Nose to Nose

Posted on 19 Sep 2014 @ 3:18am by Lieutenant Elijah Williams IV, M.Sc.
Edited on on 19 Sep 2014 @ 10:58am

1,684 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Episode 06 - Legend of Souls
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 4, randon Jeffries Tube
Timeline: MD9, 1330 hours

[ON]

Dragging the bag along with him, not quite sure why he was sent into the Jeffries tubes in the first place when really he should be spending time with the pilots - in his opinion anyway but hey who cared about a teenager's opinion? - Wintrow crawled through the cramped space. It was really a miracle he wasn't claustrophobic, even though, now that he thought about it, maybe they just sent him because he was lithe and wiry in constitution.

He sighed, shaking his head, nearly bashing it into the ceiling of the tube. He startled when he heard a loud squealing noice and bashed his head into the ceiling anyway. "Ow!" he cried out, nearly planting his left hand into another tribble. He shoved the critter into the bag and started crawling again, making sure to keep his head down now, just in case.

His knees hurt. So did the palms of his hands. Elijah dragged an engineering kit behind him though at the moment it had been of little use to him. The Tribbles had clogged everything. The Galileo had been totally take over. Though he didn't like the idea of Tribbles being blown out into space - which was a popular opinion these days - he was starting to warm to the idea. "Why be a geologist when you can be a Tribble hunter," he mumbled to himself as he made his was, slowly, down the jeffries tubes.

The one single word, 'ow', rang out and bounced around the duranium bulkheads of the jeffires tubes. Elijah looked up and saw a man he didn't recognize not to far from him in the shaft. "Hi there," he said in his normal timbre, knowing full well his voice would still echo.

It was almost as if the geologist was looking at a deer caught in a car's headlights when Wintrow suddenly looked up, dark eyes wide with fright. He backed up a little as he heard, then saw the stranger. "Wha-what?" he stammered, trying to sit up a second time, and bashing his head yet again. "Oh.. hi.." Yet the teenager sat frozen, not quite sure what to do but rub his head.

Jeez this kid is more skittish then I am, Elijah thought to himself and would keep such a comment to himself. Who was he to judge anyway. "Hey," he said, offering a bit of a smile. He looked to where there was a large sack of, he presumed, Tribbles. "They have you scouring the ship I see." He pushed some Tribbles out of the way and moved into a position to sit and lean back. He almost sighed in relief. "I'm Elijah Williams, what's your name?"

"Wintrow Paragon." The boy answered, breathing heavily as he too sat back and again rubbed his head. "I'm sorry, you startled me."

"It's good to meet you," Elijah said. "I apologize that I startled you, it wasn't my intent." He fell silent for a moment and kind of studied their surroundings. Jeffries tubes were claustrophobic to begin with, adding Tribbles just made it somehow worse. He wanted to groan in defeat and despair. He still had some serious doubts about whether the crew of the Galileo was going to win the war against the Tribbles. "Are you new to the Galileo?" He was fairly new himself, but he also knew there were others who came on board after him. This Wintrow Paragon could be one of those newly transferred.

Wintrow nodded slowly. "Temporary assignment from the Sarek," he
answered, his dark eyes fixed on his companion. "You don't like it in here," he stated out of the blue, while scooping up several more tribbles. They cooed and purred as he gently put them in the bag.

At first Elijah was caught off but quickly composed. "Not very many people do," he said. He studied the younger man for a moment. "Part Betazoid?"

The boy nodded. "Half," he elaborated, "and I don't mind it in here. If there weren't so many Tribbles anyway. It keeps the support craft confined to the bay, too dangerous to launch I think... I'm a pilot. You?"

"Geologist," Elijah said. He shrugged. "Normally I don't mind Jefferies tubes either, they are good places to hide out and be alone... but, it's been a rough couple of days. Nerves are kind of frayed."

"Ah... I just got here really, and I had a very unnerving meeting earlier today. It's been a while since I've felt so...unwanted." Wintrow bowed his head. "My mentor calls me 'kid' and others refer to me as a child. It's degrading, and it makes me feel as if they don't want me there."

