NEW: "And She Told Him" (TOS, P/1) 1/1 [PG]
Bill Livingston
NEW: "And She Told Him" (TOS, P/1) 1/1 [PG]
Date:
Sun, 16 May 1999 23:53:01 -0500
From:
Bill Livingston <bi...@Traveller.COM>
To:
as...@earthlink.net
Hi! My name is Bill Livingston, and this is my first ever fanfic (well, my
first completed one, in any case).
This story arose from a challange Sydvick issued ove on ASC to write a
story completely on-line, with no help other than a spell-check, about a
couple. And it had to feature swimming.
I was urged to repost it here in ASCEM. Except for changing a couple of
spelling and punctuation booboos, this is exactly as it appeared earlier in
ASC.
Be brutally honest (I don't bruise easy). All comments, complaints,
suggestions, ca$h offfers, etc. will be gladly received.
Bill L.
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Title: And She Told Him
Author: Bill Livingston (bi...@Traveller.COM)
Series: TOS
Rating: [PG]
Codes: P/1, Challenge
Summary: A captain and his first officer take shore leave.
Archive: OK anywhere, as long as title and authorship remain unchanged. Any
MSTers welcome, just let me know. 8-]
Disclaimer: "Star Trek" and all related characters and situations are
trademarks of and © Desilu/Paramount/Viacom. All rights are reserved. Some
more reserved than others, but that's neither here nor there.
Feedback in ASCEM and by email is welcome. If you liked it, please let me
know. If not, please let me know. In either case, please let me know
*why*.
--------------
AND SHE TOLD HIM
Bill Livingston
"Sir! I - I -"
"Problem, Number One?"
"Not at all, sir. I just didn't expect to find you down here, that's all."
He shrugged. "I just figured there was no better place to spend a shore
leave than - well, than at the shore."
"No, I suppose not," she said with a faint smile.
Christopher Pike examined his first officer. He almost asked again what was
wrong, but he knew. "If you'd rather I went somewhere else, I'll -"
"No," she said quickly. "I don't want to disrupt your R&R. I can leave,
instead. There are plenty of other -"
"There's no need to -"
"I wouldn't..."
For a moment, Number One looked hesitant - not a look Captain Pike was used
to seeing on her face.
"Commander," Pike said firmly. "If you don't have any problem with both of
us being here, I certainly don't."
She inhaled, then smiled that strangely tentative smile again. "Well, I
guess the only thing left to do - is dress for the occasion."
-----------------------------------------------
*Damnit!* she thought to herself, *Why'd he have to be here?!? And looking
like - like _that_?!?* She'd been hoping that the shore leave granted at
Starbase 5 would allow her sufficient time to sort things out - to calm the
inner turmoil that had been rampaging wild since the brief, disastrous visit
to Talos.
Instead, she had run across her commanding officer - the one man she most
desperately wanted to avoid seeing just now. Their own stubbornness
wouldn't allow either of them to retreat. So now she was stuck here, with
him, and he was wearing a bathing suit that accented his -
*Damnit!*
-----------------------------------------------
*Just great!* Pike thought sourly. *I come all the way down here for some
peace, and she shows up - and wearing something so - so- *
Almost angrily, Pike shoved the thought from his head. Ever since they
left, he'd felt like he was still in the Talosians' cage, waiting for one or
another disaster to fall on his head. And now, here one was, waiting for
him, and wearing a swimsuit that could -
*Just great!*
-----------------------------------------------
"So how'd the debriefing go?" she asked as they swam idly across the lake.
"It was very strange," Pike mused. "The whole idea of the Talosians seems
to have spooked the admirality. They've completely closed the whole system
off from any contact - some of them even want to make just going there a
capital offense."
She made a scoffing noise. "That's ridiculous."
"I don't think so - in fact, I'm the one that suggested the idea."
She stopped suddenly. "You can't be serious!"
"I am," he said, halting his own forward motion and back pedaling to her
position. "You saw what they could do. If they somehow managed to get off
that wasteland of a world, they could wind up running the entire galaxy, and
we'd never know it!"
"I know, but still - "
"Number One," Pike looked at her with that intensity she'd come to know so
well, "I wouldn't want to be the one responsible for unleashing them on the
Federation. And if I ever found myself back on that miserable little world,
for whatever reason, I'd kill myself before I let them use me again!"
She stared at him, unnerved by the bitterness in his voice, but
understanding it all too well. "It upset you that much?"
A pause. "How can you ask that?!? You know what they did - what they tried
to do! If I had my way, I'd wipe that planet and everything associated with
it off the face of the galaxy!"
He knew as soon as he said it, it was a mistake.
"I see," she said, and the frost in her voice should have quick frozen the
lake on the spot. "Well, I think that's enough swimming for today -
*Captain*." And she began heading back to the shore with powerful, angry
strokes.
*Damn!*
-----------------------------------------------
*Never knew she was this good a swimmer,* Pike thought. *Or I'm really out
of shape! Or both!*
He reached the bank, expecting to find her and her gear long gone. Instead,
she was sitting there, cross-legged, her face blank. Before he could say
anything, she simply looked up at him and said softly, "I apologize,
Captain."
He smiled as he sat down next to her. "*I'm* the one acting like a prize
goon," he said, shaking his head, "And *you* apologize."
"I - I let my emotions get the best of me, sir. I'll try not to let it
happen again."
At that, he actually laughed. "Oh, no, Number One. I've already got *one*
Vulcanian on my ship, and as good a man as Spock is, one's enough - I don't
need my first officer to become one spontaneously."
