The Waiting Game (Part I)

Posted on Thu Dec 8th, 2022 @ 2:19pm by Commander Grace Vetur & Lieutenant Haruna Mizuhara & Lieutenant Amanda Rose

1,645 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: The Bandits of Black Rain
Location: Pirate Ship

ON

Amanda did not like the thought of being trapped in a room with Haruna. The girl had no memory when it came to Starfleet protocols, or more likely she just chose to ignore them. After all, there job was to escape. Yet, she could not risk talking about it when they were observed. They had to talk in code. Did Haruna even understand how to do that?

She brushed her hair back and looked at Haruna. "To think that she thinks we have no use.... I guess the best engineer in Starfleet is worthless to these people."

Haruna blinked a few times. "You really think I'm the best engineer in Starfleet?"

The Counselor sighed softly. If there was anything that Haruna cared about it was her career. If only she could get Haruna to see that she needed to improve her social and behavioral skills to allow herself to truly flourish. "I've never known one with more talent." Do not say "but," Amanda. You will take away all of the compliment away from her accidentally. She let the comment hang in the air for the moment, wondering what Haruna's reaction would be.

Haruna held her head high and puffed out her chest. "Damn right you haven't. I am a girl genius after all!" She replied proudly. "But right now, if we are going to get out of here, I need something to work with.... wait... what if we try and seduce the guards? You're the pretty one, they won't be bothered about me."

Amanda sighed. Must the child engineer announce everything? Did she not remember to talk in code? This was going to be difficult. "I appreciate the compliment, Haruna, but I'm afraid that the men that I choose always have eyes for someone else." She started looking around the room, wondering if there was anything at all besides themselves and the cameras in the room.

"Oh really?" Haruna asked a shining twinkle of interest in her eyes. "Give me the gossip! It's not like we have anything else to do right?"

"No, we do not have much to do but this is not a topic that I wish to discuss. Let's just suffice it to say that any feelings that I have remain unrequited."

"Hmm. I see," Haruna replied with a slightly mischievous smile. She looked up at the roof. "I wonder how they are refining that Cordanium, I mean in its purest form its more than four times more powerful than Dilithium Crystals..." she pondered out loud. "Technically, if you added it as a reaction catalyst to a photon torpedo, you could blow a hole in pretty much anything." she explained with a smile. She sat down on the floor, pulled her legs up to her chest and began to rock back and forth.

"You really don't know anything about it do you?" Haruna asked. "You can magically understand minds. Well... everyone but mine of course. Who needs an engineer who knows from memory how every system on a starship works and how to improve them when I'm allowed to...". She paused for a moment. "Man, I wish I could get some of that Cordanium. I could make some real magic happen with that stuff..."

Holding her hands to her temples, covering her eyes, Amanda was not certain whether she should be proud of Haruna for finally figuring out her plan or wanting to kill her for revealing way too much information. "Understanding people is not magic. It is a matter of observation, skill, and patience." Lord knows that I need a lot of patience with you, Haruna.

"But magic is fun. For example, all I need is a hyperspanner, a good screwdriver and I can make pretty much anything work," Haruna replied. "And I don't have very good observational skills. Sometimes I think I should program my own sensors to let me know where people are and what they're doing. Although the programming for that would be complicated... But not impossible. Maybe I should simply make my shoes flash so people know I'm coming. Did you ever have those trainers as a kid, the ones that flashed when you walked! You could see me coming from far away!" she said to Amanda.

The counselor blinked a couple of times, thinking about what Haruna said. Oh my God! She's finally talking in code. She is thinking of doing something to flash a signal so that the Ontario can get a read on us. Warp nacelles? Decloaking? Either way, it does not matter. "I think that people need to hear you more than see you. We should have long been hanging a bell around your neck to announce your presence. It might let people know when you randomly decide to drop out of a panel and into a meeting."

