When you play with fire...

Posted on 27 Sep 2014 @ 6:40pm by Lieutenant Tuula Voutilainen M.D. & Ensign Jaana Voutilainen

954 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Episode 06 - Legend of Souls
Location: USS Galileo, Deck 3, Tuula and Jaana's quarters
Timeline: MD 09 - 1815 hrs

[ON]

"Ugh, pork and beans again!" exclaimed Tuula, wrinkling her nose in disgust at the culinary disappointment that was Starfleet standard issue combat rations. "Can't they make something good, like sushi or Uttaberry crepes?"

Jaana looked from her plate to her sisters. "The more of this stuff I have to eat, the more I hate those tribbles. Couldn't they just stayed away from the replicators so we can have a decent meal." she was going through her meal with a vork. "I don't even know what this is suppose to be." Looking up at her sister. "Can't we do something with it to brighten it up. Make it a bit more decent?"

"Hey, it's not the tribbles' fault!" exclaimed Tuula as she petted Gilbert. He seemed to be the only one who liked the stuff, having gorged himself on stale bread crumbs earlier in the day.

"Maybe we should eat him. That might taste better than this."

"No!" exclaimed Tuula, taking Gilbert into her arms and glaring at Jaana.

"What?" she asked. "I'm hungry!"

"First, that's cruel, and I won't have you harming a hair on Gilbert's... body. Second, tribbles are known to taste worse than even a combat ration version of lutefisk."

"Wanna try? How would you know if you don't try?"

"No!" A grin appeared on Tuula's face. "I have a better idea."

"What?" Jaana asked with a raised eyebrow?

"There are some survival kits in the cargo bay. They have miniature portable campstoves in them. If we 'borrow' one of those," said Tuula, with air quotes around the word 'borrow,' "we can at least have warm combat rations."

"Oh, that sounds good." she replied. "Shall we get them?"

"To the cargo bay!" exclaimed Tuula as she dropped her plate on her table.

******************
15 minutes later
Cargo bay 1
******************

"Found it!" exclaimed Tuula as she opened up a storage container. Inside were a number of orange cases, marked with "Survival Kit: Emergency Use Only" in black lettering. "We'll just borrow a campstove from one of these, and we'll be eating warm food in no time."

"Jippie," she did a little victory dance. "So how does that thing work?"

"What, are you telling me you don't remember Commander Kuba's survival courses at the academy?" teased Tuula as she slipped the miniature stove, no larger than a tuna can, into her messenger bag. "Lets take this thing back to our quarters and soon we'll be eating warm food.

******************
15 minutes later
Tuula and Jaana's quarters
******************

"Okay, this is just like camping back home," replied Tuula as she unfolded the tiny legs on the miniature stove and placed it on the kitchen table. On the side was marked in bold letters, "Emergency Cookstove: For Outdoor Use Only." Carefully, Tuula adjusted the gas flow regulator and pressed a small red button, lighting the stove. "Pass me those rations," she said as she adjusted the flame.

Jaana gave Tuula the packages. "Are you sure this is smart?"

"Don't worry, this little campstove can't possibly produce enough CO2 to suffocate us in our well ventilated quarters. "Trust me, I'm a doctor," added Tuula as she placed two packages of combat rations into a pot of water and placed the pot on the cookstove.

"That's just the part that worries me," she replied in a sarcastic tone.

"What, are you still upset about what happened in sickbay?" asked Tuula. "Just because you can't handle a little blood and gore..." she added in a teasing tone.

She looked at her sister. "A little?" she shook her head. "Never mind. How long does it need to cook do you think?"

"Just a few minutes once we get the water boiling." replied Tuula, "Isn't this fun? It's just like camping back home."

"I'm hungry, can't you hurry." Jaana asked.

"I can turn up the heat," replied Tuula, reaching for the stove. As she fiddled with the knob, one of the tiny wire legs, not fully secured, collapsed under the weight of the pot of water, sending a mixture of lukewarm water and flaming cooking oil spilling out onto the table. Tuula recoiled in shock, bumping the cookstove and sending it, still flaming, rolling towards the edge of the table.

Jaana jumped backwards to avoid the mess of water and oil while a scream escaped her mouth. She looked around to find something to put of the water.

Quickly, Tuula rolled towards the fire extinguisher in her quarter, ripping it off the wall and placing it in her lap. She positioned herself facing the rolling camp stove and the trail of fire it left on the floor, aimed the extinguisher at it, and squeezed the trigger. But, in accordance with Newton's laws of motion, the expanding gases coming out of the front of the fire extinguisher exerted an equal and opposite reaction on Tuula and she found herself being propelled backwards. Unable to react in time, she was sent head-first backwards into the wall.

Jaana watched her sister deal with the fire extinguisher like some hero. After the action was over she shook her head and said. "Ok. What just happened?" Standing up to investigate the remains of their dinner. "And we still don't have dinner."

"I forgot about Newton's laws," replied Tuula, rubbing the back of her head. It was at that moment that the smoke alarm went off. "But on the bright side, we might get a visit from some cute firefighters."

She looked at her sister. "I don't think the Galileo has firefighters. It's not the 21st century anymore."

Tuula let out a sigh. "I knew I should have stayed in Helsinki."

[OFF]

Lieutenant (JG) Tuula Voutilainen
Medical Officer
USS Galileo

Ensign Jaana Voutilainen
Stellar Cartographer
USS Galileo

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