Pulling a Doubleshift

[Annabelle O'Halloran 0]

 

Leaning forward in her seat, Anna tapped in a sequence of commands that would start diagnostic tests running on the sensor relays dropped earlier in the day. She and Tobias Jaren were in the lab, eager to make sure there would be no glitches in getting data back. "Tobias, starting first series of tests, now." Anna tapped her screen and then picked up the bowl of spicy noodles that constituted dinner, as well as a pair of chopsticks.

 

Tobias nodded as he chewed down a forkful of his own salad. It was a Trill recipe, which made it hard to identify most of the ingredients. He leaned back into the chair as the simulation ran. The Reaent wouldn't be able to receive telemetry from the buoys until the entire system was up, but in the mean time the science department would be continuously pinging the individual buoys to make sure they could communicate with each other and the ship properly.

 

She was tired; it had been a long day so far but also a productive one. She needed to stay awake, stay focused, and looking at the screen was starting to have a hypnotic effect on her. She glanced over to Tobias; his eyes were fixed on his screen. They both needed a distraction-the diagnostics were going to take a little bit to run the test simulations. "So, you're the fourteenth Host. What were the other thirteen like? Do you mind me asking?"

 

"No, I don't. Some parts are private but otherwise I don't mind. Although my life story as your kind calls it would be a little bit too long for one evening." He finished typing and turned to her with a small grin.

 

Anna grinned back, her tone teasing, "My kind, huh?" She shook her head. "Perhaps I could have asked that differently. How about if I say, 'Who was the first Host?' You can be like Scheherazade, Tobias. One Host at a time."

 

"Oh boy." He chuckled. "It's easier the other way around. Memories of recent hosts are more vivid. Lets see...My first host was Talia. She served on the symbiosis commission as a liaison to the one of the national governments...I forget it's name. Back then the commission was more...autonomous from planetary government."

 

"Did she have a family?" Anna was curious about how current Hosts felt about past Hosts surviving family members, although Talia being the first would have been so long ago that any descendents would most likely have no resonance for Tobias.

 

"Hmm...No actually. She was wholly committed to her work for the commission." He crossed his arms and glanced downward, trying to recall the life so long ago. There wasn't much he could draw upon.

 

"She was? Very dedicated, to be sure," Anna murmured, thinking it sounded very lonely. Perhaps having a symbiont made you feel less alone, but for Talia, being the first meant she had no past memories to draw on. "You seem like you might have a little something in common with Talia," Anna told him with a smile. "I want you to know how much I appreciate the work you've been doing."

 

"It's no problem. It's been a long time since I got to do any sort of real scientific work. Besides, how would it look if I didn't want to pull extra hours on my first mission?" He gave her a coy smirk, before looking over his screen for a moment and tapping a few commands.

 

"You would look like a slacker, I'm afraid," Anna answered with a chuckle, not meaning it. "Besides, I know you're as anxious as I am to make sure the relays work properly." She glanced down as the computer chirped that the first simulations run had been a success. "And, we are in business!"

 

"Good, the rest of the buoys should follow suit. Though we'll have to test them all. I've automated the test, so we can get out of here and leave some crewman to watch the screen." He finished tapping, and spun the chair around to her with a grin.

 

"We're just inches from a clean getaway, is that it?" Laughing, she turned and logged off the station and then stood up, grabbing the half empty bowl of cold noodles with the chopsticks poking out at weird angles. "Ok, it's official...we're free. I'm turning you loose on an unsuspecting Reaent, Mr. Jaren."

 

"Oh, unsuspecting they are." He chuckled and disposed of the salad. "Well, I suppose I'll see you at the start of shift."

 

"The start of shift? Hmm...that'll be a first." She winked at him and tossed the remains of her dinner after his. He hadn't made it on time for shift change since he'd boarded the ship. "You have a good night, Tobias."

 

"You too, Lieutenant." He gave her a quick smile and exited the lab.

Edited July 27, 2009 by Annabelle O'Halloran