Chapter Four
Phadru, Afternoon, the First Day
As always, Ziem found the transporter disorienting. As her molecules coalesced, and the yellow swirls faded from her vision, she concentrated on standing still and willed her stomach to stop churning. After a few deep breaths, when she felt confident she could stay upright, she began to look around. Phadru was not what she had imagined. When the beam down area had been described as a meadow, Ziem had imagined green grass surrounded by towering trees. Phadru's meadows were brown. The sparse grass was tufts of beige straw. The trees were really more like tall shrubs, with discouraged looking, withered leaves hanging in clumps on their stunted branches. Ziem's feet sank into the sandy brown soil. The air was warm, and very dry. The high, thin clouds did nothing to break the bright sun.
"The camp is supposed to be over by those hills," said the captain. He led the way, and the little troop followed obediently. Mr. Giotto motioned to his team to travel in formation, on the edges of the away team. The antigrav sleds bobbed behind, bringing up the rear.
They hiked to a camp that had been established by previous survey groups. The area was flat and somewhat sheltered by some of the depressed little trees. A creek or small river could be heard close by, although the area leading to it was as brown and dry as the rest of their surroundings. There were a couple fire holes, with rocks around them for seating. It was not lovely, but it was functional. Ziem bent and began to unfasten the tarp covering one of the sleds. She grabbed a tent pack and began to walk toward one of the smoother spots.
"Lieutenant Sabide." Ziem turned to acknowledge her commander. "Our team members will be providing security only on this mission." The gold shirted lieutenants looked at each other and smirked. Uncertain what to do, Ziem stood awkwardly, holding the tent pack, and wondered if she should drop it or return it to the sled. The small ensign popped up beside her, smiling enthusiastically and holding out his arms. She handed him the pack and he carried it to a smooth swell left of the pit.
"Here?" he asked.
"That looks good enough to me," said the captain. He did not seem to be disturbed by Mr. Giotto's comments.
The ensign dropped the pack. "Now what do I do?" he asked. "I have never set one of these up before." He looked at the whole group; with such a disarming smile that Ziem had to remind herself of her orders to keep from opening the kit herself. She thought Hendorff was similarly conflicted, but she needn't have worried. The captain jumped up next to the ensign.
"This is easy. Watch. You're supposed to break this little seal here, slowly, and the tent just gradually unfolds" the captain showed the ensign the tag on the kit, but didn't break it. "You can do it with your fingers. You're supposed to tear it, and the tent just kind of aligns itself. But let me show you something awesome. Watch what happens if you punch it really hard." The captain did as he described, shattering the little tag. The tent unfolded immediately, exploding out with a loud crack. The captain jumped out of the way gracefully, but it surprised the ensign. He stumbled back with a startled yelp.
The tent, fully formed, wobbled between the two men. The captain ran around it, calling, "Chekov, are you alright? I should have warned you."
The ensign laughed, "It didn't hurt. I was just surprised." He grinned up at his commanding officer. "I want to do that."
The captain laughed too. "First help me push the supports down. Just step on them. Like this. No harder. Okay. Let's go get the other tents. You can try on those."
One of the lieutenants offered to take over, but Kirk said, "We got this, right Chekov?" The younger man nodded happily. The captain continued, "Why don't you go locate the heads Lapinski, assess them, make sure they are in working order and report back." Lapinski's acknowledgement was barely audible. He did not look pleased as he walked past Ziem. Giotto motioned Hendorff to follow him. The other lieutenant, Martin, was not able to entirely suppress a laugh. Mr. Giotto glared at him.
The captain said, "Martin, take a tent and go help Lieutenant Sascheja set up a supply area."
"Go with them Rudolph," Giotto barked.
"Yes sir," Martin said respectfully. He was still giggling as he and the nurse led the sleds toward a long table at the front of the camp. Ten steps out and he and Rudolph both lost control, and began to laugh loudly.
Giotto yelled, "Shut up Rudolph!"
"Yes sir," Rudolph called without looking back.
