Up to something bad

Posted on Saturday August 24th, 2024 @ 10:10pm by Lieutenant Commander Erika Itsumi

1,510 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: The Grand Tour: Part Two
Location: Various
Timeline: Current
Tags: Grand Tour, 2395, Character Development

[ON]

-Science Lab-

Why was it that Cadets forgot that if you wanted to not look guilty. The most important thing was not to suddenly stop talking and look at the floor. When a senior tutor walks past you then start it up again when he is past. Plus they were way too happy for a Monday morning for Perkins liking. No they were up to something and he had a rather horrific feeling he knew what it was. An illegal alcohol brewing still.

A year ago Sam had been almost killed when an illegal brewing still hidden behind the wall in the lab exploded. Trapping him and another crew member under the rubble. Well this time he needed to stop this in the bud. He had already checked all the walls in the science lab. Now searching in a much larger circle was needed. He tapped his com badge.

=/\= Perkins to Commander Itsumi come in please. =/\=

Erika was observing a group of security cadets under Trensu when her com badge went off. Erika quietly excused herself from the group before answering it:

=A= "This is Itsumi. Go ahead, Perkins."=A= She said.

=/\= Sorry to bother you I need to see you about a serious issue. I would rather not talk over the comm. Can we meet up in the Officers mess please?=/\=

=A="Understood. I'm on my way."=A=

Erika was currently on deck 7, where the security complex was, and as such, she would need to head up to Deck 3 where Perkins had requested to meet her. With Trensu's group out of sight, Erika made her way to the nearest turbolift that serviced deck 3. The turbolift car was unfortunately on another deck when Erika got there, and she had to wait for it to reach deck 7 before she could board.

"Deck 3." Erika called out her destination as she stepped aboard. When the doors closed, the turbolift began its ascent to deck 3.

Two pairs of nervous eyes watched her go.

- Officers Mess-

Sam had heard the Trensu and Johnson had Given Cadet Nigel Raymond a second chance. Well the young man was certainly trying to make up for it. The smell of toasted cheese and fresh bread met his nose. Looking over the menu he saw his favourite dish macaroni and cheese served on toast, was available. Well if they were giving him a second chance , why not. But maybe after his talk with Erika for now a mug of Green Tea would do. He took his drink and took an empty table.

Erika's stomach had rumbled a couple of times on the way up to deck 3. So, naturally, she had followed the smell of food to the officers mess. Unlike Perkins, Erika had been drawn to the officers mess by a different array of spices. She noticed when she arrived that orange chicken was on the menu, served on the customer's choice of noodles or rice. Having a particular weakness for orange chicken, Erika was quick to order herself some served on noodles without vegetables and fetched herself some Calpis juice to wash it all down with before joining Commander Perkins at his table.

"Mmmm..." Erika muttered as she sat down. "Whoever made this orange chicken knows how to make it right. No offense to The China Garden, but there was just something off about their orange chicken. Anyhow; what was it you wanted to speak to me about, Commander?"

“ I don’t know if you have been made familiar with the events of a year ago. I was nearly killed by a couple of Cadets brewing illegal alcohol in a still hidden behind a wall in the science lab.”Sam said.

"I've read the report on the incident filed by my predecessor." Erika said. "The lack of detail in the report was... Alarming, to say the least. And no disciplinary action was taken against the cadets by the Cultural Division under the administration of my predecessor."

Sam shook his head.

“ As I was out cold I assumed the Cadets had been punished. But now you’re saying those idiots are still around. They would have been transferred to another vessel if that is so they could be up to there shenanigans all over again. Maybe even passing on what they have learnt…” Sam said shocked.

"It certainly speaks volumes as to the incompetence of my predecessor." Erika commented. "I would have assumed a major incident like that would have warranted an investigation by cultural, but no such investigation was performed. Almost like Serran was content to just let someone else handle it. Which, as you've pointed out, would have given those assholes plenty of ways to slip through the cracks."

Sam scratched his beard in thought.

“ Serran? I thought he left us ages ago.No wonder some of the Cadets were out of control. Now it seems they may be up to the same thing again. There would be plenty of places to set up a good hiding place. That is until the thing explodes and takes me with it.” Sam warned.

"Sorry, the record keeping in Diplomatic has been... Spotty." Erika explained. "If Serran has been gone a long time, then somehow his name continued to get stamped on Diplomatic documents... I'll have to investigate the matter."

Erika then realized she was only paying attention to half of what Sam was saying.

"Anyhow, you suspect that these cadets that evidently went unpunished by whoever was running Diplomatic at the time might have set up a new hidden still?" She asked. "Any locations that particularly stand out as being suspect?"

“ Well it would have to be somewhere no one senior would find it. Plus a power source and plenty of venting for the fumes. The Jeffries tubes , Engineering , Cadet quarters, if they could get access there’s a nice little area near the internal access for the Impulse drive. If it blew up there say good bye to the ship.” Sam replied.

"Yeah, no kidding;" Erika surmised. "If the resulting plasma fires weren't put out quickly enough, they'd overtake the entire..."

Erika trailed off without finishing her thought. Her expression went blank as she remembered the screams.

Some people often said Sam had as much tact as a box of squirrels. But he could see that Erika was distressed.

“ I’m sorry are you alright?” He asked

Worryingly, Sam's question went unanswered as Erika's blank stare into space directly to his right quickly surpassed a thousand yards.

Many years ago Sam had visited an Uncle who used to be in Starfleet but retired suddenly at a young age. It was just after Perkins had graduated from the academy. All was going well until Sam asked about his Uncles time in Starfleet. His Uncles vessel had visited a mining colony called Harmony bay and something bad had happened. The man literally just froze and would not speak. Erika’s expression was just the same as his uncle. PTSD. Sam tried to remember his training he was a little rusty on medical stuff like this. A strong scented mug of sweet tea had helped his uncle. So he ordered one from the replicator and gently ran it under her nose.

“ Erika…..it’s ok…..you’re safe….” He said softly.

Indeed, strong scented tea had been the first thing Erika had smelled when she regained consciousness in an ICU biobed. Someone occupying the bed across from her had ordered it and the smell had wafted over, awakening Erika from her medically-induced coma.

Of course, that had also been the same time Erika found out she couldn't use her legs, and out of instinct, Erika's foot suddenly shot forward and struck Sam in the leg. Erika snapped back to reality as soon as she realized what she had done:

"Oh my gosh, I am so sorry!" She apologized profusely. "I didn't mean to-!"

“ That’s ok Erika I have another leg. Drink the tea it should help you. You’re not the first person I have seen with PTSD. My uncle was at Harmony Bay when the Gorn pirates attacked. Listen if this is too painful for you I can ask someone else to help on this. I don’t want to cause you any more distress.” Sam said

"No, if anything, it's even more imperative that we put a stop to this." Erika said. "So that way more people won't get hurt."

“ Ok. Let me just see to my leg. Luckily I carry a medical pack , where ever I go. You never know when something decides to make you it’s day or night time snack. I think we should start looking at Engineering, I have a sample of some Cadet made alcohol from last time. Use can use it to scan the area.” Sam said.

Erika nodded.

"Then we'll use that as a start." She said. "And we'll make sure those cadets don't get away with it this time."

Posting by

Commander Sam Perkins
Chief Science Officer
USS Poseidon

Lieutenant Commander Erika Itsumi
Chief Cultural Officer
USS Poseidon

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