A Little Free Time

[Annabelle O'Halloran 0]

*This log takes place during a quiet moment before the events of last week's sim.

 

They were about one week out from Camelot Station and so far so good--no more Boganary had made an appearance and they hadn't seen any sign of either the Satarami or the Cult of Iyves. Anna discreetly rapped her knuckles on the table in the hope that their good fortune would continue. Not that the table was made of wood, but it was the thought that counted, she told herself as she contemplated her bowl of replicated vegetable soup. Not a very prepossessing lunch at first glance even with the element of mystery created by not being able to recognize the vegetables. She wasn't that hungry anyway. Taking a lunch break had just been a good reason to leave the lab. Her morning had been spent in Sci lab 4 cataloging lost specimens and data. It was disheartening how much had been lost although one bright spot was that Dr. Smith was very excited about the opportunity to get brand new, up-to-the-minute equipment. She wondered if they would be able to get everything at Camelot or if some of it would have to wait till they got back to the Alpha Quadrant.

 

Debbie hurried into the mess hall and marched up to one of the replicators. She quickly scanned the lunch menu, her frown deepening as each entree was presented. If it weren't for her stomach making all sorts of embarrassing noises, she wouldn't have bothered with lunch at all. But the growling tummy and the fact she desperately needed to get away from Sickbay for a while led her to face her current dilemma. Nothing on this particular menu appealed to her. Still, she had to eat. So, rather than allow the menu to continue she ordered a chicken salad sandwich on wheat bread with a side of mayo and an iced tea. She figured the confounded machine couldn't mess up chicken salad too badly. The mayo was another issue altogether.

 

A moment later, her lunch appeared in the midst of a soft whirring sound. She picked up the plate and glass and looked around for a place to park. That's when she spotted Anna O'Halloran sitting by herself at a table by the windows. A small smile tugged on Debbie's lips as she made her way across the room. She'd been intrigued about Anna's concern for a particular security officer. Now would be a good time to pick the young woman's brain.

 

"Would you mind some company?" asked Debbie cheerfully as she approached the table, wondering if the junior officer would dare say no.

 

Anna looked up at the sound of Debbie's voice, smiling automatically at the sight of the Chief Medical Officer. "Of course, I wouldn't mind," Anna answered, just as cheerfully as she'd been asked. "I'd be glad of it, to tell you the truth." She'd discovered that Debbie Matthews had a wicked sense of humor while taking emergency medical training under her direction and seemed to have the enviable ability to appear calm when all about her was chaos. Anna envied her that quality of unflappability.

 

Debbie slid her tray onto the table, pulled out the chair and sat down. "Thanks," she replied, eyeing the sandwich on her plate. She cautiously lifted the top piece of bread and examined the contents. "At least it smells like chicken salad," she quipped, picking up the small container of mayonnaise and giving it a quick sniff. "And this smells like mayo." Deb looked over at Anna's lunch....some kind of soup. "How's yours?" she asked. "What kind of soup is that?"

 

Anne watched with interest as Debbie examined her chicken sandwich and sniffed the mayo as if she wouldn't have been a bit surprised to encounter food poisoning. Reaent's Chief Medical Officer clearly didn't trust the replicator and Anna looked at her soup with newly suspicious eyes. "It's a little bland and it's vegetable soup of no discernible origin." She took a spoonful anyway. Might as well live on the edge.

 

With a quiet sigh, Debbie plopped the mayo onto the top piece of bread and smeared it around with the knife provided with her lunch. "Don't mind me," she remarked after noticing Anna's doubtful glance at the bowl of soup. "The food is safe enough." She looked up with a grin. "But sometimes, it doesn't taste the way you expect it to." She took a small bite of her sandwich, slowly chewed it and swallowed. "I'm not sure what planet this chicken came from," she continued, placing the sandwich back in the plate. "But at least it has some flavor."

 

She picked up her glass and took a sip. It was time to move on to her next line of questioning. "I haven't seen you around much since you finished your emergency medical training," said Debbie nonchalantly. "How are things going with the esteemed Mr. Smith?"

 

"I seem to have spent most of my time helping to straighten up the labs and coming up with a list of what's been lost and what can be repaired." She'd enjoyed training in Medical and looked forward to refresher courses. Anna smiled as she recalled Brian's enthusiasm during a recent conversation. "Dr. Smith is very excited that Science now has the opportunity to get re-equipped with some brand new cutting edge technology. The labs all need to practically be rebuilt so I'm looking forward to seeing what we end up with." The whole ship looked like it needed to be rebuilt.

 

The CMO chuckled but remained tight lipped. She chose not to share her feelings on the need to re-equip the science labs along with eighty percent of the ship. She could certainly understand Brian's enthusiasm over obtaining "cutting edge technology." But Deb would have preferred he get his new toys without the Reaent suffering such devastating losses. Equipment could always be replaced. Those killed during their recent encounters were gone forever.

 

"I'm sure that's keeping you busy," said Deb after swallowing another bite of her sandwich. "But I hope you've had time to get to know some people. Found anyone interesting to hang around with?"

 

Unaware that she'd hit a nerve with her innocent recounting of her conversation with Dr. Smith, Anna took a final swallow of her tea before setting the mug to the side of the bowl of soup she would not be finishing. "I feel like I've gotten to know the people in my department pretty well," Anna answered, noting that the noise in the mess was getting louder as the tables around them started to fill up. "And Jon Shamor's been nice enough to work with me so that I can improve my weapon certifications." She smiled a little wryly at Debbie and shrugged. "Thankfully, we haven't run into anyone since our encounter with those three ships that probably belonged to the Boganary but better safe than sorry, I suppose."

