As the Stomach Turns

Posted on 11 Oct 2013 @ 6:53pm by Ensign Im'er Mor'an & Lieutenant Jacob Pendleton
Edited on on 11 Oct 2013 @ 10:20pm

4,714 words; about a 24 minute read

Mission: Episode 04 - Exodus
Location: USS Galileo: Holodeck 1
Timeline: MD 02 - 1700 hrs

ON

Mor'an raced through the trees, the trail of the Nausicaan pirates fresh before her. At her side Jacob kept pace with her, his bulk not impeding his ability to sustain a run.

"I cannot see them anymore," she said, referring to the Nausicaan's heat signatures. It was getting dusky, making it hard to see the pirates with regular vision. She stopped next to a towering tree and leaned against it to catch her breath. "We will have to track them without IR."

Jacob nodded. He had been surprised a few days ago he got a message from Mor'an about getting together and doing some training. He had honestly thought she was not really talking with him other than duty and protocol dictated; so it made him elated that she wanted to train together, spending some time together was good enough for him. Images raced through his mind about the other women on the ship: Kiri, off and busy and just not around, the pretty but impetuous and sometimes argumentative Natalie, just starting to get to know the pretty, but 'klutzy' Victoria, the gorgeous but off limits Captain Lirha, and the awesome to be around but very busy Counselor Delainey, at least here was Mor'an wanting to get together.. even if he had to squelch his feelings about her. "Well then," Jacob finally spoke coming back to the now, "Let us track them with our pure intellect Mor'an, our wits and our reasoning will carry the day!" He smiled at her and began looking for clues that would let them continue to track the Nausican pirates.

Mor'an failed to see his grin as she turned around and began to search the ferns in front of her. "Nausicaans are big and clumsy," she said, "They will not heed the plant life around them." She paused as she looked for damaged ferns. "Here!" She darted over to the spot in one quick bound, gesturing for Jacob to follow. "I suppose we follow this trail." She pointed to another patch of damaged plants a few feet away.

Jacob again nodded then looked to the sky, it was getting closer and closer to sunset. "We need to get as far as we can before we lose all light as rangers, which we are not, will make things near impossible."

Mor'an nodded in agreement. She dropped to her knees and put her ear to the ground. "They are close. Closer than they should be if they are running away from us." Standing and reaching behind her, she let her fingers brush Jacob's arm to ensure he was still there before darting off again.

Small electric shots went through Jacob's arm and he smiled at the gentle touch. He then refocused his thoughts to the task at hand; but then it hit him what Mor'an had said and he stopped abruptly, "Wait," his voice was filled with questioning thought, "Did you say they were CLOSER than what they should be if they were running away?" He scratched his head a moment then his face fell, "That would mean...." Suddenly all hell broke loose...

Hearing Jacob pause behind her, Mor'an came to a stop, turning to face him. As she did, a giant Nausicaan came from seemingly nowhere and slammed into Jacob. She moved to aide him, but before she could go farther than three steps, another Nausicaan burst through the surrounding greenery and blocked her path.

This is not part of the program, she realized as the Nausicaan rushed her. Stepping out of the way, Mor'an caught sight of Jacob and his assailant. Jacob was holding his own since he was a proficient wrestler and the Nausicaan wasn't. Hearing a noise behind her, she realized the second Nausicaan was coming at her again. Spinning and dropping to a crouch, she tackled his lower legs, bringing him crashing to the ground. With her own assailant winding for the moment, Mor'an went to help Jacob.

Throwing herself at the Nausicaan, Mor'an placed her hand on his neck and took hold of his nervous system, causing him to fall to the ground. "Run!" Mor'an said as Jacob got to his feet. She tugged at his hand impatiently. "They will not be out for long!"

Jacob nodded, "I've fought Nausicaan's before, but we would be outnumbered four or five to one if the program was set correctly at first." He ran with Mor'an and called out. "Computer, pause program!" There was no response. He tapped his commbadge, "Bridge, this is Lieutenant Pendleton, please come in!" There was dead silence. He looked at Mor'an as they fled at full speed,"We most DEFINITELY have a problem here."

"I think I hear them behind us," Mor'an said as they charged forward, "What do we do? Do we hide? We cannot fight off that many enemies." The sun was almost gone by now, leaving them in almost total darkness. "We cannot do anything without light."

