The Worst Sci-Fi Film Ever

Posted on Mon Aug 2nd, 2021 @ 10:33pm by Lieutenant Daisy Stanier & Colonel Sehan t'Varis

2,202 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Chapter IV: Unravelling the Mystery
Location: Commander's Ready Room, I.R.W. Ourainavassa
Timeline: 238702.21

With Azalea in tow, Daisy arrived outside Raven's ready room. She pressed the chime requesting permission to enter, doing her best to forget what happened last night. She'd enjoyed it very much, but it was obvious Skylar was feeling more insecure about it. Daisy had an idea that Skylar was struggling with her sexuality, but doubted anything she could say to try and help would be of any use. When the nurse had first realised she was a lesbian, she was able to accept her sexuality very easily, however Daisy knew this wasn't the case for everyone who identified as LGBTQ+.

"Why is Auntie Skylar sad?" Azalea asked.

Daisy replied. "I've got no idea, Azzie"

Raven was deep in thought after the strange meeting with Skylar. Would getting close to the research station at Hobus really be as easy as modifying their cloak? So far, she had not even considered it, especially since the intel provided by the Borg had provided details on the Zhat Vash's cloak breaking tech. So far, her best idea had been to find a way to pull the Ourainavassa along with the Amelia spore jumping to the target area. Although she had not spoken about it to anyone else on the crew, she was growing more and more certain that the attack on Hobus would be a one-way trip.

The sound of the door chime ripped her out of her thoughts. She took a deep breath, and called out for whoever was looking for her to enter.

Daisy and Azalea entered the room, much later than they'd planned to. They sat down in front of Raven's desk, with Daisy getting Azalea's favourite colouring book and colouring-in pens out of her rucksack. Azalea flicked through the book until she found the page she was working on yesterday, a seaside scene, before picking out the coloured pens she would need and continuing.

"Before you say anything, I know I'm late. What was it you wanted to see me about?" Daisy said.

Raven sighed. "I don't even know, Daisy. I thought you were the one that wanted to talk about things." She glanced at the holoscreen, still displaying the image of the research station at Hobus. "Take a seat. Can I get either of you something to drink, or a snack?"

"That's not what Skylar told me. I'll have a cup of tea, what about you Azzie?" Daisy responded, turning to face her sister.

Azalea, without looking, placed her order for a strawberry milkshake.

The colonel chuckled and went to retrieve the drinks from the replicator. As she handed Azalea her milkshake, Raven pointed at the couch in the corner. "You can sit over there, if you want, it's a lot more comfortable than these chairs." She chuckled again. "I really need to get more comfortable chairs for this place."

"Anyway," she continued, once she had resumed her seat. "Skylar showed me the prototype of the scanners she'd gotten for us, and it looks pretty good to me. Although I'll have to get Lieutenant Lynn to give her assessment, she's more qualified than me."

Azalea shrugged, intensely focused on her colouring-in. This time round, she was was colouring in a farmyard scene which featured all sorts of different animals, as well as the farmer, his family and a tractor.

"I'll have to take your word for it, Raven. I'm not a scientist" Daisy responded, lifting up her cup of tea and taking a slow, long sip of the beverage.

"So you said before. Instead, you're a nurse. And with what we have coming up, we could definitely use more medical staff." Raven pointed at the image on the holoscreen. "I'm sorry that I couldn't tell you much before, but with what we are dealing with, we cannot risk being overheard."

She took a deep breath and, once she was sure that Azalea wasn't listening, went over what had happened in the last few weeks. The revelation that a future faction of the Tal Shiar that had named themselves after an ancient Romulan sect was conducting experiments at Hobus that could well threaten the entire fabric of existence, and how they had teamed up with time travellers from another universe to try to find a way to stop them. When she finally concluded her tale, Raven shrugged. "I know it sounds like something from a bad sci-fi flick, but it is what we've been dealing with."

Daisy wasn't sure what to make of what she'd just been told. She knew the synths were onto something to do with the Romulans, but whether it was to do with this future Tal Shiar faction, the present incarnation of the Tal Shiar or something entirely different, Daisy didn't know. While she was happy to help the synths, all Daisy wanted was somewhere safe for her and Azalea to live. Eden provided that safe sanctuary.

"That sounds like the worst sci-fi film I've heard of. As for extra medical support, if I were to agree to it, what would you be able to offer me...us? We have finally a decent life and it'd take something pretty special for me to even consider giving all of that up" Daisy responded.

Raven shrugged. "Gedak isn't around any more, so until we find a replacement, the job of paymaster falls to me. So I'll turn the question around. What would it take to get you to consider it?"

As much as Daisy loved being around the synths, she considered the awkwardness and hostility between her and Skylar after last night's events would probably come out sooner rather than later. In the event someone cottoned onto what was going on between the nurse and the synth, then there was every chance Skylar could be outed before she was ready. Daisy didn't want that, even if Skylar had said some unpleasant things to her that morning. Maybe putting some distance between herself and the synth, at least for a short while, might help matters.

"Make it worth my while, then I might think about it" Daisy replied.

"You sure you're not part-Ferengi?" Raven laughed. She turned to her console and looked over some files. "Lieutenant. With an extra, say, ten per cent, to cover expenses for the little one."

Daisy responded, considering the offer rather generous.

"As long as you promise me one thing..." Daisy said.

"Go on?"

"If anything happens to me, I need you to promise that you will take care of Azalea for me, or if you're unable to, then make sure she gets back to Skylar and Ian" Daisy responded, looking at her sister.

