[ussbansheec] The Prince of Stars
- From: Andy Maluhia <CaptainAndy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: ussbansheec@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 10 Jun 2006 10:58:51 -0400
_ The Prince of Stars
_by Scott Ecitsuj & Kinipela Maluhia with Lieutenant Grimsley
Lunch in the observation lounge was a pleasant thing after the mountains
of paperwork on his desk. Scott unwrapped his sandwiches, cheddar with
ham. He spied a pretty face and gave her a bright smile as he munched
into his first triangle. He always finished too quickly. Sighing to
himself, he gave the woman another smile then disappeared back to the
hell that was his work.
Cute, Kini thought as the officer left. He has a nice smile. The
thought of smiles made her sigh, though, and she took out the holo she
had in her pocket. There was her beloved ka makua kane, smiling as
ever, with his arm around her. He was so handsome, always smiling like
that. Always happy to be with the people he loved. Enough, she told
herself, go back to the cabin they gave you and wait there. She stood
to leave then stopped. She had no idea where she was going. Ka makua
kane always was with her whenever she'd been on a ship and she'd only
gotten to this lounge because somebody else had taken her there.
"Wonderful," she sighed as she sat back down. "You can't even leave."
Another few hours of ploughing through mindless work and Scott declared
he was done. His deputy grinned at him as he slumped to his feet. "Let
me know if the night shift finds anything on their sweeps?"
"Yes, sir," the short Lieutenant said. "Now go to bed."
"I need to walk a while." Giving the man another smile, he wandered out
and wound slowly back to the Observation Lounge. As he entered, he
glanced up to meet the eyes of the same pretty woman.
"Hi," he chimed. "You like it here?"
"Well," Kini said carefully, "you have a very nice ship and I might like
to see more of it but I'm a bit lost." She offered the man an
embarrassed smile. "I got up to leave and realized had no idea where I
was going."
Scott laughed brightly. "I'm sorry, ma'am, but I know exactly what you
mean. When I first joined the Fenchurch, I got lost every time I had to
leave the Flight Decks. We're our own little world down there, so
leaving always used to scare me a bit." Offering her a bow, he said,
"My name's Scott Ecitsuj, ma'am. I'd be glad to give you a tour."
"Kinipela Maluhia," Kini replied, smiling at the bright laughter, "but
most people call me Kini. I think I might like the tour, actually. I
know how busy you all are with ...things...but I've never quite been on
a ship by myself. I always had an escort."
Snorting softly in mild amusement, Scott offered her his arm. "Well,
let me be your escort and I'll show you only the most interesting
spots. I could be incredibly dull and show you each of my fighter bays."
"No, show me everything you think is interesting or worth seeing," Kini
said as she wrapped a hand around his arm. "You are all going to be
stuck with me until you find my uncle."
"Your Uncle?" Scott asked softly as he led her away from the lounge.
"It's my sister on the Banshee. The Captain's daughter and our XO's
fiance."
With her free hand, Kini reached to take the holo out of her bag and
held it out to him. There he was with her, not in his Marine uniform,
but in shorts and barefoot on the beach. "My ka makua kane, my Uncle
Andy. He's their Marine Regimental commander. We have friends aboard,
too: Tabetha and Joseph...but it's always Andy who took me around."
"Handsome man," he said with a sad smile. "We'll find them. We have
to. I have too many friends on that ship, too much of my life tied up
in it." He closed his eyes for a small moment before giving her a much
brighter smile. "There's three of the best ships out looking for her,
we'll find Banshee."
Kini nodded quietly as she put the picture away. "Uncle Andy is like
the keystone of our family. He's the oldest one of his generation and
everybody's favorite," she said with a sigh. "He's my godfather, too."
She looked up at him curiously. "Who else is looking for them?"
"The Tempest and a privately own vessel captained by Commodore Patrick
McEntire. He has five children on the Banshee too," Scott told her.
"Everyone has a personal stake in this. Everyone is scared out of their
minds."
"That's why I'm here, you know. Our aunt is the only family Uncle Andy
has in Starfleet and she couldn't leave to look for him. We wanted
somebody to be here for him," Kini replied. "It sounds silly to some
people but we think family being out here will help call them back
home. It's part of a song he sings all the time."
"Doesn't sound in the least bit silly to me." Scott slipped his hand
into hers as they rode the turbolift down to where his office was.
"When they're back, it will all be wound into the Story."
"What sort of story?" Kini asked. She held tightly to his hand,
enjoying the simple contact of a friendly person and his warmth.
