The attempted dinner time

Posted on Sat May 9th, 2015 @ 10:50pm by Lieutenant Christopher Hartley

591 words; about a 3 minute read

Chris sighed as he finished plating his dinner up. He had made himself a lasagne, with salad, and he had replicated a glass of milk. As he took it to the lounge area, he smiled. The few moments he had now would be peace for him. As he sat down, and picked up his knife and fork, he could smell the food, and it pleased him. As he scooped some of the meal onto his fork, however, his door chime rang. He put his cutlery down, and looked up. "Enter." He said. The doors opened to reveal one of his engineers, holding a PADD.

"Chief, sorry to bother you, but we've finished the report you asked for. You said to get it to you right away." The engineer said. Chris took the PADD and looked at it.

"Yeah, looks good. I want you to start reinforcing the EPS and Plasma conduits though, because we'll be running some new tests in the near future, and I'd rather it get started." Chris said.

"You got it Chief." The engineer said, turning and leaving the room. Chris smiled, and shook his head, before picking up his fork again. Scooping the lasagne onto the fork, he brought it up to his mouth...before the chime rang again. Chris growled as he dropped his form.

"Enter." He ordered. The door opened to reveal three engineers.

"Chief, sorry to bother you, but we need your authorisation on these requisition forms. We've sent a request to ESD as you asked, since the extra team will be coming from there, but they said they needed your authorisation." One of the engineers, a young woman, said.

"And that took three of you to come and tell me?" Chris asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No sir, we're here with reports you requested." The other two said. Chris signed the authorisation, and took the two reports.

"Let me know if you need anything else." Chris said. The three nodded, and left the room. Chris sighed as he took a sip of his milk, and picked up his fork. Once again, he scooped food onto the fork, and stopped. He waited for a moment, and smiled. As he raised his fork...the chime rang.

"Oh for gods sake!" Chris exclaimed, slamming the fork onto the plate. "ENTER!" He snapped. Another engineer walked in holding a PADD.

"Chief, we've managed to lock down the replicator issue." The engineer said. "But we need your help in engineering with replacing the relays."

"Five minutes. That's all I ask for." Chris said, standing up. The engineer, a young woman, saw the food and looked at him.

"Is that home cooked?" She asked.

"You can tell?" Chris asked. The engineer, Elley Smith, nodded.

"I cook all the time. Didn't think anyone else did." Elley replied.

"My mom had a thing about cooking." Chris replied, taking the PADD. "Help yourself, I'll grab a pizza in engineering."

"Chief, you should eat." Elley replied.

"Elley, every time I try, I get interrupted. No, I'm not getting this meal, but please, someone should." Chris said kindly. "I noticed you're on shift for the third shift running. After you've eaten, get some rest. You're possibly one of the very few I'm keeping as a senior role, and I need you rested." Chris said. He turned and headed towards engineering. Elley picked up the fork, scooped some food onto it, and as she went to eat, the chime rang.

"GO AWAY!" Elley yelled, before putting the fork in her mouth. "Perfect." She said, smiling happily.

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