Daily Grind
Posted on Fri Oct 16th, 2026 @ 4:03am by Lieutenant Rala & Lieutenant JG Katie Kellerman
Edited on on Fri Oct 16th, 2026 @ 4:07am
2,091 words; about a 10 minute read
Mission:
Interim 3: Subspace Drift
Location: Engineering
Timeline: Four Days after Hard to Do
Tags: Rala,Katie,chitchat
Daily Grind
Katie was out of bed, she was showered, she was in uniform, she was in Engineering. Four small victories after four days in bed crying. Kally had been with her through much of it and let her cry it out, and she appreciated it, but once they were back on board the ship, the shame of hiding just felt worse. Engineering needed all hands on deck as they traveled to the starbase, and she wasn't going to let her boss, nor her team down.
So, there she was, handing out modified duty assignments to Peter, Jenna and Sakura, already wanting her shift to end. "With the refit happening, we're just going to finish current repair projects and avoid starting new ones. Most likely we'll be shaking things down once we get back anyway."
Her voice was flatter than usual, and she could see from the worried look on Jenna's face, and the glance between Peter and Sakura that they noticed. She put on a fake smile and kicked them off to their honey-do lists, and then let out a breath, retreating to her office, slaving the MSM to two of her monitors while she brought up the nonstop code fixes she was still working on since she'd arrived on the ship.
She noticed movement at the edge of her vision and looked up, trying to stop slouching in her chair. "Hey, Rala," she said, trying to sound more professional than she was feeling. "What can I do for you?"
The Draakri paused as Katie spoke, taking note of her friend’s demeanor, then perched on the corner of the desk. “Two things; one business, one personal.” She indicated the large PADD she was carrying. “The incident with the holodeck last month, during my race with Raven, and then Tessa’s training program,” She hesitated there, her expression growing distant and a slight shudder running through her. She still didn’t remember much of what had happened as she’d been in the Raxxuka, but a few things had come back to her—like the sensation of blood and gore in her mouth. She worked her jaw and tongue, her mouth suddenly dry, then continued, “I’ve been trying to track down why the safety protocols failed, but I seem to have lost the trail. So I figured I’d consult with the best Computer Systems Specialist I know...”
She set the PADD on the desk and focused more directly on Katie, softening her voice as a gentle, concerned expression came to her face, her ears perking forward. “...who happens to be a friend of mine, and who has been conspicuously absent from public life since returning to the ship after Orgrann.” Her voice softened further. “What’s wrong, Katie?”
Katie shrugged, reaching over and taking the PADD. "It's nothing, Rala. I've been spending time with Kally the past couple days, that's all." She looked over the PADD.
Rala leaned over and placed a hand gently on Katie’s arm. “Katie,” she said, gently chiding, “I’m your friend. I can tell something’s off. I want to help, even if it’s only to listen.”
"I've done nothing but talk the past few days," Katie sighed. "The short version? Jadizon and I are...well I think we're over."
“Oh...” Rala said, her eyes widening and her hand twitching as though it had started to pull back from Katie’s arm and then stopped. Instead, it squeezed slightly harder. “Oh, Katie, I’m so sorry. How did...?” she trailed off; she’d started to ask how and why it had happened, who let loose the lines, but some instinct told her to shut up.
Katie shook her head. "The underlying cause is both our faults, but the catalyst that set it all off is one hundred percent on me. I opened my big mouth and said something off-hand but in retrospect insensitive and ill-timed, and it just started this huge thing and he's furious, and I understand why, and he wants nothing to do with me right now."
By the time Katie had finished talking, Rala was gently but firmly pulling Katie out of her seat and into a hug, urging her to set the PADD back down and making what she hoped were comforting noises. “I’m so sorry,” she murmured again, trying to think of anything to say that might help. “I don’t...I’ve never been in that sort of relationship in the first place, so I can only imagine...” She trailed off and relaxed her arms, indicating that Katie could pull away if she wanted to, but more than willing to hold her friend as long as needed.
Katie hugged her back and held her tight, sniffling gently. "Thanks, Rala," she said. "It sucks, but, as the saying goes, 'the show must go on.' I can't spend the whole trip to the starbase hiding in my quarters watching Flotter videos with Kally, can I?" She gave her another squeeze then let go with a sigh and sat back down behind her desk. "There's a lot to do, and I kinda want the distraction, you know?"
“What is it with her and Flotter?” Rala wondered, bemused. “I told Kally a while back that, while I know she has a whole list of people she can go to if she needs to talk about something or just wants company, to add me to it,” she said, leaning against the desk again. “You know the same applies to you, right?”
"You're always on that list, Rala," Katie said, smiling sadly. "I just...wasn't ready to face anyone yet." She sighed. "Truth be told, I'm still not. I just want to crawl back into bed and stay there, but I know I can't do that. Soon as my shift is over, though? I'm beaming right to my quarters and replicating some comfort food and hiding under the covers."
