Petit Vriens - Chapter 5
by katirene (XMP)
Miguel paused after entering the bridge, wanting to
take the opportunity to observe Ensign Adler before she
knew that he was there. Lonnie was right, he'd over-reacted
and read more into what he saw than was probably there. And
he hadn't been paying as much attention to her work as he
ought to have been, as Tim had charged the other evening.
But the fact was, whenever he was anywhere around Adler, he
felt funny, and did have trouble acting naturally.
From his vantage point, he had a clear view of her
profile. Although it was near the end of second shift, the
rapid play of expression on her face as she responded to
the flow of information from the three wireless satellites
showed no signs of boredom. In fact, he wondered if she
would have noticed him even if he hadn't stopped so far
away.
Lieutenant James Brody, Weapons and Tactical Officer,
had the bridge, and, as was usual on his watch, things were
a bit more lively than with any other watch officer, with
banter flying from one station to the other, Adler
apparently the only hold-out. Slowly, under the cover of
one of Brody's stories, Miguel approached the WSKRS
station, coming up behind her chair. Then he stopped,
struck by the evidence of the display.
Two of the three wireless satellites were in their
expected places, performing as usual, but the third ...
What was she doing with Junior? With deep wonder, he
stepped closer, listening and watching as the oblivious
young woman leaned over the controls, playing them like an
electronic game.
The third and smallest of the WSKRS was looping in
tight spirals and darting from one side to the other, above
and slightly behind the SeaQuest. The visual display showed
several dolphins around it, and Miguel suddenly realized
with an increasingly wide grin that the formal, rigidly
professional Ensign Adler of the past few days was playing
tag with them. She sent Loner off on a tangent while
simultaneously making the smaller satellite swerve out of
the way of a diving cetacean. "Missed me, HAH!" she
breathed. "Watch your language, there. I know that one." A
whimsical thought occurred to him.
"Permission to observe," he asked, grinning as he
reached her shoulder.
To his delight, she actually jumped in her seat with
surprise, wiping out the incriminating display even as she
was turning to face him.
"If you want..." It was almost comical, but also
rather dismaying, how quickly her face changed, the
liveliness draining away leaving a stone statue behind, as
she recognized him. "Of course, chief," she responded
formally. "Do you wish to take the console?"
He stood behind, shaking his head slightly. "No, no,
that's ok." Shrugging, he continued, smiling pleasantly, "I
had a little free time and thought that I'd come observe
you at the station. Turn about is fair play, you know."
"Yes sir," she replied, turning back to the displays,
her expression so business-like and stern that it was
impossible to imagine the animation that had been present
only a short while before. "If you say so."
Miguel felt his smile freeze on the ice of her
regard, then slip away untended. He watched her operate the
controls, while wondering how to break through the barrier
of formality surrounding her. Frowning thoughtfully, he
glanced up at the screen while he considered the social
temperature between them. While she hadn't been especially
forth-coming, she'd at least acted human before.
He blinked with surprise. Junior was now safely
tucked up beside Mother so demurely it was as if it would
never have occurred to it to be anywhere else. And he
realized that Loner was investigating a steadily increasing
trail of radio-isotopes, just at the range of detection.
Adler swiveled her seat to call over her shoulder, stopping
with confusion as Miguel's body blocked her movement, then
turning in the other direction.
"I've found another one, Lt. Brody," her voice cut
through the chatter, killing it instantly, sounding still a
little husky, but the lilting purr of accent almost absent.
Instantly professional, Brody nodded.
"Ok, give me the co-ordinates and I'll set a
grappling torpedo. I don't know what our parents were
thinking of, depositing nuclear waste in the oceans like
this. Just postponing the problem and foisting it off on
future generations."
A muttered voice agreed, "Yeah, like us!"
As the Lieutenant sent out the torpedo, he asked
conversationally. "What's the status of this cannister,
anyway?" Miguel opened his mouth to protest that there was
no way she could answer that yet, but he didn't get the
chance.
