Next Time, Use the French Press

Posted on Wed Oct 30th, 2024 @ 1:41am by Lieutenant Commander Gulati & Captain Tyler Driskill

1,301 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Mission 2 - Death is Only the Beginning
Location: Deck 8 | Lt. Gulati’s Quarters | USS Concord
Timeline: After "Hot on the Trail"

Captain Driskill found himself on deck eight. Many of the senior staff resided on this deck but he was looking for his Benzite mission advisor. He pressed the chime outside the Lieutenants quarters and waited, hoping she was in.

Lieutenant Gulati had stepped out of the sonic shower when the door chime rang and she quickly threw on her robe, tying it around her waist and making her way through her quarters. There was only one person she expected to be chiming her quarters at this hour. As she approached the doorway she responded "Be right there short stuff" and the doorway parted. "I've been exp-" No, no she had not.

"Wrong Tyler," she said and looked down seeing her robe could be a notch or two tighter in present company. She swiftly pulled on the belt, tightening and closing the rope top into a more encasing figure. "Well then. Captain, come on it" she said stepping back and gesturing him inside.

Taking the invitation to enter the Captain wore a smile at the wrong Tyler comment. “Sorry to interrupt your personal time Lieutenant.”

The Benzite coughed and shook her head "Oh you Humans and your wild fantasies," she said she headed to fetch her breathing apparatus. "It's not personal time. Lieutenant Rehman and I have been pulling long nights working on our shapeshifter problem."

She walked over towards a replicator unit. "I can almost assure you that young man is not interested in me" stated the Benzite. "Can I get you anything, Captain?"

“I only meant off duty hours” Driskill clarified with a chuckle. “I wouldn’t mind a cup of coffee if it isn’t too much trouble” Tyler said politely.

The Benzite nodded "I don't think the Concord will mind. We have enough power to treat ourselves for a bit." She ordered a coffee for the Captain and a tea for herself, and brought the drinks over to the living area setting them on a coffee table.

"Having difficulty sleeping, Captain?" she asked with concern.

“Sadly so” Tyler admitted. “There’s just been so much” he looked out at the stars and then back at Gulati.

"Sabotage and murder," replied Gulati. She took a sip of her tea and watched his gaze. "Certainly not the mission you and Sledge were looking to have. I understand the restlessness, Captain. I still hear Lieutenant Carter's scream and what I walked into."

“I’m” he paused “I can’t even imagine being in your shoes. What you witnessed was” he paused and made eye contact “well I have no words.” Tyler took a sip from his beverage “you are right again we planned on being on our way back to the Alpha Quadrant by now.”

"I know," she replied simply. "This was intended to be a short mission with a lot of specialists though a bit of a light on the crew compliment. I was brought here because I helped build those damn transwarp engines. I know they were sabotaged, but part of me still blames myself."

“I blame the changeling thats cost live and has sabotaged our way home" the Captain said making eye contact with the Lieutenant.

Lieutenant Gulati could not agree more with that assessment. Her eyes were sharp though groggy from long hours, but still good enough to see an uncanny valley effect. "Captain, put that coffee mug down. Immediately!" She exclaimed rising to her feet.

“What” Tyler asked looking at Gulati before dropping the mug and standing up.

Lieutenant Gulati was hyper fixated on hunting down the shapeshifter, but her prey had a nasty habit of becoming the hunter. She quickly grabbed a phaser that she kept in her quarters and before she could fire off a shot at the mug, it changed shape, grew several feet tall and opened a hole in the center of itself, the phaser blast going straight through.

The liquid yet easily adaptive state of the creature was unpredictable and irresistibly fast. It made a sharp advancing movement towards Captain Driskill, but the Benzite officer tackled him to the floor, rolling off of him quickly to sit up and fire a shot at the quickly moving liquid.

She definitely hit part of it as the color of the creature changed partially and it's movements became swift in a retreat up a bulkhead and through a ventilation shaft. "Damn it!" she shouted and got to her feet.

Gulati stopped her pursuit to turn and extend her hand to pull the Captain up. "It's wounded, Sir, but it got away again. Are you alright?"

“I’m fine” Driskill replied “thanks to you” as he composed his self and adjusted his uniform. “Security to deck nine, section two. Bridge seal off that area” he ordered hoping they could catch the creature.

Lieutenant Gulati knew it was a futilistic action, but if it made the Captain feel as though he had control, she wasn't about to stop him. It did not harm to take the chance. "It moves fast, Sir. Too fast."

This charade it had done by messing with the replicator so that it could be they mug was ingenious, but disturbing. "It can be anything or anyone it wants, move around the ship seemingly unnoticed studying us and our routines."

“I want this thing found, Lieutenant” he looked at her “before anyone else is murdered.”

As if we haven't been trying she thought. She was frustrated too. They had been on the hunt for this thing ever since the Bolian Chief Operations Officer was killed.

"We will do our best. In the meantime, I'd stay away from the replicator. Boil up some water next time and use a French Press" commented Gulati.
"Oh , and Captain, was there something you needed, Sir? You came to see me."

“Oh that’s right” Tyler shook his head “I came to inform you that Sledge is stepping down as First Officer.”

Gulati felt a sting of defeat. "That's not good, Sir. I'm sorry. We're kind of out in the middle of nowhere. Who's going to step up to take it?" She knew technically the Security Chief was next in line.

“Well” he paused for a second "I haven't quite made a decision, although I do have a few candidates in mind."

Lieutenant Gulati did not waist and second, did not skip a beat. She did not even give it the thought it probably warranted. "No," she replied immediately. "You need someone who understands what we are up against out here. I was chosen to be mission advisor for a reason, Sir. More than because I built the damn thing that got us here."

She looked out the observation area. "I read every report, gone through countless logs that we received from Voyager. I'm an expert on Borg technology, and we're in their backyard. You can look over your few candidates if you want, Captain, but I am the First Officer you need right now."

Captain Driskill sat in silence for a few seconds. He had what felt like a thousand thoughts warping through his mind "you are right. You are the right choice for the situation."

"I have a shape-shifting piece of goo to hunt" replied Lieutenant Gulati. "We can discuss this at a better time."

Captain Driskill was impressed by the way Gulati always stepped up when it was called or and was taking charge on hunting the Changeling. "I'll just be on the bridge if you'd keep me informed."

"I will," Gulati replied as she checked to make sure the vial Lieutenant Tyler Rehman had given her was still there in her pocket. It was. Using herself as bait had been risky, but it did seem to cause the changeling to her location, and it was likely even more wounded now.

 

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