Deep Blue - The Descent

18: Early Morning Chat

Nick lay awake in his bed for at least another hour. Part of him was still unable to relax after having "a piece of the cliff" nearly come crashing down on where he was laying right now. Another part couldn't let go of the thought of the doctor having a kid in the Navy. What happened to her?

Several more minutes ticked by as his mind raced and his frustration over not being asleep grew.

"What time is it?", he said aloud.

Syndi answered almost instantly. "It is currently 5:17 a.m. Chamarrow standard time."

Nick let out a deep, disgusted sigh.

"Lights on."

Nick got out of bed and grabbed a shirt.

"Is the galley open?"

"The galley is always open.", Syndi answered.

Nick entered the galley and made his way to the cupboards where he found towers of rice cakes and stacks upon stacks of freeze dried, prepared meals. The package labeled "roast beef" resembled a hockey puck, more than it did any type of meat product.

"Doc, you've seriously got to go shopping."

Clearly, his answer for what to eat, would lie elsewhere.

He browsed the large refrigerator nearby to find an assorted mix of protein shakes, soda and pickled items, some of which Nick had trouble identifying.

"What is this?", Nick said as he grabbed a glass jar filled with a dozen or so tall, green, star shaped vegetables.

"Pickled Okra?", he said with a repulsed look on his face.

Replacing the jar, he moved on to the freezer.

The light from the freezer door didn't light up Nick's face nearly as much as the smile he wore now. There, in between stacks of Hungry-Man frozen dinners was a box of ice cream drumsticks.

"Touchdown."

He knew what the doctor said about the drumsticks, but really, given all the other options, what other choice did he have?

"Really doc. It's either this or starvation.", he quipped.

Nick moved his hand in to grab the treasure when it was stopped suddenly by a voice behind him in the galley doorway, "Hungry? Or just can't sleep?"

Startled, Nick quickly closed the freezer door before glancing over.

Commander Jordan entered and headed toward the fridge.

"A little of both.", Nick answered casually. "What about you?"

"Oh, I haven't even been to bed yet.", Jordan replied. "I was just running a few tests on those crystal fragments you brought back, or what's left of them. I guess I lost track of time."

Jordan grabbed a soda from the refrigerator door and held up the can. "Want one?"

Nick nodded, "Sure.".

Jordan grabbed another can and they both made their way to the larger table in the center of the galley. The same holographic table that the doctor was educating Nick with the day before.

"Do you have any idea how much power those tiny crystal fragments are capable of producing?", Jordan asked sliding the extra can across the table to Nick.

Nick smiled. "Judging by the Doc's excitement level, I'm going to go with 'a lot'."

"Yeah.", Jordan replied with a smile. "A whole lot of a lot. And where did you find these things?"