Star Trek: The Next Generation – Souvenirs
Written By: Commander Cody CC-2224
Author's Notes:
I had just checked out a teacher's guide to the Felicity: An American Girl series books. One of the interesting activities mentioned at the near ending of the book mentioned: "Put characters from the Felicity books into situations from today." I applied this activity (only to the 24th century A.D.) when I decided to have Felicity and her friends and siblings get a teasing taste of what it's like in the 24th century. However, the 24th century has its primrose paths and danger situations (a fact I'm going to apply in the latter half of my Star Trek: The Next Generation and Felicity: An American Girl crossover fanfic). Just thought I should let you know.
Anyway, here comes the chapter where Felicity, her siblings, and her friends dine at Ten-Forward. As pansyphoenix said in her review on the previous chapter, they're going to have a fair lot to talk about, not to mention the types of food they'll encounter that are foreign to them. (Of course, Ben in this case seems to be the only one to try something not known in the colonial period; the rest of the children order conventional dinner meals that pertain to that period.)
CHAPTER 10
Little William and the girls moseyed back to the living area, dressed in their undergarments and their shifts draped over their bodies. Instinctively Ben turned his head and looked up.
"Well," began Ben in a sort of casual manner. "To whom do I owe the honor of meeting such fine young ladies who are dressed in nothing but their undergarments?"
"We've decided to prim ourselves in this room so you'll have a chance to take your bath," remarked Felicity sardonically. "So get your arse into the bathtub and don't dawdle."
"Yes, your Arse-ness," replied Ben in a mocking sing-song tone of voice. He was a little annoyed with the idea of being pushed around by the girls. With alacrity Ben got up from the sofa and waltzed to the bathroom, taking great strides. The doors shut automatically behind him.
"How awfully rude," remarked Elizabeth wryly while crossing her arms.
Felicity and Elizabeth first helped Nan and William get their clothes on.
"Why can't we just go to Ten-Forward ourselves?" asked William impatiently, while struggling to get his shirt on with Elizabeth's help.
"We're not allowed to go there by ourselves without a grown-up," replied Felicity, giving a quick glance at William.
"Aye," put in Elizabeth. "Children under the age of 16 are not allowed to go that place without somebody who meets that age requirement. Mr. Data said so."
"My, Elizabeth, you really are quite an observant girl," Felicity remarked. She had just finished helping Nan into her gown.
Now it was the older girls' turn to dress themselves up. Elizabeth put on her gown with a little bit of difficulty, and Felicity put on hers.
"Shall I help you with your corset, Lissie?" inquired Nan, trying to be somewhat helpful.
"Nay. 'Tis rather tiresome and painful to wear that silly old thing that prickles my bosom whenever I'm forced to bend the rest of my body."
"But Lissie, 'tis most improper for a gentlewoman not to stand or sit straight."
"Oh, come on, Nan. 'Tis rather tiresome to be proper all the time."
Nan heaved a rather disappointed sigh.
"Although a bit of modesty would be acceptable," remarked Felicity wistfully, as she let down her slightly wet auburn hair and arranged it in a fresh, becoming style.
"Aye," agreed Elizabeth, as she arranged her slightly wet blond hair in roughly the same manner as Felicity's. "Did you see how these people dress up? 'Tis most strange, indeed; I wonder if modesty in dress was thrown out of the window."
Felicity chuckled to herself. "Elizabeth, if modesty in dress wasn't observed here in its entirety, we would be seeing people on board this ship running around stark naked like crackpates."
"Lissie!" exclaimed Nan. Felicity covered her sister's mouth, not wanting to hear any more tirades about propriety for young ladies.
Elizabeth burst into a fit of giggles at the sound of that. "That's just so lewd, Lissie," she remarked.
Meanwhile Ben was in the bathroom, trying to find a way how to turn on the bathroom tub faucet. He managed to turn on the faucet in the same way Felicity did by turning the lever counterclockwise. Eyeing on the shiny aluminum faucet he stroked and caressed its smooth surface with his right hand; he had never seen anything so shiny and silvery as that.
Suddenly his daydreaming was interrupted when he remembered that he was supposed to hurry with his bath. As he hastily lifted his hand off the faucet, his fingers accidentally caught on a little round centimeter disk on top of the faucet's surface end. When the disk was lifted a stick was there attached under it, indicating that this disk was a lever handle. The result was that the sonic shower was activated, and Ben could feel himself a little bit wet before he sprinted back in time. His gaze transfixed on the blurry motion of the shower.
To Ben staring at the shower was almost like watching the rain from a stormy sky. Instinctively he put his right hand into the shower and began to experience the stimulating sensation of having his skin being lightly impacted by the gentle water droplets. Not wanting to keep the rest of the children waiting on his behalf, undressed himself with alacrity. He took off his black-brown buckled shoes, and removed his breaches, shirt, shift, and undergarments. He threw his clothes on the bathroom floor near the sink, and hurled himself into the bathtub, where this time the rest of his body was exposed to the pitter-patter effects of the sonic shower. Spotting the tube of liquid soap that Felicity used for bathing, he uncapped the tube, squeezed a light amount of the soap out of the tube, and dabbed it on his hair. He then plunged his soapy head into the shower and stroked his hair in a rapid motion.
A little while, he started noticing that the soap was only making his brown hair a tad greasy, much to his frustration. Taking notice of another tube that read "Shampoo & Conditioner" he immediately squeezed a light amount of that liquid and slathered it on his hair. To his amazed relief the effect was positive. His hair was wet, of course, but no longer greasy.
In a span of two minutes he managed to get his entire body cleaned up, using the same face towel and back scrubber that Felicity used. When he felt he was through with using the shower he hit the little round disk and the shower turned off. Then he turned the faucet lever in the clockwise direction and the faucet was completely turned off.
Shivering slightly, Ben grabbed a nearby towel and dried himself as thoroughly as he could and put on his clothes.
The older girls were almost done primming themselves when Ben stepped out of the bathroom, fully dressed.
"Ta-da!" announced Ben in a sing-song voice (high C-Major scale), his arms extending straight in the opposite directions. The children turned around suddenly.
