A Simple Answer

Posted on 07 May 2012 @ 11:38am by Lieutenant Commander Chauncey Remington III (KIA) & Lieutenant Lilou Zaren
Edited on on 07 May 2012 @ 1:01pm

4,457 words; about a 22 minute read

Mission: Episode 01 - Project Sienna
Location: USS Galileo: Deck 2 - Observation Lounge
Timeline: MD3: 1700 hours

[ON]

Will walked into the observation lounge a few minutes early, so as not to leave Peers waiting on his account. Finding that she was not there yet, however, he sat himself down comfortably, fixing his eyes on the window and gazing thoughtfully out.

The afternoon had gotten backed up with a routine inspection of the Waverider shuttles to make sure they'd be in the best working order for the transfer at the station and then had lengthened when she'd started trying to figure out how to maximize their radial efficiency in the event of an attack. By the time she realized what time it was, she'd barely had time to run to her quarters, change out of her uniform, and jump into the turbo lift for the ride up. She hated being late to things, least of all things where she was trying to put her best foot forward. That was hard, even in optimal circumstances. She tugged the band from her hair, scrubbing her hand back through it to let it fall around her shoulders as she crossed the lounge to where Will was sitting. She'd thrown on her only nice outfit, a simple black sleeveless dress that ended halfway down her calves and a pair of small black ballet flats. "Hi," she said as she arrived at the table. "Sorry, got... well." She linked her hands together, "Were you waiting long?"

"It's all right," he assured her simply, giving her a smile. He looked at her dress, for he was still in his uniform, albeit a clean uniform. "I hope you don't mind if I failed to wear civies. I don't normally except for more formal occasions, and then only when it's not a Starfleet function. So, the ship kept you busy today?"

"It was either this or dirty coveralls. I thought I'd take the chance to get out of uniform for a couple minutes," Lilou shrugged, rubbing one bruised elbow. "I'm aways busy," she explained, sitting down opposite him. "If there isn't already something on the department's to-do list for me, I go and seek it out. Anything's better than babysitting the console. You?"

"I'm just an operations chief," the man replied, "I make sure everything happens smoothly. Whatever that entails." A short silence followed until Will gestured towards the replicator. "What are you hungry for?"

"Right. Dinner." She'd been relieved to be off her feet for a second. "Ah... shall we?" she asked, standing up again and gesturing for him to lead the way to the replicators. "So... what did that entail today?" she asked as they walked. "Making things happen smoothly?"

Will joined her at the replicator, motion for her to get her food first. "Oh, well, among other things, fixing a rogue EMH and developing a plan to disrupt the Klingon's communication systems. Not nearly as interesting as engineering, I'm sure."

Lilou's brows lifted. "The EMH went rogue? What happened?"

"I believe its program was corrupted when we first downloaded it. I reinitialized it and ran a repair program through it. Should be fixed now."

"Right, but... what happened?" Lilou asked, curious. "I didn't even get to see it installed because of the secondary array. Was it a glitch or...?" She drew her selection in Trill on the replicator's touch panel and leaned against the wall waiting for food and answers.

"Oh, well, nothing really happened," he replied, "It simply wouldn't shut down. Earlier it had been throwing things at the medical team." He leaned against the wall as he watched her, "But it's nothing all that unusual for a new ship. That sort of thing happens. Have you ever been on a ship's maiden voyage?"

"No, never. I'm learning, though," she added with a roll of her eyes and a laugh. "I wonder if any of the engineers who built this ship have ever actually been on active duty on a starship. There've been security rigs missing, bits and pieces that jog loose because they weren't secured properly..." She shook her head, removing the tray of yellow-leaved salad, fruit, and tea. "Have you? Been on a maiden voyage?"

"Well, I've assisted in the maiden voyages of a few ships when I was at Starbases. But not really. I'm probably more used to it than most are." He turned and tapped the replicator once the engineer's food was replicated. "Salmon, grilled, and a glass of Chardonnay."

"Any words to the wise?" she asked, resting her tray against her hip. "Other than 'everything that can go wrong will go wrong.' I know that one already."

