<USS Avalon> Discussion of Retrieval (Woodward/Erridim)

"Discussion of Retrieval"
by
Talea Erridim (also writing as Cialra, NPC)
Bobby Woodward (as himself and one or more of the exocomps)

Officers' Lounge
----
Talea, after being released from Sickbay after the incident in the Marines' gymnasium, walked down to the lounge Bobby Woodward called home, tasked by Cialra to introduce her to him and the exocomps. She arrived and sat as far back as before, save this time, she was in a pale, nearly ghostly color that complemented her hair and eyes. Despite all that had happened to her over the last few days, she was doggedly attempting to gain the much-needed confidence to deal with men in general. Besides, she already had some trust in Bobby; he hadn't led her astray the last time she'd visited his lounge!
It wasn't long before the proprietor himself arrived, walking up with a smile and the ubiquitous menu/game controller PADD. "Well, hello," he said. "Been a few days since I've seen you in here -- but I get the impression things have been pretty busy for everybody. You doing okay?"
Talea, with a sense of horror, simply broke down, her fragile emotional control having given way. After a period that seemed an eternity for her, but in fact was only a short period, she swiped at her tears and shook her head. "Sorry, Bobby. I . . ." She looked down and noticed her hands were trembling. "I was lured into the Pit today. I could have been very badly injured, and the intent of the fighter I faced was not only my defeat, but my utter humiliation. Thank the Creator I was better trained than he expected."
"Oh, by the Maker," he murmured. "I'm so sorry. Clearly some of us are only a few steps out of the slime, despite being able to pass for sentient. I'm glad you're all right." He reached out to pat her on the shoulder, but thought better of it and slipped the hand into his pocket.
It was at that point that Cialra walked in and toward Talea's table. Tsking quietly, she tapped her foot. With a fresh sense of shame, Talea stated, "Bobby Woodward, this is my friend Cialra, whom you may call Claire. She has a request to make of Geisha and the other two exocomps, which may not be doable unless the Captain approves a detour." She was very aware her face was very hot. Had she been Human, she would have been bright red, she knew. As it was, her face was doubtless utterly black. She looked at Cialra and smiled slightly. "Cialra, my good friend and protector, this is Bobby Woodward, the gentleman who runs the officers' lounge."
Cialra smiled and bowed to the man. "I'd shake hands, but you'd find that rather, um, difficult. I'm a holographic avatar of a Regellian MI core."
He smiled and offered a dancer's bow in return. "Pleasure's all mine, Miss Claire. I'm sure the trio would be happy to help in any way they can. Been a while since they've done much heavy-duty engineering work. That the sort of thing you're looking for?"
Cialra smiled slightly. "Not precisely. There is a cache of very rare material that wants retrieval. If I had the ability to go get it myself, I would, but I expect that the material is too delicate for my tractor beam to vector aboard my vessel." She grimaced. "And there is the matter of that Ensign, and perhaps up to four others." This last was in mixed disgust and distress. "With a Regellian vessel, the justice would be certain and quite swift. Ensign Jackson already knows what it is, and I expect he would have told those others, if he could."
Talea nodded. "I doubt seriously that communication between those who plotted my harm would be permitted. Captain Phillips will decidedly be upset, especially since it's members of his own unit, although not Alpha or Delta squads, who have done this." She shivered, as if cold to the bone. "I just hope Sergeant Ranger doesn't get in trouble yet again. This time, he did nothing even remotely incorrect."
Cialra nodded. "Agreed. In fact, he and his patrol quelled the near-riot that occurred after Talea defeated the big bruiser they'd set upon her."
Bobby cleared his throat gently as if to remind the two women he was still there before he said, "I'll go send Hap out to you. If moving delicate material out of tight spaces is what you need, he's your bot. Back in a sec." He set the menu-controller PADD on Talea's table, then turned and headed swiftly back toward the bar.
Talea just blushed again at the reminder they had been being rude, and hid her face. With shaking hands, she scrolled through the selections. Feeling daring, although, in truth, the amount of alcohol in such drinks was negligible, she tapped in an order for a vanilla-creme soda. With a look over at Cialra, she added the notation "with mint", hoping desperately the combination would not be horrid. At Cialra's grimace, she sighed before canceling that and putting in an order for a double-chocolate shake with mint. This time, she finalized the order, chuckling softly at Cialra as she was still looking at Talea like she was quite crazy.
A few minutes later, one of the exocomps arrived, walking on six long legs. "Hello, Talea," he said, speaking in his own language of electronic tones. "And you're Claire. Call me Hap. Bobby said I might be able to help you with a job. What is it?"
Talea shook her head sadly. "'Tis something I have little knowledge of, Hap. And yet, it is critical to allowing Claire to assist this vessel in the manner that is most needed."
