The Games People Play, Part II

Posted on 10 Mar 2014 @ 6:37pm by Lieutenant Elijah Williams IV, M.Sc. & Senior Chief Petty Officer Keval zh'Erinov

2,401 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Episode 05 - Solstice
Location: USS Galileo - Mess Hall, Deck 2
Timeline: MD 57 1824 Hrs

ON:

The mess hall was... cozy. At least the view was one of the few redeeming qualities of the room. What am I doing here? Elijah thought to himself as he and Keval entered the more spacious area. There were very few people around, which was to be expected since the Galileo had yet to launch. Still, besides the drab colors and the standard issued chairs and tables, it was a good place to socialize. If he did that sort of thing. He moved to the replicator banks, ordered up a salad with tofu, a side of dressing and an iced tea and indicated a spot by one of the viewports to sit. At least they would have a view while they ate.

Keval waited until the other man was finished, then he got himself chirizzio and eggs with a tortilla and a large glass of barely thawed water.

Once the two were seated and settled, Elijah spoke first, "Thank you again for the tour. I really do appreciate your help in getting acclimated to the ship and starship life in general." He poured some of the dressing over his salad and then began to eat.

"You're welcome,' the Andorian responded both antennae tilted forward slightly.

Well now for my little tale, I promised you," Keval said as he broke off a piece of the warm tortilla and popped it in his mouth.After chewing it, he continued, "I guess it really should began with a little background. I was the CTO for Eagle Communications. They have or had the contract to handle all of Star Fleet's communications systems and some of their security systems, like encryption and the cameras we talked about before. Have you heard of them? Have you heard of the scandal?"

Eagle communications had sounded familiar, so Elijah nodded. "I've heard of them, but I had no idea they handled a contract for Starfleet." He found that almost hard to believe, Starfleet - being as big as it was - he was surprised they didn't have their own stuff. But, outsourcing had always been a common practice going back hundreds of years. "I remember hearing of a scandal, but honestly never paid that much of attention. I know it was broadcast widely over the Federation News Service." Truth was, part of keeping ones head down also meant missing out on local, planetary and galactic events.

"Well my father, my adopted father became a Commodore before he left. So that i show he got an in, when most people wouldn't have. I do more than than just repair broken replicators. I helped develop a prototype security system that made cameras almost invisible and undetectable. The system in on the Galileo and most of the ships.

The bad news is my father got greedy. He used... my..." he paused momentarily turning a darker shade of blue, both antennae becoming rigid .. our technology and was spying on people trying to dig up dirt on them.

When I found out about it I testified against him. He went to jail and the rest of my family turn... well never mind that. But when the Federation offered me a position, I took it .

As he ate, Elijah listened with full attention. He found stories like that hard to believe. "I thought we were supposed to be more enlightened then that," he said in-between bites of salad. Though, he and his brothers were beat as a means to keep them in line, some things never changed. "It's amazing that even though a world economy has gone the way of early interstellar flight, that humanity still tackles with such things as greed." He shook his head. "I'm sorry you had to go through all that."


Keval let out a short breath, "Yeah, not many people know that little tid bit. Anyway I went to Jeremy Stone. He was the Security Chief at the time. I went to offer my help in integrating the system.

He thought I knew too much about the system and he had me arrested. The Captain, he was the XO then, ordered Stone to release me. But I spent a almost 12 hours there. And I saw the asshole assault another prisoner simply because he was gay."

This time Elijah's eyes went wide, he paled and his fork slipped from his fingers and dropped to the plate. A short shake to his head in disbelief followed. "W... what?" he had no words for what he just heard. He sat in stunned silence, he had never, ever heard of such a thing happening now, in present day. Some prejudices, he had surmised, never die.

"Nothing re portable, more rough treatment. What I saw myself but he had a bloody nose. IT was broken from what I hear. He and the cook had been fooling around in the kitchen, didn't realize that they were on camera. Both Stone and Holiday saw it and brought him up on charges.

Stone went to arrest him. he's in your department right away. He didn't resist or anything. He realized he'd violated protocol and exercised bad judgment. He just asked that he not be put in restraints and he'd come along quietly.

Well Stone would have none of He slapped him in cuffs. Made a big announcement to the whole department and slammed him against the wall. That's when his nose was broken.

He came here and when Stone was kind of shoving him around, I suggested he could drop the force field and try pushing me around. I would gladly have lost my commission over it. I don't exactly need this job. He declined. Just dismissed thought he could take me on without lifting a finger. He was an arrogant dick.

Unfortunately he was later killed, which I wouldn't wish on anybody."

Elijah sat there, still silent unsure of what to even say to such a thing. On one hand he understood, protocol was protocol, but to rough someone up - someone who was going quietly and willingly - had the word 'wrong' written all over it. Starfleet didn't operate like that. That was why people went to penal colonies, this was why executions were no more. There was a belief in rehabilitation. "That is just horrible, all the way around. It's sad that things like this still happen." For the briefest of moments he had wondered who the person was in his department, but it was none of his business so he didn't ask.

Keval sat there just staring at Elijah, wondering if he should have told him the story. He looked troubled now. "I'm sorry that was probably more information than I should have given you. Most people here aren't like that. They don't care who you love or don't love or anything like that." He looked into the clear guileless gray eyes. "Are you seeing anyone?"

Elijah blinked, surprised by the sudden turn in conversation and abrupt question. He shook his head and looked down at his salad as if the leafy greens were the most interesting thing in the room at the moment. A soft spoken, 'no' followed.

