"Elle to the Briefing Room."
Elle reached over and flipped the switch on her desk. "On my way, captain." She put her drawing sketchpad down, stuffed her feet into her shoes, and headed for the briefing room. They hadn't even left Starbase Four yet, what was happening?
The senior officers were assembling. At the head of the table, Kirk and Spock conferred in quiet tones. Elle slipped into a seat between Chief Giotto and Scotty.
McCoy came in a moment later.
Kirk faced his assembled officers. "Since we are so handily docked at Starbase Four, we've been reassigned to diplomatic transport duty."
Everyone sighed.
"I would echo the sentiment, except this time, gentlefolk, we are transporting the Medusan ambassador back to his home planet."
Giotto sat forward. "Medusan, sir?" Giotto said warily.
"Yes, Chief."
Giotto pulled out a datapad and started typing furiously.
"Medusan, sir?" Scotty asked.
"The Medusans have produced some of the most inspired minds in the galaxy. They are known for their navigational brilliance; they can find their way anywhere in the galaxy. Their grasp of mathematics and spacetime is sublime, but their physical appearance is exactly the opposite. They have evolved into a race of beings who are formless, so utterly hideous that the sight of a Medusan brings total madness to any human who sees one." Kirk frowned. "Having the Medusan ambassador onboard will come with its own problems. Chief Giotto?"
"Every time the Medusan ambassador is moved, we'll have to clear the corridors, no exceptions. The ambassadorial quarters will also have to be sealed, no access to that section of the deck without express authorization."
"Will it really drive you mad?" Elle asked.
"It will."
"They're not actually called Medusans, right?" she continued.
Uhura smiled slightly. "No, they're not. But their species name for themselves is telepathic, it doesn't translate to psi-null brains, so they gave the Federation permission to give them a non-telepathic designation."
"Cool."
Giotto gave her a stern look. "I don't want you anywhere near the Medusan, you hear me?"
"Yes, sir," she replied solemnly. "I would like to keep my brains intact."
Kirk pressed his lips together in a tight smile. "As do we all. Mr. Sulu, ETA to the Medusan homeworld?"
"Only five days, sir, at standard warp," Sulu said.
"Excellent. Also coming aboard is Mr. Marvick, a civilian engineer, and Dr. Jones, the Ambassador's interpreter."
Scotty perked up. "Lawrence Marvick, sir? Why, he was one of the designers who worked on the Enterprise!"
Kirk smiled. "I'm sure he'd appreciate a tour of a working engine room, Scotty." He glanced around. "They come onboard in three hours. For further questions, see Mr. Spock or Commander Giotto. Dismissed."
Elle bit her lip, slowly getting up from her chair. Medusans. Medusans. Why did they sound so familiar?
"I'm almost envious, Spock. You'll be able to see the ambassador yourself," Bones said, as he and Spock waited for the captain to finish speaking to Giotto.
"With the appropriate visor of course," Spock said. "I trust we have them?"
"Would it be a fully stocked sickbay if we didn't?" Bones replied indignantly.
Visors... Elle gasped. "This is an episode!" she said.
All four officers turned to her. "What?" Kirk said. "An episode? We just had one!"
"And now there's another one," Elle said. "This, this ambassador's interpreter, the doctor, she's this telepath, right, and that engineer guy, he goes crazy, and he sends the Enterprise into like a void or something, and Spock has to mind-meld with the Medusan, and there's like this rose metaphor or something, I don't know. I just know that the same woman who plays Dr. Jones also plays Dr. Pulaski in The Next Generation."
They blinked at her. "Why would Mr. Marvick, if he was familiar with the Medusans, why would he look at it?" Giotto asked.
Elle shrugged. "I don't know. This was a weird episode." She focused on the memory of the episode, pulling out the details. The more she did this, the easier it became to remember the episodes without having to do sustained meditation, Vulcan-style. "...Spock forgets his visor," she said. "After the mind-meld. And he goes into like a fugue state or something, and you have to prod the doctor to go into his mind and fix him. Or something. There was so much flirting in that episode, I didn't really watch it. Ugh."
Kirk pressed a hand over his mouth. "I see. Well, Mr. Spock, you'll have to be careful. And Mr. Giotto, while onboard let's have Mr. Marvick restricted from the ambassador's quarters."
