Storage and Supplies MISSION END

Posted on Wed Oct 28th, 2026 @ 11:00pm by Captain Bethsabée Leroux & Commander Benjamin Jamesson & Ensign Duncan McManus & Lieutenant Jennifer Matthews & Lieutenant JG Calanthe 'Cal' Diaz & Ensign Isaac 'Zac' Hughes

Mission: Royal Mail
2463 words - 4.9 OF Standard Post Measure

Duncan looked up at the Captain as she climbed up to the container that held something she needed. He had said he could get it but the Captain was adamant that she wanted to check a few of the supplies herself before the rest of the senior officers or their deputies showed up to confirm everything and allocate the resources.

“Captain I really do not like you being up there.” The ensign muttered as he held the ladder and could hear the door opening in the distance that meant they were no longer alone.

“I am pregnant, not weak Ensign. Just keep holding the ladder.” Beth requested firmly.

"I don't think McManus is suggesting you are weak," Jenni remarked, having just entered the cargo bay. "I think he's just looking out for yours and the baby's safety."

A step behind, having picked up Jen along the way and then fallen back at the door to wait for a certain burly engineer to catch up, Calanthe drew up alongside her friend with Ben in tow and immediately frowned. "Captain, what happened to watching your blood pressure? Medical's going to have our heads on a spike if you get dizzy up there."

"Quite possibly not a spike," came a voice from the door. Hughes, lingering a moment to evaluate the scene, folded his arms loosely across his chest and regarded the impossibly-stubborn redhead with an expression perhaps a little more circumspect than Diaz was giving him credit for. "Cryogenically preserved for later chastisement, I could see."

"I'm sure the Captain has a reasonable explanation," Jenni mused, crossing the cargo bay to check the contents of a few of the containers. "Hysteria, being short-handed, a need to check things personally." The engineer couldn't blame the captain at all for any of those three options. Well, maybe just two.

Beth looked down at everyone being there and slowly climbed down, being a little more careful than she had been going up. Duncan looked around, worried but also relieved as the Captain stepped back down onto the deck, and he quickly stepped back. "No one is being chastised, and especially not cryogenically preserved; it seems to be a big waste of resources."

"And my blood pressure, I am sure, is fine," Beth added for Calanthe. "I went up to look at the supplies." She doubted anyone did not know that but she wanted to make them fully aware that she was not just climbing for any old reason.

Jenni smirked. She had assumed as much, that the Captain wanted to see the state of the supplies personally. Jenni was present in the cargo bay for the exact same reason. "Anything odd or unusual in the crates you looked into?" Jenni rummaged inside her crate without looking up, There were a handful of parts she'd requested, as well as raw materials that could be fashioned into others.

"The machine shop is going to be working overtime for a bit," Jenni remarked. "With these materials, we should be able to fix a few things around the ship finally."

"Lots of oddness and unusualness, but that is nothing new, Lieutenant," Beth said softly. "What thing are you going to be fixing first?" She wondered, picking up her PADD to look through all the tickets that she knew were rolling around. Benjamin frowned as he watched the woman, glanced at Zac, and rolled his eyes fondly.

The engineer didn't reply immediately as her eyes followed her hands as they moved around raw materials and scrap metal inside the crate. To her surprise, there was a fair amount of cabling and wire, and even a few gently used tools. "We've a few faulty EPS manifolds on C and E Decks that are overdue for maintenance," Jenni shared aloud. "And there's a stabilizer that needs to be patched up soon. There might be enough here to take care of it all."

Beth nodded. She knew all about the stabiliser that needed more than patching up but tender, love and care; unless they completely stopped for a while was not doable. It was hard to believe sometimes that the ship was barely 2 years old. "Let me know what you need for the patch." She said gently, not wanting to dwell on it there and then. That was a conversation for another day and between them before it became more widely known.

