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A Mirror Shattered #205, 206 - "Idiocy on the High Seas"=[On]=- [USS Pegasus, deck 7 room 32] A black wetsuit with green accents materialised in the replicator. It was custom tailored for it's creator, who had spent quite a large amount of replicator rations on it... However, he was absolutely convinced it was worth it... He took it out of the replicator, and wanted to put it on, but suddenly thought of something... =/\=Evans to Kitty, Are we going sailing first, or do you think it would be wise to grab something to eat before we do?=/\= =/\= I think we should do the sailing first, unless you're really hungry.=/\= Kitty sounded mildly distracted, as if she was considering something. =/\= It's going to be a nice hot summer day, just warning you. =/\= Evans got out of his uniform, put on his swimming trunks, put his wetsuit on top of that, and admired himself in the mirror... He noticed his belly and sucked it up, wanting to look his best for Kitty... Yeah, he was THE king of the seas, in his brandnew suit! He ordered a cup of well-filled vegetablesoup to go, and walked to the holodeck, sipping his soup... When he finally arrived, his cup was empty, so he put it back in the replicator of the recreational area, that housed the holodeck. He walked up the door, and rang the chime... "Hi, Evans here, may I enter?" he asked through the intercom... "Absolutely!" came Kitty's excited and slightly breathless voice. What was she doing, anyways? The answer became apparent as the doors opened for him and the heat and humidity hit like a hammer. It was a beautiful hot summer day, and the doorway opened into the midst of a rock shelf. A slight trail led among scattered boulders along the side of the rock face down to a wooden pier. The sailboat was already in the water... a beautiful boat with polished wood-grain gleam, the sails furled. So where was Kitty? She was already in the water.. she couldn't resist. Her feet planted on something like a large surfboard, her hands holding onto a metal bar, the sail flaring in the seabreeze... Who knew that she could windsurf? She didn't fill out her uniform like a well-rounded woman for a good reason... she had the figure of a teenager, and that could be seen more clearly in her outfit now. Kitty was wearing a two-piece bathing suit, not a bikini by any means... more like a shortened tank and a quite decent lower half that was mostly covered anyways.. by a pair of short denim shorts. Her hair, in a single braid, was lashing out behind her as she skimmed the surface of the water. <Wow, that's fast...> Evans thought, as he saw the surfboard skimming across the surface, leaving almost no wake behind it. He could see that Kitty had done this *at least* a few times before, expertly handling the large sail with her light body. It reminded him of the ease with which some of the smallest people could controll the largest contraptions... Only this combination was not assisted by hydrolics *or* electronic servos "Amazing..." he mumbled Kitty spotted him and cheerily waved hello... which was a mistake. She'd done this a few times before, but she was no expert.. she just enjoyed the feel of it, and she did know how to handle a sail. She wasn't expert enough to wave while doing it, though, and the entire contraption wobbled and wavered... she did know when to abandon ship and dived neatly into the ocean before the entire thing collapsed. Evans laughed out loud at Kitty's mistake, and he didn't think twice. He took a run down the pier and dived into the water, swimming up to Kitty, to greet her properly... "You ok?" he asked, more out of courtesy more than anything else. Kitty might not windsurf like an expert, but she did swim like a fish.. really. She put on more of her speed underwater than above. When he reached her, she surfaced, smiling and reaching out to put her hand on his arm as she was treading water. "I'm ok. That was kind of anticlimactic." She quirked a smile at the wetsuit. "Well, I think it was pretty spectacular..." he joked... Then he saw her looking at the wetsuit... "What?..." "Nothing, it's nothing," Kitty said, smiling. "You really came prepared." She launched herself forward, making her easy way back towards the pier, watching to see if he was following. "When was the last time you went sailing?" "Eh, I believe that was summercamp, some decades ago... I was helmsman on a three crew dinghy, we finished third out of 7 in the race on the last day... What about the surfboard?" he asked. "What, the windsurfing? I used to do it every summer morning that didn't have a small craft advisory up, when I was a teenager," Kitty said. "But I never tried to learn the extra tricks, win races or anything. I just liked the way it felt. Somehow, sometimes, I just want to go fast. It was the sailing I really stuck with." Evans looked a bit odd..."Cool, but that's not excactly what I meant... Shouldn't we take it with us to shore? We might bump into it with the sunfish..." "Ohhh. Yeah, you're absolutely right. Computer, end program 'Kitty Surfboard'." She shrugged mid-swim. "I don't feel like dragging it to shore today. But you're absolutely right, good thinking." <Of course... Delete it from the world... Why didn't I think of that?