Caught in a Compromising Position

Posted on Mon Jun 29th, 2020 @ 2:23am by Captain Cynthia Jackson & Lieutenant Xenia Windsor & Lieutenant Kevin Chambers

2,238 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Mission 3 - Coming Full Circle
Location: Jane's Quarters

Cindy was definitely disturbed by her encounter with Ben Chiles. She got dressed back into her uniform and headed out into the corridors. Part of her knew that Ben existed and yet another part of her wanted to deny it. Was this some result of the Orion pheromones? Or Vivyra? She did not know what to think but before she was going to put this ship on alert, she knew that she had better check with her doctor. She only hoped that Jane had gotten more of the pheromones out of her system.

Her feet finally dragged their way to Jane's door and hesitantly she rang the chime. Can't take it back now, Cindy. You're committed.

“Come in,” Jane called, having just let out a sigh. She was standing halfway between her bed and armoire, wrapped only in a blanket. Her day had been oscillating between bad and worse. Neza, who sat on the bed, had been her saviour, and they were about to investigate further before the door chimed. Either her guest would help, or this was about to get much worse.

Cindy walked it saying, "Jane, you're not going to...." She then saw Neza sitting on the bed and Jane wrapped in a blanket. "Oh, I'm sorry. I, uh, didn't mean to interrupt anything...." She started backing away slowly and said, "Perhaps it can wait until the morning...."

"No no, Captain. She called me down here to help her with...something...and she was getting up to get dressed as you arrived. You aren't interrupting anything." Knowing she had somewhat of a reputation already, Neza's face turned red.

A formal title? And Neza's turning red. Seems like a confirmation to me. "If you say so, Neza." The tone of her voice conveyed her skepticism. "I just was coming to see if Jane could run a check on me but I'll go to sickbay and have someone on duty do it. Sorry...."

Neza looked over to Jane, almost begging for her to chime in. She didn't like the tone Cindy was giving, and didn't need even more rumors about her.

Jane grinned at Cindy and the increasingly-red Neza. "Now now, Cindy. It isn't what you think. Neza was truly here to help me with something. I was, uh, in a bit of a bind, so to speak. I knew I could count on her." She held up a finger. "Wait here just a moment, please."

The Doctor went to her dining area, quickly shucked her blanket whilst out of sight, and replaced it with her robe (not bothering to tie it; the belt was in the bedroom, after all, but it held in place by itself well enough). She then dragged two dining chairs into the bedroom. She put one by the door and one by the armoire, the latter of which she sat in. She gestured for Cindy to sit in the other.

"Let me guess, Cindy. You interacted with a member of your crew that you don't remember. When you were talking to him it seemed perfectly normal, but some things just felt a bit off. Was he real? Maybe, maybe not. Then he disappeared and there's no record of him. Sound about right?"

"Close enough. Ben Chiles. Chief Helmsman. But that can't be, because that's Xenia. And yet, it felt right." Cindy blushed lightly. "Tell me that you remember him," she pleaded.

Jane shook her head sadly. "I only ever knew Xenia. I have vague memories of a blonde Chief Navigator? But the person I interacted with tonight was a former Chief of Security. Do you remember a Zoe Cayce?"

Neza raised an eyebrow. "Ben? I...remember him but...that isn't possible...none of this is..."

"Chief Navigator? She was from Michigan. Cat, right?" she asked Jane. "Zoe...? Maybe? No. I don't think so. Huh...."

"Jane wasn't on the ship yet, Cindy. Mine was worse almost I think. I ended up with Cole and he wanted to take me to sickbay because I didn't think he should be there." Neza shifted a little where she was sitting, not liking the memory.

“See, that’s the thing,” Jane interjected. “I came aboard right before launch. There was never a CMO before me. Right?” She sighed. “But I also remember Bec being the only security chief. So why do I vaguely remember Zoe Cayce? And how did she...” She didn’t want to finish the sentence in front of Cindy.

"How did she what?" Cindy asked curiously. "And, I do have a vague recollection of someone named Cole...."

Glancing to Jane, Neza bit her lip, "Somehow, the nonexistent Zoe...tied Jane to the bed. That's why I was here, to get her untied. As for Cole, from my memories, he was CMO before Jane...but Jane was always here."

Cindy bit her lip. "I was a scientist before I was a Captain. If these people truly exist, could this possibly be an alternate dimension or universe colliding with ours?" She shook her head. "That does not seem possible but the evidence that we've seen so far seems to suggest it."

"People we only partially remember are interacting with us in the physical world," Jane repeated. "If it isn't that, it's something like it."

The comm system spoke. "Sickbay to Doctor Sinclair. Lieutenant Chambers is looking for you."

Jane sighed. "I'm in my quarters with the Captain and Chief Science Officer. He can come here. Sinclair out." The channel closed and she looked at her guests. "I should get some real clothes on then." Without a hint of shame, and still feeling the effects of Zoe's kiss and touch, she stood, threw off her robe, and went to her wardrobe to find a uniform she could quickly pull on before Kevin arrived.