 

"Let's hope you'll never have to use those weapons," replied Debbie placidly. "At least not anytime soon." She looked across the table at the science officer and smiled warmly. "But I'm not surprised Shamor took the time to work with you. I've often wondered if all Zemuns are as dedicated and loyal as he is."

 

Anna folded her arms across her chest and leaned back in her seat, automatically returning Debbie's smile. She also wondered what other Zemuns were like. Such a long life span was almost unprecedented and she still found it a little startling. Twenty-two hundred and thirteen was a long time to have lived and it amazed her to think of what he might have seen. "He's completely devoted to the well-being of this ship and crew," Anna answered, agreeing completely with Debbie's assessment of Jon's loyalty. She didn't mention that he had hinted at an earlier, darker time in his life.

 

"He's one of the good guys," replied Deb with a quick nod. She made eye contact with her luncheon companion and offered her a wry grin. "I suppose you could say Jontiles Shamor is a.....multi layered individual...but he's definitely one of the good guys." She picked up her glass of tea as her grin widened into a smile. "I'm sure he's pleased to have you as a friend."

 

Anna didn't quite know how to respond to Debbie or if her statement even required an answer and so settled for murmuring that she hoped he did because she considered herself lucky to count him as one of hers. She didn't doubt that he was one of the 'good guys'. A man with Jon's abilities and experience no doubt had many options open to him but chose to serve in Starfleet. Multilayered? Undoubtedly, and still very much an enigma to her.

 

"I can't tell you how glad I am to see him walking around on his own two legs again, Debbie. You told me he'd be ok after his accident but it was sure nice to see him walk into that tavern down on Ha'vorante, no wheel chair in sight."

 

Deb nodded while chewing on another bite of her sandwich. "He was instrumental in getting himself back on his feet," she said when she finally managed to swallow. "He's the only Zemun in the fleet so we have very little knowledge of their physiology. We've studied Jon to pieces but there is still a lot we don't understand about his species." She picked up her glass and continued. "It was Jon who came up with an idea about what his problem might be. He and Merina worked on it and.....now he's on his feet again." She took a sip from her glass and looked curiously at Anna. "Did the two of you enjoy your time together on Ha'vorante?"

 

"We didn't actually spend that much time together. He came down late, right around the same time as Ensign T'Kar from Security. Wade Knight from Engineering was also there." Anna smiled as she thought of T'kar's offer to teach herself and Jon the Vulcan harp. She was tone deaf--T'kar was going to have her work cut out for her. "I had no idea how musical Reaent's crew is. Jon rocks out on the guitar, T'kar plays the Vulcan harp and Wade mentioned he could play the piano." She found herself wondering when Jon had least seen another Zemun. Debbie had just been commenting about the difficulties involved with treating a species that the data base didn't have complete records on but Anna wondered if Jon was lonely for his people, for his family. Maybe when you lived for as long as he had...would...your idea of time spent apart was different. Maybe a couple of centuries was equivalent to two years to a human.

 

"Maybe they should start a band of some kind," quipped Deb. "This ship could use a little....culture." She finished off her sandwich and pushed the plate away. "Do you have any hobbies?"

 

"A concert would be nice." Anna agreed with Debbie, noting her pause before she said the word 'culture'. Reaent could benefit from some extra curricular events that might pull the crew together. Of course it could also use some repairs to the holodecks and gyms. And every other square inch of the ship. "And as for hobbies, I've been collecting folk stories, you know...legends and the like since I was around twelve. My...family has kept their history alive through oral retelling and I noticed that the legends of a lot of different species have many similarities in common." Looking regretfully into her empty tea mug, Anna decided against a refill since lunch was just about over. "Oh, I also make edged weapons." She glanced up and caught Debbie's expression. "Just smaller ones...I don't have the upper body strength to work a larger piece of steel."

 

Anna's revelation came as a surprise to Debbie, a surprise she couldn't easily hide. She knew very little about the science officer but she had a difficult time imagining this refined young woman had a serious interest in edged weapons. It appeared Jon Shamor wasn't the only multilayered individual on the Reaent. "From collecting folk legends to fabricating small edged weapons," chuckled Deb. "You're interests are widely varied."

 

"I come by it honestly," Anna answered a little dryly, but with a smile. "My family has crafted and sold them for generations. I apprenticed at a young age and also enjoy working with gem stones and precious metals." She realized that Debbie was asking all the questions and felt suddenly as if she'd been very rude. "Debbie, what do you like to do? I know you've had almost no spare time since...well, since I came aboard at Risa but given half a chance, how do you like to spend your free time?"

 

Debbie knew the answer to that question. But she doubted her husband would appreciate her sharing it with a junior officer. Instead, she smiled gamely and shook her head. "If I had free time, I'd sleep. Or I'd spend a few hours a day in the arboretum. They allow the crew to grow their own gardens. I had one for a while but you need time to take care of it. I had to give it up three or four years ago."

 

"I've never seen you when you weren't being run off your feet," Anna replied quietly, while thinking, No time to even look after a small garden? She'd been thinking of asking Debbie if she and Commander Ridire had any plans to start a family, but after what the Reaent had been through in Anna's short time upon her, she assumed anyone who wanted to start a family would request a transfer first. And then light a candle every day that they should survive until it came through.

 

"We've been pretty busy in Sickbay during the past few missions," sighed Deb. "And the more patients we have, the more records we're forced to keep. The paperwork is horrendous. When things finally settle down, all I want to do is vegetate."

 

She met Anna's gaze and grinned coyly. "Of course, it doesn't hurt to have someone to vegetate with. My biggest regret is we have so little time together."

 

Anna smiled in response to Debbie's grin which told its own story. "You'd think that serving on the same ship would ensure that the one thing you would be able to do would be to spend a lot of that time together." Anna's smile brightened, as she added, "The past three weeks have been very quiet. Maybe it's a new trend."