He Never Listens [Mission Start]

Posted on Fri Mar 3rd, 2023 @ 10:36am by Ensign Davna

809 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Pressure
Location: Captain Mahone's Cabin, Haumea Colony
Timeline: MD 01 : 0524 Hrs

It was rare to spot the young Orion so far out and away from her apartment or the Command Center. But it was more rare to not see the Captain in the Command Center during his scheduled working time. Not without some sort of message. But she made the trip out, via the commuter teleporters that were installed to make the trek easier. In her hands was the small, pastel blue Daucin she had adopted, who was munching on a spare piece of metal that was found during one of her various clean outs of the Captain’s office space. Luckily, Captain Mahone did not immediately boo the idea of keeping one of the creatures as a pet, especially when she pointed out it was his dogs who tracked the poor thing in.

If she wasn’t his yeoman, she might have made a case to post as a zoologist for the science department. The number of animals she found herself caring for made the career path change all the more appealing.

But now, she had a more bipedal being to corral. Captain Mahone was not at his desk when she toddled in this morning, and he was always at his desk before she was. Always. So, she took measures, sent out messages, and attempted to contact him before his various meetings. Maybe he had gone off and adventured with that finely mustached bartender he liked so much, or perhaps the Vesta had made a stealthy stop and he was speaking with either the Admiral or Asahi. Or, maybe Seshi abducted him for another round of ‘taste my Father’s alcoholic concoctions.’ But her messages and attempts at reaching out came up fruitless. Seshi had not seen him, busy with appealing to a small camp of Romulans. Cornelius had not seen him either, or that’s what one of his various staff members had said.

So she was here, concerned that he finally fell ill enough to miss all his alarms and forget where his PaDDs were. She had already rung a couple of times, frowning at the lack of response or eruption of dogs barking from the other end. Her small companion stared up at her with great big eyes, chirruping in encouragement.

“I don’t know. I shouldn’t use the override he gave me,” she stated worriedly, patting the Daucin on the head. “I don’t want to ruin a potentially private moment.” And she sure did not want to see if the Captain was finally listening to some of her other advice. But the Daucin chirruped again, this time with a gentle nip at her finger. She frowned. “... Fine.”

She set the creature on her shoulder and began to work. Pulling her commbadge off, she used the end of it to pry open the doorbell’s paneling. Near the series of wires and circuitry, there was a series of buttons in an miniscule area, each with an unidentifiable symbol on it. With the same end of her badge, she pressed the numbers in a pattern, looking at the door and expecting it to slide open as usual.

But it did not.

“... That’s weird.” Davna looked down at the exposed panel again. While she never had to utilize the code before, it was unlikely the Captain had it changed; she would have known if he did. “... Well Forte, it looks like this might call for something a little less elegant.” she stated in a stubborn cheer, before looking up at the door again. “A power cut might explain this. It wouldn’t surprise me if the Captain slept through all that. I told him he should have gotten the back up power to route to his cabin.”

She let out a small sigh before moving to pry the door open. It was predictably tougher than the doors at the Command Center, as advised by the head of security many years prior. But she could at least peek in and make sure he wasn't dying.

As the Orion pulled, the Daucin hopped off her shoulder to squeeze through the opening when it was large enough for him to get through. The creature sniffed, chirruping in worry before darting in further.

"Forte, come back!" The Daucin returned at her call, but not empty handed. As he squeezed through the little entrance she had made, she noticed the faded silver commbadge in his teeth. But the blood that dripped from it had her let go of the door in surprise, and it unceremoniously shut in her face.

"Oh no. No no no no... was the Captain in there?" She asked in worry, but instead of looking back to the door, her hand went right to her badge. "Command Center, this is Davna. We need Medical and Security down here now."

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