Only Stars for Company

Posted on 15 Sep 2015 @ 3:11am by Lieutenant JG Cyrin Xanth & Jynn

1,948 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Episode 09 - Empires
Location: Outside the USS Galileo, on the hull behind the Main Deflector
Timeline: MD 04 2350 Hours

[ON]

Cyrin's magnetic boots made a familiar thump sound as he made his way slowly across the dull grey hull of the ship. He'd left the airlock far behind where had sort of snuck out after donning his EVA suit. It wasn't a standard Starfleet issue suit, but his personal one that was far less bulky and even flashy with its bold silver and blue colours, its sharp stripes. Even the helmet and boots were as slim as the rest of his surfing EVA suit. It was sleek and fast looking, the suit of a sportsman rather than that of an astronaut out to perform mundane activities. The only piece missing was his surfboard, left behind in his quarters as his plan this night didn't involve life-threatening stunts.

Cyrin wasn't confident that his little space-walk wasn't going to land him in trouble in the first place. Cyrin needed it though. Though he appreciated all the work he'd been given, the mystery he had to unravel, and even the assignments out of the ordinary that Commander Kohl was giving him, when he needed to wind down and the holodecks were offline there was only one place to go. Some crewmen spoke of a 'sweet spot' inside the ship where different gravity fields interacted to create a zero-gee pocket.

Why bother with that, Cryin wondered, when he could get as close to space as possible like this. There was no sound except his own steady breathing, the faint noise of his boots, and the increasing and comforting vibrations of the deflector dish as he drew closer. This was where he could find true peace.

Yet, when he finally mounted the last curve on the underside of Galileo's saucer, Cyrin found that he wasn't alone. There was a figure sitting almost exactly in the Trill's spot and wearing one of the bulky white pressure suits. In his last year on the ship not once had Cyrin encountered anyone out here before. It was shocking, strange, and even vaguely annoying. As Cyrin drew closer, was able to get this person's attention, he held up four fingers then tapped at his helmet to indicate a communications frequency he was already on.

The face that stared back at him looked so lost in thought that he appeared as though he was on a different asteroid entirely, floating through space in solitude. Jynn had been absorbing the comforting vibrations of Galileo's singing, her monotone hum soothing his modulating mind. The interruption was not exactly welcome, but he showed no distaste towards his new visitor in this most unlikely of places. He brought up his hand in acknowledgement, bringing his frequency to synch up with the other's, but he did not say a word. He just continued to examine the person who shared in the knowledge of one of his most sacred of places.

The fancy-suited Trill took a few more steps so that he might sit at least relatively close to his spot. He lowered himself to the hull using leg and core muscles as the gravity was so negligible it required strength to bend and move around in. He situated himself, his long legs stretched out before him with just the heels in magnetic contact, one hand holding onto a rung nearby that was part of the locking system for the deflector. He too didn't say anything, at least at first. Cyrin looked out at the stars so close and so far away, and felt his troubles start to lessen.

About ten minutes had gone by in silence, the only difference for Cyrin's ritual being that there was someone there, that he could just barely hear the other's breathing. It wasn't so bad as Cyrin had suspected it might be.

"How'd you find this?" he asked at last, obviously meaning the spot.

"The same way you did," Jynn replied rather cryptically; Assumingly.

Cyrin hesitated a moment, then nodded and chuckled. Necessity. Seclusion. A place to witness perfection without using scanners and view screens, holographic displays or reports. For Cyrin it was to forget about studying it and to just let it be, a way to feel like a part of something so much larger than himself. He turned his helmet towards that vast dark sky.

“I can see my home from here,” Jynn said through a chuckle he simply could not suppress as he pointed to a spot in the stars. What could not be seen by the man near him, however, was the look of sadness in his eyes as he pointed. Home was feeling closer with each passing hour and, for Jynn, there wasn't much worse of a feeling he could feel. “You?”

The Trill was slow to respond again. How to put into speech what this was for him? He was no good with words or expressing himself but he felt that upswell of emotion that always came with sitting out here. It was powerful and profound, and any words seemed insufficient to the task. However, the man sitting nearby had used one word...

"Home," Cyrin said at last, but he spread his free arm wide as if to try to encompass infinity with a gesture.

Jynn became audibly choked up for a second as his co-occupant spoke. It was a very Jynn-like answer. How unfortunate that this probably would not be the case for himself any longer. “I couldn't have said it better myself,” he said as he turned to face the man with the strange EVA suit, offering a small smile in reply to his words.

