Topic: In an office chair on M'Raa...

[KAT MRess]

M’ress winced. He kinda deserved that. But desperate to change the subject and leave he said,

“But did you get it?”

Leroy bored into M’ress with his stare before he held up his hand to reveal a data disk. M’ress smiled and held up his hand. Leroy pulled his hand back. M’ress said in a stern voice.

“A deal is a deal. I got you in.”

Leroy paused, his point made he handed the disk to M’ress.

“Excellent,” M’Ress said “Now we can get out of here.”

“Not so fast.” Leroy countered “I would like to check out more of this station, if you don’t mind. With the declaration of Admiral Die Hard that Feds are not allowed, you’ll understand that I want to take full advantage of the opportunity.”

M’ress sized up the human. Defintately not one to be underestimated in the future. But it did present him with a solution to his immediate problem. How to get back out with a “live” human. He eyed LeRoy.

“Very well. I’m sure there is a back door to this place.”

Leroy glared one last time at M’Ress and turned to leave.

When M’Ress got back out to the table, K’arbin looked around and loudly asked,

“How’s the prisoner?”

To which M’Ress let out a loud belch and said,

“Delicious!”

[KAT MRess]

Back on M’raa, M’ress was in a good mood. He entered the hallway to his office with a light step, if he could whistle like a human he would have. As he got to the door it opened to reveal Miss Throat sitting at her desk, organizing the day’s business on her terminal.

As he approached he was struck by something about her. As he was in such a good mood, instead of walking by with a “Good Morning” he stopped and sat on the corner of the desk.

“And how are you this morning?” he asked looking her up and down.

She looked at him a little shocked and replied,

“I’m fine. How are you?”

He drew in deep breath while stretching out his arms.

“In a really good mood today. Can you request Patriarch Green to come to my office please?”

“Very well.”

He entered his office and without sitting, paused by the desk, dropping the dossier in the center of it. The stretch had been a cover for the breath he took. But it had told him what he wanted to know, where he had detected that scent before. He pulled something out of his pocket to make sure. Then he turned and headed back out the door to her desk. She had just completed the summons to Green when he leaned over beside her.

“I have something for you.” He said. She looked at him more than a little surprised as he took hold of her hand and turned it over, palm up. That surprise changed to shock when he dropped the earring from the bar into her hand.

The earring that exactly matched the ones she wore.

Before she could react further, he seized her by the front of her tunic and lifted her out of the chair and hard against the wall.

He held his face close to hers and hissed…

“You’re fired.”

[KAT MRess]

“And here is what all this trouble was for,” M’ress was saying to Green “I figured we could analyse this together.”

M”Ress placed the disk on a reader and tapped the play command.

After several minutes of playback Green turned to M’ress and said,

“Just who is Sponge Bob Squarepants?”


OHHHHHHH  Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?
SpongeBob SquarePants!
Absorbent and yellow and pourous is he!
SpongeBob SquarePants!
If nautical nonsense be something you wish!
SpongeBob SquarePants!
Then drop on the deck and flop like a fish!
SpongeBob SquarePants!


*****


Some time later, LeRoy entered Admirals Rollings office with a very self satisfying smirk. Not only had he managed to fool M’ress with the fake disk, but he had also completed another mission in the meantime. The data he had gathered would be invaluable to the Federation.

“Is that it?” she asked as he pulled the disk from his pocket.

“Yes ma’am.” He moved to a playback terminal and inserted the disk, and they watched in silence. When it was done she turned to Leroy and asked,

“Who in the hell is Howdy Doody?”


Say kids, what time is it?
It's Howdy Doody Time!

It's Howdy Doody Time.
It's Howdy Doody Time.
Bob Smith and Howdy Do
Say Howdy Do to you.
Let's give a rousing cheer,
Cause Howdy Doody's here,
It's time to start the show,
So kids let's go!

[KAT MRess]

Kroma was lounging in her room, feeling quite pleased with herself. It had been the performance of her career. She was particularly proud of the faint at the end to entice the young Fed into “stealing” her data. She would be able to make better use of this than selling it to the Feds or Kzin.

“Yesssss, my precioussssss. You sssshall go to the hightessst bidder.” She mused to herself while twirling the case between her fingers. She was so content with herself that she clumsily dropped the case.

However, when she leaned over to pick it up she noticed that it had popped open. And worse…

the case was empty.

The howl of rage could be heard above the music in the bar.


*****


Somewhere on a Klingon C7, dextrous fingers spun the datadisk on the end of a claw. A long Cuban cigar held in the same hand as a brandy snifter rose to the mouth which dragged off the cigar long and slow. Blue smoke was streamed into the air, while the white furry paw spun the disk.

