Oh Krill!
Posted on Wed Aug 24th, 2022 @ 8:22am by Captain Marc Kidd & Ensign Nala Rider
Edited on on Wed Aug 24th, 2022 @ 8:45am
2,094 words; about a 10 minute read
Mission:
The Hunt Begins
Location: Holodeck 1 - Deck 4 - USS Artemis
Timeline: MD001 1130 hrs
Nala was having the time of her life! The Artemis's Holodeck was AWESOME! Nala had chosen to meet the Captain here so she could not only workout the jitters of being on a new ship with a new crew, but could also take a shot at beating her personal record. She had asked the Captain to let her know when he got there so she could have a minute to pause the clock and get down from wherever she was on the course. Just as Nala was in the middle of an aerial obstacle, the door opened, causing her to loose her concentration, and fall into the water underneath the obstacle. "Alright you Lobcoda! What part of 'the Holodeck is in use' sign did you not understand!?" Nala purposefully shook water all over the intruder as she pulled herself out of the water trough. Nala's hair stayed stubbornly in her face, so she was unable to see the now most likely soaked intruder clearly.
Marc had received the request from his Facial Reconstruction Specialist, and while the request was unorthodox he decided to honor it as it would be a good way to get to know the young woman. However, Kidd wanted to add a small twist of his own. He arrived unannounced, however, when he walked in he received quite the welcome of water. "Well good afternoon Ensign. I see you are enjoying our recreational facilities." He smiled and asked the holodeck for a towel which manifested in his hand.
Nala felt the color drain from her face as she heard the voice of the one she had just soaked. "(Oh Krill! I just soaked the CAPTAIN!!! I am SO DEAD!!!) Captain, I am so so sorry! Um...er...cough...yes, the Holodeck is awesome, Sir. (You REALLY did it this time, Nala. Get ready to be busted down to Cadet...if he doesn't kick your scrawny butt right out the door)," Nala frantically shoved her hair out of her face and kept her eyes on the Captain's boots...she was too scared to look at his face.
Marc both enjoyed the feeling he elicited from the Ensign and felt bad for her. Everyone wants to make the best impression on their Captain and all the Captain wants is to get to know those that serve under them. "It is fine Ensign. Now if you would not mind telling me your name and what program you are running here. It seems rather interesting."
Nala took a deep breath as she dried her hair, surprised that the Captain hadn't called Security to drag her to the Brig...and that he was actually INTERESTED in what she was doing! "My name's Ensign Nala Rider, Captain. This is a parkour obstacle course I made up to keep myself sharp...I guess I still need work on that, huh? Hey, would you like to give it a try? (Nala!? WHAT ARE YOU THINKING!? He's so NOT going to want to do this!)" Nala just wanted to dive back into the water and STAY under there until she learned how NOT to be so LAME!!! Nala chanced a glance at the Captain, wondering just how much trouble she was going to get into not only today, but for the rest of her time here...if she was here for very long.
If there was one lesson from Command Training that Marc remembered it was get to know someone by doing what they like. He smiled at Nala broadly and unzipped his uniform jacket, and removed it. "Now Ensign lead and show me how its done. Lets get it done..."
Nala's jaw dropped momentarily, then she smiled. "Of course, Captain, right this way. Computer, reset Nala Training Three and reconfigure for two please. Dang, he's HOT!" Nala thought this last sentence, smiling appreciatively at the Captain's physic.
Marc watched as the holodeck reconfigured to the required parameters. Before him were a set of obstacles that started with two ramps that were parallel. Marc could see that the idea was to hop from one ramp to the other as the incline got steeper until you reached the platform. "Now Ensign just because I am a Captain does not mean I am out of shape." He said with a smirk and began to hop through the ramps. He reached the platform relatively easily. "Catch me if you can..."
"Oh it's on!" Nala stopped at the platform just long enough to return his smirk with a wink, then grabbed the rope and took a running jump, swinging out over a water trough, and grabbed the next rope, swinging her way across at the speed of someone half her size. When she got to the next platform, she turned and gave a only slightly mocking bow. "Your turn, Sir," Nala beamed.
For the briefest of moments Marc wondered exactly what he had gotten himself into. After all he was no spring chicken and swinging from ropes was a young person's game. And yet here he was... He took a running leap to the first rope and grabbed at it. With a mixture of both ease and hardship he swung from rope to rope and made it to the platform next to Nala. "Well Ensign that was fun I always wanted to be Tarzan. But lets hope you can swim if you fall off..." Marc was already in motion as he spoke. He ran across the spinning pipe with ease, for a large man he was rather lithe on his feet. Below the spinning pipe there was a lake that managed to look both foreboding and refreshing at the same time.