"Well!' exclaimed Felicity. A charming smile was on her face. "I dare say you've managed to bathe yourself in only a few minutes."
"'Twas a stroke of genius," replied Ben in a jovial manner. "I just found out how to utilize the sonic shower system!"
"Good for you, Ben."
"That means I'm smarter than you, Lissie girl. Ha-ha-ha, ha-ha-ha-ha-ha," teased Ben in a singsong voice.
Felicity was inclined to say "Well, a fat lot of good that does, because if we ever go back to our own timeline that luxury won't be there any more", but she for now she wasn't very sure whether they all could ever go back. So she decided to refrain from speaking her thoughts about the subject.
"Ben's done! Now we can go to Ten-Forward!" exclaimed little William ecstatically, as he danced around the living area. "Yippee!"
But before the children could proceed to Ten-Forward, a seriously disturbing thought hit Ben on the head like lightning.
"Oh, cripes!" he complained in a fairly audible tone of voice. The older girls turned around, including Nan and William. Felicity's and Elizabeth's faces were filled with worry.
"You know, it just dawned on me," remarked Ben, trying to control his frustration.
"What is it?" asked Felicity.
"We don't have any money. Or anything to barter with. How are we going to pay the food bill in Ten-Forward if we're asked to? I don't even know what kind of currency they use in this timeline."
"I don't know, Ben," replied Felicity, with an air of uncertainty. "I think we'll all just have to take our chances on this one."
"Well, 'tis no good having to dwell on troubles like that for the time being," remarked Ben wryly. He regained his composure. "All of you ladies ready to go?"
"Aye," replied Felicity and Elizabeth together.
"Nan?" Ben said, looking at Felicity's younger sister. Nan nodded.
"William?"
"I'm all set, Benster," replied William playfully.
"Good." He approached the entranceway of the guest quarters, tapped the touch-button to unlock the doors, and the doors opened in the opposite directions. He positioned himself in the right side of the open doorway facing outside the room. "This way, ladies," he said courteously, while extending his right hand in a gentlemanly manner as the girls daintily flounced out of the room, followed by Nan and William.
The five children were now outside the guest quarters, in one of the corridors of the Galaxy-class saucer section. Unfortunately a confused look on Ben's face indicated that he had almost no idea how to get to Ten-Forward.
"Well, the Counselor said that Ten-Forward, or whatever it's called, is down this corridor and into the right end. Sooo…" Ben broke off as he attempted to point out which direction it was they were supposed to take. "She says it's…this way," he declared finally pointing his right index finger to the direction right of the guest quarters' entranceway and took a step forward. The rest of the children followed suit.
The reason Counselor Troi gave the aforementioned directions was because Guest Room 313 was located on the starboard side of the Galaxy-class saucer section. As they strolled through the slightly curved corridor, they were taken notice by a female human in a light-blue Starfleet jumpsuit uniform, an indication that she was one of the Astrophysics Lab personnel. Her blond hair was pinned up in the form of a ponytail, and, much to the chagrin of Elizabeth and Nan, who were more inclined to observe the 18th rules of propriety for proper young ladies (and perhaps to Felicity as well), her hair was uncovered. Her face, however, did indicate a fairly friendly demeanor as she greeted them.
"Good day, children," she said charmingly.
"Good day, ma'am," Ben replied, tipping his tricorn hat.
"Good day, Miss," greeted Felicity. She bobbed a curtsy.
Elizabeth, who was not as outgoing as Felicity was, shied a little bit. "Good day, ma'am" she said sheepishly.
"Might I inquire as to where you're off to?"
"Ten-Forward, ma'am," replied Ben
Hmm. Children aren't usually allowed in Ten-Forward without the supervision of an adult."
"I'm sixteen. The captain and Mr. Data, or whatever he's called, says I qualify."
"Oh. I see. And what are you doing in these fancy costumes," the lady asked cheekily. "Are you having a fashion show?"
Ben was rather hesitant to reply, as he didn't want to go through a very lengthy explanation about how they managed to end up being on the Enterprise, since their clothes indicated very strongly of another era. So he tried to be as casual as he could, without uttering any "ums" or "uhs"
"You could say that," replied Ben as flowingly as he could.
The woman shrugged. "Oh. Very well, then. I guess I'd better get back to the Astrophysics Lab. Good day, children."
"Good day, ma'am," returned Ben.
As the children continued on their way, the older girls, including Nan, gossiped amongst themselves about how the woman looked.
"My, did you see the way she dressed?" whispered Elizabeth.
"'Tis most improper," put in Nan. As usual, she was quick to point out improperness in people who didn't conform to the conventions of late 18th century fashions.
Felicity remembered the time when she put on Ben's breeches when she went on her little escapades to help Penny when she was mistreated on Mr. Nye's pasture grounds. On account of that, the thought of women wearing pants in the future almost mattered little to her.
"I don't see anything wrong with that," replied Felicity, whose voice was fairly audible to Elizabeth and Nan. "I'd be almost inclined to wear something like that."
"Lissie!" gasped Nan. Felicity shrugged her shoulders, as if she never cared what Nan said to her.
"It wouldn't be a good idea to be perceived as a boy when you are actually a girl," remarked Elizabeth.
"Perhaps you're right," replied Felicity. "I'd look bloody awful in that."
"That's rather unusual of you to say," declared Ben. "Two years ago you wished you could dress up in men's breeches," he finished, laughing.
"True," put in Felicity. "But I think I might have changed a little bit."
"Lissie," remarked Ben. "As I recall, you always disliked change."
"Well," replied Felicity, shrugging her shoulders. "I guess Mother told me that change is not something to run away from."
As the children were nearing to their designated left turn, Ben was the first to notice a Negroid human in a yellow Starfleet uniform turning on the T-junction of the corridor they were on. He was within a stone's throw's distance from the children.
"Speaking of change, I'm at odds to know why there's a black man wearing some kind of uniform," murmered Ben, as he had a skeptical look on his face. The rest of the children looked in the same direction Ben was facing.
The man had a shiny bald head and a slightly tall face. He greeted them as courteously as he could.
"Good day, little ones," he said in a deep baritone voice.
