Jiggity Jig

Posted on Thu Apr 4, 2019 @ 10:46am by Lieutenant Nicole Anderson & Lieutenant JG Camille Lévesque PhD

3,718 words; about a 19 minute read

Mission: Plaga Navis
Location: Holodeck

Nicole was sitting at her desk, black bag next to her, her head resting on her palms, and her eyes shut. She was supremely glad she wasn't on the away mission, because she was beyond worn out. She wasn't sleeping well, and this damned virus was bugging her.

"Doctor, I was wondering--" Maggie started, knocking on the door to Nicole's office.

"Maggie, if it isn't life or death, just go ahead and make a decision," Nicole said. "I've got a headache and little patience for minutiae right now."

"Sorry, Doctor," Maggie said, stepping out.

Nicole rubbed her temples and closed her eyes, retreating back into the silence. A moment later there was another knock. "Yes?" she snapped heatedly, glaring at the next interruption.

"I...never mind," Crewman B'tal said, backing back out of the doorway slowly.

Nicole went back to rubbing her temples, her eyes closed, grumbling slightly. She'd just started to get focused again when there was another knock at her office. "What??" she shouted, snarling, her eyes flashing red. She immediately regretted her reaction, seeing Camille's face.

"I....sorry," Nicole said, sighing. "I'm can't seem to get five minutes of quiet today."

It was the first time Camille had seen Nicole's eyes change colour. It was unsettling, but she understood this was a difficult time, and that she was serious in her apology. "It's okay. I saw Maggie and B'Tal before coming in. Maybe I could've picked my timing better. Do you want me to leave you alone? I can maybe help set up an opaque force field so no one can look in and bother you?" She grinned at her not-serious suggestion. "Or can I offer you respite from this chaos for a little while?"

Nicole took a deep breath and rubbed the back of her neck. Her f--The Professor was in the lab monitoring the experiments and unless something happened, they wouldn't be learning anything for several hours. She wanted to be in Sickbay in case something came up, but she knew she was liable to bite someone's head off shortly. "Respite," she said at last, standing up.

She grabbed her black bag and walked out of her office, heading for the corridor. "I don't know if I have cabin fever or just a desire to strangle my staff," she said as Camille caught up, "but Sickbay has never felt so claustrophobic before."

Camille nodded as she walked alongside, working hard to keep up with Nicole's pace. "Je comprends. We've been working hard. Our solutions can be as dangerous as our problems. It's not a happy time right now." She repressed the urge to smile when she remembered Thomas had also mentioned feeling claustrophobic on a starship, but she dare not mention that. Instead, an idea crossed her mind. "If claustrophobia is the problem, maybe a trip to the holodeck will help?"

"Maybe," Nicole conceded. "What are you thinking? The beaches of Pacifica? The plains of Epictetus III?"

"Those sound nice," Camille agreed, "but I shared my home with you. Maybe you could share yours with me?"

Nicole cast her a sideways glance. "I...suppose I could," she said. "If you don't mind being dragged across half a planet while I point out various trees I climbed and lakes I swam in. Pretty boring, really." She stopped as they came to the holodeck doors, the panel showing it was empty.

Camille laughed. "You still don't know me very well, do you?" she joked. "You just proposed a nature excursion during which I get to see trees, lakes, new ecosystems, and the home of the woman I--" she stopped abruptly before choosing her next words. She wasn't ready to call it that yet. "La femme que j'aime beaucoup." That word had multiple meanings, including the one Camille meant, and the one she hoped to mean one day.

Nicole's ice blue eyes bored into Camille and dissected her on the spot. "Computer," she finally said, "access my personal library and initiate my Rigel festival program."

The computer beeped in acknowledgement. "Program complete. Enter when ready."

The doors opened to the sound of laughter and music, and Nicole gestured in. "After you," she said.

Camille's eyes lit up as stepped into the festival. She heard the laughter of Rigelians having fun. She heard the musicians on a nearby stage playing something delightful. She saw bright colours, and smelled the most delicious aromas. It was overwhelming but in the most pleasant way. The entire experience brought a giant grin to her face, even without any context aside from the word 'festival'. She turned back around to face Nicole and planted a kiss on her lips. "What is all this?" she asked, loud enough to be heard over the cacophony.

Nicole kissed her back and smiled in spite of herself. "This, is Rigel's second-favorite passtime: a party. It's the harvest festival. There are two per year. Everyone eats, drinks and makes merry and then the next day whoever doesn't have a debilitating hangover begins harvesting crops."

Colored flags were everywhere and people were in groups laughing, eating and drinking. Everyone looked generally happy and as Nicole thought back to her last time in this program, she looked around thoughtfully. "It looks different," she said, half to herself.