"None that come to mind," he replied, picking up his dinner and heading back to the table. "But I often feel it's bad luck to talk about work when you're off duty." He smiled and sat himself down by the window

"Too late," she said, joining him. "And I'm not off duty. Not really. But, okay. Message received. No more work talk." She speared a yellow leaf with her fork, bit, and chewed. Lilou knew she wasn't completely incompetent. She was good at her job, handy with a firearm - useful. Like a tool in the ship's belt. But conversation had always flummoxed her, even as a child. She had a hard time understanding what other people liked and why, so trying to talk to them was a complex puzzle she didn't have the key to. "What... what did you want to talk about?"

Will hesitated a moment and he didn't seem to quite know what to talk about either. At last his eyes settled on her food. "What is that?" he asked, "I don't remember seeing a yellow salad before." It may not have been technically a salad, but he was hardly a connoisseur.

"Grakizh," she nudged her plate towards him. "Did you want to try it? It's sort of my comfort food. Reminds me of home. My father grows his own grellk plants - that's the name of the leaves. Then there's dressing made from mashed lida seeds and olpa oil. He bribes the botanists to let him cultivate his own plants in a section of the arboretum. Papa's a snob about replicator food."

Will looked the food over and then nodded. "Why not," he said, "it's a Trill food?"

"Mmhmm," she nodded.

"If your father cultivates it in an arboretum then your family does not come from Trill?"

She shook her head, "No. Well. Papa came from there, first as a diplomatic emissary of physical science, but... there was some sort of falling out. He hasn't been very clear. Anyway, he broke ties and stayed on the research station, met my mother, married her, and had me. I've never even seen Trill. Maybe some day. I mean I'd like to, but... I guess I'm worried about what could have made my father so angry he wouldn't ever go back. You know? He's so quiet and patient... it seems strange to me." She shrugged. "Anyway. He still likes the food. And so do I."

"Well, let's try it then," he said witha smile, gesturing with his fork. "You know there are holodecks. The Hoobishan Baths are supposed to be popular..."

Lilou offered her plate, eyeing him. "You know, it never occurred to me to visit any part of Trill through the holodecks. I guess I built up the homeworld so much in my mind... The Baths, huh?"

Will seemed surprised at that. "Never?" he asked, stabbing a leaf with his fork and raising it to his mouth, "well, perhaps we should make a trip? It's rather late now and the Hoobishan Baths are said to make a time-consuming program."

"What... exactly are they?" Bath, in her mind conjured an image of the primitive bowl of water she'd been told to bathe in while she was on earth. A precursor to the far more useful and reliable shower, which was a precursor to sonic showers. The idea of sharing one of those confining tubs with another person seemed... far more intimate than Will's tone and demeanor suggested. Then again, what did she know?

This time the yellow foliage made it not further than an inch from Will's mouth as he sat up straight in surprise. "Oh!" he declared, imagining what she must have been thinking about his offer. "The Hoobishan Baths is a spa resort on Trill. I've never been, myself, holodeck or otherwise, but I've heard it's extravagant."

"A spa?" Lilou canted her head to the side. She'd heard of spas, but she'd never been to one. Even the most basic ones she'd heard described sounded decadent; she couldn't imagine what an extravagant one was like. "That..." she smiled, ducking her head, "that sounds interesting. Yes, thank you. I think... I think that might be nice."

"Good," Will said, and at last the lettuce-like plant on the end of his fork reached its destination. He chewed thoughtfully, "Mm, good. Well, after alpha shift, first night we're free, hm? How about tomorrow? We have another day or two in Klingon space."

She nodded, humming happily. "Tomorrow, yes. I'll... see if I can switch shifts. Surely someone would like to take beta instead of the graveyard shift." She took a bite of her salad and smiled, "I'm glad you like it."

"Oh, you're beta shift, of course," he said, gesturing in a wide arc, "I forgot because it's so early and here you are. Don't change it. You're usually awake for alpha shift too, yes? Hmm."

"I'm usually on unless I'm off. Chief's got the same schedule. There's just not enough of us for the workload-" she paused, pressing her lips together. "And I'm not talking about work. Anyway, I can manage a shift switch, I think. Just have to run it by Quinn and give someone a well-deserved night off. One of my perks as Assistant Chief," she added wryly.

"Well," he said, raising his glass, "you do whatever works then."

"I will, thank you," Lilou lifted her tea cup and toasted him before sipping. "Have you... I mean, I've never really used the holodecks for anything other than training simulations. Have you?"

"Yes," he replied, "there's quite a few nice ones. I can't say that I have much variety in mine though. I'm happy sitting in a hammock reading by a beach house on Earth. But... surely you've used holodecks for fun before? Or even a holosuite at a station?"

