Mid Morning Routine

Posted on Mon Jan 22nd, 2024 @ 12:40am by Commodore Tyler Malbrooke & Petty Officer 2nd Class Sofia Cipriani
Edited on on Mon Jan 22nd, 2024 @ 1:03am

0 words; about a 1 minute read

Mission: Episode 15 - The Evil That Lies Beneath
Location: Ready Room, USS Pioneer
Timeline: MD002 - 0900 hours

It was almost like second nature now. The captain comes in and reads his PaDDs that Sofia would leave neatly stacked to his right hand side, his desk tidied from the day before, his coffee cup waiting on the table, empty at the moment as she always liked to ask just in case he wasn't in the mood for caffeine.

Sofia had also altered the tint of the windows, there had been a bit of glare coming in recently, being at warp didn't make it any better, and she wanted to make sure he was comfortable whilst in his private space... even though it wasn't that private.

As she tidied she spotted something stuck behind the sofa, or more so something wedged that must have fallen down, and made her attempts to pull it free.

Tyler made his way to the Ready Room as he did every day at the start of his shift. First he checked in with the officer of the deck on the Bridge as to the status of the ship. Finding that everything proceeded as normal he made his way into the Ready Room. "Morning Sofia." He said with a smile as he tossed his cowboy hat on the rack behind his desk. "Anything new today?"

"Morning Commo-DORE!" she yelled the last part as she got whatever she was pulling free. It launched from her hands and landed at Tyler's feet. Looking at it she answered his question, "Not much, apart from you hiding comm badges again." she playfully replied as she indicated what was at his feet.

"Sometimes you just don't want to be reached." Tyler said with a laugh as he sat behind his desk. He reached into a drawer and pulled out a small wooden box. "Since you mentioned rank something finally came through and you are long overdue for. So, if you would not mind coming to attention Petty Officer." When Sofia did as he asked he approached her and changed the insignia on her collar. "You are hereby promoted to the rank of Petty Officer Second Class with all the rights and privileges therein." He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. "Congratulations!"

"I don't know what to say sir." Sofia was speechless. "Thank you." she didn't see how she deserved it but she was always harsh on herself. Sofia just did her job to the best of her ability to please Tyler and keep the wolves at bay as best she could. "Does this mean I don't need to play 'find your comm badges anymore'?" she beamed at him.

"No that keeps going. In fact it may earn you another promotion." Tyler smiled as he sat back down. There was something in the back of his head that bothered him despite this good news. Something that seemed like a sense of foreboding. He pushed that down pressed on with the business of the day. "So what is on the agenda for the day?"

"Oh I'm fine being quite low in importance sir." Sofia replied as she looked at her reflection in a mirror that was in the ready room. Subconsciously she smoothed out her uniform from her chest down to her waistline.

"Couple of messages in your inbox. Commander of Poseidon wishing us well on our mission. Your wife has left you a note reminding you to be quiet when you come home after shift, something to do with her being tired due to the pregnancy... I swear I didn't read it all." Sofia had moved to collect a carafe of coffee from the replicator. "There's an appointment from Major Tremble to discuss promotions and Sergeant Major Barr about some enlisted stuff."

Tyler wrapped his fingers against the desk. It seemed to be just the usual stuff. He longed for some sort of excitement, and in truth he felt like he was adrift in life. "Send everyone in when they arrive. However, aside from that I think I will just stay in here for the day. No need for the Captain for a mundane mission such as this."

Sofia frowned a bit as she turned to face him. "That's not like you sir. You usually like to be involved in everything. Are you alright?" she asked moving closer to the desk.

"Yeah I am fine. Just a little put out by the mundane, don't have my heart in it. I mean is cataloguing nebulae really a job for a crew that has saved the galaxy an unfathomable amount of times." Tyler seemed like he couldn't focus while he spoke. His eyes darted around the room, and it took him some time to focus his thoughts.

"I mean even the best ship in the galaxy has to do grunt work sir." Sofia answered as she began to pour his coffee. "Even the Enterprise had to---" the carafe slipped and she missed the cup and poured some over the table. Only a small drop, and maybe some splash on the Tyler but she instantly put down the carafe and looked at him. "Oh God sir! I'm sorry!" she rushed around to start to clean it up.

Tyler jumped up and uncharacteristically was red faced with anger. "God Frak! You just got promoted and you are showing the skill and knowhow of a sloth. I am not sure even why I put up with this..." He was reeling and the anger he exhibited was far greater than what the event deserved. A small part of his mind told him he was being irrational however, he ignored that.

There was a tremble in Sofia's legs, they shook with a little fear at how Tyler had exploded. She'd never seen this before in him, even for more serious mistakes or in more heated situations. What he said was hurtful and she had no idea why he'd said it the way he did. "I...I..." she began as she stuttered with uncertainty. "It was an accident sir, I am sorry." she said almost shamefully. It was like being shouted at by her father, if he'd still been alive. "I'll get some paper towels..." she went to turn away from him.

In the back of Tyler's head there was a voice. This was a new voice, but one that Tyler seemed to like. At the moment it whispered to him that he should simply put his hand around Sofia's throat and squeeze. That would be sufficient punishment for what she had done. Besides if he watched the life leave her it should be fun, the voice continued to say. Tyler pushed those thoughts aside as he seethed with rage. "Paper towels is not the only thing that is going to be needed. I am going to have to fetch a new uniform. Consider yourself on notice..." His eyes flashed with an inky darkness.

Sofia saw him staring at her neck and it made her uncomfortable the way he did so. Subconsciously she ran a hand across it as if almost letting her breathe again. "N-n-notice? Sir, its only splashed you a little... I can get you a new uniform." she gestured to the replicator but with a panicked tone to her voice but still moved a little closer. Maybe he wasn't sleeping with the nerves of becoming a father soon. "Are you okay sir?" hoping the closed distance would calm him, a slow hand reaching out to him.

Tyler saw the hand and did nothing to take it, his face contorted into one of anger and disgust. "I am not even sure why I keep you around. You are one disappointment after another. A Commanding Officer is to rely on their Yeoman, and yet I can't rely on you for anything. In fact the only thing I can rely on you for is getting me killed the way you got your father killed. If you had listened and remained where you belonged you probably could have prevented him from a crushing death."

"W--wh--w..." Sofia was caught totally off-guard by the absolute savage blow Tyler had just dealt her. It had knocked the air from her lungs almost as if he had physically sucker punched her. For a moment her legs began to shake with a rage she'd never felt before. Her face beginning to heat with the deepest fires of Hell, or so it felt.

"Vai a farti fottere!" (Go f*** yourself!) Sofia felt herself seethe as she picked up the coffee carafe and threw it on his lap. As he squirmed and jumped up she had already began to walk to the secondary door that led out into the corridor of deck 1. She turned to him with an indignant look and said "Signore." (Sir) almost defiantly. Tears streamed from her eyes as she finally went to leave.

Tyler stood there soaked with coffee, his face was beet red and he seethed with anger. In his head two distinct voices, two distinct personalities did battle. She will die for this insolence. It will be easy. We walk over there and crush her larynx like a twig. No one will miss her I am sure. That was the first voice, then the voice that belonged to Tyler, the one that had been pushed down and out of the way came to the surface. I will not allow this. You will not kill anyone. While this internal battle raged Tyler walked slowly and deliberately over to Sofia. When he was face to face with her his face contorted into a snarl. "Dismissed!!!" he growled.

A Joint Post By

Commodore Tyler Malbrooke
Commanding Officer, USS Pioneer

Petty Officer Second Class Sofia Cipriani
Yeoman, USS Pioneer

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