Comfort Zone

Posted on Wed Nov 20th, 2024 @ 3:09am by Lieutenant JG Astrja Kyan & Petty Officer 2nd Class Henry Washington

Mission: Character Development
Location: Outside The Ship
2589 words - 5.2 OF Standard Post Measure

Henry liked the comfort zone. It was called the comfort zone for a reason; it was comfortable. People who leave their comfort zone tend to die. Well that's not true. Evolution is a thing because countless pre-evolved creatures left their comfort zone and paved the way for future species, a voice in the back of his reminded him. He sighed, his inner voice was correct. He would never evolve, or grow as a person if he never challenged himself. And he really needed to challenge himself right now. So he sought out the one person who could help him do just that.

He found the Andorian fixing one of the EPS relays on deck five. As he approached, he found that his legs no longer wanted to work the way they had been before. Every step was a greater effort than the last but he knew he needed to do this. Eventually, he was within speaking distance and he quietly cleared his throat to get her attention. "Excuse me, Ma'am," he said. His voice didn't sound like him and he hated how much it was betraying his inner feelings at this time. "I need your help with something."

Astrja was humming a song to herself as she worked, kneeling on the floor. She heard Henry approaching but did not react until he spoke. She paused in her task. "Hello, Washington," she said. "I would be happy too as soon as I . . . finish . . . this." With that she slide the unit back in. A quick check showed everything as green. "S I G," she said with a smile.

She stood. "What can I help with? Something technical?" she asked looking up.

"Kind of," Henry replied. He could feel his face flushing and once again hated that his own body was betraying him. "Remember when we did that spacewalk to fit the main deflector dish?" Stupid question, of course she remembers. "Well I wasn't okay, that is I wasn't good at it. The spacewalk, not the repair. Though actually I don't think I finished the repair, so I guess I wasn't good that at either." He knew he was rambling and his face grew warmer than before. "Basically, I want to get better at spacewalking."

"Oh," said Astrja with a smile. "That should not be too difficult. Do you want to start with holodeck sims or jump back into the real thing?"

Henry paused to think for a second. His initial thought was the holodeck, after all, who wouldn't say that under these circumstances? It's a controlled environment with no risk and a deeper knowledge that he was really inside of the ship. It was his comfort zone! "The real thing," he heard himself say before he could help it. "Yes, let's just go for it," he added, trying to sound confident but failing miserably.

Astrja grinned. "That's the spirit!" She checked her datapad and tapped in a quick note. "Come on, let's go and get suited up. I have cleared the rest of my shift." She grabbed his arm and started down the corridor.

"Isi, what is it about space walks that make you so uncomfortable, Washington?" she asked, obviously curious, not judging at all.

Henry was a bit surprised when the Andorian grabbed his arm and pulled him along but he allowed it to happen, nearly tripping over his own feet in the process. "I erm..." he started then cleared his throat. "I like control and I like controlled environments. I used to make excuses to avoid away team missions because you have to face the unknown every time you step on a transporter pad or inside a shuttle. Charlie reminded me that this was why we were out here and I think that helped."

They stopped at the door to the turbolift and Henry pressed the "call" button. "There's a lot of things that can go wrong during a spacewalk, my control is limited," he continued as he scratched the back of his neck nervously. "I think that's what I hate. Maybe I should pay Commander Savin a visit," he added in an attempt at humour.

She nodded. "You should, he is a good person and a good counselor." She gently patted his arm. "I can understand the fear even if I do not share it. But if you really worry about all of the things out of your control, you will just wear yourself down. I cannot, nor would I want to, tell you how to think or feel, Washington. But I find if you just take things as they come, life has a way of sorting itself out."

She stepped into the turbolift as the door opened. "Shuttle bay 3, please." She looked to Washington. "That way we can take a worker bee out with us too."

The thought of them having a worker bee with them calmed Henry down a bit. There was no reason why it should but he was grateful for the small bit of peace his mind gave him. "Have you ever had to face a fear, Ma'am?" He asked as he continued to play with the back of his neck.

