The More You Know
Posted on Thu Dec 22nd, 2022 @ 3:41am by Lieutenant Alexis Ryan & Commodore Jacob Kane
Edited on on Thu Dec 22nd, 2022 @ 3:47am
Mission:
In Dreams
Location: "Starfleet Academy", San Francisco, Earth.
2007 words - 4 OF Standard Post Measure
"Well, it's either this one or we try to catch the end of Dyson's presentation."
Nose-deep in the program of events, Alexis scanned what remained of the day's offerings and checked her watch again. Despite being thoroughly engrossed, her pace hadn't slackened and, not for the first time, she stepped to the side to allow someone to pass between them without missing a beat and without any obvious indication that she'd looked up long enough to know they weren't alone.
"Given that she's repeating it tomorrow morning, we're probably better off leaving it until then. She's notorious for rambling off-topic and the Dean did say that the formal aspect of dinner starts at 7pm."
It was not often that the Lieutenant allowed pure excitement to slip through her professional veneer. Though she retained good humour enough to avoid being classed as dour and bureaucratic, her capacity for keeping her emotions close to her chest made her a difficult book to read at times. The dance of her eyes now was a pleasant deviation from the norm, but it did come with a brand of insistence that didn't leave a lot of room for argument.
The space beside her was resolutely silent.
"T'shal has been doing a lot with particle physics lately, this could wind up being relevant."
Once again, there was no reply.
"Of course," she continued without missing a beat, "we could always go scrutinise the contents of the janitor's closet and then order burgers, I'm sure everyone would understand." Alex paused, leaned into the silence, and then failed to hide the grin that threatened to break her composure. Reaching up, she tapped her comm. badge. "Computer, locate Jacob Kane."
A pair of blue eyes watched the man's face as the computer's pleasant tone recounted his position immediately to her right.
"What?" he half-snapped. Then he realised that he'd missed several lines of questioning. Where had he been? In his own world? Noting that he had been a little more abrupt than he would have intended, Kane shook his head quickly as a semi-apology, then motioned to the schedule. "Is there anything on there that isn't some theoretical physicist that's lived in a lab for the last five years? Anyone with actual deployment experience?" Every lab-bound researcher he had ever seen was a terrible public speaker. Almost without exception.
"Uh uh," the scientist beside him protested, holding up a finger. "Now you're just trying to ruin tomorrow's surprise." Regarding his profile for a moment, Alex relented with a soft huff of laughter and handed the program to him. "Dyson will take up most of the morning, but there are some options in the afternoon session that I'd be willing to compromise on." A faint smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth, a concession that admitted he had thus-far put up with her complete monpolisation of their daily agenda. "You can choose what we do," she added, in a gesture that was not insignificant despite her attempt to turn it into a tease.
He considered protesting but knew that at this stage any such attempt would be futile. Instead his eyes scanned the schedule for something - anything - that might stick out.
"Lt Commander Lance Quinn," he finally concluded. "He worked on the Quantum Slipstream project. Presenting something connected to a new type of alternative propulsion system." It was as good an option as any, and he knew a passing amount of information related to the QSD after it had been installed on the ship.
The woman beside him squinted, nose wrinkled, as she considered the suggestion. A sideways glance at his stoic resignation immediately cleared her expression and Alexis pursed her lips to control a grin. "Deal."
The next few moments passed in relatively comfortable silence. It was not, Alex realised, an environment that many would have greeted with much enthusiasm and, certainly, knowing Kane's personal preferences in regards to the execution of his duties, she could understand why this was tantamount to locking him in a cell with a hungry targ and no means of protecting himself. Certainly, not all the expectations were her cup of tea either, but for all her background painted her as a woman of action, Alexis had found some value in scholarly pursuits over the years. New ideas excited her. Getting to try out new ideas excited her more.
Less enticing were the formalised gatherings associated with their official invitation. Glancing sideways once again, Alex regarded the long-suffering weariness that stooped Kane's shoulders just a little and smiled to herself. If she really wanted to, she could probably get out of attending the official dinner function. Leaving him to battle that alone seemed cowardly, however. "I couldn't find a dress code for this evening," she admitted. "Are we expected in uniform?"
"Flag officers are expected to have all the trimmings," he replied. "Wouldn't play well with the top brass to be anything other than covered in gold and silver." He glanced at her. "Given you're not technically a flag officer, however, you might get away without. Perhaps something with sequins?" he suggested good-naturedly. Arriving with a young woman in an evening dress might actually help distract some attention at least.
"Sequins?"
The arch of a delicate eyebrow passed judgement that ranged from surprise to amusement and onwards to incredulity.
"Have you ever tried to wear those things? They're incredibly uncomfortable."
Seconds passed and it was several hours later. Stood regarding herself in the full-length mirror of the quarters she'd been assigned, Alexis wondered not for the first time why she'd been invited to a formal arrangement so far above her paygrade. Kane had insisted that it was part of the assignment but she had started to suspect that her involvement in this aspect was more an attempt on his part to provide a buffer. She smiled faintly at her reflection, not without affection for the inherent awkwardness such deception implied.
