JP: Ensign Josh Herrick & Ensign Lhandon Joseph Nilsen: Pasts That Haunt (Part 2)
Thomas Sanderson
((OOC: This takes place before Herrick's well deserved promotion.))
((Operations Center, Deck 5, USS ‘Oumuamua))
The duo had just slid the replicator into place, and now it was waiting to be tested. Josh knew that Nilsen, as well as the rest of the ops team, had been working overtime getting it ready, so he thought a tad of ceremony at this moment would be appropriate.
Herrick: ::motioning to the panel beside the replicator:: It’s your baby, do you want to do the honours of lighting up the last piece of equipment in here.
Nilsen: Alright, what shall we go for? The projectors could use a test later on, I know movie night.
Lhandon tapped the LCARS panel, which was a lot less dramatic than throwing a level and the replicator came. It flickered and whirred to life. Blue light shone in the centre of it and something started to materialise. Then, the smell came. It incensed the nostrils with its horrific smell — burnt popcorn. The replicator then made a crackling sound, gave a dramatic pop and then shut down.
Herrick: What the frak?
Lhandon slightly recoiled back as the popcorn then popped again, throwing corn everywhere.
Nilsen: erm…that didn’t work.
Herrick: Why am I cursed with burnt popcorn? First the Foxy Lady and now here. A parting gift from Rox?
Nilsen: I didn’t know her that well but yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised.
Josh paused for a moment, recalling back to Paradiso where Nilsen and Rox had that rather heated exchange; Rox said something in jest and Nilsen had taken it the wrong way — then again, making off comments about parentage might not be the wisest choice.
Bringing his head back into the present, Josh pulled the engineering tricorder from his belt and started to run some diagnostics; what was to be a simple 5-minute job was now going to take a bit longer. There was a period of silence between the men as Josh focused on trying to find the issue; Josh was trying to work up the nerve to ask the man what he’d seen in the report. Finally, Lhandon broke the silence.
Nilsen: So erm, Paradiso wasn't fun for either of us. You doing alright after that?
Herrick: Aside from perpetually needing Sickbay visits, it’s not bad. Though I do thing that Paradiso probably needs to be renamed, but Flying Lizard Men Land probably won’t make it through the planet registrar. I wonder what happened there?
Nilsen: I kinda don’t want to know, I’d rather just have that place sealed off.
Herrick: I wonder if Starfleet will post out a vessel. Maybe some contagion or an invasion of another race.
Josh’s mind always tended to run away with unanswered questions, like the HCO pilot. Just because his mind explored different avenues didn’t mean that he made decisions or assumptions about anything — he just had an active imagination. The man opposite him was a tad newer onboard, and may be the one the news articles had mentioned.
Herrick: So… how’s the ‘Oumuamua treating you?
Nilsen: You know, I like it here, thought I’d hate the gamma quadrant but now, I can see myself being here for a while, no one judges you here. I’ve been trying to make friends, Tox was the first and he’s been helping me meet others.
Herrick: Yeah, it seems like you and Toxin get along well. I’m flying solo in my quarters at the moment, but I’m sure someone will get posted to them eventually.
Nilsen: If you get tired of that, you can always come join us, you know I’d think you get on with, what was our little group before Lina got transferred.
Herrick: Thanks for the offer! Lina… ::searching his mind with only one name coming up:: that’s Dalquist right? I hadn’t heard, but it seems like it’s the season for transfers now. Still, perhaps we can get together soon.
He hadn’t met Lina in the brief time that he’d been aboard; in fact, the only science officer he’d met was Katsim. it may be a small ship, but it had been easy to get wrapped into his work with everything else he’d been working through, now with Salo’s help.
Nilsen: Yeah that's her. I’ve got a stove and some other stuff in my quarters, if you wanna have some food that ain’t this replicated junk, let me know. I never really need an excuse to cook but it’s more fun with others.
