"Just When You Think You Have Everything Figured Out"
(Previous Post: "Finding A Cure")
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Stardate: 60327.0825
Setting: NEW ALEXANDRIA, Section 1
The only world they had known was the one contained within the walls of an unknown section hidden deep inside a secret base that officially did not exist, and now they would venture out into a universe that they had only seen from afar. Out of all of them, three had been strong enough to face the hardships and chaos of the outside world, but now that one of them had perished in the line of duty life would never again be the same.
En had never imagined stepping outside of the protection of Section 1, not only because such a venture had been expressingly forbidden but also because she knew what kind of *things* cold be out there waiting for her. This foreknowledge had made her prepare for their journey to the USS ANUBIS in a most unique way.
"Can you stop that," Jaycee begged from behind the veil of darkness that separated the two sisters, "there is now a 14.3 percent that you will pass out from the fumes of the antiseptic chemicals you have been applying to your entire body for the past two hours."
Stopping her frantic application of the special concoction she had created for this purpose just long enough to flick her wrists thirteen times, En addressed the concerns of her sister. "E-N-A-I-I died from a simple transporter malfunction, and we both know that there are things thousand times more dangerous out there. This solution will protect me from any bacterial and biological germs we might run into," En said resuming her rubbing of her skin making sure that every square centimetre had been thoroughly covered twenty-one times.
"You are overreacting," Jaycee said while addressing her own fears, "I have used the computer uplink to the ANUBIS you provided me with to set up an adequate meeting place for us. Taking into account the pattern of movements of the three officers we are being sent to meet with, there is a 92.9 percent chance that we will be able to accomplish out goal without having to deal with any other members of the crew."
While carefully taking into account what her sister had said, En looked down at her naked body to survey the work of the last two hours before once again flicking her wrists in preparation for her speaking to Jaycee. "The A-N-U-B-I-S dealt with a trans-dimensional invasion during their last mission, so there is no harm in my wanting to be prepared, something that you should be considering with more seriousness."
"I am," Jaycee said adding a sigh that had been clearly audible from beyond the darkness that engulfed the sister, "that is why I have set up a full bio-containment field in the lab in which we will be going to. Once the main power is taken offline we will have three minutes and twelve seconds to board the ship and make it to the Bio Chemistry Lab on deck 14. Given the current dispersion of the crew, we have a 98.1 percent chance of making it there undetected, but that number drops by 4.3 percent with each additional hour you take to prepare."
En stepped into the darkness where Jaycee had been all along and flicked her wrists thirteen more times before speaking, "are you sure that Admiral K-O-N-I-K-I is not going to detect our leaving Section 1?"
"Relax En," Jaycee said trying to reassure her sister and beginning to sound a little nervous herself, "Elsie and Katie are making sure that the Admiral will be far too busy to be concerned with the rest of us," there was a small pause before Jaycee took the antibacterial solution from En and began to quickly apply it to her own exposed skin.
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Stardate: 60327.0845
Setting: USS ANUBIS, Deck 12, Forensic Lab
Pravat had waited for the right time to present the gift to the Shillian scientist not wanting to disturb her during her continued research into a possible cure for whatever had afflicted David, not that the Marine believed that the Chief Engineer had been suffering from anything more than a lack of discipline. Out of respect for the Shillian Chief Science Officer the Enaran Marine Commanding Officer had waited, and waited, and waited.
By the time the clock had almost showed zero-eight hundred hours the Marine had decided that he had waited long enough and that the Shillian could use an excuse to get away from her work even if only for a few minutes. Hopefully the gift that Pravat would give her would be enough to make Maya forgive him for the interruption.
=/\= Pravat to Maya, =/\= the Enaran called out through the communication system of the ANUBIS, =/\= could you meet me in the Arboretum? =/\=
The Shillian woman softly grown because of the inopportune time of the call, coming in right in the middle of her analysis of a bio-chemical substance that the scientist had begun to hope would be able to facilitate the separation of the two entities residing within the body and mind of the Chief engineer. At first Maya had been ready to snap at Pravat but after re-evaluating the work she had been in the middle of, the scientist decided that maybe the call from the Enaran had been a good thing after all, her work not having progressed over the last several hours. "I would love to, but I am kind of busy at the moment. I have been working on this particular aspect of SDS for the last three hours and I have not made any real progress and since I am working on a very tight timeframe I cannot afford to be distracted."
=/\= Maya, if you have not made any progress in the last *three* hours, it sounds more to me like you are spinning your wheels for nothing. I am not saying for you to stop trying to find a cure for David, but maybe, just maybe, taking a break and clearing your mind might prove to be more productive in the end, =/\= Pravat said hoping that the Shillian woman would agree to his logic. Failure to bring her out of her lab and into the Arboretum would require the Marine to come up with an alternate way to present the scientist with the gift he had worked so hard to obtain.
