Concern and Comfort Food

Posted on Mon Sep 30th, 2019 @ 5:36pm by

1,147 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: What Stalks The Night
Location: CO's Ready Room

Amélie paused outside the CO's ready room, checking the basket she held in her hand for what was likely the eleventy millionth before taking a deep breath and pressing the chime. She stood almost rigidly at attention, while waiting, an overwhelming feeling of uncertainty hanging over her.

So far the majority of her efforts to be friendly had been met with something nearing hostility, so she mostly expected this attempt to be met with outward rejection, but still she held out a little hope that maybe, just maybe, the Captain would be different.

After what felt like the longest of moments, the doors parted and she stepped through into the Ready Room, casting a smile toward Captain Hood.

"Captain," she said warmly. "You might not remember me, I'm Lieutenant Amélie D'Aramitz, Chief Counselor here on the Dreadnought?" She paused again, shuffling the weightiness of the basket resting on her forearm. "I hope I'm not intruding too much?"

Hood was reading the report that was sent to him about the systems investigations and crew checks that were being completed. There was still very little news about cause or reason as to what was going on. This lack of news or updates was a worry, for this to happen so soon after arrival and the sequence of events made him feel that something was not right. "Counsellor. Of course I remember. What can I do for you?" He'd knew that he got a report from her yet had not had time to read it. "Please, take a seat."

With a gracious smile, Amélie offered a slight bow of her head. "You don't need to do anything for me Captain," she said softly. "I'm here to help you. If you're anything like any other Captain I've ever known, right now you're grinding yourself to the bone to stay on top... so I'm here to help." She set the basket on the edge of his desk and opened it. "I called in some favors so everything is fresh, nothing replicated." She started by setting three large flasks on his desk. "I didn't know what you preferred, so I have tea, coffee and hot chocolate." She paused, only momentarily before pulling out a smaller sized flask. "Freshly made chicken soup," she explained with a smile before delving back into the basket and setting three more air tight containers on the desk in front of him. "Assorted sandwiches, chocolate cake, and a container of fresh trail mix to keep you going while you work." Finished, she closed the basket and set it down on the floor next to her before taking the seat he had previously offered. "Now, Captain Hood, what can I do to help YOU?" she asked pointedly.

Will was a little surprised by the assorted array of selections presented to him. "Well actually I was hoping you could give me some insight as to the how the crew are handling these recent turn of events." He walked to the replicator and gathered cups and saucers before returning to his desk. "Recent events as they are seem odd in timing. We have yet to leave orbit and yet a disaster strikes the hanger and we have lost contact with the away team."

"I think the crew is confused," Amélie said softly. "I'm sure you know what it's like Sir, even on a ship this size the rumor mill goes into overdrive almost immediately. There is confusion, concern and frustration, but at this point among the general populus I don't think that what we are seeing is anything more than normal..." she paused a moment, contempling before she spoke again. "Should we expect to see more Captain?" she asked quietly, almost hesitatantly.

"At this stage I don't know. Which I can understand might cause some worries for the crew if they are witness to something happening. I have reason to believe that someone on board is responsible so I have the Chief Intelligence Officer looking into backgrounds of those on board, but with the size of the crew it will take some time." He spoke as he thought about the sequence of events. "This issue with the Hanger Bay, while I know is being handled, is troublesome but Im waiting for the reports to come in."

"The crew will deal with it," Amélie said gently as she rose from the chair. "Tea, coffee or hot chocolate?" she asked with a smile, her hands hovering over the first three flasks. After he gave his preference as Coffee, Amélie opened the flask, pouring the dark aromatic liquid heavily into his cup. Once it was full she pushed it carefully back toward him before retrieving milk, cream and sugar from the basket and setting them in front of him before pouring a small amount of hot chocolate into her own cup and pulling it back toward her without adding any other accompaniments. "The crew have been trained to deal with uncertainty Sir," she said softly. "The question I have is how are YOU dealing with things?"

"Honestly after the last mission I feel this is perhaps one final luxury before the end of my career. The last mission was a disaster with broad reaching political ramifications." While he couldn't say what they were, he could stress the severity of them. "The previous Dreadnought was mothballed because of what happened the mission prior resulting in her being infected by some raditation absorbing organism that grew in size as it fed." Will sighed. "We were lucky to get home."

He seemed to have that thousand yard stare going for a moment. "Something isn't right, that much I am sure of. Someone on board this ship is putting lives at risk in order to make us leave. In the one hand I'm not leaving here until I get confirmation the cargo was delivered and received, but this far on the edge of federation space, alone...." Will didn't doubt the ship, at least not initially but with these system troubles starting up, he now had doubts.

"So how can I help?" Amélie asked softly, her voice ringing with sincerity. "Medical doesn't seem to need me, so I'm at your disposal. What can I do to help make your life easier, Sir?"

----

Amélie walked out of the CO's Ready Room quietly, heading toward the nearest turbolift to head back down to the medical section of the ship. While the bulk of what had been discussed would not be making it into a report of any kind, there was definitely a few notes that Amélie wanted to make just to come back to later if she needed to, though with everything she was contemplating on now, she was starting to feel that her presence on this ship now, after this was all over, was going to be more important than ever.

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