Eavesdropping

Posted on 02 Mar 2014 @ 9:52pm by Petty Officer 3rd Class Ellsworth Hudson & Lieutenant Elijah Williams IV, M.Sc.

2,918 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: Episode 05 - Solstice
Location: Earth Sciences Division, Starfleet HQ, Earth
Timeline: MD 57 - 0930 hrs

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Ellsworth wasn't the least bit surprised by all the last minute personnel transfers. In fact, he'd come to anticipate waking up in the morning to a whole flurry of last minute everythings from virtually every branch of Starfleet. Here's a new geologist, here's some extra photon torpedoes, here's the new umbilical interface, here's an oceanographer...

But deep down he had to admit he was enjoying the job thus far. Managing the flow of goods and materiel on and off the ship was keeping him busy (and he liked to be busy), but his favorite part was definitely dealing with new personnel. He'd fallen into the habit of actually meeting with them to discuss any special needs, work out the details of the transfer of personal effects and just welcome them to the crew. It made him feel a little bit like the ship's ambassador, which sounded a lot fancier than "quartermaster." Even for him that word conjured up an image of an aged, craggly old man sitting behind a counter refusing to dispense hyperspanners.

The Earth Sciences Division was a whole new world for him. Unsurprisingly, he thought it smelled like dirt the moment he walked through the double doors. Or maybe that was just the lingering scent of landscaping from outside... Hard to tell. He scanned the lobby for the lieutenant he'd arranged to meet and spotted him; Ellsworth knew from the personnel file that he was going to be another devastatingly handsome addition to the crew.

"Hey!" Ellsworth shouted when they made eye contact, probably too loud for the relatively small lobby. He gave him a friendly smile and tried not to be too obvious about sizing him up as he provided his hand in welcome. "I'm Ellsworth, ship's quartermaster. Nice to meet you."

Meeting a new person had always caused Elijah to feel acute anxiety. He always remained composed, but he always felt it in the pit of his stomach. As far back as he could remember this was something he dealt with. This is why he avoided social situations if at all possible. But, meeting the quartermaster of the Galileo was necessary. He was, after all, going to be working with these people. He had to get used to this newness at some point.

Then he spotted the man from across the lobby in which they were to meet. He was just slightly shorter then himself, but the other man barely looked out of his teens. Though he was only 25 himself, the stress and worry he endured most of his life aged him 10 years. At least he felt it, when he looked in the mirror every morning he certainly didn't see a boyish face anymore.

"Elijah," he responded as he took a hold of the offered hand, gave a firm shake then let it fall from his own. "Pleased to meet you."

"So you study rocks, huh? I don't know anything about rocks," Ellsworth said, looking around the lobby and demonstrating in no short order his complete ignorance about the earth sciences.

There was an enormous chunk of rock suspended by some unseen means in the center of the space, and he thought it might have been the sort of formation that dilithium crystals formed in. Or something. Must've been important to just be hanging there. At least it was a work of art in its own crude way unlike the lobby of Starfleet Supply Command, which was about as spartan and dry as the pencil pushers that staffed that branch.

Elijah cupped his hands behind his back and gave a slight now. "I do," he said simply. "But more specifically my focus is on geomorphology which is the study of landforms and the processes that shape the land mass."

Ellsworth was afraid they'd launch into a discussion on geomorphology, and he could only hold his own there for so long. Instead, he gently touched Elijah's upper arm as if to guide him along; it was probably entirely too familiar for a petty officer and a commissioned officer - not to mention between two people who didn't know one another - but he was so naturally informal that those "rules" went over his head (or, more likely, got ignored).

"Can we get a cup of coffee or something in the commissary while we go over the logistical stuff?" he asked, holding his PADD up with a smile. "I've never been in this building before, and I don't have a clue where it is."

"Of course," Elijah lifted a hand to indicate the bank of turbolifts that sat to the south of the entrance. The two only waited a few moments and a car came to a slow stop and the two stepped inside. "Level four," he called out and a soft beep followed. He himself hadn't really gone to the cafeteria that often, he stuck mostly to himself having lunches in the small break room of the main geology lab. A few moments later, they were off the lift and heading toward the cafeteria. "Nothing too fancy here," Elijah said as the glass doors parted to reveal a rather standard looking eating area. The only redeeming quality of the drab interior was the bank of windows that overlooked the city. "How do you take your coffee?"

"With a lot of sugar and cream," Ellsworth said, winking. Once they were seated, he placed his PADD on the table and activated its screen. He sipped from the coffee, finding it still a little too hot, and gave the PADD a passing glance. "This is your first space assignment? Mine, too! Are you excited about it? Have you been off Earth before?"

