Bumping into someone

Posted on Mon Sep 30th, 2019 @ 6:30am by Lieutenant Carter Smith & Petty Officer 1st Class Kaywin-Li Fray

Mission: MISSION 0 - History Speaks
Location: Deck 4, bar lounge
1321 words - 2.6 OF Standard Post Measure

Smith was walking along the corridor, his eyes fixed on his padd.
On the padd were engine upgrades that were just sent to Hoffman from command.
His assignment was to assign people to each project.
He reached an intersection and turned...….

Walking along, Kaylee's mind was a million miles away. She had just finished up a little repair work on some secondary systems and was heading back to engineering to check her work. Suddenly, out of seemly nowhere, another officer appeared from around a corner just ahead of her. unable to slow down in time, Kaylee ran straight into him, causing her to stumble, "bloody hell. well, that hurt" she said, picking herself up.

Smith was surprised when someone knocked into him. He was ready to rip the person who hit him a new one, thinking that it was their fault, but then he realized he hit Fray. He reached out and offered a hand. "Sorry...I wasn't watching where I was going." He helped her up. "I hope I didn't hurt you too badly."

"You're going to have to hit me harder than that to keep me down Lieutenant" Kaylee said, taking the offered hand up, "besides, I think we both share some of the blame on that one. though I am the one with grease on her hands, so..." she said with a shrug

Carter looked at his hand, and turned it towards her. "You're not the only one with grease on their hands." He smiled at her. "Let me apologize. How about drinks in the lounge?"

Kaylee smiled, "y'all trying to seduce me mister?" she said sarcastically, "a drink sounds like a good idea. meet you at deck 4 after I clean up?"

Carter was a little surprised at her response. "I'm simply trying to apologize. See you on deck 4. I could do with a little cleaning up myself."

==Deck 4==

Stopping just outside the enterance to the bar, Kaylee looked herself over to make sure she appeared clean. she'd changed uniforms after a quick shower, although she enjoyed the smell of grease and mechanical lubricant, she was sure most other officers didn't.

Carter was already sitting at a table inside the bar. He wondered f he was late because he had stopped to shower and change his uniform.

looking around, Kaylee saw the man she'd ran into before over at a table by himself. he'd clearly had the same idea as his uniform looked cleaner than hers. walking into the bar, she made her way over to him, "sorry i'm late. I needed to freshen up"

Carter stood when he saw her approach. He pulled her seat out for her. "And a good job you did."

Kaylee gave Carter a half smile over his comment, "well than, shall we start the drinks?"

Carter signaled a waiter over. He looked at her, "What would you like?"

“Aldebaran whiskey” Kaylee replied

"Aldebaran whiskey for the lady and I'll have a scotch, neat."

"Yes sir." The waiter left to get their order.

"Tell me about yourself. What isn't written in your file." The waiter returned and placed their drinks in front of them, then left. Carter picked up his glass, tilted it towards her, and said "Skoal."

"what would you like to know?" Kaylee said, picking up her glass and taking a sip, "and you realise anything I tell you, I get a question in response"

"Any current relationships going on?", he asked.

Kaylee was surprised, “straight to the point eh? No, I am not in a relationship, unless you count one with the Elysium. This big girl can be quite demanding at times” she said, looking around at the bulkheads, “and yourself?”

"No...seems like most of the crew are already involved with someone, and I haven't taken the time to actually talk to anyone, besides you, to see if anyone was interested." replied Carter.

Carter motioned to the waiter who brought another round of drinks. "By the way, if my questions are out of line, slap me down, okay?" He picked up his drink and smiled at her.

Kaylee smiled, "oh don't worry, there's nothing you can ask that I haven't heard before" she said, taking a swig from her glass, "so, most of the crew are already involved? Seems they should rename this ship the love boat. let's hope they don't start spawning children any time soon, I don't think Ely would appreciate the new power drain"

"Maybe I misspoke....maybe not most of the crew, but some." He took a sip of his drink. "Children can sometimes be the next step in a relationship. But then again, I don't feel children belong on a starship."

"why is that? is not the Federation safe?"

He sipped his drink. "The Federation is safe, but there are still dangers out there. An unidentified ship attacks us and destroys the ship. A warp core explosion. The possibilities are endless."

"I suppose you are right, but than should it be that if an officer does conceive a child, do they than simply get dismissed from their position?"

"No, the Federation doesn't do things that way. They should transfer the people involved to a safer location....but...anyway, it's the captain's call if they want families on board...or is it a Starfleet decision?"

“The Captain should have the final call, it’s his ship and his responsibility” Kaylee replied

He leaned back in his chair. "If you consider this our first date....is there a chance we'll have a second?"

"perhaps. It would seem all we've talked about is other relationships. Why don't we get down to the hard questions" Kaylee said, leaning forward and placing her head on her steepled hands, "so, How many relationships have you been in?"

He looked at her. "1, but it was serious. Her name was Jennifer. We met in out 2nd year at the academy. We were inseparable. I thought we were in love, at least I was in love. Nothing she said or did led me to believe that she didn't feel the same way." He sipped his drink. "End of the 3rd year, I was going to ask her to marry me. But before I could, she broke things off with me. I was devastated. My grades suffered...I feel behind in my classes. A friend helped me get over her, but it wasn't easy, then I had my accident and being in the hospital made me realize that I needed to get on with my life."

“Heavy stuff. Have you ever looked this Jennifer up again? Just for old times sake?”

"No. I thought it be better to leave things alone. Plus I wasn't in the mood to be hurt again." He looked at her. "Sorry if I'm making things so depressed."

Kaylee shrugged, "meh, I get it. it's not a comfortable subject."

Smith nodded. "Hmm, thought I had put all that behind me. Always said that I wanted to keep moving forward, not backwards."

“Well, I may as well return the answer, I’ve dated....oh, 3 men, 5 women and one I guess you could say fit into either description. They had all the parts, of you catch my drift” Kaylee said, giving a shrug, “most of them were either at the Academy or Utopia Planetia”

"So nobody recently then? Ever miss the old days? Every get lonely?" Carter placed his empty glass back on the table.

Kaylee nodded, “sometimes. I do miss the all night sessions with friends. I’m sure the crew is a great bunch, I just haven’t figured out where I fit in yet.maybe I just need to get to know them better”

Smith looked at her. "Until you get to know other people well enough...you can always talk to me."

Looking a little surprised, Kaylee smiled, “that sounds like a good idea. Thank you”



Lieutenant JG Carter Smith
Engineering Officer

PO2 Kaywin-Li Fray
Damage Control Specialist