USS FEARLESS: The Huntress and her Collateral Damage
Gabrielli
Scene: Main Engineering, Deck 20
MD: 1.1500
Alice was on the hunt - a hunt to find someone to go with her down to
the planet. So far, she wasn't having much luck. The first person she
asked had declined politely, but Alice was sure that the woman had some
reason other than having to give her cat a bath. The second person
seemed legitimately busy, but was at least honest enough to say that she
was uncomfortable with it being just the two of them since she wasn't
nearly as pretty as Alice was - especially when her body would be so
clearly on display.
Alice, as a member of Species 8472, hadn't been outside of fluidic space
for too long, but it was long enough to realize that the humanoid shape
that she took was something of an 'ideal' body matrix - one that was
extremely attractive to most males and sometimes comparison-inducing for
females.
Add to that the fact that the FEARLESS was now in orbit of the planet
Norung, which required all shore leave to be done without the
potentially body-flattering benefits of clothing, and the end result had
been that Alice was suddenly unable to find a companion for shore leave.
But she wasn't going to simply give up. She did have a tenacious
streak, after all.
In Main Engineering, Alice spotted her next target, an aged member of
the crew by the name of Kagunda Ndungu. He was a Warrant Officer from
Earth's African continent, and he had a facial expression that could
light up a whole deck when he smiled. He wasn't smiling, though, when
she spotted him, as he was reviewing a panel that displayed long range
sensor readings of the planet.
"Kagunda."
"Ah, hello young miss. How are you fairing today?" His voice was
accented, with a tone that was rich and smooth as butter.
"I'm having difficulty finding someone to visit the planet with me."
Kagunda burst out laughing so loudly that several engineers nearby
looked up to see what was going on. "My dear, I find that very hard to
believe. How many have you asked?"
"Two so far. I've been researching Earth activities, like sunbathing,
and I wanted someone to make sure I'm getting the full experience."
"Sunbathing?" he asked, entirely bemused by her innocent sincerity.
"Yes, and other human past-times like picking flowers, cliff diving,
having a picnic, making a sandcastle...things like that. I'd hate to
think I wasn't doing them correctly.
"So, are you looking for suggestions?"
"No, I was hoping you would want to come."
The old man gave his winning smile again and responded, "A tempting
offer, young miss. I'm certain I would enjoy that very much, but
Commander Wight has a tight schedule running to make certain we can get
the VASHKOR and the SOYUZ repaired quickly, and I'm afraid I'm busy all
day. Perhaps tomorrow."
Alice sighed. "I understand."
"But it seems to me that there's a young man that works in the
Hydroponics Bay who would say yes if you asked him. I think his name is
Crewman Kellogg."
She seemed buoyed by the suggestion. "Thank you, I will ask him."
"My pleasure, young miss."
He watched her go, and then turned to find several people gawking at
him, dumbstruck that he would willingly turn down an opportunity like
that. As a Warrant officer and respected member of the group, everyone
knew he probably could have gotten away with adjusting his own schedule
as needed. But he gave a non-committal shrug. "It will give me
something to look forward to," he said, returning his attention to the
sensor readings from the planet.
Scene: Hydroponics Bay, Deck 23
Trevor Kellogg gulped, his eyes going wide. "You...you want to go down
to the planet together?"
"Yes, if you'd like." Her eyes glittered like magic, at least to him.
"Uhh...ummm." He tried to put a few more witty responses together but
his brain had apparently shut down. Such was the effect this beautiful
creature had on him. He had talked to her very briefly in the main
lounge the day before, but she hadn't seemed all that interested then.
Now the prospect of her actually asking to spend time together on the
planet - meaning 'in the buff' - this was a whole new ballgame. In
moments, his knees gave way and he tumbled backwards. A sudden grasp at
a large ficus plant was all that kept him from smacking the floor.
She jumped forward to steady him, exclaiming, "Are you all right?"
The red-headed crewman looked into her face, that angelic face, and into
her eyes, those pools of eternity that peered into his soul, and he
replied, "I...uhhh."
With concern, she said, "Maybe you should go to sickbay, if you're not
feeling well."
Scene: Sparkling Glimmer Waterfall and Beach, Norung
MD: 1.2030
Alice and Crewman Bonnie Alfandari materialized and immediately felt the
sultry sand on their toes and the warm sunlight on their bodies.
Although on the ship, it was late in the evening, the beach area was
located several time zones away and thus the sun was virtually right
overhead.
