Getting A Bit Carried Away

Posted on Wed Jan 11th, 2023 @ 12:12am by Crewman Melly & Patton O'Sullivan & Zoey Parker & High Commissioner Jasmine Haynes
Edited on on Fri Jan 13th, 2023 @ 5:28am

2,803 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Short Treks
Location: Starfleet One
Timeline: 2431-03-11, 12:00

Melly sighed as she hurried along, weaving between larger people as she hurried to her task. Carefully she slipped past a couple larger people and into the cafe. Looking around most tables were taken but there was an open one almost beside another but not connected. She wiggled in and sat there with her hands resting in her lap. The chair was a bit big for her but she was comfortable. She was told to meet Jasmine for lunch here after she finished her security check in and her medical check in. Both were now done so she waited quietly with a hand smile as the small eight year old looking woman hummed and kicked her legs cutely.

Patton walked into the cafe with Zoey and looked around for a table. He almost groaned out loud when he saw that there were two choices. Sitting with the new crewman called Melly or the table next to her. Knowing Zoey she would want to meet her.

“Where would you like to sit?” He asked her. He silently groaned knowing it was coming.

Melly did not know it yet but Jasmine was nowhere to be found. Instead Zoey and Patton were in the mess hall. She had an earlier conversation with Patton talking about the kid who would be a yeoman. She wanted to meet her. "Is that her, the little girl in a uniform?" Zoey asked. She was curious to learn more about her.

“Yes.” Patton said with a nod. “That is the crewman we spoke about.” He knew in his mind she wished he would go away.

Melly looked around happily but a bit tense. There were so many people here and she was not used to it. She did however set a goal.. make friends with the first person she meets that would be a good start. So she closed her eyes and wondered on who she would meet first

"I want to have lunch with her, she is all alone." Zoey said. She was very curious to learn more about the new crewman. She was curious why Jasmine chose her. What made her special?

“I knew you would say that.” Patton sighed good natured Lu. “Don’t be surprised if she tends to look at me like an evil monster. “

Melly remained sitting with her eyes closed before lowering her head a bit sadly, her inner monologue returning strong. Why would anyone want to be your friend? Maybe someone like Norith or someone who would trick you? No one would ever be your friend.

As the bad thoughts circled in her head Melly's smile faded and her head lowered sadly as her shoulders slumped to match how she felt inside.

Zoey was surprised to hear him say that. "What did you do, Patton?" Zoey asked, as she stopped him, and looked into his eyes.

“I did my job.” Patton replied. “I let her know the rules, her restrictions and when she tried to undermine my authority as security chief I set her straight.”

"Restrictions? You know her clearance level is probably higher than yours. Right?" Zoey suggested to him, with a concerned look on her face. Being the Yeoman to the chief of staff to the president comes with a lot of clearance.

“She still has restrictions based on her record.” Patton returned. “She is getting a new start but that doesn’t mean she can come and go as she pleases. I have my orders as security chief.” His eyes met hers. “I know what happened and I sympathize on a personal level but the crime was violent and I cannot sweep it under the rug and I have been ordered not to.” He hoped Zoey understood where he was coming from. “High Commissioner Haynes having her released does not mean a clean slate for my department, until she proves herself.”

Melly lowered her head into her hands, this was still all so much so soon and possibly too much. So much pressure was on her and she was unsure if she was the right person. Her inner monologue was quick to remind her. You're not the right person. You're going to fail.

Tears welled up as she sat there alone dripping thru her fingers covering her eyes. A crystalline entity could float over to take her order and she would not notice.

"Do you think she heard us?" Zoey asked, wondering what Melly was doing. They were not too close to her yet. So why was she acting like that, Zoey wondered. What was going on with her?

“I hope not.” Patton replied. “I want things to go well for her, I am hoping for the best but I am the one person who has to be wary.” He knew Zoey didn’t agree.

"Ok." She said, a little annoyed. She was still a little sore at him, for his bs. She believed he was pushing this vendetta out on Melly, since he could not go after Jasmine. This was not an attractive side to him. Luckily for him, he had a lot of redeeming qualities.

“I’m sorry, Zoey.” Patton said quietly. “I am doing the best I can but I stand by my caution. If the Admiral has issues with what I am doing I am certain he will speak with me.” He smiled at her. “I know you want to meet her, we can sit with her and I will leave the security chief in my office and just be an off duty officer getting to know the crew.”