The captain smiled and bent to pick up another tent pack. "Come on Chekov," he said. Ziem felt awkward doing nothing. She checked to see what the chief was doing. She tried to copy his alert stance and watched the tents go up. It was enjoyable watching the two men work. They were very cheerful, the ensign chattered and the captain listened contentedly, sometimes laughing at the younger man's comments. By his third attempt the ensign was able to pop open a tent, and it so surprised the captain that he stumbled, and landed on the ground.
"Chekov!" barked the chief.
"I am sorry sir!" gasped the ensign as he dashed around the tent to help his commanding officer to his feet. He wasn't laughing now and actually looked a little afraid.
"I am so sorry; I didn't say anything because I didn't expect it to work." The ensign said, pulling the captain up. Giotto glowered at him. "I am sorry," Chekov said again.
The captain laughed and said, "Don't worry about it. I'm not hurt, and anyway, I kind of deserved it, for assuming you wouldn't figure out how to do my trick."
The ensign looked very relieved. "Do you want me to finish by myself?" he asked.
"No!" laughed the captain. "You get one and I will get another. And we will race to see who can get one up fastest, stakes and everything. Are you ready? Go." The officers ran for the sleds.
Giotto watched the race with a disapproving expression. Ziem knew he would never have been as congenial in similar circumstances. The chief was a great fan of what he called the chain of command. He had never said anything, but in was not the first time she had the impression he believed the junior officers were too comfortable with the captain.
The rest of the camp was set up quickly. The makeshift medical area was readied. The supply tent had food and water storage areas established. Personal kits were slipped into the tents, and then it was time to begin working.
Mr. Spock divided the group into four work parties. He sent each of their tricorders a map with their area of responsibility for the survey. He was preparing to dismiss the group to their work when the smaller of the twin lieutenants, Lapinski, Ziem thought, asked if it wouldn't be easier to start from the camp and work outwards. Ziem heard Commander Giotto tut his frustration over the younger man questioning the commanding officer's plan.
Mr. Spock's expression did not change, but Ziem felt his tone was a little drier. "Lieutenant, we have very specific responsibilities in this survey. Federation law dictates the completion of both a visual and mechanical inventory of an area immediately prior to development so that reclamation can be affected at the earliest possible opportunity. The four day schedule I have outlined will assure that the work be completed in the most expedient manner. Our team may then return to the Enterprise and the data collected can be analyzed, stored and sent to the appropriate agencies. Construction of the processing center cannot commence until our responsibilities are fulfilled."
"In other words," said the captain. "You will do as the first officer has requested, and you will do it in the manner he described." Ziem had never before heard their young captain sound so firm. Clearly he too thought it inappropriate to question orders. She looked over at Giotto, he looked very pleased.
Chapter 5
In the Field, the First Day
Ziem was responsible for providing security for the team made up of the ensign and the communications officer. The three of them walked the nearly 5 kilometers to the boundary of their assignment. As they walked, the lieutenant began to ask Ziem about Bahz. She asked very specific questions about the culture, which Ziemhad to think to answer. She enjoyed it, even forgetting briefly how awkward she felt bending over to see the face of the petite woman next to her. The ensign didn't join in, but walked behind the two women listening until he left them to assume his assigned position. The lieutenant continued to talk to Ziem.
"If we were on Bahz would it be as hot we are here?" the lieutenant asked.
"No not at all." Ziem replied. "It is much cooler where I lived, and still quite forested, so the areas outside of town are even cooler still." Ziem smiled, thinking of the towering conifers of her home world.
"I would love to see that." said Lieutenant Uhura dreamily. "I have always wanted to see the forests on a high gravity world."
Ziem felt embarrassed. She had not said anything about it, and the other woman had not asked, but of course it was obvious she was from a high gravity planet. Nothing else would explain her massive legs, her height, and thick torso. It was inevitable the beautiful little communications officer would notice her bulk immediately.
"Yes, the trees are magnificent." Ziem said a little sadly.
The lieutenant seemed to realize she had said something that made Ziem uncomfortable, and changed the subject. She asked about the languages spoken on Bahz. Ziem explained that the planet had been a federation member so long that most people spoke Standard as their first language. The lieutenant seemed to find that astounding. She asked several more questions and then thought for a while. Finally she said, "Most worlds fight to hold on to their languages. It is considered essential to maintaining a cultural identity. I find it interesting that yours has made almost the opposite decision."
