We Don't Want to Upset the Halkans

Just as you thought, the Captain has no need for a security officer on this mission. Not only are you totally useless, you're utterly bored. On top of that, the Halkans keep staring at you accusingly whenever the Captain says you're all just peaceful explorers. After about three hours, he finally gets the hint.

"Crewman Doe, I think this will all go more smoothly if you went back to the ship." he says to you.

"I couldn't agree more, sir," you respond. Waste reclamation is actually starting to seem like it wouldn't be quite so bad. At least you would be doing something.

The captain flips open his communicator with a practiced flick of the wrist. "Kirk to Enterprise."

"Spock here, Captain."

"Beam back Mr. Doe. The Halkans don't like making deals with armed security around." the Captain explains.

"Understandable, given their **** stance against even the potential of **** of any kind. Be advised, Captain, that the ion storm is moving closer to your position and will make beaming difficult."

"Understood. Kirk out." The Captain closes the communicator with another flick of the wrist.

"What was that about an ion storm, sir?" you ask. You were only half-paying attention to the conversation, but you definitely heard something about it making beaming difficult.

"Don't worry, Crewman. You'll be fine," he says to you confidently as your skin starts to tingle. Moments before you dematerialize, you see a flash of lightening in the sky and a loud thunderclap. There's a moment of nothingness, then sparkling lights and high-pitched twinkling sounds. Something feels off though. As your body coalesces in the transporter room, there's something not quite right about the feel of your clothes, the smell of the air, or the look of the walls. You can't quite put your finger on it though.

"The Captain wouldn't let you have any fun, huh?" the transporter chief asks casually.

"Fun? Pfft. How much fun can you possibly have with a bunch of boring pacifists?" you say back to him.

"Yeah, I guess it's hard to enjoy it when they won't even fight back."

"Enjoy what?" you ask, not really sure what he meant by that. He just laughs.

"That's a good one, Doe. Anyway, Lieutenant zh'Thracia wants you to wait for her in the training area."

"Training area? I thought she was going to have me on shit-cleaning duty." This only makes him laugh even more.

"'Shit-cleaning,' huh? That's brave! You'd be in the agony booth for a week if she heard you call it that!"

Agony... what? What's this guy's deal? You're starting to get really annoyed by this joker. Well, at least Tracie didn't volunteer you for waste reclamation work after all. You had better not keep her waiting though, or she might change her mind.