Between a bag and a softish place

Posted on Sat Sep 4th, 2021 @ 11:20pm by Warrant Officer Arin Merkara & Lieutenant JG Elizabeth Stone

2,929 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: Out of Time
Location: Siren's Quarters

Siren stared at her heavy bag. "You cheap piece of garbage!" She continued to stare at the bag, as if it had personally offended her. There was a 6" section that was tearing at the seam. She pondered what to do a moment. She decided she would just take this one down, and requisition one with sturdier specs tomorrow.

She pushed her couch over, as she literally had no chairs. Then she stood on the back of the couch and reached for the hook. She got it unlatched, but at the edge of her reach, her balance wavered, and with her entire weight now hanging, the apparatus came out of her ceiling. She fell off the back of the couch, landing on her back, with the heavy bag on her chest. She got the air slightly knocked out of her, but wasn't actually hurt. Unless one counted one's pride. "You could at least buy me dinner first." She quipped to the bag.

She decided to call Merkara, to make sure she hadn't done any real damage to anything up there in her ceiling. "Stone to Merkara."


Tapping her commbadge Arin said. "What can I do for you Lieutenant?" She was pretty sure it wasn't a social visit. At least that hadn't happened yet.

"Well. The heavy bag you installed for me just tried to assault me." Siren chuckled, pushing at the bag to get it off her chest. "I pulled the whole thing out of the ceiling, and I'm not sure what might have gotten damaged up there."


Arin's shoulders slumped. Her tone remained even. "I'll be there shortly. I need a few moments to get tools and a stronger mount. Merkara out." She slid into jeans and a short sleeved sweatshirt. Her small toolbox was retrieved. Walking to the replicator, she typed in a few commands for a 140kg mount. One nice thing about being part the Engineering team, she had a larger replicator. Slipping on sneakers she headed out the door and was soon tapping the signal on Lt Stone's quarters.

Siren opened the door from the inside panel, so she greeted Arin at the door. "Sorry to bother you." Siren stepped further in. "I just figured since you installed it, you would know how to fix it the best way."

"Liar." Arin said with a teasing smile. "Sabotage of the highest order. Maybe I can requisition you as help so you can learn to use simple tools." She surveyed what she could on the ground, before setting out the small step ladder. Climbing up, Arin checked the conduits above the ceiling partition. "Just an unplugged relay. " She said. An audible click was heard. She disconnected the previous mount, tossing it on the carpet unceremoniously. "Hand me that bigger mount please." Arin asked.

Siren gave a fake guffaw, feinting an insult. "I will have you know that I am great with simple tools. Phasers and pistols." She did as she was told though, and grabbed the larger mount. "I'm going to tell myself that it fell because I'm so strong, and not because I'm so fat." She quipped.

"Fat?!" Arin exclaimed. "I bet you have to put rocks in your pockets when you walk down windy streets so you don't blow away!" While Arin was a bit taller than Siren, she was also 20 kilos heavier. Installing the mount, she grabbed small driver and set the nuts into place and torqued them down tightly. Grabbing the mount with both hands she hung on it like an oversized chimp and even swinging a bit and bouncing. Setting her feet back on the small stepladder, she reached down, then placed the ceiling tile back into place. "I think that covers it. You break this....time to take up wresting."

Siren giggled at Arin briefly. "The monkey demonstration was very effective. I think we've got the mount covered." She then kicked the heavy bag. "Now, who do I need to bribe to get a decent heavy bag? Do you know anybody in requisitions?"

"You cannot be the first or last person to have a bag tear. There are plenty of races that punch far harder than any human. Simple physics and material selection." Arin shrugged. Looking around the room, she added, "Some furniture around the place wouldn't hurt. You don't entertain much, do you?"

Siren looked around. She snorted in amusement. "I guess that's pretty obvious. But the couch is very comfortable. With the coffee table for well, coffee and food, what else could I possibly need?" She asked rhetorically. She hadn't gotten an answer about requisitions, but she'd figure something out. "Thanks for your help, again. Could I get you anything? " She felt the need to at least pretend she knew how to be a proper hostess.

"That depends. I've always been interested in what people bring along with them that isn't replicated. I for example have a few bottles of excellent whiskey. Irish bacon, some of my mother's homemade jams. Do you have any?"

"Umm, I have none of the above." She'd poured the one bottle of real whiskey she did have down the sink after making her personal pact with herself. "But I know how to replicate cookie dough." She offered. "Sorry. I honestly didn't bring anything with me. I've never been a pack rat."

"I would take offense at that if it were true." Arin said with a smile. "So no liquor, I get it by the way. You say that couch is comfortable. Shall we knit it a blanket?" Arin said in jest. "Some good tea. yarn and gossip?"

