...the Shatter

Posted on 18 Dec 2012 @ 8:08pm by
Edited on on 18 Dec 2012 @ 9:26pm

6,080 words; about a 30 minute read

Mission: Episode 02 - Resupply
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 2, Quarters of Lieutenant Stone
Timeline: MD 14 1100

[ON]

Tiffany stretched higher to try to get the last bit done and felt the wobble of the stool. Lt. Stone still stood by as Good Guy and Perfect Gentleman in case she should fall. He did try to tell her that this would not be a stable platform to work on the sensor but he had nothing else in his quarters she could use as a stool and he was anxious to have this project finished so he could go back to work protecting the ship from dangers external and internal.

"...and then I saw him in the mess with Lt. Panne and I don't know what his definition of charming is but it certainly wasn't stuffing his face like some big ol pig and insulting her. And if h e's supposed to be dating other people then why is he going out to lunch with Lt. Panne anyway? I tell you he's only a womanizing pig and you were right to fire him! He's not a good security officer, because he's so mean to anyone that doesn't think he's the greatest thing ever with his I'm Mr. Muscles and You Will All Love Me Or I'll Flex You To Death attitude and thinks that flashing that white smile and that Aw Shucks, Me? Grin will just get anyone of us women to melt and go back to his quarters with him. But not me, I've already seen what he did with Tabby and..."

Jeremy rubbed his temples as she continued to drone on. He found it amazing that her mind seemed to have such a disconnect that she could work and continue rambling at the same time. At this point, however, he was getting confused in the narrative and any attempts he made to understand only confused him more. However, any attempt he made at trying to work was ruined by the unstable nature of the manner she stood on the dining table chair. her efforts to heighten the sensor's sensitivity in order to keep the door from closing all the time. He was still upset that what he thought was a feature of the room was actually a software bug that he was able to exploit to keep the door from closing when he was in his quarters.

But...she said that it looked like he had been robbed. He frowned as he looked around his quarters. He had everything superfluous removed from them when he accepted the room assignment. He had what he needed - his desk with a back to the windows so he would not be distracted by the stars while trying to work, a small dining table large enough to accommodate his singular needs. A sofa and a couple chairs offset by a small coffee table. HIs bedroom contained his bed and the build in chest. He had all the decor; art, statuary, plants, etc., removed shortly after moving in.

The only additions he made was an exercise set in the corner of the living room, containing free weights, several pads, and the heavy bag which still appeared new. It was perfect accommodations for him except they were much too large. And the door wouldn't remain open as he desired.

"...and then I told them that Athlen probably deserved to be arrested because they weren't there and they didn't know what happened and it could have been a really hot bowl of soup and burned Lieutenant Liyar..."

He watched as the chair she was standing on became even more unstable as she attempted to reach higher. Unfortunately at that moment the combination of wobble from the chair and her own precarious position combined to send her falling backwards. Though her arms windmilled she was unable to keep herself balanced. Jeremy acted without thought to reach up and grab her about the waist and set her down before she could injure herself. In doing so, her arms fell across his shoulders. He was satisfied to see that her efforts paid off and that little bit of activity caused his door to open.

Tiffany felt his strong hands on her waist, preventing her from falling and hitting her head and spending loads of time in Medical with Dr. Pola who was the reason that Tabby was crying, but not really. Dr. Pola wasn't at fault because Kiwoski was a Big Dump Musclebound Pig and Tiffany hoped that Dr. Pola would be okay after Kiwosk dumped her and moved on to his next girl waiting to have a broken heart. But thoughts of falling and hurting herself were compounded by the sudden image of her lying on the ground, unconscious and Lieutenant Stone would have to give her CPR to save her life. She wondered about his lips on hers and how they would feel, just so slightly chapped. How was it to kiss him with his broad, taut shoulders under her hands and his leaning over, but also lifting her just slightly so that she was literally swept off her feet.

Looking into his deep brown eyes, she decided that maybe she didn't have to wonder what kissing him would be like, she could just find out here and now, after all he handn't removed his hands from her waist yet, his grip on her firm and yet gentle. This was somethiing that Kell could never figure out, that holding a lady was different from just holding a girl and that's why Kell would never make a good boyfriend for her, because he was just so clueless for someone who worked in intelligence. But not Lt. Stone, he had lots of experience in making a girl feel like a lady, she could just tell from the way he held her.

