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«K'lalatar Prkori K'lalatar Prnak'lirli
(Infinite Diversities in Infinite Combinations)»
by Monica MicioGatta
14th Chapter: Malcolm
Her parents were both on duty and she wouldn't stand in their way, preventing them from doing their normal duty and, perhaps, dropping them from an engine... She retrieved her belongings, after they had passed the test of security.
She had slipped on a pair of colourful tights and a rather short black dress, and she stayed prone on the bed, reading, with legs bent back and her ankles crossed, raised on elbows.
«Come in.» she said, when she heard the doorbell.
Malcolm Reed smiled shyly when he entered.
«Am I annoying you, Captain?»
«Yes, if you talk to me formally.» She said. She smiled. «Call me T'Mir.»
Reed smiled awkwardly. He tended to be very shy with women. He pointed vaguely at the device on which she was reading. «Is it a PADD from the future?»
The girl looked at the object in her hand. «This one? Oh, no... It's an iPod.» She stood up and Malcolm could see that her dress was very short. T'Mir handed him the iPod. «It's nothing special, a similar one existed a hundred and fifty years ago.»
Malcolm quickly saw the menu. «Yes, I know it. I had one when I was a boy.»
«I can listen to music and read books. It can do little more.»
«And what were you reading?»
«'Nightfall' by Asimov and Silverberg. You should read it, I think you'd like it.» She smiled, then gave him a quizzical look.
«Oh,» Malcolm took a step back, embarrassed. «I wanted to ask if I can take a look at the Verne. It's not common that you can take a look to a ship like that... from the future of another universe.»
She nodded. «You are off duty?»
«Yes.»
«I'm coming with you.» T'Mir turned off the iPod and walked toward the door.
«Um...» Malcolm stopped before exiting, looking towards the ground.
«What?» T'Mir followed his gaze and noticed that she was not wearing shoes. «Ops.» She said. «Wait, I put on a pair of boots.»
«You'd better put something over, the hangar is much colder than here.»
T'Mir nodded. «Yes... I haven't got many dresses anymore.» She took a black sweater and put it on, and then she followed Malcolm in the hallway. It was not exactly what he envisioned for «cover up». The sleeves came down after the wrist, spreading large, covering the back of her hands. The sweater itself was longer than the dress and fell right behind the knees. But the fact that it was a net and T'Mir had not closed on the front - and he had not seen laces or buttons - virtually nullified its purpose.
Reed, however, had to admit that the contrast between the colorful stockings and the black dress, her laced boots, made the small Vulcan-Human very pretty. Also - noticed - had the same pace of T'Pol... or rather, had something else similar to T'Pol's, something he had noticed immediately in the science officer... He looked away from her and came down the ramp to reach the Verne.
T'Mir and Malcolm went inside it and he was tempted to tell her to be careful not to get caught with the sweater, but then he stopped. The girl seemed to know perfectly how to get around in those clothes.
«I'll try to switch on systems, but I'm afraid there is very little left.» T'Mir pressed some buttons. The systems of Verne came on line, vibrating slightly, but seconds after the ship went silent.
«I think you should have Commander Tucker take a look at it.» Reed said. «He probably could fix it. Has he already seen it?»
«No.» replied T'Mir, exiting. «But I'm in no hurry. I'm sorry that I haven't the 'user manual', I would have willingly left it to you.» She glanced quickly at the wrecked hull. «I called that book 'Okay, okay, but how do I fire the phasers?'"
Reed laughed. «Eloquent.» He pointed to a part that had a different colour, attached to the hull. It has a slightly flattened hemispherical shape and was purplish grey. «What's that?»
T'Mir leaned forward. «I don't know...» she whispered. «I don't remember it was part of Verne...» She stretched out her hand, trying to see if the object was moving, but it suddenly opened, releasing a spray of a liquid, smelly substance.
«^Ma che schifo!^» T'Mir exclaimed in Italian, then, at the same time, they both began to cough.
An alarm set off and the hangar automatically sealed.
T'Mir moved away from Verne, still coughing. «What's going on?»
«There is a biological contamination. Was it a weapon ?»
T'Mir sat down on the ladder. Trying to catch her breath, the cough slowly passed. «I have no idea. It wasn't of the Verne, I think someone had it saddled during my journey, but I can not tell when or by whom.»
«Phlox to hangar.»
She went to answer the call.
«You must go into the decontamination chamber. There seems to be a contagious spore with you.»
("Ma che schifo!» it's something like «it's disgusting»)