[snip]

‘’I’ll do it Captain ‘’ she took out her cell phone =/\= The Captain needs your expertise as a counsellor make your way to the ready room=/\=.

It would seem as if Joe had been waiting right outside the door. About the only thing he had had on his plate at the time was answering questions from D’Nesh which seemed to come at the rate of twenty a minute. She was like a dry sponge, thirsty for information. He did however come into the room with an expression of puzzlement on his face. He stood looking around the crowded room for a moment before finally turning to the captain and asking cautiously. ” Yes, sir captain you wanted something?”

“Ah! There might be some room over there?” Glen said indicating the galley/cupboard where Faith was serving coffee. “It was really Dr. Cross who suggested it. She thought that since most everyone else on the ship were crammed into this tiny room, it would be fun to invite you along too! …no not really!” Glen laughed, but no one else seemed quite as amused.

“It’s about our next mission,” Glen continued. “While we’ve been waiting for the official briefing we’ve been speculating a little. We are tasked with discovering what, if anything, has happened to an independent colony outside the Federation border. They are a group who have refused any contact with the Federation in the past, so we can be sure of a frosty reception if they have simply turned off all their communication devices. They may refuse our help in any case, but we are bringing medicines and agricultural equipment in case they need them. We do have some people with experience in how they think - Faith lived among such a group, and Cara, the ship’s xenoanthropologist has studied such groups, but the insight of a Counsellor might be useful. I think my time to ask questions during the briefing might be very short, so I want to be sure to ask the right questions, and your input into that would be helpful too. I could always depend on your insight as a COS and an XO to be useful.”

The time for the 0100 briefing came and passed by. At this point, Ade, the Ship’s Dentist stuck his head through the door. “Aha! Is this where you are?” he exclaimed.

“Yes, I’m here for most of my time aboard ship,” replied Glen, then added, “I’m practically a hermit! And I’m sure that we can also use a Dentist’s perspective too! I’d offer you a seat, but I don’t have one! I used to have a table somewhere too. We could have all sat around it!”

“Hey! Don’t blame me! I just went along to Joe’s bar and thought it was odd that there was no one there. My first thought was that the ship had been abandoned rather than a meeting!” replied Ade

Returning to the business at hand, Glen asked, “Can everyone see the viewscreen clearly? It shouldn’t be long now before subspace radio reception clears.”

‘’I’d rather use my ears then my eyes ‘’ Cross chirped in ‘’Captain can you lower the temp in here? Preferable below zero ‘’.

Another person appeared at the door. “I’m the engineer. I’m here to turn off the heat!” said George Sherridan.

“Well you can start right in on the Dentist!” replied the Captain.

Before the room began to fill Lance acknowledged the question of his recent promotion with a “Yes Ma’am” he wasn’t sure what else to say, he certainly didn’t want to have to answer to many questions he certainly didn’t have answers to.

He took up a perch at the back of them rather crowded room. He listened and watched. He knew a bit about the early colony works but it was only a glancing amount, he figured he’d be learning more over the next few days. He took it the very battered A6 not pad and badly chewed pencil that lived in his pocket, it was full of his untidy scrawls. He called it his brain it was where he wrote down the random thoughts that went through his mind for later.

Another crewman followed George into the room. “I’m the engineer’s assistant,” he said.

“You know I had a premonition you were going to show up,” said Glen. “The engineer’s over there in the corner. You can chop your way right through… Is it my imagination, or is it getting crowded in here?”

• Glen, CO