Paint and Powder
A Star Trek anthology by Andrew Joshua Talon
DISCLAIMER: This is a non-profit fan based work of prose. Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager et al are the property of CBS Television, and creation of Gene Roddenberry. Please support the official release.
Set during the Dominion War...
The Sector 001 Club had expanded a bit, given the number of ships Enterprise was regularly out with. And the new 'members' were technically part of it: Kaga and Akagi had both fought against the second Borg incursion, they'd just been wrecked outside the Sol system. It was a technicality, but there it was.
In all honesty though, Thunderchild wanted to keep the name 'because it was cool', so that was that.
In any event, it warmed Enterprise's heart to see her new friends get along with her old friends. Yorktown and Hornet especially: They'd been close since they were Constitution class starships, and they still considered themselves sisters. Not just sisters, but actual sisters. They even resembled one another in their holographic avatars.
At the moment, Defiant and Hornet were playing catch with a baseball in the holosuite. It was set up to resemble a baseball field on Earth. Captain Sisko, an avid fan of the game, was with them, helping to teach them the rules. Defiant was ecstatic, as was Hornet. Jake Sisko, the captain's son, played catcher as Hornet wound up her pitch.
"Here it comes!" She called, throwing it down the center! Defiant swung hard with her bat... And missed it, as Jake caught the ball.
"Aw man!" Defiant growled, "come on!" She pouted.
"It's all right Defiant, you're just anticipating," Captain Sisko said kindly. He walked up and helped adjust Defiant's stance, "you need to loosen up a little."
"Yeah, you need to not overthink it," Jake said encouragingly, as he tossed the ball back to Hornet. She caught it with a grin, and a wink at Jake.
"Just flow, like water!" Hornet called. Defiant's scowl deepened.
"I'm performing over 100 trillion operations a second," Defiant protested. Captain Sisko laughed, and squeezed her shoulder.
"Come on, you know what I mean," Sisko said gently, "just let your subconscious do the work."
"Hrm... I'll try," Defiant said.
In the bleachers, Enterprise sat with Yorktown, Akagi and Kaga. The two Galaxy-class sisters appeared in the form of kitsune women-Fox ears and tails and traditional Japanese clothing. Akagi was a brunette with red and brown clothing, while Kaga had white hair with white and blue clothing. Yorktown smiled fondly as she watched the captain and her sister play with the Siskos. Enterprise hummed.
"It's a strange game but it does seem fun," Enterprise said. Akagi nodded, her eyes locked onto Captain Sisko.
"Agreed," she said, "Japan played baseball for longer than America did before World War III. The sport is reviving there again, slowly." She hummed, biting her lower lip. "Perhaps I should introduce Captain Sisko to Japanese baseball, hm?"
"Sister," Kaga chided her gently, "Captain Sisko is already involved with a woman!"
"They're not married," Akagi insisted. At her sister's glare, she sighed, "oh very well. Still, a woman can dream, can't she?"
"What's wrong with your commander?" Yorktown asked, "I believe Captain Rhodes is an able officer. Tall, intelligent-"
"Shy," Akagi grumbled. "He seems to think that relations with me would be 'unethical'." She pouted. "I'm perfectly fine with violating all sorts of regulations with him! As long as he violates me too-"
"Sister!" Kaga admonished, blushing. Enterprise and Yorktown laughed a bit. Akagi grinned and looked over at the Sovereign-class starship avatars.
"And what of you two?" She asked, "any designs on your commanders?"
Yorktown flushed prettily.
"Ah, no. My captain is married," Yorktown said, "large family back home on Mars. I couldn't!"
"And mine is..." Enterprise shook her head, "he's more like a father than a lover. Or grandfather, perhaps."
"Or not Kirk," Akagi pointed out. Enterprise scowled, and Akagi immediately held up her hands, "my apologies. That was too far."
"It's all right," Enterprise sighed, leaning back in the bleachers and looking up at the holographic sky, "It's... Complicated. I don't think he'd want me to pine over him but honestly... I don't know who I'd want for romance."
"I would not mind Captain Picard as a partner," Kaga stated, "and thanks to our more advanced holoemitters, it wouldn't be too difficult to arrange some meetings."
"By all means," Enterprise said with a smile, as Defiant swung her bat and again missed, "he's not going anywhere with my CMO. It would do him some good to relax."
"I just wish there were more men of Captain Sisko's caliber around," Akagi sighed, looking longingly as the captain fussed over his 'ship daughter' and had a good laugh with his biological son, "well, ones not attached, anyway."
"His son is available," Kaga pointed out. Akagi hummed thoughtfully, eyeing the young Jake Sisko.
"I suppose that is a possibility~," Akagi crooned.
Down below, Hornet pitched again. Defiant swung... And connected with the ball, sending it flying. She watched it arc over the far wall, and grinned widely.
"I DID IT!" Defiant cried. Jake gave her a big hug, and they laughed like siblings. Captain Sisko grinned and gave his ship a thumbs up. Hornet ran up and slapped Defiant on the back.
"Yeah!" Hornet cheered, "great job Defiant! Now my turn, my turn!"
Defiant ceded the bat to Hornet, and ran out to the pitcher's mound. Hornet took up a batting position, while Jake got back into his crouch. He then shivered, and looked around. Hornet glanced back at Jake, curious.
"Hey, you okay?" She asked.
"Just... An uneasy feeling," Jake admitted. He looked back over his shoulder and saw Akagi in the stands. The shipgirl avatar was staring right at him... With a hungry smile. "Uh... Akagi's... Staring at me."