She laughed bitterly. "Maybe I need to."
"What do you mean?"
She hesitated. "Permission to speak freely, sir?"
"Always, Number One."
"Sir - Oh, hell!" she blurted, startling Pike. "Captain, ever since we went
to that 'miserable little world', I haven't been able to sleep very well!
All I can do is think - is any of this real? Are we still back there? Are
we still cooped up in their little zoo?"
Chris Pike thought for a moment. "It's possible - with their powers, they
could make us think it - but I've been so damn angry since we left, I have
to believe that they couldn't project through it."
"A defense mechanism?"
"If you like," he said wryly. "The point is, we've got to start taking
things at face value again, or we'll wind up a couple of delusional
paranoids the rest of our lives!"
"I - I suppose you're right, sir."
"Chris."
"I beg your pardon?"
"I said, Chris. You can call me that for now."
She hesitated."
"Number One, we're not on duty, and you don't have to stick to protocol -
just call me 'Chris' or 'Christopher'. The doc does, Tyler does, that bum
Roynihan in defense does - hell, I've even gotten Mr. Spock to do it on rare
occasions."
"Okay then - Chris."
Another long pause. "Something else bothering you?"
"Yes si- Chris. I want to ask you something else, but -
"Go right ahead. As long as we're being honest with each other."
She inhaled, gathering strenght. "When the Talosians had us cooped up down
there, and told you to choose, who would it have been?"
"Number One!"
Immediately, "I'm sor-"
He held up a hand. "Let's drop it, okay?"
"Yessir - Chris."
He looked out over the shimmering lake. "Want to go back out for another
swim?"
"That sounds nice," she said. They waded back out into the lake.
Pike watched from behind as her long, black hair trailed out after her.
Then, about 70 meters from shore, Pike reached out and stopped her. "This is
just for you, me and the lake, commander - but Yeoman Colt is a bit young
for me. And I never trusted that Vina was real - ever."
She looked at him again - as though seeing him for the first time. "I
understand - Chris."
They swam away again, but Pike felt as though something was left undone.
Suddenly it came to him. "Number One!" he yelled.
She stopped and looked at him, raising a quizzical eyebrow.
"Y'know, you know you can call me Chris, but, uh, but - well, I feel funny
still calling you 'Number One'. What do you want me to call *you* when
we're off duty like this?"
She smiled at him - not the hesitant or bitter smile he'd seen the rest of
the day, but a genuine smile of delight. She smiled at him.
And she told him.
THE END
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Posting to ASCEM is easy: send your messages to <as...@earthlink.net>
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B52HOASECM
alt-startrek-creative-erotica-moderated
<alt-startrek-creati...@moderators.isc.org>
From:
b52ho...@aol.com (B52HOASECM)
Date:
18 May 1999 08:30:29 GMT
Organization:
AOL http://www.aol.com
Subject:
Re: NEW: "And She Told Him" (TOS, P/1) 1/1 [PG]
Very, very nice. Your Pike was very nearly dead-on, and while Number One has
often been portrayed (in pro-fic mostly) as a emotional cold fish, your
interpretation of her makes her a much more sympathetic character, and more
believable. I just like the fact that someone could take the Pre-TOS crew and
wring an enjoyable story out of them, even with the limited amount of data
available on them and their personalities. Maybe someone else might want to
give them a try, I would, but my writer's brain can only juggle so many
storylines before resetting.
Anyway, welcome to the world of Trek fan-fic, please check your sanity at the
door and try to ignore the foam-rubber walls around here. ;}
Good job, keep up the good work!
Thank you,
Thomas Brygider
IP inbound, Bay Doors open, Ready... Release!
Pamela
"Pamela" <re4...@navix.net>
To:
<as...@earthlink.net>
CC:
<bi...@Traveller.COM>
Subject:
Re: NEW: "And She Told Him" (TOS, P/1) 1/1 [PG]
Wed, 19 May 1999 00:45:15 -0700
Bill, The new authors are just coming outa the woodwork. Life is
sweet. Not that I'm tired of the old ones, cuz I'm not! But a fresh
voice is always welcome. Not that the old authors are stale or
anything, they aren't! But it's nice to read
new....................(pulling foot from mouth***and just getting on
with the feedback)
I was completely thrown by the character codes. Couldn't figure it out
right away. Then, WOW, a light went on. I've never read this pairing
before. Cool. I enjoyed this. Not realizing that they share the same
thoughts, at least not right away, is such fun. You are waaaay too good
at the cliff hanging endings. Too good. If I can't sleep tonight,
you're gonna hear 'bout it.
Thanks for posting, Bill.
Pam
Scarlet
Re: NEW: "And She Told Him" (TOS, P/1) 1/1 [PG]
Date:
From:
Scarlet <sca...@mbox301.swipnet.se>
To:
"'Bill Livingston'" <bi...@Traveller.COM>
CC:
"'as...@earthlink.net'" <as...@earthlink.net>
Bill Livingston wrote:
> NEW: "And She Told Him" (TOS, P/1) 1/1 [PG]
I enjoyed your story tremendously. I have never before
read a story set in -- should we call it the "Cageiverse"?
-- so I didn't understand the code P/1 in the header at first.
Great idea!
Makes one wonder, as many times before, what would
have happened if the rest of TOS had been allowed to
develop according to "The Cage". Would we still be
here, writing and discussing fanfic? I doubt it. It would
have been a very good SF TV series, and it would have
been remembered as such, but I don't think it would have
become the cult it is today.
Nevertheless, it would be interesting to read some more
stories involving these characters.
Loved the ending!
Scarlet
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