"Of course," Raven replied, without even a second's pause. "Although, seeing as we will be heading to war soon, would it not maybe be safer for her to go to them when we leave dock?"

Azalea replied, not looking up. "No, I'm staying with Daisy"

"Azalea trusts Ian and Skylar, however she has autism and doesn't cope when I'm not around for extended periods, say more than a few hours or so. I genuinely appreciate your concern Raven, but it is in Azalea's best interests that she remains in my care" Daisy explained.

The colonel slowly nodded. "Very well, if you say so. As long as you are aware that we will be operating in an active combat situation, which really won't be the safest place to be. I will make sure you two are assigned quarters away from the hull, just in case."

A sudden idea struck her. "Hey, Azalea. Are you interested in plants and gardens, by any chance?"

"I know what I'm signing up for Raven, I just needed reassurances. Azalea is all I have left and well, I need to make sure she's going to be looked after if anything ever happens to me" Daisy responded.

Azalea nodded, without looking up at Raven. She enjoyed spending time looking at the plants and birds in the lush greenery around the synths' sanctuary on Eden, ticking off all of the various different species on a PADD which Skylar programmed for her whenever she saw them.

Raven smiled. "Very good. Maybe you can help Renee with the hydroponics bay, then?"

Azalea nodded again, still looking at the flock of chickens which she was colouring in.

"Thanks, Raven. She loves looking at plants and birds, while I know you haven't got any birds on board I'm sure she'll be more than happy to help whoever's in charge of the hydroponics bay. Who is it, out of interest?" Daisy replied, looking at her sister.

"Renee Hernandez," Raven replied, quickly accessing the crew manifest on her console to bring up a photo. "We took her on as chef, but since we had a sizeable hydroponics bay that lay unused, she's turned a lot of it into a garden to grow fresh ingredients, while part of it serves as a bit of a park for the crew to unwind and relax in, if they so choose. It's also home to one of our two memorials to crew members we lost during the battle with Vulture. The other one is a more traditional Romulan memorial hall."

Her hand went to her eyepatch and a sad smile flashed on her face, as she briefly remembered the losses of that day, but she quickly collected herself again. "Anyway, Hernandez is ex-S31, and has some history with Ash Rogers. Major Rogers, that is, not Commander Rogers. We've got both our universe's and the Terran Ash Rogers on this ship, which does tend to lead to some confusion sometimes. Luckily, the Commander has taken to wearing her regular Terran Starfleet uniform, so at least we can tell them apart quite easily."

"This really does sound like the worst science fiction film ever created" Daisy responded, looking at the photograph of the woman. She then turned to Azalea.

"How do you feel about moving onto a big, fast space ship, Azalea?" Daisy asked.

Azalea shrugged. "I don't care as long as there's chicken nuggets and fish fingers"

"There's plenty of those here, I'm sure" Daisy responded.

Raven chuckled. "The ship is fully equipped with Federation-spec replicators in each of the quarters, as well as the medical bay, and then smaller ones in most rooms to provide drinks and snacks. And then there's Renee's quite excellent cooking, especially since she prefers using fresh ingredients. There's a bit of a running joke among the crew, though, about the stews, since she had the Terran help her make one once."

"I'm sure we'll be happy to sample her cooking at some point, if we can get this one away from the hydroponics bay or her colouring book for long enough that is. Azzie loves it when Ian buys her colouring books" Daisy said, looking as Azalea turned her focus to some cows, the chickens now fully coloured in along with the background and the tractor.

Raven smiled, and reached into one of the drawers under her desk, pulling out a piece of paper. "Hey, Azalea." She put the paper in front of the girl, revealing it to be a line drawing of her pet, Eavy. "You might like this one, then. Last time we were on Drozana, a street artist insisted on drawing the little one, and I had a few copies printed. One of them is in my quarters, actually." She glanced at the chronograph. "Where the subject of the drawing is probably waiting for lunch, in fact."

Azalea paused from her colouring, examinining the drawing of the creature while her older sister had another sip of her cup of tea. Whoever had drawn it was clearly a very talented artist.

"Where's the pussycat now?" Azalea asked, keen to see this unusual feline.

"As I said, in my quarters, annoyed that I haven't given her lunch yet," Raven replied with a smile. "I should probably change that, to be fair."

"Can I feed the pussycat?" Azalea asked, looking in Raven's general direction.

Daisy looked at her sister and smiled. She knew pleases and thank yous weren't something Azalea found easy when it was someone she didn't really know very well, although Daisy did reiterate it was always nice to be polite to people, especially if they were polite to her or gave her a present.

"Kantoan foxcat. Come on, then. I'm sure she'll like you." Raven smiled and stood. "Want to come along as well, Daisy?"

After finishing her milkshake, Azalea handed her things to Daisy to put away in her bag before hopping off the chair and waiting patiently for her sister. Once Daisy had finished her own beverage and put Azalea's colouring apparatus back in her rucksack, she too stood up.

"Piggy back!" Azalea said, looking at her sister.

Daisy smiled and obliged her sister's request after removing Azalea's rucksack from her back, carrying it in her right hand instead. Once Eavy had been fed, Daisy planned to return to the shuttle to tell Ian and Skylar that she and Azalea would be rejoining Raven's crew, at least for now. Whether the arrangement was permanent or not, Daisy didn't know yet. As far as the nurse was concerned, the ball was very much in Skylar's court.

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