The offer was genuine. Growing up in a large family had made Lhandon quite sociable and while he had lost a lot of that in his second year, Salo’s advice to make friends was still ringing in his ear, and people tend to make friends more easily around food.
Herrick: Excellent! I haven’t had any home cooked meals since I’ve been on Earth. My mom runs a small restaurant back there and there definitely is a taste difference between replicated and real — even if it might be partly psychological.
Lhandon's reaction was one of pure joy at hearing that and he wanted to stop all work and ask 100 questions about the restaurant, the menu, where the food from but if he did, he knew, he wouldn’t be able to stop, and this work would never get done.
The pair continued work on the replicator. In addition to Josh's tricorder, Lhandon put the replicator on diagnosis mode. Now they had to wait for the process to finish..
Herrick: So, the other night, at the party. You seemed to get a bit quiet when the Academy came up… is everything alright?
Nilsen: yeah it was…::Lhandon paused, as if Herrick just cracked a case:: Was it obvious ::Nervous laugh::
Herrick: It seemed like everyone had a bit of a tumble through their academy, almost everyone there said that they had a rough patch in their second year… myself, included.
Josh had always been a better counsellor and advice provider to others than himself. It was easier to be objective when you were on the outside looking in. And, perhaps Salo had given him a bit of emotional awareness that he was now employing here.
Nilsen: Maybe it’s a requirement for this ship. Second year ain’t fun.
They paused for a moment before Lhandon once again broke the silence.
Nilsen: If you don’t mind me asking, what happened in yours?
A long period of silence hung in the air while Herrick tried to determine what to share; the focus was the academy but the root cause was much earlier than that. He’d also just met the officer, who seemed friendly enough and perhaps needed to get a bit before he’d give and yield answers.
Kel and Kovacs knew about his claustrophobia, and anyone who’d been in earshot of them in Sickbay probably overheard — so this was more of an open secret and the single piece that he’d be willing to share for now.
Herrick: During a training exercise, we had a major incident in a shuttle as we were heading out to Mercury. The impulse thrusters blew out and we ended up in the gravity well of the planet. We had to get in EV suites ::he paused, remembering how suffocating it felt putting it on:: and the shuttle collided with the planet’s surfaces a few klicks outside an outpost. By the grace of the gods, they managed to rescue us and we all survived.
Another pause, but Lhandon appreciated that answer and paused to give Herrick his full attention. Listening to and understanding every word that Herrick said. His expression gave one of knowing that same experience first hand. Lhandon felt his insides almost drop and shake violently just like in his own crash.
Herrick: It was really dealing with the psychological bit afterward that took its toll on me. People are the summation of their experiences, and genetics, and I think that the Academy puts that directly in front of you and makes you really look inward and grow from those experiences — but it’s not easy.
Josh wondered if that would satisfy the ensign opposite him; it also had a slight parallel to the story — a shuttle accident and cadets.
Nilsen: Mate, that’s, I’m sorry that happened to you.
There was another brief period of silence before Herrick tried to push the conversation forward.
Herrick: So… what about you?
Nilsen: ::slight laugh:: It’s so classified, if I told you that, I’d have to kill you.
Humour is a good tool. There is a lot of truth that can be hidden by humour, and a facade for when one is struggling the most.
Herrick: Top Gun fan are you? Well… it’s the witching hour now, so best make at it before there are witnesses ::winking::
Nilsen: ::laughing:: Yes, huge fan. Love that movie, no one's heard of it anymore.
Someone else who got the same references he did? Did Herrick just become of the coolest people on the ship, save for Toxin and Maxwell? Maybe?
Herrick: You got me to share… fair play and all that, so what about you?
Nilsen: Short version. I messed up my leg real bad, apparently I screamed the entire infirmary down. Damn near lost it. Sadly neary losing your leg and begging for your ma really doesn't make you look cool to the other pilots. So I switched departments, and went from red to gold. Been trying not to think too much about it. You know.
And that was the truth, to some degree.
Nilsen: But I found the HCO route, turns out I was pretty decent at ops cos of the farm and now I’m here.
