No Idea (Penn)

[karen4]

Stifling yet another yawn, Lucy took a quick yet large sip of her tea before setting her mug back down. She'd already been on the Venia for a few weeks, and yet she'd only met a third of the crew face to face. The rest she only knew through reading over their files--which was why she was up at nearly four in the morning. She was scanning over them again, just in case she'd missed anything vital.

So far, however, it seemed as though she'd missed out on a good three hours more sleep for nothing. All she was getting by reading over these files again was the same questions remaining unanswered. There were some things that had happened on board the ship that had only been mentioned in passing, and so she didn't know all the details.

From what Lucy could gather, there'd been some sort of nano-virus attack on the crew, but information on it was limited, as it was knowledge spread verbally. There were probably actual files on it somewhere, but she wasn't sure where to look for them. She was a doctor, not a computer specialist, after all, and all the files were saved into the ship's memory drive.

Leaning back, she rubbed her eyes and sighed, glancing down at her schedule. As the chief medical officer, she had to arrange shifts for the other doctors--one of her least favourite parts of the job, as she often got complaints about it--but maybe she could use it to her advantage.

At this time in the morning, Lucy was generally pretty fair in giving only one or two medics a shift so that the others would be able during the day after resting well. This morning there were only going to be two officers on duty; herself, and Mister Penn Gwyther. He'd been a victim of the nano-virus attack, so he'd doubtlessly be able to fill her in.

Glancing down at the schedule again, and checked the time his shift started against her watch. It was only a few more minutes. Deciding to simply wait for him, she went to take another sip of her tea--only to find she'd already emptied her cup. "Ah, pour l'amour de..." she grumbled irritably, pushing herself to her feet.

While the biosynthesizers were horrible in most regards, they were good for hot water, and as she had a box of tea-bags in her desk, it was all she needed. She'd just started filling her mug when the med bay door hissed open, and she smiled as she looked up.

"Ah, bonjour Penn! I'm glad to see you--you see, I have some questions, and I think you might be the one to answer them." Well, that had been awfully to the point. She'd probably confused the poor man. Hoping to make up for it, she held up her mug. "Would you like some tea?"

[somerandomhippie1]

Around 2, Penn's alarm clock beeped cheerily, and was soon crushed into sleep mode by a wayward hand. With a grumble, Penn got up, yawned, and meandered his way off to the bathroom. He was on a morning shift, which meant he had to wake up at some ungodly hour. Still, at least it wasn't night-time out his window, to remind him of the time of night. Just space, as usual.

With a grumble, he pulled on a t-shirt and some pants, tugging his shoes on without socks. It was a bad habit, but his football team never wore socks. High school quirks tended to rub off. He decided not to remove the stubble from his face. It didn't actually look half-bad. Maybe it was high time he should consider growing a beard. With a shrug, he pulled something red his sister had made for him in her textile class, back at her university. It sort of looked like a coat, but it was almost like a sweater, and he had no idea how to do it up. It looked like it was supposed to go sideways, but he couldn't tell. Donna was rather avant-garde.

Grabbing some toast- the only food those bio-synthesizers made decently- he sat back down at a little desk in the corner of his room. It was barely 3. He still had over an hour to burn. With a sigh, his eyes wandered around the room, until they hit his basses, standing in the corner. He hadn't played those in a while. Still, everyone would be sleeping, and he didn't exactly want anyone to hear... Brushing his hands on his jeans, he decided his upright would be quiet enough, and walked over to it.

As he tuned it up, his hands fell into the steady rhythm of playing they knew so well. As cheezy as it sounded, he had missed the dear thing-- he'd played in college, in various charity gigs and in a bar or two for some money, but he hadn't picked it up since he'd boarded the Venia. He'd have to get back into practice. Starting with some scales, he polished his sound up, working until he was quietly flying across the strings in something he remembered vaguely as Ray Brown. He knew his bow would be too loud, so he stuck with his jazz technique, reveling in the soft sounds it made.