Ziem smiled and said, "I actually thought about that when I was taking the required cultural appreciation classes at the academy. I remember being assigned to write a guide to my own culture of origin."
"I remember that too." said the lieutenant.
"Mine was titled "Welcome to Bahz, Where We Don't Make a Fuss". My take on my home world was that I came from a society that valued doing things in the least attention demanding way possible. We have only one language for the entire planet, and we picked the one that would make it easiest for the rest of the universe to understand us without having to try very hard. We didn't have a referendum or anything; most people in my grandparents' generation knew a home language and Standard. They just sort of didn't get around to using the home one enough to pass it on. My parents hardly know any of our local dialect, and my siblings and I know none at all. It's the same in our government and work. I know I am a good example of a citizen. I always try to do things by the book, in an unremarkable way."
"I don't know that you should describe yourself as unremarkable." The lieutenant looked a little shocked.
Ziem wasn't surprised at the other woman's response. Lieutenant Uhura was very young to be chief communications officer. She had to be exceptionally capable. Being brilliant, and beautiful, she probably had never had the experience of a total stranger stopping to stare up at her, eyes wide with astonishment. She couldn't appreciate there could be comfort in going unnoticed. Ziem knew from experience that it was seldom useful to explain to a beautiful person how lucky they were. They couldn't understand. She decided to go with her standard explanation.
"Well," she said, "Maybe what I should have said was, act in a way that will go unremarked upon. Is that better? I like everything to go smoothly. I come from a culture that places value on trying to work together well. We try to fit in, be cohesive." Ziem was surprised at how much she was talking to the lieutenant, a virtual stranger. She was usually fairly reserved. She knew communication officers interpreted, but hadn't realized how much they knew about drawing people into communication too.
"But you went into security, which requires a lot of independence and forcefulness," said Uhura.
"Independence yes, but always within the confines of a team. I think we work together more closely than the other divisions. I am very comfortable with that. And I can't imagine myself wanting more attention. Plus I was heavily recruited. I mean, obviously the physicality of the job is easy for me." Ziem started to feel uncomfortable; she hated referring even indirectly to her size. Being upfront about something that embarrassed her was not appealing, but pretending she was average was ridiculous.
The lieutenant thought quietly to herself for a minute. Then she said, in a tone that implied that she wasn't certain she should speak, "There are teams in all the divisions. You could be a valued member of a smoothly operating research team."
Ziem took some time before she answered. It was common to make assumptions about individuals based on their work assignments. The security division had enjoyed the chief's talk about the upcoming rugby match because it was against the command track team and many people half believed that all the command track officers were hyper competitive, grandstanding, braggers. It wasn't really true of all of them, it might not even be true of most of them, but it was an assumption people made. She knew many of the ship's crew had some prejudices about security. People tended to believe everyone in the division was brave, and athletic, but not smart or sensitive.
She was a little surprised that the lieutenant, who was clearly intelligent, seemed to have so little appreciation for the skill required to be an officer in the security department. She wondered what she could say to explain how noble she felt it was to be in the front line. She didn't want to talk about honor, or responsibility, because she didn't really know Lieutenant Uhura, and she felt like they were private ideals. But she didn't know many other females on the ship, and she had enjoyed speaking with the lieutenant. She wanted to try and give her a chance to understand.
Ziem said slowly, "Our chief says we should strive to be such a tight team that outsiders can't tell where one of us begins and the next leaves off. I don't think research teams have that kind of unity, of fellowship really. I guess for most people it is...weird to see beauty in a well-executed plan, but I do. I like being part of a bigger whole. In security we are all always working together toward one goal. If we are competent, people forget how important we are. I like that, being in the background, but being essential."
Lieutenant Uhura smiled, "You explain yourself really well. I never thought of it that way before, but I understand what you mean. Thank you." She paused, and then added thoughtfully, "It's good to be reminded that there are lots of ways to be wery happy."
"What?" asked Ziem.
