Keeping an eye on the kids

Posted on 26 Jan 2021 @ 1:42am by Lieutenant Xu Chang Lau & Captain Jonathan Reynolds & Commander Amelia Fox & Lieutenant C'Tora Kuroka & Ensign Adam Morgan

Mission: Mission 5 - Season of the Witch?
Location: The Runabout, Meladoste colony
Timeline: MD 4 1700
1933 words - 3.9 OF Standard Post Measure

ON:

Having finished her meal, Amelia was full of energy once again. She sat in the aft compartment of the runabout swinging her legs and cuddling her teddy. She was bored and she wanted to play.

Xu entered the rear compartment of the runabout, a large case in hand that made her look even more slight than she was. The Doctor for his part had been happily watching Amelia while setting up the equipment that had arrived from Andromeda.
"I think this is the last crate Doc... What can I do or should I stay out of the way?"

C'Tora without looking up towards pointed towards two crates. " If you could open those two crates up for me, I could get this equipment set up a lot quicker and it would be a great help." He then looked to Xu. " And I guess kind of semi keep an eye on Amelia. I don't think she'll get into to much trouble, But since this is an Ailment we have no experience with, If you need help ask and I'll be there." He paused a moment. " And Xu, Thanks for all your help, Your the best companion I could have hoped for at a time like this. Thank you."

Amelia blew sir though her lips loudly an sighed. “I’m boooored! Can I go and play?” and not waiting for an answer she stood up. “Come on Teddy, ” she said to her trust companion “Lets go and have some fun.”

Morgan looked at the shuttle that he flew and watched as the other girl was hugging a teddy bear as she came out of the shuttles doors. Morgan shrugged his shoulders and walked into the doors himself. He stepped through the threshold and stood for a moment. He looked around and then felt pain come through his head again. He spoke as he blinked his eyes once,

"How in the world did I get back here?"

Morgan suddenly remembered his actions a moment ago and spoke to noone in particular, "I was acting like a child?"

Morgan quickly looked around and noted nothing out of the ordinary. He looked at the controls on the runabout and noted that nothing had changed when they had first landed. He looked out the shuttles doors to note several officers of the Andromeda, and one was carrying a teddy bear? He shook that thought off and was about to touch his badge to contact the captain when suddenly he felt he wave of pain hit his head again and he nearly fell on his knees. His hands were on his head as if a sudden pounding took his head over. He felt dizzy and for a moment he thought it would never end till a couple seconds later it did. He felt... he felt....

"Im gonna play with the shuttle!!" Morgan suddenly said aloud in a childlike manner.

Hearing a voice, Amelia looked around and saw a boy who for a slipt second she seemed to recognise, then the memory faded. She called out to him. "Hey, wanna play?" She then started skipping over to him.

Morgan looked at Amelia and spoke, "Oh yeah...." He looked around the ship and spoke, "Wanna fly the ship? That would be a lot of fun!!!!"

"Hey kids, we don't mind you playing but keep the noise down please, the Doctor needs to work".
Xu turned to look at both, not but a little amused and perplexed at the situation. She turned back to connecting the medical equipment to the runabouts power supply and started mumbling under her breath 'Be my chief Operations Officer, he said, it'll be a new start, he said! Now look at me, childminder for two grown people...

" Oh it's not all that bad Xu." Said C'Tora without looking up from the sensor panel that was running the blood samples. " When your in Starfleet medical you'll never know what your going to find. Trust me I never thought I would be doing adult daycare myself, So we'll just have to find a cure to put ourselves out of a job."

He gave Xu a side glance and grinned. " Caitians have rather acute hearing, We are a hunter species after all." He then turned towards Xu. " You look tired, When was the last time you ate?" He then glanced out the window. " I guess we better call the kids in for supper as well."

"It has been a while" Xu commented finally noticing how empty her stomach really did feel, and how much she missed Oliver's presence. "I'll go get the kids... do you want anything to eat Doc?"

C'Tora looked up from his work. Hmm? Yes please Kuroka supplement number five with 28 grams of fresh mint would be nice thank you. Need any help with the kids or are you good?"

"No I'll be fine... And if all else fails I can always replicate a blow pipe with several tranquiliser darts" she jested before turning and heading to find them.

In response to Adam, Amelia looked sceptical. "I don't know. There are so many buttons! Do you know how to fly it?" She asked. "I'd rather play with my teddy." she admitted, looking at it and quickly losing interest in anything else.

"Its not that hard," replied Morgan a little frustrated at the girly girl and her teddy bear. He looked at her again and punched in a couple buttons on the console before him, "Its not hard. See? See?!"

