Sorting Through The Trash

Posted on Sat Feb 6th, 2010 @ 5:46pm by

915 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: FORGING AHEAD
Location: USS Orion
Timeline: 1000 hours

Rita was tearing up the carpet of the Orion's lounge. As she did, she stumbled backwards into Toras, the Orion's Andorian chef. She thought she would be angry, but she just waved it away. "Don't worry about it, it happens to everyone," he said chuckling. She really was a nice girl, she thought.

Toras picked up a piece of carpet and tossed it in the rubbish heap. It was already up to Rita's chest, and Rita was not a short woman. At six feet on bare feet with lots of curves, the Latina was easily recognizable anywhere she went. Without saying a word, Rita put more rubbish on the heap. The chief had said that there had been a major battle with the Orion, but she hadn't known it was this bad. They had nearly cut a hole through the deck! It would take a lot of work to fix that but they had to rip up the entire carpet first.
Rita was not enjoying this job. She joined starfleet so she could fix starship hulls, engines, and sensors...not do cosmetic surgery on a lounge. She supposed she was getting this job because all the male team leaders hated doing decorating, leaving Rita with the job. It was galling. But she knew what the chief would say: Starfleet isn't all glamor, sometimes it's just plain hard work. She still didn't like it, but she bit her tongue and did her job in silence.

She was so busy hating her current task that she didn't hear Toras's question. "Ensign! Did you hear me?"

Rita blinked and looked at the tall Andorian. "I'm sorry, I was just thinking. What did you say?"

Toras gave her a searching look and said, "Do you think we should reclamate the trash so far? It's getting awfully high."

Rita looked at the trash again and was surprised to see how much it had grown in the last few minutes. "Si, I'll contact the cargobay." She tapped her commbadge. =A= Nunez to cargobay one. We have some more trash for you to take out. =A=

=A= Energizing. =A= came a bored voice. The pile of rubbish shimmered for a few second and then faded away. =A= Reclamation complete. Let me know when you need me again. I'm going to grab some raktijino. =A=

Rita rolled her eyes Coffee breaks, she thought to herself. Everyone loved their coffee. She did too, but she didn't stop doing her job because of it.

She didn't say any of this to the transporter chief. =A= We will. Nunez out. =A= She turned to Krall who was replacing a dented bulkhead; of all the weapons to keep behind a bar, this guy kept a wooden stick. "Krall, come help me with this carpet. There's a hole in the deck. Why we couldn't just fix it and replace that patch of carpet..." She left it hanging as she leaned back and started to pull.

Krall smiled as he grabbed the carpet and started pulling. It took a lot to upset the Bolian. He started to answer her question, grunting as he spoke. "Well," he grunted, "I suppose it's for aesthetic purposes." She stopped pulling and looked at him. "Or it could be because Typhon doesn't have this exact carpet."

Rita gave a half-smile, but said nothing. She knew he was right.

After a few minutes she became very aware of an argument going on in the doorway of the lounge. She looked and saw Tyrone and Emily having a rather heated discussion with some guys in gold uniforms.

Rita frowned. "What's going on over there?" she wondered.

Krall shook his head. "No idea." The two of them went over to the group.

Rita said, "I'm sorry, can I help you?"

The highest ranking, a chief warrant officer, said, "Yeah, you can stop tearing up the lounge. We're hungry and I don't remember you at the staff meetings, ma'am."

Rita had almost had her fill of disappointments today. Nonetheless, she tried to keep her tone civil. "That's because I work for the starbase, warrant officer. And we're trying to repair the damage done during your recent battle. There is a hole in the floor, a dent in a bulk head, blood on the carpet..." She stopped and smiled pleasantly. "You get the idea."

One of the other men touched the warrant officer's arm. "Come on, Leon. Let's just go to the mess. I told you that this place got it, didn't I?"

'Leon' shrugged. "I hate that chili."

Rita suppressed a laugh with difficulty; she had just had a mental vision of him being ostracized from society because of a case of extremely bad gas. "Try the restaurant called Starlight lounge on the base promenade. They're a little price by worth it; they serve nothing but real food, nothing replicated."

That got the chief's attention. "Really? I'll have to check that out." He paused a second, looking awkward. "Oh, about that a bit ago..."

Rita thought about giving him a piece of her mind but didn't. "Just don't let it happen again, okay?"

He smiled and nodded his thanks before leaving.

Rita turned around to see Toras standing behind her.

"Ready to take out more trash?" she asked.

Rita sighed. So far she did not like her first assignment.

OFF:

Ens Rita Nunez
Engineer
SB Typhon
Played by: Greenwood

PO2 Jep Krall
Engineer
SB Typhon
Played by: Greenwood

Toras nev-Selos
Chef
USS Orion
Played by: Turner

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