Jacob slowed down a moment, "Hold on Mor'an.." He listened closer. The sound of of falling water was near! He grabbed Mor'an hand, "This way!" He said quickly. In short order they came to a fair sized inland lake that had a towering waterfall dumping long streams of glistening water from a ledge of rocks at least one hundred feet up. "There!" He pointed. "Can you swim? Usually there are caverns, caves and other such formations on the back sides of waterfalls. We can hide there. If memory serves, Nausicaans are not great at swimming and we would also have the advantage of forcing them to try and take a position where we could fight them one or two at a time!"

"Yes!" Mor'an said in agreement, "This is good!" She ignored Jacob's concern over whether or not she could swim, instead scrambling down the incline towards the lake and dove into the water with nary a splash. She didn't surface right away, choosing to savor the feeling of the water around her. Having grown up on a pelagic planet, Mor'an had learned to swim before she learned to walk.

Jacob shook his head smiling and then dove in. The water was tepid; neither cold nor warm, but if felt good nonetheless, reminding him of the various lakes back home in southwest Wisconsin. The water was fairly clear and so it was not difficlut to manuever. He quickly swam over to Moran's position and tapped her arm then pointed down further in the lake and towards the foaming water created by the massive waterfall.

it was pretty clear that the closer they got the area of the waterfall, the deeper the lake was and so Jacob knew the chances for fissures and caves and such were much improved. He made sure he could see Moran at all times as they dived deeper eventually passing the churning impact zone of the waterfall, but with the fading light, it was imperative to find a cave or crevice or fissure quickly. Seeing an opportunity that looked promising he pointed up and began swimming upwards alongside Mor'an. He broke the surface first seeing a very tight space that had a small ledge to the left; as he climbed up onto the small ledge he quickly realized the space was barely enough for him stand up in and a space that would be very, very tight for both of them to fit in once Mor'an climbed up.

Breaking the surface just after Jacob, Mor'an treaded water for a moment to look around. The area was small, that much was certain. She didn't see Jacob right away in the fading light, so she looked instead for his heat signature. She found him above her, perched on a ledge. Swimming over to the ledge, she hoisted herself up beside Jacob, who was trying to make room for her on the tiny ledge.

"Well," she said, gesturing to their precarious perch, "At least we are out of harm's way for the moment." She teetered suddenly, reaching out to Jacob to steady herself. Once she was steady, Mor'an realized that she was pressed up against Jacob quite closely in order to avoid falling. "I am sorry," she muttered, trying to push herself away without falling from the ledge. She didn't get far.

He wrapped his large left arm around her and made sure to give her as much room as he possibly could. "Its ok. No worries Mor'an. At least in the worst possible situation the Nausicaans would be foolish to try and attack us here. I am not even sure they can find us as it is, this stone feels similar to granite so if that is the case, it would further hinder their scans." He used his right hand to pull out the tricorder and start scanning the area for a few seconds so that their own signature wouldn't be detected. "Looks like there is a ridge about seven feet above us that appears to be a small, fairly level space that runs horizontal if we wanted to get up there." He looked at the walls the water.

Jacob concentrated on everything but Mor'an being so close to him; her body tight against him, he focused a moment and tried to bury his feelings for her even deeper than before...

"Yes," Mor'an said, trying her best to keep her head clear. The sensation she was feeling was unlike anything she had ever felt before. She had been physically close to males numerous times before when practicing hand-to-hand and other combat techniques, but Jacob's arm around her waist seemed to addle her brain. "Lift me up and I shall try to reach it."

Jacob stood up but could not rise up to full height due to the low ceiling. He leaned forward slightly, "Ok Mor'an, keep your hands in front of you so you don't accidentally hit your head or face. You should be able to feel the ledge fairly quickly as it is fairly level and should be smooth if that quick data scan is correct."

He put his massive hand on the sides of her hips and lifted her as easily as an average strength man might lift a half bag full of groceries. "Up you go." Even though she was no matter to lift for him, he was not in the best position to do a straight lift and so the happenstance of the situation became almost a comedic and awkward moment, for as he lifted Mor'an up at the strange angle from which he stood made her body slightly fall into him... and of all things it was her chest that fell into his face. ImmedIately Jacob realized this and turned his head so that his face was not planted right into her breasts. "Sorry, sorry.." he managed to say as his voice broke slightly. Had there been any real light left, his face would have shown as burning a bright red color. The situation got a little more awkward as the rest of Mor'an's fit torso and soon the front of her pants that hid her womanhood rubbed the side of his face making him blush even more as well finally being too much for him to bear. It had been more than half a year since he had been with a real woman (holosim women don't count) and having the woman he had a major crush on being right there, even if comically having unintended contact with him was just overwhelming... the desire welled up in him uncontrollably... as did his own massive erection.

