The Babysitter Club

Posted on Fri Oct 29th, 2021 @ 11:00am by Patricia Crow & Commander Edra Crow

Mission: Collision Course
Location: CO/XO Quarters

After what seemed like forever Patricia and Kieran arrived at the door of her inlaws. Her arm, which still carried the boy, was killing her as her burns had begun to settle and the piece of glass in her right heel wasn't helping. From the looks of the hallway which was similar to their own she knew ringing a chime was useless so she banged on the door with her free fist.

She closed her eyes and leaned her head against the wall for a moment until the door opened. There stood Karina looking at her. The girl's focus and serious expression matched the situation but then again she always looked like that. "Where's your mom and dad?"

"Dad was working tonight. When...whatever happened Mom went to the Bridge. She left me with Karissa and Marcus. Are you alright?"

"I've had worse." Patricia moved into the quarters, setting Keiran down. There didn't look to be anything dangerous on the floor and the other kids were huddled on the couch.

Upon seeing Trisha enter, Karissa dashed off the couch, and not wanting to be left alone, Marcus followed.

The first moments after their beds had been rocked had been scary for the youngsters. Karina had recovered soonest, which was no surprise, and had readily taken on the role of supervisor when their mother had left. Karissa had taken a little longer to get her emotions under control, but she was still apprehensive as the ship was still hurtling away from the space station they had been docked at. She thought she could feel the acceleration, which didn't usually happen, even at warp speeds. She tried not to show how that alarmed her, because Marcus was still scared, and she'd been trying to comfort him when Trisha banged on the door. The noise had made them jump at first, thinking more destruction was starting again. But Karina realized what it was and had crossed the room to answer it.

Now, just happy to see an adult, Karissa dashed toward her and threw her arms around the woman who had befriended her so long ago, holding on tight.

Patricia hugged her back through the searing pain, biting her tongue to keep from screaming. "Everything will be okay. I'm here and your parents will figure out how to fix the ship." She looked to Karina. "What's the power situation here?"

Karina gave a slight shrug. "We haven't tried. Mom put us on the couch with a blanket and had to go."

Patricia nodded. "Alright, well, we need to figure that we're gonna be on our own for a bit. If I know your father he has some emergency rations somewhere around here."

"Oh," Karissa piped up. "I know this. Over here!" She led Trisha to a panel on aside wall that gave way to a small alcove. "Do you know what happened?" she asked of the overnight disruption.

Patricia shook her head as she removed supplies. "No, I don't." She gave the girl a half grin. "Don't worry, I'm sure everything that can be done is getting done right now."

As they worked to get what they needed, Marcus came up behind and tugged on Karina's shirt. When she looked he pointed to the carpet behind them and the red footprints leading to Patricia. "Rina, there's blood..."

Karina's eyes followed the red trail to Patricia's bare feet. "You didn't say you were hurt."

Patricia glanced over. "I'll take care of it in a few minutes and clean up. We had some broken glass in our living room."

Karissa cut in matter-of-factly, "You should go see Chance." After a pause she continued, "Doesn't it hurt?" It seemed like a lot of blood, after all.

Patricia nodded. "It does hurt but right now my focus is on you guys and making sure we have what we need. Besides, I've had worse pain before and Chance is I'm sure busy with people hurt way more than me." She gathered the supplies and placed them on the small table in front of the couch. "Okay I want everyone to just settle in. I'll be right back." Patricia moved to the bathroom and closed the door. Sitting on the edge of the tub she located the largest piece of glass which was in her heel and pulled it out. She held in her cry as not to alarm the children. She then washed her foot off and applied a bandage. Looking at her shoulder in the mirror she knew there was not much she could do so she replicated some antibiotic burn cream and again held in a scream as she applied it. She put on a happy face and walked back out to the living room. Karina was watching her as if the girl had seen through the wall so Patricia broke the eye contact. "So what should we do to pass the time?"

"Ooh!" Karissa started with her hand up. *VDB!" When she got only blank looks she expanded, "Voles Down Below...? It's a video game where you're crawling around Jeffries Tubes killing Cardassian Voles before they chew apart the ship...or you. Marcus and I play all the time!"

Marcus nodded enthusiastically and turned to Kieran. "It's so fun!"

At this point anything that kept them entertained and distracted was fine with her. "That sounds good just make sure everyone takes their turn." She looked back to Karina. "What about you?"

"I have some classes next semester that I can prepare for."

Patricia crossed over to her, keeping her back to the smaller children. "You and I both know you've got a whole lifetime to be serious and grown up." She nodded back at the couch. "Have some fun with them." Karina's expression was clear and Patricia nodded again. "I know, fun's not your thing but give it a try."

Karina gave a slight shrug and joined the others as Patricia dropped down into a chair.





Captain Henry Crow
Commanding Officer, USS Mercutio



Commander Edra Crow
Executive Officer, USS Mercutio