Chapter 11 – Couplets

At least Tamsin wasn't jumping up and down when Marty stepped off the transporter pad. He thanked the heaven and any supporting deities, real or imagined, for that small favor.

She began talking a mile a minute as soon as he'd rematerialized. The transporter chief, somebody new since Marty's departure from the Talos, was a Bajoran, who rolled his eyes, none too discreetly.

"… and there's just, oh, sushi! It is the most romantic – ever meal! I mean, some would say French, and I guess others would say Italian, but there's all these heavy sauces, y'know? Then all anybody ever wants to do is sleep! And …."

As if you ever sleep, Marty mused, but did not vocalize. If there are past lives, I bet anything that you were a Jack Russell Terrier. "Tamsin? Tamsin!" Again, he held up his hands in the shape of a capital T. "Are you ready to transport to the surface?"

"I, I need to go to my quarters for a second," she said nervously, picking a speck of imaginary lint off her full-dress uniform. She started to leave. "Aren't you coming with me?"

The last thing he needed was to meet former colleagues, or be trapped in her quarters. "It wouldn't be proper."

"Oh." The tone was one of some disappointment. "I'll hurry right back!" She was gone in a flash.

Marty turned to the Bajoran. "I see the left control is still sticking a little. Your predecessor used to whack it with a hammer every now and then."

"I'll try to remember that, sir. Thanks."

"Don't mention it." Marty tugged a little at the collar on his regular uni. "She always like that?"

"Pretty much, so far as I can tell."

"Thanks. Uh, don't say anything, all right?"

"Not a word, sir."

=/\=

On the Cookie, Wesley put in a call. "I'd like to speak with Lakeisha Warren, at Starfleet Academy."

"Connecting you now," announced the relayer.

"Hey!" Wes called out. "How're you doin'?"

"Pretty good. I had rehearsal and more rehearsal today." She played the French horn, and the instrument was still in her hands as she had been cleaning it. "Big doings here."

"Really?"

"Yeah," Lakeisha said, "flag officers are coming in less than a week, on the thirteenth. It's some sort of big doings. Of course I don't know the specifics. I just play what they tell me."

"Which is?"

"Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture. Big time classical. Big time war music. I wonder if the musical director is trying to make some sort of a not-so subtle statement."

"You think so?"

"Post-Dominion War, post-Shinzon, you get the idea. There are people saying," she intimated, "that this decade is almost like the 2150s, with its Xindi War and then the Earth-Romulan War coming one right after the other. News and rumors around campus are that a lot of us will be shipped out to fight."

"But to fight whom, Lakeisha?" Wes asked. "I mean, I haven't seen anything on the viewer recently."

"I don't think anybody knows anything specific or concrete. I think it's more that they've just got a feeling. 'Course, it might just be paranoid seniors talking; nervous about where they'll be assigned when they graduate."

"That's not unheard of." Wesley allowed. "The team's on Tellar. They're gonna play a sport called Kreesta."

"I think I've seen that on the viewer. It's a mess if you do it right, am I right?"

"Yep, you are. Now, uh, let's talk about something more pleasant, okay?"

"Like what?"

"Uh, I dunno," he admitted, "maybe about how beautiful your eyes are."

"Heh, uh, well, um, thanks." Lakeisha seemed unused to taking compliments. "I, um, it feels weird when you say that."

"Well, it's true."

"I, um, can we not talk about me? Tell me about your ship."

He sighed very slightly. "Um, all right. I, uh, it was built by a Gorn but a lot of it wasn't finished."

"Don't tell me you're missing a nacelle, or anything like that," she joked.

"Nah, it's not like that. It's that it's a bunch of projects. There was something the guy made, it seems to fire a shot, but I can't figure it out."

"A weapon of some sort?"

"I dunno. It's more like, you fire it, or at least I tried to, once, and I got a small kinda a hole in the air, if that makes any sense."

"What happened to that hole in the air, Wes?"

"It just kinda dissipated. I get the feeling it needed more power, but I think if it'd given it more power, I would've damaged the ship."

"Maybe you should fire it outside the ship?" she asked. "But keep in mind, I'm no engineer."

Wesley thought for a moment. "Lakeisha, you're a genius!"

"I am? I mean, I am."

"Yeah, you are. With beautiful eyes."

"Wes!"

=/\=

"I would like to speak with Seramus and Linatella. I believe they are on a Daranaean vessel."

"Connecting you now," stated the relayer.

