"Vacation is Over"
[previous "Long Lost Contacts"]

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Setting: MASQUERADE DREAMS, Room 22-143
Stardate: 30152.1315

He sat in the large comfy chair, trying to recuperate from the blow to the head that he had suffered.  The truth had been that Jayson had been biting at the bit to get busy with something.  This mission had pretty much been a vacation, and as much as he might have told the others that he was enjoying the idea, the opposite had been true.

Some people enjoyed life at a casual pace, but he had spent too long letting life pass him by after Leena's death.  Joining Starfleet had given him a reason to live, a reason to get up every morning.  Counselor Dalziel had also helped a lot with continuing his sessions after the Academy, but it was the down time that proved to be the hardest for him.

Having too much time on his hands without anything for him to actually do had not been easy.  Enjoying life had been something that he had denied himself the luxury of after Leena. Despite all of the help, he knew that there had still been a lot of work for him to do before being able to do this again.

Jayson listened in on the conversation about the anomaly.  He had felt actual pride in his shot to Ya'Han while hoping that she would take it as it had been meant.  The OPS officer respected the woman at the head of the Sec/Tac department, and hoped that she considered him a good enough friend to accept such jokes.

When the Captain called for everyone to resume the tasks that they had been given, Jayson actually sank further into the chair.  Three weeks of this was going to kill him, or at the very least force him to seek out the Counselor for a few extra sessions.

He had been so lost in his own misery that Jayson missed the part where Shar'El asked about someone named Uxtar.  What followed from the ExO though was not missed.

=/\= ...but we have a bigger problem. There is a man on board the MASQUERADE DREAMS with a bomb which is set to detonate at 1400 precisely. =/\=

Jayson's eye went wide open.

"Well, there goes our vacation."

The words had been said while he pushed himself out of the chair.  He doubted that he had come across as disappointed, but now at certainly not been the time to hide feelings.  Gathering Intel or figuring out if Ya'Han's sister had actually been on board would have to wait. Right now dealing with whoever this bomber was had become the one and only priority for everyone.

"I'm on my way. Where do you need me to be?"

The MASQUERADE DREAMS was a huge ship, so running out without an actual plan had not been the smartest option.  So Jayson found himself waiting for a reply, his eyes glued to the still closed door to his room.

=/\= Uxtar and I are on deck 20, aft section, but we suspect that he may have gone down to one of the lower decks. =/\=

Half a ship's length and more than two full decks below is current location. There had been no way for him to cover that kind of distance in what little they had.  So the OPS officer went with the only option available to him.

"ANI, can you do a site-to-site transport and get me near Commander Shar'El?"

=/\= Stand by for transport. =/\=

He straightened his posture and waited for the transporter to do its magic.  Given the situation though, every split second seemed like an eternity as the OPS officer waited for the transport sequence to start.

Even getting to that part of the ship faster had not guaranteed that he would be able to help, but being on his feet actually doing something had been a lot better than being in his room hoping that all went well.

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Jayson Sousa

Ensign Jayson Stark
Chief of Operations
USS ANUBIS, NCC-18501