Two Old Friends and a Problem.

Posted on Saturday September 17th, 2022 @ 6:55am by Commander Sam Perkins & Lieutenant Lazarus Kord

1,288 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: S1-A1-Ep. 2: Our Foremost Virtues
Location: Science Lab & Engineering

[ ON ]

-Science Lab-

Perkins sat back and looked at the data again. It looked more like gibberish then the genetic make up of a plant. Namely Susan Normans ‘girlfriend’ two sentiment plants. Which resembled an Earth type cactus with flailing vines and a habit, of getting into mischief.

oO Poor Lazarus. It wasn’t his day.Oo Sam thought.

He ran the tricorder over ‘ her ‘ again. Still gibberish. Then an idea came to him. It had been while since he had seen his Gorn friend. So picking up the faulty device he made his way to Engineering.

Lazarus had just concluded seeing Lt. Michael Stevens sometime earlier in the day, so witnessing Lt. Cmndr. Sam Perkins arrive was an actual treat. He perked up and turned to face his friend.

"Sam!" he greeted, dropping what he was doing for the moment. "How are you? What can I help with?"

Sam smiled.

“ Hello my friend. Well apart from surviving an explosion in the Lab. Thanks to a friend of yours who I will not name. Not to bad. I thought it’s been a while since I saw you. Plus this tricorder is faulty. I decided to come and visit you. If that is ok?” Sam asked.

"Absolutely that's fine," Kord replied. "What's wrong with the tricorder? I have a few minutes to help."

He extended his claws to receive the tricorder to examine it.

“ It’s not scanning properly. By the way. How is the scale condition coming along. Did my ointment work?” Sam asked

Lazarus took the tricorder, easily using his claws to pry it open at specific spots. He waved Sam on as he took the tricorder pieces and the Lt. Cmndr. to a nearby engineering terminal. There the Gorn placed the parts of the tricorder on a scanner, tapping in the commands on the console as he eyed the readout. It would take some time.

"The ointment has been working wonderfully," Lazarus said as he kept an eye on the screen but flicked his gaze between Sam and the readout. "You have a magic touch, my friend. How's your little plant doing? Hopefully still caged, yes?"

“ Actually Lazarus thanks to Norman and his girlfriend Susan. I am still alive. They warned me about the explosion in the lab. If I had been any closer. I shudder to think.” Sam said without pausing to think. Lazarus did not know about Susan.

At first, Lazarus looked horrified at his friend. He stared a long moment as if questioning his sanity and decision making, before coming to the conclusion that the plants did save his friends life. He gave a shrug, and shuddered gently at the last memory of his encounter with the plants.

"Well," he said, nodding a bit with a sigh. "I supposed if.they saved your life they can't be that bad. But I never want to be near one again. No offense."

The console chimed, Lazarus turning his attention there. He gave a few humms and hmms as he read the readouts. Then his eyes briefly went wide.

"Sam, who was the last person you loaned this tricorder to?" the Gorn asked, serious now.

Perkins frowned and moved over to a computer console. He started to run his hands over the surface.

“ I’ll have to check records. We have so many it’s difficult…. Oh. Cadet Stuart Stewart.” He said

Lazarus thought a moment.

"How long did he have the tricorder? When did he return it to you? Did you notice anything off about it?"

Sam’s face darkened.

“ To be honest Lazarus I did not even know he had it. As you may of heard Cadet Stewart has been severely disciplined for cheating. According to these records he had it for a three days. Research for botany test. Although I do not think it ever went near any plants. Why what’s wrong my friend?” Sam asked

Lazarus had heard someone on board had been canned for cheating, but hadn't heard who. Now it made sense. The ships rumormill had been going wild with theories as to why a cadet had been disciplined. They ranged from standard insubordination to the impossible level of espionage.to Lazarus, it now seemed like some of the rumors were true.

"Whoever had this device last manipulated it to fail," the Gorn said. "They put in a program to have it explode after so many uses. You were on the last use. I don't know how, but the computer says it's been irreparably damaged. You're going to need a new one and I'm going to need to dispose of this safely."

The Gorn was just glad his friend was alright. He now had a hatred for this Cadet Stewart. If he ever saw him...

Sam shook his head.

“ You know Lazarus the Poseidon would be a much better place if we did not have Cadets running around. I am starting to have some bad feelings about out recently departed monster. Cadet Stewart. Maybe we should run a full scan of his bio? How long will it take to get us a new tricorder. I hear there is a waiting list.” Sam asked

"Oh, he's gone? Good," huffed the Gorn as he snorted, looking away. A moments pause to collect himself before looking back at Sam.

"Not long at all, actually. I can have one made for you if you'd like," he said, smirking. "You got connections and I got access to the industrial replicator."

“ Well in that case…. “ Sam looked around.

“ Could you do something about the Earl Grey Tea on the Poseidon replicator menu. It really does taste like horse urine. Which I tasted many years ago.” Sam said

The look on the Gorns face was priceless. His stare of bewildered respect for the man in front of him would of been something to see.

"You...." he began, then shook his head. "Sometimes I wonder if I should be afraid of being your friend, or relieved. Either way, I'll look into it. Let me get on your device first."

The Engineering Officer left for a minute, returning with a new hand-held for the Lt. Cmndr. He handed it over, then tilted his head.

"There you go. Now, which replicator needs to be fixed or is this....all of them?" he asked, somewhat pensive of the answer.

Perkins could see the confession at drinking horse urine had Lazarus looking at him oddly.

“ Just this one. About the horse urine. It was a long time ago. You see my grandmother had a problem with rabbits. They where getting into her vegetable patch and stealing carrots. So someone recommended spraying horse urine. Around the bases of the plants. With the rabbits sensitive sense of smell. It would drive them away. I was ten and I saw a bottle of what I assumed was apple juice. I took a drink and spat it out. She told me what it was and I rushed to the bathroom. To wash my mouth out with soap.” Sam said.

"Alright then, I'll work on that specific replicator this evening after my shift. I'll make sure to correct whatever is wrong," Lazarus assured. He then chuckled at the story. "We all have to learn sometime, right?"

“Yes indeed. Sam said

Lazarus smiled, valuing this time with his friend. He'd have to arrange a more informal meeting soon. He gave Sam a pat on his shoulder.

"I'll get to work on the things you asked. I'll make sure they get done. See you around, Sam."

“ Thanks Lazarus. Anyway I need to got back. See you later,” Sam said

[OFF]

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Lieutenant Lazarus Kord
Engineering Officer
USS Poseidon

&

Lieutenant Commander Sam Perkins
Chief Science Officer
USS Poseidon

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