We're All Quite Mad Here

Posted on Tue Oct 19th, 2021 @ 3:54pm by Captain Etan Kaz & Lieutenant Sabine St. James

Mission: 00 -Life on the Line
Location: Security Office
Timeline: MD00-1345

Etan Kaz was used to the same old same. That was just the way it was on K-17. Anything truly duty related was merely in place to tick a box for Command to show that things are business as usual on the station.

Security briefings were a weekly occurrence, though actual security matter were seldom discussed. It was usually an excuse for the Captain to leave his office and eat his lunch looking at something besides the wall opposite his desk.

The walk was depressing for Etan, passing by empty rooms, broken machinery, and the hollow looking crew who struggled to find ways to pass the time.

After climbing the stairs that connected the decks of the station's main hull section, Etan turned down a short hall and found the doors to the makeshift security office open. He entered.

Sabine was at her desk, with several screens in front of her, scrolling through at different speeds. She was looking between them but what made the scene all the more strange was that she was juggling three brightly colored balls at the same time.

"Hmm...the fuse had been removed for maintenance, so it was not accidental....the blade and wound are inconsistent, the bodyguard wasn't the killer...the hanging display was dropped, it didn't malfunction..." Sabine was muttering to herself as she read each one.

She then looked up to see her Commanding Officer had entered, but this didn't stop her activities.

"Captain, welcome. Replicator is a little touchy but you're welcome to take your chances if you'd like some refreshments."

Kaz crossed to the antiquated machine on the room's bulkhead. "Plomeek broth, hot." He ordered. The replicator buzzed, and then beeped to indicate an error. "okay, how about Grilled Oskoid." The familiar hum of the replicator intensified and then subsided as a steaming tray of rather limp looking Oskoid leaves materialized.

Sighing, Etan picked up the tray and took it to the desk where Sabine was seated. "Soggy Oskoid?" He offered.

"None for me, thank you. I had a nice hearty cup of very thick coffee and a bowl of thin oatmeal. Mind you, I asked for iced mineral water and a cold cut sandwich." Sabine replied.

Absently, she reached over to turn off the displays and dropped the balls almost immediately. She seems slightly confused this happened for a moment before finishing that and giving the Captain her attention.

"I suppose I'd be hoping too much there's some kind of case for me to get into?" Sabine asked, tilting her head slightly.

Etan surpassed a chuckle. "Here I was hoping you'd have some kind of incident to report." He forced a warm smile. This was their life. Monotony.

"Unfortunately not." Sabine shook her head, "The tedium can be a bit tiresome, hence why I try to use it for constructive purposes. Such as improving my ability to multitask."

"But I understand the challenges it presents." Sabine replied, "It's not easy to keep a brave face on such things. Morale is all but nonexistent."

"I've found that not comparing life here to real duty in Starfleet helps." The morale situation was something the Captain had worked diligently to correct when he first arrived, but when his efforts went without results he eventually stopped. He had since resigned to the reality of their shared situation.

"By it's very nature, Captain, there isn't supposed to be a "real" duty. Starfleet does many things." Sabine leaned back in her chair, "You and I know what landed me here, and I've no regrets. Does that give me perhaps too much free time nowadays? Yes, but I also do hope to actually do what I trained to do. I think part of what gets people is the reputation of this place."

"It may make sense to the Admirals, and I dare not to presume to dictate to them. But if you put all the people you don't wish to deal with, so to speak, in one place, creates a bit of energy to keep feeding off of and no one gets any better." Sabine mused. "Plus, if the Tzenkethi ever take a more active stance, one would think we would become the linchpin of any response."

"Rather an intriguing conundrum Starfleet Command has created for themselves without it yet having manifested." She concluded.

"Indeed." Kaz said, pushing the plate of saturated oskoid away. "You know, I often think back on the decisions that landed me here. People died. But I wouldn't change a thing. There was no way around it. And so we take our punishment in stride." The Trill stood. "I question why I wasn't put out of Starfleet, why many of us weren't? Are we an example for people?" He placed his hands on the back of the chair.

"In most cases, because yes, I've read the vast majority, the term non-judiciary punishment came up." Sabine leaned forward, "Take my case for example. To have publicly tried me would have put several people in an uncomfortable position. This situation, rather interestingly, represents a case where the number of people who supported you equaled the number who wanted to bury you."

Sabine put her hands together, the tips of her fingers touching each other, "It's an interesting position because if the scales were tilted either way, the result would be quite different. If balance favored your supporters, whatever you did would be swept under the rug. Conversely, the scales going the other way would've resulted from forced retirement, dishonorable discharge, time on a penal colony and then dishonorable discharge..."

"The difference between us though is that you may yet find salvation and leave this place for good. I won't. Even if I leave, it'll be temporary. Fleeting." A thin smile, "Because in my story, if this is Wonderland, I'm not Alice. I'm one of the inhabitants, quite mad. Perhaps I'm the cat..."

It was now that Etan allowed his mind and his gaze to wander around the office as he often did during their meetings. Her word slowly distorted into white noise.

"Do you drink Lieutenant?" He asked, pushing through the ringing in his ears.

"Drink? Not really, that burn taste in the mouth is something people want and it just makes me want to empty the contents of my stomach." Sabine replied, "Though I was partial to a concoction best described as a frozen lemonade but spiked. Something introduced to me while on the Antares."

"Drinking has become a bit of a hobby of mine. Finding rare bottles to add to my growing collection. It keeps me sane." He leaned back. "Frozen lemonade. Now that sounds refreshing. Like something they'd serve on Risa or Pacifica.

"Indeed. But I suppose that's one way to pass the time." Sabine replied, "Tragically, the one time I wanted one from the replicator, it gave me a lemon inside of a block of ice."

Kaz tutted. "These replicator are tragic at the best of times. That's why I get my stuff from traders who pass through the sector."

"Trade and commerce...I feel like this station could do with more of that. But then again, I doubt too many people do business with the Tzenkethi." Sabine commented, "My motives might be partly selfish, my actual office is supposed to be on the promenade."

Kaz scoffed at the mention. "Have you seen our Promenade?"

"Only what wasn't blocked off, which again, includes the section where my office would normally be if the blueprints are to be trusted." Sabine replied, "Hard to make use of the space if there is no one to utilize it."

Etan shook his head. "This station is a death trap, every inch, top to bottom."

"Could be the station is about a century overdue for a structural refit. These things probably predated Kirk and just had newer tech haphazardly crammed in. Hence the replicators." Sabine shook her head, before a bemused smile crossed her face.

"You're attempting to find sanity where none exists here in Wonderland, Captain Alice." The smile grew, "We're all quite mad here."