Coffee Break

Started: 01/11/2008 9:43 AM

A stifled yawn broke the silence in the Voltaire's central office.

Shiho rubbed her left temple. Just a bit more. The consolidated report has to be finished before the conference that Major Joule's attending. Picking up her stylus again, she tapped on her screen, trying to keep the stylus in synch with the key combinations that her left hand pressed on her virtual keyboard.

The second time she yawned, she was already too tired to stifle it.

"Would you stop that?" Yzak snapped at her from across the room, giving her an icy stare before returning his attention to the two computer screens on his desk.

"Um, yes! I mean, I'm sorry, Sir." She straightened up for a moment, and then her shoulders slumped. There's still a lot of data to be analyzed. Does the council really need all of this? She and another Voltaire officer were taking shifts to assist Yzak in preparing a report regarding the allocation of troops for each PLANT. Shiho had expected it to be a fairly easy task, as she was used to handling documents. But the sheer amount of information that was going into the report was staggering. Major Joule doesn't seem to be slowing down at all, though, she thought, sliding a purple eye towards his desk.

He was absorbed in the report preparation, and his gaze kept shifting from one screen to the other.

"You know, Captain," Yzak addressed her, not looking up from his desk, "if you're so tired, you should take a break."

She shook her head quickly in refusal. "I'm fine. Besides, this report is important. It has to be finished." I can't be weak, not in front of him. She bit her lip in frustration as she felt drowsiness seeping into her body. I wonder if I can truly be as determined as I sound.

He shrugged. "Have it your way." He squinted at the data on one of his screens. "Do you have a copy of the final version of the Martius City forces for last month?"

"Yes Sir. I'll pull it up." Resting her chin on her left palm, she dragged her stylus heavily across her screen. The letters seemed to dance before her eyes as she did. "It's on your mobile drive now."

"Thanks." Yzak scanned though the report, then drummed his fingers on his desk. "Captain Hahnenfuβ."

"Yes Sir?" She looked up at him. I feel lightheaded. I have to stay awake.

"This is a DRAFT version of the report I asked for."

The mistake rattled her from sleepiness. "I'm sorry. Let me replace that." Shiho was so intent on getting the correct file that in her half-awake state, she barely sensed Yzak approaching her seat and grabbing her right arm.

"Get up," he said with an exasperated face.

"What?" She instinctively struggled against his grip. His temper rises fast!

"I said get up." Yzak's eyes glinted, and he pulled at her arm until she stood up. Then he started dragging her out of the Voltaire's central office. "Let's go."

Too sleepy to keep resisting, the former Deep Arms pilot merely asked, "Go where?"

"You shouldn't question your superior," he scolded, not looking at her. The door whizzed shut behind them as they stepped out into the hallway. "I'm doing this for your own good."

That made Shiho inwardly gulp. "For my…." She almost stumbled. Where is he taking me?! Is there some hidden torture chamber on this ship for people who get drowsy while working? "Please, Major Joule, I know I didn't pay attention to my task. Please just let me go back and correct my errors." She struggled to keep thinking coherently, and reason with an angry Yzak Joule. I can't even pull myself free. I'm so sleepy!

"Oh, you'll definitely correct them." They entered a dark corner where there stood a huge metal box with blinking lights. The strange box emitted a low, rumbling sound. Yzak was holding back a self-satisfied smile. "Right after I do this." He pressed some buttons on the box's front, and waited, keeping his grip on Shiho's arm.

She squeezed her eyes shut as she awaited what would happen next.

Thunk, thunk, went the box.

Yzak stooped down and reached into a small opening near the box's bottom. Straightening up again, he handed a drink packet to a very surprised Captain Hahnenfuβ. "Here, have some coffee. Careful, it's hot." He freed her arm from his grasp to pull the straw from his own drink packet.

Shiho looked at the coffee packet in her hand, then at the large metal box that hummed as it stood against the wall.

Then she remembered.

Some of her friends on the Voltaire had mentioned that a state-of-the-art vending machine had been installed when the ship had last docked at a ZAFT supply satellite. It was HUGE, they said. She hadn't bothered to try the machine out herself, though. She wasn't even sure where it was located. Until now, she though wryly.

"Time to go back, Captain." Yzak was already pacing towards the main hallway.

"Yes Sir." She walked quickly in the direction he headed, while tasting the contents of the drink packet. The heat and bittersweet taste gave her a jolt of wakefulness.

As they returned to the hallway, several crewmembers who were walking past gawked at them. Yzak replied with a cold glare in their direction, and the gawkers practically ran away from him and Shiho.

"Slackers!" Yzak snorted as the two of them headed to the ship's central office. "How irritating."

In order to fill in the silence that followed, Shiho mumbled, "Um, thank you for the coffee, Sir." She glanced briefly at the crew members' direction. Wow, he literally scares people off. She stopped sipping the packet momentarily. But then…there's this coffee….

"Yes, well, next time I'll charge it to your account, not mine." They dropped the empty packets into a bin marked "Recyclable Plastic", just as the office door whirred open for them.

"And also-"she began when they were in the room. Then she hesitated.

Yzak, a few steps ahead of her, had also stopped walking. "What is the matter, Captain?" he prompted, not turning around.

I'm guilty too, of slacking off. "I would like to apologize for being inattentive to my work, and also causing you trouble." She bowed low. "It won't happen again, Major Joule."

A huff, then Yzak turned to face her. "So, you think I expect my crew to work nonstop and not tire? Or maybe I would enjoy seeing my staff collapse at their desks from overwork?" With arms akimbo, he paced deliberately towards her. "You really think I'm that kind of person?"

"No, Sir, I didn't mean that." Shiho's voice faltered as she stared down at her boots. "It's just-"

He reached out and touched her shoulder. "Everyone feels tired sometimes," he said in a milder tone. "Even Coordinators. And when one is tired, one should take a break. Simple logic. Besides," and he lifted his hand from her shoulder to place it emphatically on his chest. "Nobody on the Voltaire is going to die of exhaustion. Not while I'm in charge!"

"But-" She lifted her head, amazed by his words. "But Sir, you don't seem to tire at all. You're alert all the time!"

"That's because I drink coffee. And take power naps, not in front of my staff of course. And I shout at people to relieve my stress. Unfortunately," and here he wagged his index finger at her before she could laugh, "only the first two options are open to you. Only I can yell at people around here." His facial expression softened. "I know how hard you're working, Captain, and I'm proud to have you on board."

She wondered if she was blushing at the unexpected praise. "Thank you. I'll try to not disappoint you."

"Good! Well then," and Yzak straightened up, "I think your shift will be ending in an hour, so let's try to get some work done, yes?" He started towards his desk.

"Yes Sir!" Much refreshed by the coffee and the kind words, Shiho returned to her seat. Picking up her stylus, she scanned her directories for the correct file.

Ended: 02/28/2008