[ussgeorgetown] The Best Laid Plans of Borg and Men by 5 of 12, Aileas McKay, and Nan Ecitsuj
- From: TKilyle@xxxxxxx
- To: ussgeorgetown@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 15 Apr 2005 16:51:51 EDT
Nan found himself uncharacteristically silent after he and 5 of 12 left
Counselor ch'Thane's office. They walked together in silence, going nowhere in
particular, each immersed in their own thoughts. Eventually, though, Nan
glanced
down at his left hand, the prosthetic one, which still held hers.
"You know," he finally said, holding up their clasped hands, "this feels like
my hand. It's not doing anything I don't want it to do. I won't be upset if
you say no, especially after my tirade with Captain ch'Thane, but would you
like to have dinner with me? I don't feel like sitting alone and stewing over
everything. I'd ask Senek but he's not been feeling too well and you're a lot
prettier than he is."
Pretty? That was not something she'd ever been called before. Cocking her
head to one side, 5 of 12 considered his offer. "That would be most felicifc.
I will join you."
Nan grinned, his smile as bright as his hair. He offered 5 a slight bow and
held out his elbow to her. "The choice is yours. Where would you like to go?
Most people can't stand the temperature in my quarters. It's fairly cold
you know. I leave it up to you since we both ought to be comfortable. You
can't be any happier about all of this than I am."
"Not what you would call happy, no. I am frustrated and I find that I am
angry." It was an unusual emotion for her, something that she rarely felt. "I
believe that this quest will be ultimately fruitless and that annoys me." She
squeezed his hand for comfort, just checking that he was still there more than
anything. "I would like to dine with you wherever you are most comfortable.
It is your company that I require, the surroundings are irrelevant."
"Good, then come with me. I'll show you my quarters and we can eat like we
do on my home world. Well, you have whatever you want because I'm not exactly
the world's greatest cook but holographic fires are better than plain ceiling
lights and the cold is a good excuse to sit closer," Nan said with a grin as
he led her up the corridor. He let out a soft sigh and shook his head. "I
don't want to agree with you but I'm going to have to. I just can't leave it
be,
though. Inaction is just as wrong as bad action."
"It was not my intention to recommend inaction. I was merely stating my
reservations about the success of this venture." A strange fluttering had
started
in her stomach when Nan had mentioned sitting close but she put it down to
being in need to sustenance.
He knew it must give the environmental guys in Engineering fits trying to
figure out the power curve for keeping his quarters so comfortably cold but Nan
figured the heat in any Vulcan's quarters would equal out to the almost frosted
conditions in his. He tapped the door open and gestured his guest inside.
"We are a peaceable sort of people, Five, but the only sure way to make us
angry is to wrongly force another to change their part of the Story, to make
them lie. They are making me live a lie and I don't like it," he stated.
He shook his head and walked over to the couch. Pulling a few well stuffed
cushions off, he threw them on the floor. He lowered himself to one then held
out a hand. "Join me a few minutes. If we don't settle ourselves down a bit,
we're going to be too worked up."
Lowering herself to the floor next to him, 5 of 12 felt goose-pimples start
on her exposed skin. The environmental controls in her room were identical to
those of a Borg cube, humid and warm. Coldness was not the most pleasant of
feelings to her. Ignoring her discomfort, she curled her legs under her. "Let
us speak of more enjoyable things for one evening. Tell me of your home,
your family. I wish to know about you."
Nan saw how uncomfortable she was and reached over to pull a woven coverlet
off the couch. He draped it around Five's shoulders then put an arm around
her.
"I told you it was cold in here. You won't offend me if you complain. The
only reason Senek and I are friends is because he finally got the nerve to tell
me to shut up," Nan said with a smile. "But...about me? I'm the youngest
son of four sons. I have two younger sisters and until I signed up for
Starfleet, I was going to join my father in his business. He's a carpenter."