"Mama! Papa!" Crita called out, upon seeing her parents on the screen. "How are you?"

"We are well," replied her father.

"Are you well?" inquired Linatella. "You seem thinner. Do you eat enough meat?"

"Yes, Mama."

"Have you had a chance to look at the three biographies we sent to you?" asked Seramus.

"Seramus! We agreed we would have more of a conversation with Crita before we brought that up!"

"Mama, Papa, it is all right. Yes, I have looked."

"Kytharis is from a very fine family," Seramus stated. "He will provide a powerful connection. Varus would strengthen our preexisting business bond."

"Please," Linatella said, "the child does not wish to hear of business bonds and such. So, tell us, how does your preference go? Do not forget, Kytharis is not only handsome; he comes so very well-connected!"

"I, I do not know. Perhaps I could meet them."

"That is what we wish for, too!" Linatella crowed. "Tell her, Seramus!"

"Yes, my child, we are bringing the three men with us. We will meet with you in a few days. You will smell as pretty as you can for them."

"Yes, Papa."

"You will listen to their proposals, and try to get on with their Prime Wives," Linatella added. "Getting along with the two other wives is just as important for us third caste females as is selecting a husband. Why, it is one of the cornerstones of such a selection! Do us proud, Crita."

"Yes, Mama."

=/\=

Back on the Talos, Marty and the Bajoran transporter chief waited. "Has there been a lot of turnover?" Marty finally inquired.

"Sir? Oh, uh, yeah, lots. Over half of the crew's only been here for maybe two months or so, something like that, myself included."

"Ah, I see." Marty silently congratulated himself for leaving the Talos when he had. While things were far from perfect on the Enterprise, at least he wasn't trying to guide and mentor and shepherd a few hundred brand-new crewman. Or Tamsin, who was still absent. The length of her absence was becoming tiresome.

Finally, the door swished open, and both men looked up. It was Tamsin, returned, this time wearing a skimpy black dress with the flimsiest of zebra-striped wraps on her shoulders. "I'm ready!"

"You changed?" Marty asked, more out of surprise than anything else.

"Oh, do you, do you hate it? I can change back."

"No, no, that's fine," he insisted, teeth a little clenched. He was hungry already. "Let's go." He gave the coordinates to the Bajoran and they were beamed to the surface of Kreetassa.

=/\=

"Meet them all? At the very same time?" Crita asked, a little anxiously.

"Yes! They are all here!" enthused Linatella.

"We have enough room," her father stated. "You can decide, and be married, and come back with us, all in the same day."

"Oh."

=/\=

Marty and Tamsin rematerialized directly in front of the sushi restaurant. "Do you want to walk around first? I love to walk around!"

"Uh, actually, I wanna eat, Tamsin."

"Well, then, let's eat!" She stood at the door, expectantly, and then a little bit impatiently, and tapped her foot a little.

"I, uh, oh yeah. Sorry." He held the door for her. She sauntered in, hips swaying in an exaggerated fashion. He shook his head and rolled his eyes slightly. It was going to be a long night.

=/\=

"Are you not pleased, my daughter?" asked Seramus.

"I, uh, I know you have, you have gone to a great deal of trouble on my behalf." Crita struggled to find the most diplomatic way of telling them what she was feeling. Then she seized upon an idea, clutching it like a life preserver. "I, well, there will be two disappointed suitors. How can I, how can I flaunt my, my happiness in, in front of them?"

Her parents thought for a moment. "Perhaps the child is right," Linatella allowed.

Seramus looked from one furry face to the other. "There, eh, we shall see. But in the meantime, at least start to think about settling your affairs."

"I, yes, Papa."

=/\=

Once they were seated, Marty looked at the Kreetassan waiter, who had appeared nearly instantly, almost as if he'd been beamed from another part of the establishment. "I'll have, uh, whatever you have that's, uh, fresh and light." And, he said to himself, fast.

"Yes! The Surfside! Excellent choice, sir." The Kreetassan turned to Tamsin. "And for the lady?"

"Uh, the same, thanks." Once the waiter had departed with their orders, she leaned over their table and stuck her hand out, palm up. "I'm so glad we're here! This is great!"

"Uh, yeah."

"Strong and silent type, I know you! Commander, you are a man of few words. But of strong passions, I bet." She eyed him slyly.

Marty swallowed, silently cursing himself for having been dumb enough to let it go so far.