Elijah sat there a moment letting the questions sink it. For a brief moment he had wondered if he was sitting in front of a journalist and not a quartermaster of a Federation starship. "This is my first deep space assignment and I am looking forward to it," he answered. "I have been off Earth, but only for training exercises while at the Academy. I was also called to Mars a year ago to help with some research there." He picked up his mug and sipped at the contents. He opted for tea instead, coffee always tasted so bitter but over the years he certainly had drank his fair share. Though there was a barrage of questions, Elijah allowed himself to relax against the back of the chair. The man sitting across from him seemed harmless enough, at least enough for him to relax his guard.

Ellsworth nodded in response and took a long drink of his coffee, eyeing Elijah over the rim of the cup. He reminded him of a science officer who did some cross-training with him on Deneb. They'd called him "Hermie," apparently a reference to some Terran crustacean that preferred life inside the comfort of its shell. In fact, many of the scientists he'd met seemed to be introverts, but that was okay. Introverts were just interesting challenges for Ellsworth.

"Do you have any things in storage you'd like transferred to the Galileo, or just your personal effects from the Academy?" Ellsworth asked. He grinned a little bit in anticipation of his own joke. "I even have room in one of the cargo bays if you'd like to bring some rock samples along, although I don't think there are quite enough cubic meters for an entire landmass."

Elijah wasn't sure the quartermaster was trying to make a joke and if so then he certainly didn't get it. He wouldn't question it, so it now was just some fleeting thought. However, he did mirror the slight grin and shook his head. "No, nothing in storage, but I do have some personal effects that I would like brought on board." He gave an address of an apartment in the Mission District, then hesitated. "I have to admit I don't really know the procedure on how all this works, when I moved into my apartment I moved the stuff myself. I mean, I don't really have much so I can easily bring it myself."

"Sure, you can always do that, too. Saves some poor crewman or transporter chief the bother of rounding them up and forwarding them on to the ship," Ellsworth replied, making a notation in the file. "We could have done this in less than a minute over the commlink, but that seems really impersonal to me. I like to actually welcome people to the ship; it's pretty small, so I think we'll all be seeing quite a bit of one another."

"The personal touch is nice," Elijah said as his grin turned to a full smile. To him, 24th century citizens had gotten away from common niceties, especially when it came to things like personal welcomes and invites. Comms were all well and good, but Elijah still preferred the old fashioned method of meeting someone face to face. Though, for him at least, it was much easier to hide behind a commbadge. "Well, getting to know people in such a close environment is a good thing."

"I couldn't agree more; otherwise, I would have had to wait who knows how long to find out what a charming accent you have, lieutenant. Maybe I can convince the captain to let you do the shipboard announcements." Ellsworth leaned forward on the table and gave a smile that was definitely overly familiar. "So, will you need any special arrangements? Spouse, children, pets, anyone or anything else moving in with you?"

Charming accent? It had been odd to hear such a thing, he had thought his accent had diminished over the years now that he hadn't lived in Georgia anymore. Apparently not. He shook his head. "No, I'm not married or have any children... It's just me."

"Just you? That makes room assignments easier," Ellsworth said, trying not to sound overly excited about adding another handsome single man to the ship's roster. He took his coffee cup and drained the remainder of the liquid before letting it rest on the saucer again. "So what do you like to do, lieutenant? In your downtime? Geomorphology can't be completely all-consuming. Some of the crew seem to organize special interest groups, sports and whatnot. I'm happy to facilitate an introduction to the softball team, so on and so forth..."

"I honestly don't have many interests, work can take up a lot of my time," Elijah said. He knew it sounded lame, but sometimes research really did require ones undivided attention. "Most of my interests are solitary in nature, books, art, that kind of thing." It wouldn't be worth mentioning how much he enjoyed the outdoors, especially on a starship. "Though, being on a ship with such a small population, I am bound to get involved in activities outside of the lab." He said that more to placate the younger man than the actual truth.

Ellsworth deactivated his PADD; without prying, he could guess that Elijah's introverted nature wasn't keen on coffee chats with strange men but he felt compelled to ramble on anyway at the mention of books. "I love reading! There's nothing better than curling up in your bunk with a good book. Do you have a favorite genre? I like romance and adventure... Well, maybe more romance now than adventure. I used to read a lot of adventure novels when I was younger, back on Betazed. They're what inspired me to... To, uh, leave. The planet, Betazed. And join Starfleet, for a life of adventure."

