Losing Evil Points

Posted on 20 Nov 2012 @ 1:29am by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Crewman Athlen

3,130 words; about a 16 minute read

Mission: Episode 02 - Resupply
Location: Vega IX: Colony Grounds
Timeline: MD7 0900 Hours

[ON]

"I am in doubt of this plan's accuracy," Liyar told his companion as Athlen skipped (really, the Rigelian was far too hyper for his own good) alongside him to keep up with his lengthy strides, a small PADD clutched between his fingers. The PADD had been pilfered off of the ground near the retreating form of Saalm.

Unfortunately for Liyar, Athlen had seized the moment.

"Go on," he said, thrusting it into Liyar's chest. "Practice your social skills. It will be good for you."

"I sincerely doubt that Captain Saalm will be appreciative of my attempt to socialize." Liyar's voice held a faint note of sarcasm that Athlen had learned to detect a while back, which just made him snort in amusement.

"Well, you will never know unless you try. You do have to be on somewhat good relations with these people, you know. You cannot just argue your way through to them, tempting as it may be." Athlen smirked.

"I do not argue."

Athlen pursed his lips to hold back a laugh. "Of course not."

Liyar didn't sigh, exactly, but closed his eyes a little. "As you say, then."

He approached the bent over form of Lirha Saalm, apparently tending to something or the other near the colony's botanical gardens, while Athlen hung back. "Excuse me, Captain. You appear to have dropped this." It was practically scripted out of the joking example that Athlen had given him, but he held the PADD out to her.

Situated down on one knee, Lirha had been engrossed by a rare form of lily which she had recently discovered while wandering around the large garden. It was almost twice as big as any other similar species she had encountered, and it displayed a bright variety of colors. She was contemplating whether or not to bring one back to Galileo for her to study, but her thoughts were interrupted by a vaguely familiar voice coming from behind her. Lirha swiveled on her ankles and look up, noticing the familiar figure of the tall Vulcan diplomat who had just joined her crew. She then looked down to the PADD in his hands and then quickly touched the holster clipped to her belt, noticing that it was devoid of it's mechanical companion. Yet strangely, she didn't remember bringing a PADD with her. Perhaps she indeed had, but had forgotten?

With a mental shrug, she reached out and took the device from Liyar and rose to her feet, flashing him a polite smile. "Thank you, lieutenant." she replied, letting her eyes wander towards a blue-collared science officer who was in the background looking somewhat non-chalant. Strange, she thought as she clipped the device back on to her belt. "So...I take it you enjoy botanicals as much as me?" she asked curiously.

Liyar watched her for several moments, thinking to himself how to answer her question. "I do not," he said honestly. He tilted his head and observed while the captain dug out her lily, identifying it by name in his mind. Rare indeed. She appeared happier today than she did the first time they met. Liyar bore his usual stoicism. "My clan's estate on Vulcan contains a large facility devoted to the process of hydroponics. I have never shown an aptitude."

Somewhere along the way, Athlen seemed to disappear strategically.

Rising to her feet, the captain absentmindedly adjusted her uniform and tugged on the front of her jacket to smooth it out. "I admit, I'm not very proficient as hydroponics or even simple plant maintenance...but I do like to collect rare species." she explained, giving him another small smile. "And you never know who's day you might brighten by giving them a rare flower." she added.

"It is unlikely the lily you have chosen will survive outside of its native environment at its stage in development," Liyar pointed out, posture statuesque and immobile as ever as she stood. He didn't return the smile, but swept his eyes down toward the gardens before speaking again. "You will have more success with that one." He gestured at a smaller fledgeling that was half hidden under a large leaf.

Lirha frowned then bent over and looked at the small flower to which he had indicated, pushing away the leaf which disguised it. She briefly inspected the specimen then gently coerced it from the ground before replacing it with the other one she had picked. She had no idea if it would survive being transplanted so quickly, but she wanted to at least try. Returning to her feet with a nod of satisfaction, she spoke in a light voice. "I think you're right." she said as she glanced back at it. "Good catch, I'd say you have some aptitude. More than me, at least."

Liyar reached out and took the small plant gently, taking care to avoid physical contact with Lirha herself. He leaned down and coaxed a small leaf where the flower had been hidden, before wrapping it around the base and securing it from sunlight. "The rays from the sun of this planet will destroy its root base if it is not shielded. This garden is unnatural to the planet."

"Oof!" someone called off in the distance, followed by a loud thud and a cracking sound.

Liyar looked at the sprawled out form of his aide on the ground... who had apparently fell out of a bush.

Athlen smiled sheepishly and rose a hand to the two of them. "...Hello," he said weakly, rolling on his side and pushing over a PADD with a cracked screen, hauling himself unsteadily to his feet. "I was chasing a small... little thing, like a litka! But I seem to have met its mother, who was less than pleased with me." He was covered head to toe in branches and leaves, a small slash on his cheek bleeding green lightly. He rose a hand to his face. "Huh," he said to himself.

Liyar arched an eyebrow. "Do you require medical assistance?" he asked, watching Athlen stretch out his arms and hands.

