One in Twelve Thousandth Percent

Chapter 9:

The group of people scatter. Those who had been working on the cruiser the entire time already had their rooms chosen. But for many others, it's a 'first come, first serve' situation. The four of us go to the living quarters section. The keypads next to each door had a plethora of information on them. If unoccupied, it would tell you what kind of room it was, single or double. If it was occupied, it listed the name(s) of those who had claimed it.

Kaz and Belle grabbed a double. Not surprising, they're twins. Not only that, but they're twins that actually like each other for more than ten seconds at a time. Misaki and I walked for several minutes. All we found were two singles; however, they were at opposite ends of the hallway. I think Misaki was more bummed out about it than I was. We're on the mission together, everything else is a moot point.

Once I'm finished unpacking, I head down to the Engineering Corridor to check in. The person in charge there is Corym Cannon, who is just a Lieutenant. However, on the station, he was known to have quite an ego. So, I just stayed away mostly, kept to myself and only dealt with him when I needed to. I would occasionally wander around to different areas to check in and make sure no last-minute shitstorms were brewing.

Annabelle and the FTL team were happier than pigs in mud. It looked like things there were working at optimal levels. I kinda slowly meandered around behind one of them as he was going down the line checking the status of the different machines. Close enough to know if something went wrong, but far enough away to not be smothering or obstructing his work. I spoke to Annabelle when I was done. "Everything here looks good." I looked around the room nodding at all the green lights.

"Thanks. This is such a great feeling. And to think that I'm going to be here during primary testing." She's happy and jittery.

"No, Belle, this is your thing. You put so much time into this. You deserve to be here."

"Thanks, Kay. So... a pendant?"

I roll my eyes. "Yes, Belle. It was a great deal too. And I got it engraved. I wonder if she's seen that yet."

"Has she smothered you with kisses yet?"

"No, not in the way you're thinking."

"Then, probably not." Damn, I was hoping she had. She was definitely excited enough.

Someone else walked up to Belle with a datapad and started to ask her questions. I waved to her and started to leave. "Oh, Kay."

"Huh?"

"Is it too much to ask for you to be here when we first fire this thing up, just in case something breaks?"

"No, not at all, Belle." "Thanks, Kay."

As she walks away with the other officer, I turn and move on.

In the med bay, the team there was just doing routine physicals on different crew members. They wanted to poke and prod me, but I had to take a raincheck because I was on duty. Besides, I wasn't very comfortable with other random people poking around my nibbly bits. The station doctors had been checking us since we were kids, so very few things were surprising to them. But these were new people, some who look like they were just Ensigns as well.

Great, our physical well-being is in the hands of Ensigns. Oh well, what was that old saying? Cest' La Vie?

The final place on my rounds was the bridge. I got several shoulder pats and 'Congratulations' as I walked about doing final checks on things. Kaz complained about a delay in her console. "I'll input the command. But when I send it, it takes several seconds before it actually runs. That kind of shit will get us killed out there." "No worries, Kaz. Let me check it out." I went around the back and popped the panel off. Kaz came and sat down next to me.