"It's always a good thing when books provide that kind of inspiration," Elijah said as he smiled. "I tend to lean more toward literature, I have a few first editions. Which, believe me, took a long time and money to acquire. But, they are my most prized possessions." As a kid, his nose was always in a book, his parents had a whole library of them. PaDDs and other information devices were only used when needed. Listening to the quartermaster talk about the genres he liked has actually piqued his curiosity. "Romance? What type do you read?"

"Oh, gosh, I could never afford anything like that. I hope you aren't bringing them on the ship... Something could happen," Ellsworth said, looking concerned before the question came. Then his cheeks flushed red, and he gave a sheepish grin. "Uh, sometimes trashy ones. But I like classic romantic works, too. Most of the things I could get my hands on when I was younger were Terran, so Cunningham from the late 21st-century. Some earlier stuff, too, but the language of the older stuff was sometimes very dense and difficult for me to understand." He paused to think, tapping a finger on the table. "I like Vulcan poetry, too. I think there's a real understated passion there, although they don't seem to let it out in their personality at all. Of course."

"Sometimes the most dispassionate ones are the most passionate," Elijah said. He now would needed to rethink about whether or not he was going to bring his most prized possessions. They would be safe on Earth, they would be his legacy to his family if something happened. "Do you do any writing yourself? Poetry, short stories, creative writing?"

"Me?" Ellsworth asked, looking a little surprised at the question. "Oh, no. Not really... I mean, maybe a story here or there. But I'm more of a consumer than a producer. I don't think my writing is very good. What about you? Do you write?"

Elijah nodded. "I do, not as much these days as I did in my younger days though," he recalled some memories of his teenage years. He wrote constantly, journaled several times a day. Some of his writing was full of angst, other times just creative. He recalled winning a contest at his school for best creative short story, his parents never even bothered to show up for the little ceremony. "It's a good creative outlet, especially when you are surrounded by rocks and dirt most of your day."

Ellsworth frowned, creasing his brow in confusion and concern. He usually tried to ignore his empathic abilities, but the cafeteria was largely empty so the "emotional static" in the background wasn't as intense as it usually was. Inadvertently, he'd been paying a lot more attention to Elijah's emotional state than he normally would.

"Why wouldn't your parents come to that?" he blurted, so concerned about it he didn't even recognize a breach of decorum. Ellsworth's lack of parental involvement had made him hyper-critical of the parenting skills of others, even to an irrational extent, and it seemed absolutely ridiculous to him that someone wouldn't want to embrace the achievements and interests of their offspring.

The outburst caught Elijah off guard and his eyes went wide as realization just dawned on him. "Are you reading my thoughts?" he asked. He tensed and his jaw clenched. He certainly didn't want anyone digging into his deepest, most private thoughts.

Ellsworth blinked; his first instinct was to lie given the reaction it received, but there didn't seem to be a lie in the world capable of covering for him. He tensed in response and looked distraught. "I didn't mean to... Sometimes it just happens. It's not really something I can control, I mean, not like other Betazoids. I'm not even good at it!" His eyes seemed to be pleading for understanding, but he also looked like he was ready to bolt for the door. "It's only cuz there aren't many people here, and I'm just sensitive to that kind of thing... And. I shouldn't have said anything. Or even done it in the first place. I'm so sorry, lieutenant..."

Elijah's first impulse was to get the hell out of there, he felt violated but the more rational side of him stayed and listened. There were parts of him he that he kept to himself, hidden... childhood memories, personal stuff, what he thought, who he thought about and what he thought about when he was alone and in bed and needed release. "It's okay," he said in a low tone. "I am just a pretty private person, it just caught me off guard is all."

Ellsworth cleared his throat. "I'm sorry, again. There are a few other Betazoids on board, but they're all a little more...Betazoidy...than me. So they're not likely to go blurting out loud your inner thoughts." He felt sufficiently embarrassed to want to leave and hope he didn't have to run into the lieutenant for awhile lest the whole sense of embarrassment be renewed. He reached for his PADD and started to push his chair back from the table. "I should probably be going, sir."

"I should as well," Elijah said as he rose from his chair. He extended a hand, "it was a pleasure to meet you Ellsworth. I am sure we will see each other again." The Galileo was a small ship, it was bound to happen.

"Same to you, Lieutenant Williams," Ellsworth said, taking the hand in a quick shake. He'd much rather have melted into the floor, or, better yet, reversed time and not blurted out the poor man's thoughts. And to do it with one of the most private crewmen he'd encountered so far at that... But it was done and like with so many things he would just have to live with it.

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PO3 Ellsworth Hudson
Quartermaster
USS Galileo

&

Lieutenant JG Elijah Williams IV
Geologist
USS Galileo

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