"Nope, all good, I think."

Liyar turned back to the captain and held out the flower. "That is Crewman Athlen." Anyone might have missed the dry tone of his voice, but it was there.

Hearing a commotion in the nearby brush, Lirha watched with mild humor as the blond civilian scientist landed on the ground then cleaned himself off. "Hello, crewman." she said politely with a nod, trying to place him amongst her crew. "You are our new sociologist, correct?" she asked, her eyes flickering between the Vulcan and the Rigelian.

Athlen shook several leaves out of his hair, blinking and nodding. He stepped forward and extended his hand to her, smiling. "Yes, that would be me," he said, looking around curiously at all the various colorful foliage.

Lirha offered her green hand and shook the man's hand with a firm grip before taking a step back and regarding both crew members. "So...a sociologist and a diplomat with no interest in botanicals..." she said in a quiet voice, more to herself than anyone else. "What exactly are you both doing here?" she asked with a confused frown. If she didn't know any better, she would have thought they were spying on her. The garden was quite large and it seemed a bit more than coincidence that they were both within a few meters of her.

At that, Liyar crossed his arms, as if to say yes, why are we here?

"This is so not my fault," the sociologist said, ears drawing back. "...Okay, it sort of is my fault," he amended at the pointed look Liyar gave him. "You really did drop that," he said, pointing at her PADD. "So I told him to give it back to you. With, just a speck more enthusiasm than a funeral." He grinned. "And then I got distracted by, uh, that." He pointed somewhere behind Lirha, where a large bear-like animal was nestled into a cave-like entrance. It made a loud snorting noise and settled its head into its own arm. "It really does not like me."

"Most unusual," Liyar offered.

"Oh, can it," Athlen muttered indignantly. The bear-thing stirred, raising its snout in the air before lumbering to its feet and staring directly at Athlen. "Uh." The Rigelian blinked and stared wide-eyed. "Oh dear!"

The animal, apparently remembering its last encounter with the man, barged forward and came straight up to all three of them. Liyar tensed immediately, prepared to spring into action, but it seemed to slow and calm down. It walked around them in a circle, sniffing the air, but not making any sudden movements. "She is curious," Liyar said after a bit. He seemed to relax to his normal posture. "There is no threat. I would not, in the future, recommend playing with their offspring. They are markedly territorial." The bear-thing settled itself down right beside the captain.

"I'll, uh, keep that in mind!" Athlen squeaked as it licked the entire left side of his face.

The Orion captain continued to look back and forth between her two crew members as the blond science specialist did his best to explain the situation. As he described and pointed out the creature which had attacked him, Lirha looked curiously at it. It is rather cute, she mused, wondering what the probably-even-cuter offspring looked like. It was at that moment of pondering during which the animal charged the three of them. Like Liyar, Lirha stood perfectly still as it approached. She had had experiences with Earth bears in the California wilderness, and did her best to remember her outdoors training. "What...exactly is it?" she managed to ask in a cautious tone.

As the bear-creature finally relaxed and began to explore the three of them, Lirha couldn't help but notice that it had sat back on its haunches only a couple meters from her...and it seemed to be enjoying Crewman Athlen very much. "I, um...think you have a new friend..." she said with a bit of humor in her voice.

Athlen was wiping his face on his sleeve, cringing a little, clearly not pleased by that prospect.

Liyar was staring at it. "The natives call them keval," he said when he broke eye contact with it. "They are semi-intelligent. She has managed to get through the city shield. She was aggravated by your overtures, believing you dangerous."

The sociologist knelt down and ran his hand through its fur. "So, she attacked me because she thought I was going to hurt her young?"

"Essentially," Liyar said severely.

"You've really got the good life now, little-bear," Athlen said with a grin while he patted it. He pulled out a stick of something and unwrapped it. "Protein rations!" The keval lifted its head and licked Athlen's hand impatiently.

Lirha frowned again, this time running a hand through her dark hair in mild disbelief and apprehension. Part of her couldn't believe that the creature was suddenly so friendly, even with the prospect of food. The other part of her couldn't believe that one of her crewmen was actually going to feed it. "Hold on, crewman." she objected, "Do you think that's a good idea? To feed it, I mean. For all we know, we could be encouraging an urban sub-species of this keval, one that sees Humanoids as a source of food and shelter." she added. The phrase 'Don't Feed the Wild Animals' from her mountain excursions in California was now echoing through her head.

"Regardless, she must be returned to her natural habitat. This individual creature is not a threat," Liyar assured, "Unless she is provoked."

"How would you know?" Athlen countered, and it really seemed like he just enjoyed arguing, since technically Liyar seemed to be on his side. "And, when did you become our tour guide?" he asked, suddenly aware that Liyar seemed to know far too much information for an animal he had never seen before.

"As I stated, they are semi-intelligent. She possesses a rudimentary degree of thought, and memory. It is enough for me to comprehend what little she understands about her environment, and her motivation."

"... You're reading its ..." Athlen coughed a little. "That's ... well then." He grinned. "So, can I feed it?"