Jenni smiled in response, which was a far better reaction than what she had just barely managed to suppress. What both she and the ship needed was a safe harbor to power down and affect some significant repairs and refit. The chances of finding such a harbor were just a bit less than finding their way back to Earth, which were most certainly not in their favor. "Will do, Captain," she mustered in the stead of her real feelings on the matter. "Definitely enough here to build a crib or two too."

Hughes, having wandered over with his hands in his pockets, pulled up on Jamesson's other side and seemed content to wait his turn. In truth, when it came to resources, just about every department had its needs, but medical had put in some pretty steep orders and he'd taken pity on one very tired but stubborn Andorian and volunteered to come check what the actual haul was. For now, he huffed a quiet laugh and watched Matthews work. "The last time I saw this amount of spare parts, Ben made me learn how to use a plasma torch." It was a bittersweet observation, belonging to a ship now blown out of existence, but of all the survivors of that timeline, Nish had remained the most likely to want to talk about it. After a while, it had started to rub off.

"Hmm..." Jenni said almost playfully with a smirk. "One should never tell an engineer you know how to use a plasma torch. One just might find themselves conscripted for odd repairs." She was only halfway kidding, of course. Plasma torches were never to be trifled with, but a medical officer knowing how to use one also meant that if Jenni's grip were to slip in an inopportune moment then she would certainly be in good medical care. "How about you? Get anything good for medical?"

Benjamin stayed silent next to the man just looking innocent. The man had been pretty good with a blow torch but he really was a better doctor and at the moment they did not need engineers. The separation of engineering seemed to be helping and allowing the ship to flourish a little better and the strange out of sync sound seemed to no longer bother.

With an invitation finally to do his own rummaging, Hughes drew his hands from his pockets and screwed his nose up at the ladder in partial consideration before taking the necessary steps upwards to peer over the side of the crate. It was well-packed, which was satisfying, though Matthews' investigation had dislodged some of the larger components that now sprawled across the more compact boxes that likely housed the medical supplies. The doctor smiled to himself.

"I see what you mean, they certainly didn't short-shift us on doohickies and thingamajigs."

"Short-sifted?" Jenni asked, closing her crate. "Certainly doesn't look like that. And the quality seems to be there." She moved aside so that others could rummage through the new cargo.

"Well, we did deliver their most precious resource back, and Vohra, despite being a conundrum, I do not think he would screw us over." Benjamin looked up as he glanced at Hughes before looking at Beth.

"Conundrum?" Beth wondered as she sat on one of the cargo pods, looking up at the man.

"Well... He is human but knows nothing about... humans." Benjamin commented. He had had, had a few meals with him over the last two weeks of him being onboard and nothing was making sense.

Jenni's eyebrows shot up at the mention of Vohra, and her gaze shifted over to Commander Jamesson as he shared his experience. "I noticed that too," she added. "It makes me wonder if we're not the only vessel pulled out here from Earth over the years."

Beth nodded. She had been thinking that for a long time, but it had been a thought she had kept to herself because she did not want to share the guilt that she should have done more at the beginning to figure things out. She could look at the future core, but after Lexi's experience and the downward spiral she had gone on after her accidental future knowledge, she did not want to put herself through that. "Maybe it is time to try and figure out the data the ship took when we were hidden in the radiation shelters. We did not have the time to, with the Vrav chasing us and then other things became a priority." Beth suggested, knowing that would be a conversation with Lieutenant Daru.

As the others spoke, Hughes had occupied himself with the best scrutiny of the provided medical supplies he could manage without physically climbing in and opening the crates to ensure the documented contents matched the stock list. Isaac was pragmatic enough to consider any omissions a simple casuality of a lack of beggar's choice; they had clearly been provided with enough across the board to pay for a simple transport that had gone remarkably well all things considered. If they hadn't been supplied something then that's just the way it would remain.

The conversation, however, caught the therapist's attention and he tracked it quietly until, content with what he'd seen, the doctor set both feet back on firm ground and turned to face the others with a casual hunch of his shoulders. "I don't suppose anyone thought to actually ask the man."