"Aye, captain."
Elle watched the harried security chief walk out.
"Anything else, Elle?" McCoy asked.
Elle looked at Spock. "She's jealous of you. Cuz you almost had her job."
Spock's eyes widened imperceptibly and both Kirk and McCoy rounded on him.
"You had a job offer to work with the Medusan ambassador?" Kirk asked, looking injured.
"I did not even consider it," Spock replied. "My place is here."
Elle beamed almost as brightly as Kirk and McCoy.
"Then there's nothing to worry about," Kirk said, squeezing Spock's arm affectionately. He patted Bones on the back. "C'mon. Let's see if we can convince Mr. Tanzer to cook up a meal we can have with the ambassador's attaches."
Elle followed them out. "Can I come? I can wear a dress."
Kirk grinned at her. "Of course. You're our civilian mission consultant. It's very important to have you at all official functions."
"On your best behavior, mind you," McCoy warned.
"Yes, mom," Elle replied, and giggled as he glared at her.
"I am not your mother," he said.
"Considering you are in charge of her health, emotions, and diet, that would classify you as her mother," Spock deadpanned.
McCoy's jaw dropped. "Spock!"
-/\-
Elle had exactly one (1) formal dress, a deep blue thing with a swishy skirt, under which she put a pair of shorts, because with the Enterprise's track record, she'd probably have to go up a Jefferies Tube or something in it.
"I look pretty good, if I do say so myself," Elle said, surveying herself in the mirror.
The door chimed.
"Come!"
Uhura entered the room, dressed in her formal uniform, beautiful dangly earrings in her ears. "You look beautiful, Elle," she said, kissing Elle's cheek. "Absolutely gorgeous."
Elle blushed. "Thanks. I tried."
"And your efforts have not gone in vain. Come on, sugar, let's go eat."
They encountered Scotty on the way to the Captain's Dining Room. He was clad all in plaid. "Ah, the two most pretty ladies on the Enterprise," he said, smiling at them. "May I escort you, Lt?"
"You may, Mr. Scott," Uhura replied, taking his arm gracefully.
Elle smiled at them. Cutest couple on the ship.
They entered the dining room, and Kirk, eyes twinkling, offered Elle a flute of sparkling apple cider. "You get the whole bottle all to yourself," he teased.
Elle grinned. "Aw, yeah, angry apple juice is all mine."
Kirk snorted. "You're so weird."
Dr. Jones and Mr. Marvick entered. "And who's this?" Dr. Jones asked, looking at Elle.
Elle was impressed. Must be a really good sensor net, to pick me out so fast.
Dr. Jones gasped slightly.
Right. Telepath. Elle focused. "Elle Wilcott. Pleasure to meet you, Doctor Jones, Mr. Marvick."
"Your parents are stationed on the Enterprise?" Mr. Marvick asked, shaking her hand.
"Sort of," Elle said, grimacing.
"Elle is our civilian mission consultant," Kirk said, squeezing Elle's shoulder.
Mr. Marvick smiled and moved over to talk to Scotty.
Dr. Jones tilted her head, observing Elle with a sightless gaze. "You're a very observant young lady," she said.
Elle bowed her head. "Ma'am." She slid into her seat at the table and focused on upping her mental shields. If the stuff in her brain was classified she didn't want Dr. Jones or the Medusan ambassador picking up on it, no matter how trustworthy they were.
Dinner was good, with real, non-replicated food, and great conversation about Medusan technology and Vulcan mental discipline.
"You've studied it as well, haven't you, Ms. Wilcott?" Dr. Jones asked. "I can tell you have very good mental shielding."
Elle almost choked on her salad. "Yes, doctor." She cleared her throat. "I'm middling-high on the esper scale, but nowhere near your abilities, ma'am."
The conversation moved on and Elle almost laughed, realizing that only McCoy and Marick knew that Dr. Jones was blind, and the rest of the senior officers didn't, so everybody ended up being confused. Why wasn't it common knowledge?
Whatever. Elle applied herself to her strawberry shortcake.
The dinner ended with no weird vibes and Elle gave Kirk, McCoy, and Uhura hugs goodnight. "See you in the morning," she said, as they filtered out to the corridors. "Hey Bones, can I have strawberry shortcake for breakfast?"