She decided she wouldn't wait anymore, this was like a scene out of one of the romance novels that Tabby gave her to read and she thought was so fake and stupid and Not Real At All until in this very moment while staring into his eyes (though he seemed to be looking at the door that was weird) and being held in his embrace. She slowly rose up on her very tippy of tippiest toes in order to close the distance between her lips and his. Closing her eyes in anticipation of what it was to be like she drew forward, reaching her lips for his when -

On her way to her quarters was Maenad Panne, with a PADD in one hand. She wasn't watching where she was walking, instead reading the report on the condition of the arboretum she'd been given by Mister Petrov. She had found their meeting interesting, actually having enjoyed it. But she wasn't thinking about Petrov or their meeting anymore, because Maenad was somewhat a victim of linear thinking - in the worst possible sense. She was now, as she was returning to her quarters, thinking only of what she was immediately reading.

She stepped out of the turbolift across the hall from Lieutenant Stone's quarters, absently looking up from her PADD as the doors opened. She didn't see the malfunctioning door that Stone had vaguely mentioned when he showed up at her door reminding her that he disliked her. No, instead she saw him and some read-headed young woman kissing. Really she thought. Her eyebrows slowly rose not in surprise, but in some kind of dispassionate judgemental disgust, if such a thing could make a single word. She parted her lips only enough to say that they had, but she said nothing and made no sound. There has to be some protocol that's against, she thought in the recess of her mind, enjoying that Stone was a hypocrite.

"Lieutenant," Jeremy said, stepping away from the petty officer, almost rudely shoving her aside and not noticing her closed eyes, slightly flushed skin or even puckered lips as he stepped away and to the wide open door. He briefly glanced at his hands to make sure they weren't bloodied this time before putting them behind his back. Not able to look at her directly, he muttered, "I wanted to thank you, again, for your understanding that it would be improper for me to enter your quarters without a chaperone."

The turbolift doors closed behind Miss Panne, leaving her standing before Stone and the mysterious young woman with a hawkish acuteness about her. And that was how she thought of herself at that moment, as Miss Panne, because she suddenly felt entirely in control of everything that was going on. Stone's cheeks were red, he'd been caught probably in the worst possible situation such a man could have imagined himself, he had just thanked her in a sort apologetic way. Maenad still didn't smile, looking expectant of something. "You don't need a chaperone if I'm the one who's asked you in," she explained. Then she looked at the red-head and remembered that she had met her at the beach the other day. The taut skin beneath her eyes and on her nose stung as she remembered it hadn't yet fully healed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you," she added a beat later.

Jeremy frowned, "I'm a married man," he stated simply. "Without the presence of my wife, it would be unseemly to your reputation for me to have been seen, or to have been known, to have been alone with you." he looked puzzled at Maenad's looking past him to Tiffany and her statement of 'disturbing' them. "I could not repay your kindness by allowing your reputation to be besmirched." Still something bothered him. "I'm sorry, I'm being rude. Have you met Mister Darwisch from Operations? She's trying to take care of this problem that no one else seems able to fix. She's hoping to do a quick fix to satisfy my needs."

A married man? thought Maenad. First, it didn't seem possible that Stone could be married. And, men and woman were seen together all the time and weren't assumed to be fornicating. Did Stone think that when he had knocked on her door about the piano she wanted to seduce him? She wasn't sure whether to be flattered, but then decidedly felt put-off by that. And so soon after the way he had treated her in the brig, how he had treated her crewman Athlen, even Kiwosk. And how different he was now from then, concerned about her reputation and whatnot when she was not at all concerned of how people might think of her. And why did he call this girl mister? Maenad stood there, taking it all in, steadily narrowing her eyes as her mind tried to make sense of everything.

Tiffany stared at Lieutant Panne, still speechless because she had been able to read more of her work - because Tabby had found stuff that was from long ago and it was so much better than all that dry, boring stuff that Tiffany had to use a dictionary and thesuarus and computer database searches to just Not Understand. But her other stuff...very good. It would be stuff that she thought she and Lieutenant Stone might be doing later in their relationship. But first there had to be the First Kiss which got interrupted...and maybe that was a good thing because the First Kiss had to be Important and maybe now instead of kissing they just got to be a Little Teased and that would Build Excitement and make the First Kiss Really, Really, Really Special.

"Lieutenant Panne," she said, righting the chair that had tumbled over, but she still felt the warmth of his big, strong hands on her waist, that heat flashing through her uniform and onto her skin and now refused to leave. She felt she was completely blushing. "I'm ever so much more a fan of your work. You write really, really, really well and I can't believe that you stopped writing like that and have only done your Really Smart Books instead of your Really Good Fiction!"

