Ambushed! (Part 1 of 2)

Posted on 26 Aug 2012 @ 11:25pm by Lieutenant Kiri Cho & Commander Andreus Kohl

2,180 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Episode 01 - Project Sienna
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 4, Sensor Array
Timeline: MD 09 - 0830 hours

[ON]

The computer said that one of the connection the Science Department had changed yesterday in the sensor array controls was loose. It worked yesterday so that was rather strange. So far Kiri's head had been inside the the primary sensor computer, going over yellow and green chips in turn, testing, checking and moving, trying to get it to work again. It was making progress until this cropped up, worried that it could be important she changed task at once. The young woman's dark hair was tied in a knot, held in place with a pair of tiny black pins. The bags under her eyes hadn't shifted from the days before, lids drooping slightly, her uniform was still spotless.

Alone with the lights slightly low she entered the port Jefferies tubes. Moving quickly on her hands and knees she moved to the problem connection and started to check it. There was no problem she could see, so she pulled up one of the grates on the floor and looked inside. There was a chance that it was something wrong that the computer didn't pick up. Sticking her head inside she started to sink deeper and deeper. To the point where she had disappeared up to her waist, fiddling and checking. Not noticing the sound of an opening door or someone else entering.

The hiss of the hatchway opening was followed by the scraping sound of metal being pushed along the grating, and then the slapping sounds of hands and knees clambering across the grated flooring of the jefferies tube. Then: "Ensign Cho? Ensign Cho, is that you?" asked a man's voice.

Having found a loose lock Kiri had tightened it hopes that alone would be enough when she heard a man's voice. Her first instinct was to look up, in her current position though all it did was make her almost loose her balance. Not sure who it could be she carefully pulled herself up with quite a bit of effort and replaced the grate before finally turning round. A rather confused smile spread across her face before she asked, "Is something wrong?"

Crawling across the jefferies tube was Ensign Andreus Kohl. His posture was awkward, unfamiliar with the cramped territory of the jefferies tubes. He was pushing a hard-cased medical kit ahead of him, and he had a soft-case medical kit slung over his shoulder and balanced on his back. "I think, uhm, I think I may have left behind one of the nanites in your arm."

Rather worried about this Kiri turned around properly, if there was she didn't want it inside a second longer. This panic showed as she moved slightly closer, "Can you remove it?"

"Of course I can," Kohl said, his voice loud and boastful. He pushed the medical kit the rest of the way towards Kiri, and then he said, "But only with the right equipment. Open it quickly!"

Easing the latches she did as he said, catching urgency from his voice. Opening it deftly she looked inside, trying to process for several seconds before looking up at him confused, "But, why?" It was a cake. Kiri knew it was her Birthday, not that she had told anyone but why Kohl? Why here? What did it mean? Why surprised her? She was though, it was a lovely act, the first like it for her in a long time.

"Because it's birthday flavoured," Kohl said excitedly, as if that were an answer. He grinned broadly at the cake and then at Kiri. The cake's bright pink frosting was particularly eye-catching, and there was paler-pink detailing along the top and side that looked like the circuitry inside an isolinear chip. In icing the same colour as ODN cable, 'Pleasurable birth anniversary,' had been written on top of the cake.

A smile crept across her face from the nonsensicalness of the situation, it wasn't an answer. For several seconds she remained perplexed, her abdomen twitching from an almost laugh. It was a very nice looking cake, nothing like what she was used to in colour or style. She met his eyes for a moment before asking, "Did you make it?" It seemed the logical question, even if it didn't make any difference. She was clearly touched though, colour flushing her cheeks.

"No," Kohl said apologetically, tilting his head to the left as he did so. A staccato laugh escaped him, and he said, "Oh no." He shook his head sheepishly. From the medi-kit over his shoulder, he retrieved a crystalline holographic display. It was shaped like a flat hexagon and it fit in the palm of his hand. Kohl activated the device as he proffered it towards Kiri, and it generated holograms of each member of the medical staff offering birthday wishes to Kiri. "I made this," he said.

While the cake was very nice, it was just a thing, from one person. What he gave her now, she watched in transfixed silence. The colour drained from her face and she was left in silence. That so many people were giving their wishes to her, she actually started to cry. She'd been starting to feel that no one cared, that she wasn't going to make friends with anyone. Everything she was trying to do towards that was failing, that they could all die at any moment as well. Biting her bottom lip very hard she wiped away the few stray tears and turned off the recordings, "Thanks you, very much," Her voice choked still. How could she ever repay someone for something like this?

"You're welcome," Kohl said earnestly. He was quiet, for a moment, as he studied Kiri's eyes, struggling to puzzle out her reactions. He didn't know Kiri. Not really, not yet. He had only met her in moments of stress, but that didn't matter. Everyone deserved appreciation. He reached into the soft medi-kit again, and he handed her a cloth napkin for any further tear-absorption. He also retrieved a thermos, which he placed on the grating beside the cake box. A thick purple liquid resided inside the thermos. "There was a Trill I used to know," Kohl said, "He was from Gheryzan. He said it wasn't the most common practice, but in the province where he was raised, they drink that brew to celebrate the anniversary of one's birth."

