Operational Matters

Posted on Wed Jun 24th, 2020 @ 3:51am by Emilie Temple & Ensign Ian Milkovich
Edited on on Fri Jul 10th, 2020 @ 6:03pm

Mission: The Evils Within
Location: Deck 2 - Senior Crew Quarters

ON:

Emilie paced around the kitchen area of the Temple family quarters, biting her finger nails. Down the corridor she could hear Katrine gently singing while she did her homework, and from the PADD in her hand she could hear her baby sleeping soundly. Despite this, she walked back and forth around the small kitchenette, bare feet on the cold tiles, as she gave glances of frustration and pleading to the malfunctioning replicator on the wall. The precious device had chosen the most inconvenient time to go on the fritz and Emilie was on her last nerve when it came to faltering equipment onboard this ship.

Breaking into the tense pacing came the door chime and Emilie practically ran for it, immediately hitting the panel to open up the doors.

"Mrs. Temple?" Crewman Milkovich took an alarmed step back, surprised by Emilie's urgency in answering his call.

"You're from Ops?" She looked at him skeptically. He was so young for an officer; couldn't have been more than a few months out of the Academy. He had a shock of bright ginger hair on his head and a very wide smile, but an awkward manner to his stance. He was clearly unsure of himself, and Emilie figured that he had been sent as a last resort while everyone else was busy.

"Crewman Milkovich." He replied with a nod, holding up his tool pouch as if it were convincing evidence.

"Well, I'm so glad you're here." Emilie said, practically pulling the young officer into the room.

"Your report said your replicator had failed?" Milkovich asked as he was dragged across to the kitchen. He saw the machine was completely offline.

"Yes, it just up and died on me." Emilie explained exasperated. "I know there's other things going on right now but I have a five year old who will be wanting a snack in ten minutes and a month-old baby who'll want warm milk in half an hour." Her stress was evident as she looked down at her PADD. Thankfully the baby was still asleep. "I can't leave the quarters and I don't know how to fix it!"

The Ops crewman nodded solemnly as he stared at the device. "It's okay, Mrs. Temple, I'll get it working again."

"Thank you." Emilie breathed out a sigh of relief. She had worked herself up into a hive of anxiety over the situation, but was starting to relax now that help had arrived. She took a seat in a chair, sitting down heavily into it, "And please, call me Emilie. Mrs. Temple is my mother in law."

"Oh. Of course." Milkovich replied, embarrassed. He set down a set of tools and opened up a panel on the side of the replicator. After attaching a data cable to a PADD, he started to run a diagnostic on the device.

Emilie's leg shook as she waited; time was against them and she didn't want to have two crying, cranky children on her hands. Normally she would have gone down to Deck 5 but with the ship still on Yellow Alert and on active mission, all of the recreation facilities had been closed down. And with the current situation, her usual nurse was unavailable to help out, and Nyx was nowhere to be found, meaning she was stuck in her quarters with no food. Emilie began to rue how dependant she was on the replicator and other tech working just to complete her usual parenting duties.

"Seems like the bioneural gel pack ruptured." Milkovich commented out loud, as he stared into the guts of the replicator. "Must have been during the turbulence when we were landing."

"Can you fix it?" Emilie asked urgently, as she tried to steady her restless leg.

"Yeah, but it'll take time." The crewman replied with a sigh, "How long till Katrine will want a snack?"

Emilie took a breath, "Ten minutes."

"Give me five." Ian nodded, before he suddenly sprang to his feet and ran out of the room.

Emilie was left stumped, staring at the space where he was only just standing. She could hear her baby stirring in his crib, a sure fire sign that he was due to wake up soon. Katrine's gentle singing had taken on a decidedly sluggish tone, meaning she would be looking for an energy boost any moment now. Time was against her and Emilie didn't know what she would do, apart from dragging her two screaming children door to door to every set of officer's quarters onboard the Pandora before she found a working replicator.

Thankfully, in just under five minutes, the doors parted open again and young Milkovich appeared, pushing a large, heavy unit on a hover-dollie. He had a sheepish grin upon his face.

"Oh my!" Emilie cried as she entered, rushing over to help him bring the unit into the room. "What is it?"

"Emergency portable replicator." Ian smiled widely, a glint in his eyes. "I had to... procure it from somewhere. It won't have the full database but it'll do the trick until I can fix your main one."

"Oh, thank you!" Emilie beamed as Milkovich prepared to set up and install the unit. "Do I want to know where you got it from?"

