Shine Bright Like a Diamond

Posted on 03 Oct 2012 @ 7:40am by Lieutenant Kiri Cho & Commander Andreus Kohl

3,725 words; about a 19 minute read

Mission: Episode 01 - Project Sienna
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 4, Chief Science Officers Office; Deck 2, Observation Lounge
Timeline: MD 10 - 2000 hours

[ON]

Kiri wasn't just a sensor specialist any more, or even just a general science officer. She was the Assistant Chief, at the very least right now it was more than that. As such she felt she needed to know everything, to be able to advise on any topic at all and run a department. There was also project Sienna something even now she was sceptical about. Of all the pads she had set up for herself this was the one she was currently working on. Trying to draw of sources from the computer that even started to explain the science behind the device. Even for her it was like butting her head against a brick wall endlessly, she had to do it alone though. She didn't trust the Hardaway's to be reliable in giving her answers.

Rather than the customary chime, a couple of knocks interrupted Kiri's thoughts. It was the sound of a set of knuckles rapping against the office door of the Chief Science Officer.

Kiri took several seconds to realise what the noise was, she wasn't expecting it. To have someone knocking on the door was not something she was used to, it was a concept that was rather alien to her. It was with trepidation that she called out softly, "Enter?" Hidden from sight her hand reached for her phaser, just in case.

At her verbal command, the computer allowed the doors to slide apart. Andreus Kohl entered the office on long, bold strides, and he held his arms out in a gesture of friendly discovery. "Here you are," Kohl said, and he allowed his arms to fall to his sides. "How are you, Kiri?" Kohl asked, and then he amended, "Or should I just say 'Boss'?"

Kiri was happy to see Kohl again but was confused by just about everything he said. It was easy to find out where anyone was just by asking the computer, he made it sound like he had been searching. Then he went and called her boss, technically she outranked him now but still. A wild smile drifted across her face before she suppressed it down to a smaller one, "I'm okay." There was work piling up from every angle but she was not bad, better for seeing him again. Pausing she added, "Ensign or Cho is fine," In case it was a real question.

"Oh..." Kohl said with some recognition, and he followed it with a questioning, "oh?" Kohl crossed his arms over his chest, and he looked like a chastised schoolboy more than anything. Diffidently, Kohl asked, "Calling you Kiri would be improper?"

The girl's brow twitched. What did her mean by that, what did he take away from her saying it? Her reasoning was easy, he had almost always called her Kiri though, it was difficult. She looked tense for several seconds before finding her voice, soft and meek, "I just, culturally yes, sorry." Now she felt the need to emphasis the positives, "You are, one of my best friends, but, I mean, I don't." No words sounded right, "I'm sorry, I just don't know you very well, yet." She'd messed this up, what words would have explained it better?

Seemingly oblivious to Kiri's discomfort, Kohl spoke with a languid confidence. He said, "I'd like to take you out to dinner, if you're not doing anything too terribly important. It should help with you getting to know me very well." --Kohl unfolded his arms, and slowly started to step back towards the door-- "While we're in the nebula, Pola has us working a jumble of four hour shifts. I can't remember when I'll have time again to eat a proper meal."

Placing her pad on the desk Kiri started to turn rather pink, it seemed to be happening very quickly. Looking rather worriedly at the work around her she took a deep breath, "I, do have some time, I think." She wasn't making any more progress right now and she was meant to be taking some time to sleep, even if she wasn't. Eating seemed a compromise and Kohl was one of two people on the ship she didn't think she could object to. So she stood up and started towards the door, finding it hard to look at him, "What did you have in mind?"

"I was thinking we could sneak into the Observation Lounge. It's the only place for blessed quiet and a stellar view," Kohl replied, his tone was gleefully conspiratorial. Striding onwards, he took the lead towards the passageway. To Kiri, he said, "You can bring your ration bars, if you like. I need wine and something hot."

Kiri smiled, she hadn't actually been to that part of deck two yet but there were some slight problems with his plan. Relaxing slightly she started to walk very slightly behind Kohl, "I don't know if it will be quiet, and all you can see is nebula, if you're sure?" The other comment she took as a slight against her, it hurt. She tried her best not to let it show, "I can eat a meal."

When Kiri asked if he was sure about his plan, Kohl nodded with a satisfied smile. When she said she could eat a meal, his expression took on a perplexed demeanor, and he said, "I thought you didn't like to?"