Liyar tilted his head. "It is not dangerous, but as Captain Saalm intimated, it encourages future keval incursions into city space. Not all of Vega IX's residents have the benefit of communicating with them."

"As I noticed!" the Rigelian said, looking at his torn uniform. Athlen deflated. "No protein stick for you, buddy," he said to the bear-thing, who also seemed to deflate a little in response. They made a positively pitiful match.

The captain looked down at the lily which was still in her hand and carefully clipped it to her belt, making sure she did not squeeze the stem too hard. Looking back up, she noticed the dejected body language of both the crewman and the keval. "Well...now you got her excited with the promise of food, you can't just not give her any now." Lirha said with a sigh. "Look how sad she is." she added, her eyes flickering towards the sulking animal.

Athlen broke into a wide grin and promptly, the keval chomped on the protein stick as if it had taken the captain's words as permission.

Liyar stared at the situation blankly.

Once she finished her spoils, Liyar knelt down and touched his hand to her forehead. By the time he stood up, she lumbered to her feet and began padding away from them. With a snort of some kind, she called the two baby keval out from their hiding places, and they trailed along behind her until she disappeared over a hill.

"Hey, where is she going!" Athlen said, sprawled out on the ground. He pulled himself to a sitting position and looked up at them both curiously.

"I have implanted a suggestion that she return home, through the breach in the city shield she managed to get past," the Vulcan said as if it were a completely normal occurrence.

"That is so weird," Athlen said to himself humorously, shaking his head.

Weird was a good way to put it, Lirha decided as she nodded in agreement. In fact, their entire encounter so far had been weird. A Vulcan who exchanged thoughts with the local wildlife, a seemingly over-anxious sociologist, and an Orion with a fetish for flowers...weird was the definitely the word of the morning. Clearing her throat, Lirha turned to Liyar and spoke after a long moment of silence. "So I am guessing that you have visited Vega Colony before?" she asked, presuming that his familiarity with the ingenious animal meant he had had prior experience with them.

"Negative," Liyar said, folding his hands behind his back.

"You do know you just lost evil points, right?" Athlen said with a smirk.

"Evil points?" Liyar repeated drolly.

"Oh, you know, Vulcans never have fun or do anything interesting ever," he said, flipping his hair behind his shoulder and adopting a haughty accent. "They just sit atop their throne of evil doom and gloom and stare meanly at all the puny mortals. Oh, don't give me that eyebrow, you totally try and sell it."

Liyar looked at Athlen like he grew another head. "I hardly think I am evil, Crewman. Neither do I," he paused, "Stare meanly at anyone."

"Says Mr. Death-Glare-of-the-Year. Well, I know your secrets, now. Mind melding with the giant teddy bear is basically a one-way ticket to Cute Fun Land."

"Crewman Athlen, have you ever been informed that you speak far too often?"

Athlen snickered. "I did it. I finally got a Vulcan to tell me to shut up."

Lirha couldn't help but chuckle at the friendly bantering the two of them were engaging in. They made quite a couple, Lirha thought, perhaps worthy of some form of on-ship recreation during an upcoming mission. "Where...How did you two meet?" she asked, now thoroughly curious to know the intricacies of their dynamic.

At that, the Rigelian smiled brighter. "Oh, I was assigned as his aide. I am relegated to helping smooth over cultural and interspecies relations. Ah, running sims, gathering cultural documents, and being a general lackey."

If Liyar were human, he might have rolled his eyes. An unnerving stare would have to do. "You are hardly a lackey, Crewman."

"Dr. Evil speaks!" Athlen put his pinky finger to his lip. "I fear if any other person had been assigned, they may have run away in abject horror. He is an exceptionally frightening guy."

Liyar opened his mouth as if to speak, but seemed to think better of it.

"Assigned as his aide? Interesting..." the captain said quietly, raising her eyebrows inquisitively in a very Vulcan manner before changing the subject. "Well, I'm going to finish walking the garden and see if I can't find anymore exotic species to bring back to the ship...maybe something for our arboretum. You two are welcome to join me if you like?" she offered. Although she wasn't entirely in the mood for company, she didn't mind chatting with some of her new crew. In her opinion, it was always a good idea to get to know those who she served with.

Liyar straightened a little, casting a Look in Athlen's direction where he would inevitably pipe up excitedly in the affirmative, shutting him down before he started. "That will not be necessary, Captain. Have a good day," he said woodenly, which made it sound bizarre and almost quoted, "I believe is the correct farewell."

Lirha gave the Vulcan a small smile and a nod. "Very well then, have a good day, lieutenant." she replied, then looked over at the crewman and gave him a wink. "Until next time." she said in a light voice, wondering with amusement what type of trouble the two of them might get themselves in. Despite her earlier reservations, it had been rather enjoyable to have the company of Liyar and Athlen, regardless of their strange nature. Clasping her hands behind her back, the captain wandered off down the botanical garden to resume her search for unique flowers.

[OFF]

--

CAPT Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant (JG) Liyar
Diplomatic Officer, SDD/VDF
USS Galileo

Crewman Athlen
Sociologist, SCC
USS Galileo

RSS Feed