"Hmm well that seems unfortunate," Elijah said as he eyed the young man. "You don't seem like a kid to me. I doubt I'm even much older then you even." He felt a Tribble start to crawl onto his uniform boot, he moved his foot promptly and the Tribble moved. "I'm sorry, adults tend to act like that. I'm not sure why."

"I'm nineteen," Wintrow supplied softly, "and I started flying when I was seventeen. Its just...I don't know anyone here, and I miss my friends. And my boyfriend... my brother, he's the chief counselor. My brother in law...everyone."

Again Elijah nodded. "I envy you Wintrow, having people to miss, I don't really have that." If the younger man probed his mind, or whatever, he would tell that he was telling the truth. "So then why here on temporary assignment? Are we short staff on pilots?"

"My captain, she wanted me to broaden my horizons. Meet more people too." Wintrow looked away for a moment, a look on his face that made him look much younger than his actual age. it showed that the young man was, emotionally speaking, much younger than he appeared intellectually. "Why don't you have anyone to miss? Don't you have family? My family is..not really my family. My real family, I have a half sister who I have hidden away safely from the clutches of her mother, and a grandfather I barely know. Alex..is not really my brother, but it feels that way the way he treats me. He's really my guardian." The words just came tumbling out, Wintrow didn't really know why he was telling all this to a virtual stranger. But somehow...it felt right. Safe.

"I have family," Elijah affirmed. "But, I don't miss them and I guarantee they don't miss me, well..." he paused as he thought about his brothers. He did miss them. "I miss my brothers and they probably miss me too." He waved off the thought with his hand. "It's good you found others who you consider family. That is extremely important. It means you have someone to turn to when you need them."

"But they're not here," Wintrow murmured, looking away, "here, I'm all alone, and I don't seem to have a roommate assigned yet either. Maybe they're making me move soon, I don't know but so far I seem to be on my own. "

"Well, if you are only here on a temporary assignment the operations may not have thought to put you in with anyone," Elijah said. "Or, because of all that is going on no one is thinking about room assignments. But don't you know, you aren't alone anymore," he smiled and the younger man. "You just made a new friend."

"No, I'm not alone anymore," Wintrow agreed, casting the other young man a genuine smile. "Thank you." He gestured around them. "Shall we finish up this tube together? Maybe we can take a break afterwards and go eat something. I'm starving."

"That works for me," Elijah said. Truth was, he was just as hungry, rations would be better then nothing. Unless there were some replicators working, he wasn't sure. "I just have to check on a sensor relay then I will be set. So far, the sensor relays I have checked haven't been at peak performance, I doubt this next will be." He pulled his tricorder from it's holster. "It shouldn't take me but a few minutes to finish."

"Not surprising," Wintrow offered knowingly, "with all these furries everywhere, it's a small wonder anything is still functional. "Where do you need to be? Maybe I can clear the way for you." He sighed. "Will this ship ever be free of these things however adorable they are?" A small smile touched his youthful features again. "They do have a rather soothing effect, don't you think?" Even though his features were young, his dark eyes showed he was intellectually futher along than his actual age, even if his emotional display rather showed the opposite: he was behind on that front.

"They had a soothing effect two days ago," Elijah commented as he turned and got back onto his hands and knees. "Now, not so much." He gave a nod to his head in the direction he was going. "I just have to head to junction 42B, just right down that way." He began to wade through the few Tribbles the younger man hadn't collected and made his way to where he needed. He sat facing the bulkhead and pulled a small panel from it. As suspected there were Tribbles. He lifted his tricorder, opened it and began to do a scan. As he suspected the sensory relay was down in efficiency.

Closing up the tricorder, he pulled a PaDD from his kit and made a note. He pushed the PaDD and tricrder into the kit and headed back to Wintrow. "Alright, that's done. It was as expected, down in efficiency." He paused and shrugged. "Are you all set for that lunch?"

"Yes sir," the teenager responded with a nod. "I just have no clue on where to find that lunch, if you direct the way that'd be appreciated."

Elijah smiled. "Gladly."

[OFF]

Lieutenant JG Elijah Williams, IV
Geologist
USS Galileo

Cadet SO Wintrow Paragon
Support Craft Pilot
USS Galileo
[PNPC Murray]

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