Eat, or be eaten?

Posted on 06 Sep 2015 @ 4:58am by Commander Travis Stone & Lieutenant Xanth

808 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: M13-C: Shattered Time
Location: Arboretum

Ever since their arrival at DS9, one issue after another had been cropping up onboard the three ships. Naturally this lead to more paperwork for Travis to sort out, and he was remembering why he disliked being the XO. Amoung the notes for things to do left on his daily list, was a checking in with their new Chief Flight Controller. "Computer, location of Lieutenant Xanth." He called out, figuring out the best way to meet this El-Aurian. The few encounters he had with the in the past were at best trouble as they could instantly pick up on his Marine training and disagreed with it.

"Lieutenant Xanth is on Deck 3, Aft, in the Arboretum," the computer reported. Evidently, the pilot had already found his way on board and was doing a bit of exploring.

"Deck Three...20 minutes walk or site to site,. Nah, I'll walk." Travis said aloud to himself. After the long walk, Travis stepped into the Arboretum and looked around. At this ime of day most were about in other locations, so spotting the subject of his search was obvious. The sight though, had him worried.

Of all the things the ship's flight controler might be up to, finding him with his face almost buried inside one of the large blossoms of a flowering plant that looked almost half the size of a shuttle was probably not too expected. The El Aurian's red collar could still be seen at least, and he was the only officer nearby at this time so it must be him. He had a tricorder in hand pointed at the plant and it sang through it's scans while Xanth himself seemed preoccupied by staring.

Yeah, seeing your flight controller almost buried in a plant was not the normal, and he decided to make sure the man was still alive. Large plant life and he were not on the best of terms. "You know, if that was a Larasian Trolis Blossom, we'd need a new Flight Controller." He stated in his more diplomatic mode, with the deeper voice.

Xanth pulled himself out of the depths of the massive petals at hearing the voice, and with a press of his finger holding the tricorder paused its scans. He glanced at the pips on the man's collar, his face lit up with a bright grin, and he asked happily, "Would you be Commander Stone? I'm sorry I haven't reported to you directly yet. I had heard the Achilles had a Rigellian Mammoth Iris, and I just had to see it." He paused for a moment, thinking over what the man had said, then asked another question, "Do you have an interest in botany too, Commander?"

Travis extended his hand before answering. "Yes, I am Commander Stone. As for botany, insofar as much as I prefer to know what's going to try and eat me when I go on deployments. My Marine unit was deployed to Larasian three to fortify a local garrison after some pirate activity. Ended up using the plants as an ambush to get rid of the problem. I'm more a non-fighter pilot, engineer, and Marine by trade."

"A pleasure, sir," Xanth said, and went through the motions of the human shaking of hands. They did like their little rituals. "A very pragmatic approach. And I'm sure the Trolis Blossoms appreciated it." The pilot closed his tricorder and slipped it into the spot on his uniform waist. "Well, I suppose this makes it official now, Commander. I would assume you'd like to discuss responsibilities, duty rosters, Flight Department performance review expectations, and so on?"

"That's the plan Lieutenant. However, before we go any further, have you eaten?" Travis asked out of the blue, partly to throw Xanth off, partly in honest contemplation of the fact it was well past time for a meal, but he wasn't going to subject Xanth to that if the man wasn't hungry.

"I haven't since breakfast, sir," Xanth replied with a shaking of his head. Lunch with the XO so soon was an honour in his mind. Plus, this would allow him to get to know the man and his character as there'd be plenty of conversation to Listen to. It wasn't an invasive sort of empathy, but more like a highly developed reading of tone, body language, and most importantly, word choice. "I'll be glad to get down to business as well."

"You probably know more of it than I do considering. On a ship this size, it means our responsbilities have at least tripled, and that's before we add in the other ships that will all be reporting in. After you." Travis motioned to the door so they could get going.

[OFF]

Commander Travis Stone
Executive Officer
USS Achilles

Lieutenant Xanth
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Achilles

 

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