The lieutenant giggled a little guiltily and explained, "The navigator on alpha shift, that's him over there actually, Chekov." She gestured toward their other team member. "He didn't learn Standard until he was a teenager, and it's definitely not one of his gifts. Anyway, he slaughters the pronunciation, and he confuses v and w all the time. And he's happy a lot. So he often says things make him wery happy. The yeomen think it's cute and they try to get him to say it whenever they can. The helmsman and I have heard it so many times we both found it slipping into our own speech patterns. Now whenever we feel really good about something we both say we're wery happy."
"Doesn't it bother him?" Ziem knew it would mortify her.
"I don't think so. He's never said anything if it does. Like I said, he's naturally pretty happy." The lieutenant looked over at the ensign. He wasn't close enough to talk to, but they could see him. He didn't look like any of the other workers; he wasn't standing with his tricorder before him, but seemed to be sitting on the ground. Ziem took a bifocal visor from her pack and looked more closely, adjusting the magnification as she did so.
"What is he doing? Is he all right?" The lieutenant sounded concerned.
"I think he's just sitting down while the tricorder scans. It's on the ground right next to him and it is running; I can see the lights on the monitor. He also has his PADD out. He's got it on his lap and it looks like he's doing something on it." Ziem looked at the lieutenant and continued, "Maybe he's analyzing some anomaly or something and doesn't want to slow down the tricorder by running two programs at once."
"Yeah, maybe," said Uhura, "and maybe you should walk over there and tell him that if I find out he is playing video games while on duty I am going to make him wery unhappy."
"Yes ma'am," said Ziem. "I will, because after all, it is my duty to keep all the team members safe."
Chapter 6
Evening, the First Day
The work crews returned to the base camp at the agreed upon time of 18:00. As each group entered the camp they reported to Mr. Spock and took turns downloading the information they had gathered into the central computer that they all had somehow begun to refer to as "the map". As they did so the analyzed sections lit up, showing the portions of the area where the work was completed. Ziem was disheartened to see how small the glowing area looked. The hours spent wandering through the dusty, dull land seemed to have accomplished very little.
She looked around and saw Hendorff crouched low in one of the pits, trying to start a fire. She walked over to join him.
"How did it go today?" She asked.
"Fine, nothing exciting, those two lieutenants are really funny. They didn't talk much to me, but they had their communicators out most of the time and I liked listening to them talk to each other." He looked up from the pile of grass and twigs he was fiddling with. Several of the younger crew members had come over to join them; he smiled a greeting and then continued, "How was it for you?"
Ziem watched Hendorff ineffectually thumb the starter and tried to control the desire to snatch the tool out of his hands. Instead she replied, "The same. Ensign Chekov was messing with his PADD, and the lieutenant thought he was playing video games, and for a few minutes that seemed like it might get exciting. But it turns out he was checking on some plant that wasn't on the original survey." Geoff made a few more attempts to start the fire and then began to rearrange the kindling, as if it was the problem. Having most of the team watch him fail repeatedly didn't seem to bother him. Ziem knew she would have felt very uncomfortable.
Hendorff looked up at her and asked, "Did you have a chance to look at that master map? It doesn't look like we accomplished much. I don't see how we can be done in four days."
"I know, Hardly any of it is lit up! This is boring, and it is going to take forever. At this rate we will be at it for a week at least." Lieutenant Lapinski sounded perturbed.
The communications officer replied calmly, "Mr. Spock said four more days. It will be four more days."
Lapinski said, "Spock just says things in that I-know-it-all-don't-question-me way of his and everyone automatically believes him. But I think he just picked a completely arbitrary number. The map doesn't look like we are a fourth way done at all. He maybe hopes it will be four days, but he doesn't know it." Ziem thought Lapinski sounded like he had moved past perturbed to peevish.
The small ensign was crouching on the ground watching Geoff. He furrowed his brow while Lapinski was speaking, then he said in a quiet, thoughtful voice, "We should be back to the ship before dinner in four days."
"Shut up. You are not part of this conversation." Lapinski enunciated very carefully, but did not even turn to acknowledge the younger man while he spoke.
The ensign glanced up, then quickly away, a little nervously. Ziem thought Mr. Lapinski was being very rude, considering he had himself actually interrupted her conversation with Geoff.
"Lieutenant Lapinski, Commander Spock would never arbitrarily declare anything. He has determined carefully how long this task will take and it is four more days." Lieutenant Uhura emphasized the senior officer's title a little as she spoke. Ziem liked the way she did it, and the ensign seemed to agree, he smiled at Lieutenant Uhura.
