Late Nights, Long Talks

Posted on 09 Nov 2013 @ 1:38pm by Lieutenant JG Jacrux & Ensign Natalie Chevalier

1,770 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Episode 04 - Exodus
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 5, Astrophysics Lab
Timeline: MD -01 0300 hrs

[ON]

It was the dead of night, or was it early morning? The definition seemed to differ from species to species, and then to complicate it more, from individual to individual. The Starfleet duty roster put some order to their lives, though as someone who had shifted among every shift assignment, Jac could tell you that the rota could still be very troublesome. Currently he was on Alpha shift, which failed to explain why he was laying on the floor of the Astrophysics lab with his shift still hours into the future. A few PADDs scattered about on the floor hinted to an attempt at work or amusement of some kind, but that attempt was long past. Instead, the halfbreed lay with his head pillowed on his only arm, the prosthetic worn during normal hours no where to be found, watching the ceiling of the lab.

Nat's sleep schedule had not yet normalised since adjusting from working nights on the Venture to Alpha shift on Galileo. She'd found herself staying up all hours in the arboretum, and her coffee consumption, despite her low opinion of the replicator varieties on offer, had reached pharmochemically dangerous levels. So it was actually less strange than it might seem that she would find herself wandering the corridors at 0300, poking around for some trouble in Science. Peeking her head through the door of a lab she'd not been in thus far, she came across an unusual sight: Jacrux, seemingly asleep on the floor.

It was only as she peered down to inspect him that she noticed that he was, in fact, awake. She gave a squeak of surprise.

Jac frowned at the sound of the definitely feminine squeak. His head rolled lazily to view the intruder. "Hi, Nat," he waved the top foot of his crossed legs at her, as his arm was otherwise occupied.

"Did you sleep well?" he said the question seriously despite the sarcastic word choice. It was five hours until their shift and they were both in a lab that connected to neither of their work.

The movement of his body drew Nat's eyes to his arm, causing her to not stare in an incredibly stare-y way.

"Hmm? Oh, no. No, I didn't," she answered, before the ridiculous nature of the question hit her. She laughed, and looked back to his face. "Right, you were kidding. Well, doesn't look like you are, either? What are you even doing in here?"

His eyes on the ceiling of the room, where a holographic display showed the stars of some forgotten corner of the galaxy, Jac didn't appear to notice Nat's extreme 'not stare.' He smiled slightly as his joke clicked in her brain. "No, not really," Jac admitted.

Now he pushed his torso into a sitting position and motioned to the scattered equipment. "Can't you tell? I'm working really really hard," he mentioned in a wry tone. "What are you doing here?" he turned the question back toward her.

Nat shrugged. "I couldn't sleep any more than you could. I guess I'm just up wondering about..."

About the Venture. About the nebula. About what's going to happen. But she didn't feel comfortable admitting her real, raw anxieties, so she indulged in a little harmless deflection.

"...about, whether the bloomweeds in the arboretum pond are going to flower soon."

"This is not the arboretum," Jac pointed out in a mild tone. So she had managed to install the pond as planned. Jac would have to visit and investigate for himself at some point.

"The astrophysics lab is a good place for worrying. No one comes here at night." Jac pat the floor next to him. "Come, sit. There is sky enough for the both of our worries."

Nat joined him, sitting down and pulling her knees up in a hug to her chest. She gave him a curious look. "Both of our worries? What are you in here for, then?" The question was phrased lightly, more general inquiry than nosy demand, but her curiosity was apparent in her watchful eyes.

"I woke up, worrying about," Jac frowned, trying to remember, "Bloomweeds, was it?" He chuckled dryly laying back down on the floor to look up at the simulated sky.

"Tell me a story," the halfbreed said abruptly, his gaze lost in the stars, "About bloomweeds, and why they give you worry."

Nat hugged her knees tighter. "Well, I know there are several Betazoids on board. I wanted to put in some bloomweeds to make them feel more at home. I'd like the Arboretum to become a place that everyone in the crew feels welcome to visit, a place to get away from," she waved vaguely, "Warp coils and photon torpedos and transporter buffers."

She sighed heavily. "But if the bloomweeds don't flower soon, then they'll grow too big and choke up everything else in the pond, and it'll all be ruined. I have Ktarian plants, Samarian, Denobulan, Rydakkian...even Romulan. I don't want it to all go to waste, but mixing up species like that is such a delicate balance."

