Encounter

Posted on Wed Sep 25th, 2024 @ 2:37pm by Lieutenant Colonel Cornelius Tremble & Ensign Millicent Ambrose
Edited on on Mon Sep 30th, 2024 @ 3:00am

1,090 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Episode 15 - The Evil That Lies Beneath
Location: Deck 5, Subsection J5
Timeline: MD 0009 0730 hrs

Milie had just finished replacing a few anodyne relays which had been making an annoying hissing sounds. This made things a bit more quieter, of which the ensign was quite happy about. To Millie, it was a bit creepy hearing the hissing, especially due to the almost paranormal event that happened in the jeffery tube on Deck Five. She shivered thinking about that. So far that one hatch has stayed closed and the bolts stayed in place. Being tired, Millie thought she had seen an apparition, comes with being tired and the creepiness of Deck Five.

Millie leaned against the wall of the corridor she was traversing, to catch her breath and to conquer the memory of that nightmare. breathe in, breathe out Millie, there was nothing there

Neil was tired.

And he was due back on the bridge for another four hour shift, but he was a firm believer in Command officers being seen by the crew, taking an interest in what was going on aboard. In Marine speak, it was known as Trooping the Line and with the recent mess, Neil wanted Pioneer's crew to see he was in command and taking an interest.

His contact tracked movement and auto-sorted through work orders and he found a crawl space panel displaced and noted that Ensign Ambrose was apparently affecting repairs. The work ticket wasn't closed out yet, but her comm badge was moving in this direction. Neil crossed his arms and leaned against the bulkhead a meter from the opening and waited.

A bit more settled, Milie exited the hatch, closing it up tight. She hadn't noticed the person in the corridor until she turned to start walking back to Engineering. She paused, noticing someone not too far away, The man looked somewhat familiar, she moved closer to him, trying to place in her mind who he was. Then it hit her causing her to gasp audibly. It was Major Tremble! Well he looked like the image she had seen on the manifest.

With a quaver in her voice Milie asked, "A-are you Major Tremble?" her face slightly pale.

"Last time I checked," Neil said with an easy tone, taking in her apparent nervousness. He didn't need his contact reading her bio-signs for that. "Everything ship-shape with the relays? No one's breaking the ship, are they?"

"The ship is on its way to being ship-shape, and repairs are being made. " a half beat of a pause, "Sir, I want to say I am glad you are not dead. Things have been strange since, well, since the disappearance of department heads. I had a nightmare of people having died. One of them was you. And I've not met you before, until now.

Cracking half a smile, Neil said. "Me too. I'm glad I was I wasn't dead." Then he raised an eyebrow toward the Ensign, "Would you have preferred me to be dead a specific way?"

"Wait... w-w-what? No no no that isn't what I am talking about." her hands palms out and her head shaking side to side her eyes filled with fright. "You see I was chasing down a problem which led me to Marine Country, I met Fry we talked, were on our way to make certain that the anomaly wasn't affecting the security system. And it was interesting to be down there, but also a little bit creepy. Well I felt I wasn't supposed to be there. Anyway the nightmare came from all the weird stuff going on and I think I ate something which brought upon that nightmare." feeling a slight amount of panic.

Neil leaned against the bulkhead and said easily, "Take a breath. Hold it and let it out slowly, Ensign. We've all been through a traumatic time and will have to deal with that. The important thing to remember is it's over now and things will move back towards normal. Carefully, he reached out then and put a hand on her shoulder. "It's a lot, and I think it might be a good idea to schedule some time to see the Counselor. And spend some down time with your friends. We're en-route to Empok Nor and you can get leave too."

"I do plan on seeing a counselor on certain matters. And a break would be lovely." calming down. She was finding Tremble not so scary. "I-I am sorry to seem so skittish where you are concerned." She paused looking at the XO. "And now i have given you a rather weird impression of me. " she gave a wry smile.

"I generally hold off on full impressions until at least three crisis situations have been encountered, so you're good Milli," Neil said reassuringly. "For the next few days, just be mindful that you aren't the only one feeling the effects of all this. If you need help, seek it out. And my door is always open."

"You are right, Major Tremble." Milie giving a smile. "and as you have said, there are others who have gone through their own troubles with what happened." she moved from her seated position, taking a look at the major. "Thank you for checking up on me, and I will seize upon the shore leave to get to know some others of the crew." her smile brightening up even more.

"Continue Mission, Ensign. Keep up the good work," Neil said, giving the young woman a smile before stepping past and continuing .

Millie walked a couple of paces then turned to watch Major Tremble as he went his way down the corridor. She had gotten comfort from just talking to him for the small moment of time, he took to speak to her. The longer she was on this ship, and meeting the crew here, the more she felt her confidence start to return. She still had things to work through but with someone like Major Tremble and others, Millie felt confident that she will continue to move forward.

Even though he wouldn't hear her, Millie uttered softly, "Thank you, Major Tremble, thank you for stopping to talk to me. It meant a great deal." with that utterance, Millie turned to continue towards Engineering, and then towards her beckoning bunk.

A Joint Post By

Major Cornelius Tremble
Executive Officer, USS Pioneer
Commanding Officer, The Cure

Ensign Millicent Ambrose
Engineering Officer, USS Pioneer

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