All too soon, he glanced up at the clock. It was almost four. Considering his bass, he decided it would be too much of a hassle to drag down to the med bay, and would just take up space. So, finding a strap, he picked up his electric and slung it across his back. At this hour, no one would be in, and he would have the place to himself to practice. He stuffed a patch cord in his pocket. Maybe he could hook it up to the computer or something.

Walking down, he started as the door hissed open. There was someone else there. He blinked a little. Who else... Oh, right. His superior was on shift with him. Damn. He shuffled the bass behind his back a little, hoping she hadn't noticed. "A cup of tea would be nice," he answered, walking in. He hadn't had one this morning. Hopefully, that would settle his recently-jolted nerves.

[karen4]

Penn looked rattled to see Lucy there, and she forced back the urge to frown. She hadn't thought she'd been all that ominous. Maybe he had a guilty conscience, and was expecting to be reprimanded? But she couldn't think of why that would be. Trying to soothe him, she offered him a warm smile before turning back to her desk to find another mug for him to use.

"You're my deputy chief, oui?" she asked, digging out her teabags. She then picked up his mug and went to hastily fill it at the biosynthesizer. After plopping in a tea-bag, she handed it to him and then took her seat, crossing her legs. Her mug was warm in her hands, reassuring, and it helped her feel a little less moronic for having to ask him for information.

"I just have a few questions about the going-ons around here. I read something about a nano-virus, but the files I found were vague at best. As you seem to have been involved, I was wondering if you might fill me in?" Before he could say anything, Lucy suddenly noticed he appeared to be hiding something behind his back.

"What's that?" she asked, straightening up in an attempt to peer behind him. Then, realizing how rude she was being, she fell back into her chair and looked down at her tea. "Je suis désolé, it is not my place to dig," she apologized, shaking her head. "Pretend I didn't ask. Except for the part about the nano-virus."

[somerandomhippie1]

Penn forced himself to breathe out steadily. Well, that wasn't the best way to make an impression on your superior, that was for certain. He probably looked like he was trying to hide something- which, in fact, he was. How ironic. Shaking his head, he went over to stand by one of the chairs. She sounded very French, and from what he knew, they had a different set of etiquette than his little Wales did. Better stick to the niceties.

Taking the mug happily, he breathed in the steam the tea-bag was giving off. He preferred loose tea- it seemed more organic to him, plus it was cheaper if you got the good stuff- but this smelt rather good. It seemed like a green tea, which was nice. That stuff was usually calming. A quaint little coffeeshop-type tea. He nodded. "Penn Gwyther, mum," he confirmed. It'd been bit of a shock for him, learning that he had been expected to run the place while the Chief Officer wasn't around, but it had been mostly smooth sailing so far. And by mostly, he meant the times he had been conscious to witness it.

He'd been just about to answer her question when she suddenly peered around his back. Well, no use hiding it now that she'd seen it. "It's not really a problem," he reassured her, bringing the actual bass around to the front. He was surprised she hadn't noticed it, with the strap hanging across him. He'd felt the thing digging into him the entire time. "Just this. I'd planned on playing it, but that's fine. Sorry about that." Feeling a little lost for words, he set it down gently on the desk beside him. Making sure both screen and bass would be OK, he turned to his tea, taking a sip. Mmm. Warm.

He looked up again. "Anyways, yes. About the nano-virus. From what I know, nano-cells were implanted in something brought aboard the ship, by R4. I assume you've heard of them." He would be fairly surprised if the captain hadn't filled her in on that. He seemed like a cautious fellow, like himself. "These cells entered the blood stream to the cerebral cortex, latching on to some of the sensory nerves. Basically, it induced high fever, hallucinations, basic symptoms of panic attacks, if I remember correctly. After that, all I know is they sent an electric pulse out to disable the nano-bots. I was unconscious at the time, so I didn't actually see a thing." He gave a wry little smile. Between seeing his grandfather like that, and being completely useless during a medical crisis, he wasn't exactly happy with his conduct that time. Still, live and learn. He took a longer draught of his tea.