Blue Horizon

Posted on Sun Jan 18, 2015 @ 11:57am by Lieutenant Penelope Naroot

3,057 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: All this has happened before...
Location: Holodeck
Timeline: Backpost before away mission

Blue Horizon was supposed to be one of the most beautiful terraformed planets in the Federation. Penny thought it looked like a large watercolor painting. The most impressive part though, was Da Vinci falls. The planet's creator had called the falls the planet's crowning glory, and Penny agreed.

The cliffs were so high up they disappeared in the clouds, with water pouring down. Rainbows covered the area and the pool they landed in was a deeper shade of blue than Penny thought was possible in a natural environment, and the tactile sensation was something she had gone to great lengths to reproduce in the program. Thankfully, the millions of details normally picked up by a subconscious, she could meticulously list in the program, giving it as much reality as she could muster.

She'd just finished dropping her bag by the edge of the lake when the doors opened next to her and she looked over. "Hey! You're early," she said, grinning.

Tom smiled. Today, he hadn't been assigned to the Transporter Room and had been taking care of some paperwork, including making arrangements for a couple crewmen to take their first Petty Officer tests. Doing so had reminded Tom of his younger days, being eager to travel the galaxy and explore strange new worlds.

Seeing Penny's grin only made Tom's smile more confident and playful. Her presence seemed to draw something new entirely out of Thomas and while he didn't yet fully understand it, he liked it.

"It's been a light day," he replied, starting to take in the surroundings now that the door had been absorbed into the holograms surrounding them. "I love what you've done with the place."

"Aw, thank you," she said, grinning. She turned and held her hands up framing the falls until they disappeared into the clouds. "So, tell me something: is this what you would call 'breathtaking'?"

His smile disappeared. Tom slowly spun around, his eyes studying the water as it fell, cascading down from the cliffs whose tops were embraced by the cotton of clouds. "It's..." his voice trailed off, seeing several multicolored birds chase each other around the treetops.

A smile reappeared on his face as he turned back to Penny, admiring one more beautiful sight. "Perfect." His eyes shone with a wonder not seen since first leaving Utopia Plantia more than a dozen years ago. "Absolutely perfect."

"Is that as good though?" she said, sounding almost disappointed. "I was going for breathtaking. It's hard for me to replicate a sensation I haven't experienced."

"It's not as good," Tom replied, reaching out and taking her right hand. "It's better. In fact, it is one of the best sights I've ever laid eyes on. Come on," he said, leading her down to the water's edge.

Penny held his hand and walked alongside. "Better than breathtaking," she said, processing the idea. "Okay, I'll take that." They reached the water's edge and she pulled off her tshirt. "Hopefully the water's warm enough," she said, grinning. "Otherwise, you'll do a dolphin trick."

Tom's eyes darted around the shore, looking for a spot to simply jump right in. He found a high enough rock from which to dive into the water, an event which he quickly undertook. Tom did bob back to the surface rather quickly. The water was cool, but not freezing cold. In fact, his body was quickly acclimating to the temperature. "Come on in!" his voice trying to crack while shivers struggled for control. "The water's fine!"

Penny laughed and got a running start. She jumped, sliding out of her shorts and diving into the water in one fluid motion. She glided smoothly through the water and came up right in front of him, smiling. "Sure it's fine?"

The shivers subsided as his body adjusted to the water, but that didn't stop him from responding with a hesitant, yet convincing nod. "So, what else are these Falls known for other than its breathtaking view?"

"Good question," Penny said. "Could try scaling the cliff behind the waterfall," she said. "But sometimes just swimming is enough, I think." She kicked up onto her back and did a backstroke around him. "Water's such a cool tactile experience."

"The water is cool alright," Tom replied with a smile. Bobbing, he spun around and looked up the waterfall that disappeared into the clouds above. He then looked down into the water, noting how clear it was. He took a deep breath and plunged under the water to see how far he could go and still see clearly.

A few multicolored fish swam away from Tom as he went deeper. The area had to be no more than a few feet, maybe fifteen, deep, which with that heavy waterfall nearby, anything deeper would have been impossible to recover from if one were to be caught underneath it. Tom was amazed how smooth the rocks were on the bottom of the river, likely rendered smooth after centuries of pressure from the waterfall.

He came back up for a breath of air, only to see he'd drifted a good distance away from the waterfall. "Wow," he whispered in amazement. With the right amount of distance, the view truly became breathtaking.

"Yay, I got a 'wow'," Penny said, grinning. She swam over to him and looked up at the falls. "Humans make some pretty neat stuff," she said. "I guess that's why so many species are jealous of them." She pushed the hair out of her eyes and looked around. "Hawaii has some beautiful places though, and they formed naturally. How about you? Did you have anything like this where you're from?"

