"Not Being Alone Can Sometimes Make All The Difference"
(previous post "Ghosts In The Shadows")
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_______________________
Stardate: 60315.1900
Setting: USS ANUBIS, Sickbay
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The way Prav was watching the Shillian Science officer
one would have thought she was under guard for
committing some heinous crime but his attentiveness
had nothing to do with his job or her actions. He was
scrutinizing her so closely out of concern. He became
concerned when he realized that the more he looked at
her the more of Maya he could see and he wondered if
her cells had once again begun to revert back to their
original configuration.
He hadn’t realized how close he had gotten to her
until she opened her eyes. Not expecting her to wake
up that suddenly, he felt his heart jump as he jerked
back. "Pravat," the Shillian said "Bet I look like
something out of a nightmare."
As he looked at her from a distance he could see that
he had been wrong in his supposition that her cells
had started attacking anew. He smiled as he looked at
the Cardassian speaking with Maya’s voice. Her
disguise seemed to be holding which would be important
for her safety during this mission but he was happy to
know that when *he* looked at her, he could see Maya
behind it all.
"I wouldn't exactly call you a nightmare," he said,
moving closer to the side of the bed. He glanced at
the monitor above her bed before looking at her again.
"How are you feeling?" he asked awkwardly although
there was genuine concern in his voice.
"I feel like my body was put through a transporter
buffer while someone was running a level 5 diagnostic
on it," the Shillian said making the Marine Second
Lieutenant grin. There had been no doubt about it,
hearing the voice of the scientist coming from what
appeared to be a Cardassian would take some getting
used to. "I mean I have not experienced this first
hand, but from the research done on transporter
dynamics and dematerialisation psychosis I can imagine
that the experience would be very close to what I have
just described."
"You know," Pravat said glancing up at the medical
readouts displayed over the head of the Shillian
woman, "you really should rest. You can tell me all
about that research later."
The Chief Science Officer looked at the Marine as if
she had been hit with a phaser set on full stun, the
expression on the face of the Shillian hidden beneath
the appearance of a Cardassian had been impossible to
miss. Before the Enaran could ask about what had
caused such a reaction, the Shillian scientist offered
an explanation.
"You would *willingly* sit through my explaining
transporter dynamics and dematerialisation psychosis?"
Whatever shock had been on the face of the Shillian
woman had been transmitted to her words a hundred
folds over, which made Pravat wonder if this had been
some sort of trick question. No one in their right
minds would submit themselves to listening to the
Shillian scientist explaining *anything* when
considering that even the most simple of explanations
could take forever.
"Tell you what," the Enaran replied, his instincts of
self preservation and experience as a Marine screaming
for him to find a way to escape the trap that the
woman had, at least in his mind, set up for him.
"When we get back from our mission, I'll sit through
whatever you feel like explaining to me." Even after
having heard the words escape from his mouth, and
recognising them as his own, Pravat could not believe
that he had said them and committed himself to what
would likely equate to a lengthy torture session at
the hands of someone he considered to be more than a
friend.
"You are sweet," the Shillian woman said, closing her
eyes for a moment while fighting a wave of fatigue
that had swept through both her body and mind. The
action immediately sent the Marine to lean in closer
and look at the diagnostic display to see what had
happened. When the Shillian reopened her eyes, she saw
the Enaran leaning over her, his concern for her
radiating from his entire being. "Do not worry, I am
still getting used to suppressing my immune system but
I will have the hang of it well before the start of
the mission. I would not want to cause you or Doctor
Summers to be concerned for me while you are both busy
with your own assignments. I mean it would be
suspicious if people who have supposedly never seen
each other began to display concerns for each other
while we are at the TANGIERS ORBITAL."
"True," Pravat said, adding a sigh of relief. "Now
rest I will be back later to check up on you again."
"Stay," the Cardassian looking woman said taking hold
of the hand of the Enaran with her own, "Please. I
promise to stay quiet. Tell me about your assignment.
Tell me about Rixx. What is he like? Do you two share
a lot of common interest or will this be a difficult
identity for you to assimilate? Is he a loner or does
he enjoy the company of others? What are his likes and
dislikes?"
Pravat raised an open hand to bring a stop at the
barrage of questions the Shillian had unleashed. "If
you want me to stay and tell you about Rixx, you have
to be quiet."
Even through the Cardassian disguise that covered her
face, the embarrassment of the Shillian could be seen
through an increase in the colouring of her cheeks
which had taken on a bright crimson shade. "Sorry,"
was all the scientist said after that, looking her
eyes onto those of the Enaran as she waited for him to
divulge the specifics of his undercover identity.
He moved a chair next to the bed and sat down. "Well
Rixx seems to be a simple con-man," he said, not sure
how detailed he wanted to get. "The real Rixx is
serving time for swindling some well to-do widow out
of her family's inheritance or some fantastic
fortune." He glanced up at Maya and smiled.
"So what exactly are you doing on the TANGIERS
ORBITAL?" Maya asked innocently.
Prav stared at her for a moment, her naiveté was
incredibly endearing. "Just there to have a good time
and see whose pockets I can get my hands into, and of
course, hopefully pick up some intelligence along the
way."
"You are very lucky that you don't have to go through
any physical changes," Maya said.
"That's true," Prav replied, but if truth be told, he
would have been willing to under go ten times worse if
it could have prevented Maya from having to go through
the ordeal she was dealing with now. "I think I pulled
the lucky straw on this one," he continued. "I haven't
been able to find one draw back to this cover yet," he
lied.
He saw the sceptical look on her face. Maybe it was
the tone of his voice or maybe he hadn't been able to
hide his feelings from her as much as he thought he
could, either way she seemed to know he wasn't telling
her the truth.
"Okay, there is one drawback and I guess I better tell
you now, before we go to the station," he said as he
watched her eyes narrow a bit. "Rixx is," he paused,
trying to make this sound convincing, "well, he is
quite, ah, well let's just put it this way, he's a
hell of a lot more fashion conscience then I am."
She made a sound that was a cross between a laugh and
a cough. "I don't know what you mean," she said, a
smile beneath her Cardassian features.
"He's... ah... kind of..." Prav stumbled, truly at a
loss for words.
"Flamboyant?" she offered.
He nodded a bit too enthusiastically. "Yeah, that's
it."
Maya laughed again. "I can't wait to see you," she
said. "Does he favour leather or metallic? Maybe
feathers?"
Prav gave a sarcastic smile. "You wish!" he said
chuckling.
A few minutes later they both stopped laughing and an
awkward silence over came the room. He glanced at the
floor before looking back at her. "Well I should be
going," he said, standing up from the chair.
"Pravat," the Shillian woman said just as the Enaran
Marine had been ready to step through the now opened
door. "Thanks. I'm glad that you came by to visit."
The Marine Second Lieutenant just smiled, looking back
at the only patient in Sickbay, displaying in some
quiet way his gladness in having been here and his
happiness in seeing that the Shillian beneath the
Cardassian disguise seemed to be doing better now then
when he had come in.
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Writing for:
2nd Lt. Pravat
---
Jessica Solarik { maya_992003@yahoo.com }
"To see the world in a grain of sand, 2005 post #146
Matt Kelly (downwitmal@yahoo.com)
MCO
USS ANUBIS
Lieutenant Maya
Chief Science Officer
USS ANUBIS
and a heaven in a wild flower.
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
and eternity in an hour."
- William Blake (British, 1757-1827)
