Aimee couldn’t sleep. Next to her slept Dougal softly snoring, and the dark ceiling stared back at her mockingly.  Sighing, she rolled out of bed and gave a peck on the forehead. 

She pulled on an old white t-shirt more yellow than white with the words “Riley City Roundup July 5-13, 2381” printed on it in red-brown block letters.  There was a cowboy riding a bucking horse dead center in that same red-brown.  

Dougal’s kilt of red, green, and blue tartan was lying on the floor. She picked it up and pulled it on, clinching the belt tight to keep it on.  Stepping into a simple pair of ballet flats and a hair tie that pulled her hair back into a ponytail, she was dressed enough… if a bit of a fashion disaster.

Leaving her quarters, she headed for the mess hall.  She had decided against getting a sedative from sickbay.  There was always a potential problem when doctors started down the road of self-prescribing medication. No, she would get a camomile tea and maybe read a medical journal or two.  That usually worked.

Walking into the mess hall, she stopped.  Blinking to make sure she wasn’t imagining things, she smiled.  Crossing the room, she slid into a chair across from a young Ensign without invitation.  “Well, fancy meeting you here,” Aimee said with a grin.

Carolyn hadn’t been able to get to sleep after just arriving on the Mercy, so she’d resolved to sitting in the mess hall reading the latest research and development news from her favorite engineering firms.  She’d done a quick look around the Mercy and found her to be a ship she could get used to – it was bigger than the Zebulon Pike, and that brought her joy.  Bigger ships meant more engineering, which meant more for her to explore.

Suddenly a fashion disaster plopped down in front of her.  It took the young engineer a moment after the person spoke to go, “AH!  Aimmeee!”  She jumped up and hugged the woman with great excitement.  That done, she returned to her seat, “What are you doing here?”

“Chief Medical Officer.  What are you doing here?  It can’t be Chief Engineer.   The interim one outranks you. I’ve met her.”

Carolyn smiled quietly, “I haven’t met her yet, but yea.”  She stirred at her cup of tea listlessly, “I got lucky getting Chief straight outta the academy.”  The smile faded for a moment as she glanced up at the doctor, “Losing a ship isn’t as easy as I thought it was, you know?”  She fell silent as she shrugged the sadness off, “I think I need time to be an engineer on a ship for a while.  Just…be myself and figure out what kind of officer I am.”  The quiet smile returned, “This ship is a lot bigger than the Pike.  So many rooms…and people.”  She sipped at her tea, “I’m glad to have you here, Aimee.  It reminds me that that small world we had isn’t completely gone.  Anything I should know about this new home?”

“I have to admit. I’m happy to see another familiar face other than Dougal’s,” Aimee said,… but yeah… small world.”

Crawford leaned forward, smiling quietly, “You didn’t answer my question, Aimee.  Is this a good home or a…”, she thought for a moment, “An unstable home?”

Aimee shrugged,  “To be honest, I’m pretty new here myself.  Only people I know are you and Dougal, and this latest mission has been strange.   But, the captain seems competent enough, and Dougal speaks highly of the Chief of Security.   As far as the medical department… The jury is still out on that one.  I have a couple of doctors not thrilled to be working under someone so young.  It doesn’t matter that I graduated medical school nearly ten years ago.”

Carolyn chuckled dryly, “I can’t imagine me being chief would be any better.”  She tapped at her PADD, “I was looking through the crew rosters.  It seems like we’re heavy on the younger side…lots of cadets filling in spaces and pieces.”  She thought for a moment.  “You said strange.”  She scrunched up her nose, “What do you mean…strange?”

Aimee shrugged,  “I’m definitely not in the full loop, but telepathic attacks,  ghost ships, and Starfleet captain drugged and hooked up to the ship’s computer with a scrambled brain and indications or torture… or prolonged restraint.”

Crawford felt her mouth drop open and then tried to close it but failed.  She took everything her old crewmate had just said and worked back over it before she said, “Ok, that sounds awesome….I mean, terrible things and all that…but that’s more like I was hoping to get my hands on.”  Sheepishly, “Is it weird that that kinda thing gets me excited?”

“Yes,” Aimee teased, “but it is fascinating.  I’ll invite you to the next autopsy.” She frowned internally.   She had just made light of a man’s death.  Even if it had happened two hundred years ago, maybe she had become a little too flippant towards the subject since her time aboard the Pike. Sighing, she glanced around.  “I’m going to get a tea.  You want anything?  When I get back, you are going to have to tell me what you’ve been up to.”

Crawford held up her tea, “I’m good.”  She waited for her old friend…well, family was more like it on the Pike.  She hadn’t been on the Pike long, but the acceptance ratio was high when there was such a small number of them.   Aimee returned and sat across from her, looking expectantly.  Carolyn sighed, “There’s not much to tell.  Sounds worse when I say it.”  She sipped quietly at her tea before continuing, “I wandered around Starbase Bravo after the Pike. Took odd jobs here and there…”, she paused and shrugged, “I just kinda…sat.”

Aimee sipped her tea and offered Carolyn a plate of digestive biscuits, a habit she’d picked up from Dougal.   Taking one for herself she dunked it into her tea before taking a bite. Dougal for his part added milk, but Aimee did neither opting for an unadulterated experience. “Just sat? Why?  Still in shock from being… over there?”

Another shrug, “I dunno.  I think I just…I didn’t have a real true purpose on Bravo, you know?  It’s a beautiful station and a marvel of engineering…so I enjoyed studying that part of it…but I just…I’m not a station girl.  Does that make sense?”

“Makes perfect sense.  I definitely like being out here in the black.  A new experience… new challenge lurking behind every new system.”

Crawford lifted her mug of tea toasting her statement, “To the challenges of the blackness that lays ahead and around us.”  She let out a long yawn, “Damn.  I need to bunk down.  Tomorrow’s a big day.”  She stood and downed her herbal tea, “Here’s hoping I don’t have to see you in a professional sense soon.”

Aimee smiled, “Well,  at least not in an emergency sense.   Don’t forget your annual check-ups.”

Crawford grimaced and squished her face up in protest, “I know, I know.  You’ll push, pull, or drag me.”  She smiled as she headed out to her quarters, “I’m glad you are with us, Aimee.”

“I’m glad you are in engineering.  At least I know one person don’t there knows the difference between a dilithium crystal and a chunk of yuridium. Have a goodnight, my friend.”