Mixing Business

Posted on Mon Sep 25, 2017 @ 11:51pm by Captain Madelina Weisz & Master Chief Petty Officer Thomas Barnes

Mission: Strange Matter
Location: Operations
Timeline: MD 28 || 1730 Hours

Technically, Maddy was supposed to be off duty, but after speaking to Lieutenant Cheshire, it didn't look like she was going to be kicking her shoes off and relaxing any time soon. Such was the life of an Executive Officer. And while it was her duty to remain on the clock for countless hours, that wasn't necessarily true for the rest of the crew. They got to have their downtime thanks to the number of personnel within each department. However, she didn't trust just anyone with something like this, which put her in her current predicament.

The Commander stood in Operations looking around at the people milling about and sighed as she reached up to tap her combadge. =^=Commander Weisz to Master Chief Barnes... report to Operations as soon as possible, please.=^=

Tom had just finished up a matter in Marine Country. Evidently, someone had tweaked the power relays in the area to allow more power flow into the training facilities, not realizing that it was a recipe for quick burnout. Replacing relays was something Tom did not enjoy, so he'd been compelled to resolve the situation quickly. He tapped his badge and replied, "On my way."

After tapping the badge again to close the channel, Tom entered the nearby turbolift and took it to the Operations center. A minute later, he entered the center with his toolkit in hand. "What can I do for you, Commander?" he asked, keeping it entirely professional, even though he was delighted to see her.

"Lieutenant Cheshire brought a few concerns she had to my attention, and while all of this should have been dealt with long before now, I'd like for you to run a diagnostic on the sensors," the redhead replied. "It seems a Breen ship dropped out of warp right on top of them. A tachyon detection grid was also set up, and a Romulan ship got through without detection. I probably should have ordered diagnostics run on the fighters sensors, too."

"A what?" Tom asked, completely shocked by the occurrences. "That's simply not possible," he said in defense of his knowledge of the sensor pallets.

"You and I both know there is nothing wrong with them. All the issues when Vashkele and the others boarded the ship have been dealt with, but for the sake of my sanity, I'd like for you to do it anyway," Maddy said, her tone sympathetic. "I know it's a lot to ask, but I need to reassure Lieutenant Cheshire that everything is tip top."

Tom nodded, pondering as to what exactly was the best course of action for a few moments. "We should definitely include the fighter's sensors in the diagnostic process. Though, one could probably wonder what the Breen are doing up here in the Gavarian Corridor. Their territory is at least a hundred lightyears away," he observed as he sat down at the pool table to begin the diagnostics.

Maddy shook her head. She didn't have an answer to why the Breen were there. "Sadly, I don't know why they were here," she said, but now the Commander was quite curious. "Include the fighter's sensors, too. Just so I can give the Lieutenant peace of mind, though, I have a feeling it may only raise more questions."

"Of course," he said, preparing to start a Level Three Diagnostic on the lateral sensor array. "I'll be doing these a set at a time, so Triumphant doesn't go completely blind," he told Maddy. A moment later, he glanced up to find that the last person in the room, other than the two of them, left it on bound for one of the evening tasks. It wasn't uncommon for Operations to occasionally be empty, especially on the evening shifts. There were several checkpoints throughout the ship that were manned, and the main office would only see occupancy if there was a major project going on. "Rough day, I take it?" he asked since they were alone.

"No rougher than usual," Maddy replied, settling down at one of the consoles, though she didn't touch anything. "I'm looking forward to being off duty so I can finally relax. I've got a feeling the next couple days or so will be worse. How was your day?"

He shrugged. "Not that bad really," he told her, finishing the start of the diagnostic. Tom instructed the computer to get to work, and it would be a few minutes before the results were ready. "But I'm wanting to put my feet up in a bit too."

"If we're lucky, it won't be too long... that depends on how long you think this will take," she stated.

"It's a Level Three," he said, grimacing. "So it'll be a few minutes. Then, we'll have the cycle the other arrays as well. We're looking at least half an hour. What about dinner? We could eat in."