"Oh?" Camille said, looking around, not sure what to look for, having never seen it before. "How is it different?" She inhaled deeply through her nose, drawing in the scents around her. "And where I can get some of this food?"

"I've stepped into this program before," she said. "It feels different." She smiled at Camille. "Must be the company." She pulled her to a table and they sat down. "Just hep yourself," she said, handing Camille a plate and pointing to the piles of meats, vegetables, bread and other treats."

“Merci!” Camille said, taking the plate and beginning to fill her plate, using her hands, tongs, or spoons as offered. She didn’t know what any of it was, but she didn’t care. She could discern meat from plant, tell what might be savoury or sweet or spicy, and that was enough. “Which is your favourite?” she asked.

Nicole pointed to a plate of purple fruits. "They're sweet and a bit tart, but very juicy. They brew a really good alcohol as well," she said. "And pretty much any of the roasted meats I'll eat. Oh and..." she stood up and reached over as a pitcher was set down, taking it and a couple of glasses. "Speaking of which..." she poured them each a glass of purple-blue wine and sat back down. "To home," she said, holding up her glass.

Camille set her plate down and lifted her own glass, clinking it against Nicole’s. “To home!” She smelled it and then took a sip. It was a bit stronger than she was used to, but was as described; sweet and a bit tart. She loved it instantly. She set her glass down and took a piece of meat that had an exposed bone. She didn’t see utensils yet, so this seemed like the best place to start until she saw Nicole eat something or find forks. The meat practically melted in her mouth and reminded her a lot of lamb. She closed her eyes as she savoured it. “Nicole...Rigel is wonderful. And I say that with very few data points. It produced that wine, this meat, and you.”

"Well, strictly speaking, she was imported," an amused voice said behind them.

Nicole spun around, lighting up like a supernova. "There you are!" she said happily, looking at the couple that now stood behind them. She looked a Camille and smiled. "Camille, this is Harranipa, my best friend since we were children, and this is her husband Jal'tah." She looked at them and beamed. "And this is Camille...my t'hy'la."

"Hello," said the smiling couple together. "Shon-ha-lock?" Harranipa said to Nicole, grinning.

"Somewhat," Nicole said, blushing.

Camille giggled seeing Nicole blush. “Enchantée,” she said to both of Nicole’s friends. She didn’t understand some of what they were saying, but it crossed her mind that maybe this was how Nicole sometimes felt with her. “So does this mean you have delightful stories about Nicole when she was une petite fille?” she said to Harranipa.

"Oh, several," Harranipa said, smiling. "When you come to Rigel and meet us in person we'll have even more."

"Oh no," Nicole said, groaning.

Camille couldn't help but laugh. "What?" she asked, amused, and understanding that stories will be embarrassing, but sensing there was something more going on.

"I just realized," she said, "that if this program has been created with all these stories, then my former shipmates heard them all too." She groaned again. "Going to be so embarrassing when I see them again."

Harranipar grinned. "Thomas said something to that effect, yes." They sat down on the other side of the table, taking each other's hand and smiling at the other couple.

"So, you two are shipmates?" Jal'tah said.

"Yes," Nicole said, smiling again at Camille. "We met when she came on board."

"So there I was," Camille said after finishing another sip of the wine, "minding my own business in my lab, and she barges in and shines a light down my throat!" She smiles widely, and a bit sheepishly as Nicole rolled her eyes. "Apparemment I was supposed to check in with her staff, and when she found out I didn't, she came to find me."

"Because, Providence forbid anyone report to Sickbay like they're supposed to," Nicole said. "So I walk in and directly, but politely, suggest she open her mouth and say, 'ah' so I could get it over with."

"She pinned you to a wall, I'm guessing," Harranipa said.

"Essentiellement!" Camille replied. "I got nervous and flustered and started talking too fast, which she picked up on right away. But she assured me I wasn't sick, and we started to talk."

"She's adorable when she rambles," Nicole said, sitting back against the table. "So we chat, we have a cuppa, I leave, and she checks out my ass as I go." She watched Camille turn beet red and grinned. "Thought I didn't notice that, hm?"

"How did you know?!" Camille replied, astonished, thinking she'd been subtle. Nicole just grinned and kissed her cheek.

Camille turned back to Harranipa and Jal'tah. "A few days later, we spent some time together during a night out with our friends. Then started having a bit of fun just the two of us. I've shown her my favourite parts of my home, and now she's showing me hers, the two of you included."

"I'm flattered," Harranipa said. "Of course, when you two come to Rigel in person, she'll have to show you her baby collection. Your Engineer got a few holo-photos for you, and a few recordings, but only had so much time."

