Come Ride with Me, Part II

Posted on Fri Jul 23rd, 2010 @ 10:39am by Lieutenant Commander Delon Tovan & Chief Petty Officer Shalie Montgomery

2,132 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Peace, or Something Like It
Location: USS Calypso - Lift
Timeline: Current

[From the previous post..."Come Ride with Me, Part I"]

Shalie laughed where she sat using her free hand to once again manage her hair. She looked up at the opening above them. She gently took her hand from his and touched his face reassuringly. "Well at least this time it isn't falling." She moved herself into a standing position and once again found pushed herself to the top of the lift. She lowered down and offered her hand to Delon.

[The Conclusion]

[USS Calypso - Lift]

Tovan closed his eyes briefly as he felt the gentle touch of her hand on his skin. It was a surprising move on her behalf but it was received pleasantly. He watched her as she once again crawled her way up to the top of the lift and when she offered him a hand he grabbed onto it pushing himself up by using the side wall he quickly grabbed onto the edge of the opening and pulled himself up to the top with her. He looked up. It went on for an eternity it seemed. "We should be able to find an access hatch few decks up." He stepped in closer to the latter. "Do you want to go first or should I?"

Shalie smiled as Delon stepped close to her. She looked up the same direction he was before giving him her answer. "Well you were planning on giving me a tour..." She said simply. She bit her lower lip out of habit as she began to scan the shaft for any hint as to where they were.

"This wasn't what I had in mind." Tovan had taken one last look at her before turning towards the latter. He grabbed onto it and began their journey up. If he had to guess to where they were he would say that they were pretty close to the bottom of the ship which was Deck 42. There wasn't much there expect for the antimatter fill port and tractor beam emitter. "But at least you will be familiar with how to stop a free falling lift, if you should ever find yourself in a similar situation."

Shalie followed suit and mounted the ladder a few steps below Delon. She couldn't help but cast and appreciative glance upwards as they began to climb. "Well I am hoping that is the last time I am on a run away lift...but it was a good learning experiance." She couldn't help but smile. This was far from how she had seen the night going when it started.

Tovan occasionally looked down to make sure that she was still behind him. They passed one deck, which was followed by another two before he came to an access door. "Here we are." There was the usual sound of buttons being pressed. The sound echoed all around them, and then there was the noise of the doors hissing as they retracted. Tovan looked at her and smiled than climbed into the Jeffries tube. He crawled a few feet down so she had enough room to get in.

Shalie never thought she would be so happy to hear a Jeffries tube access hatch hiss open. She smiled as she followed Delon's lead and crawled in behind him. The climb had seemed easy despite the shakiness in her muscle. Her body was still on a high despite the fact that the adrenaline was finally starting to reseed. She moved in a foot or so and turned towards the hatch to close the door behind her.

Tovan hadn't moved as he watched her enter the tube. It was once she turned to close it that he turned around and headed the other way, but not before he allowed himself to take a brief sneak at her behind. He was part human after all and that side had a habit of coming up when least expected. He crawled down the tube for maybe 20 feet before coming to a room that was maybe 2 meters by 2. It was a place where few different tubes from different areas of the ship met. He waited for her.

Shalie made her way though the tube to the junction where Delon was waiting. The one nice thing about junctions was the opportunity to stand up. Shalie slid out feet first and moved to stand up. As seemed normal for this evenings events she tripped over her own foot and found herself once again braced by Delon. She laughed and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "My hero..." she said lightly as she smiled at him.

It wouldn't be long now before they were back in the world of the living, not that they weren't now. But it felt so much more behind everything moving through the inner workings of the vessel. Tovan had caught her when she tripped and chuckled lightly as she kissed him on the cheek and called him a hero. "If I would have known I would have worn my white shinny armor."

Shalie stood up and patted off the thighs of her jeans. "If I had know the night was going to go like this I might have considered armor." She said with a laugh. "So which way do you think we should try now?" She smiled as she turned around in her spot in the little opening, This is one way to get to know the ship I suppose she thought to herself as she looked around.

"This way." Tovan motioned towards a tube that was to their left. "This will lead us back out to a corridor and there should be a lift nearby." Before he entered the tube he looked at her. "Let's hope this one likes us better than the last one." He crawled into the tube. "Oh, and next time maybe we should consider staying in."

Shalie laughed at the thought and nodded in agreement. She was once again on her hands and knees following Devon as they moved though the belly of the ship. "If this one doesn't...I am never getting in a lift with you again." When she was working she never minded crawling though the tubes the ran all of the make up of starships, but it wasn't something she suspected she would be doing on her time off. The thought made her smile.