"For fun? Sure. But... it's still training." She looked into her tea cup. "I designed a full ship battle against the Borg. That's always fun." Lilou wrinkled her nose. "I guess I always felt like... if I wasn't doing something to improve myself, I wasn't using my time right."

Will considered what she said for a few moments before giving a reply. "Well, nothing wrong with that. It sounds like an extensive holoprogram. You designed it all yourself?"

She nodded. "Took me about a year. Have you ever designed a holo-program?"

"Yes, actually, a few. When I was chief ops officer on 235 I built a few training programs. We had some impressive holodecks there. Huge, you could run simulations with dozens of people."

"Sounds like fun. The designing," she added quickly. "Not the... dozens of people in a holosuite sounds like a recipe for disaster if there was even a small glitch in the code. Mine... they're extensive, but focused. I think..." She shook her head, "I'm not sure I'd ever want too many people in them with me. Our XO stepped in on my borg simulation," she mentioned, still a little disbelieving of the fact. "It was... nerve-wracking, to consider his welfare through it. I guess that's what I like about the simulations. For a little while, I'm only responsible for me. No one else. Does that make sense?"

"I think so," Will said with a smile, "but it's still only a holodeck. Fighting the Collective would be... so much different. No matter how real a holodeck is, it's not the same as a battle. Before I received my commission from the Academy, they sent a good deal of cadets for training to fight the Dominion. Fighting a single Jem'hadar in real life is more terrifying than fighting a legion of Changelings on a holosimulation."

"I hope I never have to," Lilou shuddered. "The purpose of the program is training, not battle experience. But... of course there's the main difference in that you can call a halt to the program whenever you need, but... surely there's a way to input the data to make some attempt at preparing cadets for the actual eventualities... isn't there? I mean, shouldn't there be? Otherwise, a tactical training suite isn't much use, is it?"

"Oh, it's as real as it gets," Will replied, "without being... real. No matter how realistic something is, there's sort of a little something deep down inside that knows when you are truly in danger."

"But people do get hurt in the holodecks," she herself had on numerous occasions. "People do die in them, if they're not being monitored properly."

"Well, yes, but that's not supposed to happen, nor does it happen often." He smiled at her and glanced down at his plate, finding that he'd not really finished off the fish. "Does the replicator food taste the same as the lettuce your father grows?" He looked back up at her and popped a bite of fish into his mouth with his fork.

Lilou shook her head, "No. Not exactly, anyway. But I'm not sure whether that's just because I know he didn't grow this. You know? It makes a difference, for me, knowing where something came from as opposed to knowing it was just... created because of its atomic components."

"I think," Will mused, "that most foods only taste different if you know they are from a replicator. I suppose some might taste different, but I've never minded replicator food."

That was what she'd said, wasn't it? Lilou looked down at her plate. Why was talking about such relatively simple things so complicated? "There's nothing wrong with it. Almost every meal I've had off the station has been replicator generated and they're always fine. I just meant... knowing my father had a hand in growing it... made it different." She shrugged. "Even though it was probably the same."

"Oh," Will said. "I see, I think. My parents never cooked. They worked on Jupiter Station and it kept them so busy they always used replicators." With his plate mostly emptied, he set it aside and picked up his half-finished glass of wine. "So..." he began, "you've been working double shifts?"

"I thought we weren't talking about work?" she asked, cupping her tea cup in her hands. "Yes, double shifts. When did you stop having back to back shifts?"

"Sorry," he said apologetically, "I don't normally have them at all though." Changing the subject quickly, his mind settled upon her tea. "Do you try things from other cultures much?"

"Other cultures?" she asked.

"Besides Trill. You're in Starfleet, after all, no better way to get to know different cultures."

"Besides..." she looked confused. "I'm half human. My father has virtually no contact with Trill. I'd..." She paused, setting down her tea to draw her hair over one shoulder and twist it thoughtfully. "I like the food, more I think because I grew up with it than because of where it originated." She shook her head, "I'm sorry, I don't... understand your question, I don't think."

"Oh..." he said, raising an eyebrow at her, "I didn't know you were half human. But still..." he smiled at her, "that's only two cultures. Have you ever tried Bajoran food? Or listened to Klingon opera? Or meditated with a Vulcan?"

