When I Grow Up...

Posted on 21 Feb 2016 @ 9:26am by Ensign Kelly Khan & Ensign Elisha Cherno

2,285 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Outbreak
Location: Lounge

With the last of the shuttles cleaned, Kelly headed back to her shared quarters in cadet country and reveled in the sonic shower until she felt like she was ready to melt from the sonic vibrations. Once she was finished, she dressed in a pair of black jeans, white top and knee high boots and headed to the lounge.

There, she ordered a icoberry juice and looked around, noting that there were very few available seats. She spotted a cute girl around her age sitting in a corner by herself and decided to go introduce herself. Taking her juice, she walked over to the corner table. "Is this seat taken?" she asked with a smile.

Elisha looked up from her book- a real book, not on a PaDD- and offered a sweet smile to the other woman. "Nope, it's all yours," she said. "Kelly, right?" she added, hoping she remembered the other cadet's name correctly.

Kelly took the seat and noted how sweet the other cadet's smile was as she set her juice on the table well away from the book. "Right. You're...Elizabeth? Did I get that right?"

"Not bad," said Elisha with another grin. "Elisha. It's an odd name. People don't usually remember it. I get called Elizabeth a lot."

Kelly blushed. "Sorry, Elisha," she said. "I just spent ten hours on the flight deck cleaning every shuttle and runabout on the ship."

"Wow," replied Elisha. "And to think I complained when they made me scour all the star maps for this sector to find discrepancies. I'll never complain about correcting maps again."

"I volunteered to do it," Kelly said as she took a sip of her drink which stained her lips and tongue blue. "I wanted to impress the Chief of Flight and he made me the helm for Gamma Shift."

"Huh," said Elisha, slightly dumbfounded. "Volunteering for unpleasant jobs leaves an impression. Maybe I'll volunteer to go over all the star maps when we get to different sectors."

"The stars are really fascinating," Kelly said. "I plan to personally map as many as I can on my own journey through space. That is, until I get my dream position."

"Okay, I'll bite," laughed Elisha. "What's your dream position?"

"So soon?" Kelly asked coquettishly as she batted her eyelashes. "I don't usually bite or ask the big questions until I get to know someone a little better." Unable to help herself any longer, she laughed in delight. "I want to be a test pilot one day."

"I originally wanted to be a pilot, but they said my spacial relations aren't good enough," Elisha replied. "But, as it turns out, I really like mapping things out. Like just the other day, we took some readings on a nebula and just placing everything on the map where it belonged was really exciting!" She grinned sheepishly. "Sorry," she said. "I'm kind of a geek."

"Don't apologize for something you love to do," Kelly told her as she took another sip of her icoberry juice. "Everybody has different passions. The way I see it, without stellar cartographers, pilots would be flying blind in space. In fact, I should get you a drink so I can make a proper toast. What's your pleasure?"

"I don't really drink," said Elisha. "I usually just stick to lemonade. But, we can toast with lemonade, if you want. That's what we used to do when we were kids. Mom even put it in champagne flutes."

"Lemonade it is," Kelly said. "I like icoberry juice myself. Even if does make me look like I got freaky with a Bolian." She laughed and went to get a lemonade before returning to the table. "One lemonade. So how are you settling in?"

"Thanks," said Elisha, accepting the lemonade. "Good, I think. There's been a lot of weird stuff going on. I wonder if it's always like this."

"I hope not," Kelly responded after she sat down again. "I mean, it's exciting and all, but I like my enemies outside the ship, not inside. It's kind of creepy. I wonder if they'll ever find everyone involved?"

"Probably not," said Elisha. "Some of them will stay in hiding, even if they have to do it forever. If it were me, I'd rather be in hiding than in prison."

"I still don't understand how anyone could say that pity is treason and turn against everything they stood for," Kelly said as she took another sip of her juice. "They have to be under some form of mind control in order to go against all the training that Starfleet gives us."

"That thought crossed my mind, too," agreed Elisha. "I heard one guy actually WAS under mind control. It made me think that maybe they all are."

"It's crazy," Kelly said. "And here I am without a phaser. I doubt martial arts would work good against a crazy."

"Well, I dunno," said Elisha. "I would think they might be spooked by martial arts. They might work just fine against crazy people."

"Either way, I hold the rank of Sankyu Third Kyu, which is a greenbelt in Aikido and a purple belt in Jiu Jitsu," Kelly said as she took another drink of her icoberry juice. "If I can't get them with either of those, I'll go for the kneecaps."

Elisha grinned. "That sounds like a plan," she said. "I grew up with five brothers, so I know how to hold my own in a fist fight, but I've got nothing fancy."

"That sounds like you have an advantage," Kelly said. "I have three brothers and three sisters, but I'm the oldest. There were times when that really sucked."

"My brothers are all older," said Elisha. "So, needless to say, I never had dates."

"None?" Kelly blinked. "Did you join Starfleet to find someone?" she laughed.

Elisha grinned. "No," she answered. "I joined Starfleet to see the stars. And map them, of course."

"How do you stay sane?" Kelly asked incredulously.

Elisha gave her a mischievous smile. "By mapping stars, obviously," she answered.

Kelly just stared at her for a moment. "By...mapping stars. Is that like playing connect the dots with a Trill?"

"I can't say I've ever done that," laughed Elisha. "But, I'd have to say probably not."

"It's fun," Kelly said. "If I wasn't a cadet, I'd go for the Flight Chief. He's hot," she confided. "So what tickles your fancy beside mapping stars?"

"I like reading," Elisha answered, nodding towards her book. "And I like to sing. I don't sing in front of people, though," she added quickly. "I'm not good enough for that."

