A change of direction

Posted on Friday 12 February 2021 @ 12:17 by Captain Melody Jones

Mission: Homeward
Location: Captain's ready room
Timeline: MD15 0900
1009 words - 2 OF Standard Post Measure

ON:

With shore leave almost over, people were slowly returning to life on board ship. With a glass of carrot juice in front of her and a very slight bump just starting to show through her uniform, Melody was sat at her desk going through the new crew duty roster for the Merlin. Immediately, she spotted two major changes. She had already spoken with Lieutenant Scarlet about the transfer to Marine company commander but the second one surprised her.

"Jones to Lieutenant McPhee, could I speak with you in my ready room?"

Mathias soon arrived, and stepped into the ready room, feeling a bit curious as to Melody's call. "Hello Captain Jones, how may I be of service to you? Hope all is well with you?" giving a smile.

"Ahh yes, Lieutenant. Please have a seat. So, I've been going over the new duty roster and you're down for the Operations shift. What made you change over from science?"

Mathias took a seat and looked at Melody, "Well Captain, with all that has been going on as of lately, I felt that perhaps I'd be best suited for operations. I had done some operations work back on Starbase 308 with my mother and my Uncle, and well, perhaps a combination between the sciences and a smattering of engineering, I could be more useful to you and the ship. Sort of a bridge between both worlds so to speak?"

Melody nodded thoughtfully. "Well, it sounds like you've given the matter a lot of thought and.... and... I don't believe it!"

Mathias was taken aback at her reaction, "Wait, what?!" utterly confused. "Captain, you don't want me to transfer into Chief of Operations?"

"No, not that, excuse me please," Melody said as her hand flew to her mouth as her face turned a shade of green and she made a quick dash for the small restroom.

After a few moments, she returned, still looking rather queazy.

"Oh, morning sickness." Mathias uttered quietly. "My mother had told me that happens to mother's to be. Are you going to be alright?"

Meldy nodded slowly. “I think so. Just need to get this taste out of my mouth.” She went over to the replicator. “One carrot juice and......” she looked him and raised an eyebrow.

"Green Tea with lemon and honey, please." Mathias replied. "Thank you."

“And a green tea with honey and lemon.” Melody added to her request. The replica of worked and Melody took the two glasses, placing the tea in front of Mathias.

“I’m hoping that the morning sickness doesn't last long.” Melody said as he took a long drink of her carrot juice. “It never hurts to broaden one's horizons. I remember thinking along similar lines when I had my brief venture into engineering. I’m sure you'll be well suited as our new chief of operations and you have a good staff.” she added, referring to her husband who was the assistant operations officer.

"Morning sickness wise, it depends on the individual, my mother had told me, the same thing that my aunt had told me as well. A friend of mine was pregnant, she had an awful time keeping food on her stomach. She had told me that where some women got cravings for certain items, she only craved real food. She said her baby was rather particular in what she could or could not eat. Baby was happy with having shrimp, and a lot of fruit. That was the first three months of her pregnancy, then she was able to eat pizza and burgers. Along with fruit and some veggies. She became lactose intolerant though during the pregnancy, except for the cheese on the pizza. It was a bit strange at what she had to go through." Mathias accepting the tea from Melody. "Thank you."

He blew on the tea before taking a sip of it. "perfect." Mathias commented. "Your husband is in operations, I had wondered why he didn't want to take up the mantle of chief of operations."


"I spoke with him on the matter while we were on Earth and he says he is happy where he is. Plus, he's going to have other things to keep him occupied soon." Melody added, gently patting her stomach. "As for cravings, I can't seem to get enough carrot juice at the moment but I do miss coffee. Unfortunately, sometimes just mentioning it is enough to evoke the memory of the smell which can..... lead..... to...." her hand flew to her mouth as she dashed for the restroom again.

A few minutes later she emerged again. "That!" She finished her previous sentence still looking rather pale. She took another large drink from her glass and sighed. "I really must stop doing that."

"There are several things you could try, that my friend had done, Captain. She ate saltine crackers, drank weak ginger tea or ginger ale, she also had dry toast or dry cereal. She also used acupressure points and acupuncture." Mathias offered up as suggestions. "Could help out, also on a more medical aspect, she did go get some hyposprays to control the nausea as well."

"I've had enough of injections thank you very much," Melody replied as she took another sip of her juice. "Maybe I'll give crackers or dry roast a try. I just hope this passes soon, but thank you for your advise." She added as she sat back down in her chair. "Well, I look forward to seeing you at the ops station Lieutenant. If there's nothing further, I'll let you get back to your duties."

Mathias finished up his tea, and rose to his feet. "Thank you, and I look forward to being there as well, Captain." giving a smile and taking the tea to the recycler. "Take care." he said then left.

OFF:

●●●● Captain Melody Jones
Commanding Officer
USS Merlin


●● Lieutenant Mathias McPhee
Chief Operations Officer
USS Merlin