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0430 is Earlier than you Think (Open)

Posted Sept. 14, 2021, 3:29 p.m. by Ensign Rand Farquharson (Yeoman First Class) (Jennifer Ward)

Posted by Senior Chief Petty Officer Karl Johansson (Engineering Petty Officer) in 0430 is Earlier than you Think (Open)

Posted by Ensign Rand Farquharson (Yeoman First Class) in 0430 is Earlier than you Think (Open)

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Marcus Anders (Chief of Security) in 0430 is Earlier than you Think (Open)
Posted by… suppressed (5) by the Post Ghost! 👻
It was 0430. Rand was always up and running at 0430. It was quiet on deck 4. There was nothing here but quarters and that mean no one to really run into and Rand’s foot falls, even at a run, were soft and quiet. So she didn’t wake anyone. Normally she ran on deck six but they were meeting a cargo ship to resupply and the cargo bay would be busy. Rand didn’t want to get in the way of the crew moving and with all the extra activity she was eager to avoid any awkward social encounters.

The run let her mind wander. They had lost Ford…Lt Fordham and she admitted she was a little sad about it. He was a nice person and had been kind and patient with her. Kind of like her Uncle Angus. But he had moved on to a better position and she was happy for him. She’d filled out and sent off all his paperwork. Same with the CE. Rand didn’t know her. She had if course spoken with her over the course of her duties but never spoke to her otherwise. Of course if Lt Fordham hadn’t been concerned for her after that first awkward meeting, she never would have spoken to him either. And then Cpt Carmichael left. She wasn’t transferred with him. Rand knew that happened sometimes. That Cpt’s would request that their yeoman accompany them. You learned to work together and it was a well built machine. But the Yeoman corp did not move her. Instead she was staying. Rand was happy to stay, but she did wonder if she had done something wrong. Her anxiety getting the better of her.

So now a new captain was arriving. She had sent out memos to the senior staff along with information to disseminate to the lower ranks. She had sent the complete file to Alden. She liked Alden. Very by the book, a stickler for rules, and he let her work in the lab, well kind of. He let her care for the animals. She enjoyed helping him. She always knew exactly what was expected of her. And she got to play with Nibbles and Mushu. Of course she would never dare to say the word ‘play’ in front of Alden.

Randy hated it. He wasn’t made to be a yeoman. Of he was excellent at his job. He knew exactly how to get Cmdr Alden out of the labs and do all his other work. Randy was efficient and had an eye for detail. But he was a people person and liked to be around them and help them. So when he got made head nurse, Rand was over the moon for him. It was a perfect position for Randy and his skills.

That brought her back to all the recent transfers. She’d better compile a list of candidates for the new CO on who could step into those roles. Of course Cpt Rogers may not promote from within but someone needed to step in until a decision was made.

And it was all these thoughts that ran through Rand’s mind as she made laps of the deck.

Yeoman Rand

Just before passing the next corridor, a panel opened and a clatter of metal tools hitting the ground followed by a curse then another harder thud as a man fell out of the apparent access tunnel. Another flow of curses as he stood up and kicked the door close, well they were most likely curses but not in Federation Standard. The man shook his head and started gathering the tools then stopped suddenly and turned to look at the running yeoman and froze. Then stood up and went against the wall giving her room to run “Apologies, the door was stuck so I had to unstuck it” He smiled widely at that. He was tall and in his late thirties, light brown hair was messy after probably some time spent inside the bowels of the ship, he wore an Engineers uniform but not a commissioned officer, his markings were that of a Senior Petty Chief.

SCPO Karl - Eng

Rand’s focus came back to the present at the sound of the clatter. She slowed to go around the panel, then out came the tools and SCPO Karl. She’d not met him, but she knew who he was. There was no one on the crew that Rand didn’t know who they were. It was her job after all. She just hated actually meeting people. Then he spoke to her and she felt that sick churning in her gut. He was on duty but she wasn’t…so what was the protocol for that? She slowed to a walk and attempted to cover her nerves with a deep breath from running. Attempting to be polite she knelt down and grabbed a couple of the dropped tools and passed them back. She made note to check the maintenance repair list over the next week to make sure the crews fixed the panel. Forgetting emergencies stuck access panels were an annoyance to the crew just in general and if it could be fixed, it could also be an indication of something wrong, perhaps the stress of warp travel or some weird side effect of a spacial anomaly, if the stuck panel was just one incident…

“Oh, no problem Chief. You have to do what you need to, don’t apologize.” If he would just take the tools she could get out of there before she embarrassed herself.

Karl laughed at that as he accepted the tools from her, placing them in his case. “Thank you yeoman”

As the clatter echoed across the deck plating, another figure bolted around the corner in front of the two officers and then skidded to a halt when he realised whatt was going on. The figure was a man with a medium build and slicked auburn hair, with just enough hanging over the edge to give him a youthful edge. Lieutenant Junior Grade Marcus Anders’ promotion to Security Chief had come around quickly, but he felt as if he was settling nicely into his new role. He smiled when he realised the ‘seriousness’ of the situation, “Careful Karl lad,” he said with a wink, “Don’t want to have to cart you off to the Brig on suspicion of sabotage.” He gave a friendly nod to Rand.