Lapinski must have noticed too, because he walked over to the ensign saying, "I know you think every word that hybrid robot says is inspired, and that you wish you were him, but he has no idea how real people work. He just assumes he can draw whatever conclusion he wants and we will all hop to and make everything turn out how he says it will."
The ensign glanced over at the communications officer before saying very quietly, "It would require 320 hours for a single worker to complete this assignment. With eight workers in the field, the work will take 40 hours."
"Anything could happen. You have no way of knowing that." Lapinski sounded contemptuous when talking to the ensign, who finally stood, and looked up at the larger man, gazing steadily at him before replying. When he did speak, his tone was carefully respectful, like he was reporting to a senior officer. Which in fact, Ziem reflected, he was.
"Lieutenant, there are several ways I could know that. I told you one; another is to say our work is to document the environment that will be lost by the construction of the factory. The grids on the map represent that: 11,640,300 meters square, the area of a rectangle 4,830 meters by 2,410 meters which is the footprint of the complex they plan to build here. The grids are misleading because the map reflects topography, and so represent the actual over ground distance we will travel. So, that rectangle was divided into four rectangles representing areas of 4,830 meters by 600 meters but not equal size on the map. Each of our groups was assigned one of the smaller rectangles to analyze. We worked six hours today. Lieutenant Uhura and I managed to record the analysis of an area 726 meters long and 600 meters wide. That means we walked about 121 meters every hour. From what I saw of the data being entered by Mr. Spock, that was average for the crews. And that makes sense. The tricorders are doing the actual work, and they all work at the same speed, barring malfunction. But if we assume each crew of two workers, each walking 150 meters off the median of a rectangle 726 meters by 300 meters, with the tricorders adjusted to analyze that width constantly and analyzing a length of, closely approximate to 121 meters every hour, it will require 40 hours for each group to complete their assignment. That would be 6 hours today, 10 each of the next three days and 4 hours on the fourth day. When we complete the assignment we will have to break camp, so around 6 hours after we start work four days from now we should be ready to beam back to the ship."
Lapinski said nothing, just rolled his eyes, but Martin said, "Really? That big? Wow. How many football fields is that?"
"Football fields?" asked the ensign.
"Yes Boy Genius." said Lapinski, "that is what normal people call the places where they play what we call games."
The ensign crossed his arms across his chest and said, "Thank you, lieutenant, but during the time I spent in San Francisco I was able to listen to normal people discuss the glories of sports with great frequency. The assigned rectangles are 4,830 meters long. An American football field is 109.1 meters long, so at its longest point the plot is a little longer than 44 football fields... Or 46 European football pitches...Or as I prefer to think of it, 79 hockey rinks." McCallister gave a snort of laughter, the ensign smiled disarmingly up at Lapinski, who leaned closer to him, and raising a finger thumped the smaller man on the chest.
"You are an arrogant little prick." hissed Lieutenant Lapinski, who then pivoted on his heel, and stomped off to the other pit, where the more senior officers had successfully started a fire and were looking over the food that had been stored earlier that day.
"Yes sir." said the ensign. He dropped his head and continued very softly. "So you've mentioned before, sir."
The yeoman, Tremaine laughed and said, "That is amazing Pav! You think of the weirdest things! How do you keep all those numbers straight in your head?"
The ensign didn't look up, but simply shrugged. Ziem couldn't read his expression. The young woman laughed again, then wrinkling her nose, turned to Martin and asked, "You want to go eat?" He nodded and the two of them walked away, following Lapinski toward the supplies. When they were gone, the ensign turned to the communication officer, and threw his hands out, as if he were questioning her.
"Don't look at me for support," she laughed, "I think you provoked him on purpose."
The ensign cocked his head and looked at her with a mischievous expression. "Maybe you are right." he said. "Really there are much simpler to know how many hours it will require to cover the field. But the method I used has many numbers and sounds hard."
"I knew it! I knew you were just tormenting him!" laughed Uhura.
Chekov said, "No, maybe, tease a little bit."
