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"Never Judge a Book by Its Colour"
Previous post – Susan's "Tested"
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Setting: USS ANUBIS, Deck 2, Corridor
Stardate: 30151.0600

As a department head, the day for the Chief Science Officer of the USS ANUBI had begun with the review of the daily duty rosters.  Once that had been accomplished, the Shillian found herself with several hours to kill before the 0900 hour scheduled Senior Staff meeting.

The former Acting Executive Officer felt bad that she had been forced to step down from that position, but the responsibilities had simply not been too much for the scientist to perform to what she saw as the expected level.  Maya had always been the first to admit that science had been her field, where she had been meant to be since the very beginning.  The influence of her father still guided her actions as a scientist on a daily basis, something that the Shillian felt had been missing when acting as the Executive Officer of the USS ANUBIS.

The choice had not been an easy one, but it had been necessary for her as well as the rest of the crew.  Now, like Captain Morningstar, the Chief Science Officer worried about who Admiral Koniki would appoint as her replacement.

With her thoughts lost on this particular issue, the Shillian had failed to see that she had been on a collision course with the redheaded Chief Engineering Officer.  Fortunately for the two of them, Lieutenant Paquette had been very aware of their positions and heading.

"Good Morning Commander," Sonja offered before the Chief Science Officer actually ran into the now grinning Human Engineer.  "Pretty early to be going about the ship on autopilot, no?"

"Autopilot?" the scientist repeated, taking a few seconds to comprehend the significance of the statement.  "Sorry, guess I was lost in my own little world."

"We all do that from time to time," the Chief Engineering Officer quickly acknowledged hoping to counter one of the verbose explanations that the Shillian had been renowned for.  "How about we make this into a breakfast trio," Paquette added as she turned and pressed the chime to the nearest door, only noticing after the fact that it had been the quarters of the Chief of Security.

When the door opened, both Sonja and Maya were surprised to find Ya'Han with a head of green hair instead of the black colour they had been accustomed to see her with.

"Nice dress... interesting hair colour," the Chief Engineering Officer said as she tilted her head ever so slightly to one side.

It was clear that the Chief of Security had been caught, but doing what?  The ball gown that she wore had obviously been for the event scheduled for that evening, and that she had wanted to give it a preliminary 'test drive' had not been all that unexpected.  The mentioning of her green coloured hair though had triggered a response in the woman that took the uninvited guests by complete surprise.
 
"Let me guess," the Chief Engineering Officer began, "you wanted to try stretch your wings away from just being 'Bat Girl' and opted for 'the Joker' or maybe decided on an entirely different power scheme and went for 'Green Lantern'?  Another guess would be with that colour hair and the dress... maybe one the fairy folk?”
 
"Who?" the Shillian inquired, none of the names mentioned having been in the least bit familiar.
 
"What?" the Chief of Security added almost simultaneously, the 20th century comic book hero references having been completely unknown to her.
 
"Bat Girl, Batman, The Joker, Green Lantern," Sonja listed in playful exasperation.  "Oye," the Chief Engineer added in a nasally Yiddish accent, "I need to edu-ma-cate you lassies," the redhead laughingly continued, having returned to a more normal voice as she continued. "How about we talk about this over breakfast before our big 'Pow Wow' with Grand Chief Morningstar. Never hurts to have a full stomach.  So get in there, get changed, we are waiting."

Ya'Han turned to do as she was bid, and was still rather flustered at having been caught with her hair in the colour of the arts of her people.   How could she have let herself be found out like this.

A moment of panic surged through her as she tried to get a hold of herself.

::These were are shipmates and fellow senior officers,:: the Chief of Security thought to herself as she headed back to her bedroom to change. ::If they can't be trusted with my secret who can...   NO NO, I have to keep this secret and hope they wouldn't ask or mention it.::  Ya'Han paused for a moment as she reconsidered her thoughts  :: No, Sonja will, she's an odd one when it comes to officers and all of the reports and accounts state that she is one of the best at what she does, so it would be doubtful that she could be so easily fooled.   Maya on the other hand  will see this as a puzzle to be solved…  Either way I won't be able to hide this all because I was careless.::

“Good grief woman, how long does it take to change?  Do I have to come in there and help?”  the CEO playfully asked from the still open doorway.

“I’m coming, you really have no patience do you,” the security officer stated as she hurried out of her gown to dawn her Starfleet Uniform.

“It’s a virtue, or so I’m told. One that escapes me I’m afraid” the redhead laughed.  “Hey your back to being ‘Bat Girl’, you have to tell me how you did that” Sonja said as the raven haired woman came back into view.

“Breakfast ?” Ya’han said quickly hoping to change the topic.

This seemed to work temporarily as the three women headed down the corridor towards the Black Hole Lounge, but along the way Ya'Han noticed the quizzical stare of the Chief Science Officer..

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Lorraine Paquette


Lieutenant JG Sonja Paquette
Chief Engineering Officer
USS ANUBIS, NCC 18501