by Dane Cristiane
80728.15
Concurrent with Meet the Parents
-=Bridge, USS Alchemy=-
80728.15
Concurrent with Meet the Parents
-=Bridge, USS Alchemy=-
"Ensign Cristiane, what do you think you are you doing?"
TC Blane frowned as he observed a blip on the screen before him. He had been running some routine security checks of the ship's systems while Blakeslee was down on the planet below.
In doing so, he had just discovered that Cristiane, while he appeared to be merely monitoring comm traffic from his station, was also poking around in things, and files, that did not concern him.
Dane managed to stop himself from startling upon hearing the question, knowing that he had a bullet-proof alibi all ready to go. "Commander Reece asked me to check into some things for him, Sir. He gave me authorization to use his codes, and,"
"Reece did what?" Blane sighed. "I'll have to have a chat with the Commander about allowing those with only low level security clearance access to his command codes. For any reason."
"Meaning, Sir?" Dane asked, his hand just barely fidgeting as he closed the files he'd been looking over.
Files, of course, which had nothing to do with the information that Reece had asked him to gather, and if Blane and Reece got too deeply into discussing this at any point, he may still be caught in the lie.
Dane quickly employed the trick that Vox had instructed him to use should he need to cover his tracks through the system to ensure that wouldn't happen.
"Meaning, you're done doing whatever it was you were doing for Reece." Blane commanded. "In fact, you're done here, period. Weren't you supposed to go to the Archives at the University of Betazed the moment we reached orbit?"
"Yeah, well, then this...thing...with Reece came up and he told me,"
"I. Don't. Care." Blane replied quickly. "Articles of the Federation. Get going, Mr. Cristiane. Take Ensign Steele with you."
"Oh," Landry looked up from the Ops station. "I had hoped to further familiarize myself with the layout of the ship, Sir, do I really,"
"Yes."
Landry offered no further objection. *All righty then.*
"Aye, Commander Blane."
She and Dane took to the lift and as soon as the doors shut, he turned to her and jabbed an irritated index finger into her collarbone.
"Stay out of my way, Steele. I've got a lot of work to do down there at the Archives and I intend to get it over with as quickly as possible once I get there."
He realized he couldn't get it done as quickly as he was capable, otherwise Blane would surely become suspicious.
"First, ow." Landry complained, pushing his hand away. "Second, don't touch me. Third, I have no interest in taking this field trip with you, as I also had things that I was supposed to be doing today. So let's get going and get this done."
They moved towards the transporter room, but Dane made a detour on the way to pick up a few empty PADDS.
"You know, if you'd paid attention at the Academy we wouldn't be taking this trip at all." Landry frowned.
"Academy?" Dane laughed softly, shaking his head. "And here I thought you knew everything."
"What do you mean?"
"I never went to the Academy."
"But your file says,"
"I know what my file says, Steele." Dane replied smugly, tucking the PADDS under his arm and continuing on toward the transporter. "You've been working where, and for how long? Not too bright are you? No wonder Vox dumped you off here."
Landry winced. Of course his file said he'd gone to the Academy, that didn't mean that it was actually true. The files on record at TI had many access levels, and surface level was as far as she was cleared to read.
"Not everyone has had the luxury of a four-year Academy vacation." Cristiane concluded.
"You mean education."
"Sure," Dane again laughed softly. "If it makes you feel better to call it that, you go right ahead and call it that."
He swaggered his way up onto the dais and nodded to Parrish at the controls. "University of Betazed, Drew."
"Anywhere in particular on campus?"
"Surprise me. I want to take a walk before I go where I'm going." Dane replied.
This aggravated Steele beyond belief. She did have other things to do with her time besides trail Dane Cristiane all day.
"And you, Ensign Steele?" Parrish glanced at Steele as he input the coordinates
"The Archives at the University of Betazed, please," She said, and Dane sighed. He nodded.
Unwilling to wedge himself between the two in this apparent battle of wills, Drew input coordinates somewhere between what Dane had requested and the location of the Archives.
"A short walk it is, then. Buh-bye." Parrish activated the transporter, and within seconds Dane and Landry stood in the middle of the quad, surrounded by perfectly manicured trees, hedges, and flowerbeds.
"Swanky." Landry commented. Perhaps taking a walk in the fresh air wasn't such a bad idea. After all, in addition to welcoming the natural daylight after what seemed like forever shut up in the TI building and now on the Alchemy, there was another point to consider.
Cristiane was on a clock- and if he wanted to get fried by missing the deadline for his paper, that could have entertainment value far beyond any holo-novel.
Dane walked to a campus directory just ahead of them and glanced quickly over the map. "Archives are that way," he said, indicating the 'you are here' marker and the path alongside it that ran to the extensive series of libraries. "So we're going that way."
He was intent on having his walk, and she was just going to have to deal with it.
"What about your deadline?" Landry blurted, cursing herself internally as she realized that by doing so she may have just cost herself the very entertainment spectacle that she was hoping for a moment ago.
"There's something else that isn't in the surface level of my file at Temporal Investigations," Dane said, wiggling his eyebrows mischievously.
"Do I even want to know?"
"Doesn't matter to me." Dane shrugged, taking off ahead of her at a brisk pace.
He saw a pretty blonde disappear around the corner, and before he could stop himself he thought something that he instantly regretted upon remembering with horror that he had just beamed onto a planet of full telepaths.
*Ewww! Creep!* The woman thought straight into his mind, without looking back at him as she pulled the large textbook she was carrying up tighter against her chest and disappeared into the Arts and Sciences building.
As much as she was loathed to admit it, Landry's curiosity was getting the better of her.
She was momentarily distracted as a handsome man passing by thought a greeting to her, tagging on a compliment as well about the 'lovely, deep auburn shade of her hair'. He concluded by wishing her joy during her time on Betazed.
"Thanks for that.Have a nice day!" She said aloud, as Dane looked back and over his shoulder at her in confusion.
"For what?"
"Do you always think everything is about you, Cristiane? 'Cause, you know, it's just not."
They walked silently for awhile around the campus, taking in the sights and accepting greetings from those they came across along the way.
They learned quickly that it seemed more polite to smile and nod in reply than to answer aloud, so they both went with that. Dane had to keep reminding himself that his mind was an open book to anyone he encountered here; he had better be careful what he thought about.
"So," Landry said at last, speaking in a hushed tone. With all the non-verbal communication going on around them despite the prevailing silence, to her it seemed that the whole campus had the atmosphere of a library, and she felt she should whisper if she was going to talk at all.
"So what?"
"What is the other thing your file doesn't say?"
"That I have a photographic memory." Dane revealed as a slow, wicked grin spread across his lips. "People think I'm a slacker, but that's only because I choose to let them believe it. If I look at those Articles of the Federation once, and really pay attention, I won't ever have to do it again."
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Ensign Dane Cristiane
Communications Officer
USS Serendipity/Alchemy
Ensign Dane Cristiane
Communications Officer
USS Serendipity/Alchemy