Updated – December 16, 1998
BEHIND LINES
Chapter 2 - Part B
Megan Takamira quietly swirled sugar crystals into her cup of coffee. She got a child-like thrill whenever she watched the sugar dissolve into the mists of her coffee. As a scientist in Starfleet, she had seen worlds forming and dying, spatial anomalies, and life and death itself. Still the simple reaction of this liquid and this solid was a sight of wonder in its own way. She imagined it was one of the reasons she became a scientist.
As a child, she had watched her father in curiosity, kneeling on a cushion at their low dining table with a mug of coffee. On those dark Martian mornings she gazed with a child’s eyes at her father and that mug. As her mother was humming a song, getting her small brother up, in the background, she pressed her father with little questions. The one about where the sugar had gone was among her first. It led to countless others and led to many early morning conversations. She missed her father on mornings like these, waiting and worrying with her coffee. She wished she were with her husband and her family. She was happy though, she still had crisp and beautiful memories like these, and these helped keep her father alive and her loved ones close at hand.
As the last of the crystals dissolved into the steaming cup, she looked up. Right on her schedule Commander Kara Dunnedy walked up to her table with her own cup of coffee and a pastry, lost in thought. As she reached the table, Takamira’s normal mischievous smirk appeared.
Dunnedy sat down opposite to Takamira nonchalantly saying, “The Captain’s late?”
Takamira looked down, holding in a laugh, and said, “Uh, you could say that, I guess. You could also say he’s on schedule.”
“What?” Dunnedy looked at her for a moment. Realizing her innuendo she retorted, “You’re not serious. Now?”
“Well, you saw him last night, why not? They’re both all grownup and everything.”
Shaking her head she said, “That’s a nice theory, but…”
“Also, I just was talking to Doctor Stewart.”
Her eyes moved over and Dunnedy followed their lead to the table over to the right, where Stewart was sitting talking to Lieutenant Commander T’rana.
“He was telling me about running into Lieutenant Moore last night and…”
A little annoyed by the conversation, Dunnedy cut in, “Let’s just steer clear of rumor and innuendo this morning, okay?”
Takamira shrugged and sipped some coffee. “Sorry. I’m just glad to see John happy and involved. It’s a rarity for him, you know.”
“Right, I know. It’s just not the best time for this, the Admiral will arrive soon.”
“In over four hours.”
Somewhat defensive, she replied, “Yeah, but the Admiral can be unpredictable. I feel like he’s up to something and we should be ready.”
Takamira sat back with a slight smile.
Dunnedy defensively said, “No, I’m not being over protective or paranoid.”
Nodding, she just agreed. “So what are you going to do? Go get him up and be sure he dresses and brushes his teeth?”
“Maybe I should.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t give a curfew or a chaperone.”
Dunnedy just frowned.
“Come on Kara, you’ve been in love, lighten up.”
Curtly speaking, Dunnedy said, “I’ve been foolish at times and it’s hurt my career and cost me dearly.”
“Take some advice from a married woman, Kara. It isn’t always foolish to be passionate, or take a risk. Besides, they deserve a break.”
Dunnedy let out a breath and looked down. Looking up, she said, “Okay. I’ll tell you what, I’ll give him until 1000 hours and then I’ll hunt him down, okay?” She tried to smile at her friend, partly succeeding.
“Good Kara, then we can work on your love life before you go try to disrupt his.”
Dunnedy furled up her nose for a second, then frowned. Rubbing the back of her neck she asked, “Am I starting to come off like an old maid Meg?”
Jesting, Takamira said, “No Kara, I think you still have hope. But you just spend a lot of time worrying about everyone else’s life and don’t seem to have your own, especially this morning.”
“That sounds like a pretty good starship exec to me.”
“Come on, even I stop being a scientist at times.” Dunnedy smirked a little. Takamira looked at her quickly, saying, “Hey! Be nice. Anyway, now John’s escaping work as well. If after all this time he can pull that off, you can. You hide it well from him, but I wonder why you seem to get more stressed the more intimate John and the Lieutenant get. He’s your friend to. You should be taking it as a personal challenge to fix your life. After all, an Alpha Centauri woman can outdo any male, right?”
Nodding, with a grin, Dunnedy replied, “First, my life doesn’t need any fixing like that. Second, it’s not fair to use cultural pride against me Meg. But you are right, it shouldn’t bother me, at this point.”
Hearing a slight cough behind them the women turned to see Major Lark waiting.
Commander Dunnedy was surprised to see Lark and asked, “What brings you here Major? I’d expect you to be prepping your people and pressing your dress uniform.”
“No. We’re always prepared and I figure I’ve put them through enough on this trip. Besides, I’ve lost something and I came out of the bowels to look for it.”
Smirking, Takamira spoke up saying, “Let me guess, a wayward lieutenant?”
Grinning back, he sat down with the pair. “Yeah, that sounds right.”
“Well you’re in good company, the Commander here was about to hunt down the Captain.”
Looking at the Dunnedy, he asked, “So, you want to joining forces.”
Cutting in, Takamira said, “Darn, I was hoping you’d help me distract her for awhile. I don’t think the two of them need their parents knocking on the door to see if everything is all right.”
Rolling her eyes, Dunnedy responded, “Hey! I don’t think I care of that analogy, Meg.”
Grinning, Lark said, “Agreed. Still, I sort of like the Lieutenant Commander’s plan, it sounds good.”
Dunnedy sarcastically said, “Why am I not surprised.”
“Well Kara, you just know me too well.”
Dunnedy sat mutely, finely saying, “Fine. Meg is forcing me to wait until 1000 hours, you want to play some chess?”
Tilting his head slightly, he said, “I could think up other ideas, but, yeah I’d like to.”
The two officers rose to find a board. Dunnedy looked back to say her good-byes to her friend. As she did, Takamira gave her a thumbs up. In response, Dunnedy gave Takamira a dirty look.
Finding a free table and a chessboard, the two sat and began setting the board.
Deciding to start a conversation Lark said, “Kara, when did you become so… prim.”
Kara coolly said, “Do you want the exact stardate?”
He just grinned and laid out his pawns on the board. As they finished putting the pieces out, he tried again. “To tell you the truth, I came here to check on you, not Lieutenant Moore.”
Looking up at him for a second, she asked, “Why?”
“Because I know you, hell I knew you before you were like this.” He gave her a knowing smile. “Anyway, I figured you’d end up butting in, even if you claim neutrality. I worry about my responsibilities to, but I also know when it's time to let them go.”
Dunnedy stayed silent.
“So, I took it upon myself to try to catch you first. It isn’t the worst chore, you know.”
She continued to frown and stare at the board.
“Kara, come on, I remember when you’d be the one having fun and annoying the uptight command officers. You always thought that it was worth the consequences.”
Finally looking up she gave him a slight smile. “Things change and so have I. Why do you suddenly care, Tom?”
“I always worry about you. After everything that happened aboard the Intrepid, I made it my major hobby.”
“And I thought I didn’t have a life. That’s really sad.”
“Come on, I’m trying to be honest with you. When you have a difficult mission, things start to pass through your head. I worry about you Kara and I just was hoping to get on your case a bit and talk about the old days. So far on this tour we haven’t really tried to get reacquainted. It’s as much my fault as yours. When we have tried, it generally ends badly. I want to get past that Kara. I miss being able to talk to you, I miss that old friend of mine.”
Nodding slightly, she said, “All right. I guess it wouldn’t hurt much.” Her smile widened a bit saying, “I guess I’ve missed being able to talk with you, a little.”
*****
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