"I don't dislike it," Kiri give a much more uncomfortable smile this time. She had a host of reasons for not eating real food. The biggest one was that it saved her time, letting her get more work done. It let her avoid people though it wasn't a concious choice at the time, it meant she didn't have to make choices. Food was also a social thing for her, eating alone made her miss home and her friends, something else to avoid.

As Kohl and Kiri made their way into the passageway, Kohl kept silent to allow her to elaborate on her reasons for eating ration bars. When no elaboration was forthcoming, he decided not to press the matter, despite how little he understood the ration bar debate between Kiri and Pola. Kiri already seemed uncomfortable, and he imagined he could only make it worse with unwelcome topics for discussion. "My mistake then," Kohl said, "I misunderstood."

"It's okay, I should have explained better, sorry," Kiri moved aside to let another crew member pass as she tried to change the subject, "What do you want to eat?" Being with Kohl so far had been nice, she had no real negative feelings around him, he did nice things for her. Kiri felt he liked her, something that didn't seem to come easily. She was still rather stuck with what to talk to him about though, she didn't know him all that well.

"Something savoury, but not too messy. I feel like eating with my hands," Kohl said, and he flexed his fingers against one another. He didn't slow his pace as the crewman and Kiri avoided one another. As he reached the turbolift, Kohl reached out to tap the call button. Kohl went on ponderously, "I'm in the mood for variety. Not too much of any one flavour. Maybe tapas-style dining."

Kiri didn't mind eating with her fingers but Tapas wasn't something she really knew about, other than it existed. So she couldn't really comment on it, sharing food with her family was fine, she hadn't done it properly with friends yet. Trying to carry the topic, still, she tried, "Which ones do you like?"

"Hmm, I don't know what I'm in the mood for," Kohl answered with a careless shrug. When the turbolift doors pulled apart, Kohl strode in first and requested the observation lounge as their destination. He added, "I know a few replicator programs that get a little random to offer a surprise."

Kiri generally didn't like surprise, food wasn't an exception. Finding herself rather nervous at the prospect at being alone with Kohl in a lift she stopped thinking about what she was saying quite so much, "I know a few things, you might like."

"Tell me about them," Kohl said and his posture relaxed slightly. He had been completely comfortable with Kiri when he had surprised her in the jefferies tube, but their interactions tonight made her feel like a stranger to him. Now that she was opening up, if only a little bit, it was putting Kohl at ease. "Or you can show me."

Now confused more than anything Kiri cocked her head slightly, "What do you mean, show you?" The natural inquisitiveness she processed flashed across her eyes.

The turbolift car finished its rise to deck two and then began its horizontal journey towards the observation lounge. Kohl watched the transformation in Kiri's eyes, and a lopsided smile came to him. "Replicate them for me," Kohl said easily.

"Right," That was obvious really, she felt rather stupid. Kiri twisted her hands, trying to work out how she appeared to him right now, "Okay, I can try."

Kohl nodded in proactive thanks, but offered little other reaction to Kiri's words. In contrast to the slowing progress of the turbolift car, Kohl was racing on to the next thought that bubbled up in his head. "I heard a rumour," Kohl said. Standing beside Kiri, he squinted ahead at the wall in focused consideration. "I heard you have been promoted to Supreme Commandant of Science."

Kiri didn't like the idea of people thinking quite so grand of her, not after what had happened so far today. Like normal, while she could guess it was a jest, she wasn't sure. Glancing up at Kohl she shook her head very slightly, "Only for a little while, I think, I don't know all that much."

"I assume it means I was wrong about you making Captain by thirty. You're going to make Captain by twenty-seven," Kohl said, all boyish excitement. And he grinned. Just before the turbolift doors opened, Kohl asked, "But, well, what's only for a little while? Exactly? I crave fact more than rumour."

Kiri would like to say that there was a reason more than the one she felt there was. She was the only Science Officer that was, well, also an officer. Trying to find the right way to word it, "I, I'm just an Ensign. If we get back to Federation space I'm sure that someone with more experience will take over." While she felt she could run the department, she didn't have all the experience she felt she should to answer questions on every topic. There was also the fact that she wasn't making an outstanding record for herself so far. Some of this at least was lost as she caught his smile, making her own lips twitch slightly.

Stepping out into the corridor, Kohl spun around so he could face Kiri as she stepped off the turbolift. Carelessly, he walked backwards the rest of the way towards the Observation Lounge. "What are you going to do then?" Kohl asked. "In the time you have left, how are you going to make yourself indispensable as department leadership?"