Beth smiled over at the man, having expected him more than anyone else to come out with that, especially as Darru was not there. "First time I met him. He acted as if he had never seen us before." Beth said, smiling. She had nudged him a couple of times since the first meeting with the overgrown houseplant and he was either the universe's best actor or he really did not know what he was.

Jenni thought back to one of her more memorable encounters with Vohra, the impromptu tour throughout the ship that she insisted on supervising rather than allowing him to wander unsupervised. Naturally, that memory also reminded her that she had an outstanding invitation to go visit an AI on Vohra's ship. Perhaps she'd take him up on that on their first opportunity. "He has no idea he's human," Jenni added. "At least, he hasn't let on that he does. He seems quite fascinated with us however."

“Indeed he does.” Beth found herself agreeing. He might be fascinated with them but she had to admit that she was fascinated by his journey as well. It had to be interesting especially with the AI on the ship. “But moving on to all of this. Is there anything anyone still needs?” Beth asked honestly wanting to hear if there was anything that was urgently needed to maintain the ship and the people onboard.

"I don't suppose they included any chardonnay," Cal quipped, arms folded across her chest in playful disapproval. If anything, the influx of genuine aide was just the morale boost they'd needed, which rounded out a week of successes as far as the brunette was concerned. "Parmesan wheel? Chocolate cheesecake?"

"I would give a lot for some chardonnay," Beth said quietly before she glanced down at her stomach. "Well, in a few months. Do you suppose you could make some McManus?" She wondered, glancing at Benjamin and Jennifer as the ensign and his still were their problem between them, as the clanging from above went quiet and the man's head appeared.

"I... maybe." He admitted not having thought to add any fizz to his concoction.

"Plasma moonshine is no substitute for chardonnay or a merlot," Jenni countered. She had initially been opposed to the still, considering alcohol was a combustible and the last thing any of them needed was for a makeshift still to catch fire and cause irreparable damage near the EPS relays. Recent events and discoveries, however, seemed to be tempering the engineer. "But it at least gets the job done. Something should be done about that bitterness though." After all, there weren't that many sweet tastes remaining aboard. Life's little pleasures had become nothing but daydreams anymore.

"I will take that as feedback and try my best for the next round, Ma'am," McManus promised as he came down the ladder carrying several thin pieces of metal that he was to scan properly to see how they worked. "Excuse me." He said politely, trying to get out of the group of senior officers. Beth nodded and let the man leave as he had done his part in helping her.

"Well then, I believe we all have tasks to get back to." Beth declared, looking at everyone. Benjamin quickly took the hint and speed-marched away; he was itching to chase after McManus and find out what he wanted the metal slithers for. The man kept him entertained, which was a novelty.

Tasks was such a pointed word, or so Jenni thought. Keeping Atlantis running this far away from Earth wasn't just a task; it was her life. And it was a lifestyle that wouldn't be changing any time soon. The more Jenni dwelled on what she needed to accomplish in the next 48 hours, the more she found herself wanting a sample from Duncan's still. "Yes indeed," Jenni confirmed. She gestured to a couple of extra hands nearby to have them take a case down to the machine shop. "Plenty of work to be done."

"If that's the all-clear to unload, I'll happily toss my hat into the ring to make a start," Hughes gestured towards the crate. As much as it was a genuine offer to assist, it was also a pragmatic attempt to thwart potential workplace tension later down the line when Lottie arrived for her shift and all her new supplies weren't ready for storage allocation.

"Same." Calanthe's offer came after a deliberate effort to drag her attention away from the door and, though Isaac was an expert at keeping his thoughts to himself, even the doctor wasn't entirely successful at masking a faint smile. Judging by the look on Ben's face, they'd have everything unpacked and put away before he came up for air.

"Go for it then," Beth said, smiling just a little as she left the group to it to start her own task. She needed to figure out their guest and what was going on with him.