Stardate: 80301:1740
Title: Jar of Pickled Eggs
Author: Chief of Operations
Time: Current
Scene: USS Horizon


Autumn, being a Federation ‘brat’ so to speak, looked thoughtfully out of one of the vast windows in the Horizon’s Gateway. Now that the mission was over she had managed to make contact with her parents and brothers, all of whom were serving in one capacity or another within the Federation. It was the worryingly similar accounts of trouble brewing along certain borders that made the Chief of Operations concerned, along with the fact that they had been ordered not to return at this time.

“Penny for them.” Astra asked as she wiped invisible crumbs from the already spotless table.

“Just wondering if my contact managed to get that special order of liqueur onboard the Exeter that you requested.”

“I sure hope so, because with all these new promotions ‘Astra’s lucky no. 7’ is running low and we all know how that can turn ugly.” The barmaid winked before she went off to rescue an unsuspecting Ensign from Troy’s romantic advances.

[Lieutenant Falls to the bridge. The Exeter has arrived.]

~

Alex nodded to Autumn as she entered the bridge; with all the crew transferring on and off and vast amounts of supplies and repairs being undertaken both operations officers had pulled a couple of extra shifts to make arrangements. However, there was always bound to be some poor ensign who hadn’t been allocated a room or a jar of pickled eggs setting off some sensor and making the transfers slow.

Ensign Ross handed Autumn a data padd with the current complaints or faults in their meticulously made plans.

“Is this right that one of our new crew, a 'Zibra Dan', has been injured aboard the Exeter?” Past crew that had arrived via the Exeter had usually complained about the trip being so humdrum.

“Yes, I have let Dr Matthews know. He said he would contact the Exeter for more information.”

The rest of the requests seemed fairly straight-forward and Autumn dispatched Alex to meet the new crew and set them up in quarters. He also gave her the nod that the precious supply Astra had requested was all in hand.

Autumn finished off the list but was caught by the sight of the Exeter on the viewscreen. She had many times seen this ship so it wasn’t the interest of something new that stopped her in her tracks; instead, it was a scar that ran along her underbelly. Although there were no other obvious signs of damage a closer look would have revealed numerous patches where repairs had been carried out.

[Lieutenant Falls to cargo bay two - we have a problem.] With one last glance at the Exeter Autumn made her way to whatever pickled egg or similar crisis awaited her.


============================
Lieutenant Commander Autumn Falls
Chief of Operations
USS Horizon
NCC-72400
============================