Bridge Banter

Posted on Mon Aug 16th, 2021 @ 8:16pm by Captain Abigail Laurens & Lieutenant Commander Evelyn Rozia & Lieutenant Commander Jason Myers & Lieutenant Commander William Rogers & Lieutenant Naomi McLaren & Commander Ichiko Gail & Lieutenant Commander William Gunnison & Lieutenant Roxa Onaix & Lieutenant Veznia MD PSyD

Mission: Double Bind
Location: USS Astraea - Bridge

It had been a solid 24 hours since they had departed Dalacar, first to rendezvous with the USS Ticonderoga to deliver much needed supplies, second to meet with the USS Pennsylvania at the Ketram Trade Market for some much needed down time, hopefully without the risk of rogue planets and arrest.

The further they travelled from Dalacar, the lighter the mood throughout the ship became and the current mood on the bridge was a clear example of that.

Glancing across at Ichiko, Abigail smiled before she looked back at the large window that spanned the width of the bridge in front of them. "Even so far from Earth, the stars mostly look the same," she commented offhandedly.

"I enlisted specifically to see them." Ichiko responded with a smirk. "To see new stars, stars I didn't already know the name of. Every new star, every new name justifies my decision." she took a breath to calm the mood. "They all look the same, but never lose sight of your own star." she now wore a soft smile. "Earth is beautiful, it's a shame you only have the one moon."

"One moon isn't so bad," Naomi said from the science station. "My brother Rory lives there. Even though my parents absolutely despise visiting him at least they complain less about that than they do regarding the lack of time they get with their granddaughter."

She thought about why she joined Starfleet, "My father worked on a freighter so I got some time in space. I suppose science was just an interest I always had, and what better way to learn and explore than Starfleet?" She asked rhetorically. "Curiosity got me here."

"Nothing wrong with curiosity," Abigail replied with a smile. "A very admirable trait, especially for a Science Officer. Both my parents were civilians, but my brother did join Starfleet, he graduated the year before I joined."

Lieutenant Onaix listened to people on the bridge. She had always loved what she did, even when the bad times start to out weigh the good times. Both of her parents were officers, as a smile grows on her face one of the console she was standing inside beeped. It broke daze and she turned around and checked the console, it was nothing and Onaix "hush" she said.

Ichiko gave a soft smile, turning towards Naomi, "Oh it's a beautiful moon, vast and joyous. Brighter than the heavens, bright enough to light the way home. It's a shame it's a dead moon. Even touching it can hurt. The sand, the dust, everything about your moon is a red flag, except its splendor." she had a really nice way of saying things. "And no, there's nothing wrong with curiosity. Believe me, I strive to find new experiences. The trick is for me, it's only ever new once."

A soft snore came from the Counselor. She had the luxury of occupying one of the auxiliary seats on the Bridge, and they were very comfy. So comfy in fact that whenever time allowed Veznia would take time on the Bridge to rest. Denobulans require very little sleep, and usually hibernate for five to six days per year, but Veznia saw merit in catching short naps when she was able. They helped her focus better. Today was no different, Veznia donned her comfiest jumpsuit and took her seat before promptly falling asleep amidst the chatter.

Ichiko turned to look at the source of the comfy snore, and spied the presence of a snoozing Veznia. With an amused smirk, she turned towards Abigail, "Did someone call for bed alert?"

Jason let out a loud chuckle from the Tactical console. It was nice if nothing else to finally not be so bloody tense.

Naomi raised a brow at the question, "I think my daughter would call that a 'dad joke' sir."

"And she'd be right." A smirk from the rabbitess. "But, to know a people is to know their society. Their cinema, their theater, their humor." she paused to take a sip of her tea. "Humanity has the most interesting system of humor. Good jokes, bad jokes, puns..." a pause, and then Ichiko smirked, "I believe the appropriate way to begin is, stop me if you've heard this one."

She took a breath, "A recently convicted criminal is sentenced to jail. Upon his arrival, and his introduction to his bunkmate, he bears witness to an interesting phenomenon. One of the other convicts calls out a number: Twelve. This simple number causes the entirety of the prison populace to erupt into laughter. When the laughter dies down, another convict says another number: Sixteen this time, and again, it is met with uproars of laughter." she recites. "The new convict turns to his bunkmate, confused. 'What's going on?' he asks, and his bunkmate replies that they've heard the same jokes so often, that they have them all committed to memory. So now, they just say the number of the joke, and everyone knows it."

"The new convict is amazed at this, and wants to join in. Make a good impression with the other inmates. His bunkmate tells him that number four is a classic. So the new convict waits, and waits, and when there's a lull in the laughter, he takes his chance and calls out, 'Four'." a pause, "Dead. Silence. Nothing. Not even a single chuckle. He turns to his bunkmate, feeling betrayed. 'I thought you said it was a classic?' he inquires, and the bunkmate just shakes his head. 'Well I guess some people just can't tell a joke."