The woman seated before him answered without
hesitation, "Not too bad. This must be one of the later
ones, or else a more sturdy construction,
The seams are only just beginning to pop. Surrounding
radiation levels aren't in the danger zones, yet. I'm
scanning for additional cannisters since they weren't
usually dropped in singles, but I'm guessing that those
would be intact." Miguel closed his mouth.
"That's impressive, ensign," he finally said. She
granted him a wary, suspicious glance that reminded him
strongly of Tim's proximity warning glare.
"Thank you, Chief. Coming from you ... Thank you."
He turned, leaning on the side of the station so that he
could watch her face.
"If the area isn't exactly hot yet, why did you go
looking there?"
She paused, her hands freezing momentarily over the
controls as she considered the question. "It was the
relative levels of the different radio-isotopes, I guess,"
she decided, gaining confidence as she continued the
explanation. "Natural radiation produces certain isotopes
in well-defined ratios, the water here contained a
different mix." Miguel pursed his lips, considering the
explanation. He nodded and swung around, bending down to
put his hands on the controls.
"Mind if I take a look?" he asked, an empty courtesy
as he was already calling up the recent data stream on all
three WSKRS, confining his review to a small screen in
screen so as not to interfer with her work too much. His
arm brushed against hers as he adjusted the flow of
information.
As Ari tried to settle into her duty again, she
glanced toward him, leaning over the board as he worked, so
close that their hands and arms would touch from time to
time, but somehow, not collide, almost as if their relative
movements were carefully choreographed. He was arrogant,
self-centred, cocky, but somehow, she found herself
ignoring all that in order to admire his lithe grace and
the natural elegance of his form.
Returning to her attention to the WSKRS display with
surprising difficulty, her normal pleasure in the spare
beauty of the sensor response was marred by her
consciousness of his presence, and she kept sneaking peeks
at him, trying to determine his reactions. She should never
have allowed herself to get suckered into playing with
Darwin while on duty, she scolded herself. That was stupid
and unmilitary. She peeked again. Would he put her on
report?
And there was another thing bugging her. How had he
managed to sneak up on her like that? No one was able to do
that, not even ... Resolutely, she cut off the memory of
the twins before it was fully formed. Anyway, she always
knew when someone was coming too close. Her dad had said
that made her a perfect Sonar operator, being aware of her
surroundings at all times. Or at least she had always known
before now. Once again, she glanced at him from the corner
of her eye.
You had to give him one thing, at least. He was easy on the
eye. As her hands danced over the controls automatically in
response to the stimuli of the information displays, her
thoughts drifted idly away. Was his hair really as soft as
it looked, or was it of a coarser texture? It was so
springy looking. She smiled privately, wondering what it
would feel like to smooth a lock of it between her fingers.
Ortiz looked down, catching her gazing up at him, and
cocked his eyebrow ironically, as if he could read her
thoughts. Blushing hotly, Ari ducked her head, trying to
concentrate on the WSKRS and cool her thoughts in the
serenity of pure data.
Miguel returned his attention to the screen before
him, his breathing unaccountedly quickened. He wondered
what she could be thinking, to be looking at him with such
an inscrutable smile. Was she comparing him to Tim? How did
they compare? And who came off the better? She was so
lovely when her colour rose like that.
After a pause that dragged out long enough to become
awkward, he asked, "Are you doing anything after your shift
ends."
"Yes, sir," she responded promptly.
Closing up the screen and leaning on the back of the
chair, he probed, "Well? What are you doing?" Adler
glanced at him sideways, her eyes alert and wary, warning
him off.
"If you don't mind, Chief Ortiz, my private plans are
just that, private."
Unsettled by the put-down, he stood up and nodded
toward the data display. "Very impressive bit of detection,
ensign. I'm not sure I would have seen it quite so quickly.
Especially not if I'd been looping another WSKR through a
ring at the same time." At that small dig, she blushed
again, casting her eyes downward to hide the expression in
them.
"Do you often do that while standing watch?" he
continued.