> Evans mentally slapped to himself... He was already completely immersed into the world that Kitty had created for them. He swum after Kitty's breastcrawl, using the breaststroke himself, just like he learned when he was young... "Well, you looked like a little expert on that board, right up to the moment you waved to me..." he said. "Oh, just going in a straight line fast, it's easier than it looks, you balance automatically," Kitty said, hoisting herself up on the pier, soaking wet and shedding water drops like diamonds in the summer sunlight. "I'm no expert. I can't even turn well." Evans climbed up on the pier after her, and put an arm around her shoulder. They both looked down to the boat that was moored there. "She's nice..." he said <just like you...> he added a little less mentally than he thought... "Eh..." Kitty smiled and leaned slightly as he put his arm around her shoulder. "It was one of my ancestors, who built her... Well, the REAL her, anyways. My grandfather put in the parameters for me, and he knows her through and through, so I'm pretty sure it'll be accurate." The little boat was just about enough for one person to handle.. if that person had significantly more mass on him than Kitty had on her. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's take her out!..." Evans said enthousiastically... "Do you want to take the helm, or should I?" "You take the rudder," Kitty said, stepping aboard the little boat. "I've got the sail. I'm good with that part..." She pulled a little jacket out from under the seat, a light blue windbreaker, and pulled it on, leaving it unzipped. Her bathing suit top had a large white-and-dark-blue floral pattern splashed liberally across it. The jacket already had a couple of darker splotches of water on it. "Ok.." Evans just said, as he climbed into the boat, after untying it from the dock. He took place in the rear of the boat, and pushed off. He saw Kitty raising the single triangular sail, and felt the wind catching it, as the boat slightly leaned over, and already picked up a little speed. Kitty knew just how to handle the sail, raising it and then adjusting its angle expertly.. she knew the area, too, knew the breezes and where they went. She settled for an easy speed, not giving Evans any instructions, just watching to see how he handled the rudder on his own experience. Evans kept the course steady, but had no idea where to go. He just knew that if he pushed the rudder to the left, the boat would go to the right, and vice versa. At the moment he just enjoyed the view, both the land- and seascape and his girlfriend... "Whereto?" Evans asked eventually, after they left the coast a respectable distance behind them. "Left or right" Kitty looked around a bit, then pointed "The course is over there.. let's go try it out." She was a sight indeed.. smiling brightly, eyes sparkling, obviously enjoying herself. "You're good. Let's find out How good." Evans remembered the instructions he gave Kitty, when she wanted to rev the engine of his car, so he slowly and gently pushed the rudder in the opposite direction where they wanted to go. As per design, the ship's bearing changed, moving towards the course... "Like this?" he asked "Yeah," Kitty said, watching and adjusting the sail as necessary. "Let's pick up the pace." She adjusted the sail again, letting it fill further, the little boat surging ahead. She still wasn't going as fast as they could... she'd save that for the course. "You're doing fine." The wind pulling the sails pulled the boat in a slight list, but nothing to worry about, and the heading was slightly affected too. Evans had no problem, carefully adjusting the rudder to compensate. "Wow, this is great!" he said enthousiasticly. He was having a great time, and thanked Kitty, by rubbing her shoulder with his free hand "Wait 'till we get on the course, and really open her up." Kitty chuckled, smiling, closing her eyes for a moment when he touched her shoulder. She was using both hands on the ropes, handling the sail. "And there it is! Ready to fly?" She was excited. This felt good to her, familiar and comforting, but with the extra spark of doing it with someone new. "Eh, I guess so..." Things were pretty easy, but now things counted... Well, it was just a practice run, but