Boldly Exploring the Ship

Posted on 08 Mar 2013 @ 6:38pm by Lieutenant Jacob Pendleton & Ensign Im'er Mor'an

2,442 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Episode 03 - Frontier
Location: Deck 6, Operations
Timeline: MD 02 15:15 hours

ON

Jacob had hardly spent any time in his own quarters since he walked on the ship; as he just wanted to explore the ship, meet new people and fill his sense of curiosity to the full. He found himself on Deck 6 in and around the Operations area when his eyes caught a glimpse of yet ANOTHER beautiful woman that seemed to be the norm for the Galileo and he thought to himself, "I love and HATE Star Fleet sometimes!" He just walked by her figuring she would hardly notice; yet hardly was that ever true for him, after all, when you are six foot eight and nearly three hundred pounds of powerful muscles and bones do you ever NOT get noticed....

Mor'an saw the bulk of a human strolling towards her and she grinned to herself. She could tell he was the type of person who was loved by females...and knew it. As she walked closer, she deliberately made eye contact with him and kept walking.

He blushed slightly as her eyes met his and he quickly cleared his throat and just made some notes on his PADD trying not to meet her pretty eyes. He tried not to watch her walk by although it was fairly difficult.. he did maintain his professionalism.. just barely.

Deciding that she should not be rude and at least greet the poor man (she could see his face reddening), she turned slightly.

"I do not believe we have met," she called over her shoulder. Her strong, clear voice was not loud, but carried easily towards the man. She waited for him to turn and face her before greeting him with a Tarkannan hand gesture.

He took a deep breath and smiled at her, "Lieutenant, Jacob Pendleton," his voice broke slightly but was its usual deep and somewhat soft resonance, "Pleasure to meet you." He saw the hand gesture and didn't know quite how to respond except to try (badly) to copy it, he then extended his own hand in greeting.

Mor'an looked down at the hand he offered her but didn't take it. She didn't think she'd ever get used to the handshake. "I am Cadet, Senior Grade Im'er Mor'an, Daughter of Im'er An'aley, of the Order of Ban'kina. You may call me Mor'an." An awkward silence settled over them as Lt. Pendleton kept his hand raised in greeting. Looking from his face to his hand, Mor'an decided to do what she would normally do in a Tarkannan greeting. She extended her first two fingers and lightly touched them to his outstretched ones before quickly drawing her hand back. "You are new to this ship, yes?" she asked, just to make conversation.

Jacob withdrew his hand awkwardly but replied, "I am indeed." He thought for a second and added, "Mor'an huh? Nice name." He smiled at her. "I was just wandering the ship and getting acquainted to my new home as it were."

"And how do you like it so far?" Mor'an asked, clasping her hands behind her back. She looked up at Jacob, slightly intimidated by his height. He towered over her by more then a foot. Of course, she could bring him to his knees with a touch of her hand, but still, he was large.

"It is a great ship," he said smiling, "i think this is going to be a great time. And what about you? How do you like the ship, its people and such?"

"I like the ship very much," Mor'an said, "As for the people...well, I still must get used to them. I like them, but they are so very different from my people that sometimes I feel lost." Why she just told that to a complete stranger she had no idea. It just came out. She smiled sheepishly and let her eyes drop as she leaned back against the wall.

He leaned his shoulder against the wall himself and replied, "I have to admit I know almost nothing about your people. Still, even I feel lost amongst my own kind at times, so I kind of understand how you feel Mor'an."

"Not many people know much about my race," Mor'an said, "I am the first to join the Academy and it has been quite the experience." She looked up and grinned. "People think that I am Vulcan."

"Well, just the fact that you smiled lets me know you aren't Vulcan... and its a.. umm.. lovely smile..." Jacob slightly blushed, "... umm I am sorry Mor'an, am I keeping you from your work? I would hate to get you in trouble."

"Oh, no, you are fine," Mor'an said, "If I had pressing duties I would not be here talking with you." That was the third time in but a few minutes that he said her
name and she liked the sound. "What has been your favorite part as of now?"

"Hmm, other than meeting new people and trying to make new friends, I don't really have a favorite part per se. At least the few holodecks we have are pretty easy to program and at least the gym has some good equipment... although, now that I think about it, I am going to have to create a better one with more to do as a holosim..." He took his PADD and quickly typed a reminder note to himself; even though his memory was better than excellent, he still made sure to make notes just in case.

"Oh yes," Mor'an said happily, "I like to spar on the holodecks with Lt. Ral. Do you spar?"

"Indeed I do. I created several fight sim programs, training programs, and other such programs to increase my agility, reflexes, strength, whatever else I want to work on. I usually prefer others to work out with since the workouts can be quite fun to do." He looked at her almost thinking about what she might look like in something tight and skimpy before getting his mind out of that mode. "Would you like to join me in sparring sometime?"

"Indeed," Mor'an said with a smile. She had been waiting for him to ask. "But I must warn you. You know nothing about the Ta'rkan people and therefore nothing about my abilities. You may want to do some research first." She raised an eyebrow as she looked him in the eye.

Jacob blushed, cleared his throat and then replied, "Well... I AM a Research Scientist after all.." He smiled and blushed further, turning his face away from her acting like he was looking at something on the wall.

Mor'an never expected someone of Jacob's stature and build to be so seemingly sensitive. She'd lost count of how many times he'd blushed since their first moment of eye contact. "Than I suggest you do some research," she said, slightly playful.

He laughed nervously, "...so um.. tell me about your species then.. I assume you must already know just about everything regarding the Human race..."

"Well," Mor'an said thoughtfully, "I may know a great deal about humans, but I will never really understand them. As for my people...where do I begin?" She paused in thought. "I can see ultraviolet and inferred light, for one thing," she said finally.

