Pathfinder Story: 4

< Star Trek Pathfinder

Christina Thatcher had personal computer in hand and a spreadsheet up outlining the stores the galley had taken on. Next to her stood the Steward, he was leaning over to look at the list of foodstuff and other supplies he was tasked with now. Both were surrounded by the sounds and rather pleasant smell of a working galley, just about to serve up 'dinner'. The Steward nodded;

"This is actually quite a bit to work with." He was impressed and that was in no small part due to the work Christina had done planning with him... no one had really given stocking a ship such as this, a long range explorer, a go except in paper exercises. Christina Thatcher though had a bit of practical experience, one of the jobs she'd done starting out was managing onboard supplies on Earth's long haul cargo ships. She had come in under budget with more consumables of better quality than the Steward was used to, that was clear, and it meant she had more money on hand for her next job... securing enough 'cash and like' that could be exchanged for more supplies during the cruise. Thatcher had collected up some precious metals and stones which were stored securely with currencies, it was all rather exciting. Anyway, for now her thought ought to be in the galley, and she returned her attention to the Steward.

"One problem," and the man frowned nodding for her to go on "doing an inventory to sign off on I noticed that while everything was there the actual weight of our crates was slightly less... strangely. A small amount yes, and nothing missing but a registered number of kilos and its just weird."

"What does it mean though?"

"I'm thinking that someones alighted the supplies but the problem is the process here has such a high level of security the only people with the ability to do something like that would have to be security."

"You mean what exactly? If nothings missing..."

"It means something was slipped in, brought aboard then removed... what exactly I don't know. We definetly know we have a problem that suggests contraband."

"Talk to Security."

"Have done, but got to tell you too."

He nodded, understanding but assured her it was nothing to do with him... agreed nevertheless he'd do an inventory on his end to see that everything was above board. She was satisfied. The two got back to the spreadsheet over a couple of alighted strawberries.

ELSEWHERE

Machir was in his quarters, they were relatively comfortable and better than anything he'd had on a Mazarite Warship though he'd been a junior officer in his own Navy. He was on an upper deck where most of the more comfortable rooms were and it was a longer walk down the corridors to Armoury where he worked. With the human Starfleet he was a private contractor with knowledge they wanted, that he was happy to sell and he got priviledges for that. The main one was this room, which was totally his own, it had an ensuite toilet of human design which took some getting comfortable with and a shower that was actually quite nice to indulge in. He had a double bed, a desk, a computer terminal and window to the stars... it was all very good. The free space in his room he'd dedicated to a weapons locker; which was just a huge secure chest come safe with a display on top. He was still waiting for clearance to bring aboard a few Mazarite hand guns, parts and power charges for them that he owned. That was the job of the Armoury Chief who had said he didn't like the idea of weapons outside weapons lockers in a tone that Machir thought was a bit rude. But the Chief had cleared the chest and really that's what Machir cared about most... it had a few hidden compartments in it and for now that's what he was going to need most.

He and a few other like minded souls he'd recruited had entered a little commercial arrangement and as a result, on his freshly made bed was some tantalising pieces of contraband they'd gotten aboard. He'd ended up stowing most of it around the ship to avoid his room being swept but some stuff he'd held onto. A bottle of Klingon "joq thutlh" would be his because it had been quite a hard thing to source, and so too some high res imaging and recording equipment... spy cameras and microphones which were actually a real risk to be caught with... but he had no ulterior motive, these would be for personal use. There were a few e-zines and data-disks with the kind of material on them that the Vulcans didn't think to put on the ships database and bags of stims that would come in handy on a long journey. Especially if the Ship's Medical Officer was tighter than demand wished.

Machir took these items off his bed and carefully put them back in the hidden compartments of his weapons chest, quietly wondering how humans COULDN'T be so enterprising.

ELSEWHERE

The Denobulan shuttle was a sleek, small and nimble looking vessel on the outside but on the inside it was cramped despite being pleasantly appointed. This one drifted under the hull of the Pathfinder on a meandering approach to dock, if Forlisa looked over the pilots shoulder she could make out the control room near the four 'trap doors' that opened to drop the ship's small shuttles. This was a very interesting ship to fly under; the humans had polarizing hull armour which had a very metallic and somewhat shiny finish different to the more drab tones of Denobulan ships. It was also arranged rather differently with a huge saucer and engines behind it like outriggers. Forlisa was coming aboard as a contractor in charge of the maintenance of the non-Earth shuttles carried though in fact she'd been told to expect to be utilised to a far greater extent... which was fair enough with her as she capable of much more having graduated an Aerospace Engineer from the Denobulan Science Academy.

Part of her was a little sad to take the job though as it implied a tour away from her husbands and family but she wasn't truly fussed as the idea of new adventures and doing something so completely different to what her friends and colleagues did was most delightful. Humans didn't seem all that bad, the were friendly and optimistic and treated her rather well- some were also not that bad looking either and she could imagine them as being handsome with Denobulan features. The humans had decided this would be a 'secret' ship which was interesting as it had a 'cousin' called the Enterprise that was to be launched soon as well. The reason for the secretness was likely due to all the effort invovled here from non-human partners like her who the majority of humans still hadn't made their mind up about. It was probably also a secret ship so that things could be done in a more expedient manner and seemingly controversial parths could be taken... Forlisa had it on good authority that the ship was destined to launch for the world Orion, word coming from a Navigator she was helping get up to speed on the Denobulan shuttle with... for what reason was not known and she couldn't think of a good one other than a diplomatic mission. She pushed the thought out of her head- it wasn't her job to think about that sort of thing and instead she thought about just how alien this human ship looked.