Mind your P’s and Q’s

Posted on Tue Mar 18th, 2025 @ 2:30pm by Captain Malcom Llwyedd & Ensign Emilynn Dove & Lieutenant Soto Gantt

3,810 words; about a 19 minute read

Mission: Interlude 1 Gamma Quadrant
Location: Various

[ON]

[Main Engineering 0720 hours]

It observed the humanoids as they went about their work below. Their eyes were barely open to the day, yet they moved with purpose. It crept slowly across the platform above them, unimpressed by their actions. Its lurking behavior was not unusual. It sat and watched them, completely undetected. But why should they notice? It wasn’t time for that—at least, not yet.


[Access tunnel - Deck 5 - 0912]

Emilynn had been tasked with replacing some isolinear chips on Deck 5. She crawled through to reach the right junction, thankful for the solitude this assignment provided.

She was now on her third consecutive day with very little sleep. The insomnia was taking a toll on her mental clarity. She wasn’t sure if it was due to her brother's ongoing silence, the increasing list of things she needed or wanted to do, or perhaps a chemical imbalance that was causing her sleeplessness. Regardless, she would need to see a doctor soon if this continued. A migraine was slowly building in the back of her head, adding to her discomfort.

She rubbed her neck gently, feeling the tension in her muscles, and then stretched it from side to side, desperately seeking relief from the tightness that settled there. She leaned back against the cold metal of the bulkhead and took a moment to close her eyes. In the stillness, she reviewed the mental list she had prepared to ensure the successful completion of her task. Each point was carefully thought out, as she had always preferred the security of planning over the unpredictability of spontaneity. For her, every action had to be deliberate and calculated to achieve the best possible outcome in the least amount of time.

The plasma conduits and EPS relays behind nearly every panel and bulkhead of the ship produced a usual hum that almost all who served aboard a ship were accustomed to. This particular section of the ship was slightly different because it was directly over-engineering on deck 4. The sound was more pronounced here, and a secondary pulsating rhythmic whine accompanied the usual hum as the plasma reverberated upwards from the antimatter reactor core below. Emi found them together to be quite soothing.

The sounds drowned out her thoughts, and she felt her breath soften. Her shoulders, neck, and back muscles relaxed against the bulkhead, pressing deeper into it. The flickering of her eyelids surrendered to the vast darkness. Now at ease, she sat unmoving, alone, and asleep in the access tunnel.


[Bridge]

Lieutenant T'Kuvo was finishing up a report on the damage the Firebird had sustained during their initial entry into the Gamma Quadrant. The pace of operations and the constant stream of higher repairs from incoming ships meant that the Firebird was still not at 100% operational status.

T'Kuvo was in temporary command of the ship, with Captain Llwyedd, Commander Rees, and Commander t'Aegis all on DS18.

"Sir," Kipp said from his console. "I'm getting some unusual thermal readings that have triggered a tertiary alert."

T'kuvo tapped send on his screen, forwarding the completed report to Commander Siora and Captain Llwyedd and stood.

"Where is this alert originating, Petty Officer Lak?" T'kuvo said.

"Deck five, sir," Kipp said.

T'Kuvo moved close enough that he could see. Around him, the rest of the bridge crew went on with their duties, which were not onerous as the ship was docked. Still, standing orders were for the Firebird to be prepared for immediate departure if an emergency arose.

"Do we have any personnel in the area?" T'Kuvo asked.

Kipp's fingers played across the console and he frowned. "Yes. In fact, I am showing that Ensign Dove is in that exact location, sir."

T'kuvo tapped his combadge. "Lieutenant T'kuvo to Ensign Dove. What is your status?"


[Access tunnel - Deck 5]

It lay nestled in her lap, filling every open crevice. Its soft, shiny black fur glowed in the ambient light of the tunnel. Her hands unconsciously scratched its chin before she slowly stroked the back of its head and moved down the length of its body to its long, slender tail. A low purr emanated from its throat, barely audible over the whine of the ship's systems.

Emilynn stirred from her slumber, feeling cold and shivering. She slowly opened her eyes and blinked several times as she looked down at her lap, which felt full and warm. To her surprise, she found a black cat curled up in her lap. Its warm body was the only source of heat in the chilly tunnel. She must be dreaming, she thought. She rubbed at her eyes and looked back at the spot where the cat had been, only to realize there was nothing there. Letting out an exhausted sigh, she shook her head slightly, and warm vapor escaped her lips, filling the air in front of her.

“Computer, what is the temperature?”

=^= The current temperature is 3 degrees Celsius equivalent to 37.4 degrees Fahrenheit. =^=

“Computer reset environmental controls to standard.”