Xu appeared in the doorway, her stomach now starting to grumble. "Come on you two, lets get something to eat!"
Taking note about what it looked like Morgan was doing with the console she decided to come back while they were eating and lock the runabout to her command codes... The last thing they needed was someone in Morgans condition taking the runabout to flight!

Even though she'd just eaten, Amelia's face lit up. Apparently, she was hungry again and she ran over to Xu and took hold of her hand. She looked back at Adam “Come on, they have really great burgers and chips.” she turned back to Xu, with a hopeful expression “Can I have some chocolate?”

"Seikō no tame ni, watashi wa chairudomaindāde wanaku uchū kantai no shōkōdesu" Xu mumbled to herself in her native language and quiet enough so the universal translator wouldn't pick up on the profane language, something she didn't need two children running around repeating.
"I'm sure we can but only after you eat all of your vegetables!" she stopped for a moment, once again shocked at how she sounded. 'I take it all back mother, I am sorry and the next time I speak to you I will apologise for everything I did as a child!'

"Well, im not hungry.....i want to fly the shuttle now!" Morgan replied as he kept his seat by the console.

C'Tora appeared in the doorway. " Fly the shuttle? Not until you've had the lessons to fly it and it's not that easy to do. If you don't know what your doing you could hurt or even kill someone by making a mistake, now you don't want that do you. Now come over here and eat and we'll talk about teaching you to fly a shuttle. OK? "

Xu just folder her arms across her chest and put on the most stern face she could muster.

Morgan looked at the officer with a scowling look and spoke, "I I have to....."

Suddenly without any warning, Morgan placed a hand to his head again and felt the pain like he had felt before. The dizziness came back and as the pain started to subside, he felt weird. He looked around at his location and spoke as he looked at the other officers in the runabout with him, "What the hell? Where am I? Why am I at the controls of the shuttle?"

C'Tora came over and gently helped Morgan up from the chair. " Ensign, Please come over and lie on the couch. It seems you have contracted an illness and I need a blood sample from you." The computer beeped and C'Tora looked up at the results. " Hmm.." As a troubled expression crossed his face. " It would seem Lieutenant Fox has an unknown blood pathogen in her system and a Synaptic anomaly." He turned with the tricorder and began a scan of Ensign Morgan.

"Doc, I'll call this in to the Captain!" Xu moved through the open hatch to stand outside the runabout, gain at least a modicum of privacy from the borderline chaos that seemed to be falling around the landing site. She tapped her combadge.

"Chang-Lau to Reynolds. Captain, further to my last communique... Doctor C'Tora's lab is now set up in the aft section of a runabout, Ensign Morgan appears to be flitting between lucid and regressed, Lieutenant Fox has completely regressed. The Doc is running tests now to try and pinpoint the source of the infection... Do you have any further orders?"

Jon it seemed could talk again and move but it felt like it took ages to actually move. The witch glared at him once more but he walked outside the hut anyway leaving Natasha and True still trying to ask for information.

"Yes. The locals are implying they put this on the colony. Like a curse. But going by the tea I was just served that incapacitated me I think more natural elements are in play. Try testing some of the imports the natives have traded if you can find any. And go talk to the other traders, find out if they know anymore about these people or if anyone else has fallen foul of them. Take Leighton," Jon told her.

"Also cross reference anything in the records as to whether there is any mention of another people here. There's another party in play," Jon stated. The witch had seemingly followed him out and didn't seem happy that he knew about this other "party".

"Also do not let Morgan fly that shuttle in his current state, Reynolds out."

He locked eyes with her and was about to say something when strangely he and she it seemed were pulled down. Dirt seemed to mould all around them and they popped out in what he could only assume was an underground cavern.

Xu moved back towards the runabout unaware of the predicament the Captain now found himself in but her direction was clear. "Doc, are you going to be ok for a while, the Captain wants me to go with Ensign Leyton to a local trading post... I'll take the other runabout!"

C'Tora looked up from the medical monitor. " Of course I'll be fine. If the kids get to be to much to handle I'll do like any good parent and hypospray them for nap time." He said jokingly. " Now hurry it up and take care of what the Captain wants and come back and check on me, To make sure I don't have any more ribbons in my hair."

Amelia, who was getting bored by all these grown-ups talking decided to she needed some adventure. Since one of them had mentioned going somewhere, that might be more interesting than here. With her trusty teddy in her hands, she slipped away unnoticed and headed for the other Runabout.

"Chang-Lau to Leyton, the Captain has new orders for us. Meet me by the second runabout at the landing site. Out!"
Is this what being an Operations Officer was. Secretly she was starting to enjoy it!

END