On the Fritz and In a Frizz

Posted on Sun Dec 22nd, 2024 @ 7:48pm by Winnie Faircrest MD

1,162 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Lost Out Here in the Stars
Location: Starbase 129 | Hairmony Salon
Timeline: MD001 - 0515

Several hours ago aboard the otherwise mundane Federation starbase 129, all was fine when Winnie Faircrest woke up a smidgen past her 0500 alarm; retired from the adventures of Starfleet she was not as prepared to roll out of bed at the drop of an alarm. No, she was not looking to get reacquainted with that life either. Though she had a busy schedule ahead that began with a morning tea, a lovely jam and butter mixture slathered with joy atop a crumpet or two. Replicated of course. She had a figure to watch and if she remained on Starbase 129 any longer sinfully partaking in the gluttonous cafés and bistro aboard, she have to see the station's tailor to adjust the fitting of some of her prized purchases from the merchants on the floating Xanthan bazaar on Xanthan or the fine spun quality silk gowns of Triaxian silk. Winnie had rolled out of bed and had her breakfast before heading to the sonic shower in her guest quarters. Activating it, Winnie expected the normal whirring sound and deep pulsating beat. That was not what she was greeted with when she stepped into the chamber. The pulsation was peculiar and the whirring was at a much higher pitch. It was doing a fine job cleaning her but it was wrecking havoc on her hair. The tall tight behive she had let down was looking as it she stuck a hyperspanner into an eps conduit flow. She quickly chose to end her shower session, throw a bathrobe on and use the intercom to report the malfunctioning unit to the station's maintenance team.

"Our apologies, ma'am, you aren't the first one to report an issue with the sonic shower units this morning" replied the young man who took her comm call. I won't be the last one either she thought having looked at herself in the mirror. Still, she did not want to be a galactic nuisance, and taking up the young man's time with her complaints was only going to add to the delay of repairs and put her even further behind schedule, but she couldn't go anywhere looking like a vagrant from Tarkana IV. It was hardly short of an emergency. Which was why she put on some simple clothes and proceeded to make her way through the starbase to find someone, anyone that could tame the wild beast atop her head. I cannot be seen like this she reprimanded herself. She patroned a small shop owner for a few minutes finding a hat that she could stuff her petrified hair under. At least that gave her a mild sense of security.

"If you don't have an appointment, our stylists can't see you. It's a busy morning..." The receptionist was trying her best to maintain order at the entrance of Hairmony a salon on the starbase. Bless her heart, but the petite blonde was no match for Winnie especially today of all days. It was a civilian business and Winnie did not have a uniform or rank these days to play the Starfleet card. Instead, she took off her hat, sat it down on the counter and glared daggers at the woman.

Winnie felt a hand grab her shoulder. She expected to turn around and get ready to knee a ground or swing a right hook across a jaw from what she initially expected to be some sort of bouncer had it been a bar. Instead, the kindest eyes she had seen today greeted her and then looked at the receptionist. "Mindy, I got this one. I'm here and hour early anyways. Clearly this is an emergency."

Finally someone who understood. Of course Winnie did not expect dark brown eyes and green skin of an Orion to be saving her, but she was grateful nonetheless. He had asked Mindy to fetch them both and raktajino as he took his first assessment of the hair. "Sonic showers on your deck are on the fritz, but this is worse than I expected. Dear, I'm sorry to say it practically stripped you of natural oils and pulsated it to a frizzy death. It's not leaving us much to work with."

Winnie took a deep breath. "What will it take to repair it? I'll pay handsomely. I cleaned house recently at the dabo wheel."

The Orion snickered. He was not surprised by that. "I'm afraid monetary value has little to do with how much I can help you. It's more a matter of time. This is not just several hours of work, it's several weeks of hair treatment and appointments to help it along, I can cut up some of the worst bits and we can start rejuvenating it, but the easiest solution would be a complete buzz. Cut it all off as short as we can go. Honestly, Delta bald would be the best starting point."

Winnie Faircrest did not have that amount of time. In fact, she barely had any time. In an hour's time she needed to be packed and boarding a transport vessel ferrying passengers. She opted not to go Deltan bald. Unfortunately, she did not give the Orion much liberty. She kept a lot of hair and the frizzy chaos it had turned into, but with his help, it was on the road to recovery and would be a controlled chaos. She left the salon without wearing a hat and a case with a few months worth of hair products.

She packed up her belongings as quickly as she could and ran to the docking port that she was supposed to disembark from. "Wait!" she shouted at the portsmith seeing the doorway close shut. "Thats my transport!"

The portsmith was a stern looking Tellarite. "Tardiness and travel plans do not go hand-in-hand." Though she could have tried to explain her situation, to a Tellarite it would have been futile. The transport vessel wasn't even there anymore. She had missed it's departure by a good eight minutes.

"When the next transport going..." she pulled out a PaDD from her luggage and pulled up star charts, tracing the route she was hoping to take.

The Tellarite scoffed. "Nothing running on that direct route until next month. Closest transport will take you here" he said tracing a route on the PaDD. "Youd have a layover here and take this transport" he explained.

Winnie shook her head. "I need to there sooner than that. I can't miss..." she sighed. "I'm Doctor Winona Faircrest, retired lieutenant. Surely there's something, a garbage scow, mining freighter, colony vessel?"

"The William Dawes," replied the Tellarite. "See the stations personnel officer. If she can verify who you say you are, then perhaps we can get you part way through space available. The William Dawes can get you part way, drop you off here. The rest of your journey is your problem to handle" he said handing the PaDD back to her. At least it was something.

 

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