"Hang a bell around my neck? What am I? A cat?" Haruna asked. "I mean, I know I can land on my feet most of the time but come on" she said as she crossed her arms. "And randomly dropping out of panels is fun, especially when they don't know you're coming." she pulled a rather cute smile at Amanda. "After all, I am a girl genius, and the best engineer in Starfleet."

Haruna seemed to ponder for a few moments. She decided to unzip her gold tunic and sat herself in a corner. Wrapping the tunic around her like a blanket she let out a yawn. "You know, I'm kind of sleepy. I could use a nap, it's a shame they won't let me go somewhere warm. Somewhere I can wrap up amongst what I love the most...".

She closed one of her hazel eyes and focused the other on Amanda. "No touching. I don't like people touching me when I'm asleep, unless its cuddles. Those are nice... at least I hear they are, I've never had one. Plus, an engineer has more 'tools' up her sleeve than most people know..."

Oh, God, now she is laying it on too thick. Like they're going to let her near the warp core. "If you want touching, you would need a Risian. And, perhaps you have forgotten, I like men. But, if you're cold, perhaps our watchers would be kind enough to get you a blanket." Amanda directed her attention and voice right at one of the cameras.

"A blanket would be nice. I mean it is cold in here..." Haruna said as she opened one of her Hazel eyes and looked up at Amanda. "Although, my tummy is growling. Perhaps they could feed us too? I'd love a bowl of rice right about now, maybe with some soy sauce. Or maybe some prison soup?"

Does she think that she's going to dig her way out of this place? She's definitely mad. "Prison soup? So, you want poorly flavored water?"

"It's better than nothing!" Haruna replied. "Plus, isn't it obvious. These pirates need us alive for something..." she rolled over onto her side and then onto her back. "Look at me, I'm totally wasting away here!" she announced as she patted her hands on her stomach. "Even if they don't feed us, they could at least give us something to drink. A glass of water would be nice..."

"Or maybe they need us for nothing," Amanda countered. "Maybe they have faulty transporters and took the two of us rather than someone more important. After all, they have not put us to any good use for them." She shrugged apologetically. "Perhaps they will take us to their mess hall so you can get a bite. I know that you have a rather high metabolism that requires a great deal of nutrition."

"Yeah..." Haruna whined. "I can't come up with any genius ideas for their Cordanium an empty stomach." She let out a long loud yawn and settled down as if to go to sleep. "I guess we should just sleep. I'm sure that Starfleet will find us soon, especially since Cordanium is very traceable unless you have the right shield configuration. I imagine this entire ship is lit up like a Christmas Tree on the Ontario's sensors right now..."

Amanda decided that it was time for her to play good cop to Haruna's bad cop. "Come up with genius ideas for them? Have you decided to leave Starfleet, Haruna? You know that you cannot do that for pirates."

"Who said I'm doing it for them..." Haruna yawned. "I was thinking I could get some and use it for my own projects. I know that I would never be allowed to use it on the Ontario's systems, but I can use it on my own inventions..." she replied simply. She rolled over to face the wall pulling her uniform tunic over her. "Wake me up if they decide to feed us or something..."

[Elsewhere on the ship]

Lady Scarlet listened to the two women talk. She'd hoped for something she could use, but all she learned was that she would never let that engineer near anything. She couldn't be trusted. The other was more careful, but a counselor was of little use unless she could be used to get some of her own people back. It was an avenue Lady Scarlet wished to pursue.

"Turn up the temperature in their room and give them each a piece of bread." She headed for the door and paused. "Also, put up a force field and don't let either one of them out of your site."

"Yes, ma'am." The other pirate quickly made the adjustments.

Lady Scarlet nodded. She'd continue to monitor them from command. She hoped they wouldn't prove to be more trouble than they were worth.

(To be continued...)

Lieutenant Amanda Rose
Chief Counselor
USS Ontario

Lieutenant Haruna Mizuhara
Chief Engineer
USS Ontario

Lady Scarlet
Pirtae
Klingon ship
.

 

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