"Did you notice when you finished he could not say anything?" asked Geoff. The ensign nodded.
Geoff laughed. "I did too, and I enjoyed it." he said.
"You better be careful, he outranks you, and someday he is going to be in charge of some mission you are on." Uhura said, shaking her head as she knelt down to assist with the fire. Ziem envied her the graceful way she moved.
The ensign stood at the edge of the pit and looked after the lieutenants thoughtfully. Uhura glanced up at him and asked, "What are you worried about Pasha?"
"Was I rude?" he asked uncertainly. His accent was stronger than when he talked about areas and lengths.
"No, I didn't say that." she said. "Only the last part was even a little bit sarcastic, and he asked for it. Don't worry about him. You were fine. And do not go apologize!"
Hendorff finally gave up on the fire, and tossed the starter to Ziem. He gestured toward the fire pit. She felt like she looked very awkward as she knelt to try and light it. He stood up and said, "Pav, for what it's worth, I totally agree. He's the arrogant one, and he rides you constantly. I say good for you."
The ensign looked unconvinced. He frowned at the ground with his arms crossed. The communications officer looked up at him, fondly, Ziem thought. Uhura climbed up to stand closer to him. She slipped an arm around the ensign's shoulders and speaking softly said, "Hey, Pasha, so I get the math was easy, but you impressed even me by knowing the length of a football field. Were those figures real?"
For a few seconds Ziem thought the young man wouldn't answer, but eventually he said, "Yes, there are running tracks around the fields at the academy, both the soccer pitch and the football field. The dimensions are posted. I read them many times when I would train there. I know nothing about American football. Well, I know it looks like it hurts." Speaking to the lieutenant seemed to relax him, his arms dropped, and he smiled ruefully at the beautiful officer, who smiled back at him.
Geoff said with his usual enthusiasm, "Yeah it does hurt sometimes, but not usually till the morning after the game. At the time it is fun. Really fun, I have been getting into rugby lately though. More you know, like sincere action, without pads and stuff." He paused, looked at the ensign skeptically and then added, "I don't think you should try either one though Pav. You're not really built for them."
"Thanks Mr. Hendorff, I'll remember." said the ensign, who was much smaller than the other men in the group and quite thin. He sounded a little sarcastic, but he smiled at his friend and added, "I also remember how to use that starter if you want me to?"
Embarrassed, and not sure why, Ziem bent lower over the pit and went to work, saying, "I got it, why don't you go get us something to eat?"
"I can do that." said the ensign.
"And I can help." said Hendorff. The two ambled away, chatting happily. Lieutenant Uhura shifted rocks around so that there would be more seating available. When the fire finally took and started to crackle, she handed some larger pieces of wood to Ziem, who stoked it with satisfaction.
"Another 30 hours of today is not going to be very interesting." remarked Uhura.
"In security we like the work to be boring." answered Ziem, "but I have to agree. You at least got to watch the tricorders. I got to watch you watching the tricorders." Both women laughed and then Ziem asked, "Do you think Mr. Chekov could estimate how many times I am going to wish I didn't have this assignment in the next several days?"
"Oh, I am sure he could. Let's agree not to ask him, shall we?" The lieutenant laughed and took a seat upwind of the fire, well out of the smoke.
Chapter 7
Night, Ending the First Day
Ziem drew the first watch. She set her tricorder to alert her to any movement in the area of the camp, and walked the perimeter. The sky darkened gradually, and the voices in the tents grew softer. Sitting quietly in the dark, she could feel the muscles in her back unclenching. She was not afraid of her work, but she had always found it difficult to relax in a crowd. It was silly, she told herself, to feel so observed, there was no one paying any attention to her. Nothing unpleasant had happened all day.
She ran through the evening in her mind. The crew had shared a quick, tasteless meal of rations, and then Mr. Spock had risen to return to the field. He hadn't commanded the others to join him, but he had clearly assumed they would. Giotto had asked Mr. Spock to have them all work in the area closest to camp, which was within eyesight of the security base, and had actually sent only Hendorff back into the field with them. He had then encouraged Ziem and Rudolf to get some rest. The captain had made it clear that he had a great deal of responsibilities that he needed to attend to, and that Yeoman Tremaine would need to stay at the camp and organize all the records he needed to update while planet side. Ziem had thought that the field work must be truly boring if their active captain actually preferred paperwork.