“Amateurs.” He said quietly before sipping the cognac.

[Soreyes]

 


Yes we are all Amateurs compaired to the Lord Of Chaos 

[KAT MRess]

With that now retold, this thread has now passed the 10,000 mark, which moves this into 5th overall in the "Most popular thread" category.
Thank you once again for your continued interest.

And now, back to the current story...




 Tr’rin stared at M’ress for a minute, digesting all she had been told. While being fascinated with the story, she wasn’t entirely sure how it was relevant to their current position. She took another sip of the drink to buy some time and realized she was still clutching the towel. She toyed with the towel as she contemplated everything, realizing quickly that the throb in her head had indeed died down to a dull ache that could be ignored.

M’Ress watched her. He could almost see the thoughts running across her face. Everything was explained, and things were falling into place in her mind.

Except for one thing…

“So what was on the data disk?” she asked and after a brief pause… “And where did it go?”

Inside M’Ress smiled. Not only had she put it together and figured out the “Why” for the mission, she had also hit upon the “What” of the situation. He was now thoroughly convinced that hiring her was a good choice.

“We’re not sure,” He answered truthfully “And J’inn isn’t talking. Which is his prerogative as Minister of Intelligence during peace time.” (that was a lie) “However, given the currently political atmosphere, we need to know now… more than ever.”

Again she paused. Her eyebrows pulling together in thought. She was a lot more relaxed now sitting cross legged and leaning back against the wall. The towel was now forgotten spread across her lap and the drink was in one hand while she gestured with the other.

“So that’s where we’re really headed.” She reasoned “Someone in your position does not normally lead supply missions…” the thought finished up and she spoke it out loud. “You’re going back to try and get that disk.”

[KAT MRess]

Tr’rin’s career as a High Ranking Military Personal Assistant had gotten off to a shaky start. But now her total Net worth just skyrocketed. Not only had she stayed her ground during a battle (with minimal injury and not collapsing in fear), but now she had pieced together the true purpose of the mission with minimal prompting.

He smiled at her.

“Not bad.”

He sat back and looked at her appraisingly. She was still looking elsewhere as the thoughts concluded. Even though he had deliberately put out the evidence for her to see, it was still something else to actually take the pieces and put them together. And she had nailed it right on the head.

“And I’m the cover story.” She continued, “A younger female... or discreet ‘Diversion’ for a divorced high ranking ‘tosh.”

He glared at her. “Now THAT… is presumptuous and insulting.”

…and 100% true. he thought trying hard to not move a muscle in his face.

“But... ” she continued deliberately, “How else could you explain your second supply run during a war?  What better way than with your CIVILIAN secretary?”

Correction. Put the pieces together, drawn the correct conclusion AND determined the intended course of action.

Not bad at all.

[KAT MRess]

The crowd was in a good mood tonight. They weren’t rowdy or spoiling for a fight, mainly because there were not a lot of Klingons, but they were very vocal and loose with their money. The pocket and purses opened freely and frequently.

In what was becoming a frequent routine she was dancing on stage right before the feature headliner, who was always the same, the lizard that owned the place. She never could figure out if it was male or female. No one ever got close enough and Pk’zyy had no desire to find out for herself. Being on stage right before the Diva was as close as she wanted to get.

Up onstage the crowd was cheering, especially the Lyran section when she appeared. It seemed that several Lyran Patrol ships made their way past the Stars End Bar on a regular basis. This provided her with a regular crowd and steady income from the tips they would lavish on her. It was this income that accelerated her savings that would enable her to get back home.

So she did what she always did, played up to the Lyran section, allowing several of the Soldiers to place the tips into edges of her costume. It took a little practise, but the unwanted advances of these customers were now handled easily in such a way they always came back even though they were turned down flat.

It may have been demeaning, but at least she wasn’t selling herself completely. And she was making money faster than before.

[KAT MRess]

Three weeks!

That’s how long it would take to get to their destination at sublight.

Repairs were complete as they could get with the limited onboard resources and despite the large amount of re-enforcement, the Nacelle pylon was simply too unstable to handle Warp speeds. M’Ress had contacted Star’s End bar to inquire about additional parts that could be sent back on one of the other ships, but they informed him they didn’t carry spares for warships, something about not becoming a hostile center of activity.

So in the end one of the other escorts would warp back to M’Raa and get the parts but there would be delays in that. 3 more days to Star’s end while escorting the transport. 2 days to unload. 5 more days to return (damn those sublight engines), another 2 to re-load, and 3 more days to return to him.

Either way it was a long wait.

