Carpathia IV: Episode 229 - Fooleywang
Engineering, NCCS Shadowdancer-A
Amenaru stood against the bulkhead on Deck 13 under sick bay with his arms folded across his chest and teeth gritted. Beside him was a satchel full of the contagion neutralizer filters they would be replacing. It was already over 15 minutes since the appointed time to begin the maintenance He checked his tablet again. 19 minutes late now and he became more annoyed with each passing second.
When Darius and Mikado finally arrived, it wasn't a hurried scramble that Amenaru would have expected, followed by profuse apologies. No, they rounded the corner laughing and joking with each other, which annoyed Amenaru even more.
Amenaru: You're late!
Rather than being cowed by this admonition, Darius and Mikado giggled even more and took to poking each other in the ribs.
Darius: Mikado's fault!
Mikado: No, it's Darius's fault!
Darius: Nuh uh!
Mikado: Yeah huh!
Amenaru rubbed his temple, hoping he could get through this day before his headache got any worse.
Amenaru: Alright, alright, I don't really care whose fault it is. Let's just get the work done. Someone grab the bag and we can get into the service tunnel.
Mikado: That bag is mine!
Darius: I got it first!
Both cadets rushed the bag in such a frenzy that Amenaru had to jump out of the way to keep from getting bulldozed. As it happened, they grabbed the handle at the same time and started a tug of war.
Mikado: Mine!
Darius: Mine!
Darius won this little battle and triumphantly held the bag over his head.
Darius: I win! Suck on that!
Did someone put drugs in the breakfast? Amenaru wondered what got into them as he slid up to the service tunnel door and opened it.
Amenaru: Let's get started then.
Amenaru ushered Darius into the tunnel, but he did not proceed immediately, instead preferring to hold the bag up like a shield while holding an imaginary sword in his other hand.
Darius: Bravely, the young fuzzy squire sallied forth into the great unknown that was the Shadowdancer's sphincter.
Darius crept forward and peered into the service tunnel as though he were expecting a minotaur to pop out of it at any moment. No minotaurs, fortunately, but he still inched himself inside bit by bit.
Amenaru: Get on with it, Darius.
Darius: Our brave hero peers into the bowels of the creature Shadowdancer and ponders his next move.
Amenaru rolled his eyes as he lifted his foot and gave Darius a tap on the butt to coax him inside. On contact, Darius immediately flopped to his chest, his top half in the tunnel and his legs dangling outside.
Darius: Mayday! Mayday! Our hero has taken heavy damage to the fanny!
Mikado: Raise shields!
Darius: Shields inoperable! Emergency force fields failing! I'm venting atmosphere!
While Amenaru wondered what he did to deserve this clown show and as he pondered what he might say to get them to get moving, Darius ripped a fart big enough to make waves in his pants.
Darius: All systems returning to normal!
Amenaru snatched the bag away from Darius and pushed him out of the service tunnel.
Amenaru: Never mind. I'll go first. I really don't want to be behind any aftershocks.
For once, Darius did as he was told and wriggled his way out of the service tunnel.
Amenaru: Alright, follow me.
Amenaru crawled inside, hoping that the cadets would follow. Good news, they did. Bad news, they were still as silly as before, kicking up a fuss through the entire crawl.
Mikado: I'm hungry! When do we eat?
And now it was suddenly a family vacation, Amenaru thought.
Amenaru: The sooner we get done, the sooner you can do whatever.
Another ten minutes of crawling through the tubes, another ten minutes of inane questions, before they finally arrived at their first destination. A cylindrical room that served as a junction to several other service tunnels. Amenaru opened a hatch to reveal a contraption with a pair of three-foot rods running up and down.
Amenaru: Alright, these are the ion rods that supplement the contagion neutralizers in sick bay. We'll get to the neutralizers later. I'll show you how to remove these. Just push this lock switch like so.
Amenaru pushed the lock switch and pulled out one of the ion rods and handed it to Darius, following with the other which he gave to Mikado.
Amenaru: The spares are behind this panel...
Darius: En guarde, Monsieur Lapin!
Mikado: Have at you!
Amenaru whipped around to see Darius and Mikado just starting to play at sword fighting with the rods, with a clink clink as they touched.
Amenaru: That's enough! I'd like to get through all this before dinner, thanks. Now, Darius, you stand here.
Amenaru pointed to a spot on his right.
Amenaru: Mikado here!
Amenaru pointed to a spot on his left.
Mikado: But...
Amenaru lowered his head and glowered with his ears folding back on his head.
Amenaru: Cadet, zip it and stand where I told you and pay attention or I'll make sure you spend the rest of your time on this ship scrubbing the sewage tanks.
