"What do you get when you cross a tribble with a chicken?"
     Lieutenant Caleb Tanner, looked over at Ensign Austin as they rode the turbolift together. The kid was always trying to tell jokes and they were usually cornier than a field of maize. However, Tanner liked the kid and so he rolled his eyes and said, "I don't know, Ensign, what do you get when you cross a tribble with a chicken?"
     "Lots of drumsticks!" the Ensign exclaimed and began to laugh.
     Tanner blinked and politely smiled. "Huh, maybe, but it's going to make them mighty tough to catch."
     "Don't worry, there would be so many you'd just have to reach down and grab one."
     Tanner was relieved to see they had reached their destination as the doors to the turbolift slid open to reveal the bridge of the USS George Washington. Tanner shook his head as he followed Austin onto the bridge and watched him take his post at the helm. The kid has to come up with some better material, he thought as he continued down to the main chair where Captain Jethro Boone was sitting.
     "Here's the intelligence reports you wanted boss," Tanner reported as he gave the captain the PADD with the necessary information.
     "Thank you Mr. Tanner," the captain said as he stood up. "Bowie, Travis, Dallas, please join me in the briefing room. Lt. Tanner you have the bridge."
     A cold chill ran up Tanner's spine. "Excuse me, sir?"
     "You heard me correctly, Lieutenant," the captain stated as he made his way to the briefing room.
     Tanner looked at him somewhat dumbfounded for a moment before he remembered to say, "Aye, aye sir." He noticed Admiral MacGyver standing over one of the science stations and made a beeline over to her instead of the command chair. He and the Admiral had a long history together and were friends.
     "Mac, is he crazy... leaving me in charge of the bridge. Has he forgotten about my bad 'command luck?'" The truth was that Lt. Tanner was probably one of the oldest Lieutenants in Starfleet. He had been at higher ranks, but bad things had always happened when Tanner was in charge and usually ended up in demotions. Because of this he had deemed himself unlucky at command.
     "I doubt Jethro knows anything about what you perceive as your 'command luck' and I have every confidence that you can keep the bridge from exploding for ten minutes," Admiral MacGyver said then turned and followed the others into the briefing room.
     "I wouldn't be so sure of that," Tanner mumbled indignantly under his breath. He should have known complaining to her would get him nowhere. She was always trying to get him to take on more responsibility. This played right into her hand. Ten minutes, just keep the ship from exploding for ten minutes. Surely he could handle that.
     He didn't feel comfortable sitting in the captain's chair so he sat down in the XO's chair. He swiveled the computer console closer to him. Maybe Commander Bowie had a hidden solitaire game he could play. He tapped away as he began his futile search.
     BUZZZZZZZZZZZZT!!!
     "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Tanner yelled as a loud noise and a burst of static scared him and the console he was working on suddenly went dark.
     "Are you alright sir?" Austin asked as he turned around from his station to see what happened.
     Tanner felt the beat of his heart began to slow as he finally realized he hadn't just blown up the bridge. "I'm fine... I think... what happened?"
     "Looks like the console blew. That's strange. I don't think I've ever seen one do that before."
     "Have operations come up and fix it," Tanner ordered.
     "Aye sir," he said then added. "How many engineers does it take to replace a lightbulb?"
     "Don't start!" Tanner put up his finger in waring. He was in no mood for that. He then put his hands behind his head. He wasn't going to touch anything else until he was relieved. He heard Austin snickering at the helm so he decided to stared daggers into the back of the man's head to make him just as uncomfortable as he was at the moment.
     He was relieved when the senior officers came back onto the bridge. "Sorry about the console," he apologized as he surrendered his chair back to Commander Bowie. Tanner made his way to the turbolift and saw Mac smile as he went past her.
     "What did I tell you, I said you could do it without serious mishap," Mac said.
     Suddenly the lights on the bridge went out.
     Tanner sighed, "You were saying?"