What’s In The Book
Posted on Fri Dec 22nd, 2017 @ 10:56am by
Edited on on Thu May 31st, 2018 @ 9:55pm
2,413 words; about a 12 minute read
Mission:
Episode 2 - The Enemy Within
Location: Empok Nor - Prominade
Timeline: MD001 0816 hrs
Tags: SD 71370.0816
Leaning against the railing, Suzie watched the station life pass by below. The couples holding hands, the children’s laughter as they attempted to dart away, the general hustle and bustle that came with bartering and day to day station life. To the counsellor it was a dream...a chance to just watch and absorb life at large.
Life and her career felt safer from this distance...she didn’t risk upsetting anyone but putting a foot out of place or managing to just say the wrong thing. It seemed to be a pretty good habit she’d developed lately...more patients ended up mad at her than helped by her in recent times....
Zavior looked up from his notebook and surveyed the ever changing activity of the Prominade. He was sitting alone at a table outside a cafe slowly drinking some of the best coffee he tasted in a long while.
He saw the young officer from afar, She hadn’t been there when he started writing. He took note of her appearance and lowered his head and put pencil to paper once more. He was certain to look up more often to see if the ensign was still there.
Suzie has stayed in the same position for some time, probably drawing more attention to herself but not quite caring. She felt more at ease than she had before and that’s what mattered at the moment. At the same time she recognised that security might be foist on her sooner rather than later for loitering or just generally making people feel uneasy.
Moving away from her position with a smile at her thoughts, the counsellor found her attention drawn once more as she passed the busy cafe, this time by the unusual situation rather than the person themselves. “What are you doing?” Without thinking, she just moved to the man’s side and watched as he etched images out using the utensil in his hand.
Zavior smiled, “Hello ensign,” he said. He closed his notebook and placed the pencil down on top of it. “Just enjoying the scenery and taking some notes.” He took a long sip from his coffee. “Can I buy you a cup?”
Suzie was a little surprised at the rank greeting, the man was an Ensign himself. But if it was formality he liked, than she guessed she could swing with it. The counselor was still curious about the book in his hands as she moved to take the seat facing him. “What are you drinking?”
“Coffee, it’s a Firenut blend,” Zavior said. “First time I’ve tried this particular flavor, it’s very good.” He looked at the young woman and gave a warm smile. “I’m Zavior Blackthorne, from the Fearless.”
He noticed her look down at his leather bound notebook a time or two but left that alone for the moment.
“And you are?”
“Well then I’ll try what your having!” Suzie leaned forward as she removed the utensil from the top of the man’s PADD as such, placing it in the palm of her hand as she tried to understand what it might be. “Suzanne Quinn. Ensign as you earlier identified. It’s like a stylus isn’t it? But what’s not a PADD that your using it on?”
Zavior laughed softly. “In your hand is a pencil, it’s made of wood and graphite. This,” taking the notebook in his hand, “is a notebook, it’s made of leather and paper. The use of these instruments is how writing existed for many cultures prior to electronics.”
He looked at Quinn wondering if she was playing with him or if she had never seen these tools he has taken for granted his entire life. Zavior had met many individuals who were amazed by his writing instruments but those people were usually from preindustrial illiterate societies.
Suzie rolling the instrument between her fingers, feeling the contours of the bark before pressing the bed of finger gently against the tip. “But it seems so inefficient...why write when you can dictate to a computer? Or use a touch screen to store your writings electronically?”
Zavior smiled wide. “There are times when one needs to be discreet about what is being written.” He looked into the young women’s eyes. “And times when electronics would cause too much curiosity.”
Zavior flagged down a Bajoran waiter and asked for another cup of coffee and gestured to his new companion to see if she would like to order anything.
Suzie still rolled the pencil between her fingers, studying the owner as she absentmindedly gave her order. “Lets see If the firebird blend lives up the hype.”
The waiter had barely moved away before Suzie turned the pencil over in her hand and tapped the length against the notepad. “But there’s a flaw in your reasoning. In a society where people use PADDs and personal computer devices, surely this instruments cause more attention than would be normal, drawing curiosity that would otherwise normally be overlooked.”
“You’re right Suzanne. However, I spend a lot of time in societies that don’t use PADDs or electronic devices as such.” He sipped his coffee. “Or at least I used to. Now it’s just an old habit I guess.”
Suzie was hesitate, on one hand she was full to almost bursting to want to see what the writings entailed but on another she did recognise that everyone was entitled to their privacy, especially if the man’s writing was as personal as he spoke of it as being.
Tapping the book once more, Suzie day back into her chair before tapping the pencil against her chin and resuming her earlier study of Zavior. “So what societies entailed a removal of electronics?”
“I could probably come up with a list of dozens of societies that have shunned technology in order to find what they consider a better life, however I mostly deal with cultures that have yet to discover that level of technology. I’m an anthropologist.”
“But surely cultures that are that in experienxed you can’t have direct contact with in the first instance? If they are so unadvances with technology surely it’s a breech of prime directive to have contact with them? Which again draws the question, why adapt their way when it holds no purpose?” Suzie leaned forward as she barely registered her coffee being placed on the table, this man intrigued her...she didn’t understand him but still there was something.
“It was my fathers way I adapted to actually,” he said. A wide smile showed across his face. “While I’ve done my fair share of research behind a force field and hologram, I have spent a great deal of time cohabiting with different peoples to understand them up close.” He held his notebook up. “Anyway, it’s how I was taught.”
“Ah ha!” Suzie grinned as she sat back into her chair, the sudden movement causing the table to jerk and some of her coffee to spill unnoticed by herself. “So I was right...there’s deeper to you than you let on on the surface.”
