All Aboard! Toot-toot!

Posted on 02/27/2020 @ 6:11pm by Captain Cian D'Anvers
Edited on on 02/28/2020 @ 7:06pm

Mission: S1E1: Out of the Barn
Location: Ready Room
Timeline: Day 2 at 1100

So much to do, so little time in which to do it! Archer had made all the arrangements, prepared for them to be implemented, double checked the arrangements, and then double-checked the preparations. He felt swamped.

At least he made it on board the ship before the lunch hour. Any later and it would almost feel tardy. Archer hated tardiness. It was scurrilous to everyone superiors and subordinates alike. And he so hoped to make a good first impression on his first assignment as a department head.

Beaming aboard the Crazy Horse, he flagged his incoming luggage for the Chief Engineer's quarters without even knowing precisely where that would be. Oh, he knew the layout well enough from the self-imposed homework he'd conducted, but quarter assignments were the purview of Operations, not Engineering.

No matter. He had some reporting to do.

"Computer," Archer said. "Where is the captain?"

"The Captain is in the Arboretum," the computer responded promptly. "Deck 3."

Archer shrugged. "Good enough." Confident that he could find his way there from his recollection of the ship's specs, Archer struck out without asking the computer for directions.

---

Seeing the Arboretum on the deck listing was one thing, but walking into it was quite another. The enclosed grove nearly took his breath away. Now that he was here, he wasn't sure how to find the captain. Just calling out for someone felt inappropriate, almost vaguely intrusive on a serene sanctuary. Without any other idea, Archer wandered further in and let the doors close behind him.

The Arboretum. The word could not encompass the beauty of the place nor the artistry involved in clustering plants, from different worlds, as a treat to the senses. It was larger than one would expect with a few hidden spots; her favorite was a small pond hidden by a screen of bushes. She didn't recognize the fish though, as she sat on a small platform near the water's edge, she could appreciate their graceful movements, the bright colors amid sudden splashes, and the peace it brought to her just sitting here.

Sidonie looked up, expressive blue-green eyes set against a pure white framework, as the bushes parted and someone stepped into view. She wore her waist-length white hair pulled back into a loose, hanging braid that seemed to glow with glimpses of soft color, and she smiled as he approached. "Welcome to the Arboretum," she said. "Pleasure or business?"

"Oh my..." At the sight of Sidonie, Archer couldn't help but let out a gasp of shock an awe. She looked like... well, an angel, or maybe a bán-sídhe/ from the Old Tales. The voice in the back of his head told him it was rude to gape. "I... I didn't mean to intrude."

"You are not intruding," Sidonie said. She gestured to her surroundings as she added. "Such beauty should be shared, don't you think? I'm Commander Ysayne, Captain of the Crazy Horse." She arched one delicate eyebrow, white hair against white skin, barely perceptible, subtle. "And you are?"

"The captain?!" Archer put his hand over his gaping mouth. "Oh boy... I'm... my name... I'm Lieutenant Archer Logan the Fifth, the new Chief Engineer for the Crazy Horse."

"The fifth what," Sidonie asked, canting her head slightly to one side revealing undulations of color, subtle and quick, moving among the thick strands of her hair, as she gestured for him to sit down.

"The fifth... of my name." Archer nearly forgot the answer to the question, taken aback as he was by the shifting colors and luminescence. "Do... the different colors mean something?" He threw his hand against his face and descended into the drawling brogue of New Appalachia. "Aw, hell, I'm sorry, Commander, real sorry! T'aint none of my business."

Sidonie smiled, the tiniest quirk of her lips, as she answered. "Among my people, emotions are not as ... guarded ... as they are on some worlds. An Invernian would wear white exclusively because color is emotion and what you see on my body is the expression of what I feel." She lifted her hair and shifted so that he could see the play of color along her scalp and down her neck. "Not always in the same place but for me, it's here."

"I see..." Archer just blinked, unsure of proper etiquette at this point. "My people try to look out for strangely glowing plants because that's often a sign of an irradiated sector of wilderness."

She wanted to laugh at the notion of color representing damaged wildlife but sobered almost at once. "Is that a problem where you live," she asked. "Radiation levels in the wild?"

"Oh, not for generations," Archer said, waving his hand to dismiss his folk paranoia. "Sure, sure, there are a few no-go areas the terraformers haven't reclaimed yet, but mostly it's just something people say now."

His words had a slightly dissociated tone, distracted as he was by the glimmer of Sidonie's glowing hair. It was almost entrancing. Before he knew it, his hand had slowly reached out to touch it. Quickly he recoiled and thrust the idle, wayward hand behind his back. "Sorry," he said again, closing his eyes against the embarrassment. "So sorry. Don't know what I was thinking. I clearly wasn't thinking..."

"No, you weren't," Sidonie said firmly, "though this isn't the first time I've experienced such a reaction." She relaxed again as the environment reasserted its effect. "In any case, to business. The shakedown cruise was a success and the engineering team is waiting to speak with you. Once you're satisfied, they'll head back to Utopia Planitia."

Archer nodded vigorously, happy to be changing the subject and moving on from his faux pas. "Yes, yes, good, good. Very good news. I look forward to giving it to you." The words came out of his mouth and entered his ears in a totally different context. "I mean I look forward to giving you good news. From the drydock team. We'll just have to see what they say." He let out a soft but prolonged groan. "I look forward to serving together." There. Nothing could be misconstrued from that.

Years of training had its advantages and so, straight-faced, Sidonie was able to nod, move fluidly past the awkwardness of his comments without even a chuckle. "Welcome aboard, Lieutenant. You're dismissed."

"Yeah..." Archer returned her nod and spun on his heels, saying as he did, "Thank you, Captain."

She was chuckling to herself though after he'd left and the door was safely closed. Certainly going to be an interesting trip.

A Post By:

Cmdr. Sidonie Ysayne
Commanding Officer
USS Crazy Horse

(and)

Lieutenant (J.G.) Archer Logan V
Chief Engineer
USS Crazy Horse