With his strength suddenly slightly waning he pushed her up feeling that she should be there already, "Did... did.. do you have it.. did.. you find the ledge?" His breath was slightly ragged as his mind was no longer working all that well.

Jacob had lifted her easily, but Mor'an could tell that his strength was leaving him due to the awkward angle at which he was holding her. "I almost have it," she said, stretching her arms out and trying to lengthen her body as much as possible. She wanted to get as much of a hold before she let herself free from Jacob's grasp.

Finally Mor'an had her arms and upper body on the ledge. All she wanted was to release herself from Jacob's hold because it did things to her mind that were new to her and she didn't know how to react to them. She felt warm all over and she felt little beads of sweat form along her hairline.

"Alright," she called down to Jacob, "Release me and I shall swing my legs up to the ledge." He released her as requested and she swung her legs upwards, her toes catching the edge of the protruding rock. She began to swear in her language as she suddenly realized that she was slipping, due to the wet rock. Grappling with the rock, Mor'an finally realized that she had lost her chance to reach the flat surface because she had slid too far. "Jacob, I am slipping. Catch me!" She trusted Jacob to trust his instincts instead of his eyes and let go of the rock.

Jacob panicked a moment but let go and extended his arms to catch her. She would be fine he would never let her get hurt if he had anything to say about it. He just made sure that he would not let her slip or end up anywhere lower than his torso.

Mor'an landed securely in Jacob's arms, as she knew she would. She tried as carefully as she could to pry herself from his hold without causing them to both fall into the water below. She had no intention of getting wet again, since she was already wet from their first swim and she could feel the temperature around them dropping.

"Should we try again?" she asked Jacob, rubbing her arms to try and warm them. "We cannot stand here all night."

"Yes, yes. We will get it this time for sure." Jacob voice still creaked a little, "Let me put you on my shoulders first this time. I'll lift you over my head and you simply put your feet on my shoulders while you balance yourself with your hands against the rocks until you feel the ledge ok?"

"Yes," Mor'an said, nodding in agreement. Jacob placed his large, warm hands around her waist and lifted. She jumped a little as he did to help ease her own weight. His hands tightened around her and she could feel a warm, tingling sensation in the pit of her stomach. It was over in a moment, though, when Mor'an found herself atop Jacob's shoulders, realizing just how tall he was. Feeling along the rock wall, Mor'an finally felt the protruding rock. She stood, ever so carefully, relying on her good sense of balance to keep from falling. Leaning into the rock, she lifted one knee and then the other and she was solidly on the ledge. "I made it," she called down to Jacob. "I am moving to the far end so that you can come up."

"Most excellent!" Jacob replied. He felt the wall and all though he could no longer see the rocks his hands did the work. He was a decent, but still very amateur, rock climber so he took a moment to feel for holes, protrusions and crevices. It wouldn't be much of a climb for him since it wasn't very high above him, but he did not want to jump either for fear he might smack his head on the ceiling of the cave. His grip strength proved its worth as it always did when he climbed the rocky bluffs back home and soon his hands found the top of the ledge and once he did it was no problem for him to pull his body up. He had to stay low however as this crevice was horizontal and at best four foot high. At one point as he pulled himself onto the ledge slowly, not knowing how close he was to Mor'an he did not even realize that his face, his lips were only inches from hers until he felt her breath on him. "Oops. sorry Mor'an, should have warned you where I was."

He found his way up and made sure to crawl and lay down flat even though it was painful to lay on his still swollen manhood. "Made it." He said, his breath catching as he laid flat.

"Good," Mor'an whispered, unaware of how small the ledge actually was before he was beside her. His face was almost touching hers, making time stop for but a moment before she realized how close they were to each other. Dropping her head, she moved to the farthest point on the ledge to give Jacob as much room as possible. He didn't make her uncomfortable, exactly, he just made her feel things that were new to her. She knew Del'an would be displeased with Mor'an's current situation, which, in Mor'an's mind, was almost comical. She laughed ever so softly at the thought.

