Just Good Fun or Foolish Risks, Part 1

Posted on 22 Dec 2014 @ 5:28am by Lieutenant JG Cyrin Xanth & Commander Andreus Kohl & Lieutenant Elijah Williams IV, M.Sc. & Lieutenant JG Grayson Jones & Petty Officer 3rd Class Ellsworth Hudson
Edited on on 22 Dec 2014 @ 5:29am

2,679 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Episode 07 - Sojourn
Location: Starbase 84, Airlock 23
Timeline: MD 20, 1255 Hours

[ON]

About two days after the Galileo had docked at Starbase 84, Cyrin had put up an advertisement on the station's local network, and today was the day that he would see what came of it. Some people had contacted him to confirm while others he suspected would show up alone. That was, if anyone showed up. Cyrin had a brief moment of panic thinking that he'd be the only one. At least, he reasoned, no one will see you look ashamed for trying. Currently he waited by the little-used Airlock 23 of the base, a little out of the way from the main traffic in the system, but not too far for what he had in mind.

"Have you ever wanted to try out the sport of ion surfing, but never had the opportunity? Now is your chance! An avid fan and instructor is on board Starbase 84 until the Galileo ships out. No past experience necessary, but good stamina and health a must! This Tuesday, at 1300 Hours, meet at Airlock 23 for a tour of the system's most bodacious ion waves and to make new friends. Equipment, punch, and pie will be provided."

Cyrin had obsessed over the wording of the advertisement for weeks when he'd first come on board the station, and eventually realized that no matter how he worded it it was still going to sound like the foolhardy idea that it was. Ion surfing was a well-known but dangerous sport, if it even deserved that according to the majority of the population. While most kept to riding the gentler, less-forgiving waves of charged ions sent off into space on a mild star, there were plenty who took the sport to greater challenges. The surfers who rode along the impulse wake of passing ships had given it a bad name as there'd been plenty of public coverage of collisions of surfers and ships.

Now, Cyrin wore a shining metallic suit of form-fitting material that hugged his form everywhere from the neck down. It was the EVA suit prefered by iron surfers, with light mass and not bulky in the least so one could move as quick as possible; even the oxygen tanks would only add a little to the overall equipment's mass. He moved to check the equipment he'd had manufactured or replicated for today; there were a number of polymetallic surfboards, larger and longer than traditional water-surfing, stacked against the wall. In front of those were neatly-stacked suits like the one Cyrin wore in various sizes, oxygen tanks and light-mass magnetized boots. There was even a large container full of food and drink for people to share while he gave his safety intro.

The colors rippled through the visible spectrum for most humanoids, a rainbow display on a silvery background, as he moved and checked the gear and food. With his muscular, athletic figure and handsome face, and the way the material of the suit molded itself to his impressive form, Cyrin might make a striking figure but he was certainly not aware of it. If anything, his face showed nervousness that no one was going to show. Ellsworth had seemed intrigued by the idea when he'd suggested it when they'd hung out the other night, but the idea of being alone with the ship's quartermaster still could bring a blush to his cheeks. Today was supposed to be about fun, not worrying about...other things.

If no one showed, Cyrin was prepared to go out alone even though that was even more risky than the sport itself. Having a spotter and backup was useful, even when keeping it safe and avoiding shipping traffic, as even the comparatively gentle waves sent out by a star could sometimes be enough to bludgeon a humanoid as close as the surfing would be. But after years of having the opportunity to surf, there was no way the Trill was going to miss this opportunity.

With a custom sporting environmental suit, helmet in hand, Grayson strode towards the airlock. Like most tailor made suits, it was form fitting, showing off all his work in the gym. The environmental system was more compact as it had less to carry and not as many situations to worry about. The suit was black despite a highlighted white stripe on either side of the suit which almost followed the same line of his trill spots.

This was something new for Grayson, he was not particularly the sporting type...unless you count dating those who were. It was part of his new ditch effort to finally settle in, call somewhere home and make lasting friendships. He strode in with the air and confidence of a commanding officer and perched himself against the nearest wall, using a leg to brace himself. "Grayson Jones, nice to meet you." He said, extending a hand as he noticed he was not alone.

Watching the first person enter the airlock, Cyrin suffered a mild shock. With as big as the galaxy was, the odds seemed so improbable as to stun him, and a part of his mind began to try to work out the math. It had been some time, years even, but not so long ago that he didn't remember Grayson Jones. The full Trill's face began to heat up and turn red as he remembered.