Tom shook his head. "Just a bunch of palm trees and warm sand," he confessed. "Miami is a good town, don't get me wrong, but it's heavily civilized. You can hardly go anywhere without seeing a skyscraper tower over the ocean."

He knew Penny would not be impressed with such a cold description, but it was true. Tom spent more time getting in trouble in Miami than he did on the beach. Perhaps if the beach had looked anything like this, he would have taken more of an interest.

What he couldn't shake though was how Penny had asked some of her questions. As they both looked up at the falls, he stole a glance at her. She seemed human enough. Humanity had explored the stars now for more than a couple hundred years and interspecies marriage and reproduction was more and more common. She could be a mix of just about anything, especially with how young she looked.

And that's when he noticed her scar. He wondered how he never saw it before.

El Aurian? he thought, going back to the full mystery of Penny. Mentally shrugging, he decided to save his questions for a future time. He enjoyed a good mystery, but he didn't want to push her away with so many at once. "You know," he said, "I always wanted to visit Hawaii. My mom tried once to arrange a vacation to there, but it never worked out. Are the islands as beautiful as this?"

"Mm hmm!" Penny said, excitedly. "Crystal clear water, fine white sand, flowers the size of your head with amazingly vivid colors. My mom and dad would take me walking along the beaches in the evenings and show me the different flowers. We'd go to the top of the mountains and there'd just be green and gold and purple and red for miles around." She looked up at the waterfall again. "It's not as tall as this, but it's still gorgeous." She looked back at him and grinned. "Although in the city they had their share of skyscrapers too. Guess that happens almost everywhere on any civilized planet after a while."

She turned to look at him, and tilted her head in confusion. "What?" she said, seeing the inquisitive look on his face.

Tom smiled, albeit eerily. "I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to stare. I just..."

Stop talking you idiot. Tom kept his sheepish smile as he gently brushed the scar on her cheek. "Surfing accident?" he asked. He had a few scars himself from childhood and the war. It was normal for him to swap stories with other men in the locker room or in the gym. He wasn't sure if such a custom was appropriate for the opposite sex, at least this early in getting to know each other.

Penny shrugged and gave him a half smile. "Actually, the helm of my last ship blew up in my face. I thought i'd keep the scar cause it'd make me look more grown up."

"And why would you want to grow up?" Tom asked, his smile now more playful. His mind, however, was still trying to figure her out. "You grow up, you fight in wars, experience supernatural phenomena, make the hard decisions. There's something to be said for childhood innocence, you know..."

Penny nodded and let herself float lazily, the gentle current pushing her slowly towards the bank. "Yeah, but I already fought in a war and experienced the superphenominal-whatevers and stuff. Being a nurse was cool, but you can only see your friends' insides so many times before it gets boring, ya know? I figured maybe a little change of pace was in order. At least now I know where we're steering, rather than being cooped up in Sickbay with Nicole, wondering what's hitting us this time." She righted herself and grinned at him. "Besides, innocents don't have nearly as much fun as we do, right? We get to explore, see cool stuff, and play games like capture the flag!"

She dove under the water and in one fluid motion, grabbed his trunks, yanked them down and off and swam away quickly. She leaped through the surface of the water near the edge of the lagoon, pulling herself onto a rock and crossing her legs, waving his trunks at him. "I win," she said, giggling like mad.

Surprise didn't even begin to describe what emotions had hit Tom. He was nearly as sanguine as they come, and he had done far too much in his youth like what Penny had just done.

Tom bobbed in the water, watching Penny as she swam underwater and then surfaced to sit on the rock. "You cheated," he countered, smiling. He swam towards the rock, plotting a way to get his trunks back. The bank of the lagoon, however, left no options for any surprises of his own. Tom raised a hand and quickly swept it across the water, shooting a thick splash at Penny. He hoped it would have been enough to distract her so he could grab his trunks, except he wasn't counting on the firm grip she still had on them. Tom, smiling, hit the side of the rock, holding on to one of the legs while he was half in and half out of the water.

Penny rocked forward and immediately pulled back to counter his weight, accidentally lifting him partly out of the water. She grinned and suddenly let go of his trunks, letting him drop back into the water. She snickered and backed up a bit, making room for him on the rock when he was ready.

He hesitated before putting his trunks back on simply because of seeing Penny's reaction to the tug of war. Whether she let go or not (Tom really didn't know the difference) was of no consequence. With the trunks back on, Tom climbed onto the rock and sat down close beside her. His body readjusted quickly to the warm air. Smiling, he took a look back towards where they'd entered the holodeck, only to see the majestic falls still cascade downward.

Tom turned to face Penny, realizing how close they were sitting. It wasn't long ago since he first took note of how stunning her blue eyes were, as if they'd been carefully crafted by a renaissance painter. Somehow, even this close, neither his grin or hers had faded. Well, his might have. If it hadn't faded, surely a mixture of mischievousness and excitement certainly was creeping in. To retaliate for the tug of war, he considered a gentle push back into the water below. Yet, the water was somewhat shallow, and explaining what happened to sickbay might not be the best event of the evening.