"All right," Maya relinquished, "maybe taking some time to clear my mind and come back to this research with a more refreshed perspective is exactly what I need, I mean it is obvious that I am not getting anywhere with the current line of research or at least not going somewhere fast enough because I am either missing something or have omitted to consider other aspects of this SDS. This of course leads me to asking you why the Arboretum? I never thought of you as being the 'sweet smell' and 'soft flowers' type of person," the Shillian said not accepting the invitation she had received with a simple answer.
=/\= Because I have something for you, =/\= Pravat said letting his frustration spill over into his words. Dealing with the Shillian woman had proven at times to be more difficult than an assault on a heavily fortified enemy fortress and the Enaran wondered why he had continued to try so hard where the scientist had been concerned.
"You have something for me?" The Shillian scientist asked sounding both confused and excited by the prospect of the Marine having been so thoughtful as to obtain something to give to her. "What is the occasion? I mean a person does not need a reason to give someone else a gift but I am curious as to why you chose to give me something at this time, did I make a request that I have forgotten because of the current situation surrounding David or is there another reason for you wanting to give me something."
=/\= Listen Maya, you can either spend the next hour asking me an endless chain of questions or you can come down to the Arboretum and see for yourself, =/\= the Enaran said with a lengthy sigh, trying his best to hide the smile of disbelief that had appeared on his lips.
"I'll be right there," the Shillian woman replied making the Marine finally relax for a little while as he began to mentally prepare himself for the arrival of the scientist in the Arboretum.
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Stardate: 60327.0900
Setting: USS ANUBIS, Deck 11, Arboretum
The USS ANUBIS being an Intel ship the Arboretum had not been a high priority during construction so this left the room to be small and lacking in many ways, but that said the small room still held several charms that the Shillian woman immediately appreciated upon her arrival.
"This place is actually nicer than I imagined it," the Shillian said never having come to this section of the ship despite it having been so close to many of the labs the scientist frequented on a regular basis. "I am glad that you asked me here," Maya continued having actually forgotten for a moment the reason why the Enaran had asked her to meet him here.
"I am glad to hear it," Pravat said extending his hand out towards the approaching Shillian, "and I hope that this will make it even more enjoyable."
The eyes of the Chief Science Officer opened to their widest as she saw what appeared to be a miniature primate-like creature resting in the palm of the extended hand. The furry creature seemed so fragile that the Shillian woman had been fearful of touching it. "It is absolutely adorable, what is it? I mean I can see that it is a primate and judging by the positioning of the claws one that lives amongst the flora of whatever world it originated from, but I do not think I have ever seen any references to this creature before despite my extensive research in exo-biology and alien zoology."
"They are called Cebuella and are native to ENARA PRIME," Pravat said glad to see the Shillian so pleased with the gift he had requested for her. "They are extremely intelligent and have been known to learn basic sign language, and as an added bonus the Cebuella monkey is an extremely clean creature. I had one when I was younger, his name was Rashi and he quickly became far more than a simple pet."
"So you got another one and wanted to show him to me?" The Shillian asked, her complete attention fixated on the small creature resting in the palm of the hand of the Enaran.
"No," Prav said with a smile taking one of the hands of the scientist with his free hand and opening it so as to offer a suitable platform for the creature to be transferred to. "This one is yours," the Enaran said without trying to explain why. "Consider him a gift from me to you."
"A gift?" The Shilian scientist repeated while looking at the small creature now studying the hand that it had been moved to. "Why? I mean I am touched and very appreciative that you would do something so thoughtful but I am at a loss to understand why you have decided to give me something so special and unique as I do not remember having done anything that could warrant such a gift."
"I have my reasons," the Enaran said not really wanting to go into the details of his decision.
Just then the lights in the Arboretum went off as they did throughout the ship. The Shililan scientist was startled at first by the sudden darkness but given what had just taken place the scientist decided to react not like a Chief Science Officer, but instead as something she had actually little experience in.
A few minutes later the lights returned and the Enaran stood amongst the plants of the Arboretum with a bemused expression engraved on his face, the taste of the kiss he had received still on his lips. Pravat had been ready to comment on what he had first perceived as being a dream when the communicator of the scientist chirped, =/\= Lieutenant Commadner Maya, please report to the Bio Chemistry Lab on deck 14. =/\=
This caused the Shillian to reach for the communication device on her chest with her free hand, the other still carefully holding the living gift she had received. "Understood, I will be right there," the Chief Science Officer replied not realising that the voice which ha summoned her to the laboratory had been unfamiliar yet sounding oddly similar to that of the former Intelligence Liaison Officer.
Pravat just watched as the Shilian left the Arboretum still trying to figure out if the pressure he had felt on his lips had been a figment of his imagination or if the kiss had been a thank you from the scientist for the gift he had given her.
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Jessica Solarik { maya_992003@yahoo.com }
Lieutenant Commander Maya
Chief Science Officer
USS ANUBIS
"To see the world in a grain of sand, 2005 post #441
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)