Amenaru tried not to show it, but this made him feel terrible. Just the day before, he was extending an invitation for Mikado to visit his family. Now this. He didn't know how things would play out from there, but, for now, the focus had to be getting the job done.
Mikado: Yes, Lieutenant.
Mikado stepped to Amenaru's side and Darius, without further prodding, stepped to his position.
Amenaru: Let's start over.
The next two hours of crawling through the service tunnels did not pass without incident, but now, whenever Darius or Mikado started to act up, Amenaru shut their antics right down again, alternating between harsh words or dirty looks. By the end, when they crawled out of the exit back into the corridor, Amenaru was exhausted. The only question now was what to do next. For sure, Darius and Mikado needed a talking-to, but he wanted to get some wisdom from a more senior officer before he did that.
As luck would have it, a senior officer rounded the corner and just the right person indeed. It was Joust, who approached with a smile and a wave.
Joust: Greetings, Cadets. I presume your mission went well.
Darius: All finished, Commander!
Joust: Good. Get to lunch, then, before the canteen fills up.
The cadets skittered away while Joust turned back to Amenaru.
Amenaru: Commander, do you have time for a chat?
Joust: Of course! Let's go to the conference room.
Conference Room
Conversation about the technical details of the mission, the maintenance, occupied Amenaru and Joust during their brief trip to the conference room. Once inside, they settled in and Amenaru took a deep breath.
Amenaru: I think we need to talk about the cadets.
Joust held up his hand and Amenaru stopped talking.
Joust: Oh, no worries. I was following you most of the time, so I saw what happened.
Joust took out a tablet and slid it across the table.
Joust: Sign this, please.
Amenaru's ears, perky from Joust's revelation that he was watching, now twitched all around as he picked up the tablet. Sign what, exactly? He would have to read first, of course.
Amenaru: Test? Provisional pass? I don't understan...
Amenaru's voice trailed off as dawning comprehension overcame him.
Amenaru: The lateness... The shenanigans... You told them to clown around while they were with me, didn't you?
Joust: Not exactly. I told them to give you a hard time. They came up with all that on their own. I have to hand it to Darius. He was very committed to the act. His breakfast this morning was broccoli, baked beans, and coffee. You can see what that'll do to a nekomi constitution.
Amenaru: But why?
Joust: This is why your pass is provisional. These exams are custom tailored to you. Now, it's time for reflection. Why do you think you received this test? Take all the time you need.
Time was what Amenaru needed and he rested his head on his hand to ponder. The answer came to him quickly, since Darius himself was a big part of the clue. Just a week ago, Darius was in Amenaru's quarters, along with many others, when they were teasing him about being disciplined for live streaming himself. A discipline that Amenaru himself administered. Despite his entreaties to leave Darius alone, Kit had to step in to put a stop to it all.
Amenaru: I lack authority, don't I? It's happened before that I was having troubles and Kit had to step in for me.
Joust: Oh yes, Kit can be proper scary when he wants to be. What did you do differently when things changed?
Amenaru: For sure, things changed when I started telling instead of asking and I stopped letting things slide. I should have told them off right at the beginning when they were 20 minutes late.
Joust: You certainly should have, yes. I'll put a full pass on this now.
Joust took took out a rubber stamp, an actual, physical rubber stamp, the likes of which Amenaru had heard of, but never seen, and squashed it on top of the tablet. Now, it was a tablet with a giant, inky blob on the screen stating, "PASS!"
Joust: You've passed the test officially, but this won't be the end. It is a deficiency and you'll need more training. The key is to be able to recognize your deficiencies.
Amenaru: I understand, Commander.
Joust tipped his head to the side and then leaned in closer.
Joust: You don't seem too happy about your pass.
Amenaru: Oh, I'm happy to pass. Thing is, concerning all the people I'm closest to on the ship, I'm of higher rank than all of them. I don't know what I'm going to do about game nights and I just invited Mikado and Darius to stay with me and my parents while we're at Andrast Shipyard. I'm not sure if that's appropriate now.
Joust settled back into his chair and wore a thoughtful expression on his face.
Joust: Hmmm... I don't think you should rescind that invitation, if that's what you're thinking. I have game nights myself and I'm also the highest-ranked officer present. It's a tricky balance, one that you'll manage with experience. You can be friends off duty, but you'll have to learn to be assertive while on duty.
Amenaru: I shall do my best, Commander. If you don't mind my saying so, I'll bet you were a right pain in the ass when you took this test.
Joust: Ha! You can't even imagine! Now, that concludes this test. Go have a rest with your bunny!
Amenaru: Thank you, Commander.
Commissioned art in this episode from:
AvareonArt
Zelbunnii
Less_End
Thatwildmary
Colourbrand
Falke2009