Kiri didn't really like sudden movement, it was with a start that she reacted tottering backwards slightly. Slowly she started to follow him out onto deck two, "I'm going to do the best I can." There hadn't been much time to think about her new job yet, "I'm trying to help with Sienna the best I can, sort out the duty assignments and help the XO."

Encouragingly, Kohl said, "And that's admirable, truly admirable. I suspect that to be the shortest path to acclaim and promotion." --He cast a glance to the doorway he had walked past and held his ground-- "But if you could do anything with the science department aboard a science vessel... What would it be?"

His comments made Kiri happy but at the same time, she had to question where they were coming from. A shiver of hope? Of fear? Shot up her back and started a new set of thoughts, above them all, did he like her? Teeth pushing against her lower lip she tried to answer his question, "I, I mean, um, improve cross speciality skills and interactions?"

"You don't sound sure of what you want to do," Kohl remarked. His inflection was curious but without judgement. There was no finality in what he said; he looked to Kiri for elaboration. As he did, Kohl took a small step towards the Observation Lounge and the doors parted for them.

Looking rather uncomfortable with what he was telling her Kiri frowned, deciding that the truth here couldn't hurt her very much. Her voice was very quiet, her hands held close to her body, "I, don't really, I just want to do my job." Sucking on her cheeks for a second she pouted, "Isn't that what I'm meant to do?"

Kohl's eyes looked upwards, lost in consideration for a heartbeat or two. That hadn't been his intention, but he had to admit, "That is what I've been doing. That is what I want too." He looked inside the Lounge, and it appeared Kohl and Kiri were in luck. They weren't walking in on a senior staff briefing and the narrow meeting room was unoccupied. Kohl lead the way inside.

Kiri followed him, eyeing the room that had lit up the second they entered. It was something new to her, though the idea of eating here with the static purple mass of wisps was a little strange. What he said, made sense to her, so what was the other question really about after all? Finding herself rather lost in trying to work it out Kiri remained quite, looking out into the cloud that was much more familiar as a series of jumbled numbers and static.

"It's an attractive shade of purple, but it makes me uncomfortable to look out and see anything but stars," Kohl said. His words came out sounding distant, and one hand clutched to his abdomen as he spoke. Oblivious to Kiri's inner turmoil, his eyes studied only the nebula. Moving slowly as he padded into the observation lounge, Kohl said, "Funny how I expect to see stars on the other side of a viewport now, instead of sky."

Kiri found her voice, "It is the diffraction of light on the atomic level," It didn't mean she had found her sense of conversation. Realising what she had said was out of place she tried to tack back, "Do you like looking at the stars?" To Kiri it was one of the few hobbies that so far she had, to think she might have found someone who shared it.

"It relaxes me," Kohl said, "looking at the stars. If I'm in an unfamiliar bed, a viewport filled with starts can soothe me. When I can't sleep, I count the stars..." He padded closer to the viewport, rested his hands on the edge, and he studied the wispy nebula more closely. "Growing up, I used to sneak out of the house at night if I had a problem with school or with my parents. I'd take a PADD with a basic tricorder attachment and get out of the city by transit transporter. I used to take sensor composite images of the constellations I could see; I wanted to learn them all."

"Did you do it?" Kiri could feel herself being drawn in, while she didn't run away to be with the stars she looked up to them. She'd learned all of them at least from Earth.

Kohl turned his back on the viewport and stepped closer to the conference table. He considered Kiri, along with her question. An amused frown played on Kohl's lips and he shook his head with some struggle. "I can't-- It was a long time ago-- I can't remember," he admitted.

Kiri felt concerned for him, one of the things she was blessed with was a good memory, there weren't that many things she'd forgotten, none of them important ones. Approaching closer to him she spoke up, "I learnt all of them, that I could see," He had said a lot about himself, she hadn't said very much at all.

Inclining his head slightly, in a gesture of curiosity, Kohl asked, "How did you learn all that?" His timbre was one of interest and growing admiration.

"When I was eight, I replicated star chats for the night sky from school. Then I just started reading them every night before bed, I think it took me a year to remember them." For Kiri it wasn't hard to remember a list, plotting points in space and remembering where they were and should now be wasn't all that complex.

"What drove you to read them," Kohl asked, "every night? Consistently?"

