Lieutenant JG Ras El'Heem - Room 147

[Ras El'Heem]

((Junior Officer Common Room, Deck 14, USS Khitomer, Docked at DS33))

 

The common room was empty. The hum of the environmental controls and the soft click of a replicator resetting itself in standby were the only sounds that broke up the silence. Repairs had already been completed on deck 14 and most, if not all the Junior Officer’s quarters were deserted, the inhabitants of those rooms, no doubt enjoying their shore leave on the station. Ras wasn’t up to any excursions and so he had been holding himself hostage in his room. Once that had become stale, or mind numbingly boring, he decided a change of scenery was in order. Only a few paces from his doorstep. He sat cross-legged on a sofa, a neglected cup of raktajino cooling on the table in front of him.

 

Ras swiped through his PADD, attempting to find something to distract him. He’d avoided medical topics and found the holonovellas contrived. The whimsy felt too out of place with the weight of his actions still weighing on him. Instead, he dug through the ship archives. Not the mission logs or engineering briefs, but the miscellany. The logs no one read unless they were bored, nostalgic, or avoiding something. Ras was subject to all three.

 

Personnel Maintenance Entry, Deck 14 Sanitation Subroutine.

Stardate 239505.02

 

                Odor persists near 147. Maintenance schedule suggests filter failure. Recommend deeper inspection.

 

The Kressari scrolled past it without thought. Then paused and backtracked to the maintenance log. He reread it. Room 147. He glanced toward the room’s door. Ras hadn’t really thought about it before. Rooms 141 through 146 were occupied by Ezra, Richard, Amelia, doctor Harford, the ensign he hadn’t met yet, Banks, and himself, respectively. The other two rooms, 148 and 149 were occupied by Michaels and the other Matthews. Room 147 had never been occupied while he was aboard. His curiosity now piqued, he pulled up the environmental system logs. The lights in room 147 had not been activated for almost seven years. No atmospheric adjustments. No replicator cycles. Not even door logs. Ras frowned and pulled up security access records.

Room 147 – Access History

Cleared for Occupancy. Assigned: Ensign Kira Thal – Stardate 239512.01

Clearance revoked. Quarters Sealed. – Stardate 239512.08

 

No further entries. Ras blinked and looked back up at the door. Kira Thal did not ring any bells. His right arm ached, and he rubbed it as he mulled it over. Sealed for almost a decade. Ras minimized the logs and pulled up the crew roster. A quick search showed no Kira Thal currently assigned and no indication of transfer. Was she dead? Discharged? Promoted and reassigned? Or perhaps…

 

Ras tapped his combadge.

 

El’Heem: Computer. Display service record of Ensign Kira Thal.

 

Computer: No Record found.

 

The man stared at the empty screen, a pinprick of intrigue growing in his stomach. From the door of room 147, a soft almost imperceptible creak disturbed the quiet. His eyes jolted to the door. A systems panel creaking as it shifted? Or was it a reverberation from repairs in the lower decks? He shook the spook from his head. Ras turned his attention back to the screen. His finger hovered over the PADD. Then against his better judgment, he reopened the log. This time he queried a search: Room 147, Unexplained incidents.

 

The list was longer than expected, and dated back to the maiden voyage of the Khitomer. He once again tapped his combadge.

 

El’Heem: =/\= Matthews. You busy? =/\

 

R Matthews: =/\= Response

 

C Matthews: =/\= Response =/\=

 

Ras rolled his eyes.

 

El’Heem:=/\= Both of you, I guess. Meet me on deck 14 when you can. =/\=

 

R Matthews: =/\= Response

 

C Matthews: =/\= Response =/\=

 

TAGS/TBC

Lieutenant JG Ras El’Heem

Medical Officer

USS Khitomer (NCC-62400)

K240106RE3