Rala nodded, smiling softly. “Understandable. Whenever you are ready to start socializing again, though? Let me know. I might even see if I can talk Róisín into making another batch of fudge.”
Katie hugged her friend again and kissed her cheek. "Thanks for being a sweetheart," she said. "As for the holodeck safeties?" She shrugged and picked up the PADD, hopping onto her desk and looking through it. "I checked the holodeck systems, subsystems, safety protocols, everything. Nothing seemed amiss. Whatever caused the malfunction hasn't resurfaced, and it might be buried so deep we may never find it until it does."
Rala blinked at the kiss on the cheek, slightly taken aback, but smiled nonetheless. Then she took a heavy breath to focus as she mentally shifted tack. “Well, at least I know I’m not alone in being utterly lost,” she grumbled, frowning. “I don’t want to just leave it, though. I’ve been adding extra safety measures to my own programs since then, and there’s still a little tickle in the back of my mind whenever I’m in there.” She looked at Katie. “I hope you’ve got an idea or two of where to go from here, because all I’ve got is ‘Keep trying marginally dangerous activities while someone actively monitors the code’, and I don’t particularly like the idea of being the test subject.”
Katie shrugged. "Doesn't have to be dangerous programs. That might've just been a coincidence. Once we're done with the refit, we can try a few simple landscape programs and see if anything's amiss. If nothing else, it'll rule that out."
“This is going to bother me until it’s run down,” Rala said, ears flicking in distress. A thought occurred to her, and she said, “I wonder if it’s just the holodecks. How many...glitches, or other system malfunctions, have been reported in the last few months?”
Katie gave a snort and pulled up the list. It started scrolling across the half-dozen monitors on the walls and on her desk. "Thousands," she said. "The ship's nothing but glitches some days. It's patch jobs on top of stopgaps on top of spit and prayer. I've been working on cleaning it up since our first day here. It's going to take some time to unravel it all."
Rala snorted. “Fair enough, but I’m curious if there have been more lately, or if the average severity has been increasing.”
Katie shook her head. "Not that I've noticed. So far it's been most of the usual suspects. The most unusual one was about four weeks ago, Lieutenant Valleroy mentioned the brig control panel was flickering, but that turned out to be a faulty integration circuit. We got that fixed fairly quickly." She gave a shrug. "It's a patchwork ship, there's going to be cracks, unfortunately. Hopefully if this refit spruces us up, we can go a bit smoother afterwards."
“I don’t like leaving this alone,” Rala said, frowning again. “There has to be something we’re missing.” She shook her head. “I’m going to keep looking, in my spare time. Maybe something will jump out at me.”
"Rala," Katie said, a scolding tone in her voice. "I know how you get when you obsess. Do not spend the entire refit getting in the way of the station crew. Let them shut the ship down and you go have fun on the station, or wherever you plan on going. If I get back and find out you've spent the whole time burning out, I'll tell Kally on you." She put her hands on her hips like her mother, but failed to quite master the stern look, but she did her best.
Rala gave Katie an understanding smile. “I’m not going to burn myself to ashes chasing this, I promise. But Katie...” her ears dipped as her face took on a somewhat haunted expression, “Raven nearly died, I almost let something similar happen to Tessa, and I lost myself saving her. I have a minutes-long memory gap punctuated only by blood, gore, and worry; and I need that to not happen again in such an avoidable manner.” She closed her eyes and took a centering breath before continuing. “I can set it aside, most of the time; I can let others work on it; I can hope it gets washed out in the refit. But it’s not something I can leave entirely in the hands of others.”
Katie frowned in concern and hopped off her desk and hugged Rala tight. "Deep breath," she said. "Raven's okay, so is Tessa. I've inspected the holodecks myself, and no one else has gotten hurt, and we're going to keep it that way." She looked up at Rala and gave her a reassuring smile. "I promise, once I'm back on board, we'll be going through the computer together with a fine-toothed comb, okay?"
Rala gave an accepting sigh and hugged Katie back just as tightly. “I didn’t mean to dump on you like that,” she said, “especially when you’ve got your own shit going on. I already promised not to let this consume me, and I meant it, but it is going to be an itch in my mind until we’re confident it’s dealt with.”
“And you have my word, I'll scratch your brain soon as I'm back,” Katie said, squeezing her.
Rala leaned her head gently against Katie’s. “Deal.”
“In the meantime,” Katie continued, “if you want to help tackle the honey-do list while I'm gone, I'm sure J.J. would appreciate it.”
“I think I can handle that,” Rala replied. “Let me know if you need anything before you leave. I’m...” she paused for a split-second, suddenly realizing just how true her next words were, “...I’m gonna miss you and Kally while you’re gone.”
"Aw, Rala!" Katie said, hugging her tightly again. "Gonna miss you too, hun." She kissed Rala's cheek and stepped back, smiling at her. "Thanks for the pick-me-up. I needed it."
“Any time; I mean that,” Rala said, smiling as she turned to leave. “You two make sure you find me and say goodbye before you disappear, once we get to the station.”
Katie smiled and nodded. “Promise.”
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