Topic: Star Trek: The Scales of Eternity
Subject: Ghosts in the Machine
Stardate: 2365.04.21
Starbase 118, Holosuite/Corridor/Shuttlebay 12 – 2200
The fading sound of clapping, cheering and grunting went on behind the couple as they stepped out of the holosuite. They linked arms, smiling warmly at each other as the doors slid shut and they began down the hall.
“Well… what did you think?” The man’s voice was deep and raspy, pairing well with his imposing features. John Collins stood well over 6 feet tall, his complexion was a deep brown with reddish undertones. He wore his long sleek black hair pulled into a braid that fell down his back and was tied with strips of leather. The hairline began high on his forehead, revealing the subtle pattern of ridges running down his forehead and onto his nose. Most striking, though, were his bright blue eyes, that stood out in contrast to the general darkness of him. Tonight he was dressed in a long black leather tunic, soft pale colored leggings and heavy boots.
“You want my honest opinion?” The woman next to him smirked a little. She came up to his shoulder, although that did not mean she was short. In comparison to him, her complexion was a milky white, a feature that was punctuated by the dark black hair that she wore in a short pixie cut. California Kennedy’s build was toned and fit but not muscular. The features of her face were well defined, and by the wrinkles forming along the edges of her eyes and her mouth it seemed obvious that she frowned more than smiled. Presently she was dressed in a tight pair of black pants, tall black boots, an orange tank top with a golden sheen to the material and a black leather jacket. To this ensemble she had added several items of silver jewelry, a collection of necklaces that dangled down the bare skin of her chest, cuffs on her wrist, long dangling earrings and a barbell piercing in her well sculpted eyebrow.
“At this point… yes… honesty would be appreciated.” He responded, giving her a light shove as they continued down the grey hallway.
“I loved it. I have seen a few Klingon cultural displays in my time, but nothing quiet like that…”
“Klingon Opera… Carmen, in the original Klingon, it is something to behold.”
They made a turn and moved into a long corridor that ran along the outer edge of the Starbase, and thus had large windows that punctuated the wall, opening out to a view of the stars and the ships that were docked here.
“You were not raised on Klingon though, correct?”
“No. My mother raised me on one of the lunar colonies… but when I was old enough I went and studied the culture of my father. My mother did not approve, but it was something I needed to do. Honestly, much of it was very… strange to say the least. But I came to have a great appreciation for their musical arts.”
Kennedy smiled again. “I can see why. It really was magical.” Her eyes drifted from the man beside her to the large windows and then to one of the ships. She sighed.
“Come along… I’ve got something else in store for us tonight, it being your last night and all…”
Kennedy pulled her eyes back to the handsome man she was with. “Oh yes?”
He nodded and took her hand in his, walking a little quicker down the corridor. The windows ended and a series of blast doors were lined up along this wall. He went down to the third one and then stopped to enter a code into the control panel.
=^= Voice authorization required. =^= The computer chimed.
Collins gave her a wink and then continued. “Lt. John Collins.”
=^=Authorization approved=^=
The blast doors opened to a shuttle bay. Two shuttles were hunched over to one side of bay, the launch doors were already open giving way to a spectacular view. On the middle of the open floor there was a blanket a few pillows and a picnic basket set up.
Callie couldn’t help but laugh a little as she saw the trouble he had gone through. “Aren’t you worried about someone needing one of these shuttles?”
John took her hand and pulled her into the shuttle bay, letting the doors slide closed behind them. “No. Those two shuttles are out of commission, need repairs, and no one is slated to work on them for at least two more days. We’ve got the place to ourselves.”
Her smile didn’t falter as she moved toward the blanket. “You bring lots of pretty ladies in here don’t you?”
“Pretty ladies? No… I’ve got access to an executive suite up on G deck for those… I only bring the mediocre ladies into the shuttle bay…” He sat down and started rummaging through the basket.
“John!” she chided, laughing as she sat down next to him.
He brought out the food and the wine and they sat there, talking, laughing, enjoying each other’s company. Yet, her eyes kept flitting out toward the ship attached to the dock, her shining grey hull lit by bright white spotlights, and each time they did her smile quavered just slightly and her voice dropped a little.
Finally, John reached over and took her hand in his. “You’re distracted… melancholy. I’d like to think it was because you are leaving tomorrow and can’t stand the thought of leaving me behind here on the Starbase… but… that’s not it…”
She had been looking out at the Peregrine again, and took a deep breath as she trailed her thumb across his knuckles. “No it’s not.” Her eyes, bright with moisture, tore from the ship and went back to her companion. “I’m sorry John. I do really like you, and I’ve enjoyed the time we’ve had together… I just… I don’t even know how to put it into words…”
He squeezed her hand. “It’s okay. I like you too. I know you have a lot on your mind. I just wish I understood more… you were so excited about this posting when you showed up. Your pips were brand new and you kept going on and on about the warp drives and how great running your own engine room was going to be… but… every day you’ve been losing that, and you launch tomorrow… and I don’t think you want to. Now… like I said, we’ll keep you here, the base could use some of your skill, and I could use some more time with you too…”
The smile that lit her face didn’t quiet touch her eyes when he offered to keep her on the starbase. “Thank you…” she said softly and then pulled her hand out of his. Her arms wrapped around herself and she rubbed her upper arms as if she were cold. “I think some of it is just nerves, new command nerves. I expect most commanders feel a bit apprehensive before taking their first post as a department head. What if I’m not up to the job? But…” she sighed and paused, shaking her head because deep down she knew there was more to it than that. “But…”
John just sat next to her, wrapping his arm around her waist and waiting for her to figure out the words she needed.
