Jinxed Day

Posted on Sunday, 14 March 2021 - 10:40am by Commander Soral & Lieutenant Alex Kingsley

Mission: Operation: Trail of Tears
Location: Various | Standing Bear
Timeline: MD10

ON:

... honestly believe today has been cursed by gremlins. And it all began the second I woke up. Or actually, perhaps a nanosecond before that...


Everyone was gone. Wandering through the ship, the air cold as the coldest of winters back on Earth, Alex walked slowly through the dimly lit corridors. The computer terminals were lifeless, the only sound was her own pounding heartbeat as the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. Someone else was here. She could feel it. That sensation of being watched, being followed. Yet there was no other sign of life and every time she looked behind her, all she saw was a seemingly endless corridor stretching out behind her. She was alone.

Completely and utterly -

A hand fell on her shoulder and instinctively she hit out, feeling her elbow hit something solid even as she twisted and moved to escape the reach of whoever it was. A dull ache registered in her arm but that was not what woke her. What woke her was the short fall from the bed as she hit the floor, eyes flying open as reality came crashing down. She was in her quarters. She had clearly been in bed. And...

"Soral!" scrambling to sit up she peered over the bed at her husband, flashing him an apologetic smile. "I am so sorry!"

Soral groaned He held his nose green blood slowly running from it. Alex had mumbled, screamed and then elbowed him in the nose. He'd rolled out of bed seeing stars and they hadn't stopped since. He moved tripped over something that yapped and came crashing to the ground.

Eyes wide, Alex hurried over to her husband, wincing as she saw the trickle of blood from his nose. "Soral, are you alright? I mean, obviously not... I'm sorry!"

"It is alright." He said. "You were startled." He sat up Bones not liking being tripped over barking up a storm.

"It's alright," Alex said soothingly as she made sure Bones wasn't hurt. Thankfully he just seemed startled. Turning her attention back to her husband she offered an apologetic smile, "just sit here, and I will fetch the medkit. Unless you'd rather go to Sickbay?"

"I think I have seen too much of sickbay. I will wait here," he said.

Thankfully, Soral didn't need the attention of our overworked Sickbay and I know my way around a medkit. At least enough to deal with some minor cuts and abrasions. But I felt guilty. So while Soral got cleaned up, I made breakfast. Bones was happy, the table was set and then...

"Computer, one glass of fresh orange juice and one glass of water, chilled," Alex ordered as she studied the notes she had plastered over the front of the replicator. She had obviously been inspired since she had even taken to writing no coffee and no chocolate in different languages until you got to the largest note of all that said 'JUST NO!' in huge lettering that you could probably see all the way back on Earth.

She glanced over as Soral emerged from the bedroom. "Soral, I cannot apologise enough."

"I am alright." He said as he emerged from the bedroom fully dressed. He walked over to the replicator noticing that the shimmer of the ordered items began. "I will get the drinks." He said having heard his wife order them as he was coming out. Just as he came to the replicator it made an eerie shriek and then as if a fire hose had been let loose orange juice began to spray from the replicator right into Soral with such force that it threw him back and over the dining table.

She couldn’t help it, a laugh bursting out of her mouth before she could clamp a hand over it to silence herself. As the replicator shut off, leaving a mess everywhere, Alex leaned over the table and peered down at Soral. “Shall I get you some towels?” She asked, trying her hardest not to laugh again and failing miserably as Bones came over and began licking Soral’s face.

"That would be logical." He said. "Bones! Enough." The dog barked and continued to lick his face. He sighed. Soral pushed himself up. This day, he decided, would possibly kill him.

Hurrying to the bathroom, Alex snagged one of the bath towels as she hurried back towards the lounge.

As Alex went to get the towels Soral walked over and sat down on one of the chairs. The chair was having none of it though and with a mighty groan it gave way all but splintering sending Soral back to the floor.

Returning just in time to witness the chair breaking, she couldn’t stop herself this time. Collapsing in a fit of laughter she eventually recovered enough to help him to his feet and hand him the towel.

I am not entirely sure I’m forgiven, I literally cried with laughter. At least, I told him, these things happened in threes. Soral questioned the basis of my assertion and seemed unconvinced by my reply that it had to be, it was a centuries old belief amongst humans. Of course some Humans used to believe the Earth was flat. Either way, Soral got cleaned up and Bones tried to help with the mess in the living room. With a disastrous start to the day, I thought a visit to the holodeck would help. I was wrong.

After the mess that was breakfast Soral and Alex headed to the holodeck. There was some time so they thought that a quiet trip to the holodeck would help them relax before their shift. "What program are you running?" He asked somewhat tensely as they approached the holodeck.

“Soral, I told you, bad luck comes in threes. Relax. It is just a walk by a lake, something nice and peaceful, I promise,” Alex assured him. And it was. The size and almost perfect oval of the lake made it an ideal program for runs but it could just as easily be used for walking.

He studied the scene for a moment before joining her by the lake. "Alright." It started out well, it really did. Soral had been starting to relax even and then...

Alex had been admiring the flowers along the path, a kaleidoscope of colour that was truly beautiful. Definitely not something they got to appreciate every day. She had taken a step towards them when it suddenly became ice cold and rather than stepping forward onto grass, her foot delves into snow almost half a meter deep. “Soral?” She could hardly even say his name, shivers running through her body as she wrapped her arms around her for warmth. “Computer! E... end programme!”

Unfortunately the computer didn't seem to want to listen. The scene shifted again and this time they found themselves suspended in air over open waters for a few seconds and then plunged into the cold waters of God knows where.

Soral swam over to his wife to ensure that she was alright. He was glad that Bones was not with them.

