Scotty smiled at his young lieutenant, shaking his head as she babbled on happily. Sometimes it was easy to forget that she, like many of the others aboard the Enterprise had been promoted earlier than what would be considered 'normal'. She was, indeed, only twenty two and with her strong accent and stilted language she was nearly as hard to understand for some as the young man on the bridge who Captain Kirk had decided was going to be in charge of ship wide announcements.
But her enthusiasm was catching.
As they rounded the corner two familiar faces appeared down the hallway. The blonde grinned at him, giving him a short wave. He nodded, a smile still on his face. He had to fight the urge to roll his eyes after a quick glance at the woman beside him. Once again her face had been schooled into a perfectly neutral facade, her previous excitement over the new parts they had picked up at the last port nowhere to be seen on her sharp features.
Damn Kirry. They were almost as bad as the Captain's companion, those rocklike Vulcan's. How wonderful, he thought absently, that both he and Kirk could have matching lawn ornaments.
"Captain."
"Hey there Scotty. What's shaking down here?" James T. Kirk asked, his hands jammed into his pockets comfortably.
"Hopefully nothing Captain. We've tried rather hard to keep this wonderful bucket of bolts in one piece. No matter how hard you people on the bridge may try and tear her apart. Haven't we lieutenant?" Looking back at his young friend his face twisted into a mask of concern.
The quiet look of neutrality the girl normally wore in public had disappeared as quickly as it had come and a new look had taken over her features. It was something along the lines of...horror? Panic? Confusion? Maybe with a dash of morbid curiosity thrown in. He followed her gold eyed gaze to the dark eyes of the Captain's second in command.
Spock's eyebrow raised slightly as he met the girls eyes calmly. Gently nudging the girl, Scotty attempted to break her out of her trance subtly. The girl had never shown any signs of xenophobia before, even though she came from the newest federation planet. He supposed it could simply be shock - chances are she hadn't met a Vulcan up close, especially not a Vulcan with such a reputation.
But that seemed rather unlikely.
"Lass?" He asked cautiously. The sound of his voice seemed to yank her out of her daze and her eyes met his, panic having taken the primary emotional position.
"I go to see um, boiler. Left on light three quadrant from yesterday? Okay?" He watched in awe as she bowed at her waist quickly to all three men before dashing on long legs back into the maze that was the engines. He turned back to the Captain who seem to be caught between amusement and worry.
"I'm assuming that is unusual behavior? When I talked to her about joining the Enterprise she was a whole hell of a lot less jumpy. Never mind understandable. And I thought Chekov was entertaining to listen to." Scotty nodded, his eyes still trained on the spot where the girl had disappeared.
"Indeed." The commander's voice jolted the confused engineer back into the present. "I was under the impression that the Kirry as a species tended to frown upon public displays of emotion."
"She is, normally. I have no idea what spooked her like that. I'll talk to her later." A frown pulled at his lips as his mind buzzed uncomfortably at the idea of the conversation that this could lead to.
"Aw, don't be too hard on her Scotty! She was probably just so overwhelmed by our illustrious presence that she had to go calm herself." He clapped the scottish man on the shoulder, grinning once again. His expression became slightly more serious when he added, glancing at Spock. "Though, if there are any problems of a more delicate nature, I would appreciate it if you'd let me know."
"As far as I know Captain," Scotty answered, reading between the lines. "-there are no issues that would need to involve any sort of discussion with you. But like I said. I'll talk to her when I can find her. That damn girl can get into places you couldn't even dream of. I once found her dusting on top of the metal grating that covers the ceilings. I have no idea how she got up there." Kirk snorted.
"Well, at least we know things are being kept clean down here. And all the better as me and my lovely assistant here are going to be doing a spot check." Scotty nodded, grinning with the captain as Spock's eyebrow raised once more.
"Alrighty then Captain. Let's get started so I can get you out of my hair and into your fancy chair again." His smile faded as he bustled the two men into his domain, his thoughts on a small blonde woman.
"Kyly? Lass, where'd you get to?" He heard a quiet scramble from onto of the equipment from his left and he looked up to see the small woman slip gracefully down. She looked at him in embarrassment, her eyes flickering away.