He gave her a cheerful smile as he explained his father's people's
tradition of the Story. "Everyone important to the teller is wound into
it. The whole of the Banshee crew will be, I'll see to it."
"Oh how lovely!" Kini exclaimed. "My ka kupuna, my grandparents, would
love the idea. It's very respectful to tradition." Her cheeks flushed
slightly under her tan. "I don't mean to sound so silly but...you're
not completely Human then?"
Turning his black, shining eyes on the young woman, Scott blushed and
bit his lips in suppressed laughter. "Half Ninitchik. Half Borg." His
grin widened even more. "So only a little bit Human."
"You have such pretty eyes," she mused before she realized how
outrageously forward that sounded. "My, ah, cousins are only a little
more than half Human but the rest's not Borg, though. It's Orion and
Vulcan."
Scott blushed even brighter as his smile softened. She wasn't T'Cerys
but she was still very pretty. Softer somehow, not as striking, but
still very, very pretty. "They must be almost as pretty as you, Kini."
Kini felt her face warm again. It wasn't as though she hadn't heard
that before but hearing it from such a striking looking man was
different, different enough to make butterflies flit around in her
stomach. "Thank you," she said softly. "That's very sweet of you.
They really are very pretty, though. They look as though they almost
glowing."
"They sound lovely," he mused as they stepped out onto the floor of the
vast hanger bay. "This is only one of my bays," he told her even as he
spied a tall, young, slightly perturbed Lieutenant bustle toward them.
"You're meant to be getting some rest, sir," Lieutenant Grimsley frowned.
"I'm showing a guest around the ship, don't fret so much. I'm sure I'll
get some later." He winked at Kini as he slid his arm around her waist
tentatively.
Kini bit back a giggle. She could feel how strong he was even with that
tentative touch and he felt pleasantly warm. Instinctively, she
returned the gesture then looked at the lieutenant. "The commander is
giving me a short tour, Lieutenant," she said with a soft smile.
"Do me a favour and kiss him, ma'am?" Grimsley chuckled. Then he
outright grinned at Scott's groan. "And see to it he gets some bloody
sleep. He hasn't had more than two hours tops since the Banshee went
missing."
A mischievous glow in her eyes, Kini stood on the tips of her toes and
pecked Scott on the cheek. "There, now as soon as the poor man is
through sleeping on his feet, I will make sure he's asleep in bed."
"I swear I don't know why I have a mother, Jack," Scott laughed, even as
his cheeks burned so brightly that he felt slightly dizzy. "With you
around, I've more than enough."
"Everyone needs three mothers," Grimsley teased as he waved them back to
the turbolift. "One floor down," he told Kini. "Room 12, section B."
"You know, if you're supposed to be sleeping, then maybe you should be,"
Kini said carefully, looking up at him, concern clearly evident in her eyes.
Scott shrugged, giving her a lop-sided smile. "I try. But my dreams
are so dark and cold that they leave me more tired than before I went to
bed."
"The cold scares me," Kini admitted in a small voice. "It's so warm
where we live that I've never really been anywhere cold. I could never
understand how my uncle could be so happy at his job yet still love home
so much. It's so different out here."
"Yeah, but it's beautiful too," Scott said, his smile turning shy.
"Have you ever seen a nebula? Or a supernova remnant? Even the
Badlands have their stark beauty." Keeping his arm around her, he
cuddled her a little bit in reassurance. "Plus, being out here, you all
become a huge family. Even on a ship this big. I know most people on
sight and a large percentage of them by last name at the very least.
And they all know me. If they have a problem, they come see me and we
deal with it. The Fenchurch is its own sort of home."
"That's like Kauai, too," Kini told him. "They all know us and we all
know them. Practically everybody on the island is asking after my uncle
and our friend." She leaned into his embrace as they walked. "Except
my dad or my great uncle are the ones they go to."
"Me and Naz," Scott told her. "We're Captain Davis' support team." She
was warm next to him, comfortable to hold.
"You're a very important man on this ship then. It's no wonder you
don't get any sleep," Kini stated. "I'm a teacher of sorts. I teach
our island language and culture. It's usually for tourists but for our
young ones, too."
"My eldest brother's a teacher," he said as they wound back to the
turbolift. "It's a very fine thing to do. Passing on knowledge,
especially traditions. Like being a Storyteller. You pass on the Story
of your people."