"Um, good day, sir," greeted Ben, being a little confused. The rest of the children were a little too shocked to return the greeting, except for Felicity, who greeted him back with a smile that perhaps hinted uncertainty and bobbed a curtsy as usual. The man greeted her back and simply shrugged his shoulders, as he seemed to be in quite a hurry to get to wherever he was going.
"I wonder how's that possible," declared Felicity.
"Dunno," replied Ben in a rather casual tone of voice. "Perhaps the black slaves were freed."
Elizabeth shuddered a little. Back in Colonial America, white people were usually fearful of uprisings caused by black people. "Is he going to hurt us the next time we see him?" she asked, rather fearfully.
Elizabeth's question was answered in a matter-of-fact way when the children made their left turn to the other corridor.
"I don't think he would," replied Felicity in a rather hesitant manner. Having experienced black people when she knew Marcus, the servant who assisted Mr. Merriman at the General Store, she decided to take a chance with him.
"I wouldn't put it past me," remarked Ben. "But if we leave him alone he'll leave us alone."
"But if he doesn't…" Felicity put in. Then she shook off the worry. "Well, we've got Ben, haven't we, Elizabeth?" she said to her friend in the attempt of reassuring each other.
"Aye," replied Elizabeth, smiling. "But what if Ben can't stop him?"
"He's a strong lad," said Felicity, putting her arm around her friend. "He can…"
"You won't have to worry about that, girls," declared Ben. "If you remember the Golden Rule…"
"Do unto others…" interrupted Felicity.
"…As you would have them do unto you," finished Nan.
"Precisely," replied Ben. "If you treat them in a courteous manner, they'll be inclined to do the same for you, too. Lissie was kind enough to give us a demonstration of that point."
"But to be on the safe side," said Elizabeth, "I think we should refrain from talking about this in front of any black person we encounter on this ship. I have a strong feeling they might not take it lightly in this timeline."
"Why?" asked William rather curiously.
"Well, because…"
"Because the blacks have always been the white man's servants for a long time," replied Felicity. "And they know it. Therefore I suspect they would be rather sensitive about this circumstance. Not that I'm wishing for this to be the case. No offense, Ben."
"Point taken, Lissie. But your friend is right. We'll refrain from such issues for the time being until we can get an expert to explain the affair. Right now we don't want any trouble on our hands, especially that we're new here. Agreed?"
The rest of the children nodded their heads in agreement.
In a few moments, after taking a right turn to another corridor, the children arrived at the entrance doors of the Ten-Forward lounge. Ben approached the entranceway and the doors slid open automatically in the usual opposite directions. In his usual gentlemanly fashion, he ushered them, extending his right hand into the room.
"This way, ladies," he said, as Felicity, Elizabeth, and Nan entered in. "And gentleman," he added, as William strutted to the lounge.
Ten-Forward was the hub of virtually all social activity on board the Enterprise. The room was as large as the patio of the Templeton's mansion, only a tad bigger. The room itself was fairly lighted; not too bright, and not too dark. Most of the areas in the room were somewhat dark, though the darkness was broken up by fluorescent lights scattered in certain areas of the room, giving the environment a rather cozy setting.
The entire room had two doors, one on the port side and one on the starboard side; the door that the children entered through was on the port side. The room was quadrilateral; except for a slight curve in the front, with the huge windows displaying a panoramic view of the starry space. At the aft end of the room was the bar, with a long U-shaped table with a smooth, shiny flat surface that glistened in the fluorescent light. Its arms bending 30 degrees to the back, where the bartender usually stood, and a row of backless standing seats were neatly lined alongside the table.
At the front of the room was the lounge area, located near the huge glass windows, which held a hodgepodge of tables which had the same surface as that of the bar's, and some rather comfortable, plush leather seats, though some of them had fabric linings on their horizontal middles. Ten-Forward was not usually crowded, except on special occasions; when the children entered, a fair handful of individuals comprising of a diversity of Starfleet and civilian personnel, both of human and alien origins, were present.
The children meandered to the bar table and immediately set themselves to placing their dinner menu orders. Ben, being new here, was rather uncertain as to the kinds of food that was served on board, and, wanting to satisfy his craving to try something new, if there was anything new, inclined himself to observing the customers taking their newly-ordered meals to the lounge section. At the back end of the bar a dark-skinned woman, clad in a slightly loose, flowing garments of a grayish-purplish color and wearing a fancy turban of fairly distended proportions of the same hue as that of her garments, shed her watchful gaze on the children with a peculiar and rather inscrutable interest.
Both Felicity and Elizabeth seemed to have no trouble what to order for their dinner mealtime. Felicity was somewhat inclined to burst out in a rather hasty manner over the counter. But she remembered Mrs. Merriman telling her not to engage in hasty actions without thinking, and that was especially somewhat true when she was dealing with the unknown. So she acted as ladylike as she could in placing her order. Elizabeth was waiting for her turn. Nan and William would place their order under their older sister's supervision.
The barman, a young Caucasian man in his late 20's, who wore a blue-green jumpsuit, as part of the uniform for the bar personnel, came up to the area of the counter where the children were standing. His face had a drawling appearance, and his hair was of much darker color that Ben's. In the background a dark-skinned African-American barmaid in the same uniform color as that of the barman was working at one of the huge replicator niches. She was about the same age as the barman, but a little younger. Her curly, wavy brown-black hair waved sensuously about her as she went to and fro from one replicator niche to another.
"Evenin', folks," the barman greeted genially in a mildly drawling voice. "Thuh way yer dressed tells me you've been havin' a hell uv a lot uh fun in one uh them hollidecks, dramatizin' sum uv Uhmericuh's kulonial events. S'that so?"
The children were at odds to know what a holodeck even was. Ben decided to answer on their behalf.
"You could say that," Ben replied in a rather vague manner. He tried to keep a straight face, though Felicity could notice that there was something in Ben's face that told her that he didn't know jack what the barman was talking about.
"Hmm…Damn right I cud," the barman replied slightly drawlingly. Then he eyed the children rather suspiciously. "Or perhaps sumthin' tells me that you've cum frum another timeline."