"I haven't meditated, period. Or listened to opera. Trill, human, or otherwise." Lilou looked at him curiously. "I did have tuwaly pie once." She quirked an eyebrow, "Klingon opera?"

"Yes, they have an... interesting idea of music. It isn't that bad. What is Tuwaly Pie?"

"Bajoran food," she answered with a slight smile. "More of a cake than a pie, really. We had a Bajoran fighter specialist on the Algonquin. He had a birthday. It was... not really to my taste, but not bad. What's so interesting about it?"

Looking thoughtful, he replied to her question. "Oh, well, it's rather loud, and I've heard it called discordant. But there's a certain... something about it. It calls to your wilder side. I can see why it would inspire the Klingons. I truly do not mind it, even though people do."

"Your... wilder side?" she asked, trying to imagine what wildness the Klingons might call. Blood rage? A sudden hunger for raw meat?

"Oh, well, not mine," Will said, lest she think he were prone to acting like a Klingon. "But... well, have you ever met a Klingon?"

She nodded, looking carefully at her plate. She'd met one full Klingon. He'd nearly killed her, along with his friends - the other marines. It was something she tried not to think about. Those faces. Not just because she'd been commanded not to talk about them, but because thinking about it too long and thinking about where they were and what ship was following them made her heart skitter like a rabbit's.

As she fell silent, Will watched her expectantly. He noticed the way her spirits seemed to fall with her eyes and recognized the look of someone who has been reminded of something they would rather forget. he made a mental note not to mention Klingons again this evening. Intent on getting her mind off of what troubled her, he stood and picked up his plate. "How about dessert?" he asked with a kind smile, taking her plate as well.

She made a little humming sound of acceptance, trying to reorder herself. It was a sensory memory, a sudden one, and she was shaken by it. Which was frustrating, because she'd been doing so well at shoving it to the back of her mind. Swallowing, she made herself look up and nod, forced herself to breathe again. "Please, thank you." She picked up her tea and stood, nodding to the plate he'd cleared for her. "And thank you."

"You're welcome," he said, looking at her briefly and then turning away to go to the replicator. She'd been ready to go with him but when he'd turned to go, her legs hadn't moved. She just stood there, stiff as a board for what felt like an eternity, and then sank back into her chair. Useless. She drank the rest of the tea, steadily, until it was gone and even then couldn't quite bring herself to let go of the cup.

He was gone for over a minute, presumably while trying to choose a dessert. When he came back he had two plates of cheesecake with strawberry sauce atop it. "Strawberry cheesecake?" he offered, setting one plate down next to her and then taking the other to the seat beside her. He spun around in the chair to face her and crossed one leg over the other, holding the plate in one hand and the fork in the other.

Then he was back, putting the plate of cheesecake and strawberry sauce in front of her and she laughed, couldn't help it, before she realized he'd changed seats, taking the one beside her. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye, gently setting her tea cup down on the table. "Thank you," she murmured, smiling shyly.

"Don't thank me," he said with a smile, "thank the replicator." Even though his tone remained light, he eyes studied her features carefully, laced with concern on account of her sudden changes in behavior. Since she hadn't gotten over it quickly, he began to debate whether to ask her about what was bothering her.

"I would," she temporized, "but it's been a troublemaker before." She tried a smile, found it didn't feel completely false, and sliced a bit of the cake, nibbling it from her fork. "Oof. Rich." She grinned and dabbed at the strawberry sauce. "Anyway, thank you for the selection, if not the invention." She held up her fork, "Shall we toast? To the replicators, mischievous and not?"

Will laughed and set his fork down, quickly leaning over to take his glass of chardonnay up. "To replicators," he agreed, raising his glass, "may their molecular matrices always align."

"Hear, hear," she agreed and tapped her fork gently against his glass. It pealed sweetly, an light echo of bellsong. She swiped a bit of strawberry from his glass with her thumb and returned to slowly peeling her cheesecake, thin piece by thin piece, making it last. "I can't imagine having only one shift a day. What do you do with all that... time?"

Will didn't answer the question though, he was staring at her. The silence seemed a bit stifling what with his serious expression and all. "Ah, sorry," he said, managing a smile though it didn't quite reach his eyes, "it's an old Earth naval tradition... you never let glasses ring, or bells. Very bad luck, means someone will die." He laughed and set his glass down. "Sorry. I don't usually like stupid superstitions, but it's one of those things you pick up at the Academy."

