Admiral Kirk seemed to have taken to World News producer Jenny Hogan well enough to carry an enjoyable conversation. She asked him every now and again some questions, some of which were for the record and some of course, not so much. She seemed to cue in when he was ready for some reflective thought or at least some rest. It was only after she'd gone to sit and talk with Riley that Kirk had realized her attentive nature. Of course, she was a producer and in some ways, acted as an aide to Nan Doris. Jenny Hogan must have picked it up at World News, or else, they'd seen a natural streak in her.
Jenny swiveled the chair next to Riley and sat down, "Hope you don't mind some company?"
Riley shook his head. He looked up from the helm controls and smiled at Jenny, "Admiral Kirk didn't get you talked out, did he?"
"No... But maybe I talked him out a bit. Sorry..." She ducked her head a bit and ignored the bit of fatigue in her throat. Perhaps Kirk did wear her out just a little.
"It's going to be awhile yet, before we get to the system... Want to see how the controls work?" To be honest, Riley wasn't sure what to talk about. He didn't want conversation to get too deep, even if Admiral Kirk was dozing in the cabin.
Jenny hesitated only a moment, before she gave a nod, "Sure..." Riley took the hesitation to mean she wasn't really interested in the controls, but all the same, Jenny arched forward to listen and look at the miniature helm lesson.
"This gage over here is life-support. As you can see, we have plenty of air and water, as well as a rations rehydration system. This is our drive. Basically, you control the warp factor and thrusters with this lever... And, over here are the navigation controls." Riley's mouth instinctively perked as he talked about course settings, charts, and the navcom. He could talk on all day about the intricacies of proper navigation.
Jenny grinned, "So, that's your baby."
Riley blushed at the observation and smiled up at her. "My... baby?"
Jenny nodded with a grin, "Your eyes began to dance. I dunno. I just might get jealous."
"Yeah... Well," Riley cleared his throat and noted how far Jenny had leaned forward. "Well... I was in navigation mostly, um... before... And I taught navigation at Starfleet Academy..."
Jenny made a little sound in her throat and cast a half-lidded gaze at the chief of staff. "Ooh, you never mentioned being a professor."
Kevin Riley's blush deepened, and he nearly felt like a fish, as his mouth opened and closed, then opened again. "Uh... Well... Yeah, I suppose I was..." His breathing deepened, seeing as Jenny's face was just inches from his. So close that he could point out the grey border of her green eyes, with flecks of blue within, and the way the cockpit's light outlined her elfin chin and jawline. In the back of his mind, he considered the situation as well as the admiral's proximity. ...In his chair, he found himself in some ways uncomfortable. "More... More a teacher, like G'dath."
Jenny pouted and pulled back, "G'dath..?" For a Klingon, he was alright. Heck. For your everyday person, G'dath was outstanding... but sexy he wasn't. Unfortunately for this situation, Jenny was a pretty visual person. Riley's brows shot up apologetically as he realized instead of cooling the mood just a bit, it pretty much became cold as a dead fish. For her part, Jenny turned her face away from the Irishman. She had enjoyed flirting with him, perhaps too much. It was like playing with fire, especially after the talk she'd been given concerning the young aide. Besides... If he knew, would he still have even the slightest spark of interest?
Riley glimpsed something vulnerable in the way Jenny looked outside at the star field as it streaked by. "Jenny." He'd affected her somehow. When she looked back at him, he cracked a lopsided smile. "M'glad you're along for the trip." That seemed to brighten her mood, for which Kevin Riley was very thankful. He'd done enough brooding for the both of them and perhaps the admiral as well, earlier. He reached out and touched a lock of her hair, appreciating the flush of color to her cheeks. "It's nice... I admit... I liked the red, but... I think this could grow on me."
Jenny didn't even skip a beat, "Well, if it grew on you, it'd be brown to begin with." She then crossed her eyes and stuck out her tongue. They both laughed a bit, and this time, when they looked into each other's eyes, the same feeling danced between them.
"Get-a-room..." came a mumbled reply from the admiral, who was half-asleep. They peeked back at James Kirk, who had managed to sprawl out over the cot, seeming more like an overgrown toddler than a man on the cusp of middle age. To Riley, it was not an unknown sight. Kirk had always been the type to play hard and sleep harder, once he'd allowed himself. Riley and Jenny looked back at each other again and laughed quietly, this time. The World News producer pulled out a book from her satchel and read, while Kevin Riley adjusted course due to a change in the sector that hadn't been in the shuttle's star charts.
