The alarm was loud, irritatingly so.  There was certainly no chance of sleeping in; not in these quarters at least.  Katherine yelled at the ships computer to shut the racket off; before stretching her bare arms out above her head. “You know you make love like someone expecting an imminent warp core breach.”

Dinari, who was the other current occupant of the bed in his quarters; opened one eye and let out a slow long yawn, “I didn’t hear any complaints last night.”

“I don’t normally do this sort of thing.” Katherine propped herself up on one elbow to look at the Namibian.  “I was warned about you and your wayward charms.”

Dinari’s other eye opened as he turned his head. “Go on, who by?”

“Well there’s Sanja, Meredith and Tina; need I go on?” She counted the names on her fingers for emphasis.  “Even Lyanna said something about you soon after I joined.”

“But I, we’ve never, didn’t.” He stuttered slightly indignantly.

“She actually said ‘no’, I know.” Katherine smiled. “Must have come as such a shock?”

Dinari wasn’t sure how to answer that question or counter the claims; that he had developed a reputation; it was just the perils of being such an amazing person.  “Who’s taking the shower first?”

“Me!” She jumped out of bed, throwing her half of the covers, over his head, before padding bare foot across the floor.

“And don’t go using all the sonic.” Dinari shouted after her.

“Is that even a thing?”  Came the muffled reply.

**********

The alarm in the quarters of Ensign’s  C’Rren and Tholakath, had sounded at the same time as that of the Chief Engineers.  The Caitian was the first to move; sliding his way down off the top bunk and walking over to the third member of their little gang.

Crewman Houdini squeaked.  The alarm to him meant lights, movement and above all food; that last one was considered the most important, at least in the mind of a Tribble.  Those small crunchy things that the creature knew would soon be placed before him on a plastic tray; were certainly tasty.

There had been one important change since the latest shore leave in which the ships Emergency Holographic Nurse had come to the conclusion; whilst looking after Houdini, that the Tribble often felt lonely when they weren’t in their quarters.  So now there was a holographic Tribble; the first and possibly only one ever; there to keep Houdini company.  Like any standard Tribble, it achieved much, by apparently doing almost nothing; it also reacted to conversations and other outward stimuli in a way that made you believe it knew exactly what was going on.  Then again, it was integrated into the ships systems, so maybe it did know everything.   There was much speculation and conjecture as to what the creatures themselves understood about the world around them.  Now Tribbles came in a variety of fur colours, usually different shades of browns and creams; none had ever been pink.  The holographic Tribbles fur was however a very noticeable vivid pink.

Whatever the case; if it was possible to establish if a Tribble was any happier, both C’Rren and Tholakath hoped their small furry companion was, now that he technically had a companion.

By now, the young Cardassian was also out of bed and performing his usually early morning warm up exercises.  Space was limited, but the Caitian had learned how to navigate around his more active bunkmate, not that C’Rren was any slouch when it came to keeping fit; it just took him a bit longer to work up the motivation.

After feeding Houdini and giving the Tribble a light scratch behind the ear; something he would never have been able to do without the tablets that combated his allergy to Tribble fur, C’Rren went for a sonic shower, whilst Tholakath started on his press-ups.

By the time both Ensigns were in their uniforms and ready to go; a soft flute melody was wafting its way through the room.  One day they would discover how the Tribble was instructing the computer to play music.

**********

Lieutenant-Commander Chance Vought and Lieutenant Lyanna Stuart arrived on the Bridge to relieve those that had been monitoring the systems overnight.

“Anything to report?” Vought asked as he walked over to the Captain’s Chair, which was now being vacated by a Gamma Shift Ensign.

“The Blue Jays have finished another season bottom.” The Ensign responded.

“I was thinking closer to home.” Vought sat down; he was getting more used to the casual attitude of those that covered the small hours; mostly because he’d yet to find fault in their work, but also the fact it could get very boring, with nothing to do.

“Everything is running smoothly, Sir” The Ensign answered more formally. “No reports of suspicious activity or requests for our assistance.”

“Very good, you are relieved Mr. Steiner.” The Lieutenant-Commander continued.  “I have the Bridge.”

“I stand relieved.” Ensign Steiner made his way to turbo lift and stepped to one side in order to allow the rest of the Alpha Shift Bridge Officers to exit it.

The ship could just fly its self and wake the crew if it thought there was any danger; however the various instances were letting computers run everything and the fatal consequences that had followed, were never far from one’s mind.  Thankfully, everything appeared in order and it had been another uneventful night.

Lieutenant Stuart made herself comfortable at the helm and reconfigured the controls to her personal preferences.  Almost everyone who sat down at the flight controls had their own preferred set up; with everything at their fingertips, ready to react to any orders or unexpected circumstance.

Satisfied everything was to her liking, she rechecked the ships speed and course; warp 3 at 010.2  mark 084.3.  Which was exactly as it should be, to maintain their current patrol route.

It was another perfect start to a quiet Tuesday morning.