"No sir." The voice was soft, her confusion,
uncertainty and sincerity shining through. "I ... I was
feeling a bit ... , well, we weren't really doing much
tonight, and, with all the ... No, sir. I don't do that
kind of thing often. And I won't do it again, either,
sir."
Her confusion delighted him. He was actually piercing
that armour she had erected around herself. He crossed his
arms, planning to enjoy this for as long as possible.
"I want to review your personal duty logs." If she
was as good as she appeared to be while playing with the
sea mammals, then he should be able to find more
professional examples of that fact in her records. Examples
that he could bring to the attention of the captain.
Because, if she really that good, then she'd be
wasted on the routine station rotation demanded of new crew
to determine their areas of competence. There had to be a
way that SeaQuest could exploit that talent more
effectively. He wondered if her technical and mechanical
skills were on par with her rapid analyses of the
information gathered by the three WSKRS, and her attention
to detail. Watching her closely, pleasantly aware of her
awareness of him, he found himself wondering about her
other skills. It would be a sin to lose her to
Communications. He grinned suddenly to himself. A sin that
he did not intend to commit. He stood up with sudden
decision.
In his eagerness to confirm his suspicions as to her
capabilities, he was unaware of how curt his voice sounded.
"Download the records to the terminal in my quarters," he
ordered, "I'll get to them later."
"Yes, sir." As Ari transmitted the files to the
indicated location, she wondered unhappily what would
happen now. Anyone else walking up at that moment wouldn't
have realized what was going on. It was just plain bad luck
that it had to be the one person on the boat who would.
"Ensign Adler," Miguel began to say, then stopped
himself as she glanced up at him with eyes dark with worry
and fear. He felt obscurely ashamed of himself, frightening
her like this. He wanted to get her to react, but not like
that. "Look," he started again, more gently this time.
"I'll want to discuss your logs with you. Could you be
available after your next shift ends tomorrow? Say about
0115?"
He watched as her eyes turned inward, considering her
schedule. "I can make myself available then, sir," she
decided. "I do have an engagement for that time period, but
I can tell him that I'll be delayed."
Miguel was suddenly, sickeningly certain that her
appointment was a rendevous with Tim. His dull conviction
made his response, "Cancel it. He'll understand." come out
even more repressively than he knew. He turned abruptly and
left the bridge, leaving the deeply shaken ensign behind,
her concentration severely compromised for the rest of that
shift.
As he strode to his quarters, Miguel thought about
Tim and Ari together. Tomorrow would be all right, he
decided. She was smart enough to know that she'd blotted
her copybook pretty badly tonight, and she'll want to find
out how bad it was. But what about other nights? Maybe he
could arrange something to delay her. It wouldn't be
necessary to keep her too long, Tim tended to prefer early
nights, and the end of second shift was rather late for
him. But what about tonight? She had clearly said that she
would see him later. He stopped short in the corridor to
consider the question, then nodded and continued on his
way. No, Tim had said something about turning in early. He
was probably already asleep.
If Adler was as good as she appeared to be then
perhaps Miguel could arrange special training sessions and
computer simulations for her. Maybe even tell her that he
wanted to establish a data base to use for training other
members of the Sensor, Sonar and WSKRS team, and enlist her
to help with that. If he scheduled it after her shift for,
oh, say a week, maybe that would forestall any meetings
between the two of them for long enough.
Meetings. Miguel stopped short in the center of the
corridor. That's right, Tim had mentioned seeing her at
breakfast. That must be where they met. Perhaps he could be
there, too. That way he could keep an eye on the two of
them. Miguel continued on his way, entering his room when
another thought hit him. Tim usually gets up at the crack
of dawn, sometime around 0600. He groaned, glaring at his
alarum clock, before shrugging and reaching out to change
the settings.
Lonnie hesitantly approached the door to the room
that Ari shared with ensign Svarbo. The doubts that Miguel
had planted in her mind had grown prodigiously in the past
few hours and she had to know if he was right or not.
Raising her hand to knock, she heard Tim's voice inside,
then Ari's purring response, the intimate tone clear and
caressing.
