If she’s honest with herself, it’s not the cadet at all that bothers her. In fact, the young man’s work is better than most cadets in his position; were he still at the Academy, Starfleet would give him a pat on the back and a smile.
But no. It’s his smile that bothers her. Vee knows what that shaking, wiggling smile means. It’s a “please don’t eat me” kind of smile—she’s used to seeing them all of the time.
On a ship where people know her, that is. But she’s new here, no one knows her. More to the point, no one knows not to tangle with her. No one should know that if they perform shoddy work on her life support system, she’ll chew on their soul and then spit it out and complain about the taste.
So why is this guy so terrified? It bugs her. Does she look scary now?
“Relax, Rynerson,” she sighs. “I’m not going to hit you over the head and then drag you into the Med bay for drug experimentation.”
“Sorry, ma’am. I just—my cousin’s on the USS Mockingbird. There were some stories.” He pauses, blessedly aware—but all too late—that he just poked the sleeping dragon in the eye. And about her first post, to boot. “Lovely stories.”
Vee eyes him, not sure what to attack first. The timid smile-that-wants-to-be-a-grimace, or the fact that he probably lost his backbone to a Klingon cadet. Or maybe a Vulcan. Ooh, yeah. Way more damaging.
“Anyway, ma’am, I have to go file a report, so I’m gonna…” Rynerson bites his lip, purposefully leading off. Asking, without asking, if he can be excused from a public bloodbath.
Luckily for him, she feels merciful at the moment. “Go.”
“Thank you, ma’am.”
He staggers off—like a person who narrowly avoided getting run over—and Vee turns back to the panel they had open, pressing a button to slide it shut. The computer reports that everything seems satisfactory and she smiles. It seems her reputation is now taking leaps and bounds. Maybe she won’t have to deal with as many idiots as her last post—maybe they’ll know to run away if they see her.
Vee turns. A cup of coffee is calling her name.
(Source: velvetdemon.net)