Zavior laughed out loud, “We just met, of course there is more to me.” He handed Suzie a cloth napkin. “I’d expect there is more to you then just a klutzy pencil thief. Though I suppose I could be wrong.”
Suzie looked at napkin before registering the coffee.takng the offered cloth, she managed to somewhat clean the spill before taking the cup into the safety of her hands. Sitting back into her seat, the counselor smiled as she tilted her head a little to the side. “If you want to know, all you need to do is ask...just as I did.”
“What brings you to the Prominade today?”
Suzie glances around them both as she nodded her head towards the general prominade area. “People...sometimes when you’ve got so much going on in your own head you just need to take a break and disentangle yourself from it all. Watching people going about their lives, their body language, their behavior, even the little snippets of conversation you overhear...it’s like another world exists beyond your own.”
“I understand that,” Zavior said. “People watching is part of my job and I’m still learning about the inner workings of the station so I tend to spend a lot of time here.”
Zavior took note of those around him, hoping he would be able to recall the specifics when he got his pencil back.
“What ship are you on?”
“Pioneer! First positioning as a counselor in training. She’s brand new, just out of the ship yards.” Suzie’s voice increase ever so slightly in volume as her excitement became evident. But yet it didn’t escape her attention how her colleagues attention seemed to shift again to around them. “And you? There can’t be many opportunities available for a anthropologist in many of the federations ships surely?”
“You’d be surprised actually,” Zavior said. “There are a lot of scientists with backgrounds in Anthropology or Archaeology, even if they don’t get to practice as such.” He smiled again at Suzanne, “I’m on the Fearless, I didn’t expect a defiant class Starship to need an Anthropologist or Archeologist but due to our current mission one is required. I’m happy to be here.”
“Defiant? Aren’t those tiny little ships...primaryiky required for escort rather than much else? You must find the place cramped at the best of times.” Suzanne’s eyes stared back into Zavior’s giving nothing more away beyond the light that mirrored her smile.
“She’s an escort vessel, yes, and can be a bit cramped. However I grew up in tents so it is still luxurious by my standards.” He held the eye contact a moment longer and then looked down at her coffee. “Like it?”
Suzie wondered why he broke the eye contact, those green eyes hadn’t been a bad distraction; the slight twinkle hinting at something more. “Like what? Cramped conditions? It depends on the situation really. It’s good when you want company but not so good when they snore I find. I hate an old academy roommate whom you could hear from two galaxies away!”
Zavior laughed. “I can sleep through nearly anything so snoring never bothered me; and as much as I enjoy cramped conditions under the right circumstances. I was referring to your coffee. Are you enjoying it?” He eyed the pencil still between Suzanne’s fingers.
Placing the barely touched cup on the table between them, Suzie leaned forward as she tapped the pencil against the side. “Can i tell you a secret? I don’t like coffee...”
“Can I tell you a secret?” Zavior asked. He look deeply inter her eyes and let a small grin come to his face. “You wear it well,” he said, pointing to a drop that had found it way to Suzanne’s uniform, probably during her excited jump.
It took a minute but Suzie laughed as she looked down and brushed at that spot that by now had left a stain. “You should see my uniform bills...I spend more on replacing my articles of clothing than I do anything else.”
Zavior laughed, “You’d think someone would invent a non-staining fabric.”
Suzie shrugged her shoulders before taking the tip of the pencil between her fingers and offered it to the man opposite with a sly smile, “You still haven’t told me what it is your writing....”
Zavior hesitated. “I write what I see,” he said. “I enjoy watching people and their interactions. It’s what I’ve always done.”
“Can I see?” The question wasn’t meant as an invasion of privacy but one of curiosity. Wasn’t that meant to be apart of her own job, observe and interrupt what she saw. She was curious on how another person managed.
“Hmm,” Zavior managed. “I don’t think so. It’s not something I’ve shared with anyone before. And besides it’s a bit analytical.” He looked around the area and then back at Suzanne. He wasn’t sure what more to say.
Suzie day back into her chair once more, resting the top of the pencil against her lower lip as she studied the officer once more. She was tempted to push but wondered if he’d reached his limitations and she would just scare him away. Maybe it was time to rein it in.
“I’m sure it’s not as bad as that. Perhaps next time we meet you’ll have a piece you would be willing to share?”
Zavior looked into Suzanne’s eyes and then his gaze fell to her lower lip where the pencil sat. He stared at her lips for a moment, well longer than a moment, and hoped it hadn’t been too long.
“Perhaps next time, Suzanne,” he said. “Does that mean you’re leaving?”
Suzie laughed at the question, moving the pencil once more but this time to her trouser pocket. “Hope you don’t mind...let’s call it a momento of sources. I ship out within the hour I believe. I probably shouldn’t even be here but it felt nice to get out one last time.”
Zavior laughed out loud, “you know I expect to get that back soon, right Suzanne?” He looked at her with as stern a face as he could come up with.
The stern look didn’t work beyond causing Suzie’s own smile to broaden as she patted her pocket. “I count on it Ensign...In the meantime I’ll work on a plan to see the rest...”
“Well then, good luck. Have a safe trip.”
Leaning over the table, Suzie tried to catch the officer unaware as she gave him a kiss on the cheek before taking steps backwards to walk away. “Keep yourself safe Ensign.” The counselor gave a small wave even as she bumped and tripped into people behind her.
“You too Suzanne,” Zavior said with a smile.
A Joint Post By
Ensign Suzanne Quinn MD
Counselor, USS Pioneer
Ensign Zavior Blackthorne
Alien Archaeologist/Anthropologist, USS Nagasaki
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