Astrja tilted her head. "Not since I was small. I was very afraid of the dark, I could not sleep if there was not a light on. My cousin, Njalia, wanted to go camping in the backyard so we could see the stars," she said slowly, obviously remembering a scene from her past. "I would not turn off the torch and Njalia was so mad at me because she could not see the stars. She finally got me to close my eyes and count to a hundred and when I opened them, the torch was off and I could see the stars above us. It was so beautiful." She smiled looking up at stars that were only there in her memory. "I was still a little worried about the dark but not afraid for I knew there was also beauty in the dark. I wonder if Jalia remembers?"

"She was able to help you face and overcome your fears," Henry said with a slight grin, "I'm certain she remembers." He had no way of knowing this, after all, he hadn't even met Kyan's cousin or even heard of her before this moment but she was doing her best to help him out in this difficult moment and he wanted to repay the favour in some way, no matter how small that repayment was. "Are you still close?" He asked, hoping the conversation would distract them from what they were about to do.

Astrja turned a bright smile on Henry. "Njalia is my best friend in the whole world, the whole galaxy," she said. "Njalia entered the Academy the year before me and I would not have made it through without her help. She is Chief Ops on the Vesta, you know our Task Force's flagship," she added with a grin. "She is so talented, it makes me proud to call her friend."

Henry beamed despite himself. Astrja's smile and general positivity were infectious; her love for her friend shone through. "I hope I get to meet her one day," he said sincerely as they entered the shuttle bay. The wave of positivity he had just been exposed to was quickly replaced by dread as the pair made their way to one of the storage lockers and pulled out a couple of the bulky AV suits. Henry felt his heart racing as he made sure that his suit was secure and his oxygen tank was full. He took a few deep breaths as he waited for the Lieutenant to check her suit over too.

Astrja slipped her tool satchel off over her shoulder and did a pre-check before pulling her suit on with languid ease. She ran a full systems check once she was in and then transferred some of her tool into her suit's pockets. "I know they are suppose to have an adaptive fit, but mine never seem to fit quite right. Always a little tight across the chest I find." She looked to Henry, running a check of his suit's systems using her Ops override. "How does yours feel? Not pinching anywhere?"

Henry rotated his arms and then did a couple of squats to make sure he could move freely without pulling or damaging the suit. "It feels fine," he said. His voice sounded strange, it echoed around the helmet in a way it wasn't supposed to. It took him a moment to realise that he hadn't activated the comline to Astrja's suit and mentality kicked himself. "It's fine," he said again, this time so that she could hear him. "Shall we do this?"

Astrja smiled and nodded after entering a few commands on her wrist unit. "Worker bee 7A is active and will follow us," she said heading to the airlock. "How are things with Charlie?" she asked.

"Charlie?" Henry repeated, his voice thick with confusion. They had reached the airlock and he pressed a few buttons on the panel closing the door and cycling the sequence. Another couple of taps on his suit controls and his boots magnetised to the deck plating. He heard as the Andorian did the same. "We're good," he replied as they waited for the outside door to open. "Our anniversary is soon and I'm struggling with a present idea."

"Oh, nice," said Astrja, running a scan of the area outside looking for anomalies. "All clear. We can check on communication antenna six three two while we are out and about. Its reception has been a bit fuzzy." She stepped out onto the surface of the ship slowly and carefully as her orientation shifted.

"What does she like? We have been working together for a while but I cannot say I know her preferences well," said Astrja, making sure the worker bee was following behind.

"Not puzzles," Henry answered before he could stop himself, a note of disappointment in his voice. He followed the Andorian out onto the hull of the ship and took a few deep breaths as he slowly took his eyes off of the metallic ship plating and stared into the blackness of space. Astronaunts have been spacewalking since the dawn of space travel and they didn't have magnetic boots or transporter technology. You'll be fine. He reminded himself before focusing back on Astrja. "Erm...mischief and food."