=^= Unable to comply. Environmental controls are offline. =^=

Emilynn glanced over at the replacement isolinear chips sitting next to her. She still had not finished her work. Looking at her watch, she realized her impromptu nap hadn’t lasted long. She moved to the other side of the bulkhead and removed the cover to expose the circuitry but was interrupted by her combadge. Her heart began to race. Had they figured out that she had been sleeping? She responded quickly, without thinking.

"Um, my status? Well, I’m about to replace some isolinear chips on Deck 5, but I just realized that the environmental controls are offline. It’s currently 37.4 degrees in here. What temperatures are you reading on the rest of the ship?"


[Bridge]

Lieutenant T'Kuvo raised an eyebrow. The Ensign's informality and comportment were troubling to someone who valued professionalism at all times.

"One moment, Ensign. We will evaluate," he said and nodded at Kipp.

Again the Yeoman orchestrated his console, changing the layout and bringing up sub-systems that he rarely used. After a few minutes, he turned to face the Lieutenant. "I am showing a steady drop in temperatures throughout the ship. They are more than just the normal heating-cooling cycle that a starship experiences. I'm not an engineer, sir, but I think there's something happening."

T'kuvo nodded and tapped his combadge again. "Ensign, we are showing a ship-wide rapid cooling event. Do you have any insight as to why this is occurring?" He asked.


[Access tunnel - Deck 5]

Emilynn was unsure why the environmental controls were offline, but it did explain the drop in temperature. She felt unprepared to address this new issue, especially since she had not yet completed her current tasks. If she hadn’t dozed off, she believed she could have at least sounded more prepared. Frustration with herself lingered.

"I apologize, Sir, but I don’t have any information on why the environmental controls are offline. I am more than willing to investigate the matter once I install these replacement chips. Or perhaps the engineering team might know what is happening."

The Lieutenant's voice came back immediately. "Understood. Please continue with replacing the chips. I will assign an engineering team to track down the source of the thermal event. Tkuvo out."

Like a note from an old friend, Gantt arrived at the auxiliary systems console on Deck 5 and brought up the environmental controls. Frost clung to the console's edges. He picked up an anomaly in the thermal regulators indicating they were offline even though there were no alerts from any subsystems; he also found that a nearby node of circuits had been damaged.

Gantt crawled up a Jefferies tube to the node. Kneeling in front of the access panel, he pried it open with stiff fingers to reveal a cluster of isolinear chips blackened by power surges. "Figures," he mumbled. Looked like a surge cascaded through the backup controls, causing the environmental system to default to a dormant state rather than overheating the remaining systems. A dormant state meant no heat.

Swapping out the burnt-out chips one by one, Gantt carefully checked each one with the tricorder for proper alignment. The task was painstaking in the freezing conditions, but after the final chip was seated he restarted the thermal regulators. The system hummed to life, and the temperature readings on his tricorder began to climb. Gantt uploaded a temporary patch to the regulator’s subroutine to force prioritization of restoring warmth throughout the ship, then he tapped his combadge.

<==Lieutenant Tkuvo, this is Lieutenant Soto. The environmental controls are back online. ==>

<=>Understood. We are bringing them online now<=> Tkuvo said. The line stayed open and in the Jeffries tub the new chips flashed as the subroutines began routing the subsystems properly.

<=>Well done. Environmental controls are returning to normal parameters. Tkuvo out.<=>

Nodding to himself, Gantt gathered his tools and sat back to enjoy the quiet thrum of the ship through the walls of the tube. Some faint, regular sounds traveled up the tubes. There were no other engineers in the area. He crawled towards them and hung his head through a juncture with another tube. A dark-haired woman was seated in front of an exposed bank of power cells and isolinear chips.

"Hey there, need any help?" he said.

As Emilynn sat working, the soft echo of someone approaching could be heard. She looked toward the entrance to her junction and saw a Bajoran man had emerged. She smiled and replied, “No thank you, I’m about finished here.”

She inserted the final two chips into the console. “If my fingers weren’t so cold, I would have been finished already,” she added, glancing over at him. “You’re Lieutenant Gantt, right?” she inquired, her tone a mix of curiosity and polite recognition.

"In the chilled flesh. A power surge crashed some protections that should've stopped it. The area should be..." He glanced down at the PADD. "Yep, starting to warm up again. You're Emily Dove, right? We haven't run into each other but I guess we're all spread pretty thin. Quite an adventure we can tell people about when we get home."

“Actually umm, it’s Emilynn.” She gently corrected him. “It has definitely been a week,” she continued as she began to pick up the defective chips she had left strewn about. “Yeah, I’m uh.. I’m finished here so I should probably get to the bridge now.” She glanced over at him with a polite smile. “I’m covering for someone today.” She clarified. “It was good to meet you, Lieutenant.”

"My pleasure, Emilynn, and good luck," he said. Gantt had a feeling it was time to give the ensign some space. He turned to head back but paused to check the scan on his tricorder. Gantt smiled, then called back. "Nice work setting those chips, Ensign. They're aligned and running efficiently."

