A Shocking Introduction

Posted on Mon Nov 2nd, 2020 @ 10:39pm by Lieutenant Zachariah Hostetler

Mission: Episode 04: "Tempest"
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: Day 1 at 0000

Having finished with her first patient, Harlow set the bio bed to self clean and headed toward the quiet staff room at the back of sickbay. A lack of quality sleep the previous night meant that she was feeling less than energetic and found herself craving a strong, sweet drink to help pick up her energy levels. Standing in front of the replicator, she reached for the console to bring up the menu, intending to scroll through and find something that sounded appealing.

No sooner had her fingers touched the console, it emitted a sudden hissing sound, a shower of sparks raining toward her, a sudden shock rushing through her fingers and up her arm. Yelping with surprise, she jumped back, taking a moment to check her hand for damage before reaching for her commbadge.

"Medical to Operations, we seem to have a malfunctioning replicator in sickbay, is there any chance someone could take a look at it?"

"On my way." Zach responded. He got up from his desk, grabbed a tool kit on his way out the door and hurried to sickbay.

As he entered the outer area, he asked the first person he saw "What happened?"

Harlow was waiting, running a dermal regenerator over her fingertips. "I touched the console of the replicator to access the menu and it kind of, well, exploded a little I guess?" Harlow explained uncertainly. "It hissed and sparked and shocked me."

"Well, that's not supposed to happen." Zach joked, hoping to lighten the mood, as he saw that the doctor was not seriously injured. "Let me take a look."

He walked over to the replicator, the smell of burned wires and scorched plexiglass thick in the air. "Alright little one, tell me why you bit the nice Doctor." he said softly, running a tricorder over the broken unit.

"There was a report last night that it wasn't working, someone tried to use it and it didn't replicate, but, of course, I didn't realise that until after I tried to use it," she said with a shake of her head. "Guess I should pay more attention to handover in the mornings huh?" she said with a faint smile.

"We didn't get a report on it." he said, taking off the cover, and starting to check the internals. "What in the world?" he muttered as he found what looked like old, spilled coffee coating several of the internal components.

"Did someone pour coffee on the replicator?"

"I don't see why anyone would waste a resource as precious as coffee," Harlow replied with a laugh. "I don't know, it seemed to be working fine yesterday, but today it's all a mess. Is it repairable?" There was a hint of hopefulness in her voice as she spoke.

"Repairable, yes. Quickly, I'm not so sure." he said, beginning to pull soaked pieces out of the housing. "This just doesn't make any sense."

"How would someone even pour coffee on it?" Harlow asked, clearly confused. "The replicator is set in the wall."

"I can think of a few ways. A dropped cup, someone bumping into you, walking by and trip on something.." he answered, "Something like that."

"Oh," was the only reply Harlow could come up with. She remained silent for a few moments, watching him while he worked. "You must be the new Chief of Operations? I heard someone came onboard when we had leave."

"That would be me." Zach said, standing. He wiped his hands on his pants and then extended his right. "Zach Hostetler, pleasure to meet you."

The tiny purple haired doctor took his hand and shook, offering a small smile. "Harlow Launceston, medical officer. What do you think of the Vesta so far?"

"It seems like it goes on forever." he said with slight shake of his head, "But then I guess you would understand that better than me."

Harlow laughed. "Honestly? My third day on duty here I got called to a medical emergency. I got lost and had to request a site to site transport."

"You too?" Zach said, joining in on the laughter. "I got lost in the Jefferies Tubes for 8 hours before I finally admitted defeat."

"I'm grateful I ended up here. I was offered a position on a Starbase. I turned it down. I can't even begin to imagine how much bigger and more confusing that would have been." Harlow paused before shrugging slightly. "I'm actually a good doctor, believe it or not."

"Why wouldn't I believe it?" Zach asked, genuinely confused. "Just because of your size?"

"Because I am completely geographically challenged," Harlow replied with a laugh. "I can't find my way around a starship, but I could navigate inside a body with my eyes closed."

"I could rig up a custom hover chair to allow you to navigate the ship better, if you're open to it."

Harlow laughed. "If you mean like a voice activated, I give it a destination and it just goes, I'm all for it! Honestly, I get lost so easily. My Mate laughs at me. I got lost in a holodeck program once. All I had to do was follow a straight path from one destination to another. I took a wrong turn."

"Voice activated, huh?" he asked, his voice trailing off in thought. "That just might work."

"Voice activated would make it easier to navigate, just say where you want to go, and then off you go," Harlow replied with a shrug. "So, how's our replicator looking?"

"I'm just about..." and as he spoke a piece snapped into place, "...done." he added, and wiped his hands on his tunic again. "Give it a try."

Cautiously, Harlow stepped forward, one hand tentatively moving toward the panel to activate the menu. After scrolling through it for a moment, she pulled her hand away. "Raktajino, triple strength, black, six white sugar cubes." There was a moment of silence hefore the replicator beeped and hummed, the mug of raktajino appearing in front of them. Picking it up, she took a sip and smiled. "Well, it seems to be working now. Thank you!"

Tipping an imaginary hat, Zach replied, "One is glad to be of service."