Cyrin turned his own head after noting the movement from the corner of his helmet, made eye contact finally. It was hard to see much detail, the reflection of deflector-light upon the transparent aluminium of the other man's helmet being an issue. Cyrin saw an upward lift of lips, but he had heard more. Somehow this man was so sad while sitting out here. "How is that even possible?" Cyrin asked aloud without thinking.

Huh? Jynn began to think. Was this a challenge of his ways of speech? Perhaps a compliment on how verbose he was perceived to be? Who was this guy, anyway? “Well, I do suppose I could have said it a bit differently. 'From the center of the singularity that started it all to the outer reaches of it's distant and expanding future. From here,'” he said as he pointed from one point in the sky to the other, “'to here. And beyond. From all that we see to all that we feel. That is my home. Our home.'”

The young man flushed inside his helmet, not from being misunderstood, but from having his own thoughts he had such trouble expressing said back to him, elegant in their simplicity. "I meant uh..." Would it be rude to speak of his observation? Somehow it didn't seem like it would be; they shared something so deep already without knowing each other that it would be so small a thing. "Why does all this give you so much pain?"

“To leave it all. To be stuck there,” he said as he pointed back at the first spot he had pointed to, though from the other person's angle it may not have been obvious. “All of this taken away. That is what pains me most.”

To lose this chance to witness eternity in all it's painfully beautiful glory? Cyrin pulled in on himself, wrapped his arms around his knees and hugged them to his chest. It made him tremble enough that it was visible through the thin material of his suit. What to say to that? There was nothing he could do to make that any less horrible.

"You can't let that happen," came his unbidden response, surprisingly vehement from one who had seemed only timid and subdued until now.

“I'm afraid I don't have much say in the matter.” The chances of Jynn staying in space had certainly become rather slim, but for the moment he wanted to enjoy what could be one of his last chances to be so close to space itself. Fortunately, the addition of another person had the potential to make it more enjoyable than his current situation of being lost in his own thoughts. “Well, you can probably tell why I am out here. What brings you out here this lovely evening?” And it certainly was evening for the moment, but the asteroid's gentle spin had assured that it would be daytime once more in a few minutes.

"I need to put things into perspective." He gazed out at the vast expanse. There was so much happening in his life right now. Content to work in the background, silent and efficient over the last year; he'd spent that year investigating astronomical phenomena without making any sort of waves or even much impression on anyone. His free time was spent on work or alone. Now, suddenly Cyrin found himself thrust headfirst into being so involved with their current situation, forced to interact with the crew he'd been hiding from all this time. All his issues, his difficulties of dealing with people, were coming to a head as well. "I'm so overwhelmed I feel like I could just explode. But being out here it's..." Again, Cyrin didn't have the words, and he turned his helmet to the other man, wondering if yet again this person would be able to articulate these thoughts.

What the man had said was already obvious to Jynn. He could feel it. The man was almost like a ticking time-bomb. He was just so bundled up with pent up everything, not wanting to blow up inside the ship. Jynn supposed this was an appropriate feeling. Explosions in ships where usually pretty bad. “But being out here you can explode.”

It was almost like permission. Cyrin used his core muscles to manoeuvre himself into a new position. His feet were flat against the deck, holding him in place, his knees bent, his back against the hull. He looked out once more. His life was meant to categorise all of what he saw out there, to make sense of it, to break it down into mathematics and terminology. Ultimately, no matter how hard Cyrin worked, he'd never truly be able to explain the feeling it gave him to sit here on the sweet spot on the hull of a ship, looking out at the stars.

There came a deep and trembling sigh, letting all of it go into the boundless space before him. For a moment there was a fierce torrent of stress and emotion, confused thoughts and worries. Then silence.

Jynn could feel his radiating emotions. There was quite a lot of energy being put out. He certainly had more than enough of his own emotions to keep his mind occupied but Jynn had always had a feeling of satisfaction when he felt someone else's, especially when the waves released where so strong. Surfing on the current of another's emotion. This one was quite the quick ride. When it was over he couldn't help but smile. He was sure there was a lot of people that could benefit from blowing up every once in a while and was happy to feel that it probably did this man some good. Turning to him Jynn flashed him a smile and said “Boom,” with a bit of a chuckle.

After a moment, Cyrin's laugh joined him.

[OFF]

Lieutenant JG Jynn
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Galileo

Ensign Cyrin Xanth
Astrophysicist
USS Galileo

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