Gifts from home

Posted on Sat May 18th, 2019 @ 3:33am by Lieutenant Raine MacLeod & Lieutenant JG Brian Pendragon

893 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Mission 6.5 - Obtaining New Crew
Location: Security Office
Timeline: 2296/02/14 - 1100

The notification flag on Brian Pendragon's console blinked at him. He had mail and it was from his mother. He should leave it until break time, it wasn't likely to be urgent, but then again the level 5 diagnostic he was running still had ten minutes to go and it wasn't like he could use that time for much else constructive.

He checked over his shoulder to ensure no one was looking his way, then opened the text transcript of the mail, the video could wait.

It started with the usual greetings and updates on friends and family, asked after how he was doing after all the... you know... then fell into an apology about how the last cake she had sent had gone the long way round and been somewhat stale by the time it had eventually succeeded in its intercept course with Brian himself. This time, it appeared, she had worked out a better answer and even a belt and braces solution she thought he would find helpful...

Oddly, there wasn't a receipt for collection from the stores, as there normally would be for an incoming parcel. Ah well, maybe it was caught up in admin.

Brian closed the message, then realised the notification flag was still blinking, only this time it was an urgent summons to Security. His heart skipped a beat. Was he in trouble? What for?

[Security Office]

With everything working well at inspection, Raine turned her attention to those parcels that hadn't cleared. Seated at her desk, she prepared a list detailing the items, including scan results, and the intended recipient of each then shipped it off to the First Officer as he had requested. Each individual on the list had also been contacted by security. It was just a matter of time before they started showing up, dragging their excuses and questions behind them. In the meantime, she settled in to catch up on duty logs from the last shift.

Having asked for and been granted time away from his station, thanks to the notification, Brian arrived at the office several minutes later, knocked at the door and stammered a greeting.

"Er... hello? P... Pendragon... Brian... Lieutenant j.g. I got a m... message to come? Reference number," he closed his eyes for a moment, trying to recall it, "Seven three oh nine six dash two... No - three! Um... well... one or other."

"Ah yes," Raine said. "You know, this was voted most interesting by the officer on duty. Not a small thing. Registered primarily because it was soaked so the baking process didn't burn off the alcohol and for the very interesting means of shipping." Raine smiled cheerfully as she pushed the package over. "Engineering got a good look as well to verify what it was ... that being," and here she consulted the list she kept, "a makeshift stasis chamber. Not well made. Not dangerous but some of the parts were ... questionable."

"Oh, Mother..." Brian muttered under his breath. "Please don't have done anything radioactive this time..."

Louder, addressing the Lieutenant, he tentatively queried, "So... er... is it safe now? I mean the chamber itself, although admittedly I guess that could equally apply to the cake, insofar as the safety could apply to either the safe delivery itself or indeed whether the cake itself is safe for consumption. Oh - you didn't say it was a cake, did you - I figured that was the most likely thing to soak in alcohol, but given that it's my mother, in fairness, it could be nearly anything...."

He ground to a halt.

"Um... sorry... I got a bit... Yeah... So... Er... Would you like a slice? If it is cake, I mean."

Raine laughed even as she shook her head. "Aah, no. Thank you but ... no. Yes, its a ... well ... some sort of cake but I just never expected one to be that particular shade of green. If you squint your eyes right, it kind of looks like moss. Anyway, umm ..." she consulted the report for a moment. "To answer your question, not radioactive. Safe to eat at least within the next twenty-four hours. After that, its everybody's guess how long before the chamber is going to self destruct, intentionally or otherwise."

Brian scooped up the package. "Thank you. I'll... see if mum documented the specs. If she did, that should help, but she doesn't always. Sometimes she just wings it. Dad despairs - says she'd be brilliant if she did the homework to go with it." He trailed off - the Chief probably wasn't interested in his family dynamics, was she. "Well, yes - I'd better be... um... getting back then."

He attempted something as close to a salute as could be managed with an armful of homemade stasis chamber containing a cake, then backed out of the office, planning to secure the package in a suitable shielded cubbyhole in Engineering until he could take the time for a closer look at the end of his shift. On the bright side, at least he did now have something he could give to, or at least share with T'Pruk.

Raine watched him go, one corner of her mouth quirking upward slightly, as she made a note to pay special attention to the Lieutenant's packages from his mother. And then, shaking her head, went back to her review.

 

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