All in all, it wasn't the worst beginning for a vacation.
Within a few hours, they came about Alpha Centauri system. The triple sun system had been brought into balance by advanced technology prior to human habitation. The secrets of the terraformed planet of Centaurus had left with whomever had negotiated the system. As for Centaurus, itself, it hung in space like a blue and green marble, swirls of clouds feathering its atmosphere. Unlike Earth, however, most of the planet's surface held no visible evidence of continents. The planet had long ago distributed volcanic islands, indicative of its violent past. More recently, Federation scientists, colonists, and the native population had invested in fattening the shorelines of more popular island chains, harvesting materials from a nearby asteroid belt in the system. The skiffs that mined the belt made routine visits, to and fro, between Centaurus and the mines. "Have you ever been to Centaurus, Jenny?" asked Riley.
The newly brunette girl gave him a smile, "It's been ages, but yes. I came here with my father, as a child. We went to Gaiata Pera, in the Southen Hemisphere. They have one of the best shores for surfing, and they're not far away from the Serpentine Reef, if you like diving." Kevin Riley ducked his head at that. "What is it? Don't tell me you don't know how to dive..."
Riley shook his head, "I don't even know how to swim."
Jenny boggled, "And they never taught you in Starfleet?" That took her by complete surprise.
"Oh, it used to be required, but the year before I entered the Academy, it was made an elective. I was too busy doubling in astrophysics to bother with it." Riley shrugged. It wasn't a big deal to him. Starships were meant to fly, not swim through oceans.
It took a moment for Jenny to pull out of her stupor. She wasn't going to argue with the man, but she did have to point out, "We're going to a planet that is eighty-five percent water. You almost need gills for the air as much as the sea..."
"I can stick to the beach," was Riley's reply. Jenny pouted at the statement. Kevin Riley shifted in his seat, "We're getting approval to land in New Florida. ...Could you wake the admiral, please?"
Jenny smirked and fought rolling her eyes, "Sure." She left the cockpit and pouted. Jim Kirk was curled up with his arms wrapped around a pillow clung close to his face. "Goddamn, he's like a kitten. How'm I supposed to wake him up?" The question was more rhetorical, however, and Jenny spent the next two minutes playing tug-of-war with a half-asleep admiral over his pillow. "Admiral Kirk... Jim. ...James T. Kirk, you wake up right this minute, so help me!"
Kevin Riley blinked and looked back at the scene. Jenny had wrestled the pillow out from Kirk's arms, but the effort left her sprawled on the cabin floor. Kirk was wiping at his eyes, "Mom?" Riley did his best but failed to hold back a snicker. Jenny threw the pillow towards the back of his chair, along with a raspberry. Kirk scowled, "Hey, no pillow fights. I have a reputation to uphold." Thankfully, Riley had his back turned when he rolled his eyes. "Commander Riley, what's our ETA?"
"We're cleared for landing, Admiral. Please make sure your cot is in its folded position and that you both are in your seats, that they are locked in their upright position and that all personal items are stowed away." That was more for Jenny's sake than Kirk's, which both of them figured.
Kirk raised a brow at Jenny's frown as she settled in, "Was it something I said?"
Waiting for them at the spaceport was Admiral Lori Ciana. Though named for Florida, Riley remarked that the place seemed more like Hawaii, to him. Not that he'd been, but the port was decked in floral garlands and arrangements. Only the music was different and nothing Terran about it. Still, it was very relaxing and fluid, something one would expect at a resort. Riley gathered the bags and put them on a cart, not allowing Jenny to help him with them, and of course, certainly not asking Kirk to help. Jim Kirk went straight to Lori Ciana, to meet her with a grin. Lori's eyes twinkled and she met her husband with a hug and a kiss. "That was unexpected," noted Kirk.
Lori shook her head, "I can't believe it. Jim Kirk not expecting the unexpected." They both chuckled about it. The blonde woman peeked past her husband and took in the sight of his aide and another woman, "I didn't realize you were bringing guests..."
"All the other flights were booked. I didn't want to fly by myself and Riley deserves the time off. As does Jenny Hogan. She was one of the people involved with the Klingon incident..." Jim Kirk frowned, "Is that a problem? We can book them some rooms far from ours."
Lori was still looking at the other two, how Kevin Riley and Jenny Hogan were getting along. Currently, they were teasing each other and laughing. She looked back to Jim, "I hope it won't be. I can't say for other island chains, but there's a festival going on, so all the hotels here are pretty full."