"I see the door..." Tovan called back to Shalie who was following him. It had been a while since he had needed to enter the Jeffries tubes of any vessel and crawl around them. Most of the time was because it was his job, and never for fun. "Another 25 meters." He said as he slowly started to slow down until he came to a complete stop. They were about ten meters away from the door.

Shalie had caught up to him as he had slowed down and easily squeezed in next to him once he had stopped. She couldn't help but notice they weren't at the door yet, and she cast him a curious glance. "What's wrong?..." she started, "Why did you stop?"

Tovan looked at her. He looked like a man that had something on his mind. It was like he had something to say but couldn't find the right words to say. There was nothing but silence around them for a few moments before he looked down to the door. "We are almost there." He started to move again.

Shalie could sense his hesitation and reached out grabbing his ankle as he moved away from her. "Not so fast..." She said with a grin. "You just stop and look at me like that and then not explain...that is cheating." She moved so that she was more even with him again and then turned so she was more sitting then kneeling.

Tovan had stopped once he was pulled by her. He watched as she moved up to be even with him and he looked at her. "I was going to say something but I couldn't remember what it was." Tovan explained as he looked up towards the door again. "Shall we?"

Shalie simply motioned with her hand for him to lead the way once again. Men... She thought to herself as she followed suit. The ten meter went by quickly and she was soon waiting for Delon to open the door. She was looking forward to standing again.

Tovan moved once again once she motioned for him to do so. What he had to say could wait for another time and another place. He input his code and the door opened for them. He stepped out first as he was the closest to the door. He stretched his legs and arms.

Shalie smoothly stood up as she exited the tube behind him. She crossed her arms across her torso as she moved a short way down the corridor. She walked slowly as she awaited for Delon to move one way of the other. She turned where she stood to see what he was doing.

Once she excited out of the tube. Tovan had leaned over to lock it once again when he was finished and looked up he noticed her down the hallway. She must be mad for him not telling her what was on his mind. He took a deep breath and moved down the corridor to catch up with her.

"So where too tour guide?" Shalie started with a grin as he approached her. "This would be so much easier for me with a map."

"I can arrange that." Tovan said as he walked up to her. "I think we have had enough excitement for one evening, plus it is getting late and I am the one that has to be ready to function in the early morning." Tovan stated as he looked down the corridor.

"Well by all means...I am one of the lucky enlisted with a late starting shift." Shalie said with a wink. She was looking forward to not being on Alpha shift, but everything on board a starship had its pros and cons.

The two of them started to move down the corridor once again. Soon enough they were in front of the lift. Another few seconds passed before the lift arrived and they stepped inside. The lift started to move and Tovan turned to Shalie. "Sorry about this evening. It wasn't in my plans to end up in a free falling lift."

Shalie cocked her head to the side in suprise in the comment. "Why are you apologizing?" She started with a small chuckle. "You may be the chief of ops but even you don't have super powers."

"This is true." Tovan chuckled at her comment. What she said was the truth. He couldn't have seen this happening, but if he didn't ask to give her a tour this wouldn't have happened. Either way it worked out for the best in the end. He looked straight ahead. "I did have fun."

Shalie laughed as she nodded in agreement. "This was definitively the most death defying fun I have had that didn't involve phasers." She watched as the decks counted off, bringing them back towards civilization.

A silence fell upon the lift as they continued to move up. They were quickly approaching the crew quarters deck. Before they knew it the lift had come to a complete stop on deck 12. Tovan turned and looked at Shalie. "I believe this is you."

"Yep..." Shalie said smoothly as the lift door opened. "If you didn't have to work so early I would invite you for a drink." She said simple as she moved slowly out of the lift, turning to face him once she was out of the lift.

The idea of a drink sounded rather tempting but he doubted that she had what he wanted to drink. He stepped closer to the door and looked at her. "Depends on if you have Romulan Ale or not..."

"Romulan Ale no..." Shalie said with an air of disappointment. "Single malt whiskey...yes." She added with a smile.

"It just happens that I have a bottle in my quarters, you can meet me there in let's say 30 minutes if you like." Tovan offered. It wasn't like him to do such a thing as this but it was a new ship and a new start. Plus he was off duty so he could indulge in a bit of drinking and good company.

Shalie nodded simply as she turned and made the short walk to her quarters. She ran her fingers through her hair and it was decided. A brush and then the whiskey.

=/= End of Transmission =/=

Lieutenant Delon Tovan
Chief of Operations
USS Calypso

Petty Officer 2nd Class Shalie Montgomery
Engineering Officer
USS Calypso

 

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