The work crew had returned at dusk, subdued, seeming very tired. Spock and Wilson had gone off to confer on their data, and everyone else had gone to the pit, where they sat and stared quietly at the fire. Eventually Hendorff had kicked Chekov, who had looked mischievous, and mumbled something about using the head. Before the chief could even remind him, Hendorff was up and offering to escort him. The two had ambled off into the dark, talking quietly. Ziem couldn't make out what they were saying, but they sounded very cheerful.
"What do you suppose those two are up to?" The captain had asked, good naturedly.
"Something stupid," Lieutenant Lapinski had replied.
The yeoman had said, "I think something fun, but probably nothing important."
"Your man wouldn't have brought liquor would he?" The chief had asked of the captain.
The captain had laughed and said, "No. He's very reliable. And he's not old enough to buy it. Would yours?"
Giotto had shaken his head dismissively.
"Maybe porn." Rudolph had guessed.
Lapinski had snorted, and said, "it is more likely some ridiculous sci fi vid that no one over 12 would be interested in."
"And maybe," Tremaine had said, "they just had to go to the bathroom? I mean, Mr. Giotto said not to go anywhere alone. It's not like they snuck off or anything." The group had sat quietly, considering for a minute, most gazing off toward where the young men had disappeared into the dark.
"Well, good point." The captain had said finally. He had turned to the crew and said, "So how much are we enjoying our mission?" They had talked over each other to complain about the work and conditions. Ziem had admired the way the captain had pulled the team together.
After about a half hour Hendorff and Chekov had returned. They hadn't offered an explanation of their absence, but had joined the group at the fire. Hendorff had walked into the middle of the circle and dropped heavily to one of the stone seats, sighing with satisfaction. Less confident, the ensign had crouched on the ground a little behind him. He too had seemed very relaxed, smiling happily as he gazed at the flames. Conversation had stopped, as everyone around the fire had turned and stared at them speculatively, even Ziem. Hendorff had been oblivious, legs stretched before him, eyes closed. But Chekov had tensed under the scrutiny, his smile faded. Abruptly he had jumped up and murmured a good night before slipping off towards his assigned tent.
Ziem had felt badly and wished she had said something friendly to the little ensign. She liked him. She thought he had handled the incident with the lieutenant perfectly. She wondered if some of the others had felt the same, because the group had broken up quickly after that. Everyone went off to their tents. She and the chief had run through his expectations for the watch, and then he too had left to rest. Mr. Spock and the geologist continued to work for another hour, and then they had gone to their tents. Ziem had been left alone.
She sat at the lowering fire, or walked the perimeter of the camp. Nothing happened. Occasionally some night animal rustled by, but she was always well warned by her tricorder before she heard them, so it wasn't alarming and she could think in peace. She had no trouble keeping awake, as she often worked gamma shift anyway, and she was a little hungry. The ration packages came in two sizes. She had eaten the larger one, but it hadn't been quite enough food. It had always been that way; she had grown used to it on other assignments. She wasn't ravenous, just not quite full. By the end of the week she would feel really hungry, but for a few days it wasn't bad. On previous missions she had considered discussing it with the chief, but she hadn't been able to think of a way to explain without having to say aloud that she was so enormous a normal amount of food couldn't fill her. She had decided to just endure it.
Her tricorder chirped quietly, alerting her that someone had left a tent and was walking toward her. Hendorff coming to relieve her she assumed. She couldn't see anyone until Geoff was nearly upon her. She was a little unnerved to realize how poor her vision had become after sitting by the fire.
"Hey Ziem, are you ready to sleep?" Hendorff's voice seemed very loud after the hours of quiet.
"Hi Geoff, sure, thanks" Ziem stood a little awkwardly. "I have nothing significant to report. Occasionally the Phadruan equivalent of a fox slinks by. Nothing else is stirring."
"Well, have a good rest. Try not to snore." Hendorff laughed at his own joke. It seemed even wakening in the middle of the night did little to dampen his enthusiasm.
Ziem started to leave but couldn't help turning back to ask, "Hey Geoff, where did you and Chekov go after the evening shift?"