"I am sorry that I lied, Commander. I know that we did not leave the light on." Her voice was quiet, and he almost expected her to begin scuffing her foot on the floor. He smiled slightly, placing his hand on her shoulder gently.
"That's fine lass, I understand." He paused, considering. "Well, actually, I don't. Why did you run out like a bat out of hell?"
She tensed, and he watched curiously as her hair, pulled into it's normal ponytail rustled. She didn't answer. He sighed, pulled the woman to the nearest control station, far from any curious ears. They sat down comfortably and he waited for a moment, hoping she would answer the question. Sighing he realized that silence was all he was going to get.
"Nykyly, I need to know. I saw how you were looking at the commander. Is there a problem? You looked like you were afraid he was going to jump you right there." Her face flushed oddly at that and she looked up at him uncomfortably. "I need to know lass, if there is a problem of a..."
He hesitated, glancing away uncomfortably. Broaching the topic of interstellar racism was never a pleasant one, but it was something that Star Fleet had to deal with quickly. Especially with recruits who weren't raised in diverse situations. The Kirry were typically very private and did not choose to involve themselves overly with the Federation. They had only in the last 5 years finally agreed to join the Federation to begin with. Not much was known about them or their beliefs, and since Nykyly was their first recruit to Star Fleet she was considered a test subject in may ways.
"Is it because he is Vulcan Kyly?" He asked quietly and watched as realization and a flash of horror ran over her features. He braced himself for the worst before relaxing as she laughed quietly.
"Oh no no. Vulcanism is not a problem." He grinned at her new word, but chose not to address it at present. "I have friendly Vulcan's on earth from the embassy. Our cultures are similar, and it is easier to understand them often. Though many differences too. They are interesting. And green!" He laughed at her excitement, and in relief.
"They are indeed green. But if that isn't the problem, then what was?" Hesitancy returned to her face and she looked down.
"It is of a privacy matter," she murmured.
"Privacy or private lass?" She frowned, concentrating. Her english was still not perfect, but she had been working hard to improve since joining the ship.
"Um, private. It is a private matter." He nodded.
"The I'm sorry but I still have to pry. He is your commanding officer and I need to know if there are going to be problems. I mean I don't really like the guy either but I put up with him. He's damn good at his job." She blinked large golden eyes.
"Don't like? I don't don't like him." Again, he chose to ignore her incorrect grammar.
"You certainly looked like you didn't."
"No I just wasn't expecting...I didn't think ever...I don't know how explaining to be." Her look took on a desperate twinge. "I promise it won't effect work. It will not happen again. But no words in human are describing this. It is a Kirry thing. It is a brain thing."
"A brain thing? Oh, you mean a telepathic thing?" She nodded.
"I was forgetting the word. Yes, telepathic thing."
"But it will not cause any problems?"
"No, no. I was just surprising. It will not be a problem again. I will work well. I will not look unliking at the Commander again." Scotty nodded.
"Alright. If you want to talk about it though lass, you've always got my ear." She nodded, a tired smile taking over her determined look.
"I know. Thank you." He smiled at her, waving her off.
"Alright, so go back to cleaning the rafters, or whatever it is that you do up there." She flashed him a smile before swinging herself up once again and jogging lightly along the top of the sensitive equipment.
"Weird one, that girl," Scotty murmured affectionately.
Hey All!
I'm back, finally. This time with a new story. This one is more just a random brain drabble. I'm not precisely sure where it's going, though I do have a pretty good idea of the general plot line. This is my first attempt at anything star treky, but I love the characters. So if you realize that I'm putting anything in that is completely incorrect when it comes to the ship, or characters etc don't hesitate to let me know. I watch the show, as well as the new movie, but I'm sure I'll make mistakes.
And no, this doesn't mean I've forgotten about Happily Ever After. The ending is finished, so I just have a chapter or two to figure out in between. I'm just fighting with a bit of writers block and I thought maybe trying something different would help.
Thanks for readying and let me know what you think!
Miric