Kiri didn't really know the first thing about being a Trill, she'd read a few things but none of them had given her much of a feel. He could have told her anything and she more than likely not be able to tell if it was true or not. The notion that someone else had gone so very far out of their way for a complete stranger pulled at parts of her left untouched. She had sat down at best she could inside the tube, knees high against her chest. Eyeing the flask carefully she felt it necessary like most people to make him aware of a little of her situation, "I don't really know anything about being a Trill."

"That's all right, Kiri," he said. Kohl waved a hand to dismiss her concerns as nothing that would bother him. He shook his head and said, "Neither do I." Kohl reached into the lining of the hard medi-kit to retrieve a plastic knife. He moved the knife towards the cake, but then he froze his hand in place. He looked from the knife to Kiri, as he asked, "Oh, wait. Big piece or little piece?"

Cocking her head to the side she looked slightly confused, "Small?" While he didn't make it would he be disappointed by her not wanting a large piece? Should she ask for a big piece, what would he think if she did that instead? What would he think if she changed her mind? How much had she already taken in from those bars? Was she losing control? There needed to be something else to talk about, rather rushed she asked, "How, did you meet that Trill?" It was the first thing that popped into her head, it sounded stupid didn't it?

When Kiri asked for a small piece, Kohl didn't even have to think about it. He bobbed a small nod at her request and he brought the knife down. Kohl cut into the cake a-once and a-twice until a wedge on the larger side of small was removable. He withdrew a small plate and a fork from the lining of the medical kit, and he used them to hand Kiri her very own slice of birthday cake. Kohl worked at cutting himself a sizable wedge of cake, while he answered Kiri's question about that Trill.

"Ah, Kellin Nertlinge," Kohl said, his timbre approaching the range of wistfulness. "I met him aboard the USS Berengaria. He used to make up stories about the 'Nertlinge symbiont', despite the simple fact that he never had been joined, and never even wished to be joined. He was a security officer. I first met him in Transporter Room Three, when we were both assigned to an away team. He put a phaser in my hand, but I wasn't comfortable carrying weapons then. I tried to give it back, but he insisted. I took it, and I held it behind my back, and I dropped it on the transporter platform just before we dematerialized."

Looking at the cake slice with slight suspicion, Kiri's eyes turned back to him. Listening to the story that both concerned her, and made her smile a little more. Rather wistfully she replied, "That sounds like fun," Repressing her desire to comment about the risks of being unarmed. Tentatively she slowly and deftly cut a small piece with the fork, before looking to him again. She couldn't say anything, she wanted to ask lots of things, mostly about her and why he was doing this, none of them passed her lips though.

Oblivious to Kiri's unexpressed questions, Kohl emphatically said, "Oh, no. No, I was reprimanded for that." Kohl scooped up a little bit of cake and a whole lot of frosting on his fork. He closed his eyes for a heartbeat when he ate his first bite. Birthday cake was certainly more delicious than the Argelian alternative. Then, Kohl went on: "I was ordered to complete further phaser and self-defense training with Mister Nertlinge as a result. That, rather, was the fun."

Following his lead Kiri lifted her fork to her mouth, it was very sweet. The cakes she was used to very rarely had icing or frosting, the spongy part was nice though. It was the first time someone outside of her family had made a cake just for her, she still didn't know how to act. The smile still remained on her face a while longer as she commented, "I haven't done anything other than basic combat at the academy, do medical officers?"

"...Uhm, to be honest, I don't know," Kohl said. His delayed response revealed initial discomfort with the question, but when he shrugged and admitted his truth, it came out perfectly comfortably. He stuffed another big chunk of cake in his mouth, and mostly chewed it before he went on. "I majored in diplomacy at the Academy. I was trained in more than basic combat, but probably not a lot more than science or medical officers. My phaser and combat training on Berengaria was a punishment, really, and an avenue for development. Since my senior officers felt I was uncomfortable with a phaser, they wanted me better prepared for away missions."

Starting to cut another piece, Kiri had to chase the obvious question, the girl started to look and act more relaxed, "So, how did you become a nurse?" If he was a diplomat, it didn't really come that close to being a nurse. She wore the same colour uniform and she couldn't be one, purple was different, something she didn't think she could ever be, even if she wanted to. It was a little strange, for once she didn't feel that these were things she should be asking, they were things she wanted to be asking. She wanted to know Kohl better, to know how he was the way he is.

"I went back to the Academy. I went back to the Academy for two years," Kohl said, but even before he said it, he knew that wasn't what Kiri was asking. Just the other day, a young man had asked Kohl why he changed careers, and Kohl's immediate response had been deflection. It was only way Kohl knew how to respond to that question. But now he was starting to get to know Kiri. His manner as a nurse had made her uncomfortable and they had taken opposite sides in disagreements, but Kiri had never made judgements about his character. Her lack of judgement was a disarming characteristic. So disarming. And it was her birthday...

To be continued.

[TBC]

Ensign Andreus Kohl
Nurse
USS Galileo

Ensign Kiri Cho
Science Officer/Sensor Specialist
USS Galileo

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