still. He didn't want to dissapoint Kitty... "Let's do it!" "Let's do it!" As they crossed the beginning of the course, she adjusted the sail again, letting it fill further. She had full intent to push her luck here, where the safeties were on, instead of waiting until they were out in the real ocean to find out what the boat could really handle. Still, she was good, and pulled the sail as necessary... going as quickly as they could without actually capsizing. She rose slightly, balancing on her feet, feeling the angle of the boat and the effect of the rudder rather than watching what Evans was doing. Evans was startled by the sudden list of the boat on the edge, and he almost fell, but he managed to keep his balance. However, he lost grip of the rudder, so their heading was way off, and by the time Evans got his rudder back, they were quite wide... Evans gently eased the boat back on course, and sighed a sigh of relief, as the boat reacted swiftly and accurately... "Oookay, that was close..." he said... "I didn't expect that!" He too shifted his weight to balance the boat, allowing Kitty to tighten the sails even more, if she wanted to... "Woah..." Kitty reacted, easing up a little when Evans lost his balance, then pulling tighter as she felt him helping to balance the boat instead of nearly falling overboard. "You okay?" she asked, letting the boat speed up again, pushing it closer to its limit. "I'm fine. I just didn't expect that much list..." he said. "Sorry 'bout that... Won't happen again, ma'am!" he added semi-seriously throwing a wink at it. The first corner was coming up... "How do you want me to steer? Gently or aggressively?" he asked. "Oh, you!" The wink and 'ma'am' remark threw her into giggles, but she recovered in time to see the corner coming up. "Corner as tight as you think she can handle. Better find out now rather than later." She braced her legs, ready for the list... still testing the balance constantly. "Yes ma'am!" he teased, but tension could be heard in his voice. The corner came up, and both Black as Evans started with their activities at the same time. Black slacked the sails just a bit, as Evans smoothly but resolutely pushed the bar away, making the ship turn in a tight left corner. They cleared the bouy with just one and a half meters to spare... Not as tight as a professional team, but close enough for a couple of amateurs... Both Kitty and Evans noticed that the wind would be coming from a different direction, so they ducked to prevent the boom from hitting them square in the face. They both scurried to the other side of the boat, and took their places again. Evans straightened the rudder again, as the nose of the ship pointed towards the second buoy of the course, and the ship picked up the little speed they had lost again... "Wow, that went well..." Evans commented. "Woo!" Kitty cheered, taking a moment to hold her lines with one hand and thump Evans on the shoulder. "We're a good team! Wish the Grandpa Black who built this could have seen that corner. Watch out, here comes the next one..." This turn was to be easier, as they wouldn't have to go about. This would mean that they could just stay where they were. Evans just steered the corner. Kitty slacked the beam, as the wind was coming straight from astern. They felt the boat loosing speed, as anyone would, because this angle just isn't ideal for a boat... Evans took the time to relax a little, for the next leg of the triangular course, the first leg of their second lap... This time he would be prepared... "Well, that was fun!" he said, excitedly... "It reminds me of many of my favorite memories.. and it keeps me from getting nervous," Kitty said gratefully. "Reminds me that I'm brave enough to do what I do. What gives you that feeling?" They had a little bit of time.. and she was curious. "Eh, to be honest, I never had something quite like this... Restoring our Smart was fun, when there was progress, but lately the gearbox has done nothing than frustrate me... I'm starting to think there's a mechanical problem with it." he answered. "I usually burow into my plasma-science whenever I feel like escaping the world... Or I write a letter to Suzy... An old friend of mine... I guess that's not an option right now either..." he mused. "Yeah..." Kitty frowned. "With this program, I almost forgot how far away I am from my grandparents. Do you think.. we'll.. even get back in time?" She betrayed her brave demeanor for a moment. "D-do you think we'll ever even get back home?" Evans patted her back again, being glad to be allowed to do so. However, he wouldn't lie to her... "I really don't know..." he said. He was feeling a bit lost now too... Suddenly he saw a bouy floating past their boat "Did we just overreach the corner?" he asked... "Oh