"I'm so sorry Elijah. I think I've just embarrassed you. I make assumptions sometimes and I come on too strong. I mean, I don't even know that you're into guys. If so a double apology. But if you ever did want to, you know, date I'd be open to that. No damn it what I mean to say is I like the idea."

Coming on strong was an understatement and Elijah had to force himself to look up. He had never dated anyone, let alone acted on how he felt about the same sex. "I don't know..." his voice was still low, soft and shy. "It's not that you aren't nice, but we don't really know each other."

"That's what dating is supposed to be. Getting to know more about the person. Their likes and dislikes. But you know I understand if you... Okay, wait a minute," he looked even more intently at his guest, "you don't have to answer this next question, but have you ever been on date?"

Elijah wasn't sure if he wanted to admit such a personal thing. How do you tell someone that you are 25 and never been on a date. It was embarrassing. He had been successful in avoiding the topic for years now, then one afternoon with a stranger had torn down some of those walls he had delicately built over the years. If he openly admitted something like this, ridicule would surely follow and that was something he couldn't really handle. Instead of just saying no, all he did was shake his head as his cheeks felt warm and colored a soft crimson. "I... I think I should go," he gripped his tray and made to get up.


"Please don't Elijah" Keval said, his voice pitched so only Ellsworth could hear, "I want you to stay. You don't have to be embarrassed. I think it's kind of cute. I didn't date till I was almost 19. My father was never fond of my choices. I mean he didn't care that I was gay. He just didn't think any of the guys I liked were good enough or they were only after our money. Shit like that.'

He moved slightly and laid a hand gently on the other man's arm,"Just sit back down."

Settling back down, Elijah only allowed himself to relax a tad. He kept both hands on the edge of his tray. His tone was still low as he spoke, "I'm sorry, it's a touchy subject for me." He finally loosened his grip on the tray and folded his hands in front of him.

Sympathy filled his amber eyes, "Look if you want to talk about something else, I understand, I'm not going to push you and I'm not going to judge. But if you want to talk about it, or if you ever want to date, just let me know And we can take things as slow as you want. Assuming of course that you want to."

Though it would be nice to open up about such things, in the mess hall wasn't the place to do so. "If you don't mind, let's talk about something else," Elijah said. He picked up his fork and picked at the salad, moving the greens around on the plate. He then chuckled, "I probably am a counselors dream."

Keval took a bite of his own food chewing thoughtfully. "You know counselors a bunch of bitchy little girls. They think everyone needs their help."

Elijah laughed, "A bunch of bitchy little girls?" It felt good to laugh, to break the tension. "Did someone by chance have a bad experience with one?" He was one who didn't really care for counselors, but he submitted to his annual psychological exam without question or fighting it. He knew plenty of other Starfleet personnel who fought until they practically were court-martialed. He never understood why, the exam was easy.

"Well you may find this hard to believe, but some people think I'm a smart-ass that resents authority. My father sent me to one because he thought I was being rebellious. Go figure."

"My parents didn't believe in any type of psychotherapy," Elijah said. Though all four of their children are in need of counseling, he thought to himself. "My father thought that kind of science was silly nonsense and my mother was afraid she would get blamed for all her children's problems." His mother would be correct in that assumption. "I have no issues with them, I do my annual exam without question."

"Yeah me too. what do you do for fun, what are some of your hobbies?"

It was another abrupt change in topic, but he knew why the Andorian was doing it. "Not much really, being a geologist gives me an affinity for the outdoors. So like hiking, camping, roasting marshmallows, that kind of thing. As you already know, I really like art, I had thought about going into art history for a career. You know, go to college, get a doctorate, teach at a university. But geology was much more of a stronger pursuit, besides being a teacher you need to be kind of an extrovert, I am opposite of that."

Keval leaned back in his chair suddenly thoughtful. "I wanted to get an MFA
my father insisted I get an MBA instead. I wanted to be an actor and an artist, I... I'm babbling again. I'm sorry."

Elijah allowed himself a small grin. "No need to apologize I assure you," he said. "My parents are traditionalists who feel we have no business being out amongst the stars. Suffice it to say they were not happy when I joined Starfleet." That would be all he would say about that.

"Well I'm glad you're here and I'm glad you decided to spend some time with me. Tomorrow I'll fix some more cookies. My way of paying you back for posing for me. We are still on for that aren't we?"

A shy smile spread on Elijah's lips. Due to the twists and turns of the conversation, he had completely forgotten about posing for a portrait. "Yep, we are," he said. He didn't want to back out on that, it would be interesting to see how it would turn out in the end. "I am looking forward to it."

"Good, I'm really glad. Do you want to wear your uniform, or something more casual?"

Elijah shrugged, he hadn't thought about what he would wear. Casual or formal. With this hand, he indicated what he was wearing. "This is me casual, a simple top and simple trousers. I don't dress to impress," he said. His wardrobe wasn't extensive, he had three long sleeve henleys, about a half a dozen t-shirts, and three pairs of trousers and one pair of denim jeans. "I think uniform, then it can be formal.

"Formal is good,"Keval said smiling," and I appreciate your helping me out. And like I said, I'll make sure to supply you with all the nice gooey chocolate chip cookies you can eat."

"Sounds like a fair trade to me," Elijah said.

Tbc...

OFF:

A joint post by:

Lieutenant JG Elijah Williams IV
Geologist
USS Galileo


CPO Keval Grayson
Operations
USS Galileo

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