Having shifted slightly in her seat so she could watch her first officer as the joke was told, Abigail paused for a moment at it's conclusion before letting out a groan and shaking her head. "As far as jokes go, that's bad, even for a dad joke. A smile passed her lips momentarily. My brother used to love Dad jokes, he'd send them to me on comms. Nothing else, just random jokes appearing in my inbox. The last one he sent me was 'Did you hear about the two criminals that stole a calendar? They got six months each'."

"Six months, I..." and then Ichiko paused, and smirked. "Ahh, Human calendar. I get it now." and she even giggled. Slightly.

Evelyn shook her head slightly as she leaned back in the chair at her station, “But they really do bring a smile to my face whenever I hear one of them. Unlike some children’s songs now.” A sly smile crossed her face, “I used to be addicted to the Hokey Pokey, but I turned myself around.”

Buck shook his head even as he chuckled. "That's what it's all about, right?" He didn't look round and made a few small adjustments to their heading.

Ichiko shook her head, "Fantastic. Each of these is almost weapons grade." she giggled again. After what they went though, some bad humor was welcome. "I'm afraid Ts'usugi jokes don't translate too well. It's not just what you say, but really how you say it."

"There's one about two ministers speaking with the emperor about wealth, and one of the ministers suggests a fair cut, while the greedy minister separates the wealth into a massive pile, and a single coin. So the emperor smiled, and then knocked the single coin to the floor." a pause. Ts'usugi humor really was dry. "There's.... there's cultural humor in it." she shook her head.

"Number four indeed."

"Speaking of weapons," Will said, "I just bought 51% of a company that hunts down old Earth vampires." After a moment, he added, "So I guess that makes me their main stakeholder."

Ichiko scoffed, which then turned into a gentle laugh. A few moments of mirth, before she turned to Abigail, "You know, if it would help at all, I'd send you all my therapy bill. As it is, each of these..." a pause, a breath. "I regret none of these."

"Alright, maybe my second one. I regret that one."

Naomi was rubbing her forehead as the jokes on the bridge steadily became worse and worse. She would take a sudden anomaly or anything on her sensors over this. "Why doesn't your brother leave them anymore Captain?"

"He was lost in action before I finished at the Academy," Abigail replied quietly.

"Red Alert! Abandon ship!" Veznia yelled as she was startled from her nap by nothing in particular. She got to her feet and looked around panicked.

Ichiko jumped a bit at the sudden outburst. Then the demeanor of the ship second shifted slightly, "This... is why we do not take naps... on the bridge." the rabbitess made her way over towards the counselor. "This barrage of so-named Dad Jokes might have reminded me that I'll never have a child of my own to spoil with such poor humor, but if the Emperor's graces has granted me a singular moment of motherhood, then so be it. If you insist on falling asleep on the bridge, then go to your room. Remain wakeful, and you may remain."

"It is the mercy of the stars that this isn't a shift of yours." Ichiko commented, stern but, in spirit of the mirth they shared... she was calm.

All eyes on the bridge were firmly fixed on the panicked counselor. There was a moment of silence after Ichiko's address before Abigail laughed and shook her head, leaning back in her seat. "I mean, I know the dad jokes were pretty bad, but I don't know that they're cause to head for the nearest airlock."

"My son might beg to differ with that, Captain," Will chimed in. "Getting a bit serious though, Ma'am, I've been getting something...unusual on sensors for the past couple of minutes. It looks like some sort of communication. An older type, roughly on par with Earth's mid-21st century, and if someone were trying to punch through severe atmospheric interference by changing frequencies. Whatever it is, it's almost echoing through subspace in a way I haven't quite seen before."

"Can you put it on audio?" Abigail asked, her interest piqued.

"I believe so. Give me one moment..."

There was a few moments of static before the voice broke through. The words were at first indistinguishable until the universal translator took over. "Caetov Center, this is Space Eleven." There was a moment of silence. "Caetov Center, this is Space Eleven, do you respond? The storm has intensified, estimated time to impact the northern hemisphere is less than thirty six hours. Anyone in that region is in immediate danger. Repeat, the storm has intensified. Estimated impact in thirty six hours."

"Close it," Abigail ordered calmly. "Can you pinpoint the origin of the message?"

"It's coming in now," Will said. "Transmitting it to helm."

"Lay in an course, maximum warp, Commander Rogers, get the QSD ready. We may as well see if we can assist."

"Co-ordinates received. Copy maximum warp, Captain." Buck replied.

"36 hours?" Jason asked. "No pressure."

Evelyn had already punched a set of instructions into her console before she stood up herself, "I'm on my way to engineering, QSD will be green in forty minutes." She was already heading towards the turbolift.

Buck turned back from his station towards the command chairs. "ETA 12 hours with the QSD. We have any idea how long ago that message was sent?"

Abigail settled back into her seat, leaning back and relaxing. "Well, we have 12 hours to figure it out."