drat.." Kitty blinked, suddenly directing her attention to the task on hand. "TURN! oh drat oh drat this is the corner with the sandbar..." Did she really need to say more, to anyone who knew what that could mean? Evans jerked the rudder towards him, turning the boat abruptly... The wind suddenly coming from the other side, it caught the sail, and the slack boom, which turned *quite* rapidly to move towards the boat's occupants... Startled by the oncoming boom, they were just in time , to raise their arms, protecting their faces. They both caught the boom with their upper body, and were launched out of the boat into the water. Evans didn't know which way was up, and looked around underwater. He saw the shimmering surface, the keel of the boat, and swum in that genaral direction. He broke the surface, and could not immediately see his girlfriend... "Kitty! Where are you!" he yelled out, seriously worried, not even hurting too much... Kitty had been launched into the water like that before and took it fairly gracefully, arms and legs flailing for a moment, orienting herself so that it wouldn't hurt much to hit the water. "Stupid rookie mistake..." was the one thought that went through her mind as she fell, but she was silently blaming herself, not Evans. She oriented quickly, watching the direction of the bubbles, but she didn't surface immediately. Instead she headed for the boat underwater, the fastest way she knew how to swim. She knew that the little boat, adrift, would probably ground itself on that sandbar. She had to Try to catch up to it in time. "Kitty, where are you?!" he yelled again, looking around the surface... He still couldn't find her, so he headed for the boat too... Kitty surfaced on the other side of the little boat just after his yell... she glanced around quickly as she reached up... This little sunfish rode low enough in the water that she could catch hold of the edge and pull herself in. "Evans?" she called, just before pulling herself back into the boat. "...Ronald?" "Oh, thank god... Don't ever scare me like that again!..." he almost yelled at her. "Sorry... I mean..." he stammered, as he too tried to climb into the boat, a little less gracefully as Kitty did... "Let's avoid the sandbar first..." Kitty knew where the priorities were, when she was on a boat. She shifted her position to balance the boat as he climbed in, then grabbed hold of her lines again, bringing the sail under control. She took just a moment to point and move her hand in a slight sweeping motion to indicate the area they wanted to avoid. "Oh, ok! " Evans said, as he grabbed hold of the rudder again, steering away from the sandbar, and back onto the course, a little less jerky, and a bit more controlled this time, keeping his eye on the boom... He wasn't in a hurry to make that mistake again... Kitty sighed with relief as the ship steered away from the sandbar, coming so close that she was sure she'd hear the scrape against the hull.. but she didn't.. and then they were back on course with a fair piece of straightness ahead. She reduced speed to a slow, lazy glide, secured the lines for a moment, and then turned her attention to giving Evans a big hug. "I'm sorry for scaring you." Her apology was quite heartfelt. "Are you ok?" "I'm fine..." Evans just said, returning the hug releasing all of his worries. "Let's not do that again in a hurry..." he said, holding her tightly. "Agreed." Kitty let out a sigh of relief and took up her position again, slowly speeding up again. "Let's pay attention until we're finished with the course," she said wryly. Ready?" "Yeah... I'm ready..." Evans said, bracing for the list, as they prepared for the first leg again... Kitty figured they'd had some practice this time. She set up to take the turn about as fast as she figured they could handle, without swamping the boat. It would be a bit scary... but she felt somehow that she needed a bit of scary. Both Kitty as Evans felt a little bit angry... At the boat for hitting them in the face and into the water, and at themselves for letting it, so they would show it what they were made of... Again, the corner came up, and again the both lieutenants started their tasks, slacking the sails, but just a tad less than last time, pushing away the rudder, but just a bit farther and earlier than last time,passing the buoy, but a little sharper than last time, ducking under that blasted boom toward the other side of the boat, even faster than last time, easing off the rudder, and tightening the sail swifter than last time, picking up the speed again, loosing a little less than last time... "Yeah!..." Evans yelled out... "That went even better than last time!" He felt quite proud of that turn... "Wow!" Kitty was no less impressed. "We're star material! A