"I don't know," She didn't know if talking about the reasons she had now come up with for why, "I just, liked looking at them, they were pretty," She paused finding her wording rather childlike, "Attractive." Easing herself to the window she held her form, remaining small.

"That was my experience too!" Kohl said, all excited, all of a sudden. Making himself comfortable, he leaned against the viewport. Kohl had been embarrassed to admit it at first, assuming the science officer had loved the stars for some mathematical, cosmological reason. "I converted my sensor composites into two-dimensional images, and I replicated them as framed art, and as holograms, and I plastered my bedroom ceiling with a stellar mural I had made."

Kiri was glad that for once, she really did have something she shared with someone, yet she didn't take it to the extreme he did. Following what he said she listened carefully, a smile reaching across her lips as she did so. Meeting his eyes for a moment she answered, "I just had the charts, I wasn't allowed a computer until I was older, never holograms." It was rather matter of fact, not sad or regretful.

"I'd love to see the constellations of your world some time," Kohl said encouragingly. His hand drifted to his chest, though, and he rubbed his abdomen. "You, uh, but you mentioned some dishes you could replicate for me. I'd really like to see those first," he said with a wink.

Taking it as a fairly urgent matter Kiri walked to the replicator inspecting it before ordering anything. Still not sure if they should be eating here she spoke softly to the machine, "One serving Xiaolongbao da xia fanyi, one serving Char Siu Sou," Taking the two plates she placed them on the table, the former being small steamed buns filled with prawns, the latter chinese pork pastries. Turning back to the replicator she went on, "Mixed chn jun, yau yu sou and cocktail sausages," The last was something simple that she really liked, having never had them at home though. Balancing the spring rolls on her forearm she carried the fried squid and tiny sausages.

"Oh, they smell incredible, Cho," Kohl said excitedly. He pulled back a chair and dropped himself onto the seat. Moved by the intoxicating scent, he snatched up a pork pastry and bit into it while Kiri was still setting down the platters.

She wasn't so assured by the smell, it was close, mostly, not the same smell as the one that lingered in her mother kitchen after cooking them though. Taking a seat next to him Kiri kept her hands in her lap watching him, eat, trying to judge his reactions.

With half a pastry in one hand, Kohl picked up a steamed bun next. As soon as he swallowed, he took a bite into the prawn bun. He munched through both delicacies until his hands were empty. "You were right," Kohl said, grinning and nodding quickly. "I like these a lot."

Kiri smiled, relived that her choices were right, "Thank you," Bowing her head slightly she pushed away a stray hair. Not really sure if she should or even wanted to be eating right now. Watching him seemed fine, though maybe he would be worried by her attention.

As he reached across the table for a vienna sausage, Kohl asked, "What was your favourite constellation, Cho?"

Kiri didn't have to think all that hard, the soft blue of 28 Crateris being one of her favourite stars, its companions also being nice to gaze at. Keeping a practised stillness she answered, "Liu Xiu, part of the House of the Vermilion Bird of the South."

"That sounds lovely," Kohl said, his voice taking on a wistful quality. Her stillness and certainty even stopped his attack on the food, for a little while at least. As he began to speak again, he took a piece of fried squid. "Mine was Roack, the warrior's skewered heart," Kohl said gleefully. He popped the squid in his mouth, brushed his hands off, and he drew the points of the constellation on the table top with his index finger. He said, "It represents a warrior sacrificing her love to defeat her foe."

Kiri frowned slightly, the prospect of death wasn't something she wanted to focus on. Even if it was about stars, sucking on her lip she thought about the idea, she wouldn't want anyone to die for her. That would make her feel terrible, plus someone would be dead, "That, is interesting, what does your night sky look like?"

"That's something you have to see for yourself," Kohl replied. There was an air of intentional mystery to his tone. He toyed with a spring roll between both hands, as he continued, "On the holodeck, at least, if not in person."

Kiri was interested, but she had wanted more. Some worlds had swirling mists around them, others had so many pulsars the skies glittered, some were almost completely dark. It did seem a good use of the holodeck though, one she wouldn't mind doing, "When all this is done?" Realising she was watching him eat she looked away, this was nice.

As he chewed, Kohl nodded a nod of certainty until Kiri dared a look at him again. "When all this is done, we will," Kohl said with a quiet confidence. "It will be brilliant."

[OFF]

-----------------

Ensign Andreus Kohl
Nurse
USS Galileo

Ensign Kiri Cho
Assistant Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

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