Maddy nodded her head, feeling pretty horrible about the grimace she saw. After all, she was the reason for it. "That certainly sounds like the best plan at the moment. At least until this is done. What do you feel like?" she asked. "I can order some food from The Black Hole and have it delivered."

"Turkey club sounds nice," he replied. Truthfully, when he ate on the job, he preferred something that he could easily manage with a single hand and left little mess. Still, he eyed Maddy. Something didn't seem right. "Is everything okay?" he asked her.

"As okay as they can be, I guess. I'm having you do something that's been done already, not to mention the fact that there's a deadly virus on board the ship. I suppose I'm just getting a really morbid sense of déjà vu by all of this," the redhead replied as she put their order in to have it delivered. "And your grimace moments ago... I'm the reason for it. It makes me feel bad. You should be off duty now."

Tom shrugged. "This is the Starfleet life," he reminded her. "You don't get to be a Master Chief and not be used to it. I don't bear any ill will towards this."

"Nor a Commander, but we do what we need to to keep everyone as safe as possible," she agreed just before getting their order confirmation. "Ten minutes, then it'll be here."

"Just in time for the results," Tom stated. Suddenly, he frowned, a thought having crossed his mind. "Though, if the sensors are working properly, but they're not picking things up..."

"What is it?" Maddy asked.

"Maybe we're in some form of a stellar Bermuda Triangle?" Tom suggested with a shrug. "I've heard of similar phenomena before, much like what existed on Earth. Ships would disappear without a trace, or other weird things would happen."

The redhead woman blinked, then turned toward the console she was settled at. "After the diagnostics have run, let's run a sensor scan to see if we pick anything up. I'm not expecting to, but if there's something out there such as a stellar Bermuda Triangle, we need to find a way to detect it."

"I'm not even sure what to look for," Tom replied. "What made the Bermuda Triangle so mysterious is that it took centuries to figure it out."

"Sadly... we don't have that kind of time," she said with a sigh. This didn't answer any of the questions she had, but only provided her with more. "We'll see what the diagnostics have to tell us, then take it from there. I will tell you that there's not one thing about any of this that I like."

"All the more reason to finish what we came to do and get the hell out," Tom said, moving over to gently rub his fingers along her back. Anything more could be potentially compromising if someone happened to come by the office. "And hopefully, Starfleet Command will let the Commodore do just that."

Maddy wished she could relax, but the tension ran deep. "It would be a miracle for something like that to happen, but Starfleet Command has surprised me once or twice. Doesn't happen very often," she told him as she took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Nothing is ever easy, and I've got a feeling this time will be no different. Don't listen to me. I'm rambling. Things will likely be better tomorrow."

"It rarely is," Tom said, hearing the console beep. The diagnostic had completed, and Tom worked quickly to skim through the findings. "Easy, that is. Tomorrow's got enough trouble of its own..." His voice trailed off, reviewing the readouts. "Looks like the torque sensors are three microns out of alignment. Other than that, the sensor arrays are still in top shape. Starting the dorsal arrays now."

"When this is over, take the rest of the evening off," Maddy told him. "You've earned it."

"And what of you?" Tom asked. "You look like you need an evening away from it all too."

"I'll be home as soon as I can. I've got to prepare my report for tomorrow morning, then my day will officially be done," she said. "I think there's a bubble bath with our names on it."

"Deal," Tom confirmed, smiling. "If I find anything, I'll bring it to your attention immediately. I doubt I will though."

"I'm going to hang out until it's over," she said just as their food arrived. Maddy accepted it, then pressed her thumb to the PADD to authorize payment. Once the young woman left, she turned back to Tom. "You know what... I'll go in a little earlier in the morning to get my report done. I'd much rather go home with you when this is done."

Tom smiled his affirmation. "Good plan. We might be able to head home a bit quicker if you can give me a hand. Ever performed a pallet reset before?"