Melly places her arms on the table and lays her head on them as she sobs softly. Trying to push out the bad negative thoughts with all the happy ones she has had in the short time with Jasmine. After a few moments she leans up and begins wiping her tears on her uniform sleeves to try to compose with her eyes still closed.

"You already said you have no interest in giving her a chance, you already made up your mind. Do what you want, I'm going to talk to her." Zoey proclaimed as she started to head closer to Melly.

“I never said she doesn’t get a chance.” Patton said as he walked behind her. “I said she has to earn trust. I am not looking for her to fail.”

Melly raised her head feeling slightly better and opened her eyes seeing a nice lady and.... Him. She decided that the lady was the first person she saw so she would be good and try to make friends. Sniffling once she smiled and waved to the woman, "Hello Ma'am, a pleasure to meet you."

Patton stood behind Zoey and waited for her to answer. A part of him had been tempted to make an excuse and leave but that would be like an admission of guilt or that he had done something wrong. He thought Zoey knew him and yet here she was making him out to be the bad guy.

"The pleasure is mine." Zoey said, as she quickly glanced at the table. "I hope it would not be too imposing too much, if we ask to join you?" Zoey asked, hoping she was going to say yes to her request.

The small girl smiled and nodded as she wiped her eyes again on her uniform sleeve. Motioning with her hand to the table she smiled up to her, "My Boss will be coming, but I bet she would love to meet you both, Ms Haynes is a sweet nice Lady. Please sit, have lunch with us."

The girl's face showed she had been crying a lot as she tried to put on a strong face.

“It is good to see you again.” Patton said with a sincere smile. He wasn’t about to mention her tears. He had wanted to ask her if she was settling in okay but it was obvious she was upset.

Patton sat on the other side of Zoey, putting her between him and Melly. “You said the high commissioner is joining you?” Jasmine avoided him like the plague.

Melly looked up to Patton and rose, standing to her full less than four foot height and stood in attention behind the table.

"Hello Sir, yes a pleasure to see you again. Ms Jasmine will be coming but I would love you both to please join us. That is if you two want?", she was moving into formality out of worry.

"Thank you." Patton said with a nod."We would like to." He looked over to Zoey. He knew she wanted to but he wasn’t going to assume. “Zoey?”

Zoey wondered what he meant by 'we', he clearly was against the idea. Who was he fooling with his nonsense? "You two have fun, I just wanted to stop by and say. hello." Zoey said to them. She was really not wanting to sit down with Jasmine. That would be awkward. Patton and Jasmine sitting together. She could not say that, so she tried to play it off by saying she was stopping by to say hi.

Melly broke from attention and reached a hand out timidly but did not touch Zoey instead she slowly retracted it in defeat as her shoulders slumped and she just quietly sat back down. Her promise to make friends with the first person she saw crumpled.

Patton’s eyes widened. “I apologize I spoke incorrectly.” He looked from Melly to Zoey. “I thought that was what you wanted to do. We planned our lunch together.”

"This is not the place to discuss this." Zoey said, not appreciating the fact that he was calling her out to a total stranger. She was about to leave. For the moment though, she stood still. She was not exactly sure why. She was just standing there.

Melly rose and looked to the two with her head lowered, "Please sit and enjoy the table. I will return to my quarters and have my nutri-goop. I meant no hassle and do not wish to ruin your meals."

"This has nothing to do with you." Zoey said, as she looked at Patton, wanting him to say something. He put himself in this predicament. Now he needed to get himself out of it.

“It’s not your fault it is mine.” Patton spoke up. “I am going to shut up while I am ahead.”

A head, she thought to herself. No sir, you are not a head. But this was not the place to talk about. Unlike him, she would wait to discuss the situation with him. She just started at him, saying with her eyes.' This is not over!'

Melly gently scooted back and tried to put in her mind the fun she had with the doctor and scooted back trying to put distance between. She hoped if they didn't see her they wouldn't be so angry.

“Are you ready to go?” Patton asked Zoey. He had messed up once he wasn’t going to do it a second time.

"You are supposed to have lunch here, I am capable of having lunch on my own. Plus Commissioner Haynes will be here soon. That will be fun for you." Zoey said in a snarky tone, full of sarcasm. She was really upset, however was trying to downplay it with sarcasm.

