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// Written by Jonathan Lau
Chapter 2
Zach stood to
the left of Shras as they waited for the Geneva to complete docking
procedures. The trip to the airlock was quiet and uneventful, but
that was usually normal for the Captain and himself. Shras wasn’t
known to speak when it was not required; however, his earlier
ribbing of Ensign Randall on the bridge spoke volumes of his
unpredictability. The comments made by Shras continued to amuse
Bauer as he chuckled to himself.
A few seconds later, movement caught the corner of his left eye. He
turned his head and saw the ship’s Vulcan Executive Officer, Taal,
and the Doctor, Kazue Kimura, approach. “Commander. Doctor.”
Taal’s normally stoic voice seemed almost emotional as he greeted
Zach and Shras with a nod, “Counselor, what is the nature of our
presence at the airlock?”
“The Admiral is coming on board.”
“Oh? The Admiral is coming?” asked Kazue with concern “Must be
important.”
Shras’ combadge chirped, and he answered it, “Shras here.”
On the other end was Lashbrook, “Sir? We have just completed docking
procedures.”
“Thank you, Ensign. Shras out.” Shras turned to Zach, “Open the
airlock, Counselor.”
Zach nodded in affirmation and opened the airlock hatch. He looked
up at the hatch as it parted and revealed the presence of Admiral
Crenshaw and two other humans, a male and a female. The human male
followed the Admiral and looked around the corridor. As he did so,
Zach studied his female counterpart and he couldn’t believe his
eyes. Her face was pale and graced with her dark brown locks that
freely flowed down the sides. She was wearing a light blue outfit
which hugged the lean contours of her body. She also had a matching
coloured shawl wrapped around her shoulders. That wasn’t what Zach
noticed about her. It was her eyes. Her blue eyes seemed to match
the colour of her outfit. He stared into them and wondered how many
men had lost their way looking into her wide attractive eyes.
Admiral Crenshaw extended his right arm and Shras shook his hand.
“Captain, it is good to see you again. It was fortunate that you
were returned safely to the Geneva during the antennae array
crisis.”
“Yes, fortunate indeed. Thank you, Admiral,” Shras motioned toward
his entourage. “Admiral, I believe you know my first officer,
Commander Taal. This is Counselor Bauer, my second officer, and
Doctor Kimura, our Chief Medical Officer.”
“Yes, Commander,” replied Crenshaw as he nodded in Taal’s direction,
“Counselor, Doctor. Captain, this is Ambassador Darien Graves and
his daughter Moreena.”
Ambassador Graves motioned his regards to the entourage with a nod
and his daughter followed suit. Crenshaw cleared his throat and
looked back at Shras. “Captain, you, the Ambassador and I need to
talk in private.”
Shras nodded his head, “Of course, Admiral. We can talk in my ready
room.”
“Good, I assume you have quarters available for the Ambassador and
his daughter?”
“Of course, those quarters are readily available,” answered Shras as
he turned to Taal. “Commander, I trust you will assign appropriate
quarters for the Ambassador and his daughter.”
“Yes, Captain.”
Crenshaw nodded his head in approval and looked at Shras again.
“Captain, if you would lead the way to your ready room. I wouldn’t
know how to get there from here.”
Zach watched as the Captain led the Ambassador and Admiral to his
ready room. When they disappeared around the corner, Taal addressed
the Ambassador’s daughter. “Ms. Graves. If you will follow me, I
will show you to your quarters.”
“Thank you, Commander.”
Before Taal could take a step, Kazue interceded him. “Taal, don’t
you have a physical in sickbay you have to report to?”
Zach looked at Taal in confusion and then at Kazue. Taal also shared
the Counselor’s confusion and raised an eyebrow. “I believe you are
mistaken, Kazue.”
Kazue shook her head and grabbed Taal’s arm and pulled it towards
the opposite end of the corridor. “No, Commander. You’re mistaken.
It looks like your memory is starting to fail,” she said while
attempting to discretely motion her head for Taal to play along,
“again!”
Taal looked down at Kazue’s obvious gestures and turned around and
looked at Zach. Zach being just as confused shrugged his shoulders.
Not knowing what to do, Taal began to play along, “Yes, thank you
for reminding me, Doctor.” Taal stated emphasizing each word. “At my
age, my memory is troubling.”
With a puzzled look on his face, Zach looked at Taal, “At your age?
Aren’t you only 27?”
Taal’s blank face revealing nothing, he looked at Zach “Yes, I am. I
keep forgetting that. Perhaps, I am in need of memory treatment,”
said Taal as his continued to emphasize each word. “Let us go
Doctor, before I am stricken with a condition far worse than the one
I am currently afflicted with.”
Zach eyed Kazue and Taal suspiciously as Kazue began to drag Taal
away with her arms wrapped around his. He turned his attention to
Moreena as she watched the preceding episode with keen interest.
“Those two certainly couldn’t wait,” noted Moreena. “Are they
usually like that?”
“I don’t know. I’ve heard rumours that they are having a
relationship, but I wasn’t aware that it was progressing this fast,”
said Zach as he motioned towards the corridor. “Shall we?”
Moreena tipped her head gracefully and walked in the direction
pointed out by the Counselor. Zach was about to follow when he
turned to look at the Doctor and Commander.
“Doctor, I have forgotten where sickbay is. Please lead the way.” He
heard as Kazue hit Taal playfully on the shoulder.
It was odd indeed. He had certainly heard the rumours regarding Taal
and Kazue’s suspected relationship. They had spent a lot of time
together. However, there were no previous signs to indicate that
their relationship was getting in the way of their duties aboard the
ship. Although the incident didn’t reinforce his suspicions, he was
going to bring up the topic to discuss with Taal.
When Taal and Kazue were rounding the corner, she looked back at
Zach and grinned mischievously at him and then winked. The wink
caught him off guard and looked again only to see them disappear. He
wasn’t sure what it meant. Was Kazue trying to set him up with the
Ambassador’s daughter? He wondered that if Kazue noticed him staring
at Moreena, perhaps someone else did as well. His mind raced through
the possibilities but was interrupted.
“Are you coming, Counselor?”
Turning around, Zach looked at Moreena slightly puzzled, “What?”
“My quarters?” she answered rhetorically. “You were going to show me
to my quarters?”
“Right, yes. Sorry. I just got confused for a moment, Madame
Ambassador.”
“I’m not an Ambassador,” she said as she smiled luminously, “You may
call me Moreena.”
“Ok, Moreena. You may call me Zach,” he replied. “So what brings you
on board the ship?”
“Not much,” she answered as she released a frustrated sigh. “Except
that my father’s safety may be in jeopardy.”
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