Updated – August 9, 1998
NEW BEGINNINGS
Chapter 1 - Part D
Moore dragged herself into the common room of her design team. The first meeting of the day had definitely not gone as smoothly as she would have liked. Activating the drink dispenser, she grabbed a cup of coffee and slumped into a chair. She was finding that even the coffee wasn’t helping to snap her out of her exhaustion.
Briskly walking in, her associate, N’nar Gilis, took a chair beside her and fumed for a minute.
Not wanting to wait for him to finish sulking, she spoke tiredly, “Just say it, N’nar.”
Peering at her, he hurriedly spoke. “By the Great Ones, what happen in there?”
Moore quietly shrugged.
“That’s all I get? The brass wanted to hear from the top engineer on one of their cardinal projects, not her teammate covering for her.”
Looking at the table, she wearily said, “I don’t think it went that bad.”
“No! You could barely remember your name and rank.”
Sitting up a bit, she replied, “Katherine Josephine Moore, Lieutenant Commander. See?”
“Not funny.”
Slumping back in her chair, she said, “Listen. I’m just a little drained today, okay? I’ll have some more coffee and I’ll be ready for the review board from Structural Integrity. When do they arrive anyway?”
Recognizing his friend’s experience he conceded, he said, “Ten minutes.”
Moore sighed, seeing how close the meeting was. Acting confident, she said, “Good. I’ll just sit here for a bit and you can come and get me when they arrive.”
Furling his brow, N’nar said, “Fine.” Getting up, he looked at her again saying, “Are you sure yo…”
She cut him off quickly saying, “Yes I’m fine. I just wish people would stop asking me that.”
“They’re probably seeing what I’m seeing. You look like you can barely stand.”
Giving him a fierce look, she said, “You don’t give me a few minutes, you won't be able to walk.”
Stepping out of the room, he muttered, “Just trying to be a friend.”
Letting her head fall back, Moore let her eyes fall closed. She was definitely not doing better. She hoped she wasn’t going to be this snippy when she saw John, that’d be perfect.
Moore had to admit, it felt good to close her eyes. Putting her hand behind her head, she unclasped her blonde hair and let it fall back. She knew she’d probably fall asleep if she didn’t get up soon. As bad as she felt, that probably wouldn’t be a bad idea. But she was who she was and that person didn’t back down or ask others to bear what she had to do. She’d just relax for a minute then handle the Structural Integrity Board.
Later, looking through a view window, a young ensign peered into the common room.
“Don’t you two have a meeting?”
Looking back to Lieutenant Commander Gilis, he saw the Andorian look up from a datapad. “Hmm. Yeah, but the review board was delayed, so we’ll have to wait.”
“Oh.” Getting an answer, the ensign walked back towards his desk.
Looking over at the ensign, Gilis asked, “Why did you ask?”
The young man shrugged saying, “No real reason, I was just surprised to see the Commander slumped back like that in the chair.”
Standing up, Gilis’s eyes widened. “What?” He quickly ran towards the common room.
*****
<-- BACK NEXT -->
Return to New Beginnings Main Page
Return to Star Trek-esque Main Page
