=/\= Bridge =/\= Andy was making full use of the main sensors, trying to find any weakness in the Warbirds otherwise impenetrable cloak. Signs of human life ... Betazoid life ... Starfleet comm signatures ... anything. Scanning different frequencies, different locations ... all coming up flat. He leaned forward, rubbing his temples, then stretched backward in the command chair. Glancing at the chronometer, Andy saw that he'd been on duty for the past 14 hours. It was starting to wear on him. Standing to stretch out his legs a bit, he decided to take a break and get a bite to eat. "Mr. York," he said to the helmsman, "I need to take a short break. You have the bridge." Dutifully, Lt. York rose from his station near the front of the large room and took the command chair in the center. Andy crossed to the right side of the bridge, and the doors of the conference room opened with a quiet hiss. Still rubbing his eyes, Andy made his way to the replicator, and tapped the screen on the wall beside it. "Centauri Coffee, extra sweet." A large mug materialized inside the replicator cavity, Andy took it out, and set it carefully on the conference table to let it cool off a bit before drinking. Turning back to the replicator, he paused for a few moments in thought. "Chicken salad sandwich," he said, "and a Belsan pear." Dutifully, the replicator created the meal, which appeared inside. Withdrawing the plate, and bringing it over to the conference table, he almost sat down to eat, but stopped, thinking. After a moment, he turned back to the replicator, and ordered another sandwich, this time on a tray. Placing both plates and his coffee on the tray, he picked it up, and exited the conference room, crossed to the opposite side of the bridge, and stood in front of the ready room door. The door's proximity sensor activated inside, and from within, Andy heard Rangi's voice: "Come in." "Commander?" Andy leaned his head in to see Rangi sitting on the couch, her legs folded beside her, holding a cup of bittersweet hot chocolate, and staring thoughtfully out the narrow, tall windows toward Kzenti, currently at half phase. The dark side of the planet was marked here and there by the bright lights of major cities. She turned to him, and raised her eyebrows curiously in question. "Yes, Lieutenant?" Andy took a couple steps into the room, and gently laid the tray down on a sideboard table next to the windows. "It's just that I know I haven't eaten in about seven hours ... and unless Scott Fisher managed to sneak you a bowl of soup during your visit to Sick Bay, I'm pretty sure it's been even longer for you." Rangi smiled warmly, and, taking her time, sat upright on her couch. "Thank you, Andy," she said earnestly, "it was very thoughtful of you." Andy returned the smile, and picked up the two plates, carrying them toward her. "Rye or wheat?" She laughed. "Either's fine, I'm sure." Offering the wheat to her, Andy moved back to the tray, placing his plate on it, and picked it up, ready to return to the command chair, sandwich, fruit and coffee in hand. Rangi shooed him away from the door. "York has the bridge, yes?" "Aye, Ma'am." She nodded, and indicated that he should put the tray back down. "I could use the company. Mr. York will tell us if anything happens." Andy did what he was told, and stood, mildly self-conciously, next to the window. Rangi regarded him for a moment, seeming to sense his discomfort with the situation. "At ease, Lieutenant," she said indicating that he was welcome to pull up a chair and share the coffee table. "I just wanted to talk." Andy visibly relaxed, and took a seat across from her at the coffee table, while she took delicate bites out of her sandwich. They chatted for a while about superficial things ... Rangi seemed to have a good memory of the conversation that they had a few weeks ago after his medical checkup. For his part, Andy slowly shifted from workspeak, talking to his superior, to conversation ... just chatting up a pleasant acquaintence. "... and so I didn't think it'd do any harm," said Andy some time later, taking the last bite of his pear. "The lady was buying all the drinks. Unfortunately, something that she bought me really made things go screwy. I got up, went to a fountain and promptly emptied my stomach into it." Rangi looked at him dubiously. Andy put on the face of innocence. "I DIDN'T have that much to drink," he protested. "Turns out later, Dr. Ashlexa on the Archer said I was given something that reacted very badly with my new physiology." Rangi laughed, and nodded with understanding. "I don't imagine you drink very much anymore, do you?" "Not things I haven't already tried and found to --" "Engineering to Lt. Foster," came a voice over the comm, interrupting their conversation. "Foster here," replied Andy with a look toward Rangi. "Lieutenant, we've made a lot of progress on the portable disruptor unit. Lt. Holland thinks the prototypes might be ready for field use." Andy and Rangi exchanged cautious smiles. "Outstanding! Let me bring Commander Summers up to speed and I'll get back to Lt. Holland shortly." "Aye, sir. Engineering out." Andy shook his head. "I'm sorry, Commander, I seem to have sidetracked us." "Don't worry about that, Mr. Foster," she replied. "Good news that the disruptors have been finished. But how can they help us at this point? We don't have the time or resources to assemble another away team to either the asteroid or the planet." She frowned. "And there's no way of knowing where Cpt. Walsh's team is to transport the units to him ... or even if the shuttle's still intact." "No, no!" cried Andy excitedly, remembering the work he'd done earlier. "That's the point! Damn!" he cursed, upset that he didn't mention the asteroid's rotation he detected toward the beginning of the conversation. "I'm sorry, Commander, I should have reported this when I had the chance, but I was still working through some details" "Go on?" "I compared the shuttle flight plan I prepared for Walsh's team to a time elapse sensor reading we've made of the asteroid. It has a regular rotation, Ma'am." "It has a rotation?" she asked. Andy nodded happily. "So when they flew out of sensor range ..." "We should be able to find them, if they managed to land on the asteroid," finished Andy, "when the side the shuttle landed on rotates back to us." "Right," said Rangi, rising from the couch, all business. "Back to work." Andy hurriedly put the tray back onto the sideboard table, and crossed back toward the door, where he met Rangi, who had gathered a couple of PADDs from her desk. "Oh. Lieutenant," said Rangi as the doors opened. "Ma'am?" She looked him in the eyes and smiled gently. "Thanks for the sandwich." --------------- Lt. Andersen Foster Operations Officer USS Chimera