Ships in the Night
Posted on Thu Aug 28th, 2014 @ 7:55pm by Carson Reed
Edited on on Thu Aug 28th, 2014 @ 7:59pm
Mission:
Vagrants, Vagabonds, and Thieves
Location: Main Bridge, SS Crescent Star
[ON]
[Main Bridge, SS Crescent Star, 0437 Hours]
Carson (PNPC) drummed his fingers idly along the edge of his workstation. Nearly forty minutes into the watch and already he was starting to feel a bit bored. Everything had gone smoothly enough with the hand-off from previous watch. Diagnostics were all reading green and there had been nothing new to report. In fact, things had been pretty quiet since they had left Shokaal. Given everything going on with the Sojourners lately, everyone operating in this part of the region was on heightened alert, but no one aboard the Crescent Star had actually seen any action awhile now. All quiet on the western front, Carson thought to himself.
Discontent to simply stare at the visual display right in front of him, Carson turned slightly in his chair. It wasn't long before his gaze began slowly wandering around the bridge. Immediately behind Carson was the center command chair which was currently occupied by Harrison (PNPC). Despite being First Mate, Harrison typically allowed the team a bit more freedom, especially during the morning watch. Their eyes made contact and she offered Carson a brief smile before turning her attention back to the large PADD in her lap. Directly in front of her was the ship's helm. Usually that station was manned by Ja'aal (NPC), but Porter (NPC) happened to be covering this morning's watch for him. Swapping duty shifts wasn't all that uncommon aboard the Crescent Star. As long as the work was getting done and done well, the captain was willing to be flexible.
Over on the far side of the room, Carson saw Winnow (NPC) keeping an eye on overall ship's operations. It was her responsibility to let them know of any situation, internal or external, that might affect the normal operation of the ship. A small smile tugged at the corners of Carson's mouth when he realized Winnow was starting to nod off a bit in her chair. He slowly rose from his seat and made his way over toward Winnow's station. "Long night," he asked, leaning against a nearby support beam.
"No," Winnow answered sharply. She immediately winced at the sound of her own voice, realizing that she'd spoken more loudly than she had probably intended. "Just taking a little longer for me to wake up, that's all," she continued in a hushed voice, "Missed my coffee this morning."
The previous evening's movie night had been a double-feature. Despite having always a popular event aboard the Crescent Star, it seemed as if the last few movie nights had seen greater attendance than those in the past. Perhaps it had to do with everything that was going on around them or maybe it was just because they'd been picking more popular films. Whatever the case, Carson only managed to get through the first film before starting to feel like maybe it was time to call it a night. He knew there were many others who had stayed up to finish the second film. It was entirely possible that Winnow had chosen to sit all the way through both.
"Oh, poor baby," Carson said, offering her an exaggerated look of sympathy. Winnow moved to smack him upside the head, but he managed to lean back far enough, earning himself only a light swat of reprove against the arm. "Hey," he said, throwing up his hands in mock defeat, "I get it. Don't get between the woman and her coffee."
"Darn right," Winnow grumbled. She looked like she was about to say more when an indicator light on her console began flashing. It was soon joined by a second indicator light, this one accompanied by a small chirping noise. There was a brief moment of confused hesitation before anyone moved to react. Winnow slowly sat up a little straighter in her chair and leaned a little closer to read what was coming across her display. Her brow furrowed. She reached over and keyed in a simple command, then waited for the computer to process the information.
"What is it," Carson asked, "Background radiation?"
"I'm not sure," Winnow replied, "hang on a sec." Bringing both hands onto the console, Winnow keyed in a string of commands, bringing up another window on her display. Carson figured she was probably cross checking the sensor data with the computer database to see if there was any sort of match. His smile began to fade somewhat when the answer did not come right away.
Harrison had been keeping an eye on things from where she sat toward the center of the bridge. It wasn't all that unusual for members of the watch to wander around, sharing information, or even enjoying a little conversation. As long as it didn't interfere with their work, there certainly weren't any rules against it. Their sudden change in demeanor, however, did not go unnoticed. "Something you two want to share with the class," she asked, making her way over, "or do you plan on keeping it to yourselves?"
"We're not sure," Carson blurted out. Too late, he realized the question was probably more directed at Winnow, who paused just long enough to give him a stern look before resuming her study of the sensor readings. Carson shifted slightly to make room for Harrison as they waited to see what the final assessment would be.
A sharp chirp indicated the computer finished its analysis. All three of them leaned in slightly to read the information now scrolling across Winnow's display. What they saw there gave them each reason to pause. When Harrison finally spoke, her voice was utterly serious. "Something tells me your father is going to want to see this, Carson," she said.
[OFF]
Jennifer Harrison (NPC)
First Mate
SS Crescent Star
Played by: Cadet Anderson
Elizabeth Winnow (PNPC)
Engineering Specialist
SS Crescent Star
Played by: Cadet Anderson
AND
Carson Reed (PNPC)
Deck Cadet
SS Crescent Star
Played by: Cadet Anderson