"No you don't, Mrs - uh, Emilie." Ian replied. "Desperate times calls for desperate measures, as the Captain said to me today."

"My husband sure does love a well-worn statement." Emilie smiled. She paused for a moment, tilting her head. "He said that to you today, though?"

Ian froze, eyes widened. He ran a hand through his ginger hair. "Yeah.... But let's get this thing working."

Emilie nodded, realising they were still under time constraints, "Yes, yes, of course."

Milkovich got to work installing the portable replicator up to the ship's main power supply and after a few set-up procedures, Emilie was able to materialise some food. When Katrine wondered down the corridor into the main living area looking for a snack, Emilie already had a cup of juice and a plate of peanut butter on celery ready for her. The girl took the treat with a gracious smile and kiss on her mother's cheek, before casually turning around and heading back to her room, the hunger satisfied for now.

"First crisis averted." Ian said with a proud smile.

"Thank you," Emilie let out a very long breath. "Now I'll just have to get the baby his milk."

Milkovich nodded, "The portable should be able to warm it up for him while I fix the gel packs."

"What a relief!" Emilie dared to let out a laugh, allowing herself to fully relax.

Ian knelt in front of the main replicator and started to remove further parts from the system, while Emilie sat down at the kitchen table again. There was a long moment of silence as Milkovich got to work on his repairs. Emilie watched as the Ops officer removed some blue pouches, and started cleaning around the areas that the rupture had spread to. She was aware that he was studiously doing his work, but there was an obvious nervousness about him still. He felt uneasy about being there. She was, of course, grateful for his work coming to her rescue, but a question ran through her mind.

"Tell me, Crewman Milkovich," She broke into the silence, "When did you speak to Captain Temple today?"

"Oh, did I say I spoke to him today?" Ian lied, not taking his gaze off the replicator.

Emilie demurred a smile, "You said Nyx had used the phrase 'desperate times call for desperate measure' to you, today. I'm just... curious why that is."

"Oh." Ian said as a way of replying. He furrowed his brow, looking intensely at his instruments. "Well, with the mission we're on, things are pretty intense."

"Yes," Emilie nodded. She knew the boy had saved her sanity, she knew he was trying to work on the replicator, but she also could tell when someone was trying to hide something. "That would be the 'desperate times' part, but what are the 'desperate measures' he spoke of?"

Ian stopped. He had no idea what to do. On one hand, conversations between himself and the Captain, especially in the situation in which they had occurred, should be confidential information. He had not even passed on to his superiors what Temple had asked him to do, as it was clearly implied that Temple was choosing to act outside of usual protocol. But on the other hand, this was the Captain's wife speaking and she had a particular way of asking the exact question he was hoping to avoid.

"I really shouldn't say." Milkovich added, his tone nervous again. "These are Starfleet operational matters."

Emilie sighed heavily, "Mr. Milkovich? Are you aware of the children's movie about two sisters and a talking snowman?"

Ian gulped. Audibly, loudly, gulped. "Yes, ma'am." he stammered.

"Well my daughter is five years old and knows every word from every song of that movie." Emilie shrugged. "I can bring her in here to demonstrate if you'd like? Every song. Performed with gusto. On repeat."

Ian turned to her, eyes wide as he slammed, "But... but... I helped you?"

"You did, and I am thankful," Emilie nodded, holding up a hand, "But I'm fairly certain your Freudian slip is hinting at something my husband has done, and that concerns me. I have a right to know what he's up to."

Milkovich hung his head, "It concerned me, too." He shook his head, "I mean, I know we're in a crappy situation but letting her out of the Brig?"

Emilie's eyes widened, "Letting who out?"

Ian gulped again while he considered his answer. He felt like he was betraying his uniform and his Captain, but he so vehemently disagreed with Nyx's actions that perhaps there was a part of him that wanted to complain to Emilie about it. He wanted her to know what the Captain had done. He also recognised that it was too late now to stop this train; Emilie had picked up the scent of his secrets and she wasn't about to give up. There would be no 'Let it Go' now.

After considering the situation, Ian answered, "Sasha Vieers."

"HE WHAT?!" Emilie screamed, in a voice so loud that it woke up the baby and caused Katrine to spill her snack. Soon after, there came the unmistakable, piercing cries of two upset children, which only added to Emilie's sudden rage.

"I... I... I'm sure he had his reasons?" Milkovich offered hastily, as the quarters descended into very loud yelling from children and mother alike.

"Well we're going to find out." Emilie declared, standing up. "Computer, find Captain Temple!"

OFF