At the sound of this Felicity recoiled, wide-eyed. This was no time for discussing timeline affairs, she thought to herself. The children are hungry, and so am I. So let's please get down to business!
"Yeah…well, by the looks uv it, prhaps that cud be th'case," remarked the barman tersely. "Oh, well; haven't got time fur these timeline tarradiddles, anyway. Have ya made up yer mind as to what tuh order for th'grand uccayshun?" he asked, facing Ben.
"Um, I haven't thought of what I'll order for dinner as of yet," replied Ben.
"Well, make up yer mind, 'cuz there's loads of other folk waitin' in line," declared the barman. He turned to Felicity. "And what you like to order for th'grand uccayshun, li'l Miss?" he asked, forcing a smile on his otherwise drawling face.
Finally! Felicity thought to herself with relief. With fairly ladylike composure, she put her clasped hands across the illuminated bar counter and flashed a sweet smile on him. "I would like some English beef stew, a plain potato, and some apple cobbler," Felicity requested. She remembered eating something like that at home; it was a favorite meal for her. The barman listed the order on his electronic PADD.
"Listed. Next." The barman motioned the next person in line with a cursory sweep of his left hand, which Elizabeth could perceive as somewhat rude, much to her mild dismay.
"That was quick," remarked Felicity, feeling quite relieved that she didn't have to go through seemingly complicated meal specifications.
Elizabeth serenely placed her order in a fairly calculated manner. Felicity could see that her friend's savoir faire was developing quite nicely. "Two mincemeat pies," she enunciated in her excellent British lilt.
"What kaiynduh paiys?" inquired the Barman.
"Well, what do you have on the menu that's for mincemeat pies?" Elizabeth asked sweetly.
"Well, we have ground sawsage, ground hawt dawg, ground chicken, ground turkey, ground beef, ya names it," replied the barman. As a side remark, he added, "There's also meat paiys that cum with 'em veggies, too, ya know."
Being rather bright, Elizabeth was able to interpret that the term "veggies" meant the vegetables that would be stuffed into the pies. However, she was rather uncertain about what kinds of vegetables would be put in, and she had concerns that she would not like such a pie very much. So she decided to have hers plain.
"Um, I think I'll take just the meat pies with none of the vegetables, thank you very much," said Elizabeth in a pleasantly cordial manner. "The one with the English beef."
"Very well," replied the barman, as he listed that order on the PADD.
Nan was next. "I'll have the same thing Lissie is having," she blurted out.
"Who the hell is Lissie?" inquired the barman, narrowing his eyes at Nan.
"This is Lissie," replied Nan, pointing at her older sister. "You know, Miss Felicity Merriman."
"Nan!" snapped Felicity in a whispering tone of voice, as she bent over near her younger sister. "There's no need to give me away!" Nan innocently shrugged her shoulders. Felicity simply heaved a heavy, exasperated sigh.
"Oh, that's her," remarked the barman. "Ya mean the Inglish beef stew, the tater, and the apple cobbler?"
Nan nodded, and flashed an irresistibly charming smile of childlike innocence at the barman.
"Very well," he replied, listing the order on his PADD. "Next." He performed the same cursory motion of his left hand as a means of motioning the next person in line.
William was next, but the last, as there were a meager handful of customers comprised of a hodgepodge of Starfleet personnel and civilians waiting in a thin, informal, broken-up line. "I'd like the mincemeat pies and the apple butter," he blurted out.
"What kaiynd?"
"Uh, the one with ham and sausages," replied William.
"Mixed?"
William nodded in assent.
"Okay," the barman replied, listing that order on his PADD. Finally he turned to Ben, who was intently spying on the other customers at the right end of the bar table. About 2 meter and half from where he was standing, Ben had just spotted someone toting a foam tray of crispy sautéed chicken tenders with creamy white ranch sauce, and an ample amount of lightly salted French fries.
"I'll have the same thing that guy has," declared Ben, pointing at the Starfleet crewman in yellow uniform, carrying the foam tray filled with chicken tenders.
"Ohhh," replied the barman. "Ya mean thuh crispy, sawteed chicken tendurs dipped in genuine buttermilk ranch dip and them French fraiys?"
"What are the chicken tenders?"
"Oh, they're the ones that get coated with a crunchy surface, ya know.
"And the French fries?"
"Cut potatoes, which are baked until they turn golden crispy, and are lightly salted to give 'em a tasty flavor," said the barman. He instinctively smacked his lips. "Yum."
"I think I'll try that," declared Ben.
"How many pieces?"
"Uh, four; no, five pieces."
"Okay, declared the barman, listing the order on his PADD. He approached the barmaid, handed the PADD over, and walked back to the bar counter to deal with the other customers. The children sauntered to the left diagonalized end of the bar counter as the barmaid took a fairly thorough glance it the PADD and started inputting commands in the replicator.
"So what do we do now?" asked William.
"We wait," replied Ben in a rather casual tone of voice as he shrugged his shoulders.
In about a couple of minutes, the children's dinner meals were materialized from the replicator and brought over to the area where they were on two shiny, metallic-looking plastic trays.
"Thank you," said Ben, in a voice that hinted sincere gratitude. The barmaid smiled, and was about to resume working on the replicator when Ben fired off a question to her.
"Uh, ma'am?"
The barmaid faced him with her ebony black eyes, which seemed to be sprinkled with a tinge of chocolate coloring. "Hmm?"
"Do we have to pay for all this?"
"No. It's all free," replied the barmaid, instinctively doing eyelash bats at him.
"You sure?"
The barmaid cast a suspicious glance at Ben. "You sound rather strange, sir," she remarked. "Are you new here?"
"Just wondering. We are kind of new here."
"Don't worry. Of course it's free."
"How's that possible?"
Felicity was getting rather impatient of Ben's queries and took his arm. "Ben," she pleaded. "Don't make us wait for you. You can discuss all of this later."
"All right, Lissie," replied Ben, heaving a sigh of exasperation.
"Hang on," commanded the barmaid. She ducked into the one of the cabinets in the bar table and dished out a handful of white square dining linens. "You children might be wanting this, so that you don't mess up your fine costumes. Compliment of Ten-Forward.