Siren held her tongue. There was no way Percy had mentioned anything. It was a coincidence, obviously. A perfectly innocent and friendly suggestion. "Well, I don't really know any gossip, but even I can boil water. Do you have a certain tea that you like?" Siren asked. It was easier to feign ignorance of gossip than try to wade through the multitude of it that seemed to permeate this ship. "I know a good green tea if you don't have a preference."

"Green is fine, but double strength please, but a good black or Darjheeling is fine as well. Just not Earl Grey. Bergamot is overrated." Arin offered.

"Is that what's in Earl Grey that makes it...Earl Grey?" Siren asked for confirmation. "It smells good, but yeah, doesn't taste very good." Siren got two green teas, one double strength and one iced. She came back to the coffee table with the teas, and set them down, then started shoving the couch back into place. It only then dawned on her that she wasn't exactly dressed for company. "I'll be right back. Please, make yourself comfortable. The couch really is. Siren then hurried off to her room to throw on a tshirt and a pair of sweat pants.

"Yes, Earl Grey starts as black tea with some other bases and then they added Bergamot oil which is from some odd French orange. Too easy to overdo ." Arin said as her mind raced. She was dressed solely for comfort and hadn't seen any reason for Siren to change. Was this an attraction or modesty. She was curious but not slightly anxious. Picking up one of the green teas, she sipped it while Siren changed.

Siren was back quickly, and sat on the edge of the couch. "Learn something new." She took up her iced green tea and took a long drink. "So, how long have you been on the Ontario?" She asked.

"About 2 months. Transferred from the Utopia Planetia shipyards. Though in retrospect I should have taken a the courses needed to get a full commission. Getting sick of Haruna treating me like a second class officer. I have an order of magnitude real world experience on propulsion alone." Arin waved dismissively. "Rant over. Sorry. Your turn." Arin said, enjoying her tea.

"It's ok." Siren waved off the other woman's concern. "I get it. I don't much like getting told what to do either. Why don't you take the courses you need? Surely you could finish them up here?"

"I have and this last mission just pushed me off the ledge to do it. Plus you changed the subject. Spill it." Arin commented.

"Well good. I'm no engineer, but if you ever need a study buddy, I can at least keep you supplied with tea." Then she chuckled. "What am I spilling about?"

"Your story. You haven't told me shite about yourself, other than you suck at punching bags." Arin said teasingly.

"Hey!" Siren yelled, all mock offended. "I'll have you know that I am excellent at punching bags. Not my fault that one was defective." She chuckled. "There's really not much story." She replied though. "X fighter pilot, now flying this tin can through space."

"Why ex? Assuming life had other plans for you. Plus if you aren't flying fighters....what are you doing?" Arin asked.

"I ask myself the same thing. I'll let you know if I figure it out." She answered, taking a sip of her tea. "I injured my wrist and lost the fine control needed for flying a fighter." She shrugged. "So I guess life having other plans is a good way of putting it. Why didn't you finish those classes?" Siren then asked in return.

Arin mimicked rocking a baby in her arms. "That and I was briefly married. After Lisa was born, it all just went downhill. I enlisted to get away from things after he sued for custody and won." Inspiration hit. "If we ever get leave, you need to come with me and fly my Vampire." Arin asked the computer to display her pride and joy. It's a semi-replica of the De Havilland DH115 Trainer. Has dual controls but I did make concessions for a glass cockpit and a few modern conveniences. Who wants to look at 20 plus gauges. "

Siren looked over the specs, completely sidetracked. "Ohhh that's a beauty. Man, can you imagine being alive back then, when it was all new. To be at the forefront of it. I will definitely take you up on that offer. I'm sorry about your daughter. That sucks."

Arin chuckled a bit at the comment. "Well, she's at THAT age. Puberty is around the corner. She's a teen. Plus a quarter Orion. I've bided my time and pretty soon, he'll have his hand full. He's already asking for help."

"Oh boy. I bet he really will have his hands full. You don't look old enough to have a teenager though, wow. " Siren was a bit stunned.

"She's 11, I was 20 when I had her. So two years off till teen but the signs are there she is changing. Orion physiology tends to start early. ." She changed the subject. "So no chance of a recovery for you? Too bad so sad? So you wreck your hands on a bag of sand? I have no leeway. Sometimes I make the holodeck characters look like him when I use my sword for training."

Siren got the feeling that Arin didn't want to talk about her daughter any more. Something she could understand. "No. It's still improving, but it's never going to be 'better' Siren air quoted. Too bad so sad indeed. I wrap my hands, well most of the time, and the holodeck thing, that's brilliant. I should try that when I practice with my phaser."

Arin commented, "The ironic thing is had you lost it, the artificial replacement would probably let you fly." As soon as she said it, she regretted it. "Don't chop off your hand. We'd have to change your nickname to Leftie."
She placed a hand on Siren's.