Kini grinned. "You understand it perfectly!" she exclaimed. "We tell
stories to keep the old ways alive even if we bring in the new ones,
too. Even our dancing tells stories."
He flushed again, his smile becoming a grin. "That's like on
Ninitchik. My Dad's a Storyteller too, I try but my stories are nowhere
near as brilliant as his."
"Then I'll tell you what my grandmother tells me. Ke tutu says that the
older you get, the better you understand tradition. You're not as old
as your dad so you have to work your way up," she said. "But I bet your
stories are good any way."
"I can tell you some, maybe," he offered as he stood back to let her on
the lift first. "Where next, my Lady?"
"I'll leave that to you, just not the observation deck," she said
wryly. "I know that too well by now. If we were on Kauai, I would show
you all the places that make me happy: our house, my favorite beach, and
this beautiful waterfall. Kauai's called the 'garden isle' after all.
Show me what makes you happy on this ship?"
Scott had to pause a moment. What made him smile? He could only think
of his Flight Decks, his cabin and the holodeck. Of course, he loved
the observation lounge and Stellar Cartography too. "Um... maybe I'll
show you those nebulae."
"Do they make you happy?" she asked. She had to look up at him but she
was used to that. Those pretty eyes sparkled at her. "Unless, you
really are tired. Then you should go to bed. I don't want your mother
hen lieutenant to peck at me."
He chuckled softly. "I'm exhausted, but I still won't sleep. And yes,
they make me happy. Most pretty things do." With that, he grinned as
he offered her his arm again.
"Then show me," Kini said as she wrapped her hand around his arm. "I've
never seen one and I would love to see you smile more."
Grinning widely, he asked the computer to take them to Stellar
Cartography. "You seem to make me smile a lot," he mused, winking at
her. "And blush. I think my cheeks are going to be permanently red for
the rest of my life."
"I don't mean to. I'm sorry if I said something to embarrass you," she
said softly.
Scott shook his head gently as he turned to face her and lift her chin.
"You didn't. It's a good blush. You're sweet and pretty and I'm all
clumsy and tongue tied around you. I embarrass myself." Brushing her
cheek with his thumb, he felt the very thing he was talking about take
root in his neck and across his nose.
Kini almost laughed at his fair skin and how much it revealed. "It's
handsome blush ," she stated. "You smile a lot. It's a good thing.
You're not to afraid to let people know how you feel. Don't be
embarrassed or I will be."
"My apologies," he winked at her as the doors open and he let go of her
cheek. "Let me show you something almost as pretty as you."
Kini stepped into the room carefully, not sure what she was supposed to
look for. She felt a bit silly, like a child, for not understanding
something that came so easily to her handsome new friend. she reached
for his hand. "Show me?"
"Look up at the dome above us," he told her. "Computer, show the crab
nebula in representative colours." Reds, violets, greens and blues
swirled around them in shades and depths he still found wondrous. "It
doesn't quite look like this in real life, each colour represents a
different gas in the cloud."
Kini's eyes widened as the display unfolded. "Aiwaiwa!" she whispered
in an awed, hushed tone. "How beautiful! It really doesn't look like
this though?"
"Computer, real colour please." Suddenly the display changed to all
shades of silver and grey. It was like a fine mist with stars embedded
in it, glittering like diamonds. "Just as beautiful, I think."
"It's beautiful, just hemolele!" She clasped his arm in delight, dark
eyes shining up at him. "I can see why looking at something so
beautiful would make you smile."
He nodded, beaming up at the swirling gas. "It's even better out there
in a fighter. It's the most amazing thing in the universe." He glanced
down at his companion. "Almost."
"Almost?" she asked very quietly, her hands still holding onto his arm
as she looked up at him. "You're really very charming and sweet."
Leaning down, Scott lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it softly.
"And you're incredibly pretty and very lovely."
It seemed natural enough in that quiet awesomely beautiful setting.
Kini stood on her tip toes and kissed him softly on his lips. "Do you
get those pretty eyes from your father then?" she asked in that same
hushed tome as she tentatively brushed his face with her fingers. "They
seem bright enough to see all of this so clearly."
His lips were on fire, he was sure. "Yes, and my hair from my mother.
Dad has bright white hair. He looks like a snowy prince." Carefully,
respectfully, he brought his lips to hers again and kissed her just as
gently as she had him.
"Then you must be a prince too," she told him, leaning against him just
because he was so warm and inviting. "A prince of he mau hoku, a prince
of stars."
Other related posts:
- » [ussbansheec] The Prince of Stars