"I love to sing," Kelly said. "It doesn't matter if people are around or not. If it feels like a good time to sing, I'll do it. Just don't give me any Romulan ale."

Elisha sensed a story, but decided she probably didn't want to know what had happened. "I won't," she promised.

Kelly gave a devilish laugh with a twinkle in her eyes. "Unless, of course, you want to see me dance."

Elisha could see why that was such a bad thing, but trusted Kelly that it was. "I'll keep it in mind if I have such a fiendish desire," she said.

"We should do a duet some time," Kelly said as she finished her icoberry juice. "Maybe set up a holoprogram with an audience so you can get used to singing in front of people. My girlfriend at Academy had a lovely singing voice, but she was terrified to sing in front of people until I helped her with it."

"Maybe" said Elisah non-committally. "We'll see."

"It couldn't hurt," Kelly said. "Besides, if you don't like the audience, you can delete them. I'd love to hear you sing."

"I'm not very good," Elisha assured her. "Mom made me take voice lessons when I was a teenager. I don't think it was worth it."

"Then maybe we can go vectorboarding," Kelly said. "I have my own, but the holodeck should be able to make a few good facsimiles."

"I've never been," admitted Elisha. "But, I've always wanted to try. My brothers wouldn't teach me. They said it was too dangerous. Granted, I was seven at the time."

Kelly laughed. "It's amazing. They can go up to three hundred kilometers per hour," she said, her hazel eyes shining with excitement. "There's nothing like a magnetic boot keeping you from certain doom as you soar through the skies on a thin board, the wind in your hair and the sheer exhilaration."

"I don't think I'll be going that fast," said Elisah. "Not for awhile, anyway. My brothers used to do all kinds of stunts on them. Joel teaches classes now. He's pretty successful."

"What's his name?" Kelly asked. "I've seen a ton of holo's of vectorboarders."

"I just said," replied Elisha. "Joel Cherno. Well, I guess I just said his first name. Still, brothers and sisters usually have the same last name."

"I'm sorry," Kelly started, then stopped. "The Joel Cherno!? The most famous vectorboarder in the history of history!?"

Several officers glared at the young cadet who seemed to be excited about something, then shook their heads. "I wish I still had that kind of enthusiasm," one said.

"You just wish you had a winning hand at this point," another said. "Now let's see your hand or fold."

"Yeah, that would be him," said Elisha, giving the nearby officers an apologetic look. "Let me guess, you want to meet him next time we're on Earth?"

Kelly blushed. "If we get back and, uh, he's not busy...it would be nice."

Elisha grinned. "Sure," she said. "Just promise not to fangirl, okay?"

"I'll try," Kelly said. "But I can't promise. He's so phenomenal that I based some piloting maneuvers off of his moves. That's what got me into Nova Squad."

"Oh, good grief," said Elisha. "He's going to think that's amazing. If I'm not careful, the two of you may end up hero worshiping one another."

Kelly laughed. "Does that come with special prizes?"

"Quite probably," said Elisha, sounding a bit disgruntled. "But if it does, never tell me about it."

"Huh?" Kelly asked, confused as to why Elisha sounded upset.

Elisha grinned. "Never mind," she said. "My brain was making inappropriate connections again. It does that sometimes."

"I know what you mean, but I'll probably turn into a stuttering fool if I get to meet your brother," Kelly said.

"He's used to that," Elisha said. "Most girls are either stuttering fools or think he's too into himself for their tastes. He's not," she added. "Too into himself, I mean. He's actually a really nice guy."

"People think that pilots are too into themselves, too," Kelly said. "I had an instructor at the Academy actually tell the orientation class that they should want to be pilots because pilots are sexy." She rolled her eyes. "I asked him what being sexy had to do with being a good pilot and he ignored me. Trust me, I won't treat your brother as anything other than a person who can teach me something new. Once I finish stuttering."

Elisha grinned again. "Meanwhile, scientists don't really care what's sexy and what isn't," she said. "For the record, I like guys with their noses in books. So, if you see any, sent them my way."

"There's Cadet Mackie," Kelly said. "He seems to be the likely candidate for what you have in mind. Me? I don't care if they have their noses stuck in books or their head in the clouds, as long as they're honest."

Elisha wrinkled her nose. "Quinn?" she said. "He's... I dunno, but I don't think so. I mean, he's nice enough, but..." She shrugged. "He thinks I'm a geek."

"Did he actually call you a geek?" Kelly asked her.

"Well, no," admitted Elisha. "But everyone thinks I'm a geek. Why should he be any different. I don't mind," she added quickly. "I AM kind of a geek. So at least they're not wrong."

"You're not a geek," Kelly said. "Maybe a nerf herder, but not a geek. Step out of your shell and live a little, Elisha. You'll discover that all of us having our issues in one way or another."

Elisha laughed at the nerf herder comment. "I still have no idea what that means," she said. "What is a nerf and how does one herd it? And how exactly is that a geeky thing to do?"

"I dunno, either," Kelly laughed. "My girlfriend at the Academy called me one, but it isn't bad. She was laughing when she called me that. Just means to relax and live a little."

"I'm not sure what that means, either," replied Elisha. "Like, my idea of relaxing is completely different from yours. To me, I am relaxing."

"Fair enough," Kelly said before she looked at the chronometer on the wall. "I have to try to get an hour or so of rest before I go on duty. It was nice talking to you, Elisha."

"It was nice talking to you, too," Elisha replied. "I'm gonna stay. I get tomorrow off for having done overtime to get all those star maps done. See? That's why I volunteer."

Kelly paused. "I should have asked for that before I volunteered. Oh well," she shrugged as she got to her feet. "I need a sonic shower and some sleep. Talk to ya later, Toots."

"See you later," agreed Elisha, picking her book back up and opening back to her place.

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