Jeremy's head was starting to hurt as he glanced between the two women. Apparently they knew each other? But the petty officer could serve as a chaperone, nobody would fail to know if something untoward happened. "Please, Lieutenant, come in. I believe Mister Darwisch would like to speak with you about your work?" Something clicked about the name. "Are you, by any chance related to the Maenad Panne that wrote the treatise on the work on Dr. Galen and his research on common evolutionary ancestry on many galactic species?"

Maenad smiled at that, teeth and all. Either Stone was pretending that he didn't know that she was the one and only Maenad Panne or he really didn't. "Well," she said modestly, "It was actually me, yes." With two fingers, she tickled the soft of her neck behind her right ear the way she did when she was pleased that people knew about her. Her now-shining green eyes looked to the excitable and red-faced red-head. "And thank you," Maenad looked at her collar, "Petty Officer."

"Lieutenant Panne," Tiffany said, uncharacteristically Not Bouncy. "I was wondering if you had more stuff that I could read. Tabby and I found some of your college literary journals and the stories you published in those..." Tiffany smiled, "Very good! They sure beat the crap they put out these days. The women in your stories were all Strong Women and not at all waiting around for the men to Come Charging to the Rescue! Why, I almost go the opinion that the men weren't even necessary for those stories at all and that made me like them more, because I want to be a Strong Woman and do Important Smart Stuff like you've done. I bet you get people telling you all the time how much they like your stuff, but I just wanted to let you know how happy I am to be on the same ship as the Famous Lt. Maenad Panne! Maybe you could let me know in advance when you publish more stuff like that. Oh, and you're Really Smart Stuff too! Cause, well, I'm told that's really good. I'm trying to understand it all but it's Really Smart Stuff and I'm not anywhere as smart as you!"

Jeremy looked puzzled as he stood 'at ease' while the petty officer babbled. He'd ask her to leave, but the two of them seemed to be friends and without her presence, Jeremy was in danger of sullying the Lieutant's reputaton. And it was such a small ship. "Please, Lieutenant, we have a capable chaperon at the moment, if you'd like to enter. I don't have anything for refreshments, but I could order something from the replicator if you like." He recalled reading her master's thesis long ago. "I'd like to tell you how much I enjoyed reading your thesis regarding Dr. Galen. I thought it was well written and the arguments you presented were very well structured. Too bad your conclusions were weak. Your book on galactic evolution was also very well compiled, but I feel it was too narrowly researched, as if to prove a singular point regarding the disproof of a creationist viewpoint."

He hoped that it sounded as complimentary outside his head as it did in his head. He thought he had once compiled a letter to send to the author of those works detailing his admiration for the research and argument, even if he found the conclusions flawed. Or had he only intended to do so. He considered looking up his PADD to see if he would have kept a copy of any such correspondance.

Maenad was now pulling at strands of hair by her ear and curling them between her fingers, smiling. Her blushing was masked by her sunburn, but the smile she tried to restrain couldn't hide her flattery. Both Stone and this girl who seemed to love her, and her fiction of all things, were giving high praise. "Oh," she mumbled, "There are writers many times better than I am," she was still smiling and speaking to the floor. She followed Stone into his quarters, moving around the chair that the young woman had righted and moved.

Still grinning from their compliments and toying with her hair, she absently thought that Stone's quarters were starkly different from hers. Most people's were, she knew, but this was an unprecedented level of blandness. She didn't say anything, however, out of fear of ruining the suspiciously pleasant moment that this had become and she stopped a few paces from the door, cautiously glancing around. "You might be the first person who's ever asked me about my writing," she said curiously to the girl. "My fiction writing," she added. "And Mister Stone, I had no idea that you were interested in Professor Galen's work, or mine for that matter," her cheeks stung beneath the tightness of the sunburn. She half-shrugged. "You flatter me," Maenad looked at the floor again, not wanting to look him in the eyes. Talking about herself like this with somebody who went out of his way to remind her that he disliked her... something just didn't feel quite right.

Jeremy moved aside, noticing her gaze flicking around his quarters. He recalled Tiffany's assessment and wondered if it were a universal thought. His quarters served his needs and nothing more. It wasn't as if he even liked spending time in them. They were...confining. "At a point in my career," he said, slowly, trying not to recall specifics, "I had a lot of free time that I filled with reading. My reading, however, was rather restricted due to...disagreements...with my...with others. I was not allowed anything considered too...exciteable or stimulating. I read many texts and treatises. I discovered that Galen's work was almost single-handedly responsible for reigniting the Creationism and Intelligent Design theories and that lead me to your work."