"Thank you," returned Ben. He was being led by Felicity to the lounge area, where the children would be seated. "Perhaps next time," he called out.
The barmaid waved him off, plaited her hair with both of her hands, and flounced away, resuming her work on the replicator.
The five spritely children managed to find a comfortable table area to sit in the middle of the lounge area in close proximity to one of the huge observation windows. After they placed their newly-ordered dinner meals on a 3x4 ft. table, which was positioned near the center of one of the huge windows, they began pulling up some 5 chairs and positioned them near the table. Then, under the directions of Ben, each of the children promptly took their seats.
"I have to admit, she does look remarkably attractive, even for a black," remarked Ben.
Felicity looked at him rather wryly and poked his nose in a teasing manner. "Now don't you start, Benjamin Davidson."
"What? Are you prejudiced against dark-skinned people?"
Felicity gasped in shock. "Ben Davidson! How dare you imply such a thing!" she exclaimed. Then she resumed her composure. "No, Ben. It's just that…" she broke off as she helped the other children arrange the chairs.
Felicity resumed her sentence. "…It's that, well, I'm almost totally in love with you, Ben, and I would hate to see you run off with another girl," she said in a manner that strongly hinted a longing for him.
Ben chuckled to himself. "Felicity Merriman," he said to her in a reassuring tone of voice, "I do not think that's likely to happen, given that I love you too much. It just seems awfully hard to refuse you."
The children took their seats. Arranged in a clockwise direction starting from Ben, who sat at the end of the table facing the bar counter, with his back on the one of the middle observation windows, were Felicity and Nan, who sat on his left side, and William and Elizabeth, who were at his right side. Both (Felicity and Elizabeth sat close to Ben.)
"Wow, Lissie, look!" exclaimed Nan, pointing at the starry blackness of space moving forward slowly at them.
"Aye," replied Felicity, as she worked on spreading the large napkin on her younger sister's pretty gown. Felicity did the same, too. "'Tis very beautiful, indeed."
"I should think so," remarked Elizabeth pleasurably. "The night sky does provide a very homely surrounding."
The children were about to start on dinner when Nan broke the silence.
"Don't we usually say grace?" she, who was particularly concerned about observing the traditions taking place in a family dinner back in their timeline.
"Usually, but Father or Mother isn't here with us," replied Felicity wistfully. "So as the oldest among us, 'twill be up to him."
"So he'll have to be head of this family now?" inquired Nan.
Felicity nodded. "Aye, 'tis so," she remarked. Then she turned to Ben. "Will you do us the honors?"
"Honors of what?" asked Ben, wide-eyed.
"Of saying the family grace before we start on our dinner, of course," replied Felicity, smiling instinctively. It seemed a little hilarious for her to suggest that.
"Very well," replied Ben casually. He crossed his hands as he struggled to find the right words.
"Lord, we thank for this food, and…" began Ben. He sighed in frustration, as he had difficulty finding the right words. He was usually quiet around people, so he wasn't all that used to uttering many words, unless he faced a confrontation. He faced Felicity. "All right, Lissie, why don't you do us the honors?" he asked, trying to control himself.
Felicity was a little concerned about Ben releasing his bouts of frustration at the rest of the children, and thus ending up spoiling the rest of the evening. So despite her flighty personality she recovered her composure and made an attempt to recite the prayers of thanksgiving as best as she could. However, her lively voice, filled with spunk, was betraying what the rest of her friends and siblings, save for Ben, who wasn't all that particular about how grace was said, perceived as woeful irreverence.
"Dear Lord, we thank you for…" began Felicity when William interrupted her with his snickering. She flounced at William. "What's so funny?" she snapped.
"You don't sound very pious about your prayers," replied William, as he couldn't help giggling to himself.
"I think he's right," put in Nan solemnly. "It sounds too jittery for reverence."
Felicity heaved an exasperated sigh. She was anxious to get a hold of her dinner, and for her this was no time for giving qualms to grace before meals. She turned to Elizabeth.
"Elizabeth," asked Felicity sweetly, "Will you do us the honor of reciting our grace?"
"I-I'd love to, but…" faltered Elizabeth. Back in the colonial period, it was usually the head of the family, the father, who usually presided in the prayers. Women did not usually take charge in these things unless the husband was absent.
"…'Tis quite unusual for me to recite these things, Lissie."
"You have a sweet voice," declared Felicity. "And you are quite reverent in almost everything," she added, trying to encourage her friend to do it.
"Um, all right," replied Elizabeth timidly. She was not as outgoing as Felicity was, and was often shy in front of other people. It took a bit of time for her to muster up her courage to recite the grace, much to the fidgety impatience of William and the exasperation of Nan.
"Dear Lord," she began. Despite her timid approach, it was enunciated very well, with a tinge of her British lilt. "We thank you for this bountiful dinner we're having in Ten-Forward." In the background William was giggling to himself. Felicity cast him a disapproving look.
"The setting is so homely," continued Elizabeth. "And most of us are together; well, except for my family members and those of my best friend, though I pray for their safety. Help us to be grateful for whatever we're having for dinner, as well as for each other." During that period the rest of the children had their heads bowed in prayer, and their hands clasped on the surface of the table.
"Amen," concluded Elizabeth. The children repeated the same word again together. Elizabeth could feel herself blushing, but Felicity gave her a look of assurance, and she returned the compliment with a smile. Each of the girls took one of the napkins and spread it on their gowns. The boys did the same thing, too.
Ben's mouth watered at the sight of the chicken tenders, French fries, and ranch dip he ordered. So did the rest of the children's. Given his state of hunger, Ben dipped one of the crusty tenders into the buttermilk ranch and took a bite. The ranch dip had a creamy, salty taste. He took a handful of the French fries, dipped two of the sticks into the dip, and nibbled on them with great relish.
The rest of the children dug into their dinner meals. Elizabeth immediately got started on one of her mincemeat pies and daintily took a bite. William did the same thing as well, except he was a little hasty with it. Felicity and Nan plunged their metallic spoons into their beef stew.
Ben cleared his throat. "Um, Elizabeth?"
Elizabeth looked up while daintily chewing on a small bite of her mincemeat pie. "Hmm?"