Nala giggled at that, then deftly JUMPED out onto the pipe, and as it started to spin, Nala flipped onto her hands, and swayed across. "Sorry about showing off, Sir. I just got all excited about being able to compete with someone again," Nala gave Marc an honest smile, then faced the next obstacle...and froze. "Wha...how...Computer! How did this obstacle get here!?" Nala started to shake. The obstacle before her was in two parts: two uneven platforms leading up to fairly thin hanging logs that one would have to walk across slanting down to the next landing. Nala had had a VERY bad experience on a similar obstacle when she was sixteen, and a close friend of hers got seriously injured. Nala was shivering almost uncontrollably by this point, the memories of that day suddenly returning full force.
Marc took in the obstacle and he could clearly see that something had shaken the Ensign. "Ensign care to talk about it..." He smiled softly this was an odd way to get to know ones crew but it is better than other methods.
Nala jerked out of her downward spiral, shaking her head to clear the fear from her mind. "I'm sorry about that, Captain. This kind of obstacle scares me because when I was sixteen, a friend of mine took me to a parkour park and we were having a blast. Then half way through the course, we got to an obstacle like this, she went first, and her harness broke. At this park, there wasn't water underneath and they're about ten, fifteen feet up. The instructor didn't see it because one of the kids in our group was being bratty and he was tending to that. She went for the third log, lost her balance..." Nala shuddered again as her friend's scream reverberated in her head. "I haven't had the nerve to face them again since then. Give me ANY kind of obstacle, and I'll whoop it. But even show me pictures of this one, and it ain't pretty," Nala hung her head, ashamed of her irrational fear (at least, that's what everyone else had told her it was).
"You know Ensign fear is healthy, if one is not afraid then one is doomed to fail. Since you have joined this crew that means we are officially in everything together. So, come now take my hand and I will get you through this..." Marc extended his and continued to speak. "You know I will let you in on a little secret. Every time I sit in that center seat a small twinge of fear strikes."
Nala's jaw dropped. "YOU, SIR!? How the krill!? You're like so strong, assertive, and hot and...um...oh boy..." Nala had put her hand in his without realizing it...and was glad she had because she slipped on the second platform (which she hadn't even realized she had gotten to because she was focused on his hand). Nala looked down, and had she been alone, she would have passed out and fallen into the water. Nala looked up at him, then, before she could fall off in embarrassment, she let go of his hand and leapt onto the first log, then the second and..."Um...Captain? I'm kinda...sorta...might be...stuck," Nala wanted to just disappear. She was just balanced enough to not move, but because of that, she was now stuck on the log. She wanted to either move forward or jump off, but she was just stuck.
The part of Marc that was simply a man smiled at the thought that a woman found him hot. But the part of him that was a Captain shut those thoughts down at least for the time being. He helped fling her to the second platform and nearly busted a gut when she said she was stuck. He hopped up to the platform and reached down and hooked his hands under her arms. Marc pulled her up and to him so that she would not fall into the water. "See what I mean Ensign, a team, we will get through all this together." He said while still holding her close.
Nala's cheeks flamed. "Gag zukes! I half want to drop in the water just to cool off!" Nala thought. "Thank you, Captain. I think I can do it now. Just needed a shock...I mean! Bye!" Nala quickly but carefully disentangled herself from the Captain, and made it across the logs to the platform leading to another obstacle.
Marc had the sense that she may like to be chased and wondered if he should be doing the chasing. Nevertheless he followed her across the logs and to the other platform. Before them was what seemed to be the final obstacle. Two large walls loomed before them and above the walls was a bell suspended from a leather strap. It seemed that they had to bounce from one wall to the other as they made their way up to the bell. "Last one to ring the bell has to clean the transporter buffer." Marc said with a laugh and began to climb the walls. If this were another time and I were another person perhaps, but she is an Ensign under your command. He thought instead of concentrating on the obstacle at hand.
"Oh heck yeah!" Nala matched the Captain's laugh as she lept up and started bouncing. "Come on girl! Almost there. YES!" "RING RING RING!!!" Nala pulled the strap a half second before the Captain.
"Great work Nala..." Marc said a little winded. He would refuse to admit it but the workout may have gotten the best of him. He definitely needs to get back in better shape. "Well Ensign you have bested your Captain and so I will scrub the the transporter buffer on your behalf. But you may have to owe me a dinner nonetheless." He smiled broadly, the dinner comment was his way of making sure he would see her in a non work environment again. The idea of exactly how beautiful this woman was came flooding into his head. He again made sure to push those ideas away, albeit it was a little harder to dismiss this time.
"Thank you, Captain. You know, I COULD help with that, and then that way I'd know when you'd be available for dinner and not catch you with a mountain of work. Dang it, Nala! You've got it BAD!" Nala blushed at her forwardness, wondering just WHEN was she was going to stop acting like a giddy schoolgirl.
A Joint Post By
Captain Marc Kidd
Commanding Officer, USS Artemis
Starfleet Criminal Investigations Unit
Ensign Nala Rider
Facial Reconstruction Specialist, USS Artemis
Starfleet Criminal Investigations Unit
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