He placed the chair back at the small table where it belonged noticing only in the reptilian part of his brain that the door closed as soon as the sensor's path was clear. "I admit, I'm not much of a student of micropaleontology or the effects on galactic evolution, but I don't think you've ever resolved the debate fully?"

"Oh, I don't know about that," she said with a confident grin. "Just because people refuse to accept the evidence doesn't mean that the debate is still open. The creationists can send me all the hate mail they like, it doesn't change the facts or the validity of Galen's work, or mine. I have said about all that I can on it, as have countless others. I believe my conclusions are sound; those who say otherwise do so because of faith, I think." Maenad didn't know what do with her hands anymore, so she awkwardly clasped them in front of her waist.

Tiffany stood by the door, far enough away that it was allowed to close, and crossed her arms over her chest. She didn't want to Glare at Maenad but the woman was definitely Interrupting and was Unaware of it. But, on the other hand, Maenad was willing to talk about her work and Tiffany hardly ever got to talk to others about their creative endeavours. She corrected herself. She had talked to songwriters and producers when she was working on a musical career, but they were all so Boring and Full Of Themselves. Their insights into why they had written a song, or made the arrangements they did, were just so self-serving and trite that Tiffany quickly lost interest.

"Lieutenant Stone," she said, hoping to keep his attention because here was another woman, who was not just beautiful but Cultured and Talented and Really, Really Smart and he was Talking to Her Like They Were Equals and Tiffany didn't want him to forget that she was there also. "Have you read any of her fiction work? It's remarkable, like I think I said, because her characters are well drawn and very very very real and not at all Political like some people have said but determined. I really enjoyed "The Joyful Being of Nothingness" where the university student has the steamy affair with her professor, only he turns out to be a Bad Guy and she has to prove that he did those horrible things by pretending to still be in love with him? That was excellent!"

Maenad hated that story. She felt rather ashamed of her earliest writings; in her younger years, Maenad wrote a lot of grim romance-like novellas that she now wished she hadn't. Occasionally, very rarely in fact, she got a letter asking her to write more. But that part of her life had long since passed. "Thank you," she smiled to her. She almost slipped that those stories were mostly her dark fantasies, which would have been embarrassed her. The girl's name finally came back to her, Tiffany. "I can send you some others, if you would like," she held back about her more recent others.

Tiffany started to give her thanks when...uncharacteristically for her...she was interrupted for the second time in a very short period.

"I'm sorry, but how can you say the debate is closed? In a way they are right. Dr. Galen's work did prove that life on Earth was the result of intelligent design. And what do we really know about the beings who did so? They could have been considered deity forms, much like the Q are thought to have inspired many deity forms on many worlds, to include Earth." Jeremy said, unaware of Tiffany's continued presence.

Maenad rolled her eyes, unaware of how disrespectful it might have seemed. "Right?" she almost laughed, "It doesn't prove anything. Intelligent designers say that we were consciously and deliberately designed. The Ancient Humanoid clearly said that they had only seeded life analogous to terraforming. We are not deities because we can create a living, breathing, world no more than they are for planting life in a similar fashion. The intelligent design that Galen proved did not prove that life itself was designed, Mister Stone, but how humanoid life arose throughout the galaxy. We have no reason to believe that the Ancient Humanoids designed themselves, either. To believe that they were deities of some kind would force us to consider ourselves as deities as well, because practically all humanoids, not excluding ourselves, have been traced back to have evolved from them. As I point out in my final chapter, to hold such a belief would be the very antithesis of all of humanity's most prominent religions, in which it is held that to view oneself or any human being as a god is an ultimate sin. So, yes, the debate is firmly closed. I would argue that it was never actually reopened, created by a desperately poor understanding of Galen's research and, by extension, my own."

"You can argue that it's a poor understanding," Jeremy said as he frowned, becuase it was a good argument, he did have a poor understanding of it, "but you can't arbitrarily decide that people are wrong because their views are different from your own. The ancient humanoids did have to design life for the different environments they were seeding, didn't they? And then let it grow from there. Just because people are wrapping the bits up in faith and spirituality doesn't make their theories any less sound." He folded his hands behind his back. "After all, you cannot disprove that a deity form doesn't exist. I know, I know, there's the common conceit of 'I don't have to disprove a negative' but, yes, you do. Otherwise your arguments come down to just your opinion and is as arrogant and flawed as those who want to believe in a deity form. That is why your conclusions are flawed, because you throw away the opposing arguments without anymore justification than they have for holding their beliefs."