"Ok, here's what we know," Jacob kept his voice to almost a whisper, "The program has a glitch and now we are stuck trying to either solve the problem or wait until the next person comes to the holodeck and sees that the sim is still running in which case, hopefully, it is found out we are trapped in here. I am going to assume that since the program will not terminate and that we are unable to contact anyone outside the holodeck, that the safety protocols are most likely not engaged at this time." The temperature of the room was getting cooler now, "And, I don't know about you Mor'an, but I am still soaked. These uniforms are great at being somewhat waterproof, but unfortunately waterproof that anything that gets inside the material gets trapped against your skin and doesn't dry." He grabbed his shirt and gently pulled it off and laid it in a little depression he felt at the very end of his reach. He then whispered, "Are you all right? I thought I heard you laugh?"

"I was just thinking of my mentor," Mor'an replied. She couldn't see Jacob in the dark, but with her IR vision she saw the red of his heat signature expand, which means that his chest was exposed, meaning he had removed the top of his uniform. She was glad she was blind without her IR. "Del'an would not approve of...this situation...of us...here." She brought her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around herself. Jacob was close enough to her that she could feel his body heat, which actually felt good in the dropping heat. She fought the urge to lean against him.

"Being here? So your mentor would disprove of you being in a holosim to test your skills alongside a Human?" Jacob's voice had a bit of intrigue as well as some impatience at the always apparent cultural barriers that always seemed between them, "It seems to me we work pretty good as a team... even if the whole program goes haywire.." He chuckled a bit trying to lighten the mood.

Mor'an detected the impatience in Jacob's voice, but she knew, despite her best efforts, he would not understand. "This...intimacy," she said hesitantly by way of explanation. She hugged her knees tighter, trying to make herself as small as possible. "I am different than you. You know that."

Jacob shook his head and sighed, "Intimacy? What intimacy Mor'an? That word is for lovers, not two people who are friends stuck in a faulty holosim. It even seems that your culture doesn't even allow for us to be friends..." His voice trailed off for a moment, "I don't believe us being friends is a negative thing and despite the cultural differences, I still feel that if two people like being in each other's company, they should be allowed to fight for that relationship regardless of their respective society's 'rules'."

Mor'an let the silence sit between them for a moment before breaking it. "I used the wrong word, I see," she said finally, "I do not have a perfect grasp on the spoken languages, so I sometimes use the wrong word." She unfolded her legs and let them stretch out in front of her. "I like to spend time with you," she said softly, almost as though confessing something. "But I am unsure of...everything."

Jacob thought for a moment, "What do mean? You are unsure about our friendship? Or unsure about me as a man.. have I not acted as a genteman with you at all times? Look we have two hours stuck in this program at least, let's just talk ok?"

"In my culture," Mor'an began hesitantly after a moment, "There are rules and rituals for everything. Everything. Ever since I became part of Starfleet it seems that I have lost some of my rules and rituals, or there is no rule for a situation that I happen to find myself in. It seems as though I am...lost outside of my people. More so than I care to admit." She paused to take a deep breath, reaching a hand out to place on Jacob's arm. "It has nothing to do with you, Jacob. Please be sure of that."

Jacob smiled at the touch, almost wishing Mor'an could see it, he lifted his head and reached his other arm underneath it so he could gently pat Moran's hand and replied, "I am glad to know it is not me." He then thought about what she had just said and ran it back in his mind a few times and then added, "Lost? Yeah, I get that feeling... maybe most people who work for Starfleet would say the same thing. You are out exploring the universe and finding new finds and coming across new things everyday and yet you feel almost alone in the vastness of that universe..." His voice trailed off as that empty feeling came back into his heart.

"At least you have your own kind around you," Mor'an replied, withdrawing her hand from Jacob's arm. "The only one that I had was Del'an, but she is no longer on board with us." She leaned her head against the wall at her back and shivered from the cold. "I shall adjust, though. I must."