"What made you join Starfleet? Your people sound so peaceful, why join the
military?" She snuggled down next to him, aware that her implants must dig
into his skin but unsure what to do about it. The thought of making him
uncomfortable finally outweighed her need for contact with him and she moved
away,
pulling the blanket tighter around her.
"Hey, come back here. I was just getting used to the extra warmth. It
wasn't uncomfortable for once," Nan said as he held his arm back out. "As for
the
military question, they got me with the exploration ideas. I'm considered the
nosy one in the family, the kid who always wants to know why. Believe me, I
love my home world but I appreciate it all the more because I know now how
different it is from every place else. I like different. You're different."
"I am not unique." Different is good? She shook her head in bemusement.
Since when has different been good? Sliding tentatively closer to Nan again, 5
of 12 reached out to take his hand, the contact sending his unique
bio-signature through her mind. "There is nothing special about me."
"I think there is. There's the obvious," Nan began. He very lightly touched
the edge of her ocular implant. "Part of you was, and is, Borg. I can't say
that I've ever met anybody who was like that. That part of which is Human
has that adorable accent. I know, you're going to say there are other people
who have one similar but I don't know them. All this differentness makes one
very unique person. When you come from a world that's constantly covered by
wind driven snow, people's differences are what liven things up."
âI am sure that you are correct.â His close proximity was warming her,
making her skin tingle. Shaking her head, she sat away a little while still
close
enough to touch him. âWhat do you have in mind for food?â
"Whatever you want, honestly. Unfortunately, I can't cook," Nan said with a
slight shrug. "Senek, though, after he finished messing around with my
thermostat, was kind enough to add in some of the more off the beaten path
Earth
recipes to my replicator as well as some of his mother's Vulcan ones. I can
get
you whatever you want. And, contrary to some of my good friend's jokes, I do
NOT eat ice cubes."
A slow grin spread over her face as one of Aileas' memories surfaced.
"Stovies with oatcakes. Aberdeen stovies, mind. None of the Southerner
tripe."
The accent thickened with each surfacing memory. At Nan's questioning look,
Aileas smiled. "It's a meet and potato stew, you stick all the ingredients in
a
huge pot and boil it all up together."
Nan stood up and held out a hand to help her up. "Tell you what, I trust you
completely. If you'd like to tell the replicator what it needs to do then
that would be fine with me. So far as I know, I'm not allergic to anything
either. It's the company that matters to me and if dinner's good, too, then
it's
a bonus."
Nodding, she turned to the replicator and described the meal from her home
town. Two plates piled with steaming mush appeared. It looked like stewed
beef
mixed in with mashed potato, until inspected closer when larger chunks of the
potato appeared. The smell of beef stock and freshly baked oat cakes filled
the room. Smiling, Aileas ordered a small plate of pickled beetroot to have
with it, offering a few pieces to Nan. "It's traditional. We eat it on St.
Andrews Day at home, to keep away the winter chills."
Nan tasted the sample then grinned. "It's very good. I've tried the root
before but not like this. I like the color, too. It's very lively, you know.
Come, let's sit and you can tell me about this holiday. Earth seems to have a
lot of holidays and foods associated with them," he said brightly. "I don't
think I ever got to your area of Earth while I was there, either now or when I
was there to go to NCO school."
"St. Andrews Day is on November 30th, we celebrate it because Andrew is
Scotland's patron saint. We have..."
"Mamworth to McKay. Sir, three more bodies have been discovered, your
presence is needed in the Morgue."
Hitting her comm-badge, Aileas frowned. "On my way." She looked over at
Nan. "I'm so very sorry..."
"Don't be sorry. We all have jobs to do. I can keep this warm for you if
you want or, if you're still at the investigation later and you get hungry,
call
me and I'll bring it down to you. It's no problem," Nan told her. He was
annoyed, yes, but he knew it wasn't her fault. "And maybe it'll be warmer over
there when you eat."
"You're a sweet man." Thoughts of her home and happiness made her bold so
she leaned over and kissed him. "Thank you for the company," she said as she
rose to her feet and left.
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