At first, she felt a shattering disbelief. That Tim
could risk his career this way was inconceivable. Not if
she could help it, she thought pressing her lips together
firmly. And she gave the door a sharp, quick knock. The
voice stopped and the door opened almost immediately.
"Lonnie? This is a surprise. Come on in. My roommate
is out." The younger woman looked composed enough, but even
more subdued than usual.
Entering the small room, Lonnie looked around for
Tim. But there was no one else there. "Is there something
wrong?" Ari asked miserably. "Something I can help you
with?" ¸
"I ... I thought I heard Tim in here, with you."
Ari spluttered, a strangled sound that was half way
between a sob and a snort. It was as though that was the
best laugh she could manage at the moment. "No, he's not
here. Why would you think that? You could try sending him a
message, if you want," she offered, waving a hand toward
the terminal.
"No, thank you." Feeling as though she'd walked into
a play without a script, Lonnie sat down heavily at the
desk. "I just thought I heard him in here."
"Oh! You did. I'm sorry, I didn't realize that I had
it on so loud. Usually I listen with the headphones on, but
this needed to be, oh, I don't know, ah, bigger? More
present." She gestured toward a audio-player.
"What are you talking about?" Lonnie asked. "What
were you listening
to?"
Ari sighed, walking over to the player and
looking down at it, not her unexpected guest. Putting one
hand on top, she answered softly, "Lt. O'Neill."
Lonnie was taken aback. Now she could really use a
script. Ari glanced up, her eyes bright. As she took in the
other woman's face, a sort of a smile crept on her lips.
She smiled, twisting her lips to one side, and sat down
hard on the floor beside the player and a small pile of
books and papers. Arranging her legs tailor style, she
looked up, and explained. "He was kind enough to translate
a play for me, reading it aloud." Once again, she reached
out and lightly touched the equipment, a small
self-deprecating grimace on her face, and she shrugged.
"With what's been happening, I decided to listen to that
first, before doing anything that I'm 'supposed' to."
"What's been happening? I haven't heard anything out
of the ordinary."
Instead of answering directly, Ari sighed and pulled
her knees up, hugging them closely to her chest. "You're
pretty close to Chief Ortiz, aren't you? What's he really
like?"
"Miguel? He's pretty easy-going, friendly. He's a
nice guy. I know that you've gotten off on the wrong foot
with him, but give it time, it'll get ironed out."
Ari shook her head pessimistically. "I don't think
so. I did something really stupid today." She sighed
unhappily again, laying her cheek on her knees. "He caught
me playing with one of the WSKRS and he didn't believe me
when I told him I hadn't done it before. That it was the
first time. He asked for my duty logs to look over."
Looking up again, her eyes were bright again, and Lonnie
thought that the other was close to tears. "I think that he
might put me on review. I mean, considering his attitude
toward me, and all." She hit her leg with one clenched
hand. "It was stupid, so stupid. I can't believe I did it.
But I did."
"Ari, I think you're over-reacting. Whatever you
did, it couldn't have been that bad. And Miguel isn't the
type to hang anyone for one offense, no matter what he
thinks of them. And besides, he doesn't think that badly of
you." The only response to the last statement was a
skeptical stare and a shrug
"That's not all. Commander Ford was waiting for me after my shift. He read me the riot act about 'behavior unbecoming an officer' and proper protocol on the bridge."
"You mean Miguel had already reported you?" Lonnie couldn't believe that. Ari shook her head, giving a bitter laugh.
"No. For earlier, when I first came on the bridge. I was, apparently, a little too friendly with Lt. O'Neill." She hit her leg again, this time angrily. "And it's Ortiz's fault!"
"What? Wait. How was that Miguel's fault?" Ari glanced up at Lonnie from under her eyelashes, a shamed smile on her lips.
"Ok, it wasn't his fault, exactly. But I hate it when somebody spies on me! And if his eyes were bugged out any more, they would have fallen on the floor."
"We've all done stupid things, both on and off duty. It won't be that bad, honest. Look, why don't you listen to your tape and just forget about it for now. Here, I'll get it started for you." Leaning forward, she pushed one side of the multiple capacity player. Ari's voice, rising and falling with a suggestive quality to it, came out of the speakers. The smaller woman quickly stopped the player.