After all, he could have just asked her to attend with him.
Without a sequin in sight, she smoothed the front of her jumpsuit and adjusted the accent belt before dragging both hands through curled strands to settle her hair as a heavy drape down her back. With any luck, she wouldn't regret her choice of shoes.
The door chime sounded, before permitting entry to Kane. Attired in his formal dress uniform, it gave him even more of an air of authority than his usual basic crimson.
"You look...suitable," he noted, giving her a nod of his head. "Shall we?" He offered his elbow.
A woman with differing sensibilities might almost have taken that evaluation as an insult. Alexis, more intrigued by the prospect of interacting with Admiralty all night than trying to impress anyone with her appearance, studied Kane's own apparel and tried very hard not to grin.
"You look like you're about to trial self-propulsion techniques," she murmured, taking up the arm and turning off the lights as they left the room. "Surely it can't be that bad."
"You've never been to one of these, have you?" he asked, knowing the answer before he even spoke it. "There's a reason I agreed to bring a plus-one. You're my security."
"So we're expecting a fire fight then?" She probably shouldn't tease him, not when he looked so close to the weary end of defeated, but one of them needed to maintain a modicum of optimism about the evening.
"You could say that. Admirals are fine one-on-one. A group of them? And surrounded by engineering majors that want to get their next project signed-off?" He shook his head. "Watch out for the crossfire, is all I can say."
"Does that mean I'm not allowed to chew their ear off about us getting our hands on some of these upcoming sensor upgrades?" For all there was very little doubt that Ryan had a vested interest in the data she'd been explicitly responsible for securing, her tone was too light-hearted to raise many alarm bells.
"Be my guest. But don't come running to me for help when they're dragging you into a lab deep under San Francisco with promises of co-authoring and naming their new super-technology after you." He shook his head. "On second thoughts, that's more likely to drag you away. I forget you're a scientist at heart."
"And a soldier by head and hand," she quipped back, an awkward mistranslation of some Klingon proverb. "I don't take too kindly to being dragged anywhere."
"Yet you've let me drag you around Starfleet Headquarters for nearly two days," he observed. "Although I suspect on reflection that it was you doing more of the dragging than I." His eyebrow cocked. "Perhaps this evening can be revenge for the lecture on particle transition matrices I had to sit through yesterday."
"You act like this is somehow shaving off time in Purgatory." Several steps of silence followed before Alex added, "I'm actually quite looking forward to it. It's hard to imagine there'll be enough time for it to drag too long, I'm sure you'll declare an early night somewhere between courses."
"At some point I'll have to change up that strategy, lest I become too predictable," he replied. She'd got that part fairly nailed-on. "I could order you to feign illness, if that helps."
An eyebrow arched, amused yet not easily convinced. "I could always assist you in acquiring an actual injury." It was an empty threat, the predictably comfortable return-fire to combat his attempts to render her the weaker of them. Insubordinate, some would argue, and yet the woman carried herself in a way that suggested she'd treat that accusation with just as much humourous disdain.
"You'll have to give me a few minutes to work out whether that's preferable to enduring the psychological torment," he noted. Satisfied that they were both suitably ready, he touched his collar then offered her his elbow. "Shall we?"
Alex smiled. "Let's put you out of your misery."
It took a moment, in the disorientation of darkened quarters, for Alexis to come to terms with the fact she'd fallen asleep on the sofa instead of her own bed. It had been unintentional, her goal had been to eat something after her shower and then sit with her own thoughts long enough to unravel them into something coherent enough for an official report. She had intended to submit that report before bed, never one to leave for tomorrow what she could possibly squeeze into today. She had vague recollections of a dull headache, and the analgesic administered in Sickbay finally kicking in, but no memory of lying down. She wasn't on the floor at least.
Her head still felt...odd.
Rising slowly, twisting to plant both feet tentatively on the ground, the scientist stared blearily between languid blinks and fought against the urge to simply fall back asleep. Far from feeling rested, Alex felt as if she'd been on the go for days, her head full of half-remembered conversations and tentative promises that, upon closer inspection, simply didn't make sense. She'd not even seen an Admiral since leaving the shipyards. More to the point, she clearly wasn't in San Francisco, any more than Kane was.
Like wisps of smoke, the details began to disperse.
Alex rose, arching her head back to ease the kinks from her neck, and moved to the bathroom to douse herself with a handful of replicated water from the basin. As the lights slowly adjusted to her movement, she stared at her reflection in the mirror and tallied the lines that formed between her eyes as her brow puckered. Stress had always affected her oddly, especially these days when her emotional regulation was far more under lock and key. Vivid dreaming had never been a stress reaction before but maybe there was a first time for everything. Maybe it was the radiation. Maybe she was finally losing her mind.
It had sure picked a strange swansong.