Boredom started to rear it’s ugly head again.

[KAT MRess]

By this time Tr’rin had read most of the procedural manuals and was starting to guess beforehand what the Yo’man needed before he handed any requests back for more information. The exchanges between them now consisted of handing the PADD back and forth as they answered each others questions. More and more frequently she had the final hand off.

While it thrilled Tr’rin  that she was able to execute her duties, it annoyed the Yo’man to no end that this young, female, civilian was showing him up. His duties were either being cut back or he was being laughed at for being upstaged by her. Either way, it was not a desirable situation for him.

M’ress meanwhile, had noticed the building tension and teeth grinding in the Yo’man and realized the cause was how much Tr’rin was unknowingly compromising him. His issue was to find something to occupy Tr’rin so no-one was compromised. By asking her to back off, demonstrated a lack of faith that had just instilled and compromised her. So he had to re-direct her efforts. Question was…how?

The answer to that predicament appeared quite unexpectedly.

[KAT MRess]

The Problem facing Gunnery Sergeant #7 wasn’t unique.

He had been around long enough that he had seen just about everything. He was used to dealing with young upstart officers fresh out of Boot who thought they knew everything, and some were more stubborn than others. However, this one by all accounts was proving to be more stubborn than usual. A LOT more.

He had dared to try and face down the C.O. and X.O. Even worse he had done it simultaneously. The sergeant had served the patriarch, even before he was a patriarch, and as far as he was concerned the position was not given or bought. It had been earned the old fashioned way with hard work, bravery and military discipline.

During the few brief appearances for meals, the new lieutenant had appeared sulky and bitter. But on the fourth day something changed. This piqued his interest. The scrub had shown promise in his abilities, he just had no interest. He needed… motivation.

[KAT MRess]

Rog’r was miserable.

Not for the reasonable that one would expect though.

After his…lecture with the Patriarch and his Exec, he had been furious. And he had stewed over it for several days. In fact it was the fourth day before he even opened the manual. He grudgingly began to read.

It soon became glaringly apparent just how many standing orders he had missed. It also became readily apparent he had been lucky to only be disciplined for one.

He had been warned about life “in the field”, but had dismissed them as embellishments from tired old soldiers. As a result, he had completely ignored the shipboard procedures. He had incorrectly assumed that basic training was enough and was now scrambling to get the manual read in it’s entirety within 3 days. Studying was bad enough, cramming while in confinement was even worse.

The door chime rang. Irritated at the interruption, he slowly got up to answer it. It rang again on his way to the door.

It was that Damn Sergeant.

[FPF-Paladin]

 

[CaptJosh]

Wait...is this mook gonna end up turning into something resembling a competent officer? *blink blink, blink...*

[KAT MRess]

Undecided...

I'm more focused in resolving M'Ress problems right now.

Will he make it back?

Will he get the disk?

Who did he wind up in bed with?

[KAT MRess]

Tr’rin arrived in the ready room beside the bridge. Most of the damage that had occurred to the bridge were power systems. As a result consoles had exploded from the feedback of the surge from the ESG. However, the damage was restricted to only that. There was no structural or hull damage. Most of the power couplings and monitors needed replacing as they were what absorbed most of the surge. The working components were protected by the power couplings doing what they were designed to do, rupture on overload. Once the power was reset and the monitors replaced functionality was almost completely restored.

Tr’rin had dodged the workers and wove a path across the bridge to get to the ready room. Today there was a lot less than previous days. While it was getting easier to navigate across the bridge, it was also getting easier to actually move around again. Her head didn’t throb as much from the concussion and her balance was coming back. She was even able to cover up the nasty mark left behind from her collision with the corner of the step on the rear part of the Bridge deck. There were a couple of stitches involved but they had been small and easily covered by her fur. It was no longer tender and she frequently forgot about them.

M’Ress obviously kept her on light duty and she had slept a lot the last few days which seemed to help a lot. But now she was feeling almost back to normal and was starting to move around again. She was even getting familiar with the ship, so she didn’t stop and ask for directions anymore.

As she entered the room, the Exec glanced up. He himself was still unsteady from his injuries. He had unwisely exerted himself in the discipline of a Junior officer and had paid the price for that. Typical of the head wound he had received, not feeling the pain until later. He was only now showing signs of recovery.

The Exec made a last comment and then folded up his report and stepped around her to leave. Tr’rin kept her eyes on M’Ress who had yet to lift his gaze and acknowledge her.

[KAT MRess]

I haven't forgotten about you guys.

Just took a break over the holidays and catching up on a few things.

[Rolling]

Tick Tock, time is up!  LOL!