Posted by Lieutenant Commander Roman Alden (First Officer & Chief Science Officer) in A Glimpse at the Weekly Condition

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The next day Rand skipped her run, choosing not to do something that might land her in the med bay. She collected the reports from across the ship. But now Rand was concerned. Alden’s weren’t wrong they weren’t done. She could fix reports, she could fill them out, she could not sign them. And so she had to go back, return them to him. Quietly she laid the PaDD on his desk with the unfinished reports on top and then the other “XO” reports on the bottom.

Yeoman Rand

Early that morning, Roman planned on taking Rand up on her open invitation to join her runs, as he was up anyway. He discovered her usual routes empty well beyond her normal run time, and so instead, he returned to his quarters and read a book until he had to go to the lab. His uniform was spotless as usual, his hair neatly combed. Apparently, some things never slipped, no matter how sleep deprived one became.

He arrived in the lab and got to work. His normal morning stuff first, and then there was a supply issue he had to take care of. Upon his return to the lab, he handed Rand his report stack… straight unfinished from his desk where he’d left them. He gave her a confused expression when she returned, earlier than usual, PaDD in hand. And then she placed it on his desk and it was… his stack of reports. Unfinished. Surely he’d done those that morning? Or… Was that the morning before? He struggled to remember. With a quick, embarrassed glance around the lab, he grabbed the PaDD and began working on the reports in a hurried manner.

~ Lt Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO

No one knew the reports were any different than what she normally brought in because Rand, ever the professional, made sure no one looked at them but Alden and Rogers. And Rogers’ reports weren’t finished yet. Taking the finished reports Rand disappeared about her duties. But that gnawing worry was back.

The next day went about as normal with not oddities. Except that night, Rand had been called to help in the cargo bay. She could take inventory with a speed like no one else. Randy had the night shift and so she had stopped to talk to him before turning in for the night. It was around midnight, but she could already hear Alden pacing as she passed his door. She stopped, hand raised to knock softly, but hesitated. If he wanted to talk to her, wanted tea, anything really he’d ask, right? It was her job to anticpate the COs needs and orders, and by default the XOs as well when appropriate…but this wasn’t anything to do with his duty assignment. Maybe she’d over stepped? She’d wanted to help but that didn’t mean it was welcome. She lowered her hand with a sigh and continued on to her quarters.

The next day she looked at the reports…they were wrong again. Rand fixed them, but then the evening reports were…odd as well. Rand sighed, she was going to have to say something. And that made her stomach churn.

Yeoman Rand