"What do you mean, you pray for their safety? In this century, they're dead. Gone."
"Really," asked Elizabeth in a voice that hinted anxiety.
"'Twould be the case," replied Ben, as he shrugged his shoulders in a rather casual manner. "No one lives forever, you know."
Felicity turned on him. "Benjamin Davidson! How could you be so insensitive?" she snapped.
"I'm a boy, Lissie, not a girl," replied Ben indignantly. "You can't really expect me to act like a goody-two-shoes."
"Nay, I do not expect you to act like one," said Felicity as her voiced softened. "But I do expect you to have some sense of propriety when it comes to interacting with young ladies."
"Thbbbttthhh" snorted Ben. "Coming from you, Lissie, I think everyone's going to view you as a hypocrite."
Felicity faced Ben. "And why, pray tell?"
"Well, because you're not known to have a sense of propriety within yourself. Your mother almost always seemed to complain about that."
"That's true," put in Nan.
Felicity was beginning to feel her cheeks reddening out of embarrassment.
"Now look who's blushing," teased Ben, wagging his right index finger at Felicity.
Suddenly an idea came into Felicity's mind. She started looking at the chicken tenders and the French fries with longing eyes of fascination.
"Wow. Who knew chicken tenders and French fries could taste that good?" said Felicity. "Is that what they're called?"
"Aye," replied Ben, as he munched on one of the tenders and French fries..
"May I give one of them a try?" she asked sweetly.
Ben goggled. "Hey, you've got your own food!" he exclaimed instinctively. Suddenly he realized how hard it was to refuse Felicity, as she gave him a look that indicated pouting. He was inclined to think that she was just being plain silly, but the last thing he wanted was someone bothering him over his food.
"Sorry, Lissie," he replied, heaving a sigh. "All right. There's the sauce in there, in case you happen to fancy eating some of that food dipped in. I'll get more. I might as well get drinks while I'm at it."
Felicity smiled at him and took one of the chicken tenders and dipped it in the ranch sauce while Ben moseyed off the bar counter to place another request for the same meal he was having. In about a minute he was back, carrying another foam tray filled with several of the same sautéed chicken tenders, fries and buttermilk ranch dip. He went back to the bar table and came back to the table with another tray carrying dark blue mugs filled nearly to the brim with apple cider. After placing both trays on his seating area on the table, Ben took the time to pass around the mugs.
When he got himself seated back he scooped a few of the tenders and placed some of them on the other tray near Felicity.
"Thank you, Ben," said Felicity, beaming at him. "You are very kind."
"No problem," replied Ben, as he resumed to finishing his dinner meal. He grabbed his mug and took a calm sip. "That's apple cider, by the way," he remarked.
"Thank you, Ben," chimed in each of the children at different random intervals.
"Cheers," announced Felicity, raising her mug. Elizabeth tapped her mug lightly on Felicity's and Ben did the same thing. Then Nan and William followed suit.
The children continued on their dinner meals, while engaging in their usual lively conversation.
"You know, Ben, 'tis so nice to have you here with us," remarked Felicity, as she beamed at him.
"Aye," piped up Nan. "I agree with you, Lissie. Even if he's troublesome." Felicity muffled her mouth as she giggled. William assented with a shrug as he continued shoving bites of his mincemeat pie into his little mouth.
Ben's eyes widened a bit. Whatever food he had in his mouth, he shoved it down his throat before he could speak.
"For you, it is," he replied. "As for Miss Cole, well, that remains to be seen, given that we're on opposite political sides."
Felicity turned to her friend. "What do you think, Elizabeth?" she asked.
"Well, I don't mind him one bit," replied Elizabeth. "Even if he's a Patriot."
"Which brings me to ask one question," put in Ben. "In this century, does everyone identify each other as Patriots or Loyalists?"
"No," replied a fairly deep, feminine, Southern-like voice from behind.
The children turned to see who it was. It was the same dark-skinned woman clad in loose flowing semi-coarse garments and turban. She forced a smile.
"Who are you?" asked Ben in an inquisitive tone of voice that seemed to hint both a feeling of astonishment and annoyance.
"My name is Guinan," she replied calmly.
"Gui-what?" piped up William.
"Yes. Guinan is the name. I'm the bartender of Ten-Forward."
"Pray, where did you come from?" inquired Felicity. "From the Colonies? Or rather from one of them?"
"Judging by the way you kids are dressed, I would assume that you mean the thirteen colonies of the American continent belonging to planet earth. Actually…" she paused, as if she was waiting for the reactions of the colonial children, "I'm an El Aurian from a planet in the the El Aurian system."
"Where's that?" asked Elizabeth rather shyly.
"Oh, nearly eleven light years from Earth."
The children could not help but stare inquisitively and almost annoyingly at Guinan, since it was rather unusual for them to have a conversation with an individual with a different skin color. It wouldn't be all that surprising that Guinan suspected this attitude.
" If my presence seriously disturbs you, I can leave," said Guinan in a calm tone of voice.
"Well, uh…" began Ben, sputtering. Felicity cast a solemn look at him. "You can stay, if you wish."
"Very well," replied Guinan. "I'll have to leave soon anyway to tend to the other customers." She took a seat at the corner near William. "What are your names?" she asked.
The children individually introduced their first and last names.
"I see," replied Guinan. "Such homely names." Then she turned to Ben. "So what brings you to the Enterprise, Mr. Davidson?".
"Well, we…" Ben was rather hesitant to divulge more information, but he continued. "…We got kidnapped by aliens, or foreigners, or whatever you call them."
"The same thing could be said of me," returned Guinan. "You see, I was on a refugee ship, the S.S. Lakul, when it got caught in the space Nexus."
"What's that?" asked Felicity.
"It's a place where people, once they get a taste of being near, will want with all their hearts to go to it."
"Oh," replied Felicity. "Hmm. Sounds like Gulliver's Travels."
"Maybe. Some aspects of the book might be similar to what I've encountered."
Then Guinan eyed Ben squarely in the face. "You seem to be quite a ladies' man, Mr. Davidson," she remarked. "Since when did you get so popular with the girls?"