Hendorff laughed again. "You are really still thinking about that? Well, while we were in the field after dinner, just as the stars were starting to come out, Mr. Spock said it was time to go back to base. Pav really wanted to do some stargazing. But Mr. Spock said no, so we had to leave. I told Pav I'd go back out with him. We decided to slink over past the head at our first chance and have a look see."
Geoff added, "Plus we both have our personal packs pretty much stuffed full of snacks which we don't want to share with Lapinski and Martin. So we just lay out on that hill behind the head and ate and looked at stars. Truthfully, I would probably have been bored, but Pav explained what we were looking at real interesting. Between that and the truck load of chocolate milk he's got stashed in his backpack, it was great."
"You brought snacks! What a good idea! I wish I would have thought of that." Ziem wondered why obvious solutions never seemed to occur to her.
"I am always starving on these trips. Those rations are ridiculously small. I ate most of Pav's and all of mine and I felt like I ate nothing. I could easily eat like, three more. Did you know Pav wants to run a raffle where people bid on how many ration packets I could eat? He says it would advance scientific knowledge and make us some money." Geoff chuckled, seemingly not at all uncomfortable discussing his own enormous appetite. "You don't bring any extra food on these trips? How do you survive? What do you put in your pack?"
"The recommended things, I have a little pillow, two changes of clothes, personal hygiene articles, rain gear, review materials on the planet, a PADD." Ziem realized as she spoke that she had never considered not packing exactly what was recommended.
Geoff said, "I've got a change of clothes and about 40 of those individual fruit and nut servings from the mess that are supposed to go in the oatmeal. I steal one every meal and save up. Also as many candy bars as I could cram in there. They get a little soft, but they taste okay. Pav's got his PADD, three spare batteries for it, and like 16 of those expensive chocolate milk things that get cold when you open them. Also a communicator, because he has these theories that your assigned one is never where you need it to be and that anyway they break so often every away team should have one to sacrifice for parts. He may have brought a change of underwear but no clothes 'cause they take up a lot of room and he doesn't care what he looks like. He brought a rain resistant blanket to use as a pillow. He checked, and it won't rain at this time of the year here, but if it did he would have to listen to everyone tell him he was stupid. His plan is to just use the blanket as a coat if he has to."
Ziem could picture the two of them stretched out on the sand, looking skyward and eating sweets. She thought it had probably been fun, certainly much more fun than anything else they had done all day. She wished she had been invited, but knew she would never have gone. Even thinking about wandering off made her anxious. She wondered if she had a duty to instruct Geoff on expected behavior for members of security while on duty. It seemed like she should, but Geoff had been working while she was still at the academy. They were of equal rank, but he had much more actual experience than she did. She decided instead to ask him more about it.
"Weren't you afraid you would get in trouble?" Ziem had always done exactly what she was instructed to do on an away team.
Hendorff looked confused, "For bringing food on a mission? No one cares. It's all sealed. Animals couldn't smell it."
"No," Ziem said, "I mean weren't you worried about leaving camp without checking with the chief?"
Geoff scoffed, "Not really. I mean it was totally by the book; Pav's an officer and I am his security escort. We were like seven meters from the head. In the daylight you could have seen us. It's just that, if we had asked to go, no one would have let us. We actually talked about how funny it is that everyone would think I am too big and stupid to know what I am doing and everyone thinks he's too young and inattentive to make reasonable decisions. I mean he's alpha shift navigator, but he can't walk to the bathroom alone? How smart is that? Besides, we didn't do anything dangerous."
She could tell by his tone that Geoff did not share her concern with the rules. She acknowledged that it they didn't seem to have caused any harm, but she still felt anxious. She really preferred things to be by the book. She didn't want chaos.
"I guess you may be right." Ziem said, but she was not convinced. She tried to make herself sound unconcerned. "Well, I should get some sleep."
"Night Ziem, it was good talking to you." Geoff started to adjust his own tricorder. As she walked towards her tent Ziem heard him call after her, "Hey, if you're hungry stop by Pav's tent. He'll give you some food. He likes you."
"Thanks Geoff, maybe tomorrow." Oddly pleased, Ziem went off to bed.