Off to their right, the waters of the Sparkling Glimmer Waterfall
cascaded down a rock face into a clear pool which emptied into an ocean
inlet out to their left. On the opposite side of the pool, the rocky
ledges circled around to create an intimate feel to the area. Behind
the ladies, they found a pleasant grove of trees that grew right up to
the edge of the beach. They were alone. And the setting, like much of
this planet, was paradise.
Alice had brought along a picnic basket and a blanket, which she spread
out just beyond the shade of a large tree along the beach. Bonnie, a
fun-loving and petite blond, just brought herself and a bottle of
sunblock. She'd never met Alice before, and in fact had just been
walking past her in a corridor outside one of the transporter rooms
when, in a moment of frustration, Alice had spontaneously propositioned
her for the trip. Bonnie was the type to try anything once, so had
accepted without even blinking.
Now that they were here, Bonnie was sure she'd made the right choice.
After looking around, she pulled off the metal bracelet-like clip that
housed her commbadge and tossed it onto Alice's towel. "If we have to
be naked, there's no point getting a tan line," she quipped, before
running to the water's edge and diving into the pool. It was clear,
cool and refreshing.
Alice looked down at the commbadge bracelet clip on her own wrist. Her
own people were telepathic and would have no need for such a device.
And since Bonnie was clearly more experienced at these types of
activities, she took her lead and dropped the clip next to hers on the
towel.
Bonnie swam around, fighting off the momentary chill but seemed to be
enjoying herself. After a while, she climbed out and laid down next to
their belongings, not caring one iota about the sand sticking to her
back. It was far too enjoyable to worry about that.
Alice, on the other hand, had decided that the depth of the pool was
sufficient to the task of diving and began climbing the rock face for
her first attempt. About 10 meters up, she called out, "Bonnie, watch
me," and dove.
Bonnie propped herself up on her elbows long enough to see Alice's body
rotate too far and make an ungainly, uncoordinated collision with the
surface of the pool. The splash was enormous, sending water coursing in
every direction. For the longest time Bonnie tried hard to control
herself, but in the end succumbed to the uncontrollable waves of
laughter that pealed out of her.
Alice's head popped up out of the water. "Ouch."
That one word was enough to send Bonnie into fits again.
Alice trudged out of the pool and walked over to the blankets, the water
dripping off her hair in an unkempt and miserable-looking manner that
matched the appearance of the huge red blotch on her upper back. "That
did not work as well as I had planned."
Between haggard breaths, Bonnie replied, "Perhaps you should stick to
swimming."
Alice looked over her shoulder at the rock face and frowned. "I suppose
I can't be good at everything."
Finally starting to calm down, Bonnie closed her eyes and laid back down
on the sand. "Don't rush it. We're here to relax, so you may as well
do something you enjoy, too."
"I'm not simply going to give up." Her tenacious streak appeared again.
"I'm not saying you should. Just find a balance between doing things
that give you pleasure and working toward your goals." She gave Alice a
moment to think about that before she gave a stretch to her arms and
legs and then let them flop onto the warm beach. "My goal is to get one
of the best tans ever."
Bonnie listened to the sound of Alice's footfalls heading back to the
pool and then slip into the water. In time, the warmth of the sun, sand
and the peaceful breeze soon caused the woman to slide into a relaxed,
contented slumber.
MD: 1.2050
Alice reached the opposite end of the pool, her chest heaving from the
exertion. Although her human form was attractive, it could not be
considered strong. It compared that much less enduring next to her
natural form which was not only massive, but accustomed to traveling
through fluidic space without any difficulty at all. In fact, she could
even survive in the vacuum of outer space. Her human form could barely
hold its breath for a minute.
She looked up towards the rock face where she's had her first,
unsuccessful attempt and was considering going for another try when
something caught her attention. It was a glittering reflection from
below the surface of the pool, something that she hadn't seen from any
other direction.
Estimating that the ground in this area would be only a few meters below
the surface, she took several deep breaths and dove beneath the waves.
There were water plants colored white and green and the occasional fish
flittering around, but she couldn't find anything that resembled what
she'd seen from above. She continued the search for a while longer, and
just as she felt her lungs trying to give her a message, she spotted it.
The light she had seen was not a reflection at all, but a small
luminescent animal that was walking upon several spindly legs between
the plants along the sea bed. Alice was fascinated, and although her
lungs were really trying to get her attention, she dove to the bottom
and picked up the little creature. It had a row of eyes that stared at
her curiously even as its body glowed shades of white, silver and coral.
