Meeting in the Tube

Posted on Mon Jul 12th, 2010 @ 4:54am by Commander Michael Evans M.D. & Commander Earlond

Mission: Episode 1.2 - "A House Divided"
Location: A Jeffries Tube, Deck 4
Timeline: MD 15, 1445 hours

ON: [[Jeffries Tube - Deck 4, USS Pandora, MD15, 1445 hours]]

Michael scooted doggedly through the low, narrow access tunnel that ran the circumference of deck four. His tricorder was open and scanning furiously as he made his way around the confined tubes that accessed the inner recesses of the ship. This particular tube circumnavigated the upper ridge of the saucer section, primarily allowing for access to the upper pallets of the lateral sensor arrays.

Things were going quite well as he hummed quietly to himself, in tune with the beeps of the tricorder; but he didn't notice that someone was in the Jeffries tube with him, having been scanning for something not emitted by humans. He thought he might jump through the bulkhead into the next deck as he cracked his head on the low ceiling in surprise when he caught sight of the nearby human form out of the corner of his eye.

Rubbing his head and wincing from the pain, he turned to see a red-uniformed officer with lieutenants' pips on his collar. A string of choice, Gaelic oaths that his grandfather liked to use flitted through his mind, but he supressed them. He was angry at his own surprise and at the pain, not the man. "Lieutenant," he greeted with a breath. "Sorry, I didn't know you were there." He smirked at himself in humor now. It was kind of funny.

"Hello, Doctor," Drake said, holding out a hand. "I'm Drake Lexon. And you are the esteemed Doctor Evans." He said this all matter-of-factly.

'Esteemed?' He didn't know if 'esteemed' really applied, but it was flattering, nonetheless. He always wanted to be 'esteemed.' "Err...," Michael said, "yeah, that's me, I guess." He shook Drake's hand and tried to act as though the 'esteemed' part hadn't been in the greeting. "Pleased to meet you, Lieutenant Lexon," he said formally. It was always best to be polite when meeting new people, even if it wasn't strictly necessary. "What brings you to this part of the ship?"

"I'm following the voices in my head," Drake said mock-seriously. "What about you?"

Evans chuckled. He always appreciated a dry wit. "I'm taking Toby here for a walk," he said indicating his tricorder with a smile.

"Ah," Drake said nodding in understanding. "Hello, Toby." He didn't seem to find it odd at all that Evans had named a tricorder, nor that he was "taking it for a walk". Drake looked back at Evans. "So you're one of the few that actually knows the Commander." Even without the name attached to the rank, it was clear which commander Drake was talking about - Earlond was not known for his social skills.

Evans blinked at Lexon's acceptance of the anthropomorphism of his tricorder. It was similar to an adult's acceptance of the reality of a child's invisible friend or the 'realness' of a stuffed animal: serious and without judgement. Curious. He turned his attention to the comment about Earlond. "Er, yes... well, I wouldn't exactly say that I know him. I mean, who does? But we're..." He nodded and made a sort of inarticulate sound. They weren't exactly friends, but were something more than acquaintances or mere coworkers. Evans actually wondered if Earlond did have any friends, now that he came to think about it.

"Oh, I think he definitely considers you a friend," Drake said. "But I would venture that he's gone so long without friends that it might take him a while to learn how to have one again."

"Well, that's good of you to say," Michael said. "Do you know the Commander," he asked. This Lieutenant Lexon sounded as though he were pretty familiar with the man, friends or no. In passing, Michael though how lonely it might be to be in Earlond's position. Second Officers were usually fairly limited in the selection of friends they had anyways, being in a position of authority and command.

"I imagine his loneliness comes from his own background," Drake said thoughtfully. "If he even has any loneliness. Personally, I don't think he shares the full range of emotions that we do."

Evans looked sharply at Lexon. He almost hadn't caught it; the man hadn't answered his spoken question, but had followed through on his musings instead. It was so seamless that it almost felt natural. Michael then looked a little sideways at Drake, narrowing his eyes in a slight smirk. "You probably get this question a lot, but are you Betazoid," he checked the eyes for the customary blackness that was a shared characteristic of the telepathic race, but instead he met a stormy grey, "or part?"

"Yeah, I get that a lot," Drake said. "But no, not that I know of. As far as I know, I'm human, though I'm not sure for certain what my mother's race was."

Human? Something clicked in Michael's head. He remembered a file passing across his desk about a crewmember, a human, with telepsionic abilities manifesting as a form of telepathy. Who was it that had performed Lexon's physical? Was it that ruddy Mark X EMH?

"Actually...I think it might have been the Mark X," Drake supplied helpfully. "She was very quick with it, and not exactly nice to the other EMH."

Hmm, that sounds like the Mark X," Michael said. He'd have to remember to go over all the files she'd accessed; make sure everything was correct and that there was nothing else he'd missed (or that she'd failed to mention).

Michael looked at Drake and smiled. It was at first a little unsettling speaking with him. Most telepaths chose to ignore the thoughts of whomever they were conversing with and focus on the spoken part of the conversation, generally out of courtesy for the other person's comfort and out of conformity to social norms; or at least, they didn't comment on the thoughts they picked up. This Drake fellow seemed to either not be able to distinguish between thought and spoken word, or hadn't learned the social discretion.

But Michael figured that he liked himself, that he really had nothing to hide (though there were some things he would rather people didn't know), and that he really couldn't change the fact that Drake was picking up his thoughts so readily. So he made a mental choice to simply accept it and 'go with the flow' as it were. In a strange way, he rather liked the honesty of the conversation with Drake. "Lexon," he said after the thoughtful pause, "I'd like to finish this scanning up before the Senior Staff meeting, so I've got to get moving, but why don't we have lunch some time?"

"Sounds like a good idea," Drake agreed. "I should warn you, though, I've been told my tastes in food are not exactly...spectacular. However...thank you for not being as bothered by my problem."

Michael gave a little shrug, not quite sure whether to be flattered by the comment or saddened that others would be so 'bothered' by this young man's uniqueness. After all... wasn't that what Starfleet was about? "My pleasure," is what Michael said.

END

A Joint Post by:

Lieutenant Drake Lexon (PNPC)
Pilot
USS Pandora
Played by: Commander Earlond

and

Lt. Commander Michael Evans
2XO / Chief Medical Officer
USS Pandora