[Bridge - later that day]

Emilynn spent the remainder of her shift at the operations station on the bridge. Initially comforted by a warmth that eased the day’s earlier chill, she soon noted the temperature continued to rise steadily.

“Captain, the ship’s internal temperature is climbing—now at 78.2 degrees Fahrenheit, increasing by about one degree every three to four minutes. I’ve tried to reset environmental controls with no success.”

Malcom stood up and made his way over to the Ops section. He looked over the Ensign's display. He appreciated the way she had things organized. Every officer had the ability to change things to suit them better but hers was clean and efficient to his eye. He took in the data and then smiled.

He tapped on the console opening a secure setting and swiftly typed in his command authorization. The box disappeared and Malcom tapped on the environmental reset controls. The temperature returned to normal.

"Ensign Dove, Commander t'Aegis has command during the next shift. She likes things warmer and doesn't like people changing them. So she's set them to her comfort level as a command prerogative. Without telling anyone," he said with a smile. "I'm sure she will come and chat with you in an hour." Malcom turned and walked back to his chair.

Lounging comfortably atop the captain's chair sat a sleek black cat, its fur glistened like polished obsidian under the soft glow of the lights. The cat's silhouette exuded elegance, its long, slender limbs moving with an effortless grace. Its poised tail, artfully coiled around its body, added to the overall impression of regality. There was a noticeable air of aloofness about it as if it were a sovereign surveying its kingdom with a calm yet commanding presence. As it sat groomed itself, the cat drew its paw across its face, its emerald green eyes half-closed in a state of indifference to the captain's return.

Malcom's footsteps slowed as he approached his chair. He'd been working long hours but not enough to cause hallucinations, especially with Kipp watching his sleeping habits like a mother hen. He looked down at the cat, which had apparently appeared out of nowhere, and then glanced around at the bridge. There wasn't a full crew, of course. Most of the regular crew was scattered around DS18 or taking some well-earned time off.

He tried to remember if anyone had a pet cat that might have wandered on board but nothing came to mind. He shrugged.

"I think you're in my seat," he said.

The feline stretched with elegance, its body arching as it rose to its feet. With a confident saunter, it navigated a perfect circle, its tail flicking behind it before plopping back down in a regal pose, unyielding and alert. Its piercing gaze locked onto him, a daring challenge sparking in them as if to claim the seat as its own.

Just then, the doors to the captain's ready room began to swing open and closed fitfully, producing a rhythmic sound that echoed through the bridge, drawing everyone's attention.

Malcom looked away from the cat, his gaze drawn to the Ready Room doors opening and closing in a ragged fashion. He frowned. He felt a familiar sense that something unusual was happening but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

In an unexpected development, the thermal conditions on the bridge escalated abruptly, with ambient temperatures surging to 90 degrees Fahrenheit. This rapid increase resulted in perspiration forming on the officers' foreheads as the air became increasingly oppressive. A thick haze began to pour out onto the bridge from the ready room door, curling around the edges like ghostly fingers calling to them.

"Ops find out what is going on," Malcom said, falling immediately into command mode.

Emilynn glanced discreetly at the feline, her heart racing as anxiety took hold. Beads of sweat slid down her face and neck soaking the collar of her uniform, and she wondered if the cause was the extreme heat or the guilt of not having reported the feline earlier that morning.

“Aye, Captain,” Emilynn replied, focusing on her console. “We have a situation,” she said, concern in her voice. Something is disrupting or siphoning power from our systems. It seems to be isolated to the bridge, as other departments aren’t reporting any issues.” As if in response to her words, the lights on the bridge began to flicker erratically. “I can’t isolate the source,” she added.

Malcom made his way over to the young officer's console. He leaned forward to get a view of the display. During his time as XO on the Fredrickson he'd often helped out wherever needed. The Luna class wasn't a ship with a huge crew.

"Switch the bridge from primary power to the secondary. Let's see if it is a system malfunction or something else. Let's do a sensor search to see if there is a growing energy source somewhere. That energy has to be going somewhere," Malcom said.

“Yes sir, transitioning to secondary power,” Emilynn confirmed. The overhead lighting experienced a brief flicker before returning to nominal brightness. Just as Emilynn began to relax, her operations console lost power and the display turned black, rendering it nonfunctional. She quickly glanced at her captain, seeking his response to the situation.

Before either of them could utter a word, a white flash of light erupted near the center of the room, catching their attention. In an instant, the sleek feline vanished as if swallowed by the air itself. In the command chair now sat a man who exuded authority in his sharp red Starfleet uniform, bearing the rank of captain. With a playful glint in his eyes and an enigmatic smile curling at the corners of his mouth, he radiated an aura of mischief and intrigue that drew attention, suggesting that he held secrets well worth uncovering.