"Oh…well…" began Ben. He was usually shy around girls, but even after he got to know Felicity for quite a long time, he was rather hesitant to discuss this topic. "Well, I guess I'm pretty handsome," he replied in a matter-of-fact way.
Felicity leaned close to Elizabeth. "And this handsomeness is what got Annabelle Bananabelle to have a crush with him!" she whispered in her ear. Elizabeth grinned, and both girls burst into a muffled fit of giggles.
"I heard you," said Guinan tersely as she turned to face the older girls. Both Felicity and Elizabeth faced her, shocked. "You're saying that Mr. Davidson has a girl who is falling in love with him?"
"Aye," put in Nan. "Lissie."
"Who's Lissie?"
"This one, my older sister," she replied, pointing at Felicity with a mischievous smile. "It's her nickname. She has the crush with Ben."
"Nan!" exclaimed Felicity indignantly.
Guinan shook her head. "But according to what I've heard from you two older girls, Ben has another girl that's in love with him by the name of Annabelle Bananabelle. Now that's awful weird."
"Her actual name is Annabelle Cole," replied Elizabeth. "She's my older sister."
"Who's terribly snooty," put in Felicity.
"Interesting," remarked Guinan sarcastically. "Well where is the girl?"
Felicity leaned closer to Ben. "Are you sure we're supposed to tell her that we're from another timeline?" she whispered.
"If she could already hear you talking about Miss Annabelle Cole, then I suppose it would do us no good to keep it to ourselves. That darkie's got good ears."
Guinan narrowed her eyes a bit. "When were you?"
"Excuse me?" asked Ben.
"What is the exact date where you came from in time?"
Ben turned to Felicity, wondering if he should divulge further information to the strange woman. Felicity nodded, as if to allow Ben to proceed further.
"The second of April, one thousand, seven-hundred and seventy-six." Ben stated.
Guinan widened her eyes. "I'll be damned," she remarked wryly. "That's three months prior to the signing of the Declaration of Independence."
"What's that?" piped Felicity.
"Whoops." Guinan gasped, wide-eyed, abruptly placing her right hand over her mouth. She regained her composure. "Sorry. The Temporal Prime Directive prohibits future information being disseminated among people of the past."
At this statement Felicity heaved an upsetting sigh. But an idea came to her, so she pulled herself together.
"What kind of animals are there in this timeline?" she asked Guinan. Given her love for nature, she was rather curious about the animal species of the 24th century.
"Oh, many kinds," replied Guinan cryptically. "Oh, the species are not just limited to Earth, Miss Merriman. There are all sorts of animals, some gentle, others just plain carnivorous. There's the Romulan Targ, the Klingon Dog…"
"Eww," said Nan, disgusted at the sounds. "That sounds quite awful."
And of course, there are gentle, fluffy animals called Tribbles."
At the sound of this, Nan gave a look of surprised, elated astonishment.
"What are those?" asked Elizabeth.
"They're basically animate balls of fur, similar to porcupines, except they're quite pleasurable and cuddly."
"Wow, I'd like to see one for myself," said Elizabeth.
"Well, perhaps when you're a little more oriented with this space vessel," replied Guinan, as her voice drifted away. "I've got to get back to the bar. Most of those animals won't be found on board, but you can get a feel of what they're like one of the holodecks."
"We'll bear that in mind," replied Ben. "Nice meeting you."
The children waved back in a courteous manner and resumed to eating their dinner meals. Guinan flounced away to the bar area, where she usually worked.
"Very intriguing, that dark-skinned woman," remarked Elizabeth.
"I'm curious as to what this Declaration of Independence thing," Felicity said wistfully.
"Declaration of Independence?" asked Elizabeth, dumbfounded.
"Haven't heard of that," replied Ben, shrugging. "I'm at odds to know what the significance of that document is."
"Well, she did make an implication that something would be done with that document three months later. That is, after the month that we were abducted by those weird-looking foreigners."
"Corellians?"
"Whatever they're called," sighed Felicity. "Anyway, the name of that document tells me that something like that can only stem from the colonists who are Patriots."
"It's a document of rebellion, then," murmured Elizabeth, as she felt a cold chill running through her spine which made her shudder in fear.
"Oh, why does she have to keep us in the dark?" complained Felicity as she fidgeted her fingers involuntarily. "My mind keeps racing about this thing, and I'm not allowed to ask too many questions about the future."
"I don't know, Lissie, but perhaps that would be a good thing," Elizabeth put in. She looked worried and pretty timid. "If we knew what was going to happen…"
"You'd be seriously disturbed," cut in Ben.
"Ben, 'tis rude to interrupt," said Elizabeth, who was getting rather irritated of what Ben was doing. Elizabeth was not one to get snappy in front of other people, given that her personality was not particularly brave as Felicity's, but knowing Ben pretty well, she felt reasonably relaxed.
While the girls were conversing with each other on the seemingly mysterious document, Nan was observing the mood around the Ten-Forward lounge. If there were any Starfleet personnel present in the room, it was that they were gossiping to each other about how ignorant the children were of the Declaration of Independence. Every American child was familiar with that pivotal historical document that changed the course of American history, they said, and these children, who looked American, could not even know jack about that document. Nan could see the personnel and the civilians staring intently at her, as well as the rest of the children.
"Lissie, I think I see some people looking at us," said Nan.
"Oh, come on, Nan," replied Felicity, as soothingly as she could to her younger sister. "
"Aye, but they're looking at us with a very intense interest, as if we're unusual to them. It's very disturbing."
Immediately Felicity turned to Ben. "Ben," she began. "There are some people in this room who are staring at us."
"So what?" asked Ben, a little anxious. "Let them. If you think you're starting to get seriously disturbed…
"It is disturbing!" Felicity snapped quietly, in the form of a whisper. She pulled herself closer to Ben and leaned close to his face. "I have a bad feeling that they're hearing every word we're saying. And something tells me it's not good. We'd better stop having this conversation." She sat back in her chair.
"Girls…" groaned Ben, as he reclined to the back of his chair with his head resting atop both of his hands. "Tsk tsk tsk…such sensitive creatures…" he sighed.