"I must have missed that day when I was repurposing phasers as grenades." Lilou bit the inside of her cheek, setting down her fork. "I'm sorry. Is there anything to change the luck? Spit over our shoulders and run twice around the ship?"

"Don't be silly," he said, passing on to the next thing. "I don't really believe it. No one does, it's just a tradition is all. What was it you asked? Ah, shifts... well, I've worked double shifts... more a few times, though not regularly. You don't always have double shifts, right?"

"No," Lilou said innocently, shaking her head. "Sometimes I work all three," she added cheerfully, then laughed. "Not on the Galileo, yet, but on the Algonquin... there were weeks at a time I didn't have a shift off. Just naps under the shuttles. Or in the transport between the ship and the rig." She laughed, "So far, here, though... yes. Doubles as far as the eye can see. But that wasn't what I asked. I asked what you do with all that free time."

He looked rather concerned at the idea of her having to work double shifts every night. At least for their holodeck trip, he decided to himself, she would only be working one shift. He would see to it. "Oh, well. I read," he offered, "sometimes go to the holodeck. Study ship schematics and the like. When we are on shoreleave I'll stop by a few bars."

"You sound like me," she said, smiling. "Only with more time to do those things." She shook her head, "An entire afternoon to sit and read... I haven't done that since I was eight. Maybe nine. Must be nice."

"Mhm," Will agreed thoughtfully, savoring the taste of his cheesecake. He swallowed and tilted his head at her. "Don't you do acrobatics or something?"

"Or something," she agreed, cocking an eyebrow at him. "Why, what have you heard?"

"I saw you on the engines and such at the starbase. You remember? I think Quinn have you fixing something?"

Lilou laughed. "Oh, that? That was just climbing." She grinned, ducking her head bashfully. "I like to move. Don't you?"

"Of course," Will replied with a smile, "but not everyone can move like that, you know."

"You can learn." She peeled another bit of cheesecake off. "It just takes time. It took me half a year to learn to do backflips." She laughed quietly. "My mother was concerned I was spending too much time by myself, so she insisted I find something to do with other people. The only options on the station were botany - I'd already had an incident in the arboretum, so that wasn't happening, tae kwon do - but the people in that class were all years older than me and bigger, and a gymnastics program. The other kids were older there too, but I didn't have to worry about needing to compete with them. It was fun. Been useful too. I bet I could teach you, if you wanted."

"Oh goodness," Will said with a laugh, "I can't see myself doing gymnastics. I certainly can't see me learning gymnastics as my age..." he didn't look as old as he made himself sound, but he seemed convinced of the idea.

"Maybe not flips, but there's more to it than that. Balance. Core strength." She shrugged. "You seem like you have a lot of will, Will. You could probably do anything you set your mind to." She smiled, "Having an interest in it, that's a different story. Maybe it's not for everyone."

Will laughed. "Ah, well, we'll just have to see," he said vaguely, "But I think I'd best leave heights to engineers." He gave a sigh and set aside the remains of his cheesecake.

"Heights?" she asked.

"Yes," he replied, "I don't need to be doing summersaults on the warp plasma conduits."

Lilou chuckled, biting her lower lip. "I remember you were quite fond of floating in midair."

Will smiled. "That's different," he said, "you can't fall if there is no gravity."

Fall- Lilou leapt to her feet as she remembered her appointment in sickbay. "Ah- late!" What if the doctor decided she wasn't coming back and then decided to report her injuries and subsequent failure to show up to the appointed time to treat them to the Chief, or worse the XO? "I- I'm sorry. Lost track of time. I have to-" Her eyes widened as she caught sight of the time. "I really have to go." She started for the door, stopped, and came back. "Thank you," she said sincerely. "This was... this was very nice."

Will watched her, bewildered by her sudden change of tone. Had she planned something after their dinner? "Yes, it was," he agreed when she returned, "Thank you."

She ducked her head and then looked at the door. "Told the doc I'd let her fix my bruises at eighteen hundred," she scuffed her toe lightly against the floor. "So I'll... see you tomorrow? Beta?" She pressed her lips together on a small smile and then slipped away.

"Tomorrow." he watched the door for a few seconds once it had closed and then turned away to pick up the desert dishes.

-----
[OFF]

MWO Lilou Peers
Assistant Chief Engineering Officer
USS Galileo

Lt. Cmdr. Chauncey William Remington III
Chief Operations Officer
USS Galileo

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