He decided a different approach was in order, and it was one he hadn't done in years. Sanguine or not, it took all of Tom's gusto to lean in and land a kiss on the lips. It didn't last long, and he was slightly embarrassed by the effort. Questions circled in his head. Was he too forward? Should that have waited? Did he really feel that way? Oh boy...

She saw him lean in, and she closed her eyes in an extended blink while he kissed her. By the time she opened her eyes, she'd had a few thoughts.

Her analysis showed that the kiss lasted exactly 3.874 seconds. The force she applied to his lips was strong enough to be felt, but not cause him physical pain. His face showed he was nervous, but she admired his bravery. She did a general comparison of his facial features with other human males to gauge how he was at that moment, and reviewed the concepts of a first kiss, a lover's kiss and reviewed a few dozen scenarios for how he might react afterwards from running out of the holodeck to throwing himself at her.

When her eyes opened, she saw his expression and decided it was a combination of the 34th and 57th reactions: embarrassed and doubtful. She adjusted her response accordingly, and by the time their kiss pulled apart, she was smiling at him. "That was nice," she said.

Tom's smile strengthened when he saw Penny's smile. His face was rarely without a smile, mostly because he was genuinely friendly to all. This smile, however, was different. He still wasn't quite certain what emotions lay behind his, and perhaps he was finally open to pursuing such thoughts. "Thanks," he softly offered as a reply. "It's been a while since my last kiss."

In fact, even as he sat there, he was unsure of when exactly that was. He'd been so absorbed by career and adventure he hadn't given any thought to pursuing relationships. Tom wasn't sure if now was the time to dive into one. Baby steps... a soft voice in his head suggested. Slow and steady...

"How come?" Penny said. "It's been my experience that Earth boys are pretty easygoing when it comes to meeting girls. You're handsome, adventurous, why don't you do it more often? I'd think you'd enjoy it." She leaned in and whispered conspiratorially. "It's pretty fun, you know."

Thomas chuckled. "Back in the day," he said, "I used to." With a comfortable grin, he added, "I guess when I saw everyone I knew starting to settle down, I figured it might be better to go solo a while. Looks like I didn't realize what I was giving up."

He looked once more into her blue eyes. With her still leaning over, most of the lagoon and the falls were obscured by her face, but it didn't matter. The view before him was the most breathtaking of all. With confidence this time, he leaned in and started another kiss.

She kissed him back, doing an in-depth analysis of their conversation, as well as his response in her spare time. She had several options as to how to proceed next, but she had to weigh them against unknown variables, such as his mood and thoughts, of which she was 94.9% certain she had anticipated, but there was always that margin of error in humans that she still had trouble contending with.

She put a hand on his thigh and leaned into it more, adding what she calculated to be at least 20% aggression that he should interpret as her enthusiasm for the action. With her other hand, she reached up behind her and undid the neck strings of her swimsuit top, giving him the option to proceed or ignore. *I only hope he can survive this,* she thought. *If it's been a while since he's even kissed a girl, who knows what such a sudden endorphin rush of that magnitude might do.* She smiled a bit, thinking of the faces he might make and did her best not to giggle.

It wasn't long before Tom's hand was pulling Penny closer by pressing against the small of her back. He kissed again, noting a sweet taste as their lips danced. Tom let all his other sensations lapse for the time being, choosing to enjoy this moment. It wasn't long, however, before he felt her hand, pressing the damp trunks further onto his skin. Before he could determine a response to her move, Tom felt some movement with her lips, almost like a smile connected to laughter. "What's so funny?" he asked with a smile of his own. He hoped it wasn't him and it was just some random thought.

*Oops,* she thought. *Beep, beep, Penny!* She couldn't help herself though and her smile got wider. "Nothing," she said, thinking quickly, which was her norm. "Just that, for a guy who hasn't kissed a girl in a while, you're doing a remarkably good job." She looked over his expression and grinned wider, scooting closer and pressing against him, kissing him again.

Tom didn't speak, kissing Penny back instead. His free hand joined the party, reaching up to be placed behind her ear and hold the back of her head. Tom felt the loose neck strings as the hand brushed over them. He wasn't sure what happened to them after since their bodies were pressed together and there was no room for anything to fall. Tom did pull himself closer, keeping his other hand on her back and holding her tight.

With his confidence rising, Tom gently pushed her backward. As they both lay on the rock, Tom considered that the rock may be too hard of a surface. Fortunately, the thought was merely fleeting, disappearing all too quickly to their shared passion.


Joint Post

Thomas Barnes
Transporter Specialist


Penelope Naroot
CFCO

 

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