But little Nan was right. Nearly a large percentage of the Starfleet personnel present in the room were gossiping quite audibly to each other about how ignorant the children were in basic American history events. The situation was almost too much for the children to bear that Ben had to find some method of explaining away their apparent ignorance.
"We're, uh, rehearsing for a play," replied Ben, announcing it fairly across the room.
"Well, do it quietly!" exclaimed the senior crewman, in an indignant manner. "You're freaking some of the other customers out by your audacious display of ignorance on the most basic events of American history!"
Ben acknowledged this slightly disgruntled command with a cursory nod, sat back on his chair, and resumed his meal.
"That should at least keep him off our backs," muttered Ben.
"Now I'm starting to feel uncomfortable," said Elizabeth.
"Don't worry, Elizabeth," assured Felicity, whispering. "If they make snide comments about you, I'll personally stand up to them and tell them to mind their own business!"
"Sure," laughed Ben, chewing on the last of his chicken tenders and fries.
Felicity immediately stood up on the table and gave him a solemn look. The same look that she gave him when he was confronted by her for his foolishness in running away from his apprentice with Mr. Merriman to join the Continental Army of the Republic. "I can," she declared curtly. "And I will."
"Oh, come on, Lissie," replied Ben in an insensitive attitude. "Seriously. This is our first time on board the Enterprise, and you're gonna cause loads of trouble just to protect your honor and the honor of your best friend?"
Felicity realized that her foolhardy actions would get not only her, but the rest of her siblings and friends in trouble with Starfleet security. She sat back down on her chair.
The children were busy with dinner when a young lieutenant in light blue uniform stepped into Ten-Forward and approached the children.
"Are you almost finished?" he asked in a rather superior and slightly cold tone of voice. "The Chief Medical Officer is anxious to get started on you five youngsters."
"Almost," replied Ben, as he munched on a handful of French fries.
"Well that's bloody good news," declared the lieutenant discourteously. "Dr. Crusher told me to check on you five. I'm to accompany you to the Biomedical Lab on Deck 12 when you're finished."
"Fine with us," shrugged Ben. The lieutenant managed to find a table near the area of the lounge where the children were seated.
William was starting to have difficulty finishing his mincemeat pie. "Oh, I don't think I can finish this," he groaned.
Felicity scowled at him. "You will finish that pie, William, or else I will personally shove it down your throat if I have to! Just because we're in a different timeline doesn't mean we should waste food!"
"I suppose I could give that a try," said Ben. He immediately got up from the table, took a fork, grabbed William's pie tray and devoured the last remmants of the mincemeat pie, much to William's apparent dismay.
"You said you couldn't finish the entire pie," Ben said to William. "I just saved you the trouble of having to finish the entire pie itself."
William heaved a sigh, and Ben went back to his seating area.
Felicity was in the midst of gulping down the last remnants of her apple cobbler. "Mmm. I have to admit, I have never tasted apple cobbler this delicious in my entire life," she said.
"Really?" asked Ben inquisitively. "Then this replicated stuff must taste a whole lot better than the ones at home."
"Perhaps," replied Felicity. "But I think I like Mother's apple cobbler better."
"Simply because 'tis homemade?"
Felicity beamed at him. "Aye," she replied sweetly.
Well! That's one hell of a chapter done over with! On my Microsoft Word document, it measures at least 25 pages long! Now we get to the part where Dr. Crusher does further examination on our colonial visitors. This should be fun, If I know how to present the circumstance in a manner that is fairly believable in the realm of sci-fi. The next chapter will indeed take a long time to furnish, as I will have to do further research on the techno and bio stuff, not to mention the impressive and fairly believable technobabble I have to make the characters say. So please bear with me, as the writer's block and the business of schoolwork is a constant thing I have to battle with when it comes to writing fanfiction.
A/N: As to the conversation about the black people the colonial children are holding in this story, it may seem that these children are holding personal prejudices (though it is unclear whether Felicity, and her friends and siblings espoused such prejudices blatantly in the Felicity series books, and in the Felicity movie). Bear in mind that these children have just crossed into another culture. In the 18th century, as well as extending into the latter part of the 20th century, white people were not used to the idea of blacks having the same freedoms as whites did. For the colonial kids, this change is very, very drastic, so it shouldn't be any surprise that they would be having that conversation. Remember that Felicity and her friends have uncertainties about this circumstance, so they have to find a way to deal or cope with it without getting a lot of trouble on their hands when they're on board the Enterprise. As a fanfic writer, I try to portray accurately what the children's reaction is like, without being too offensive, and as mildly as possible, as logic allows. So please do not think I am a racist bigot just because I featured this conversation about the black people. (I'm mentioning this as a precautionary measure so that I don't get a lot of nasty e-mails and verbal comments saying how racist and prejudiced I am, when actually I'm not.)
Feel free to mention your opinions regarding the colonial children's conversation on the black people in your reviews. If there's something unrealistic, inaccurate, or perhaps offensive about the conversation, let me know. Feedback is always appreciated.
A/N (2): I hope you won't mind the religious aspects related to Christianity in this chapter, especially the part where Felicity and her friends and siblings are saying grace before meals. You'll also come across further religious aspects throughout the novel, especially the ones relating a little stuff pertaining to Christianity. The reason why I decided to include these said religious aspects was because back in the Colonial Period, religion was considered by many of the colonists to be an important part of their lives. (c.f. Felicity's Surprise and Changes for Felicity; you'll come across some mentions of church attendance in the Bruton Parish Church and Bible readings in the former, and a recitation of the famed Psalm 23 in the latter, during Felicity's Grandfather's funeral; famed because it's the oft-quoted Psalm for most religiously devout individuals experiencing troubled times.) If you notice throughout American history, the Founding Fathers placed a significant emphasis on religion when they shaped her foundation. So I hope you're not entirely offended. (Besides, some Felicity fanfic writers made occasional mentions of Christianity, too. Look up Finding a New World and O Come All Ye Faithful…) So for all the Trekkies and fans of Felicity the American Girl, please don't think of this fanfic as a catechism. It's just to give you an idea of how the children sustain themselves spiritually when they face "interesting times" in the 24th century A.D..