*Hello, little light-fish* she said to it telepathically.
It didn't respond in any way more noticeable than a blink of its eyes -
but something else did. Alice felt something touch her foot, and
without warning it wrapped around her ankle and held her fast. The
shock caused her to open her mouth, which only let out the air that was
already running in short supply. A hint of panic struck her as she
pointed the luminescent fish downward and found she'd been grasped by
what she could only describe as a very angry-looking seaweed plant,
which continued to wrap itself further and further up her leg.
Finally, common sense filtered through the fugue in her thoughts and she
did what any member of Species 8472 would do - she changed back to her
natural state. Her lithe, human leg was in short order replaced by one
of her multi-jointed, hoof-like appendages. Her hands became impossibly
sharp claws that made short order of the seaweed. No longer drowning,
in fact no longer needing to breathe at all, Alice was once again free
to enjoy the beauty of the pool.
A glowing and somewhat confused-looking animal blinked its eyes, as a
completely different Alice swam away.
Bonnie was in that half-awake/half-asleep zone when she heard Alice
break the surface of the water and begin returning to the towel. The
dozing crewman slowly opened her eyes, but instead of the uncommonly
attractive human female that she expected, she faced a grotesque 3-leged
purplish-green alien that towered over her.
Bonnie screamed. Although there came a voice in her head saying,
*Bonnie, it's me, Alice*, all she could focus on were a pair of sharp
claws starting to come towards her. Willing her shock-deadened limbs to
move, Bonnie crab-walked backwards as fast as her hands and feet could
go, sending sand spraying in every direction. Finally, in one motion,
she twisted her body around as she stood up to run away - only to
collide headlong into the nearest tree, and knock herself out.
Alice dropped her arms to her sides and peered at the unconscious woman
through cross-shaped pupils. *That did not work as well as I had
planned, either,* she thought to herself.
Scene: USS FEARLESS, Sickbay, Isolation 1
MD: 1.2115
Nurse Jesca Rain was also dozing, recovering as she was from her
injuries during the Scalpon mission, when she heard a familiar voice in
her mind.
*Jesca, it's Alice.*
*Yes, I hear you,* she replied telepathically.
*I'm down on the planet, and I seem to have a tiny, little problem.*
The Betazoid nurse listened as Alice regaled her with the short version
of her shore leave tale. And even amidst her fatigue, she couldn't help
snickering from time to time about the pitfalls of vacation time on
planet Norung. The story climaxed with Bonnie and the tree trunk and,
since her own body doesn't have a mouth, she couldn't use the
communicator to signal for help.
*Is she alright?* Jesca winced sympathetically.
*I think so. Her head didn't hit that hard, so I assume the shock
attributed to it. I was going to try to revive her, but figured that
seeing me standing over her again might be counter-productive. And I
can't change back right now.*
*Wait, I thought you could change back and forth from human to your
native form at will.*
Alice concisely explained that she can revert to her true body at any
time, but to change into human form requires a biochemical injection,
which she didn't have any reason to think she'd need. The shot allows
her to shift back and forth freely for a few hours, but once it wears
off, she can only stay human as long as she doesn't try to revert again.
*My last injection was days ago, and my body creates a bio-genic field
that disrupts most scanners, so I can't transport back to the ship like
this.*
*That makes sense. In the mean time, if you will attach Bonnie's
comm-clip back onto her wrist, I'll get the message to Dr. Gopal.*
*I'm sure she will appreciate that.*
*And I'll ask him beam you down another of your injections. We can't
have you stuck down there forever.*
*And I appreciate it, too.*
Warmly submitted,
~Gabriel Weckesser
for
Alice, resident member of Species 8472
USS FEARLESS
asrATweckesserDOTus
NRPG: Ok, I admit it. This was 95% a fluff piece, but I still wanted to
get it out.
- - - Timeline - - -
1.1500 Alice seeks out a companion for shore leave but is rejected by
several people, even deciding that Kellogg is too distracted to join
her.
1.2030 With crewman Alfandari, Alice beams down to the planet and finds
that cliff diving is harder than it looks.
1.2050 In a comedy of errors, Alice saves herself from drowning by
reverting to her true form, and Alfandari knocks herself out.
1.2115 Alice and Jesca Rain have a telepathic conversation and clear up
the shore leave mess.
- - - - - - - - - - -
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