Astrja laughed at Henry's answer and then looked off into space as well, her eyes filled with wonder. "I wonder if any of these are the stars I saw that night with Njalia?" After a moment of consideration. she started off toward the antenna and waved Henry to follow. "Mischief is hard to purchase. Food is easy. Does she have a favorite? I could hunt up some replicator files for you."

Henry followed along, slowly. He only lifted his foot when he was certain the other one was firmly planted on the Athena's hull plating. He knew he was being paranoid but his usually rational brain wouldn't kick in during spacewalks and that frustrated him to no end. "Thanks," he replied. His eyes stayed fixed on the ship even as he moved in Astrja's direction. "I was thinking about cooking but that is one skill I haven't mastered. I want to do something personal, y'know?" He continued, finding the distraction comforting.

"Well, you know baking is not that hard," said Astrja slowly getting ahead of Henry. "We could replicate the ingredients and use the oven in the galley. Did you want to bake a cake? I did not know what is traditional for Terran anniversaries. For Andorian ones it is a meat or fish dish."

"Baking?" Repeated with a snort. "No, I don't think I'll be doing that. Though..." he trailed off, getting lost in his thoughts as he had a habit of doing. Baking is just science. Adding ingredients, checking measurements, mixing in the correct way, then adding an exothermic reaction. He might be an engineer now but his first love was always science, he could do science. "...And if it's tasty science then that should increase the amount of fun. Charlie likes fun and food, this could be..." He trailed off again as he collided with something solid and unmoving; it was Lieutenant Kyan. She had stopped and he hadn't noticed. "I'm sorry Lieutenant," he said as he felt his face growing warm, even in the coldness of space.

Astrja laughed even as she was only held on by one boot, she snapped the other one back down. "No harm done, Washington. If you would like, I could point you to some instructional holograms if it is something you would like to do with Charlie," she said.

She then knelt down to look at the antenna, running a scan through the suit's systems. "I know it is the same tech but I much prefer using a tricorder, more tactile, I guess. I am getting a build-up of hydrogen atoms on the antenna, you want to confirm before we clean it up?"

"You seem really invested in this," Henry replied as he used his gloved hand to operate the controls on his right forearm. He scanned for a few seconds and then checked the readings. "Hydrogen confirmed."

"Easy fix then," said Astrja getting out tools to do just that. "You and Charlie are both in my department, I want things to go well for you two. Happy people make for a happy department, right? Can you hold the antenna steady?"

Henry manoeuvred around Astrja and planted his feet firmly before he reached for the antenna and held it in a position that she was happy with. "Yeah, that makes sense," he replied. "You don't have to worry about us ma'am, I'm crazy about Charlie and for some reason, she feels the same about me. I have no intention of messing that up."

"See that you do not," said Astrja using a wand to gather the hydrogen for later analysis, always good to give science something to do. She holstered the wand and ran a new scan. "There we go. A minor problem fixed. Another glorious day in the Fleet."

Henry smiled but didn't say anything. She had given him a lot to think about and typical for him, when his brain was working his mouth wasn't. It was only when they were back in the airlock and removing their AV suits that he realised that he had just done an entire spacewalk without freaking out or double-guessing himself. "I did it," he said as he removed his helmet and placed it at his feet. "I really did it. Thank you, Lieutenant. You made that easy."

Astrja smiled as she put her helmet away. "You did well, Washington. I think you just think too much sometimes, not that thinking is bad, but just doing the job can often be the right choice." She moved her tools back into her satchel and slid out of her EVA suit. "Just relax, save the thinking for when there is a problem, do not create new ones." She hung up the EVA suit and clipped the helmet back into the rack.

"And as of now, I am off duty," she said. "So, this is from me as a person, not your assistant chief. If you and Charlie ever decide you would like a nice threesome with a willing Andorian. Let me know," she gave Washington a wink and headed off.