As they fell, her startled cry was silenced as they hit the water. For an instant she lost sight of her husband as she plunged under the water, the ice cold stealing the breath from her lungs until she found the sense to kick for the surface. Shivers racked her body as she treaded water, relieved to see Soral. Not so relieved to see nothing but stretches of open water in all directions.

"Computer end program," it was perhaps the wrong thing to say. The program ended and Alex and Soral found themselves hovering again for a moment before crashing to the ground. Soral twisted in mid air so that Alex would fall atop him and not get injured.

Together they hit the ground, although somehow Alex found herself hitting into Soral rather than the solid deck. For a moment she just lay there, remembering how to breathe and willing herself to move as water pooled beneath them from the soaked clothes. Finally she half sat up, frowning, "are you hurt?"

"No. I am ready to, what do you say on Earth? Call in sick?"

"I think we more need to to call the Ghostbusters," Alex corrected as she picked herself up off the floor before offering her hand to Soral. "We should report this to engineering, and the replicator. And then have a long hot bath before we both really do end up sick."

"Indeed."

The pair of us must have looked like something else, mum. Soaked to the skin, freezing... so my big idea to relax went disastrously wrong. It was becoming a day of disasters and it wasn’t even lunchtime. Nor was it over.

As they reached their quarters the door opened an they were greeted with an unwelcome sight. Bones had both their shoes out and was happily chewing away.

“I’m not even surprised by this,” Alex murmured before she headed in the direction of their bedroom, discarding the wet clothes as she walked. “I’m going to go back to sleep and when I wake up, none of this happened.”

Soral sighed. He set about cleaning up the shoes.

Instead of crawling back into bed, Alex pulled on a robe and instead went to run a bath. Sitting on the edge of the tub she absently swirled the water around with her fingertips, which also helped her to judge that the water would be just the right temperature. When she was satisfied, she left the door open as an invitation for Soral to join her if he wished as she slipped out of the robe and into the warm water. Feeling began returning properly to her fingers and toes as she stretched out, quite content.

Soral finished cleaning up and not without a bite from Bones. It was only a nip but it appeared that the dog was having the same kind of day that he and Alex were. He hadn't been joking about calling in sick but he knew that it was not possible. He sighed and headed to the bathroom loving the sight of his wife in the tub. "I will shower and head out. I believe Bones is ... disturbed too."

"You did fall over him this morning," she grinned. "Maybe he got covered in orange juice too and is worried you will throw him in a bath."

Soral sighed. He gripped the sides of the sink and with his head down closed his eyes. Every day seemed to be a testament to his strength.

Twisting so she could face him, Alex frowned. "There is a study, several in fact, which prove that baths are far more beneficial to your emotional well being than a sonic shower," she told him.

"Yes, I can believe that but I have to get to the bridge." He turned, walked over to her and kissed the top of her head. "You enjoy the bath and I shall take a shower."

“Fine,” she pouted as she splashed water at him before grinning. “At least I get to enjoy the view.”

Smiling he removed his wet clothing and showered. He was out and dry in no time. He slipped into his uniform and then poured some warm spiced wine in the kitchen. Carrying it over to Alex he held it out to her. "Warm spiced wine."

“Don’t blame me if I get to comfortable and just stay in the bath all day,” she warned as she took the glass.

"Indeed." He gently moved some hair from her forehead. "Alexandra I..." He shook his head. "It is all going to work out."

"Just life in general?" she teased lightly.

"Yes that too." Before he could say anything Bones came running in barking up a storm. He leapt into the bath splashing both Alex and Soral.

"Bones!" Alex let out a yelp as she jumped out of the bath, falling into Soral who caught her as the glass of spiced wine fell to the deck and shattered. A fact she did not really register or appreciate until she had stepped forward to grab Bones from the water before he could disappear under the bubbles. "Take him," she said as she thrust the soaking wet puppy into Soral's arms and lowered herself to the floor so she could see the cuts she had managed to inflict. This was truly turning into the worst day.

Soral removed Bones giving him a quick check to make sure he was not injured. He then came back in to check on Alex. "Are you injured?"

“I’m fine,” she assured him, removing a few small shards of glass from the sole of her foot. She grabbed two towels, a small one to apply some pressure and another one to drape over herself. Outside of the bath it was starting to feel too cold for comfort. “Just a couple of shallow cuts, they’ll be fine in a minute or two. What got Bones so worked up?”

"I am not sure." He lifted her in his arms and carried her to the bed. He was back with a med kit in a second and started tending to the wounds on her feet.

“I can do that,” Alex told him, “go, be on the bridge before security hunts you down. I’ll get this place tidied up and maybe start on a letter back to mum.”

"Let me tend to your wounds." He healed the cuts with a dermal regenerator. "There. It is healed."

“Not bad,” she complimented as she wiggled her toes before teasing him, “we can work on your bedside manner later.”

He gave a nod. "I shall see you later tonight then."

"Don't I get a goodbye kiss?" she pouted.

He leaned down and gave her a quick kiss. "Rest today. I will take your bridge shift overnight as well."

“You will do no such thing,” she warned him, “remind me, who recently had surgery after almost being killed? You are doing too much. I’ll be on the bridge exactly on time.”

He studied her and sighed. "I believe I have mastered the correct phrase for this."

“Oh?”

"I believe it is, yes dear."

She laughed so loud, Bones came rushing back to investigate. “Oh no, both of you out so this lady can have some privacy to get dressed.”

Soral picked up Bones and carried him out with him.

Alex watched them go before she dried off and dressed. Considering where to start with the clean up operation she instead sat on the edge of the bed, picked up a PaDD and stylus, and created a new blank 'page'. Hi Mum...

OFF