"Hi," he replied, shaking the offered hand. "Cyrin Xanth. A pleasure." There hadn't seemed to be any recognition in Grayson's tone, and Cyrin hoped it might stay that way.

"A pleasure to meet you as well." Grayson replied, giving his best winning smile. Something about him seemed familiar, but for now he could not quite place his finger on it. He figured it would come back to him in time.

The Trill looked nervous for some reason, and excused himself with some muttering about double-checking on the equipment. In reality, he'd probably checked everything over a dozen times each, but it did give him a good excuse to get away from that smile. Was he...not at me, no. You read far too much into things, Xanth. Just like Ells the other day.

It was Andreus Kohl's voice that intruded on the pair before his physical presence turned three into a crowd. "Oh hell, I'm overdressed," he announced, from some ways down the corridor. As he padded closer to the airlock designated as twenty-three, it became apparent that Kohl was indeed dressed in the relatively-drab black and grey suit that Starfleet called a uniform. As soon as Kohl had come close enough to see the other men clearly, he flashed a grin at Cyrin Xanth, but when he tilted his head to grin at Jones, his mouth ended up hanging open in mild surprise. Kohl waved an index finger at Jones, and he said, "Hey hey, it's-- it's-- you. It's, um, it's shower guy, it's-- it's-- Oh, it's Ensign Grayson."

Cyrin had nodded his acknowledgement of Kohl's presence, but then retreated to check on the food for the tenth time since he'd arrived at the airlock when it appeared that Grayson and the newcomer knew each other as well. That part wasn't surprising, as Cyrin knew plenty about Grayson's Academy background and his...easy way of making friends. Cyrin couldn't help but overhear of course. Shower guy? Cyrin began to wonder what exactly that meant. Then he thought better of it. He really, really didn't want to know. There'd be time enough for introductions later.

"I hope the arboretum is functioning back to normal, no more floods," Grayson laughed. He decided he better clear the story up incase anyone got the wrong idea, "I was soaked and freezing after an engineering repair that involved a lot of water, after it I went back to shower...alone," he quickly tacked on the alone at the end, as much as he wished he wasn't at the time.

Ellsworth was a few minutes late, mostly from messing with his hair. He'd replicated what the computer said he should wear for ion surfing, but it was a really awkward fit and the helmet had wrecked his hair when he'd tried it on. He followed the sound of voices to the airlock, high-stepping in a bizarre fashion from the strange feeling of the suit, then crossed the threshold upon arrival. He grinned when he saw Cyrin, grinned a little bigger when he saw Grayson and then wiped the grin off his face when he saw Kohl. He was a full lieutenant. And he had his uniform on. Were they in trouble already?

"Oh, you had suits already," Ellsworth said, almost whining, when he saw the equipment Cyrin had brought with him. He'd replicated this stupid thing and waddled all the way down here for nothing.

When Kohl spotted young Ellsworth waddling over in a modified environmental suit, Kohl muttered, "Oh, come on," to himself. Refusing to be the odd man out any longer, Kohl stomped over to the table of EV suits and turned his back to the bulkhead. Kohl pulled his black jacket and teal tunic open down the front, and shrugged his way out of both of them. He dropped both garments to the floor and kicked them under the table. He yanked his undershirt off over his head, and once he got his tops off, he bent down to pull off his boots.

The Trill scientist brightened when he saw Ellsworth, and then his smile started to become a little more wicked seeing how uncomfortable the young man was. "The ad I put up did say equipment would be provided," Cyrin replied apologetically, though he was obviously enjoying this, as he approached to greet his new friend. The way he moved in his own suit, Cyrin didn't seem to be having much trouble at all. "But I'm glad you could make it..." He trailed off as Kohl started changing right there, and swallowed hard. Cyrin had figured people might use the privacy of the airlock itself! "I er...I mean, how you doing Ells?" Cyrin forced himself to look anywhere but over by the equipment.

"I'm great," Ellsworth said, quickly throwing his arms around Cyrin in a hug. He caught a glance of Kohl over his shoulder and even he averted his eyes; oggling a junior officer hardly seemed appropriate, even for him. "This was such a great idea! I hope I don't drift off and get lost. That won't happen, right? Someone will come get me..."