good team!" She'd never made a corner Quite that fast before, and she was exhilarated. Her grandfather had always been so straight-faced about it, and just a little more conservative. "Let's make good time..." And this time she didn't distract them with questions about their situation, but just readied herself for the next part of the course. "We are, aren't we?" Evans just asked, also concentrating on the next corner, which honestly is a bit easier... He steered the ship sharply around the bouy, as Kitty slacked the boom again, for the leg downwind... "Okay, let's keep our heads on this time, shall we?" he meant that quite literally as well as figuratively... "Agreed." She braced herself again, eyeing the turn ahead. "Let's see if we can make this one even better." "Ok, Buoy coming up... Let's make this one count... Now!" Evans shouted, as he gently and swiftly pulled the rudder again. This time, they saw the boom coming, so they ducked again, scurrying to the other side this time, instead of being launched over one... Kitty pulled the boom back into gear, and they were back on the first leg, starting their third lap... "Fancy another go?" Evans said, invigorated by a perfect lap, as the little ship picked up speed again... "Oh yeah. You bet." Kitty grinned. "I bet we can make a better time. What do you think?" She was elated. Evans was even better at this than she'd hoped. "Well, it's only our second lap, so I guess there's still room for improvement! LET'S HIT IT!" Evans responded. "Woo!" Kitty readied for the turn, determined to go tighter than last time, lean just a little more... And get through it even faster than before. The excitement was beginning to feel intoxicating to her. It also affected Evans, Adrenaline pumping, leaning over the edge as far as he could to allow Kitty to pull the sails as tight as possible, his knuckles white from clutching the rudder... Evans eyed the bouy, and if it was alive, it would be so scared by Evans' gaze, it would actually swim away... Kitty clutched the ropes as hard as she could, and when they reached the corner, she only eased them off the tinyest of bits... Evans pushed away the rudder, almost turning the ship on a dime, only a foot away from the bouy... It would have been a beatiful turn, if only the sides of the ship would be an inch higher... Evans saw the problem first, but didn't have a clue what to do about it... Kitty felt the problem before she saw it, and mentally cursed herself out, as much as she ever did curse. "Hold the turn, hold it!" She knew they were going to take on water, and might even swamp. There was no good solution. Maybe there was one that wasn't as bad as the others... If she didn't panic, and if Evans didn't panic, they wouldn't fight the forces pressing them into the turn and they might keep this oncoming accident from turning downright catastrophic. Of course, she'd forgotten that they were on the holodeck on board a starship, and they weren't going to get themselves killed no matter what. Evans held the turn, but made the final mistake, climbing into the boat to do so, thereby shifting his weight the wrong way... The little boat listed at a dangerous angle, as the keel came out of the water, and offered less and less resistance... Yes, they capsized... "Oh blast!" was the last thing Evans shouted as he was yet again thrown out of the boat...This time, it was without the extreme force of a speedy boom, but a gentle slide into the water, so he didn't even submerge completely. Kitty felt the balance going wrong... "We're going down!" She tried to compensate, felt the boat tipping helplessly, and grabbed onto a line as she was tipped further in... which was a mistake. The line did not part, but it stretched for just a moment and then went Sproing, launching her into the air. It looked much more dangerous than it really was... all it did was to act momentarily as a spring. She landed in the water several feet away with a decided splash. Evans had a gentler slide into the water than Kitty, and saw the whole thing happen, and yet again a feeling of fear became him... "Kitty!" he shouted, as he saw his girlfriend hurling through the air, and immediately began swimming into the direction she should be... This time, Kitty was a fair bit more disoriented as she broke the surface and dropped underwater. She hadn't lived most of her life near the ocean for nothing, though. She shook her head a little, dazed, and followed the instructions that had been burned deep into her memory. Get to the surface... She turned herself around and was nearly ready to break the surface when Evans was close enough to see her. Evans saw the slender form of Kitty below the surface, coming slowly towards the surface.. He took another deep breath, and dived down to see if