to dock for a three month over haul this week so we needed reliable people here fast in case the strike didn't break before then."
"Well that makes sense. Gotta make sure the Fleet gets serviced to their specs now don't we? Are you still holding the contract?"
"Yes sir. We've got it for another six years which is one of the reasons the workers are striking. Their contract is up at the end of the year and they want more money, go figure." He paused in his story as they reached the lift and he swiped his card to activate the executive lift. When is descended from a higher lever and the light lit up, Boithos ushered Lauren in and pushed the button for the floor the dorms were on. "So Lieutenant, how has life been treating you?"
"Pretty good up until three weeks ago." She set her bag on the floor as she leaned back against the wall. "I was fine on Caprica, happy and settled and then Tinasso transferred me to Picon." She sighed and leaned her head back as Boithos rolled his eyes at the mention of Tinasso's name. The Colonel was not very well liked on this station because he was notorious for taking all of the best engineers for himself. Tinasso didn't have a government contract like Admiral Gataki so the Admiral had decided a while back that he'd steal people he'd worked with before from Tinasso every chance he got. Lauren was apparently one of the most recent acquisitions.
"So I got shipped over to Picon and got put on Tinasso's suicide shifts, you know, the one's where you'd kill yourself just so you could get some rest. Then he calls me to his office and starts waving orders in my face. When I saw the Admiral's name on the folder I about kissed the man."
Boithos smiled at the idea and nodded his head. "Well I'm glad we could come to your rescue. But it's only fair to warn you, you're gonna be on suicide shifts over here too until the strike breaks or they send us more workers. We're so understaffed right now the Admiral is about to call his mother in to work."
Lauren couldn't help but laugh at that image, "Yeah but the Admiral knows how hard he can push his people. Tinasso thinks we're all Cylons."
"True."
The lift stopped on the floor and the doors hissed open revealing a carpeted hall with plants and artwork on the walls. It looked to Lauren more like a hotel than a military base. She whistled her approval of the décor and followed Boithos out the door and down the hall. "Snazzy, I feel like a princess."
"We'll move you to closer quarters later, for now the Admiral wants you comfortable and happy. He's got enough unrest around here." Boithos stopped in front of a door and waved the lock open with a key card which he handed to Lauren. "Please rest a while and refresh yourself, the Admiral is in a meeting until 20 hundred hours, then if you'd be so kind as to report to him." He smiled at Lauren and backed his way out of the room.
Lauren looked around the room and noticed that her bags had indeed made it here before her. She smiled at Boithos' efficiency and went to find the shower. Once she had wiped the last of the grime from her shift on Picon off and laid out her dress blues she sat for a moment, reflecting on the way her life changed so suddenly once again.
