Day 32: date
100 words for 100 days
Day 32: date (ST:ENT, Tucker/Reed, PG)
0200. Almost everyone was asleep - or should have been. Essential systems were manned by the gamma shift crew, and some nightowls were still up and about, heading for the gym or other recreational activities. Nevertheless the corridors of enterprise were largely dark and silent.
Commander Charles ‘Trip’ Tucker crept quietly out of the turbolift on E-deck, glancing in each direction before setting off towards his destination. He’d almost reached it when he heard the unmistakeable tick of claws on the deck plating, followed by heavy, measured footsteps. He whirled around just in time to see the captain approaching, Porthos scampering ahead of his loping stride.
“Hey, Trip. What are you doing up so late?” Jon said heartily.
“Oh, nothing.” Trip tried to sound nonchalant, but was momentarily at a loss. “Just … y’know … checkin’ on the warp engine before I turned in.” Even to his own ears it sounded lame.
“Uh-huh,” Archer said, sounding somewhat sceptical. Then a frown creased his brow as he noticed they were standing at the doors into sickbay. “Say, are you feeling okay?”
“Oh, yeah, I’m fine,” Trip hastened to reassure him.
“Good. I wouldn’t want you coming down with something while Phlox is hibernating. Who’s on duty tonight anyway?” For the duration of Phlox’s annual six-day hibernation period, all the trained field medics had drawn lots in order to cover his shifts.
Trip was sure he was blushing. “Malcolm.”
Jon smirked. “Ah, I see. Well, I’ll leave you to it.” He glanced down at his dog as they moved away. “C’mon, Porthos. We don’t want to keep Trip and Malcolm from playing doctor.”
~270 words~
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I've written nearly 5000 words today. Although when I say 'written', I mean 'collected up all the scraps of paper I'd written fragments of one particular story on and put them in order in a Word document'. I was surprised to find I had that much of it. In fact the story is nearly complete. It's that 'nearly' that's the killer.