Maenad's jaw fell for a moment. Who was this man to tell her that her years of work, her life's work in fact, was just her opinion?. The burden of proof was not on scientists to prove the existence of gods, it laid with those who said they existed. "My conclusions are most certainly not flawed," Maenad shot back, crossing her arms against her chest, her tone defensive. "My conclusions are scientifically sound. Beliefs don't require respect simply because they are beliefs. If I told you that I believed that your Starfleet handbook was false, or whatever it is you're quoting all the time, you would summarily dismiss that view because you know it to be wrong. My opinion is not to be respected just because I have it; contrary to what they tell you in grade school, there is such a thing as a wrong opinion. And the Ancient Humanoids did not design life for each individual planet they seeded, Mister Stone; they randomly planted it on worlds they thought would become similar to their own through time, which is why there are so many humanoid variants. Life evolves differently depending on environmental exposure. Humans, Klingons, Vulcans - were were not independently designed, we are the same species only differently evolved over billions of years, so far removed that we can't immediately recognise. We all share the same genetic coding as the Ancient Humanoid, buried deep within our DNA," she was speaking like an enthusiastic teacher now, but then stopped, remembering that the security officer had said this was all just her opinion. "My research is not opinion," she snapped at him. "It is quantifiable fact which can be unravelled and explained at every corner. There is no part of my work that leaves doubt or questions unanswered. And it is not my job to disprove the existence of some god if my job as a micropaleontologist and evolutionist is to do science, not magic. When I reach a snag, I work harder, check my work for errors, have it peer-reviewed. I never cheat and throw up my hands and say "Oh, God must have done it."

Tiffany frowned. This Was Not Going Well because she almost Had a Moment and now Lieutenant Stone was engaged in the type of argument that people in holovids always had before the woman wound up slapping the man and then they got Extremely Romantic which Led to Steamy Scenes. But Stone wasn't good for her and she wasn't good for him. After all, she was seen having lunch with Mr. I'm a Big Pig Kiwoski, who she also Defended At the Beach after he Began Harassing her. Apparently Lt. Panne liked men who treated her rotten. Which, she knew wouldn't be Lt. Stone becuase he was a Gentleman and Knew How to Treat a Lady. She narrowed her eyes and had the urge to stomp her foot.

"Well, I guess my work here is done!" Tiffany said, slamming the lid of her toolbox closed without any real purpose.

The slamming lid startled Maenad from her thinking, she uncrossed her arms and saw that it was just Tiffany. She palmed where her heart was and smiled, welcomed that she had been forced back to the room. "I'm sorry," she bit her lip. "Would you like to me get you those stories now?"

"Oh yes, please!" Tiffany said, her toolbox coming to her chest as a show of how happy she was regarding that offer.

"You could state that Starfleet manuals are wrong and, within the construct of Starfleet, you would be wrong to say that." Jeremy said. "But they are quantified and they exist and they're put in place for a reason. You can't know the Ancient Humanoids didn't design life for each place they went, all you can know is what was included in that message. We don't always say what is the literal truth in messages," he continued. "But, let's consider a 'faith' aspect of the argument. The humanoids could very well have fit the bill for faith in a deity form. And yes, your conclusions are your 'opinion' because you can't prove otherwise. You can't disprove deity forms anymore than they can prove them. But the evidence actually mounts the more we explore the galaxy. Ancient Humanoids, El-Aurians, the wormhole aliens and Q, they lead credence to the idea of deity forms. They lead credence to faith because if those beings exist, then what created them? Instead of drawing a rational conclusion based on the research, however, you chose to make the research fit your own views."

Jeremy shuddered for a moment, realizing he wasn't being 'a gracious host'. "I'm sorry, I have neglected to offer refreshments since you entered my quarters. What may I provide?"