-Lieutenant Junior Grade Marcus Anders: Chief of Security-

Rand looked up as the next person came quickly around the corner. She recognized him immediately - Marcus Anders. She hadn’t seen him since that late night in the Galley except in passing. That was totally fine with Rand, she’d barely managed to get out of there before she’d made a total fool of herself. She knew Anders was just being nice and polite, and Rand didn’t have any reason not to like him, but Rand would totally rather avoid being around people she didn’t know. And now he stopped to join them. Her heart rate went up and there was that slight roaring in her ears. Really it was 0430 in the morning why were people up? She paced a bit, but it would probably look like she was just still moving to maintain her heart rate since she had been running. Since Anders didn’t speak to her directly, Rand just nodded to him and then waited awkwardly to see if she needed to stay or not.

Yeoman Rand, the socially awkward (LOL)

“Hah!” Karl laughed louder at the new Security Chief’s comment “Five minutes as Chief and you’re already threatening people with the Brig, Sir” He stood up and smiled at the younger man “I never did congratulate you, rising through the ranks. Bit better than crawling through the nacelle’s with yours truly eh?” The Icelander seemed in good spirits despite the early hours. He turned to the young woman “Yeoman Miranda isn’t it?” He asked, he wasn’t very familiar with the Command staff but every non-com knew their ships Yeomen “Or is it Rand” He cocked his head at her apparent discomfort.

SCPO Karl - Eng

Rand blinked giving Ng the impression of a deer caught in headlights. He knew her name…her full first name. Only Randy called her Miranda, and only if he was irritated or frustrated with her. And the roster just gave rank, last name, and position. Not that her name wasn’t easily found out. It wasn’t a secret, just people didn’t bother to find out. “Uh…y..yes, Chief Johansson.” did she sound nervous or out of breath from running? She hoped the later. He used her position and that helped. It let her slip into work mode, where she was most comfortable. “Most people can’t pronounce my surname, and like to use nick names. So most usually I go by Rand.”

Karl nodded his head at that still eyeing the young woman curiously, her startled reaction at her name had surprised him. It had only been curiosity that led him to learn her first name, Rand was an odd name and hi instinctively disliked calling people he wasn’t familiar with by their nicknames. It was much for the same reason he disliked calling them by their last names, a first name should be good enough for casual conversation until you got to know a person.

Marcus grinned, “Sorry lass, how’ve you been?” Then smiling at Karl, he added, “Thank you Mr. Johanssen, I have no doubt that I’ll be on Standby Engineer duty before you know it.” He winked again.

She tried not to glance around for an escape. Really she worked and lived with these people. She had to stop feeling so anxious any time there was more than one person around. Telling herself that though didn’t make the panic attack, that was slowly increasing in intensity, stop. How had she been? If she told the simple truth it sounded like she was just placating him with a vague answer but making up something more detailed meant longer conversation. She never knew how to answer and sound genuine but casual. Or some times the situation wasn’t casual and she wasn’t detailed enough or too much and…and…pinpricks of color blocked her vision. Think Miranda before someone notices. “Very busy, Lt. Congratulations from me as well. How are you settling in?” Rand bounced from foot to foot to help her heart beat regulate back to a normal pace. Running and anxiety was a bad combination, plus being still after the run could make her muscles cramp.

Yeoman Rand

OOC: Fixing split.

Marcus smiled, “I won’t lie, the formality of the role takes a bit of getting used to lass, but I’m working on it, what about you?”

-Lieutenant Junior Grade Marcus Anders: Chief of Security-

Her? New captain, new routine’s, so many new crew coming on board, along with everything else....”Það er auðveldara að sjá um hundrað kindur en eina stúlku. (For those who would actually understand - It’s easier to look after a hundred sheep than one girl)” Rand spoke in perfect Icelandic. So typical of Rand, was her perfect memory, then paired with her anxiety and racing thoughts, influenced by Karl’s cussing and her assumption it was Icelandic based on his name and heritage, triggered a memory, of a line she’d learned for a performance. Rand didn’t actually speak Icelandic but she’d learned a few phrases for the part. Of course no one on board knew about that - her acting career, that was a secret. Then realizing what she’d said, “Oh…umm…it’s alright. New captain, new routines, nothing horrible. If you need help with any of the administrative tasks just let me know. It’s what I’m here for.”

Karl leaned forward with a curious expression, he was taller than her and had to bend down to be in eye level, he took a few steps back so that his head was at the same distance before leaning down. He’d seen people have a panic attack before if that was what was making her so… well anxious was the best word for it. He’d seen people with shot nerves after the Klingon war reacting to unexpected events similarly. He leaned back up then covered his momentary forward lean by stretching back, acting as if he’d simply been stretching in an odd fashion “I wasn’t aware that fancy department heads stayed awake this late, or early if you will.” He said jovially but still eyeing Rand. He allowed himself a little more camaraderie with the young Security Chief, he was inexperienced but a good officer and had a good humour.

SCPO Karl - Eng

His scrutiny made Rand lean back a bit. Why was he looking at her like that? Oh he was stretching? She wasn’t quite convinced of that though. But what did she know…she was so bad at this. Where was Randy when she needed him? Sleeping, he was sleeping. Oh and there was the momentary dizziness. breathe you idiot Karl’s comment got her attention, she was curious why everyone was out at this hour as well. Rand had gotten comfortable not seeing anyone about at this hour. At least not on this deck.

Yeoman Rand


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