=/\=

"Lakeisha," Wes said, "I don't know when we'll be on Earth next. I'd like to see you, when we are."

"Sure. This flag officers' concert, it'll be done in a few days. We'll post mortem it, but it'll still be less than a week. After that, I've got classes and the usual, you know how it is. Confidentially," she added, "rumor has it that the whole thing is a front for them coming in and doing some recruiting for Section 31."

"Well, you don't know that for sure."

"No, we don't. But it is kinda interesting. Still, I doubt that they'd need anyone who can blow a horn. They must need engineers, though."

"No, thanks. I've had enough of formalities and a chain of command to last me a while, Lakeisha."

"Got it," she said. "You like it there?"

"I do, actually," he admitted. "It's not Starfleet, I'll tell ya. Mack loves sports and she seems to love doing what we're doing, but she's not a stickler for protocols."

"She wants to win the games, though, right?"

"Well, yeah. But I think it doesn't take a back seat to having a good time with her."

"I started following your broadcast channel," Lakeisha told him. "I saw the interview that Tellarite did with her. Not very nice."

"Well, it's Tellarites," Wes explained. "They love to insult and argue. I think she pulled it out at the end. They seemed kinda impressed that she didn't just blow her stack."

"Exactly," Lakeisha agreed. "Hey, we should play for you. Then the channels could be, like, merged together, or something."

"Are you, uh, propositioning me?"

"Maybe."

=/\=

"You will have us meet with your employer," Seramus commanded. "We will discuss with him the terms of your final payments, and terminating your employment agreement."

"My, my boss is a human female."

"A female?" asked Linatella. "Then we should speak with her husband."

"Uh, Dana doesn't have a husband."

"No husband!" Linatella was horrified. "Has she been influencing you about not marrying?"

"No, Mama. I am here to run Communications. In my spare time, I am permitted to paint."

"Useful skills to have," Seramus praised, "perhaps your pretty pictures will sooth your future husband when he is cross."

=/\=

Tamsin still had her hand out, probably expecting Marty to take it. She scowled a little when he made no move whatsoever to do so.

"What have you been doing on the Enterprise?" she asked brightly, as water was served.

"Cocktails?" inquired the waiter.

"Nothing for me," Marty replied quickly.

"Uh, no, thanks." Once the waiter left, Tamsin said, "That's a good idea. I mean, alcohol makes things a lot easier, of course, but I understand it makes other things more difficult." This time, she put her hand under the table and squeezed his knee, and then brushed her hand, ever so slightly, across one thigh.

His eyes widened for a split second. "Uh, Tamsin, we have to talk."

"What about?"

He steeled himself. "Uh, this was a mistake. I'm sorry. But I think you like me a lot more than I like you."

She was quiet for a moment and then her face threatened to split with a grin. "You like me! Oh, I was so unsure!" She brushed her hand under the table again, more aggressively this time.

"Stop," he said sternly.

"But why?"

"Have you listened to a word I've said to you?"

"Yes. You said you liked me."

"I –" he gritted his teeth in exasperation as two huge servings of sushi, within watermelon 'boats' arrived. "You don't seem to be hearing anything that contradicts your, your world view."

"Oh?"

"Don't play coy. I'm sure you're smarter than that, Ensign. Just, just quit being so ri-goddamned-diculous."

"Hey! You're the one who asked me!"

"I, I know. I'm sorry." He got up, clicking his PADD against a device on the table, so as to transfer credits to pay for their meals. "Blame me for everything." Clicking open his communicator, he asked, "Geordi, can you get someone to beam me up from the surface?"

"When?"

"Double time."

"Got it. LaForge out."

=/\=

"Let us not speak of cross husbands," Linatella suggested. "Wear your geometric print tunic. It is so lovely on you."

"Yes, Mama."

"You seem to have sad eyes, child," her mother said. "Is something the matter?"

"I, I just, I like it here. I am enjoying my time here. I did not – do not – want to cut it short."

"You will make new friends," Seramus declared. "Today is the ninth; we will see you on the fourteenth. Seramus and Linatella out."

=/\=

"Well, this took a turn," Wes smiled at Lakeisha. "Um, I, uh, maybe I shouldn't have brought that up quite so quickly."

"It's okay. We, we like each other. I know I'm not the only one of the two of us who's been thinking about it. Uh, I'm not, am I?"

"Now you know why I wanna see you, y'know."

"Yeah," she smiled a bit. "Same here."