Chapter Four
Klinstinmanir
At the very moment that Liz Cutler was leading a very confused and uncertain Tia Anlor back to her own quarters; Ensign Hoshi Sato was pressing the buzzer to crew quarters D/14.
When the door slid open, she found herself facing a man a good quarter meter taller than herself, dressed in the standard jumpsuit uniform with red piping. He looked down at her, surprised. "Hoshi? Hello."
"Hello, Harry. May I come in for a moment?" She gave him a smile that she knew a man would be hard pressed to ignore, knowing that it would get her in. He did not disappoint her.
The moment she was inside, she turned to him, taking his arm and pulling him into the room. "Oh, Harry, you don't know what being here means to me." She smiled up at him as the door closed, her seductive tone and look enough to melt the hull plating.
"Yeah?"
"Oh, yes!" She put her hands on his chest. "I am really, really happy to see you." As she pressed her hands to his chest, she saw a glimmer of recognition in his eyes. Bracing herself, she shoved the taller man as hard as she could; pushed him completely off his feet against the bulkhead where his head collided with the metal with a satisfying 'clunk'. He collapsed on the deck in a sitting heap, staring up at her in astonishment.
"Stay down!" she commanded furiously, planting her foot hard against his chest to pin him seated against the bulkhead. She let all her outrage show in her burning eyes, her fiery tone. "We both know what you did, so listen carefully. You go near Tia Anlor again; you do anything to take advantage of her and I'll have Lt. Reed march you onto the bridge in your skivvies to explain yourself to the Captain! Do you understand me?"
"Yes." The man, Hoshi realized, may be a fool, but he was not a stupid one.
x
Pushing hard off his chest, she used the momentum to turn and left the room, a veritable tidal wave of fury. She did not care how long he sat there, just so long as he believed that she would do exactly as she said.
She got as far as the corridor junction, turning to the left, when she stopped, the moment catching up to her. As the full realization hit her, she found herself smiling. 'Well, 'meek, timid Hoshi' finally found something to make me mad enough to fight for.'
As she continued down the corridor, friends smiled back at her in greeting, but then for a reason they could not fathom each started to feel just a tad … nervous.
xxx
"Elizabeth, please! What 'date' is?" The confused Auran implored as Liz led her into her own quarters. The brown haired woman looked at her closely.
"You really don't know? I mean, I know you must call it something else, but haven't you ever been … you know … 'out on a date'?" She tried to convey the meaning with her tone, but from the expression on the golden girl's face she was sure she wasn't getting anywhere.
"Date … date …" She shook her head. "Trinasli nyasi … 'I understand not'. It the twenty-third day of Avrel is, in the cycle six thousand –." She stopped as Liz held up her hands, but then pressed on; "But how can one 'on' a date be?"
"Okay. Your world: When two people like each other and want to spend some time going out, they go somewhere together; they try to get to know one another, theyyyyyy…" She moved her hands in a drawing motion, trying to draw it out of the girl.
"Klinstinmanir." Liz shook her head, slapping her hands on her thighs.
"Shoulda' seen that one coming! All right, one more try. Tia, your world, two people, man and woman – and I hope that's all there is – they like each other, they want to spend time together somewhere, to get to know one another, talk, get acquainted. Yes?"
"Daai?"
"The man goes to the woman – or the woman to the man; I'm liberal – and asks her out."
"Of what?"
Liz threw up her head. "Holy God, how does Hoshi do this?"
"Go 'on date'?"
"No! Wait, yes." Liz decided, feeling like she was grasping at straws and that she had finally found one she could use. "You know about Hoshi and Seamus O'Cathain?"
"Daai."
"Well, they might go to the movies, like Trip invited you to. Sometimes go to the Arboretum; Hoshi likes the flowers there. They sit and talk, sometimes they make out."
"Make out what?"
She smiled at the girl's naïveté. "Little sis, are you in for an Education!" Tia stared at her, even less certain. "Look, let's just get ready. Trip will be here in about five minutes."
"To 'make out'?" Tia asked in monumental confusion.
"Well, if you're lucky. Come on."
x
Liz opened the closet panel, scanning the selection of clothing, which she noted ran heavily to dresses of primary colors, shades of blue, yellow or red, some pastels, all designed to accent and compliment a golden complexion. She was glad no one had chosen silver for the girl; she would have urged her to burn it.
She chose a royal blue dress of modest cut, judging it suitable for a first date. As she took it out of the closet, she heard Tia at the computer terminal. "Computer, sociological database. Context: male/female relations. Subject: 'make out'. Link to universal translator." She picked up the device, held it to her ear.
A few moments later she stiffened, tension in every muscle. She dropped the device, which fell with a clatter to the deck, and turned to Liz with an expression of outraged shock. "Nyas! Natatorii culir! Depris mikor ulari!" Whether she was blushing or her complexion deepening to bright gold from outrage Liz could not tell. "Naskata toriaal!" she cried, continuing in an increasingly distressed flood. The UT tried to render a translation from its landing place on the deck, but what little was not drowned out by the Auran's distressed tirade came to Liz as 'disgusting', 'horrible', 'perverted' and 'obscene'. From there, the language descended beyond the device's limited ability.
Liz barely heard the door buzz and, hoping it was Hoshi, praying the Linguist could calm things down; she called out "Come in!" The door slid open; Tia glanced toward the door at the unexpected sound and bit a word squarely in half.
x
Trip Tucker stood there in a uniform that looked freshly pressed; his smile faltering a bit at the tension in the air, but the look on Tia's face was stunning. It was as if her voice had been switched off and it had nothing to do with outrage or embarrassment. She was staring at the man, and Liz had seen that look a million times. She was sure she could hear Tia's pounding heart even from where she stood.
"Is this a bad time?" Trip asked, trying to mask his uncertainty. Tia couldn't answer, breathless from her tirade and barely able to force her thoughts, such as they were, into English. She could not stop staring at him, dumbstruck.
"No, Commander, this is a perfect time," Liz said, putting the blue dress back on the rack and closing the door. "There's no better time for a Southern gentleman," she stressed, hoping he would take the hint. It was clear in his eyes that he did.
"Well, movie night awaits." He held out his hand to the silent girl. Tia looked at him, and then to Liz, who nodded encouragingly. She turned again to Trip, trying to force her thoughts into at least some language.
"Our … date?"
"I promise, you'll enjoy it. You'll even love the popcorn."
Tia looked at Liz, even more mystified, but the older woman made 'shooing' motions with her hands. "Go! Enjoy."
Tia took a step forward; then smiled brightly, seeming to come to at least some resolution. When she took Trip's hand she raised it, turning it over and touching her lips to his wrist, finding the beat of his pulse. Several moments later she looked up at him with veiled eyes, then with hands on his chest to balance her she stretched up to put her lips to the side of his neck, a touch to the pulse. She came down again, stepped back and whispered, "Find I did how greet you I want."
"Well … that's fine," he replied, uncertain. A charge had chased through him from hair to toes, but she showed nothing in her eyes for what such a touch from a human woman would begin.
Tia looked at Liz. "De klais."
x
When Trip led Tia out of the room, and the door slid into place, Liz let out a sigh of relief, feeling her knees giving out as she stepped over and sat down on the bunk. But then, spying the UT left lying on the deck, she bent over to pick it up, checking for any damage. Finding none, she raised it and tried to reproduce Tia's accent as best she could. "De klais."
'For now,' the device returned.
Liz looked at the door through which the couple had left, a soft smile on her lips.