Carry On Wayward Son

Posted on Fri Jan 4th, 2019 @ 1:18pm by Captain Mrazak & Eigthe

895 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Season 1 Interlude I (E2.5)
Location: Memory Theta Deep Storage, Tartarus
Timeline: 3 weeks after "All Good Things"

Many moons had come and gone since Mrazak was forced to do grunt work. Technical configurations in the line of duty? Sure. Hands-on dirty work when collecting an artifact for the Archives? Absolutely! Tedious, monotonous manual labor that could and should be delegated to mechanical automatons? No, it had been a long while indeed.

When he had been first beamed down to the surface by Ferrofax, it had literally been to the surface. What little atmosphere existed had kept him from decompressing, which was good, but it left him clutching his throat for the first few moments of his time on Tartarus, which was bad. The slug person, Eigthe, who supervised the 99 decks of Deep Storage fortunately had him brought inside. There was a makeshift infirmary left over from the construction phase 10 years prior, and as luck would have it, the ventilator in its emergency kit was used by functional. After a few hours of assisted breathing, Mrazak was as right as rain.

One of the first things he discovered is that he did not outrank Eigthe. When he gave the Aevanari a direct order, it ignored him almost completely. Mrazak nearly gave up communication altogether until she gave him a duty roster that consisted of himself and two other unfortunate souls condemned to the Deep Storage detail. Osana and Hibbert, the schedule said. At least he could still order them around.

Three weeks into his newfound duty, with no contact or connection to the outside world to challenge his detention or even receive updates on the investigation against him, Mrazak found himself utterly bored. Check quarantine. Count entries. Verify check. Sign off. Wash, rinse, repeat. To a superior intellect such as his, it was maddening.

Perhaps the next sequence of events was born from that madness. Or, as Mrazak would have everyone believe, it was grand misfortune that offered potential benefit to him. That couldn't be the truth, of course, or the Article 15 investigation would have merit. Perish the thought. Whatever one's perspective, the events which transpired that day, one way or another, were unavoidable.

---

"Eigthe!" Mrazak called out with amplified cheer. "Madam Curator! Might I have a word?" As Mrazak walked forward, he stepped in a goopy substance, unexpectedly. Looking down, he saw the glitter of the green ooze sparkling back at him. He was definitely going the right way.

A rawr echoed through the corridor, followed by two shorter yips before another bellow. Peeking around the corner, the slithering beast snarled, a small hand holding onto the wall as it's other arms tapped in annoyed fashion on the side of the slimy body that coiled there. Two more beastly growls emanated from the creature.

"I know it seems I've avoided you these past weeks," Mrazak said with all the sleaze of a sales representative. "But it is only because I have been so hard at work reviewing the archives and ensuring the sanctity of our catalogs. Such is the reason why I've come to you. According to the logs, MT-8756 has been awfully quiet and nobody has checked on it in over a month. Being the consummate professional and hard worker that I am, I thought to check on it myself. Alas, I need access to Deck 88. My authorization alone is, uh, unsatisfactory for access."

The Vulcan grinned broadly at the slug-like curator, though he wondered if the gesture was lost on her.

The beast raised an eyebrow before slithering towards the man, a glittery green trail following behind. As the creature got closer, it roared a few more times, before wrapping the end of its tail around the Vulcan's ankle.

"It could be for several reasons, Madam Curator," Mrazak said as he deflect extricated his foot from Eigthe's slimy grasp. "Perhaps a single person's authorization isn't enough. Or perhaps I haven't updated my authorization within the recent security cycle. Could be a bureaucratic investigation has temporarily suspended access. Who knows? That's why I need your help." He smiled again and then gestured for her to follow. "Come with me and we'll troubleshoot it together."

The creature shook its head as it cast a series of loud roars.

"I would never lie to you, Eigthe! We have too much history together. Commander ben-Avram was just doing his job, and I need your help to do mine." He stepped back a few more feet. "Shall we?"

With a snap of its tail, Eigthe reached out and wrapped her slimey body around the man's waist, lifting him from the ground by a few inches. The creature pulled Mrazak closer until their faces were just a few inches apart. After a pause, the creature roared directly into his face.

Mrazak shuddered in the slimy grasp. "'Help me'? Fine, Eigthe! Go slither down there yourself and see what the problem is! I'll wait up here and take a shower."

Without a sound the creature dropped Mrazak to the floor and pushed him in the direction he wanted to go, slithering closely behind. Mrazak wiped her slime off himself as best he could before following. She was right to be suspicious. The inspection logs had been tampered with to reflect a potential emergency. Mrazak would take the credit for spotting the problem and seeing it fixed without incident. And, just like that, he would be back on top. There was absolutely nothing that could go wrong.

 

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