"I thought you said you were listening to Tim?"
Ari indicated the other cartridge. "That one. The one on this side is mine. We're comparing our translations in order to discuss the play."
"Oh? When are you finding time for that? I mean, considering the different shifts and all."
Ari gave a brief smile. "Just before first shift shows up for breakfast, in the galley. I usually have a last cup of tea before bed, and Tim generally gets up earlier than the rest of you."
"Ummm. But isn't a translation just a translation. I mean, they should be identical, right?"
"No." Ari gave a gentle laugh. "Even words that mean almost the same thing have certain implications, and those implications change from country to country, and person to person. So, Tim and I are comparing the implications that we each see in the same play. Here, listen." Reaching out, she re-started her own tape, and Lonnie listened closely, chuckling from time to time at the dialogue.
"Now, listen to this." Tim's version was less florid, less emotionally charged, more judicial and severe. Lonnie nodded slowly.
"Yes, I do see. Listen, do you suppose that you could give me a copy of these? I'd like to listen to the rest of it and see how you both did?"
Ari shrugged.
"Sure, give me a moment to rewind them, and I'll zip a copy of each for you."
"Thanks, and Ari? Honest, you don't have to worry about Miguel. He's really nice, and he's not at all vicious. As for Commander Ford ... " Lonnie stopped. She couldn't think of anything comforting to say about him. "Anyway, Miguel won't get you into trouble."
Not compleatly convinced, the troubled ensign shrugged again. "Ok. Thanks. I'll get the copies to you as soon as I'm finished." Standing up, she saw the other woman to the door, closing it firmly behind her. Lonnie stood for a moment, wondering if she should talk to Miguel about this. Perhaps she ought to wait until tomorrow, when he might be a little more reasonable. He'd sounded, well, rather unlike himself, after their shift. She nodded. Yes, she'd talk to him tomorrow.
Despite his best efforts, Miguel didn't get out of bed until well after 0600, so it was on the far side of half-past when he walked into the galley and found Tim and Ari seated suspiciously close, laughing and carrying on. From the looks of the table, they'd arrived there some time ago. He got himself a tray and approached their table in time to hear Ari, laughing maliciously, say, "So, you don't think that his hostility toward women is at all significant?" She looked up and her face hardened with surprising quickness.
"Not exactly, but if you look at the evidence..." Tim became aware of the change in his companion and stopped in mid-sentence, looking up to see what had attracted her attention. "Oh, hi Miguel. Take a seat, why don't you."
Ari stood up. "He can take mine," she offered stonily. "I should be going now, anyway." She flashed a genuine smile at the lanky lieutenant. "Goodnight, Tim."
With a more formal expression, she turned to Miguel, "Good night, Chief Ortiz. I've made the arrangements for after my shift tonight. I'll be ready to meet you then." Nodding in farewell, she left the room.
Tim, his face gently bemused with the sight of her leaving, sighed. "You know, Miguel, she has so much passion. So much energy. She really kept me on my toes, there."
Starting suddenly with surprise, Miguel spilled coffee on his lap. "Tim! You didn't!"
The other officer picking up the last bit of food from his plate murmured indistinctly, his eyes closed and his face diffused with gustatory pleasure. He added more clearly. "Ummm. And I really like the things she does for me." He sighed in heartfelt satisfaction.
Miguel was deeply disturbed. Leaning forward, in a quiet voice, he asked, "Tim, what if the Captain finds out? What would he think?"
O'Neill frowned at remenant of the pastry roll in his hand with an expression of confusion. "Why should it bother him? He likes what she does, too." Drinking the last of his coffee, he put his napkin on the table and said, "Listen, Miguel, I'd love to stay and chat, but I've got some things I need to get done this morning. And I'm late already. I'll see you around." Picking up the tray, he left the galley, leaving the troubled Sensor Chief staring unhappily at the clouds in his coffee.
Go to Chapter 6