In the Academy, he'd learned about Q. The records from the Enterprise regarding the powerful figure, were extensive. He'd been fascinated and terrified by the encounters Captain Picard had endured.

Malcom took a step towards Q, trying to decide how to handle things. "Not to be rude, but it really isn't a good time for a visit. I don't suppose you would consider coming back at a different time?" Malcom asked in a relaxed manner.

“A different time?” Q pondered, furrowing his brow at the weight of the statement. “Procrastination is an undesirable trait found in humans. There’s that thing your people often say, ’Never put off until tomorrow what you can accomplish today.’He allowed a moment of silence to emphasize the significance of his words before continuing.

“It is dreadfully hot in here Malcom,” he said with an unimpressed inflection, “perhaps you could have your underlings do something about that.” He tugged at his collar before speaking again. “Could someone please bring me a drink?” In that instant the bridge was filled with cocktail waitresses cladly dressed in feathered outfits and heels, they carried trays adorned with an array of colorful drinks, complete with whimsical umbrellas perched atop each glass. “Oh, goody. Something to quench my thirst.” He said snatching a drink from the nearest tray and sampling it.

Malcom sighed, eyed one of the drinks, and then looked back at Q. He remembered that Captain Picard always treated Q brusquely.

"Alright, Q. What do you want? I'm sure you're not making a social call." Malcom said.

Q rose from the command chair and approached the captain. “Gwniadur, you forget yourself. Is that truly how you wish to begin our budding friendship? He took another sip of the drink and savored it allowing his words to hang in the the air between them before continuing.“This really is quite good, you should try one, perhaps it will improve your mood.”

In an instant, with a flicker of light, Malcom vanished from sight, only to reappear seated in his command chair, a drink now cradled in his hand. Q turned to face him, an amused smile playing on his lips. “Now, let’s get down to business shall we?” He said, his tone shifting to one of determined focus. “We should begin by addressing this tin can you so boldly refer to as a ship.”

Without warning, the bridge lights flickered back to life, casting a warm glow across the sleek surfaces. Emilyn's control console sprang back into action. As if on cue, the stifling heat that had enveloped the bridge retreated, and a refreshing coolness swept through the space, making it feel more inviting.

“Captain, power has been restored. All bridge systems appear to be functioning within normal parameters and all departments report ready.” Emilynn stated.

“She is simply delightful, Malcom. Where ever did you find her?” An unmistakable spark of excitement flickered in his tone as if he could hardly contain the thrill of what was about to unfold. “So eager and refreshingly naive!” Q looked from Emilynn to the captain.

"Are you really here to fix my ship? If so, why don't you just wave your hand and finish the space station while you're at it? Or are you more concerned about how we assign new Ensigns to starships? I'm sure I could find a job as a Yeoman."

Malcom raised his glass, took a drink, and then waited for Q's response.

Kipp, sitting at his normal station, frowned at the Captain's comment.

“Oh come now. If I did that, what would all your little minions do with their time?” In the blink of an eye, Q vanished again and reappeared sitting atop the ops station console directly in front of Emilynn causing her to take a step back. “My dear girl, haven’t we met somewhere before? I believe your name is Xen, am I right?”

“My name is Emilynn,” she said flatly trying not to encourage him.

“Oh my, now I’ve gone and done it. Haven’t I?” He said before abruptly grabbing her right arm and pulling her in closer. She felt a jolt of pain travel up her arm. He leaned in close and whispered in her ear.

“It’s unsettling how much you look like her; your features are virtually identical.” He released her arm slowly while maintaining direct eye contact with her. “My mistake” He added, the intensity of his gaze lingered another moment causing Emilynn to question what words were left unspoken just beneath the surface of his dark, probing eyes. She watched as he descended from the ops station leaving her massaging the arm where he had grabbed her.

He moved deliberately across the bridge to stand near the Captain. “You’re not looking too good Malcom, perhaps I should be on my way and give you time to rest before you have a coronary. I certainly wouldn’t want to be the blame for that. Your species is far too fragile.”

I, on the other hand, have a meeting with a Sheliak manager. I sincerely hope he can manage to keep his mucus to himself this time. The last encounter was a nightmare; it took me three days to scrub the sticky substance off my hands. I just can’t bear the thought of going through that again.

“Do take care of yourself. I’ll be seeing you.” He warned before vanishing.

Malcom shook his head. What an experience. He wasn't looking forward to writing the report. He stood up. "Alright, let's get back to doing our jobs," he said. He glanced at Ensign Dove. "Ensign Dove, you and I can talk at a later time about that experience. I'll be in my Ready Room if something else happens. Which I hope it doesn't."

[OFF]

Captain Malcom Llwyedd
Commanding Officer
USS Firebird NCC-88298

Ensign Emilynn Dove
Operations Officer
USS Firebird NCC-88298

 

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