“I am not having lunch with anyone but you.” Patton replied, looking directly at Zoey. “If you no longer wish to eat with me I will just go back to work.” He had made a mistake by assuming and Zoey wasn’t going to give him any forgiveness at the moment.

Melly scooted back and hunkered under a table as if to hide realizing she had caused an issue and not wanting to make it worse. The person who can send her away is now fighting with his friend and she caused it so... hide.

Zoey peeled away, she did not care if Patton followed her or not. If he was wise, he would not follow her. She was about to rip him a new one. Zoey was very annoyed with him right now. He needed to understand, you cannot treat a partner like this.

As she hunkered under the table a male Nausicaan walked over and knelt near Melly. Looking over a PADD he showed it to Melly. "This you?"

Melly looked and nodded.

"Melly of Miri?", he confirmed.

Again she nodded.

"I believe duty calls." Zoey said with a smirk, leaving the Nausicaan situation to station security. On the station, she was strategic operations, not a security officer. She started to walk away knowing Patton would have to address the Nausicaan pestering a Starfleet Crewman.

The Nausicaan placed the PADD away and reached to his belt and took a metal collar and snapped it around Melly's neck before lifting her without trouble over his shoulder and began to walk away whistling like another day's work.

"For someone being so hard to find, you were a super easy catch.", the Nausicaan said as he walked.

Jasmine walked into the main lobby. She was shocked at what she saw. What in the hell was going on? Who was this Nausicaan, and why did he have a collar on her? Jasmine stood by the door, as the Nausicaan approached. "Put down my Yeoman now." Jasmine called out in her stiff and sterile like tone. She was waiting to see what the Nausicaan would do. She wondered why Patton was not reacting. He was supposed to be the chief of security for the station.

Patton moved quickly after the Nausicaan and blocked his way. “Commander O’Sullivan, chief security officer on the base. You will put her down now and remove the collar.” He was pissed and he wasn’t giving him any option.

Finally Patton does something noteworthy, Jasmine thought to herself, she waited to see how the Nausicaan was going to reply. She was ready to strap down, if need be. At least she would not be alone. She noticed that Zoey turned around, to join in. Other crew moved in to support.

The Nausicaan looked to both and pointed to his pouch, "Credentials, Id and bounty. I'm a registered Bounty Hunter and Runaway Slavecatcher. This individual was sold about six months ago and did not arrive on Orion."

The mere mention of Orion caused Melly to kick and sob and wiggle.

The Hunter responded, "Keep moving kid, and I'll drug you so bad you might wake up halfway to the Gamma quadrant."

Melly obediently held still then.

"So, I have a bounty from a wealthy gentleman on Orion. She was supposed to be there. How are we going to resolve this?", he asked looking at the crowd forming.

"The Orion Syndicate has no authority over a Starfleet Station or in the Federation." Jasmine suggested to the Nausicaan. He was pretty ballsy to think he boarded a Starfleet Station and make ridiculous claims like that.

“I don’t care what you have.” Patton growled. “She is a member of Starfleet. Release her now or I will be forced to take action.”

The man looked at everyone present including the angry mob forming and let go of Melly causing her to fall like a bag of rocks, quickly she scuried not rising and held Jasmine's feet.

"Acts like a slave to me? I'll tell the gentleman where she is, maybe you all can work it out. I still get a finders fee.", the man said.

He turned and walked off leaving the collar on.

"Arrest him, charge of kidnapping." Jasmine demanded as she looked over to Patton. Her look basically said, do your job. He was not going anywhere, she wanted more answers. "She is a political dignitary, and he attempted to kidnap her."

“Excuse me.” Patton growled and took off after the Nausicaan. He wasn’t letting him get by with this. He would lock him in the brig and get orders to remove him from the base.

The Nausicaan did not struggle when taken into custody by Patton, he was a registered bounty hunter after all.

“Do not think being a bounty Hunter gives you free rein on this base.” Patton growled. “You are under arrest for the attempted kidnapping of a member of Starfleet. Your being a bounty Hunter and paperwork does not work within the confines of Starfleet.” He turned to Jasmine. “I will lock him up unless you need anything else, Commissioner.” Seeing her shake her head he headed off.

"I look forward to your report, regarding the bounty hunter, Commander O Sullivan." Jasmine said, wondering if Admiral Norith was behind this. Just keep digging your grave, Admiral. She thought to herself. She was going to bury him.

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