Siren eyed the hand on hers briefly, then pulled her hand back. "I wasn't planning on it."

"I'm an Engineer. I help figure things out. As someone who has built complete ships, including that Vampire, runabouts, and such, there is more than one way to control a ship Plus if you do go back to school there are other jobs to consider. Flight control officer. Wing commander. Flying this behemoth isn't as sexy as a nimble fighter, but both need a good pilot."

Siren had to smile. None of this was news to her. "Well, seeing as I was the Wing Commander, and I'm now a Flight Control officer, you make a very good point. She's not sexy, but we are beginning to come to an understanding, I think anyway. I need to do some studying, but there is no way I am going back to organized school. I barely made it through the first time. But you have all the skills, or at least it seems that way to me. Then you could run your own engineering, and send your minions to fix the messes." She motioned vaguely behind her where the new support and hook were waiting for a new heavy bag.

Walking over to the console, Arin tapping for about 30 seconds. The broken punching dematerialized. "Not carrying that or getting an antigrav to move it. She took Siren by the hand. "Come on. Let's go get you a better bag. I need another hydroponic planter anyway."

Siren snorted. "Alright. Now is good. But I'm not sleeping with anybody for it. Maybe I'll get myself a plant while I'm at it. I'm thinking cactus."

Arin feigned being offended and struck a pose with a hand on one hip. "Hey, standing right here." She made a face. "Are yea sure? Make everyone else jealous." She tried to contain her own laughter, then failed.

Siren snorted in amusement. "You're too much woman for me." Siren teased right back. "But seriously. What do you think? A cactus? Something I can't kill." She continued to walk with Arin, letting the woman lead the way.

"If you really want a cactus, we can do that. Let me set up a hydroponic planter. You can grow herbs, flowers, and even veggies. I love tomatoes grown this way. My roses help the room with scent and beauty. All you need is to add the water with the vitamin mix once a week or so. I'll even come by and help, especially since you'll break something else." Arin rolled her eyes.

Siren groaned. Oh god, no. Not herbs and flowers and veggies. "I take it all back. I don't want a cactus. A rubber plant, or a rock." She was smiling though. She put on an affronted face, but the woman did have a point about the whole breaking something. "That all sounds like way too much work, but whatever floats your boat." They arrived at an area Siren was unfamiliar with.

"A rubber cactus...kinky." Arin offered. She added with a shrug, "It's your quarters. Just trying to brighten your day. We'll have to go to the arboretum or Airponics bay to get the plants."

Siren snickered. "A phallic rubber cactus, now that has possibilities. I actually haven't been to the arboretum or airponics. I'm game though." The work of getting a heavy bag wasn't difficult. She didn't even have to bat her lashes to get it delivered. "Well, that was easy. On to your plants."

"Depends on what you want. The arboretum is for decoration plants, where the airponics is more for edible and medicinal plants. So really depends on what you want." Arin offered. "Cactus would be in the Arboretum.

"Oh, I meant for you. I was dead serious about the plastic cactus. But let's head to the Arboretum anyway. You seem to have a bit of a green thumb."


"You realize that being seen together smell and picking flowers, people will talk." Arin said. "Though as much as I would like the look on their faces, I have a craving for tomatoes. Let's go to the Airponics bay."

Siren just snorted in amusement. She couldn't imagine smelling or picking flowers, or being with a woman, but knew a joke when she heard one. A funny one at that.

Soon they arrived at very large space. Various plants crowded the room. The space between tables and floor planters made it harder to walk between them. " A young male crewman came over. "Can I help you? We don't get guests that often."

"Yes you can. I'd like some vine tomatoes. Larger ones I think. A cutting is fine, I want to start some in my quarters"

"Well I do have some trimming to do, I can make you two cuttings and deliver them later?" The crewman said.

"That would be great" Arin countered.

Siren had wandered off to look at the cacti. Maybe one of them would give her inspiration.

Catching up to her friend, Arin commented. "There are some nice prickly pear version. Most of these are for eating and medicines. If you don't find what you need, we can go to the arboretum."

Siren had found just the thing though. She grinned, showing Arin. "That one, but I really am getting a plastic version., and I have just the perfect pot idea." She looked back to where Arin had been. "Did you get what you needed?"

"Yes ma'am. In a month or two, I should have some fat tomatoes for sandwiches." Arin said with a smile. "On to our next adventure?"

"I think I've had enough adventure for now." Siren smiled. "I'm holding you to the book club and a chance to taste the tomatoes though."

"Hey, you owe me enough with as the Engineer that makes house calls." Arin quipped. "Fine, but you bring the bacon and lettuce."

"Deal." Siren agreed. "I'll see you later."

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