An Encounter in the Arboretum, part 1

Posted on Thu Oct 13th, 2011 @ 11:58pm by Lieutenant JG Jane Porter & Alvar Walder

1,054 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Orbital Yard Project Athena I
Location: Typhon Arboretum

ON

Bennett was wandering through the seclusion of Typhon's Arboretum. It reminded him very much of the one on the Republic, but was obviously much bigger. Though there were more people about on the station, there was plenty of room for him to lose himself here.

One thing he did not expect was coming across one of his helm officers in a secluded dell of sorts.

'Ensign Thirteen,' he intoned.

Thirteen sat. She had a small box, and some tools, and was ...

... modifying her disassembled right foot. She looked up.

"Greetings, Captain Bennett." She said, with a nod. "I'd stand, and salute, but my starboard navigational constructs are offline."

'Of course,' said Bennett, 'but don't feel the need. We're on shore-leave after all, and I'm not even in uniform.' He paused for a moment as he looked at her leg before asking, 'need any help?'

"It is extremely unlikely that you have the technical knowledge required to alter these devices. Were it not for the instruction manuals left in my positronic repository, I likely would not, either." Thirteen stated.

'Of course,' replied Bennett with a laugh, 'I have no idea how to do anything with one of those prosthetics. What's wrong with it?'

"It is defective." Thirteen stated, flatly. "I'm attempting to repair it, without replacing it."

"Well, from the looks of it," A voice from further in said, walking towards them, said. "you've got a few shorted out power couplings, and a blown data cable."

Sirgei Bobgdonovich stepped out, from obscuration, along the path. "I've been pondering how to come talk with you. Admiral Ongaku-Chi asked me to make sure you were alright."

"I doubt this. Greatly." Thirteen countered. "You are here to gain access to my files."

Sirgei nodded. "True. I'm also supposed to do a full systems scan."

Thirteen shook her head. "I have one doctor. And only one. If you want my system statistics, you can address Doctor Prefect, for my diagnostic files."

"Uh... Can I at least... help you repair that?" Sirgei asked.

"You are disrupting me. And you could be polite, and address the Captain, properly. Or, for that matter, introduce yourself." Thirteen said, with a scowl.

"Uh... Chief Warrant Officer Sirgei Bobgdonovich. You'd be Ensign Twenty, and and Captain Bennett, yes?" Sirgei asked.

Thirteen simply nodded.

Jane was wandering through the arboretum, checking to make sure the trees were okay when she saw a woman sitting on a bench holding her foot. Slightly alarmed, she walked briskly over to the group. "Is everything all right here?"

'Everything's fine here, thank you,' smiled Bennett pleasantly, reaching into a back pocket and flashing his Starfleet ID - a handy weapon in his arsenal when out of uniform. 'Mister Bobgdonovich, what's your business here?'

"Believe me, when I tell you, I'm only following orders." Sirgei said, handing a PADD over to Captain Bennett. "An Admiral Ongaku-Chi, of the Starfleet Corps of Engineers, is apparently assisting Temporal Investigations with the Republic's analysis. I was more, or less, ordered to report back to her as soon as possible, with a full system's diagnostic, and a copy of Miss Thirteen's internal file structure. I'm honestly just hoping someone with an actual rank can tell her to push off. I understand the last technician was rather cleverly disarmed."

Thirteen frowned. She said nothing. Neither, did she move her place. She just stared at the woman who had wandered this way.

Bennett caught her looking at the other woman who was standing there, but turned his attention back to Bobgdonovich. 'As I understand it there are several problems with Admiral Ongaku-Chi's approach,' Bennett began smoothly, ticking off the reasons on his fingers, 'first, it's TI's investigation, meaning they have to come to us with a warrant for Astrid. Second, that warrant would probably run contrary to Ensign Astrid's rights as a citizen of the Federation.

'No rescued Borg drone has been subjected to invasive analysis. She should look up the Seven of Nine V. UFP case. I forget the date, but I believe it was around 2380.' Bennett smiled, 'kindly convey that to the Admiral,' he took the PADD and placed in his reasons for rejecting the Admiral's request.

"He's right," Jane added to Bobgdonovich. "And I really must insist you don't make a fuss in my arboretum. It's bad for the trees."

'W- the trees?' asked Bennett the comment throwing him off his stride. 'No offence but there're -' he paused and looked about. Then at the woman. 'Nevermind.'

Thirteen simply pondered the trees, or possibly the woman. Or possibly Sirgei. It was hard to tell. She just stared.

Sirgei took the PADD. "Thank you sir." He whispered. Then he bolted.

'So,' Bennett turned to the Arboretum technician, 'I guess our little fracas has been resolved.' He smiled, 'we'll make sure not to do anything else that's bad for the trees, won't we Astrid?'

"Unless they take offense to my attempted repairs, yes." Thirteen said. "Though it is curious how you know they are discomforted. I have not detected any changes in their physiology, since arriving."

"Nothing to worry about yet," Jane said. "There's only a problem if you start a fight." She looked in the direction Sirgei had taken. "That's not good for the arboretum in general."

His lips twitched into a grin as he listened to Thirteen, 'there won't be any fights while we're around,' he assured her.

Jane nodded briskly. "Very well, then. enjoy your day." She looked them over once more. "If you have any questions, please let me know." She paused for a moment, gave them a slight bow and continued on her way.

Bennett looked a little nonplussed. Of course there had been no reason for her to stay, but he had been hoping to ask her about the place. The Computer was an option, but he knew first-hand how passionate people could be about their plants.

'This is a curious place, Thirteen.'

Thirteen nodded. "It is not as conducive to attempting meditation, as originally deduced."

(To be continued...)

Captain Curzon Bennett
Commanding Officer
USS Jefferson

Ensign Astrid Thirteen
Helmsman
USS Jefferson

Lieutenant Jane Porter
Botanist
Starbase Typhon

Chief Warrant Officer Sirgei Bobgdonovich
Computer Systems Specialist
Starbase Typhon

RSS Feed