Old and New Arrivals
Posted on Mon Nov 2nd, 2009 @ 1:45pm by Captain Elsie Halliwell & Lieutenant JG Lucy Carter
1,439 words; about a 7 minute read
Mission:
Shoreleave - Welcoming Old Friends and New
Location: Golden Crown, Officers' Lounge
Timeline: Current
ON:
Captain Kerr stood next to Counsellor Carter at the airlock to the Archimedes, both awaiting with baited breath for the arrival of an old friend... and a new officer. Since having seen Ensign Larkin again, resurrected for all intents and purposes, several feelings and emotions stirred with them both.
“How do you think he’ll cope, Lieutenant?� Kerr said, turning to face the counsellor. “Do you think he’ll find it harder what with having established relationships that he knows nothing of?�
Carter turned to him and frowned slightly. "I think he will cope like our other Kevin coped, Captain. He will be nervous but keen to work. It will certainly be hard for him." Her hands fell by her sides as she turned to look at the entrance.
The heavily airlock doors parted to reveal a seemingly in good spirits the now Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Larkin. While the conversation with his parents had been a difficult one, simply seeing them again for the first time after two years of captivity was a great relief. One of the concepts that had preyed on his mind the most while in VISTA's prison was that, should he ever return to the outside, he would find it nothing like the universe that he left. It was good to see that his parents had changed little.
A few moments passed before Larkin addressed the officers there to meet him, not because of any nervous feelings, but because he simply wasn't accustom to speaking with people; it took those moments for the idea of speaking to even occur to him. "Captain, Counselor, how are you two doing? Oh!" He suddenly remembered the custom and turned to Kerr. "Permission to come aboard, sir?"
Smiling warmly, Kerr straightened his posture and saluted. “Permission granted, Ensign,� he formally barked in a mock tone.
Taking a couple of steps towards him, Carter stretched out her hands in a greeting. "Kevin, welcome. I am so pleased you agreed to... " she was about to say come back but stopped just in time. “I am so pleased to see you on board. I can't wait to have a chat."
"Thank you both," Larkin replied sincerely. He still had mixed feelings about this affair, but he was beginning to warm up to the idea of joining this crew. "It's Lieutenant Junior Grade, now, by the way," he motioned toward his collar. "Command promoted me for providing them with a way of eliminating any further threat of sleeper clones from VISTA." He added a joking afterthought, "although between the three of us I have a suspicion that they couldn't quite figure out how to deal with the issue of having a full Lieutenant suddenly become an Ensign for such a ridiculous reason."
“I have to admit, Lieutenant,� Kerr said a faint familiar smile on his lips, “that I have wrestled with the same problems. I am used to having my Chief Science officer above the rank of Ensign, now.�
He stood back a little and let Kevin fully step onto the Nova class vessel. “Welcome, Kevin,� he said, gesturing with his hand for him to step further down the corridor. “Now, I suppose finding your quarters is a priority, but I thought that three of us could take afternoon tea – something Mrs. Gray is insistent I try – in the Golden Crown today.�
Larkin smiled, for the first time since the death of Elijah Wendess, the warden who helped him escape from VISTA's prison, he felt like was going to genuinely enjoy someone's company. "I'm game. Counselor?"
Carter grinned. "Well you can count me in. I love tea both of the liquid and high variety!"
All three of them made their way to the lounge; broken, awkward and superficial conversations peppering the walk. As they entered, a table, one among a sea of empty ones, was laid out with a crisp, white table cloth and three silver tiered cake-stands laden with a selection of cupcakes and sponges. They each of them took their seats around it as a waiter came over to pour out the hot beverage.
“This, Kevin, is a blend known as Harmony. It’s a coffee/tea hybrid beverage created here onboard the Archimedes.�
Not wanting to frighten or make the Lieutenant feel uncomfortable, the Captain decided not to reveal that his cloned counter-part was responsible for it just yet. He decided to see how the ocean lay, so to speak before he confronted him with such intimate information.
The CSO tested the beverage cautiously. "Hmm. Intriguing taste. You know, it's funny, this reminds me of something I used to think about back at the Academy: what it would taste like if you if you blended coffee and tea. I'm impressed that you were actually able to pull it off." Larkin didn't realize the connection between his clone and the beverage, or perhaps he did and simply didn't let on; either way it was clear he enjoyed it.
"So," Larkin changed the subject. "The Golden Crown? Something tells me there's got to be a story of some sort behind that name."
Behind her floral china teacup, Carter's green eyes sparkled at him as her cheeks rose in a happy smile. She put down the cup carefully onto the saucer and interlaced her fingers, her weight resting on her elbows on the table. "Well," she began, delighted that Kevin was engaging with them. "The story goes that Archimedes (the man that is) was given the task of determining whether or not the king's golden crown was made out of gold or if some unscrupulous person had managed to hide silver in it. He was not allowed to harm the crown in any way. If he had been, he would have melted it down into a cube or similar object in order to work out its volume. From that and its weight, he would have been able to tell if it was real or not."
She paused for breath and her eyes flicked between Larkin and the Captain. She was pleased to see she had their attention. "So, good old Archimedes had to come up with another way." She took a sip of her tea, probably for dramatic effect.
"Legend tells that as he was having a bath it dawned on him that he was pushing water out of the bath. He realised he could get the volume of the golden crown that way - by measuring the amount of water it displaced."
She smiled again and said "I am sure you must have heard of the next bit - he leapt out of the bath and ran down the road, naked, shouting "Eureka!", meaning "I have found it!". She chuckled and sipped more tea. "The Golden Crown is therefore quite fitting name for this ship, the USS Archimedes, don't you think?"
“Quite the little story-teller, aren’t you, Lucy,� Kerr quipped, raising the tea cup to his lips. “Rather reminiscent of old, British public houses, don’t you think? The kind where rustic men with beards sit around smoking fires with tankards of ale in hand.�
Lucy chuckled. "I trust it wasn't their beards that were on fire!"
“Not that I imagine, Lucy,� Kerr replied, enjoying the light-hearted mood that seemed to envelope them.
Larkin chuckled, as the images of his two companions with flaming facial hair flashed through his head. Throughout Carter's story, a growing smile, nothing more than faint grin to the outside observer, let on to those who knew him well that the man was indeed enjoying himself. "So," he grinned, a little mischievously now, "was the crown made of gold?"
Lucy laughed "I don't think it was, no" she replied. "Which would have led to its maker being punished I should think."
As the captain sat there, watching his two officers converse so easily, a faint grin, matched that of Kevin’s, grew warmly across his features. I think that Kevin Larkin will fold into the crew more easily than I anticipated, he thought happily. A burst of laughter erupted from Lucy and it shook Kerr from his thoughts. He smiled, more widely now, and joined in again with the conversation, drinking in the Harmony.
OFF:
Coltan Kerr
Commanding Officer
Lucy Carter
Ship’s Counsellor
AND
Kevin Larkin
Chief Science Officer
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