Close Encounters (Part Three)

Posted on 27 Jan 2014 @ 7:23pm by Ensign K'os Beaumont & Senior Chief Petty Officer Keval zh'Erinov

985 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Episode 05 - Solstice
Location: Emaracdero / Holodeck
Timeline: MD 17 1950

[LAST TIME]

"What I am saying is we should be at the next level and the ship shouldn't be here yet," Keval said slipping out of character, "I did program some random elements though, so I am sure that's why this is happening. So this is part of the game, just not one I planned" He slipped his shirt off and tossed it back towards the consoled, his aim was off the mark a bit. Then he started pulling his pants off. The flickering flame cast shadows through the cave but Keval's body was silhouetted in the orange and purple light.

[CONCLUSION]

"You programmed a random scene that involves the characters having to take their clothes off in a cave?" K'os smiled, not being able to hold the Vulcan composure he had been trying to sustain since the shuttle "crashed" on the mountain. His eyes widened a bit when he took in the Andorians torso. K'os wasn't a modest man, he just dreaded the cold.

"Not exactly," Keval said I threw a number of ancient Terran vids in. Not holovids, long before that. My great grand parent's collection. I remember one with a guy named Will Smith, called Conspiracy Theory, the bad guys planted tacking devices in parts of his clothing. I'm thinking the program might be incorporating that.

Oh and K'os, my eyes are up here not down where you're looking."

K'os responded with a look of Vulcan passivity; in the cold it resembled the look of a dead fish. He had no idea what Keval was talking about. He suddenly realized there was still so much he missed from being a kid that he still had so much more to experience. He took off his jacket and as he moved closer to Keval he inspected the pockets and lining. His flannel jacket was next, which he searched much the same way, finding nothing. He felt the front of his shirt and didn't feel anything obvious but he popped it off and began shaking it out. It was freezing. He was positive his nipples were hard enough to cut a bulk head.

Keval had of course not really noticed the cold, he rarely did. He had been busy examining his own clothing and finding nothing. The first time. He was about to look though them again when he happened to glance over at the Vulcan hybrid.

His gaze immediately fixed themselves on K'os nipples with sympathy, with just a dash of lust thrown in.

"Damn, you look cold." he remarked stating the obvious.
Then his hands found something, his eyes had missed. a button that was just slightly out of place with the rest. He pulled it off an stomped on it.

"Check your buttons and then you better put those clothes back on and get by the fire.

My offer still stands if you want to get warm."

"The fire will be sufficient." He said calmly, though debating if it actually was. He found an extra button that the program had added to his jacket and he pulled it off then tossed it into the fire. After he replaced his clothes, he knelt down next to the warmth emanating from the flames. He thought he heard the blizzard begin to die down, so he began to wonder if that meant the game was progressing.

"Good job," Keval said, "It would be helpful if we could mask our lifesigns before we leave here. Any ideas?"

"Not particularly." He pointed at the fire with his chin while he warmed his hands. "You should warm up too though." When he felt as though he was recovered enough, he took out an empty water bottle and another partially consumed one and began filling them with snow. "You said the next phase is in the desert. If you have any empty bottles, we should fill them now."

"Good idea, on the water, but I'm afraid you misunderstood me. The next phase is getting though the mountains, then we spend some time in a city,the comes the desert. But we can pause things when we are done with this phase, or at anytime really."

K'os nodded. "Right, of course." He said unsure of what to say next. He was starting to get mentally exhausted from the Vulcan techniques he was using. "I think we should pause it here then. Thank-you for showing me this. I've never played a holonovel before. Do you want to grab some drinks instead? Something a little less chaotic?"

"Sure and I am a little hungry as well, Do you like what Humans call breakfast food?"

Since K'os was a kid he practiced fasting much how his mother did. He would usually only eat once, maybe twice if he was doing physically demanding work and his last meal was before 20:00. He would then fast over night and not break it until 11:00. In many respects he was more like his mother than his father. There were exceptions; he shared his father's predilection for alcohol or specifically the experience of being drunk for instance.

"Humans eat so many different things for breakfast I wouldn't be able to say. I also don't normally eat this late. However if you mean bacon? I always make exceptions for bacon." Do did his father.

"You're a mind reader... wait a minute you're half Vulcan, you probably are a mind reader. But that is exactly what I had in mind. I know of a little dinner in where they serve real food and big portions. And if you want drinks, I'm sure we can find a bar or go to my place.

"No, no that's fine. The diner is a great idea." He was relieved. He needed time to recuperate from this experience. "Thank you for showing me this holonovel. It was certainly...educational."





Chief Petty Officer Keval Grayon
Operations
USS Galileo
&

PO3 K'os Beaumont
Matter/Energy Systems Specialist
USS Galileo

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