<USS Avalon> Stuff in the Vent
- From: Keith Ketchum <cptketchum@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: avalon@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2005 21:02:44 -0800 (PST)
Stuff in the Vent
by Keith Ketchum and Miriam Francher
Miriam was tired of the feeling of being watched. It came and went, that
feeling, but it still bothered her, even when the feeling was gone. So when
she heard an odd sound from one of the air ducts high up on the library wall,
she lifted her feet from the floor and went up to investigate.
Keith needed to have something checked over for a race that he wasn't pulling
up a lot of information for in the system. The spiders were one thing, this
other race was something completely different. Heading to the data library, he
walked in and saw the person working there, hovering above the floor.
After a few minutes, he finally cleared his throat.
The yeoman, startled, dropped back to the floor, and the soft thread of music
that usually followed her went silent. "Sir..." she forced out of a throat
gone dry and tight.
"Sorry to disturb you, Yeoman. But I needed to get some information." Still
not quite sure he saw what he saw.
"Sorry, sir," she stammered, and collected herself. He had seen her lifting.
And now her music became audible again, a soft line of melody drifting round
her in a slowly expanding spiral. "What can I help you with?"
He walked over to her hearing the faint music now. "Actually, now I'm not
sure why. But, did I see what I thought I saw?"
Miri's hair began to lift and swirl to hide her face; firmly, she forced it
to behave. "Yes, sir," she murmured. "Sorry about that. It's... my People
know it's wrong to show off..."
"Quite alright, Yeoman. You weren't showing off, at least not from what I
saw."
"I thought I heard something in the vent," she said by way of explanation.
"Oh? Were you able to see what it was?"
"No, sir. There wasn't anything there." She glanced back toward the vent.
Whatever the sound was, it had repeated several times while they were talking.
An odd rustling, she thought, wanting to investigate again. There must be
something making the noise.
His eyes also darted up to the vent. Interesting. "If you'd like to go back
up, I'll watch the door."
It didn't sound too much like an order, but probably it was. Miri nodded
tersely. Taking the few steps back over to the wall, she lifted from the floor
and went to look into the vent. It was dark in the duct, and she fished into
her pocket for a metal disk she kept there. A flick and a spin, and the
flat-sided coin flared brightly. Miriam held it up to the vent grating,
looking inside.
"Do you see anything?"
Peering more closely, Miriam spotted something tucked into a corner where the
vent turned away from the grating. "There's something..." she said, and pulled
the grate away from the wall, letting it drop to the floor below. It wasn't a
very big vent, but she got the upper half of her body into the opening and
reached for the object. A bundle moved into her hands, something of fabric
rolled up around smaller objects. Pulling it out of the vent, she lowered
herself to the floor and offered the bundle to the Captain.
"Let's see what you have here", laying the bundle on the table, and opening
slowly. It revealed a set of clothing. Looking through them they found a pair
of pants with a belt made of cable, and a small top. Also among them were some
engineering diagrams. "Interesting."
Miri nodded. "Those are printouts from that printer," she pointed to the one
in the corner. "It has a flaw, it always leaves that little mark in the
corner." She paused. "But why would anyone...?" She didn't need to finish
the question. It was obvious.
Keith looked over at Miri, "Go ahead and make complete notes on what was
found, and replace them and then put the grate back, we don't want whomever put
them there to get too suspicious."
She nodded, and began to re-bundle the things as she'd found them. "I can
make notes from memory," she explained. "I won't forget anything." Shortly,
the bundle was back in the duct and the grate replaced. Miri took up a PADD
and quickly listed everything. Handing the list to the Captain, she said,
"There it is, sir." It was a puzzle. Who would have any reason to leave
things in a ventilation duct?
"That, I do not know, but if someone left them there, best to not let them
know that we are onto them. If you can, every so often check to see if they
are moved, obviously when no one is around and let me know."
"Yes, sir." She glanced up at the vent once more, then back at the Captain,
unsure of whether she was supposed to salute or make some other sort of
gesture. She didn't. Music swirled softly around her.
"Now, if I happen to remember what I had come down here for, I would let you
know. Thank you for your time." He turned and walked out of the room, and
headed back up to the bridge.
Miriam stood for a long time after he left. When she moved back to the desk,
it was to send a message... to make that long-postponed appointment with the
Counselor.
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