3.
The Enterprise had not been hit very hard by the enemy vessel but the damage that was done had taken a few days to repair. The worst of the damage was limited to shorted out circuitry and burnt wiring. But it was spread out all over the ship, which caused delay, and was damn inconvenient to Yeoman Mears social activities. Although the Enterprise escaped the attack, the ship-wide damaged circuits and wiring took days to repair.
Holding the rank of yeoman aboard a ship such as The Enterprise, meant nothing more than being a glorified electrician's mate. Under normal circumstances Cathleen's duties would be clerical; writing reports and making sure the correct personnel reviewed and signed them. This was more to her liking, compared to climbing through cramped Jefferies tubes, tracking through miles and miles of cable and wiring only to find a two inch section of burned out wire or circuit board that needed to be replaced. Unfortunately, these were not normal circumstances. Her secondary duties became her top priorities, and she was glad that she could at least wear a jump suit to do her dirty work instead of the service uniform she usually wore.
Finished with her work in the tube, Cathleen gathered her tools and began her descent. When she reached the opening she had to crawl out feet first, thankful again for the jumpsuit.
She stood up, and turned to find Mr. Scott leaning against the bulkhead smiling at her. It was the first time either one of them had been able to find time to speak to the other since the red alert had ended their dinner date a few nights ago.
"Hello, stranger," she said cheerfully as she approached him.
Pushing himself away from the bulkhead, he glanced up inside the tube and asked, "Ye bout' done up there?"
"I am."
"Would ye care to walk with me?"
"Sure." She smiled. "I was about to head back down to engineering anyway. I wouldn't mind an escort."
He became quiet and almost seemed nervous as they walked to the turbo lift.
As they waited for the lift to arrive, he finally spoke, "I'm really sorry I haven't had a chance to talk to ye since Friday night, Cathleen."
She nodded and replied, "I did wonder if you were a little miffed with me, but we've both been pretty busy the last couple days."
They stepped inside the lift, "Engineering," Scotty told the computer, and turned his attention to her.
"Not miffed, just…. a bit surprised." His ears turned slightly red. "I wanted to ask ye out the other night, before we were so rudely interrupted. If, that is, ye still wanted to spend some time together. Maybe tonight? If you're not busy?" He rushed anxiously through his words.
"Well," she faked a sigh, "it is short notice but I think I might be able to spare an hour or two."
"Brilliant!" a satisfied grin swept his face.
On the ride down to Engineering, they decided he would stop at her quarters at nineteen-hundred, and then go for drinks on the recreation deck.
Back in her quarters, she took a long hot bath. She washed her hair and shaved her legs before toweling herself off. She brushed and flossed her teeth carefully. Hurtling through space on a starship was no excuse for poor oral hygiene.
Digging through her closet, it didn't take long to figure out what she wanted to wear. Of course she would wear her service reds. Everyone on the ship always wore their service uniforms whether they were on duty on not. Although she had a few nice civilian ensembles she knew Scotty would appreciate, to wear them would only draw undue attention. However, she did have a few older uniforms that had gotten a little more "form fitting", as Tonia would say, and she settled on the least worn looking one.
She dried her dark auburn hair, styling it in the long bob she normally wore, applied a little makeup and picked out a small pair of gold hoops she had bought the last time she was on shore leave.
She wasn't one to wear a lot of perfume, but she dabbed a light floral scent to her wrists and neck. She slipped on her nylons and squeezed into her service reds.
Cathleen checked herself in the full length mirror, noting the older uniform had a great effect on her figure.
Busying herself, she killed a few minutes by tidying up their living space. Tonia and Cathleen were by no means slobs, but in the last few days neither of them had taken much time to pick up around the place. When they were assigned to room together, they had done their best to make their cabin cozy and homelike, but it didn't take much for the place to get messy.
She was folding a throw blanket when the door chimed. He was early.
She called out, "It's open!" and the door slid open.
Mr. Scott stepped through the door and apologized for being so early, stopping himself when he saw her. "Ye look…very nice, lass." He was wearing a fresh uniform and was clean shaven, hair neatly in place.
"Thank you. You look nice too. Did you get a haircut?" she asked.
"Aye, I got a lot of hairs cut," he joked awkwardly and smoothed the back of his freshly cropped head. "Are ye ready?"
"I am."
He proudly offered her his arm and added, "My lady?"
On the recreation deck they picked a table in the corner of the room where they would be less likely to be disturbed. They made small talk and shared a few drinks. Scotty convinced her to try some scotch, and then laughed at the faces she made while she sipped it. Finally, giving up, she begged him to order her another beer.
When the recreation deck became a little too crowded, he asked her if she wanted to go somewhere else a little more quiet. Cathleen agreed, and he took her by the hand to lead her up to the vacant observation deck.
"You know, people are going to start talking about us if they see us holding hands and hanging out together all the time." She told him as they stared out into the stars.
He stood behind her, close enough that she could feel the heat radiating from his body. The observation deck was dim and quiet and she thought she knew exactly why he had brought her there. She hoped it wasn't for the star gazing.
He gently turned her around by her shoulders to face him. The warmth of his hands seeped through her sleeves and into her skin. "Two dates hardly qualifies as all the time, and I'm not worried about what people have to say about us Cathleen, are you?" His brown eyes softened as he studied her face.
"What if the captain has something to say?"
He sighed and thought for a moment before answering, "Captain Kirk is the last person who would judge, lass. He's had more love interests on this mission than anyone else on the ship."
"Am I a love interest?"
He placed her hands on his chest and held them. She could feel his heart beating under her hands, and she left them there even as he let go to slide his arms around her waist.
"I don't know about Captain Kirk, lass, but ye definitely interest me," he teased. "As long as we can manage to remain professional, the captain won't have a problem with our interests." His voice was reassuringly calm.
She leaned into him and he softly touched her lips with his. He was gentle and sweet with his kiss, and when he broke away to look at her, she smiled at him a little dazed and said, "I think we can manage that."