Jac chuckled lightly. "That is not a story," he pointed out, "Not a very good one, at least." He shifted, shrugging his good shoulder. Honestly, the halfbreed could care less about bloomweeds, but something else Nat said caught his attention, likely as she had planned.

"Which Romulan plants?"

"I believe they're called lagga," said Nat. "The flowers are quite beautiful, but a little pungent...they're sort of bell shaped." She gestured an approximation of the petals' distinctive funnel appearance with her hands, taking an only momentary break from fidgeting with her hair.

The male shook his head. "Lagga is not the true name. It is more of a catch-all phrase for flowers, and one suitable for your use," Jac's tone wasn't quite as haughty as his words would imply, but it came close.

"Well excuse the crap out of me!" Nat laughed. "Maybe you can come by again some time and take a look at them, tell me what their real name is. We have hardly any information in the Romulan botanical database. They're secretive about even what they call their flowers."

She glanced over at Jac, realizing her words might have carried the wrong weight, and appending hastily: "Not that I don't trust people with Romulan ancestry or anything like - I didn't mean offence."

The response was a typical one. Jac had not expected anything more from a human. "None taken," he said in what could be a gracious manner. What Nat didn't have to know what Jac failed to give Nat's opinion enough weight in order to receive offense in the first place.

"The culture has many names for things. I probably do not know the true name of the flower, but I may tell you the common name. It is mostly the scientists who have gained access to the true name," Jac further explained.

It was interesting how different cultures treated naming. The Romulan conventions were quite unlike those Nat was familiar with, but that just made her all the more fascinated. "Well, you're the only Romulan aboard - half-Romulan, I mean. So I guess you can call the plants pretty much whatever you want."

"I am Romulan," Jac corrected. In any way a human deserved to know about, he was. "I passed my tests, all that were given to me." He quickly changed the subject before Nat could question him on the specifics. It was not something an outsider should know.

"Do you know how to fight?" he asked.

Nat was a little surprised at the sudden change of tack: she found she had to be very careful around Jac, that there was always some hidden current behind his words that she could scarcely discern. "Fight? Well, I mean I did a certain amount of basic training in the Academy - but I don't think Lieutenant Rhodes is exactly missing me not being a part of his team." She shrugged. "So, I guess not really. Why?"

Jac shook his head, standing up from the floor and starting to gather the scattered PADDs. "We tell stories, about the Federation, and our first contact with them. We laugh about it," Jac paused, mentally correcting himself to the past tense. His status with the Empire was still unclear, and something he did not want to clarify for fear of the response. "The largest culture clash of the Empire and any persons we encounter is the idea of a noncombatant. There is no such thing, ever, and it is incredibly foolish to think one is 'safe' just because they do not know how to fight, and should therefore not be attacked. When the Empire and the Federation met, it was thought that a large, powerful organization would understand that basic principle. Obviously..." Jac gave Nat a measuring look, "Things have not progressed."

Heedless of whether his words could be taken as an insult or not, Jac ran a nonchalant hand through his hair. "There will be fighting," he said with too much surety to be merely Romulan paranoia, "I hope you stay out of the way."

Nat sighed heavily. Ugh. And here I thought we were just having a nice chat. We can't just lie and watch the stars? We have to delve into Romulan political intrigue and the legitimate uses of force?>

"Jac, I'm sure you're like nine million times cleverer than I am, and maybe you're right about there being conflict coming. There usually is. But this is a science ship, and I'm just an ecologist. There should be a place for people like me in any functional society, and I'd say that the fact that I can exist in my niche and not be forced to become a 'combatant' is a sign of 'progress'. But I also don't really want to argue about it, so if this is going to be a thing ... well, I'd rather just agree to disagree."

"We will indeed," Jac chuckled to himself. So much for learning from every civilization. Though proclaiming tolerance, a surprising number of Fleet operatives disliked admitting their enemies had some good ideas too. A worthy opponent was to be respected, and learned from.

The conversation seemed to have reached a natural end. At the very least, Jac was bored with Nat for the night. "You best sleep. The ship needs a well-rested crew," he told her, leaving immediately after.

[OFF]

Ensign Jacrux
Anthropologist
USS Galileo

Ensign Natalie Chevalier
Ecologist
USS Galileo

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