Maenad was beginning to get angry now. Her views weren't subjective opinion. She did not set herself out against religions, either; she had been forced to defend herself, she had always thought, by people challenging her to disprove the existence of gods. "Nothing, thank you," she flicked her wrist to dismiss the offer of food or drink. "Mister Stone, I am not sure how much of my book or research you have actually read, but I have always said that the question of creation is a foolish one. Creation requires a creator. There is no evidence of a creator. When a volcano erupts or an animal gives birth, do we ask who created these phenomena? What about the birth of one star among untold trillions? No, we just see it for what it is and recognise that it has happened. We know how and why these things occur. These are a few examples among infinite; why should intelligent life be considered any differently? Why do we need to have been created? We are not so special, we are but a random occurrence as everything else. I do my work according to what I can see and verify. That is the nature of the science. Being a security officer yourself, I would have thought that you would appreciate my methods. If all the evidence indicated one thing and your suspect insisted that you needed faith to realise his innocence, would you believe him?" The question was rhetorical and Maenad persisted. "My conclusions have been lauded, Mister Stone. I am respected within the scientific community, if I may say so. There is no denying evolution. The origin of humanoid life on Earth, and countless others, has been entirely traced back to the seeding of it by the Ancient Humanoids. There was no Adam and Eve, to pick one of many examples. We are not descended from a man and woman who were literally placed here by the magic man in the clouds. This is not my opinion; this is proven scientific fact. The only question that remains, which is not one that I attempt to answer, is from where the Ancient Humanoids came. Considering that there are at least two billion M class worlds in our galaxy, we may never find it. But we do know that they, like us, were the product of evolution. We have no reason to believe otherwise, nor have we even the most remote of evidence to suggest that we ought to. And, because their DNA is part of us, in our very roots, we know that it behaves as ours does." Maenad clenched her jaw for a moment, wondering whether Stone himself believed in cloudmen. If he did, she might have been entirely wasting her breath. "My research is not about proving or disproving gods, it is about finding the origins of intelligent life. People take issue with that, telling me that I am dismissing religious pseudo-science when. It is not me to disprove things that cannot be disproven. There could be somebody in this room with us right now with some technology or being that prevents us from seeing it. I cannot prove or disprove that it is just the three of us in here right now. But, as far as everything I have at my disposal can tell, it is true that only three people are present at the moment. If someone later told me that there were four people in here, they would be wrong as far as any of us would be able to tell. The burden of proof, considering that I could prove in several ways that only three of us were here together right now, would lay on the shoulders of the person telling me that we weren't alone. I welcome evidence to the contrary of my research, but none has come forward. My research has not been twisted to fit some personal agenda, Mister Stone. My research is dispassionately objective. It is not my problem if some people find science to be incompatible with their ignorance." Maenad then realised that she had forgotten about her offer to Tiffany. She frowned apologetically as she turned away from Stone.

"I'm sorry," she said. "They're in my quarters next door if you'd like to come with me."

Stone was about to further argue the point but was interrupted by Tiffany.

"Oh thank you! That would be great. I would love to read them! And maybe if it's okay I could let Tabby read them too? She's my Best Friend and Roommate and she was the one that first showed me your work, she's such a fan! I know, what if we all decided to get together," she said, stepping closer to Stone, laying her claim to him over what she was beginning to view as competition from Lt. Panne. "We could all read the same books and then get together once a week and discuss them and that would be so much fun because we could all debate and have wine and maybe fondue...you like fondue don't you, being French and all? And it would be so much fun! What about it? Maybe every Sunday? We could choose a book - maybe one of your Not Smart Books but a fiction book and that could be the first one we talk about because that would be more fun talking about a book with its author!?"

"Oh," Maenad started tickling the back of her neck somewhat nervously, trying to hide her blush. "I don't know; they really aren't the best," she muttered.

Jeremy sighed as he went to stand by the door, opening it and realizing that even by slovenly standards any 'break' he may have been entitled was far from over. He still had work to catch up on and somehow he had been relegated right out of the conversation. "I appreciate your views, no matter how wrong I find them," he said, sounding as if he were reading from his PADD even though it was still in his pocket.

Not knowing what to say to that, Maenad couldn't say the same back to him without lying. She only tilted her head at the security chief. "I think Miss Darwisch, here, wants some books of mine," she said. "Are you coming with us?"

"No," he stated, "I'm on duty and Mister Darwisch has, unfortunately, been unable to satisfy my needs at this time. I need to return to work as this conversation has taken up more of my scheduled break than is allowed. Perhaps another time."

Tiffany frowned at that. But there was still other ways she would be able to run into the Security Chief. It was a small ship after all. And, maybe she could get him to escort her to the beach for a sunset stroll. She would look fabulous in her bikini at sunset. She bit her lip.

His touch was still warm on her skin.

Maenad shrugged. "Well, then, if you'll excuse me," she nodded to him once, clasped her hands behind her back, then left his quarters assuming that Tiffany was following.

[OFF]

Ltjg Jeremy Stone
Chief of Security/Tactical
USS Galileo

PO2 Tiffany Darwisch
Operations
USS Galileo

Lieutenant (JG) Maenad Panne
Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

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