"Hm?" Hornet glanced over her shoulder, and bit down a laugh. "Oh boy... You're in for it now."
"What? Did I do something to offend her?" Jake asked. Hornet shook her head and sighed.
"No. You didn't," she said. "But I'll pray for your soon to be departed soul all the same."
Jake entered his private quarters aboard Deep Space 9, his hand holding a PADD up for him to read as he worked on a story. As the door closed behind him something in his periphery vision caused him to look up and blink in surprise. His living area had been decorated in red and gold banners and classic Japanese lanterns. A table had been prepared with wine though no food was currently placed.
Jake turned intending to go outside and make sure he hadn't gotten the wrong room, but the door refused to open. He was about to call for an emergency override when the sound of splashing from his bed quarters caught his attention. As he looked in that direction cherry blossoms fell from above drizzling over the floor and laying a path for him to follow. Which Jake did.
"Hello?" he called as he neared his bedroom "Who's the-"
Jake's voice caught in his throat as the doors to his bed chamber whisked open and he found a familiar fox eared looking woman reclining in an impressive bath, the water and the flowers floating in it covering her body from sight.
"Akagi?!" Jake spurted and the Shipgirl grinned wickedly.
"Oh good, you're home!" she said and then stood.
Jake's had been about to ask how the Akagi had convinced Terok Nor to go along with this, when the sight of red eyed Fox-girl standing bare before him, water running down her figure knocked that thought and most others from his head. "Be a dear Jake and hand me that towel."
Somewhere in the back of the young man's head he was pretty sure this was ALL holographic theater for his benefit, even as he reached for the big fluffy towel that he was sure hadn't been there a second ago.
"Such a gentlemen." Akagi tittered as she slowly used the towel to dry herself off, bringing attention to her best features. "I've been reading your work and thought it was about time we celebrated your successes." she continued on, raising a leg out of the water and bending forward a bit to dry it. "So I've prepared an appropriate meal, some delicious drinks and then... well" Her face gave off the impression of a fox that'd just found a delicious treat "I have something in special in mind for dessert but I'll need your help to make it work for the both of us."
Elsewhere...
Terok Nor watched everything as part of her furiously scribbled down notes on the proper way to pursue a human male.
The next day...
Nog had always found Defiant interesting, even before he'd become a Starfleet officer. Such a young, innocent looking girl was the heart and soul of a powerful warship. She was kind and warm and funny, and treated him with respect from the day they met.
If he was completely honest, he may have had a slight crush on her. She kept a smile on her face and fought through anything that got in her way. She never gave up, not once. She'd helped him when he was scared, respecting his privacy and keeping his hopes up. She'd also laughed at his jokes.
But she was a warship, he was a Starfleet ensign. It would never work. He was going to stop acting like a lovestruck teen over her-
"Hey Nog!" Defiant said cheerfully to him, "I heard you just got off duty-Want to go play in the holosuite?"
"Do I!" Nog cried excitedly, getting up from his station in Ops with an eager smile. He pointedly ignored the knowing look from Dax as he followed Defiant to the turbolift. "I just need to stop by my quarters."
"No problem!" Defiant said cheerfully, beaming at him and making his heart beat faster. He kept his eyes ahead.
"Habitat Ring, B-7, Section 13," Nog ordered. The turbolift took them to that area at high speed. Defiant kept talking excitedly, and Nog just kept nodding.
"So my new phaser cannon upgrades work really great! You did good work on them!"
"Ah, you're welcome," Nog managed, "Uh, the Chief did the most work-"
"Yeah, but you figured out how to make the dilithium crystal focus adjust better!" Defiant gushed. "The penetration factor is 25% greater!"
"We might be able to get it better at punching through shields with a powered articulation frame," Nog said as they arrived at the Habitat Ring. They headed out, Defiant nodding as they walked down the corridor.
"So we could adjust each crystal independently? That could be complicated," Defiant said.
"I know, it would have to be custom made," Nog said, "but given how a mobile articulation frame in a warp core can adjust the plasma flow, we could use it to give us even more control over the phasers!"
Defiant lit up, her smile wide.
"That would be awesome!" She cried. "Let's work on it in the holosuite! In between fighting dinosaurs!"
Nog grinned back, showing his sharp teeth off.
"Sounds good to me!" Nog said cheerfully. He reached his quarters and reached up to the door control... Only for the door to open on its own. Nog and Defiant stared up into the eyes of the Akagi's holographic avatar. Akagi smiled back, looking rather like a... What were the Earth creatures? A fox that got the canary?
"Oh, good morning Defiant, Ensign Nog," Akagi greeted politely. She ran a hand through her hair, "sorry for the surprise. I was just leaving."
"Uh..." Nog began. Defiant frowned.
"Why are you in Jake and Nog's quarters?" Defiant asked. Akagi smirked.
"Oh... Jake and I struck up a conversation about literature styles, and he brought me back to his quarters to..." Her smirk widened, "further discuss things. It was very... Enjoyable." She turned and blew a kiss back into the quarters. "See you later, Jake~."
Akagi walked off, her tails waving happily behind her. Defiant and Nog slowly watched her go. They turned back to Jake and Nog's quarters, pausing for a long moment.
Nog cleared his throat.
"Jake? You awake?"
"Are you alive?" Defiant contributed awkwardly.
A groan greeted them.
Defiant and Nog paused for another long moment.
"You know," Nog said, "I can change my uniform later."
"Yes," Defiant said with a vigorous nod, "much later."
She's a maneater~!