There were many details omitted but Lhandon knew it, and Herrick did too. Josh nodded as Lhandon stopped talking, an acknowledgement of what he shared without pushing further. Each of them seemed to have their own damage that they were working through. It wasn’t enough to say that the article was about him, but he enjoyed learning about the man firsthand, and Lhandon was happy to find someone who’d get it when the time comes.
After a few more tweaks with a spanner, Josh took another reading with his tricorder; the connections and remote diagnostics seemed to read green; as did the replicator’s self-diagnostic program.
Herrick: You ready for take two?
Nilsen: Alright here we go. ::smiling:: don't tell anyone about this. </\> Gaultian Apple juice, boxed. With a bendy straw. </\> ::looks at Herrick:: Make that two
Herrick: Much better and good choice!
Nilsen: Officially, I'll say its four different materials, the box, the straw, the weird thing the straw is in and the juice, so it's the perfect test. Unofficially, it reminds me of home. Gault has the best produce in the galaxy..
Of course both statements were true, but Lhandon had found this little menu item in the replicator really helped make his home feel just that little bit closer.
Nilsen: Now that's done, you wanna look around before the rest of ops will trash the place. ::laughs::
Herrick: I’d love to take you up on that tour; but I’m going to have to take a rain check as I need to catch up on what they’ve got planned for the rest of my night ::waving his PADD:: when everyone marks every ticket urgent, practically no one gets priority — save the OC ::smiling::.
It was a genuine offer, he wasn’t trying to shake off the man but with Corelli gone and his replacement yet to step in Engineering was a bit short-handed and the work was piling up.
Herrick: Until next time… Lhando?
He tried a more casual goodbye, but he wasn’t sure if it would stick. He had a bad habit of shortening names, and while some appreciated it, some did not.
Nilsen: Yeah ::smiles:: until next time…Josh? Joshy? Joshua?
Herrick: Let’s go with Josh for now ::turning and walking towards the angled doors, with a wave of his hand:: I haven’t found… or got a nickname yet that’s stuck.
As Josh exited the OC, he reflected on how the replicator was an analogy for the two men. Each of them needed some repair work after getting installed at Starfleet, and through diagnostics and tweaking, they’d made it mostly through to the other side. The galaxy may be big, but each person had a whole universe in their mind — filled with noise, chaos, and occasionally calm.
Lhandon was left alone in the OC and got back to work, now that all the consoles were fitted, he could get around to finally rerouting the power back to the OC. He tapped the console in the pit with his back to the Chief of Operations office and he took a sip from his box. The power was being diverted into the mission pod that had been closed for most of the shore leave, much to the dismay of at least 21 different engineers, 12 scientists and 3 tactical officers.
Nilsen: Let there be light. ::smiling to himself:: =/\= Computer, play Top Gun Anthem by Harold Faltermeyer and Stevie Stevens. =/\=
As the power flowed into the new operations centre, it started slow as just one or two lights turned on and then in time while that guitar riff kicked each console lit up in slow orderly manor, there was no rush, as if the OC was coming to life and keeping in time with the music. It was a job that could be taken easy. As Lhandon took another zip, the box signalled with that hollow sound that comes from air flying around the carton that his drink was nearly done and the second guitar in the later part of the song kicked in and that’s when the remainder of the consoles came to life in a final crescendo of 80s movie and 2400 technology.
He found himself in a pretty good mood for the rest of the shift. He was glad he had that moment to talk to Herrick and was also glad that it seemed that they found a common ground together, once they were free from the terrifying pursuit of flesh-eating, flying lizard men, Lhandon thought that Herrick was actually quite a good guy to chat with.
He did not know that Herrick was trying to scratch an itch.
Ensign Josh Herrick
Engineering Officer
USS ‘Oumuamua
O240005JH3
he/him/his (player/character)
&
Ensign Lhandon Joseph Nilsen
HCO
USS ‘Oumuamua
O240007LN1
He/Him/His (Both player and character)