"One step at a time," Nicole said. "Although I would love to see them at some point." An auburn blur suddenly flew at her and a pair of skinny arms wrapped around her neck. The pixie of a girl smiled at Nicole, her hair in a braid and her brown eyes shining. "Hi Auntie Nic!" she squealed.

"Hello, Cole," Nicole said, kissing her forehead. "Nice to see you with your feet on the ground."

Cole nodded. "Mommy said if I climbed the statue again, she'd chain me to a table," she said, ignoring the look of annoyance on her mother's face.

"That was not information to be shared," Harranipa muttered as Nicole chuckled.

"Who are you?" Cole said, looking at Camille.

"This is Camille," Nicole said.

"Hi. I'm Cole. I'm eight," Cole said. "I'm named Cole because of Auntie Nic, since I'm her 'name steak' and since her name is Nicole, but mom used to call her Cole." She nodded her head very seriously, in that cadence that children use when they try to sound grown-up explaining something. "So we call me Cole and her Auntie Nic so we don't get confused." She beamed up at Camille.

"It's 'namesake' my little love," Nicole corrected her.

"Commander Riley had her say it six times and she kept getting it wrong," Harranipa said, shaking her head.

"Allo Cole," Camille said, grinning widely. "I have trouble with English words, too, sometimes." She leaned in closer and spoke more softly, mimicking a whisper but knowing very well that everyone could hear her. "I think your Auntie Nic only understands me some of the time. But even though I get my words wrong I think she still likes me very much. What do you think?"

Cole grinned and shrugged and looked up to Nicole for confirmation. Nicole gave Camille a look and kissed Cole on the forehead. "Where are your siblings?"

"I dunno," Cole said, snuggling into Nicole's lap.

"Harisa is studying; she didn't want to come today," Harranipa said. "I told her she'd miss saying hello to you, but she doesn't always listen. Hemapol is here somewhere, or snuck off with his t'hy'la, and Ja'reth is coming up now."

Nicole looked past Camille. "There's my handsome young man," she said, grinning. Ja'reth blushed and smiled at her, then saw Camille and blushed harder, immediately squaring his shoulders and trying to look confident. "Hello," he said, trying to sound nonchalant. He pulled Cole's braid, eliciting a squeal of protest, and sat down. "Mother said to come say hello so...." He glanced at Camille again.

"Camille, this is Ja'reth," Nicole said. "Ja'reth, this is Camille."

"Hi," he said.

Camille giggled at Ja'reth's change in posture and added confidence. This kid will break hearts one day, she thought. "It's nice to meet you, Ja'reth. Can you help me with something? I'm enjoying this meat with the bones sticking out, but we're all out at this table! Can you take me to where I can get more? We can bring back a platter together for everyone."

"Sure!" he said, jumping to his feet. He offered her a hand to help her up and smiled at her. "Allow me."

Camille took his hand and let him help her up. "So polite and gallant. You're raising a proper gentleman," she said to Harranipa and Jal'tah. They beamed with pride as Nicole stifled a laugh. As Ja'reth walked with her to one of the cooking stations, never letting go of her hand, Camille smiled and winked at Nicole fading into the distance. "So other than eat, what do we do for fun at this festival?" she asked him.

He blushed and tried not to stare. "Dancing, if you want to. Or....we could go explore some of the forest clearings near the heart clan. They're....really pretty too."

“Well, I think your Aunt said she was going to show me the trees,” Camille said, picking up two plates of food and passing one to the boy. “But once we’ve brought this food back to the table I think you’ll need to take me dancing. Would you dance with me, Ja’reth?” She looked at him with hope in her eyes.

Ja'reth swallowed hard and nodded absently, trying not to look stupid.


Nicole watched them go and shook her head. "He's going to be intolerable in a year or so."

"He gets it from his father," Harra said, trying not to laugh. She looked Nicole over and patted her hand. "What's wrong?"

"Hm?" Nicole said, distracted. "Oh, it's nothing. Our current mission."

"Must be bad," Harra said. "The moment your 'walking sunshine' left your side, your crest fell hard."

"It's a plague," Nicole said, quietly. "So far confined to one ship, but something's needling me that it's going to get much worse."

"Have you run the numbers?" Jal'tah said.

"No," Nicole said. "Starfleet doesn't generally go by Rigellian folklore."

"There's more science to it than people realize," Jal'tah said. He'd always been a traditional believer in Numerology. "How many dead?"

"Eighty-seven," Nicole said, heavily.

"Master number is six, overall an ideal test situation. It's an ideal communal family number, but if someone's using it to kill it means they're going to try to disrupt familial or community links," Jal'tah said.