Cialra smiled. "Indeed so. And I do understand exocomp language. One of many languages I am able to understand, and in many cases, communicate in." She shook her head. "But in this case, I'll spare us the stares of the rest of the patrons that would ensue should I start using those tones myself!" She chuckled gently. "As to the job, it involves travel within a nebula, to a cache of material that is likely inside a processing vessel of some sort, to retrieve material that is of unknown size, density and mass." She sighed. "Whilst Celeste informed me what the material is called, I have yet to locate the data on it, so, for all I know, the material could be denser than a neutron star or more sparse than . . ." She sighed. "To be honest, I don't know how to quantify the other end of that scale, save that it would not be hard vacuum. Rather, it would be some form of alloy, most likely. Perhaps a bio-alloy. I simply do not know."
"A puzzle. I like puzzles. Sure, I'd be happy to help. Just let me know where and when you need me." Hap's tone showed his growing excitement.
Another minute or two passed, and Bobby returned, carrying a tray with a glass and large aluminum canister on it. He set these down on Talea's table and smiled. "I've been thinking, and I hope I'm not being too forward in asking you a question. Feel free to tell me to get lost if you like. Do you have any interest in dancing?"
Talea smiled slightly. "Why do you ask, Mister Woodward? Dancing is an acceptable form of exercise, so long as it doesn't cross over into the /other/ sort of dance, if you get my meaning." Cialra burst out laughing, although she quickly covered her mouth to muffle it.
"Strictly ballroom," he said, with a friendly grin. "I've been without a dance partner for the longest time, so I'm just putting out feelers. If you know of anyone who might be interested, let me know?"
Talea chuckled a little ruefully. "The ballroom dances I do know, you'd probably not know, and vice-versa. We Regellians have some dances that are very stately, and others that are quite lively, but many of them have no direct equivalent off-world. I'd be willing to be your dance partner in such a cultural exchange." At Cialra's blink, then shooting a glance of disbelief at her, she just waved the concern off. "Cialra! He's honorable. Please, relax?" She then asked him, "Bobby, I don't quite understand. What is this canister?"
"That's the rest of your milkshake," he said. "Earth traditional preparation is to blend the milk and ice cream in an aluminum cup or can, which invariably has a bigger capacity than the serving glass. Generous hosts make more than the glass will hold and serve the excess still in the blending can." He grinned. "And I'd like learning some Regellian dances. I know a few of the more sedate human ones -- waltz, foxtrot, that sort of thing. But my specialty is swing dancing, which can get very lively indeed."
Talea chuckled. "And which of the shakes did you take the order for? I know I made two, one that I canceled due to Cialra's cautionary glare at me." At this, Cialra hmphed and muttered something in Regellian that not even Talea caught clearly, but her expression showed she was a little annoyed at the young woman. She went blithely on, as if she'd not seen Cialra's expression with, "I hope you didn't take offense at the cancellation."
"The second, of course. It's the customer's prerogative to change her mind, and the change was made so quickly that I hadn't had a chance to start on the first, anyway. Let me know if you ever want to try it -- it sounds pretty good, actually."
Talea smiled, then gasped as she realized the time. "Bobby, I'm so sorry! Can you put the drink in stasis or something? I've got to go down to Engineering."
Cialra made a face. "No, you don't need to, Talea, dear. I do. Relax, enjoy your drink." With that, she departed toward Engineering.
Bobby looked after the departing hologram for a moment. "She takes good care of you," he said. "Well, I'd better get back. Let me know when you want to try that dance practice. I'd suggest here, maybe sometime close to closing. All my favorite tunes are in the jukebox, and there's plenty of room. But if there's some other place you'd rather work -- holodeck or whatever -- let me know. Your call."
Talea smiled. "Let me gather the energy to do any dancing, sir." In truth, it felt good to actually feel respected, or at least tolerated. She knew what she felt for Walker was something other than what she felt for this man, and yet both things felt right. Rather than try to understand such a puzzle, she set it aside for later and took a cautious sip of the shake, startled into telepathically sending to the barkeeper, ~By the Creator! You know your business, Bobby!~ The drink was sheer heaven, with a perfect balance of the two flavors.
"From the look on your face, I've done well," he said. "Buzz me whenever you're ready for those dance lessons." He headed back toward the bar. Hap climbed out of the opposite chair and made to follow.
After a time, Talea finished all of the shake, including what was in the shaker still, returned the tray to the bar, despite the distress the fumes caused, bowed to Bobby, who didn't see her and, after leaving a short note with Geisha indicating she'd meet him later, departed for clearer air.

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