h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

*lieutenant grabs some other crewmen (crewmen? they aren't on a ship...oh what are they called then?!), gives them a tray each and gets some food from the staff before heading back to the medical bay*

*after eating his meal he hands over the dirty dishes, grabs a mug of hot chocolate and leaves for his office*

*Major Khamsin appears again in the mess and grabs hiself a sandwich and sits at a table dreaming of exercising*

*walks in and goes to the mess counter*

Hey, do you have any mac and cheese?

*mess cook looks at him like he's out of his mind*

uh no Major, but I could cut the crusts of some sandwiches for you

*icily* No thanks, I'll find something else

*settles on an apple and sits down thinking about ways to get payback*

*tosses apple in the trash then stops by his quarters on the way to the Colonel's office*

*grabs another hot choc and wanders off*

*Wanders in.*

Ah! Mexican night!

*Picks up something that looks like a cross between a burrito and an enchilada, and pulls up a seat.*

*sigh*

*The captain strides in looking pale and slightly drawn*

oh Mexican, aren't we lucky?

*loads plate with chilli and rice*

Good evening Major Scandrea, may I join you or would you prefer to sit alone?

Knock yourself out.

I'm afraid I'm not going to be too much for company, though- I've got a lot on my plate.

*Lifts a fork*

Literally and figuratively.

*smiles wryly and takes a seat*

Care to share?

Do you know how tall the stack of backlogged projects on the desk in the map room is?

It reached 14 inches today. I know places on Earth that see less water, for crying out loud!

There's just so much to do, and I want to take a break but I know I can't, because then it'll just get buried. And I can't let that happen- somewhere out there is the key to all life, to all earth processes, and I have the chance to find it. And I can't do it.

*Grins.* Sorry. I get all philosophical when I'm under stress. The Colonel just laid another project on my hands today, a petrology and geochemistry of sediments on P20-877. Ever read that book Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy? Where the whole Earth entry was "mostly harmless?" They have more words about Earth in there than we have about that whole sector. All it says is "non-Goa'uld."

I think I'm going to have to make this a two day trip- one to survey, the next to sample. And what I get back is going to be very very limited.

Anything that you gather will be something extra to anything we already have though. You're personally helping us as a species to gain knowledge about unknown things, places, and cultures. If I was given the chance to do that medically, sure it would stress me out, but at the end of the day it's a huge place out there, and you're the one who gets to play in it. You'll be alright when it comes down to it I reckon. Besides, you'll be in the colonel's goodbooks and that can never harm.

*looks very vacant and suddenly incrediably casual*

By the way...this BIF thing? You said everything's overrun on time so...care to let me in? I'm not going to tell the brass.

Well, you know geologists drink a lot, right?

I was at field camp with my friends- the last week there, and we were in a state park in Wyoming. We were walking along the lakeshore, when we found this huge boulder- a piece of a banded iron formation, a BIF. There are lots of little pieces around there, but this was the biggest one as a group we had ever seen, except for the one cut in half and on display in the Smithsonian. We decided under the influence that it would look good in the department office, so we ran into the nearest town, found a ranch supply store, and bought a cattle gate and a few tie-downs.

We lashed that thing to the cattle gate, and it took seven of us to haul it six tenths of a mile uphill over rough terrain back to the van! Broke the weld on the cattle gate, and probably should have killed at least one of us, but we got it back.

Problem is, you're not allowed to collect in Wyoming state parks without a permit. Which we didn't have, and didn't have time to get. I mean, it's not like there aren't other BIFs out there, not like we took the only one in the park, but...

Promise you won't tell anyone?

*raises eyebrows and gulps slightly at the bizarre image of the group hauling a huge rock up a hill*

That sounds...well I'm not going to rat on you and it sounds like you had fun doing it. Do I dare to ask where this wonder is now?

It's exactly where I said it was- in the department office!

*Grins.*

Thanks for the dinnertime conversation, but I've got to get going. I have a bit more to plan, and I need to ask for the escourt before I go offplanet.

*Stands up, and busses her tray.*

Oh! And I passed by the rec room- there's someone there waiting for you to finish a pool game? Her name's Arisztid, a new recruit, I think.

See you soon!

*Walks out.*

Oh heck!!

*darts out the room*

*wanders in, grabs a sandwich and sits at a table contemplating the young lieutenant she examined this afternoon. A sudden overwhelming wish to save the world and then kill herself takes over. All those young bodies that are killed all the time seem so unfair.

Kat sits munching the sandwich morosely with suppressed activity warring with a desperate despair*

*walks in and gets an "english breakfast without the mushrooms, a glass of apple juice and an orange*

*sits at the table and wonders why she wanted to eat this*

*Kat glances at Anthea and leans across*

Can I have your grilled tomato?