Speculation

Posted on 24 Apr 2016 @ 3:10am by Lieutenant Commander Camila Di Pasquale & Commander Terry Walsh

1,497 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Outbreak
Location: Enlisted Mess Hall
Timeline: MD 6 1700 Hours

Chief Warrant Officer 2nd Class Ricardo Gutierrez wandered into the mess hall, looking bored and feeling a bit peckish as he went to the replicator. He ordered a bowl of chicken noodle soup and a glass of synth ale before he looked around for a table. When he spotted DeLorian, he went over to the brig officer's table. "Hey bud. Mind if I sit with ya?"

Chief Petty Officer DeLorian set down his glass of iced tea and looked up. It was Gutierrez. “Not at all. Take a seat.” Max stretched his leg out under the table and pushed the chair out for him. “Just don’t take it out of here. I learned the hard way that they’re not fond of that.”

Ricardo laughed as he sat down. "What are they going to do to a Brig officer?" he asked. "You guys are trained to escape from the Brig, aren't you?"

“Ha!” he laughed. “You know that and I know that, but apparently they don’t.” Max cut another bite of the bacon-wrapped chicken. “But now that there’s a Security officer here, I guess I’m gonna have to behave. I don’t want to have to break out again.” He smiled as he said that last part.

"Oh, I don't take people to the Brig," Ricardo said as he took a drink of his ale and leaned back. "I stuff them into a Jeffries Tube and let Engineering find them."

Max nearly spit out his bite of chicken. “Well that explains a lot,” he said. “Especially that foul odor I smelled the other day on Deck 7.” He started laughing. “We have too much, fun, don’t we?” He took a drink of tea to wash down the rest of that bite.

"I think that was Jenkins running from the Chief Engineer," Ricardo quipped as he reached for his soup spoon. "I hear she's a real piece of work. Some Engineers were griping about how everything has to be so textbook with her that if you forget one tiny step, you have to do it all over again."

Max shook his head. “That’s rough. No wonder they’re griping.” He set his glass back down. “Makes me glad our Chief isn’t anything like that. I wonder what would happen if those two ever met and butted heads. I’d buy tickets to see that show.”

Ricardo looked around to make sure that no one was close enough to hear them, then leaned in with a grin. "I'd like to see them get naked and go at each other. That would be the best show in the Gamma Quadrant."

Max leaned forward and nodded. “That, my friend, would be a show for the ages. And one where there would be no second row. Or a third, or a fourth, or anything afterwards. And just think of the money we could make selling tickets to that one, the blonde and the brunette clash.”

"We could easily get a brick of gold-pressed latinum per ticket," Ricardo said. "I know a guy who is pretty good at programming holodecks, but if we get caught...they'll invent new ways to torture us."

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s one Brig I wouldn’t be able to escape from,” he said. He cut another piece of chicken. “Besides, how in the world we would even convince them? Our SAR trained Chief would have our butts in a sling before we could say, ‘get naked.’ But then again, getting beat down by her? Whew.”

"Good point, but it would totally be worth it," Ricardo said. "The computer can extrapolate what a person might look like without clothes on. All we'd really need is access to their medical files and Donovan is in charge of Cyber Security. I'm sure he'd be all for it at the chance of watching the show."

Max grinned. “You’re actually thinking about going through with this, aren’t you? Bringing Donovan in and everything.” He wasn’t sure what could happen if they got caught, short of being dishonorably discharged. Even then, they would lose the program. However…. “You know, though, if you’re serious, I’d make copies of the program and get them to other locations or people. That way if we end up looking for another job, we still have the show.”

Ricardo laughed as he took another drink of his ale. "Nah, but it's fun to speculate. Just the thought of those two duking it out naked, though. Man, I'd give up my career in a heartbeat for one chance to see the real thing."

Max leaned back and sighed. “The real thing…. Hey, speaking of speculation, have you heard why in the world our shore leave was cut short? I was having a really good time and did not want to come back up here early.”

"No idea, but there's a few people who are complaining about having sore throats," Ricardo said as he finished his soup. "Still, I doubt a cold would be enough to cancel shore leave. It must be something Consortium related. I still can't believe our last Chief was one of them."

Max shook his head at the mention of the Consortium and their last Chief. It had been a touchy subject for him, being a Brig officer and all. He had a shift of guard duty several times during the whole thing. It had been hard; keeping an eye on his fellow crewmembers, senior officers at that. “I bet you’re right. But I hope not. That was a mess that I’d rather not repeat. And yeah, our last Chief? What could possess a man to turn against everything like that?”

"Man, I'm just a Chief Warrant second class," Ricardo said. "No one tells me anything unless it's what to do next. You probably know more than I do about what's going on with that."

Max nodded and finished his last bite of chicken. “I wouldn’t have any idea about the former Chief.” He sighed. “But I overheard a couple of things while on guard duty.” He then brushed his hand though the air as if dismissing it. Then he took a long drink of his iced tea. “What other news ya got for me?” he asked.

"Nothing major, man," Ricardo said. "Do you plan on signing up for those Search and Rescue classes that the Chief is planning?"

“I’ve been thinking about it. But I hear she wants us to cross-train or something like that,” he replied. “I didn’t join Security to heal people or fly ‘em around the quadrant, though. You?”

"I don't know," Ricardo said. "It may come in useful to learn other things, especially if you plan on continuing a career."

Max thought about that for a minute. “That’s a very good point. Let’s see…if I plan to stay in another ten years…that’s forty-nine. Making Master Chief would be a little easier with SAR training in my file as well as cross-trained piloting skills. Yeah, that’s not a bad idea at all.”

"See?" Ricardo said. "I knew you were smart. Besides, it'll come in useful in civilian life, too."

“Civilian life?” said Max. “Huh. You know, maybe we could start our own private security firm or something after Starfleet. And we could charge lots, too, because of the specialized training.”

"That's a good idea, Max," Ricardo said as he drank his ale. "We can call it G&D Security. It's catchy."

“G&D Security?” asked Max. “What about D&G Security? Huh?” He was grinning.

"It just doesn't have the same rhythm," Ricardo said. "What about Protection Unlimited?"

Max downed another gulp of tea. “I like that, Protection Unlimited…our civilian security firm. Now all we need to do is recruit some more people.”

"We have time for that and you know who not to invite," Ricardo said. "If they've ever been in a brig, they aren't invited."

“That’s right. We won’t need any ex-cons working for us.” Max picked up his glass to take another drink and saw that is was empty. “Well that went fast.”

"It always does when you don't want it to," Ricardo said. "See you for the card game at the end of shift?"

"You can bet on it," he said with a smile. "Pun intended. You know something Gutierrez, it's a total shame that Rasputin won't be able to play. She's a cutie. But at the same time, I like to keep my money. That little cutie keeps taking the pot."

"You got that right, DeLorian," Ricardo said as he finished his ale. "I never saw anyone clean a pot like her, but man...she's got the cards in hand." With a wink, he got up. "See ya later, man."

Chief Warrant Officer 2nd Class Ricardo Gutierrez
Security Officer
by
Camila

Chief Petty Officer DeLorian
Brig Officer
by
Walsh

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