"Back on Earth: Showing Ensign Cate Around" written by: Cmdr Skyler & Ensign Cate Stardate 20405.13 XO's log: We have finally arrived back to Earth in our own time. Unfortunately, we lost several people in the process. They will be missed, but they gave their lives with honor and valor. In the process, we did manage to bring back two members from the ISS Tempest. First a Lt, now an ensign Cate and her friend James. F I feel that once they are adjusted to this time period they will become a valued asset to the crew of the Avalon. End Log. Skyler finished her short and brief log while waiting for Mehdi. She didn't know how long he would be so she contacted Ensign Cate. "Ensign Cate, this is Cmdr Skyler. Please report to my office as soon as possible." Now it was just a matter of waiting. Time would tell if their friendship would stand the test of time. Lyryn came out of her meditative trance and began to stretch. It was the second thing that she did every morning to focus for the day. The first thing was an intense martial workout. After the restless night she had, she was tempted to skip it, but order was important to Lyryn. She pushed on through her workout. James had been very patient about it and not interrupted her in the least, though he was still quite leary about her having brought him on board. "Lyryn," James spoke from behind her. "Commander Skyler called over the com about five minutes ago. She wants to see you in her office as soon as possible. I didn't want to disturb you." He looked so solemn that Lyryn was inclined to cock her head to one side and study him for a moment. What was he thinking? Was he angry? Accepting? Saying nothing, she nodded assent and walked towards her bathroom to shower from the morning's workout. "I laid a towel out for you," he commented with a smile as she walked by. Lyryn turned around and tiptoed to place a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you," she said quietly as she continued on to the bathroom. After she was showered and properly dressed in her new Starfleet uniform, which she found to be highly confining and slightly itchy, Lyryn made her way to Skyler's office. She had surprisingly taught her way around the ship rather quickly. It was the years of security training, she supposed. Find your weaknesses, your entrances and exits and commit them to memory. As she approached the office, she was slightly surprised to see Skyler standing in the doorway. Noticing Lyryn's surprise, Skyler commented, "I called your room again. James told me you were on your way." Lyryn smiled and raised her eyebrows slightly in a questioning gesture. "You wanted to see me about something important? I could've made it sooner if I had known. I just figured I'd wash away the sweat before I repelled the rest of my crew members for the day." It's nice to see this side of her, Skyler thought as she gestured for the former Lt. to enter her office. Skyler looked at the new Ensign in her uniform. "Well, I see you found your uniforms and such. I hope that everything is within your size and meets with your approval. I am sure that it is rather cumbersome and uncomfortable, not what you expected is it?" Skyler smiled. She was trying to put Lyryn at ease but got the feeling it wasn't working too well. "The reason I called you here is very simple. We are on shore leave and I thought that perhaps Mehdi and I could show you and James around San Francisco. Especially since you have never been to this time period, let alone Earth. If you are interested, you may go change out of that stuffy uniform and put some more comfortable clothing and meet us outside in, oh say, half an hour? Will that work for you?" Skyler hoped it would, because she still had to persuade Mehdi to join them. Lyryn beamed an excited grin at Skyler. The Earth That Was! She had always read such fascinating stories about it - the artwork and old buildings! Surely James would be just excited as she. They had had many discussions on what it would've been like to tour old England and see a real castle that the history programs spoke of. The closest they had gotten was a holo-program and it just wasn't the same. "Half an hour? We'll be there," Lyryn said full of more enthusiasm than Skyler had seen yet. "Excellent," Skyler couldn't help but smile back. Lyryn made her way back to quarters. James was waiting on her. This is kinda nice, she thought, as she had never shared quarters with anyone before. It was a pleasant feeling to know that she wasn't coming home to an empty room. Seeing Lyryn's grin as soon as she entered the room, James asked, "What? Did you get a promotion already? Typical." He rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "Humph, and here I was going to offer to show you around Earth with Skyler and I. I s'pose I'll just go myself. I don't need Mr. Sarcasm along spoiling my day," she teased. "Earth That Was? Blim! We get to see it?" His excitement seemed to match hers. Lyryn loved that bit of spark in his eyes. It was quite endearing. "That's what Skyler said. Wanna go?" "Of course." "I just need to change clothes. I see you found your civies. It will be nice to get out of this itchy thing," Lyryn continued talking as she looked for her clothing. She stepped into the bathroom to change, though still holding her conversation with James. "I wonder if I will ever get used to this confining thing. I miss my flight suit. What did you think about the uniforms?" She asked as she emerged from the bathroom. "I didn't try it on." Taking a deep breath, he explained, "Lyryn, I don't know if I really want to stay here. I'm sorry. Maybe starting all over as an Ensign sits well with you, but I had to work really hard to reach Senior Lieutenant and I'm not as young as you are. I've been thinking that...I don't want to start my career over." "But...but what would you do?" "I don't know. At one time I thought I had my life fairly well mapped out, but things change, don't they?" His lips turned up into a half-hearted smile. "I'm so sorry. I just...I can't explain. I guess I was being selfish and didn't want to go through all this alone. I mean, all the sudden I just realized that you meant something more to me that just a casual friend as I had always kept in mind." Her eyes drifted to the side, being slightly embarrassed at her revelation. Sensitive to her uneasiness and knowing that she wasn't one to talk about her feelings, James was quite touched. He reached for her hand and brought her into a quick embrace. When he released her, he touched her nose with his to make it do that cute little crinkly thing that he liked seeing so much. "We'll talk about it later, okay? Let's go explore Earth," he offered. They clasped hands as they made their way to Skyler's rendezvous.