The redhead shook her head. "No, I can't say the I have, but I'm a fast learner. What do you need me to do?"

"Here," Tom said, reaching over to tap a couple of the holographic controls. "Access each array, and you can use the batch reset function. When it prompts, use the most recent settings before leaving our last port. That'll override any of those crazy adjustments the science department has done. When we're done, hopefully, we'll get a clearer look at the mud around us."

When it was explained to her like that, the redhead understood it. She did as instructed, being careful not to touch anything other than what he'd indicated to her. "It may not be such a bad idea for me to educate myself on the ins and outs of some of the other departments," she said. "Security is great and all, but I definitely need to know more than how to take down the enemy."

"Sometimes all it takes is knowing how to override a system, or trick environmental controls into releasing anetheszine," Tom said, grinning ever so slightly. "A few weeks ago, I saved an entire deck on board this ship not by fighting the internal security grid, but finding a way to disable it."

"Maybe, if you're feeling up to it and we have free time, you might be willing to teach me some of the basics," she wondered, then she remembered everything he'd done their last mission. "I'm proud of what you did. This is why you're in the position that you are, and I can say I don't trust anyone else to do it."

Tom returned her compliment with a gentle smile. "Thanks, but I just what needs to be done, no matter what." He really was quite humble about the different things he'd performed over his career. While most would brag, Tom just lived day to day, simply being there when he was needed no matter the occasion. "As for the basics, I'd be more than happy to."

Maddy finished up with the task she'd been assigned and turned toward him. He was so different from every other man (and there weren't really that many despite what others had to say) she'd met in the past. He was humble, loving, kind, caring... her list could go on and on, but it would take some time to get through it. "Some day, I'm going to marry you," she mused aloud without even realizing it.

"And when we do," Tom said just as quickly, "I'll be keeping my last name." Looking to her with a grin, he shrugged. "I'm a bit attached to it these days."

The redhead blinked. Did she really just say that out loud? A blush crept up her cheeks as she caught his grin. Did that mean he wanted to marry her some day? "I would consider it an honor to take your last name."

Tom simply smiled as he continued to tap away at the controls. "Diagnostic complete," he proudly reported. "And, as suspected, no errors. So, whatever we're dealing with isn't something we know how to detect."

"I doubt seriously much will change overnight. Let's officially clock out and go home to relax. We have dinner, a bubble bath and each other to look forward to," she said, moving over to kiss him. "We'll get this figured out once we're rested."

"I can't say no to that, can I?" Tom joked, returning the kiss before standing. He picked up their untouched dinner boxes and gestured Maddy to be the first out the door. "After you."

You could if you wanted to," she retorted with a smile as she made her way out into the corridor. "But then I'd have to go archaic, club you over the head, then drag you back to my cave."

Tom chuckled and shrugged. "Beats dodging phaser fire and alien AI's. But, at least I don't have to worry about what dangers await me."

Maddy slipped an arm around his waist as they made their way down the corridor. She didn't care who saw them or what they thought. The redhead wasn't ashamed of, nor was she going to hide, her relationship with Tom. "I'm no danger to you whatsoever. I'm just a snuggly, cuddly red haired pussycat."

He chuckled again. "A pussycat? No. Just a cave that would make even the greatest wampa jealous. Snuggly and cuddly? That'd I'd agree to."

"But you're the only one that sees that side of me. Others do, too, but not nearly as often," she said, stepping into a waiting turbolift with him. After the proper deck was requested, Maddy spoke again. "I'm sure some people would disagree with that."

"Disagree with what?" Tom asked, finding it hard to resist the wonderful smelling food that he was carrying. "Having a cave that makes wampa jealous? It'd only be fitting for the Ice Queen to have such a cave." He raised an eyebrow as a thought came to his mind. "Of course, a queen should have a castle. Maybe I need to stop thinking about caves."

"The snuggly and cuddly," she said. "This Ice Queen does have a castle and a King to share it with, though." Soon, they were deposited on their deck and heading toward their quarters. "I love you, Tom, and I'm damn grateful that we met one another. You're so good for me."