“But there’s something about the Peregrine. I wasn’t expecting to feel it, because I was excited… I was told that there was an opening on a saber class vessel, they had experienced heavy casualties and damage, were under quarantine but that I could get to work almost immediately. None of that bothered me, I love my work, and the challenge seemed stimulating. I was able to get a diagnostic of the ship sent over to me before I even left the Gallant, began working on her from the moment I took the assignment. But I didn’t know then, what I know now. Because… she’s…” She closed her eyes and shook her head.
John reached up with his free hand and touched her chin lightly. “She’s what?” He whispered, concerned and curious at the same time.
“She’s haunted…” as the words fell out of her mouth she kept her eyes shut and then shook her head. “No… not exactly what I mean, but close. I don’t think there are ghosts flitting down the corridors.” Her eyes opened and she laughed awkwardly at the thought of ghosts. “But what she went through… it wasn’t just combat, or just a virus… it was awful. The crew members are haunted, you can see it in their eyes. They are all good people, but what they had to live through... It connects them, and yet tears them apart… And the ship herself, I’ve done my best, but… there are scars on her that I’m not sure will ever fully go away.
“I’ve been through things, I grew up working on a nuclear plant, I served on the Gallant for years… I’ve lost crew members, I’ve lived through accidents and even a little combat… but this was different. My father… he had this phrase, ‘Ghosts in the Machine’… and it keeps ringing through my head. He’d use it sometimes for when things just kept going wrong for no reason, but sometimes he’d also use it when he just got a bad vibe from some technology. That’s what it feels like.
“I’m sure it also doesn’t help that I haven’t really gotten close to anyone on board yet. I’m lonely out there. Partly my fault, I’ve kept my quarters here on the base until only a few days ago. And of course, there are those new commander jitters to deal with as well. I don’t want to go out there on the Peregrine. It sounds terrible, but there it is.”
She took a long breath and closed her eyes a moment, it actually felt a little better getting it off her chest. Collins simply sat beside her, lightly holding her.
“I’m sorry John. You had this whole lovely evening planned out and I’m ruining it for you.”
John simply shook his head and stroked his finger along her jaw line. “No… it’s okay Callie. You’re going to have to try harder than that to ruin my night. I know what you mean about the crew, I’ve seen it. And even some about the ship, don’t forget I’ve been working with you to get her running. But I get to stay here tomorrow, so it isn’t as intense a feeling for me. I wish I could do something to help…”
She looked into his eyes and then leaned in. “Let me stay with you tonight, I don’t have to report for duty until the morning, keep me distracted for a little while…” she whispered softly.
“Yes sir…” he rumbled and ran his fingers into her hair as he pulled her in for a kiss.
Stardate: 2365.04.22
USS Peregrine, Cmdr Kennedy’s Personal Quarters – 1730
The launch had gone smoothly. Thank goodness for that. She had stood on the Bridge, operating Engineering from the console there while they had slid out of space dock. The tension there had been so thick she could have cut it with a knife, as the old saying had gone. No one spoke much except for what needed to be said to operate a safe launching of the ship.
Kennedy had stood watching Starbase 118 get smaller and smaller with each passing moment. Only a few hours before she had slipped quietly out of Lt. Collin’s quarters while he was still sleeping and made her way down the quiet early morning corridors of the Spacebase and then into her own new quarters. She had changed, taken a sonic shower and then went to make a final sweep of Engineering before going to the bridge.
As soon as the base got small enough to no longer be recognizable as a base she had taken leave to go back down into Engineering and put in her days work. The Peregrine was stable enough to go out on her own, but like all ships she still had work to be done.
For instance, there was an issue with the turbolifts, they were not always picking up voice commands, making passengers repeat themselves several times before their orders were carried out. It wasn’t dangerous, but it was irritating. There were Jefferies tubes that had temporary wiring done after Chimera that would need more permanent solutions given to them. An error message on a memory bank couldn’t be cleared, and so forth.
She had spent the day working on all of these problems and that had kept her mind occupied. At the end of the day all she had wanted was to return to her quarters, make sure that Pudding was adapting to the new quarters, have a drink and go to sleep.
Upon returning to her quarters that night a surprise had greeted her. Sitting on her small coffee table was a bright blue flower in a pot, a small wrapped box and a card. Pudding, the 10 pound Siamese cat, came up to her and wrapped around her ankles as she stepped in.
“Missed me? I missed you too… what’s with the gifts? I’ve never known you to get me gifts…” Kennedy reached down and picked up the card, printed on plain heavy white paper was this:
Callie,
This is a Crey. A Ferengi luck flower. No doubt I overpaid for it. Thought you could use a little luck. Water it now and then. I also took the liberty of copying the Carmen program onto a data card for you, get some use out of it. Take care and make sure to find me next time you are on my base.
John
“You’re terrible as a guard cat, Puds. You’ll let just about anyone in here won’t you? I’m glad you did… lets go get that drink and snuggle up under the covers, huh?”
Lightly she ran a finger along the delicate petal on the flower, then scooped Pudding up under one arm and the small box into her other hand as she retreated toward her bedroom.
Posted on 2021-02-09 at 00:14:37.
Edited on 2021-02-09 at 00:17:52 by Merideth
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The Morphing Game
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Just thought I would share my observation with everyone. 