Kirk raised a brow, "Well... Let's see what can be done, then." He directed Riley to take the bags up to the spaceport hotel and Ciana's suite for the time being, including Riley's and Jenny Hogan's luggage. Admiral Ciana gave Riley the room number and access code. Jim gave Lori a quick kiss on the cheek, "I'll be right up." He had a twinkle in his eye that showed he'd work a deal out, come hell or high water.
Jenny was about to follow Riley and Kirk, when Admiral Ciana asked her to be some company. "I was just going to go to the café for a drink. Care to join me?" Riley looked back at the perplexed producer and gave her a small smile, before heading towards the lifts. Jenny tore her gaze from Riley and gave Ciana a nod.
"Yes-s, ma'am." Ciana raised a brow at Jenny, but said nothing. They left the spaceport and walked along the boardwalk. New Florida was at mid-day under Centaurus A, with the smaller sun, Centaurus B, like a small orange hanging lower in the sky. Proxima was barely detectable as a red pinprick high in the sky. Ciana directed them to a café and the two women sat down at a table on the walk. "I'm sorry, if you had other expectations, Admiral Ciana. I'm sure Kevin and I will do our best not to be in the way."
Lori smiled a bit at Jenny and remained quiet, until the waitress left them, "Let's hope not, then. I hope you're right, but I have to wonder. What was Jim thinking, bringing along Kevin Riley and company?"
Jenny gave a broken smile, "He insisted. ...I think he must have been worried about Kevin, with what happened..."
"Hmm," was Lori's reply. "It's not like Commander Riley to slip up like that. To overlook such a detail, though he managed himself very well in getting everyone back safely. Jim was helpful too, of course. If Admiral Kirk hadn't shown up in that ancient shuttle, then Riley would have died and the Klingons would have hold of new technology that would breach the balance of power in the quadrant."
Jenny blinked at the female admiral. "Well, thank goodness that didn't happen. And everyone is very thankful to the admiral, especially Kevin. He was very distraught, after what happened."
"He was distraught through what happened, Miss Hogan." Jenny blushed. So, Lori Ciana knew who she was. That made sense enough. Kirk must have mentioned her in passing, given the connection with World News... But, actually, that would only make sense had he told Lori they were showing up-which Lori had claimed he hadn't. "I see the cogs moving in your head, Jenny. Yes, I know who you are."
Jenny paled at the tone Ciana used in that sentence. The admiral gave a slow nod.
"Thirty minutes ago, special section contacted me and informed me of your affiliation with the lieutenant commander. Moreover, they informed me that you have ignored their direct orders, in violation of the temporal prime directive." The drinks arrived, and Ciana thanked the waitress, pushing Jenny's piña colada over to her. "I suggest that after your drink, you book the next flight home, Miss Hogan."
It was all Jenny could do, to wrap her hands around the cold drink. "How can I disobey orders when I was forced to resign?" She looked up at Lori, "I disagree that I'm going against regulations, anyway. There's no proof."
"If Riley did not become involved with you, he would not have been so distracted between his recent divorce and his job. With you in the mix, it was no wonder he slipped up. Thank god you didn't have your eyes set on Jim." That earned Lori a glare from the producer, which the cool blonde shrugged off easily. "He would have directed proper measures and the Klingons would never have beamed down to take hostages and Doctor G'dath."
Jenny frowned, "If I had not interacted with Kevin Riley, he would have been fired for being late and forgetting the PADD Admiral Kirk needed when meeting with Nan Davis."
Ciana shook her head. "Someone else would have. Or, yes, Riley would have been discharged from Starfleet or reassigned... but it would have been upon his action, not yours. What if he was meant reassignment? You could have changed our future already by that small action."
"There's no way to know that," argued Jenny. "I agreed to leave Starfleet, because of this concern, but I have never agreed that it's a logical one. It's not reasonable that I should live as mundane a life as possible. I've gone out of my way to avoid mishaps and causing any sort of trouble for anyone."
"Oh, go tell that to someone who doesn't know any better. You know as well as I do, what one person, added or taken away from their destiny, can do." Jenny was trembling, now, as she attempted to sip at her drink. "And, don't you dare cry. You're an officer, even if you are retired."
Jenny put some credits down for her drink and stood up with her fists clenched by her side, "You're right. You can take the girl out of the Fleet, but you can't take the Fleet out of the girl. ...Can I at least tell Kevin goodbye?"
Ciana's gaze shifted from the cold, hard look of an admiral to one of feminine compassion. "Of course. ...Don't give him details, but I'm sure you can figure something out."