His smile remained. "And you for me," he said, leaning in to land a kiss on her cheek as they walked. "I mean no offense by this, but I think I'm going to love this food more than I love you for a little bit. Somehow, I didn't get the chance for lunch today."

She couldn't help but laugh. Not at the fact he hadn't eaten anything, but because of the love comment. "And I'm okay with that. You definitely need to eat," Maddy said as she got the door open to their quarters. "Go ahead and start. I'll grab us some drinks."

Tom did not disappoint. In fact, he didn't even sit at the table before opening his box and taking a rather impressive bite of his sandwich. He closed his eyes, savoring the flavorful turkey and bacon and cheese. Tom chomped once, letting his tongue bask in the taste. After a second, he chomped again, crushing the bite a bit more, preparing it for digestion. "Mmmm," he mumbled, basking in heaven for just a few moments.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes, realizing that this already flavorful turkey club was not complete. Tom set the remains of the sandwich back in the box, removed the top bun, and squirted the packets of mayonnaise and mustard vigorously overtop of the meats. As soon as he swallowed the current bite, he planned to give this upgraded sandwich a try.

Maddy returned with their drinks a moment later and couldn't help but smile at what she saw. Rather than interrupt his current love affair, she settled down on the couch and reached for her own box once the drinks were down, then opened it up. Her bacon cheeseburger looked like pure heaven presently, and the onion rings surrounding it made it more appealing.

"Come to mama," she said, grabbing the loaded sandwich and bringing it to her lips. Without any hesitation, Maddy took a huge bite, not caring that some of it was worn on her face. She'd deal with that later.

Sandwich in hand, Tom turned and moved over to lean against the outer bulkheads so he could stare aimlessly into space. Ever the career enlisted man, Tom couldn't help but think about what he was doing just a few minutes ago in Operations. Electronic sensors were failing, but maybe, just maybe, the naked eye could see something. As he stood lost in thought, Tom continued to devour his meal.

Maddy watched as he stared out in space while she ate. He seemed to be a million miles away, but was standing so close she could almost touch him without even moving. Of course, she didn't want to disturb him, so she continued to sit in silence and worked on filling her belly.

Tom's sandwich disappeared quickly. While his stomach was satisfied, his mind still wasn't. He couldn't expect to figure it out tonight, but that wouldn't stop him from thinking about it. For now, he turned to see where Maddy had landed, only to find her on the couch with her normally red lips outlined with ketchup and mustard stains. He chuckled as he picked up the bag of chips from his box and joined her on the couch.

It didn't take long before she caught him looking at her, and suddenly she began self conscious. Maddy quickly grabbed a napkin and wiped her mouth, tossing it into her box with a grin. "We'll pretend you didn't see that."

"I've seen worse," Tom admitted, reaching over to remove a missed smudge with his thumb. "Though part of me is a bit jealous of that cheeseburger."

"Oh yeah? Why is that?" she asked.

He leaned in and kissed her, more passionately than he'd done in a while. In doing so, he detected whiffs of bacon and hamburger and sharp cheddar. All three were excellent flavors to enjoy during this moment of passion. He removed himself slowly, remarking as he looked into her eyes. "That's why."

His kiss left her breathless and flushed. "I think it's time for that bubble bath now, what do you think?" Maddy asked as she took in a breath. That was some kiss, and she'd enjoyed every last second of it.

Part of him wanted to point out that one had to wait half an hour after eating before swimming. But, how could he say no to her. "After you," he said, standing and holding out a hand.

Maddy rose to her feet with a smile, still feeling a bit lightheaded from that kiss. Or... maybe it was just how he made her feel. She slipped her hand into his and guided him toward the bedroom where she turned toward him once they were inside. "How about a bubble bath after I show you just how much I love you?"

"Deal," Tom replied with a smile, following her into the web. Tonight was going to be one for the record books.