Title: The Enterprise Laundry Room
Author:![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
chaletian
Fandom: Star Trek XI
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Just the usual
Summary: It’s an odd juxtaposition, laundry and space.
Crewman Anna Graves has never served on a starship before. She finished at the Academy the year before the destruction of Vulcan, but served on shorter missions. But now she’ll be on Enterprise for five years. Five years exploring the galaxy, five years discovering new worlds, five years… she sighs, sorts the uniforms by colour. Five years doing Enterprise’s laundry.
Actually, that’s not true. Starfleet regs mean that crewmen only pull 6 months of any one job, so she’s only got five more months of laundry. And it’s not like it’s arduous – machinery does all the hard work, she just has to administer it. They have the power to replicate new clothing, of course, but just washing it is a lot more energy efficient. Sometimes she replaces uniform that’s been too damaged – she can always tell who’s been on an away mission, or been scrubbing around in the Jefferies tubes. Lt Sulu has a bad habit of dripping hoi sin sauce onto his pants. Keenser in Engineering always ends up with salt around his cuffs; she has no idea why.
It’s an odd juxtaposition: laundry and space. But this is what she wanted. This is what she studied for. This is what she…
The door slides open with a hiss, and Anna stares, open-mouthed, as Captain James T Kirk walks in.
“Hey,” he says, holding out his hand. “I’m Jim Kirk.” Anna can’t help but raise an eyebrow, even as she shakes his hand, because, what, like she doesn’t know he who is?
“Crewman Graves, sir,” she says.
“So,” says the captain, looking round the room, hands behind his back, “this is the laundry room, right?”
“That’s right, sir.”
“Where the laundry happens.”
“Yes, sir.”
He nods approvingly. “Excellent.”
She stares at him a second. “Thank you, sir.” He nods again. “Sir, may I speak freely?”
He looks surprised, like she shouldn’t even have to ask. “Of course, Crewman,” he says.
“Sir – what are you doing in the laundry room?”
“This is my ship, Crewman,” he says, and he grins. “I need to know my ship, even the laundry room.”
He’s charming, and a little bit scruffy, and she can’t help but grin back at him. “Fair enough, sir.”
He nods again, and then points vaguely back at the door. “Anyway, I’d better get on. I’ve got the rest of the ship to see.”
“Well, have fun with that, Captain. Make sure you don’t miss the steam pipe trunk distribution venue – it’s a blast.”
He grins again, and heads out of the door, hesitating as she calls after him, “Oh, Captain? You might want to lay off the ketchup.” He glances back, the same mortified expression she remembers her little brother wearing when he was a kid, and shrugs apologetically.
James T Kirk leaves the laundry room, and Crewman Graves gets back to work, but she has a sneaking suspicion that life on Enterprise isn’t quite going to be like any other Starfleet vessel.
THE END
Author:
chaletianFandom: Star Trek XI
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Just the usual
Summary: It’s an odd juxtaposition, laundry and space.
Crewman Anna Graves has never served on a starship before. She finished at the Academy the year before the destruction of Vulcan, but served on shorter missions. But now she’ll be on Enterprise for five years. Five years exploring the galaxy, five years discovering new worlds, five years… she sighs, sorts the uniforms by colour. Five years doing Enterprise’s laundry.
Actually, that’s not true. Starfleet regs mean that crewmen only pull 6 months of any one job, so she’s only got five more months of laundry. And it’s not like it’s arduous – machinery does all the hard work, she just has to administer it. They have the power to replicate new clothing, of course, but just washing it is a lot more energy efficient. Sometimes she replaces uniform that’s been too damaged – she can always tell who’s been on an away mission, or been scrubbing around in the Jefferies tubes. Lt Sulu has a bad habit of dripping hoi sin sauce onto his pants. Keenser in Engineering always ends up with salt around his cuffs; she has no idea why.
It’s an odd juxtaposition: laundry and space. But this is what she wanted. This is what she studied for. This is what she…
The door slides open with a hiss, and Anna stares, open-mouthed, as Captain James T Kirk walks in.
“Hey,” he says, holding out his hand. “I’m Jim Kirk.” Anna can’t help but raise an eyebrow, even as she shakes his hand, because, what, like she doesn’t know he who is?
“Crewman Graves, sir,” she says.
“So,” says the captain, looking round the room, hands behind his back, “this is the laundry room, right?”
“That’s right, sir.”
“Where the laundry happens.”
“Yes, sir.”
He nods approvingly. “Excellent.”
She stares at him a second. “Thank you, sir.” He nods again. “Sir, may I speak freely?”
He looks surprised, like she shouldn’t even have to ask. “Of course, Crewman,” he says.
“Sir – what are you doing in the laundry room?”
“This is my ship, Crewman,” he says, and he grins. “I need to know my ship, even the laundry room.”
He’s charming, and a little bit scruffy, and she can’t help but grin back at him. “Fair enough, sir.”
He nods again, and then points vaguely back at the door. “Anyway, I’d better get on. I’ve got the rest of the ship to see.”
“Well, have fun with that, Captain. Make sure you don’t miss the steam pipe trunk distribution venue – it’s a blast.”
He grins again, and heads out of the door, hesitating as she calls after him, “Oh, Captain? You might want to lay off the ketchup.” He glances back, the same mortified expression she remembers her little brother wearing when he was a kid, and shrugs apologetically.
James T Kirk leaves the laundry room, and Crewman Graves gets back to work, but she has a sneaking suspicion that life on Enterprise isn’t quite going to be like any other Starfleet vessel.
THE END
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