"Alright, anyone who has even the faintest idea of what the hell is going on, care to speak up?" Mal quipped, looking at each of them in tern.
"New faces. New world. Can't turn your head, can't look down. Can't back away now." It was River who spoke up after a few minutes silence.
"I ain't have time for riddles darlin." Mal turned to her as her eyes floated around the room.
"Riddles, no riddles. Just talk. But no one will listen." She cried in frustration.
"River, it's ok." Simon soothed.
"No. It's not. No one listens when I talk." She shouted.
"We are listening darlin. It's just hard to figure out what exactly you're trying to say. You don't exactly say it straight." Mal explained.
"They'll try and send us back." River looked at him. "Back to where we were. We're not there anymore. There's just nothing."
"So….. We're somewhere we weren't before." Wash finally spoke, repeating in clarity what River was saying. "That's helpful. I still don't see how that helps us though. Are you seeing how this helps us?" He turned to his wife who had been standing with her arms crossed over her chest the whole time.
"I think what she's trying to say, and don't think me crazy for saying this but, we aren't in OUR space. What we consider our space sir." Zoë tried.
"That ain't making a whole lota sense." Mal shook his head, not seeing what she saw. She smiled lightly and fell silent with the rest of them. At that moment, Riker and Crusher appeared from their private conversation. There were looks of deep thought on their faces as the Doctor continued scanning the crew with Riker observing.
When everyone had completed a simple physical, Riker decided it was best to take them to tend-ford. This would help them relax a little and get a chance to talk to some of the crew and perhaps if they were willing, someone who wasn't human. He shook his head, he couldn't believe no of them had seen something other then another human being before. He had already contacted Deanna and asked her to come down and see if she felt any hostility in them, for ships safety of course. He couldn't help but think it was also for his own curiosity as well. The last time they had had an encounter with people from another dimension, they had been almost replicas of the crew, but altered in some point of their life. To see into another dimension that was completely different, he knew it would be difficult, if not impossible to get them back but judging from the brief descriptions the Serenity crew had given them, he didn't think they'd be entirely worried about that.
"So what's this place called again?" Mal asked, striding down the corridors beside him.
"Ten-ford. It's were most go to have some social time." He answered absently mindedly. The doors to Ten-ford swished open and they opened their eyes in wonder at the large room, big square windows lined the left side of the room that opened to the vastness of space that surrounded them. River was the first one to move and she moved in the direction of the windows, her eyes caught in the darkness and twinkling stars. A teenager, no more then 18 made his way over. He wasn't dressed in the uniforms that the rest of the crew was dressed in. He wore a grey type piece, making his shoulders look broad and he plastered a true smile on his lips, not like the rest of the people they had meet.
When he got to River, he stuck out his hand. "Hi there, my name is Wesley Crusher." River looked down at his hand in wonder, as if she didn't understand its purpose before smiling slightly and taking it in her own. This was the first person she had ever greeted in this way. For some reason she felt compelled to shake his hand and get to know him, there was something about him, something that only a few people knew. He was special.
"What's your name?" He asked politely.
"River." She answered softly, her eyes drawing back to the view of the stars. Her hand slipped from his and she moved slowly and gracefully to the window. "Long and cold. Never ending. Don't get lost, you'll never come home." She whispered, just loud enough for Wesley to hear. He scrunched up his nose, trying to understand what she was taking about.
Riker walked up to the bar, greeting the bar tender who was a dark women with long black braded hair. "This is the Serenity crew." He waved his hand over them and began a conversation they couldn't hear.
Meanwhile Wesley had followed River to her view sight and tried to start another conversation. "So what do you do on your ship? I'm a pilot mainly and I help out with the engines, but I'm still in school so usually I don't get mush free time." He waited for her to answer but she said nothing. "River?"
"She doesn't usually talk to anybody she doesn't know. Let alone shake their hand. And most of the time, what she does say, don't make a whole lota sense." Kaylee came up behind them.
"Why?" He looked at her in confusion.
"Her brain got cut up." She said in a sigh. "Mostly she just speaks in riddles. Ohhh, there was that one time she went after Jayne with a knife. He had to get stitches. Course, that was before Ariel. She's getting better though." Kaylee nodded, smiling at River before heading off with Mal and the others who were getting a drink. Simon came over to them and tugged at River's arm. "Come on Mei Mei, let's go and get something to drink. What do you want?" He pulled her away leaving a speechless Wesley behind. He didn't know if what Kaylee had said was true, but it was a frightening thought altogether.
Simon, River and Shepherd sat at one table, close to the window while beside them sat the others, talking in quiet whispers. Obviously, they didn't trust anyone who may have been listening in on their conversation. Riker was still at the bar but he had been joined by a few others. A pale, stiff looking man in a yellow uniform was standing to Riker's left, a lovely dark haired woman stood to his right (she seemed to have no real uniform order) and a tall, very dark man with deep ridges on his forehead and a yellow uniform, as well as some kind a sash draped over his shoulder stood beside the women.
"What is that thing?" Shepherd's low voice asked as he pointed to the ridge man. "One of these aliens they've been talking about?" He directed the question at the Doctor.
"I'm not sure." He answered, trying to get a better look at him, his curiosity getting the better of him. The women took that moment to look over at them. She smiled, said something to the group and headed their way. Simon ducked back down making the others look over. The women smiled warmly at them before asking them if she could take a seat. Both Shepherd and Simon nodded.
"I'm Deanna. Pleased to meet you." She shot her hand out to Simon who was the closest. He shook her hand politely and introduced them all.
"Who is that?" Shepherd asked, nodding to ridge man who was now sitting beside Riker, drinking something murky yellow.
Deanna smiled knowingly and explained, "That's Lieutenant Worf. His Species is Klingon. He's the only one you'll find on this ship, or any other Federation Starship of his spices. They are a warrior race. Very proud people, but once you get to know him, he can be very surprising."
"Never knew his parents. His true ones. Grew up with humans. That's why he's here." River's eyes were trained on him as she spoke. Deanna looked at her in shook and surprise.
"How do you know that?" She asked trying to let her empathic abilities read the frail looking girl in front of her.
"River…. She….. Has a great perception on things. People." Simon tried.
"That was not a perception." Deanna shot down, continuing to star at her. It was strange. She felt nothing from her, and everything. A jumble of emotions, that did more then make her head spin. She felt dizzy and pulled herself away with effort. She had never felt anything like that before in anyone. And River was Human. She would ask Beverly. Perhaps she would know something. She said a quick goodbye before leaving the table and making her way to Sickbay where she knew the Doctor would be, looking over the results of her latest tests of the Serenity crew.
Thank you so much for the review. It's always good to know when people read and like my stories, it's a good motivator!! Hope you like this Chapter.