she needed assistance. When he was down under again, he could see she was active, and her eyes were open, so he turned for the surface again. While he was underwater, he could see a nasty welt across the back of her leg... ropeburn. Still, considering what had happened, she'd gotten off easy... Kitty broke the surface, taking a deep breath, coughing a bit. She'd swallowed a little seawater. "Are you okay?" Evans asked, worried about her leg. He himself hadn't sustained any injury, except maybe his pride... "That one completely borked on us..." he added... "I'm ok.." was Kitty's immediate answer, once she could talk past the coughing. Then she winced as the adrenaline began to ease away and the pain caught up to her. "Ow... owowowow... that stings..." she whimpered. "It's not bleeding, is it? Ow ow ow..." Evans' eyes grew at that comment, and dove down again, checking on Kitty's body. He checked the welt he saw before. He didn't see it bleed and touched it to investigate further... Kitty shrieked at the touch and kicked out blindly, without thinking. <OW! that was a mistake!> Evans thought, as Kitty's reflex caused her to kick him right on the head, actually causing him some pain, but luckily no injury... He came up, rubbing his head, and denied Kitty's worries. "I'ts just red, nothing else... Ouch, you do know how to kick too.." Kitty realized once she'd felt something against her foot that she'd actually managed to kick him, and she was apologizing abjectly as soon as he was resurfacing. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry.. ow ow ow... it's not bleeding? I'm ok? I'm sorry.. We took that one too fast.. it was my fault.." "I didn't see any blood, just a bit red... Cm'ere..." he moved toward her, and put his arms around her, one around her shoulder, and one around her waist. "We just got a bit ambitious... That's all..." he said, treading water for the both of them... Kitty took a deep, slightly shaky breath and let him draw her close. She shifted one leg to tread water and let the other one rest. "I think... I need a milkshake," she said with feeling. Evans looked at the boat, and saw it still capsized... "Hm, shall we take the easy way out this time?" he asked... "We could try and lift the boat back on it's keel ourselves again, or we could let the computer do it..." It would be cheating, but then again, against whom? "Oh for heaven's sake, let the computer do it. I'm exhausted." The adrenaline surge was fading away, replaced by the stinging pain from the welt on her leg. "Let's go to shore... ok?" "Yeah, let's do that... Computer, please upright the boat for us, will you?" Evans said. Out of nowhere, the familiar beeps of the computer could be heard... A moment later the Black Sunfish disappeared, only to reappear just a second later, upright, in all her glory... "...Amazing, isn't it..." Ronald Mused, still holding his most prized posession... With her permission, of course... With her wholehearted permission at that. "I still think the real one is even prettier.. And I think we have a real chance at first place," Kitty said in response, snuggling in as much as was possible while treading water. There they were, in the middle of the sea, their boat floating lazily next to them, their arms around each other... Evans suddenly felt it was time for it... He looked intently at his girlfriend, and put his lips to hers. No words, just a passionate kiss... Kitty blinked in surprise, but she'd already begun to get used to liking kisses and she soon abandoned herself to it. She was definitely enjoying herself. She took a moment once the kiss ended to look right into his eyes and smile. Evans smiled back... "Better?..." he just asked, slightly loosening his grip, but not yet releasing her. "All better," Kitty responded softly, not making any effort or feeling any desire to draw back. Her leg still stung and she just plain ignored it... for as long as she could. "Ow ow..." She was rather miffed to find that 'minor' injury spoiling her fun. "...how 'bout that milkshake?" She turned herself so that she could swim to shore, but kept one hand on his shoulder, not wanting to lose physical contact just yet. "Do we swim, sail or cheat?" Evans asked, looking at the rather large distance they still would have to cover, without a boat... "Cheat," said Kitty tiredly, and gave the order to send them straight to their milkshakes... a lovely beachside ice cream place where they could watch the sun set. "I'm buying!" Evans joked, fully realising that it wouldn't cost him anything.. -=[Off]=- Repeatedly avoiding Davy Jones' Locker: Lieutenant Jg. Ronald Evans Chief Ops USS Pegasus "We just tried a little bit too hard..." Lt. Kathleen Black Chief Engineer USS Pegasus |
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