A Small Request

Posted on 21 Jul 2021 @ 9:52pm by Commodore Harvey Geisler & Conrad Hawkingsson

1,613 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Extinction
Location: U.S.S. Black Hawk, corridor, Deck 10
Timeline: Mission Day 22 at 1730

Conrad was heading towards the quarters he had been given after leaving the infirmary earlier this day. The escapade down to the planet had been cut short because T'Mari had some kind of medical checkup after her fall. Not that he blamed her, he was sure she needed to find a way to take better care of herself. He wished he had the equipment to run a proper analysis on the crystal in his pocket and find the amusement park he had found on the flyer. Maybe he should ask the captain for a lab of his own, but then his inventions would risk being stolen again, though it was harder on a starship compared to his old lab back on earth. Well, he could keep the most sensitive secrets to himself, he needed the hardware to work properly. After a sigh, he tapped the combade. "Conrad Hawkingsson to Captain Geisler."

There was silence for a moment on the line. Before Conrad had a chance to suspect that he was being ignored, a voice answered, "Go ahead, Mister Hawkingsson."

"I just came back from planetside, do you have a few moments to meet?." Conrad asked calmly.

Another moment of silence met the civilian, followed by the Captain's voice. "I'm near Talons on Deck Eight. Would you like to meet there?"

"Sure, not that I know what Talons is, but I'll find it. I'll just flag down the closest crewman. Should be there in roughly three minutes, depending on the distance from the turbo-lift to this Talons place." Conrad said, he hadn't even been given a tour of the ship, he was simply guided out of the infirmary to his quarters, then moments later he was out the door to go planet-side. But he could groan about the situation another time if he had the need, now he was standing inside the lift and it moved upwards two levels.

"Acknowledged," said the Captain. Then there was a click as the channel closed, leaving Conrad alone in the turbolift.

=4 minutes later=

Conrad walked through the door that leads inside the mess hall of the ship. There were a few people sitting around the tables, eating, drinking their beverages, and generally socializing. He looked a little wearily at everyone as he stands at the entrance, his strong paranoia starting to seep through his defenses. It struck him that he didn't even know what the captain looked like, for all he knew he could be a green frog creature.

It would have been impossible for Conrad to find the Captain, especially since he had not yet arrived at Talons. Unlike the civilian, Captain Geisler was more than aware of what Conrad looked like, especially since he'd kept abreast of the man's situation since coming aboard the Black Hawk. Therefore, when the Captain arrived at Talons, just a few seconds behind Conrad it seemed, he was able to spot the man across the room in front of the other entrance. The Captain crossed the room to meet the survivor, "Mister Hawkingsson," he greeted.

Conrad nearly jumped out of his skin, he had spotted the man heading directly towards him roughly half way towards him, the look of singling out Conrad was a tell that he could spot a from a mile away. "Yes..." Conrad said with a questioning tone, he didn't know this man but he quickly spotted the four pips on his collar. The rank of captain, he knew enough that the rank of captain wasn't an iron-clad way to tell if it was the commander of a ship, sometimes they had higher ranks and even lower ranks sometimes. He took the chance and figured it was the person he was here to meet. "At least your not green..." he muttered to himself, not expecting anyone to hear him.

"Haven't been green since the last time I was space-sick," the Captain remarked with a half-smile. It was clear that he had indeed heard the off-the-cuff remark, a habit that had been noted both in his wife's and Camila's reports. It was not a cause for concern for Harvey, at least at this point. "But that was twenty years ago back at the academy. I know we haven't officially met, but I'm Captain Geisler. I've only got a few minutes, so what was it you wanted to talk about?"

Conrad arched an eyebrow at the history lesson on the man's past. "That isn't why..." he waved the subject away. "Tell me what you think about this." calmly he pulled the container from the belt, it was rolled up but it was still small enough that if you held the clear container you could see some of the illustrations on the pamphlet. "I haven't opened it because who knows what our environment might do to it."

Harvey tried to get a good look at the item in the container, but his sight failed him. "May I?" he asked, extending a hand out.

"Sure." Conrad placed the container into the captain's hand.

The Captain accepted the item and began to look at the item protected within. It definitely appeared old, and the fact that it had survived more than a hundred years was remarkable. "Looks like an advertisement of sorts," he remarked.

"Yes indeed Captain, judging by the design, it appears to be of an amusement park. Though I haven't translated the text yet, it could be fascinating to see what they would judge as fun." Conrad said, a hint of exiting bleeding through his voice.

Harvey continued to look over the pamphlet, at least what the container and the positioning of the document provided to him. "Yes, I believe it would. I'll get in touch with Commander Djinx, my Chief Science Officer. I'm sure he'd love to have his social sciences team go check this out."

"Excellent, then would you let me join you in checking out this area and maybe allow me the use of a lab?" Conrad asked, he needed more dedicated tools to do some real work, "Also, can I have my pocket computer back yet? It helps me run the numbers." he was sure it was a little bad form going over the heads of the chief of security, but he had yet to get it back and he wanted his dear friend back.

Harvey handed the collection tube back to Conrad. "Unfortunately, I'm not going back down to the surface at this time. Though, I'm pretty sure you meant joining one of the many expeditions going to and from the surface. I'll talk to Commander Djinx and see when the next team would be available. As for your personal effects, we do have a strict policy aboard regarding recovered items. As I understand it, your situation was to be reviewed when you were released from sickbay, and I'm sure Commanders Di Pasquale and Geisler will get to it as soon as they are able. They've been preoccupied with the mission below and some other critical situations that were unfolding on the ship in the last twenty-four hours."

Conrad groaned in frustration, this was why he didn't work with the federation as much as he used to. All the red tape. It was growing quite old to be hampered by all their procedures of theirs. How was he supposed to work under these conditions? "Alright Captain feels like I am working with my hands tied behind my back here." he calmly accepted the container back. "And what about a lab I can use?" came the question, more snappy than he intended, the frustration was truly grading on his nerves.

Harvey could feel the man's frustration. In fact, Conrad's frustration seemed to ignite some frustration of his own. Harvey didn't understand it, especially since he tried to remain calm in situations like this. It was almost as if it was out of his control. "We're happy to loan a tricorder and a science kit until your effects are returned. As for a lab, I'm sure we can arrange something. I'll have to speak with Lieutenant Akorem and Commander Djinx to see what can be allotted."

It was a compromise and he could work on figuring out the crystals and find the location of this park. "Fine, at least I get to use one hand. I'll go down to the gym, I need to relax. All this red tape is strangling me." Conrad placed the container on his belt. "Thank you for seeing me Captain, I am sure we both have plenty to do." Even in his angered state, he had some manners left.

"I'm sure we do," Harvey confirmed, seemingly grateful that this conversation was at an end. If anything, Harvey would be glad to eliminate the frustration that was enveloping him. "As soon as I talk to Commanders Di Pasquale and Djinx, I'll let you know. In the meantime, I'm sure you'll enjoy our gymnasium. It's one of the best Starfleet's ever assembled."

Conrad arched an eyebrow at that. Being proud of his ship was one thing but boasting about the best gymnasium as the best in the history of Star Fleet, that was a whole nother level. "I'll be the judge of that." With that Conrad turned and headed the way he had come.

Harvey shook his head and sighed. He'd heard stories about Conrad, especially from his wife and Chief of Security. He hadn't doubted them, but Harvey was always one to believe something only when he saw it. Still, he'd made commitments to the man, so he tapped his combadge on his way out of Talons, hoping to get to the bottom of these requests quickly.

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