Endangering the Mundane

Unofficial Literary Challenge 17 - Prompt 2 "Sheer Boredom"

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 Kathryn looked from the PADD with raised eyebrows to the two officers standing relaxed before her desk. The blonde female was relatively young wearing Science department colors on her uniform. She was lithe and her long blonde hair was styled with extra volume. The Vulcan’s short midnight black hair was a stark contrast to her uniform’s Operation yellow highlights on an otherwise traditionally black-colored uniform. Sitting, Kathryn put the PADD on her desk and crossed her arms, yet smiled approvingly as she reclined her chair.

“This is a great idea. Why not?”

Counselor Harrington’s smile seemed to brighten the room.

S’Rel’s typically neutral affect almost turned to grimace from the Captain’s judgment and cleared her throat indicating she was about to speak next. “Captain, we are currently on a system charting mission. This event would be a distraction from duty.”

Christa rolled her eyes slightly. “That is fully appreciated. From what I can tell, the Astrometrics teams are the ones doing most of the work and I’m sure they are relishing the experience. All fun and no play make Starfleet a dull -”. She shrugged searching for words, and then settling on the most obvious. “Fleet.”

Swiveling her chair toward the windows, Kathryn mused further on the arguments presented as she absentmindedly rubbed a finger against the rank pips on her collar. Solaris was resting at the second Lagrange point of the largest planet in the current system. As such, there was not much to see. Not being in motion for a few days while various probes and shuttles were used for deep-data scans and measurements did have some crew members itching for duties beyond expectantly mundane tasks. Although times like these are a part of the ‘job’, it was true that Astrometric personnel were the busiest. Even Kathryn caught herself looking for something official to do on occasion. At least her list of things-to-do-when-nothing-else-was-happening was getting shorter.

Looking back to the officers, Kathryn looked to S’Rel. “Your advice is always appreciated, yet I think a little distraction will be good for moral.” She then looked to Christa. “At the same time, the crew needs to stay focused on their duties. This must not have a time frame that will force decisions to be made that could endanger their original task and ultimately the ship. I don’t want discipline to falter because of this.”

Both officers spoke at the same time. “Yes, sir.”

“Christa, with that said, I’ll leave the details up to you. Make sure the Duty Leaders understand the importance to follow-up on their teams as scheduled and to reign in anyone having too much fun. Finally, I request that anything making the list not involve EVA.”

“Yes, Captain.”

Kathryn saluted from her chair. Christa and S’Rel saluted and walked out the room. The doors stayed open as Anthi walked in looking over her shoulder. The doors closed and she walked up to Kathryn’s desk. Pointing a thumb to the door, she asked, “what was all that about?”

Kathryn stood and wore a wry smile on her face. “Ever been on a scavenger hunt before?”

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Cast for crew:
Kathryn Beringer - Rachel Nichols
S'Rel - Morena Baccarin
Christa Harrington - Emily Bett Rickards
Anthi Ythysi - Katheryn Winnick