"Absolutely not," he replied.
"Why not? Isn't it just like having pancakes with strawberries and whip cream?"
Bones opened his mouth, closed it, looked disgruntled. "Fine," he said. "But you better have protein with it."
Elle grinned. "Nice. Good night!"
"Sleep tight!" Kirk replied.
Elle went around the corner, smiling, and stopped when she saw Dr. Jones standing there.
"Miss Wilcott."
"Dr. Jones? Can I help you with anything?"
"How did you know I was blind?" Dr. Jones asked.
"Oh. Um, your dress is beautiful but I know that's a sensor net overlay."
"You knew before," Dr. Jones said. "How?"
"Well, Bones knows," Elle said uneasily.
"You are prevaricating," Dr. Jones said. "The doctor wouldn't break patient confidentiality."
Elle folded her arms. "It's classified, doctor, I'm sorry. I just, know things."
Dr. Jones stared at her for a long moment. "I see. Good night, Miss Wilcott." She turned on her heel and left.
Elle stared after her, nervous. What had she seen?
-/\-
She couldn't sleep that night. It wasn't just unease over Dr. Jones' telepathy, but there was something, else. Something tickling the back of her mind, a presence, an awareness. The Medusan ambassador?
Whatever it was, Elle couldn't sleep. She got up, made some tea, and meditated, strengthening her mental shields the way Spock had shown her, until the strange feling in the back of her mind faded to an afterthought, a vague La Croix flavor.
The next morning at breakfast she stared into her oatmeal until Ensign Noah prodded her to eat.
Elle was mid-chew when Dr. Jones came over to the table and sat across from her. Elle swallowed hastily. "Good morning."
"Good morning," Dr. Jones said. "You misled me yesterday."
"Nuh-uh," Elle said, as was only reasonable.
"You did," Dr. Jones replied calmly. "You are rather higher up on the esper scale than you said. The ambassador did not realize he would have to shield himself that much from your awareness."
Elle relaxed minutely. "Oh. So that was him?"
"Yes."
"Oh." Elle stuffed more oatmeal in her mouth.
Dr. Jones got up and went away without further comment.
Ensign Noah glanced sideways at Elle. "You okay?"
"I'm fine," Elle said, as Dr. Jones left the mess hall. "She weirds me out, is all."
Engineering lessons later that day were given by one of Scotty's lieutenants, since Scotty himself was holed up with Marvick talking about upgrades. Hold up. Marvick was still here. Nobody had died! Nobody had gone crazy.
Elle blinked to herself. Was the whole episode just, over? Not gonna happen?
"Elle?"
She looked over at Lt. Riley. "Right. Sorry." She buckled up her tool belt and followed him into the Jefferies Tubes. "What are we doing again?"
"Standard maintenance on some units."
They got done with two of them fairly quickly and headed to the third one. It was a fairly obscure junction that was wide enough for Elle to stretch out. She promptly did so.
Riley left her behind. "That height makes my back hurt," he complained.
"Really? This is great!"
"You should ask Mr. Scott if you can make yourself a little hidey-hole, then," Riley said, as they continued shuffling through the tubes.
"A hidey-hole," Elle repeated. "That'd be cool. You think he'd let me?"
Riley gave her an unimpressed look. "You have Mr. Scott wrapped around your finger, lass, and don't even deny it."
Elle grinned.
"Besides," he added, "considering what happened at the Neutral Zone, you should have a nice little hidey-hole anyways."
Elle craned her neck to look at him. "You know what happened?"
He looked very serious. "Everyone knows we almost lost you to the Romulans."
She frowned. "Did the captain put you up to this?"
"No. But it would certainly make him feel a lot better to know you had a bolt-hole."
"True," Elle said. "I guess it'd be cool, like a secret hideaway."
"That's the spirit," he encouraged.
They finished the last maintenance routine and came out of the Jefferies tubes. Elle got caught up in the latest gossip about the Maintenance Department, "Ensign Parks did what!?" and completely forgot about Lt. Riley's suggestion.
Until dinner, that is, when Dr. Jones stared fixedly at Elle for a solid ten minutes. Considering Dr. Jones wasn't able to see, it was impressive. Elle inhaled the rest of her food and left.