Jacob could hear her shiver a bit and realized that the cold of the night in this cave was settling in. His body was almost like a heater; his massive muscles and strong heart pretty much kept him warm while still radiating heat, and since he had taken off his shirt, his skin was now dry. He touched his uniform where he put it, but it was still wet as a towel. He cleared his throat and asked, almost sheepishly, "I apologize for not being cognizant of the fact that you might be affected by the cold of the room. It takes a lot for me to be cold as my body works, and the fact of growing up in Wisconsin, pretty much makes me pretty resistant to cold temperatures for the most part..." He cleared his throat again, "...if you like, I can sit with you... I don't want you to freeze..." He was glad the room was dark so Mor'an couldn't see him blush.

Mor'an hesitated before answering. "I suppose that would be...prudent," she said, "Since I am very cold." Every so carefully, she slid closer to Jacob, grateful for his warmth.

Jacob sat up and wrapped his left arm around her. Her uniform was wet as it could be but he was not about to suggest to her to take it off. He made a quick five second scan to make sure that no Nausicaans were near or had come to find them; they had not and yet the chronometer barely moved, so he just enjoyed having Mor'an basically cuddled against his massive chest.

With Jacob's arm around her, hugging her to his chest, Mor'an immediately began to feel warmer. She brought her knees up and curled herself against Jacob, grateful for his large stature and her own small frame. "This feels so much better," she murmured, eyes closing.

Jacob could not stop smiling. One of her small hands as well as her cheek rested on his left breast which he hoped was not to hard for her to rest against as solid muscle wasn't often the softest thing around, but he did revel the feeling of sweet electricity from her hand touching his skin. He was absolutely sure she could hear his heart beating a little faster and stronger. He also felt himself blushing again.

The position in which Mor'an found herself was more more...enjoyable than she cared to admit. She felt her eyelids drooping, having been soothed by Jacob's warmth, as well as his steady heartbeat in her ear. "How long until the simulation runs down?" she asked, her voice low.

Jacob quickly checked the chronometer on the tricorder then turned it off quickly, "About ninety minutes, give or take a few minutes." He deep voice was very soft as he whispered it into her ear.

"We should be safe here," Mor'an said, though whether she meant in the cave or Jacob's embrace was not certain. Still feeling the cold air around her, Mor'an unconsciously pressed herself closer to Jacob, wrapping her arm around his torso. "We will be free soon."

Jacob got light headed having Mor'an sweet arms around him. He wished they could stay there forever. Even though he couldn't see her, he could picture her, her every feature: Her lovely face and sexy eyes and sweet lips. Even though he'd never seen it, he pictured her with her hair down, falling across her shoulders... how incredible that would be. He wanted to run his fingers through that hair, wanted to stare into her eyes, wanted to lock his lips to hers for a very long time.

He held her closer, but couldn't help himself as he very gently rubbed her back and her torso some with his large hand. No matter his size and massive musculature, he was almost literally melting at the prescense of her sweet form against him and yet frustrated to no end that seemingly, no matter what he did, a relationship with her could not or was not allowed to be... why did he always have to be so unlucky when it came to love?

Mor'an's breathing slowed, a sign that she was quickly approaching the ledge of sleep. She wasn't sure what caused her to be so tired all of a sudden -- she hadn't felt sleepy until Jacob had offered her his warmth -- but she liked the feeling of being close to Jacob. Her breathing changed as she shifted her position, the hard rock underneath her uncomfortable. As she breathed, Jacob's scent filled her nostrils, a wonderfully foreign scent. A sudden thought came to her mind.

"Do all human males smell like you?" she asked, unaware that that question could be potentially awkward.

Jacob blushed again for a moment; then became very self conscience, "Uh.. well.. I don't know.. I.. I hope it isn't bad or anything.. do.. you wear perfume?" He really was enjoying that her at least one of her hands laid on his chest. He hoped she liked feeling his powerful muscles, her touch certainly made him feel more manly than he had felt in some time.

"I do not wear perfume on a regular basis," Mor'an said, opening her eyes and looking up at Jacob, "But we do have perfumed oils that we use in some of our rituals. Sometimes the scent lasts for weeks." She closed her eyes again. "I think you smell nice."

With those last words, Mor'an rested her head back on Jacob's chest, closed her eyes and was asleep.

The two sat together on the ledge, safe and relatively warm in each other's embrace, passing the time until the simulation ran down and they wee truly safe.

OFF

LT Jacob Pendleton
Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

Ensign Im'er Mor'an
Operations Officer
USS Galileo

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