Cyrin had yet again at the hug, and returned it with a unpracticed pat on the back. He really needed to get his cheeks under control. "N-n-no, you won't g-get lost," he tried to reassure the young quartermaster though his wasn't the voice of confidence of course.

Beside the equipment table, Kohl's trousers came off him next. No one was looking closely enough to notice the motor-assist bands he left strapped to his legs. And then he began the wriggly journey of squeezing himself one of the form-fitting environmental suits.

"Hey Ellsworth. Nice to see you here," Grayson winked, a little unsure how much Ellsworth wanted him to let on the extent of their friendship and previous encounters, he'd keep friendly and flirty for now. Wait until there was a chance to talk alone and then discuss things of a more private nature further.

"Hi, Grayson," Ellsworth replied, giving a completely normal smile and even tilting his head quizzically at the wink. He leaned in to give the other Trill a long, friendly hug, which of course seemed quite natural . In the process he managed to position his head well enough to discreetly nibble at the spots running along the length of Grayson's neck, out of view of Cyrin, moving just a step or two beyond what might be called "gentle" but being sure not to leave any marks. When he pulled back, there was no small amount of mischief in his eyes. He had some ideas about where things were headed between them, likely more platonic than romantic, but that shouldn't stop him from having a little fun. "Nice to see you here, too. Are you excited?"

Grayson shuddered, his spots, while not as full as a pure Trills, were just if not a little more sensitive. He enjoyed the stolen display of affection but had to admit to himself that he was beginning to think of Ellsworth as a potential good friend here, even he shocked himself with that admission. "It is something new, something I want to be trying."

Cyrin had been busy while the others chatted, and as soon as Kohl had finished changing - the Trill most certainly did not look - he started passing out some of the food he'd replicated and packed. Cyrin had brought an assortment of sandwiches and hot raktajino, more than enough for everyone to get their fill. It was time to get started on the safety instruction so he talked while they ate, as solar scans indicated the system's star would be reaching an ideal peak of some gentle ion waves for their first time out. He kept it short, and to the point. Never lose sight of your buddies, never lose your board, and for the love of whatever gods or philosophies they held dear if they should get struck by something too intense, relax.

Many ion surfers wound up injured or worse because they had tensed up, snapped bones and organs alike though he didn't go into that detail. It was likely a well known fact that people who did this were crazy to begin with. But the trick of it was, if the leader did call out a warning about intense concentrations of ionized particles moving fast enough to hurt, relaxing could prevent a lot of damage. Oh, there'd be bruises and likely a few broken bones in most cases, but nothing serious in his mind.

Once the brief lecture was over, Cyrin encouraged them each to stretch out thoroughly. Staying limber and loose was important out there, he'd likely stressed that a dozen times. Then he walked around the group to begin checking that everything was secure and had the others check his own gear. Each person had an oxygen supply good for six hours, a helmet with a short-range comm system, a tether that connected them to their boards. Cyrin also carried a tricorder, attached to the outside of his suit, that he'd use to scan for the invisible waves.

Satisfied at last, he paused before opening the airlock to speak over the shared comm and there was an eager sound in his voice, "Is everybody ready?"

"I'm feeling limber," Kohl chimed in his response. "And my protective equipment is all working."

Elijah Williams hadn't really planned on doing this. He wasn't one to join groups of people on outings, he preferred to do things on his own or with people he really knew. But, there was a change in him, a change he couldn't exactly put a finger on. The mission to Lyshan had tested him, pushed him to his mental limit and he made it through. He could have lost his life and yet he came out of it, a better man. He had already tried a couple of different things since arriving at the starbase and now he decided to give ion surfing a try. He never even heard of the sport but in his mind he couldn't imagine it'd be any harder than actual surfing. The problem though, was that he was running late for the appointed time. He sprinted down the corridor at a steady pace and reached his destination in no time. He saw the assembled group and he felt better he knew all that were there. "I'm sorry I'm late," he said.


[OFF]

To Be Continued


Lieutenant Commander Andreus Kohl
Chief Research Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant Elijah Williams, IV
Geologist
USS Galileo

Ensign Cyrin Xanth
Astrophysicist
USS Galileo

Lieutenant JG Grayson Jones
Asst Chief Engineering Officer
USS Galileo

PO3 Ellsworth Hudson
Quartermaster
USS Galileo
[PNPC - Mott]

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