Nicole sat back, thinking. "You're right," she said. She looked up as Camille approached. "Are you two engaged yet?" she said, putting her smile back on.

Camille gave Nicole a smirk. “I’ll need to see how well he dances first. All the girls in my family love to dance.” She put the food on the table and leaned in close to Nicole’s ear. “I like these people!” she whispered. “Come get me on the dance floor in a minute or two?” She lightly kissed Nicole’s cheek and pulled away to dance with the young man.

Nicole's eyes got misty as she watched Camille get yanked to the dance floor by a very excited Ja'reth. Despite only being the better part of 12, he was about as tall as Camille was and started twirling her around the dance floor, making Camille laugh gleefully.

"She puts you in balance," Harranipa said, sitting down next to Nicole.

"She does, at that," Nicole said, watching Camille.

"You should bring her here. I'm sure we'd like her," Harranipa said.

Nicole smiled and nodded. She took a deep breath and looked around her home, drinking in the colors and sounds and smells that were almost exact to what she remembered. She paused as she spied a familiar round-eared man sitting off to the side, sipping from a cup and watching the festivities. "I'll catch up with you later, all right, Harra?" she said, turning back to Harranipa.

Harranipa nodded. "We're here whenever you want to visit, Cole."

Nicole stood up and walked over to Camille, tapping Ja'reth on the shoulder. He looked disappointed, but stepped aside. Nicole stepped up and grabbed Camille's hips and pulled her close, then took her face in her hands and kissed her hard.

"Computer," she said as they broke apart. "Shift location to Pashla Lake, approximately five hours forward.

The city center vanished and was replaced by a large lake with a sandy beach, surrounded by forest. Above them was a sky full of stars and the outline of the Milky Way across it. Rigel's sister planets looked like giant stars in the sky, and the rest of the stars twinkled behind them overhead.

"You can't see all of this from my apartment due to light pollution," Nicole said. "But from the woods...well...this is it."

Camille was silent as she stared at the night sky. The Milky Way was as clear as it was on those nights in rural Québec where what few local residents lived there would turn off all lights to give a perfect view of the sky. After a moment, she realized that she'd been holding her breath at the sight. "Thank you for sharing this with me," she said softly, barely able to make words. She lifted her glasses to wipe some tears from her eyes. "So," she said, leaning into Nicole, taking one of the doctor's hands and wrapping it around her waist as they looked up at the sky together, "what am I looking at? Are there any constellations I should be looking for? I love how we connect the random dots in the sky and tell stories about the patterns we find."

"My people didn't do constellations of people or animals like that," she said. "We used them for navigation and would go by numbers. Remember, we came to this planet centuries ago, so most of the old constellations were from Vulcan."

She stepped back. "Computer, blanket and pillows."

A blanket appeared on the sand with a pair of fluffy white pillows on it. Nicole stretched out on the blanket and held a hand out to Camille.

Camille took the offered hand and lowered herself down to the blanket. She decided to get a bit more comfortable and unzipped her uniform jacket, tossing it to the side. More comfortable in only the shirt underneath, she slipped next to Nicole and lay her head on her own pillow, looking up at the sky again.

Nicole pointed at a trio of stars to their left. "The Triple. The strongest shape is a triangle, so they are the strongest grouping. We use them for most of our navigation."

Her finger moved westward and traced a hexagon. "The Family," she said. "Mother, father, two sons, two daughters, all in balance. Being born when that constellation's apex is at the highest point is considered very lucky in future matchings, six being a number for family, harmony, and so forth."

She pointed to a cluster above them. "The Spark. When you stare at those stars, you are kissed." She leaned in as Camille looked up and kissed her.

Camille closed her eyes as she was kissed. She was taken in by the moment and let herself be swept away in this magical setting. She wrapped her arms around Nicole, finding herself hungering for more of whatever her partner had planned.

Nicole let the kiss linger, putting her worries and her fears aside and enjoying the moment. She rested her head on the pillow next to Camille and held her hand, watching the sky. "Mother hated camping," she said. "I found it...somewhat fun. But this was my favorite part." She yawned deeply and stretched. "Of course, I was much younger then, and I would look at the stars...until I...." she yawned again and didn't continue her eyes closed as sleep suddenly took her by surprise.

Camille smiled and simply watched a moment as Nicole drifted off to sleep. The day had been rough on her and she needed the rest. The scientist used her free hand to remove her glasses, which she folded and neatly placed on the blanket next to her. Other hand still wrapped around Nicole's, she closed her own eyes and drifted off into a quiet, pleasant nap.

Sadly a nap was all she got, as twenty minutes later, Nicole sat up gasping and crying, another nightmare waking her.

 

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