"That's fascinating," Jacob's voice was now filled with his usual delight of all things scientific and learned, "so much better than my limited perspective. He looked at her thoughtfully for a moment and then asked a follow up, "...what do you not understand about us? We aren't all THAT complex... well, I mean, we are... and not so much.." He tried to find the very words to describe his own race but he then realized somewhat of what she had stated about all things Human.

"I am not sure, exactly," Mor'an said, "They just seem to be so much more complex than my people. Your language, for instance. Why does it have to be so complicated? I never know which word is the proper one. I say things, but the person I am speaking to does not understand exactly what I mean because I used the wrong word."

Jacob chuckled, "Well I guess which language are you talking about? Fed Standard, English in its multiple forms? Spanish? French? Or take your pick of about three hundred more... but I get what you are saying. We do like to 'play' with words and then change them later due to societal influence." He thought a minute and added, "We are a bit of a challenge to be sure, but it always seems that other galactic races seem to understand us better on some levels than we do about ourselves."

"I do believe that is because they make ideas of a race that fits their understanding," Mor'an said, "So that they do not actually understand a race better then the race understands themselves, they simply think that they do." She shrugged her shoulders in a delicate upward movement. "I am not making sense."

"You are making sense to me." He smiled, "Look, maybe the best thing really is that we don't totally understand each other's races, it's pretty great to find out things through just being around someone new. In any event, you haven't said if you'd like to spar with me sometime. I bet you could show me some great moves regarding personal attack and defense."

"I would like to very much," Mor'an said, a grin spreading across her lips, "I can show you a great deal about attack and defense. I have been trained since I was seven years of age in martial arts and close combat."

Jacob smiled, "I am more than impressed Mor'an, seven huh? Incredible! I didn't start wrestling until I was ten. As I grew though, less and less people wanted to take me on, I was state wrestling champion three years straight in high school. I had more people forfeit matches against me than anyone in my school's history." He shrugged, "And college was no different, either." He lightly laughed and then asked, "And what of your people's abilities? Will I suddenly find that you are ten times stronger or faster than a Human Being? Will I find you have the dexterity of an earthworm and can do moves impossible to replicate?" He then gave her a playful, teasing and even a little "wicked" smile and added, "Or am I to find out that you have the power to debilitate any one's mind and make them your unwitting slave?"

Mor'an returned his "wicked" grin with one of her own to match. "Your last guess is actually not far off," she said, subconsciously flexing her fingers before clasping them behind her back. She took a step forward and tilted her face up so that she could see Jacob's eyes. He was taller than she realized, causing her head to tilt farther then she thought, leaving her throat exposed. Never expose your throat to an opponent. Her mentor's voice rang in her ears, but she ignored it. "Your size does not intimidate me," she said.

Jacob smiled, "I am glad it doesn't Mor'an, you don't know how glad I am that it doesn't ."

At the back of Mor'an's mind came a tiny voice, a memory almost. It was Del'an, her mentor, warning her against engaging with a member of another race so personally. She remembered that she had assured Del'an that it would not happen. However, here was Jacob smiling at her and inviting her to spar with him. And here she was, smiling in return and accepting his invitation. What did she think she was doing? She dropped her gaze and stepped back, trying to maintain her smile. "I have taken down Klingons singlehandedly," she said finally, "You may only be slightly more of a challenge." She risked glancing up at him, this time giving him a genuine grin, issuing a challenge of her own. She ignored Del'an's persistent voice in her head.

"I am sure you have, it is apparent to me that you are more than capable of doing whatever you wished. I have taken down Klingons... with the help of my teammates most the time, but I have taken a few down when I had to..." His voice trailed off a bit as he looked down at his massive hands. They were the hands of a scientist and not of a warrior, but there had been times those hands did much damage, but always for the correct reason, he was a gentleman and a gentle man under most circumstances, and he hoped to always keep it that way.

Mor'an read the look in his eyes, knowing it all too well. Without thinking, she took his huge hands in her delicate white hands in a comforting gesture. At heartbeat later, she dropped his hands, suddenly realizing she had touched him without permission. "I must go," she said, "I have duties to attend to." She began to back away. "It was nice meeting you."

He smiled sweetly at her, the touch had electrified him, hand made his heart skip a beat or two, but she backed away... "I.. it.. was wonderful meeting you Mor'an... I.. apologize for interrupting your duties... why.. don't you send me a message tonight or... tomorrow even.. I.. I would like that..."

"Do not apologize!" Mor'an was quick to reassure him. "Please, Jacob." That was the first time she had said his name and it sounded delightfully foreign on her tongue. "I shall be in contact soon." Her bright blue eyes danced at the idea of seeing him again.

Jacob's smile widened, "I.. I can't wait Mor'an.. take care.." He hesitated awkwardly but eventually made his way back whence he came. His mind ran with how non-smooth he was as a man. He silently cursed himself as to what he should have said etc. He eventually made his way back to his quarters just realizing he was overdue for his usual workout time. He sighed heavily and got ready to go work out at the gym or holodeck, depending on which was less busy.

As Mor'an hurried down the corridor she risked a glance over her shoulder. Jacob had already rounded the corner and was out of sight. A small frown took hold of her usually pleasant features as she thought about what Del''an would say about her interaction with Jacob. With a shrug, Mor'an decided that her well-meaning but sometimes overbearing mentor didn't need to know.

OFF

Lieutenant JG Jacob Pendleton
Chief Research Officer
USS Galileo

Cadet Senior Grade Im'er Mor'an
Red Squad Intern
USS Galileo

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