"Sounds like maybe we weren't the only ones?" Neza got up off the bed and went over to a different seat. This was awkward enough, adding someone else would make it worse if she was sitting there.

"I don't like this," Cindy told Neza. "I don't like it at all. She watched as Jane aborted her robe and immediately tried looking the other way.

Jane noticed Cindy turn away so quickly and suddenly felt immense sadness and shame. This woman willingly saw Jane naked already when she had to pass her a towel. How long ago that was already! But now, Cindy turned away. Had Jane’s increased libido, moderated somewhat by medication but not enough unfortunately, made things awkward? It wasn’t her fault she’d been essentially poisoned by the Orions. She was doing what she could to reduce the effects. But apparently it wasn’t enough.

Glancing between Cindy and Jane, Neza wasn't sure who to comfort. She was closer to Jane. But this was their captain. Biting her lips, she slowly went over towards Jane, speaking quietly but letting her have the privacy to change as well. "Hey, are you okay?"

"I'll be alright," Jane said quietly, with a sad smile. "Thank you."

The Doctor’s quarters? It seemed a little out of the ordinary, but anything aboard the Legacy thus far seemed more than just a little. As Kevin finally arrived at the correct quarters, he suddenly felt... well silly. Had he really seen what he thought, at phaser point again no less? Instead of questioning himself and his sanity, he pressed the door chime before he had the opportunity to change his mind.

"Come in, Mr. Chambers," Jane called as she finished putting her uniform dress over her head. "Neza, do me up, please?" The door opened and she gestured for him to come into Jane's shared space with Neza and Cindy. "Let me guess. Interaction with someone you have no memory of and the computer has no record of them?"

Nodding to Jane, Neza zipped up the uniform and followed back to see Kevin coming in. "What Jane said."

Looking between everyone in the Doctor’s quarters and the two women speaking, he grunted in an affirmative manner, and leaned up against a wall, out of the way of the others. He smiled politely at everyone.

The tension was already thick and it seemed that his presence only added more. If he could have simply crawled out the way he came in, he could deal with the weird sighting on his own. He decided that he’d look for such an opening at his earliest convenience.

"Don't worry, Chambers. We're all trying to figure this thing out. We've all had one of those encounters. I...should probably see if science has had anything odd come up on sensors..." Neza knew that was what she should do, but didn't.

According to the computers, Legacy had passed through a time-space distortion.

Biting her lip, Neza borrowed Jane's computer for a moment and raised an eyebrow at what she saw from the sensor readings that fed from the bridge. "Well, this could be a problem..."

“Sickbay to Dr. Sinclair,” came a voice over the comm system. “Lieutenant Windsor is also looking for you. She’s on her way to you now.”

Jane had barely interacted with Xenia since the incident in the brig. But apparently she too had seen a ghost, and needed her help. “Acknowledged. Tell her to come straight in. My cabin is a meeting place right now, it seems.”

Cindy marvelled at what was occurring. Somehow, everyone was ending up in Jane's room. She wondered at the phenomenon. So far, five crew members were here or coming here. How many more were going to arrive? How many more had these experiences?

When Xenia arrived at the Doctor's, she was surprised the door just opened without her having to ring the chime. She was even more surprised to see everyone congregated there. Her eyes passed over each of the visitors. "Did I miss a senior officers' meeting?"

"No," Cindy replied to Xenia. "However, each one of us in here has experienced being with a person that we remember but is not registered to the ship. Who did you encounter?"

"Um, Cat...something." She said she was having trouble accessing the computer, and was asking for my assistance before going to you, Captain. Since I didn't know her, I couldn't give her access."

"Cat!" Cindy exclaimed. "I think I remember her! She was from Michigan, too! Loves Vernors and Sanders chocolate and ice cream. We were just a couple of Trolls hanging out together!"

The Helmsman was confused. "So, is she a current crewman? Why haven't I seen her before?"

"That's just it, Xenia.... I remember her but at the same time, I feel like she doesn't belong. It is odd."

“Please tell me that I’m still the CEO...” Kevin began, pushing himself off the wall. “Some rather aggressive woman was quite adamant about my being in her quarters. Then she pulled a phaser on me as I suggested to come and see the Captain because she wanted to take ME there.” Rolling his eyes, he looked around to each person in the room. “I don’t see her here, but something tells me that I haven’t seen the last of her.”

"Naryi...." Cindy replied in a far away voice. "She had a thing for da Vinci." She stared hard at Kevin. "How do I know that?"

“That’s her name!” exclaimed Kevin. And he looked at the Captain, confusion on his face. “Well, at least you know her...” he began, “so tell me, am I still Chief Engineer?” If something had changed as he felt it must have, what he could do would be defined by her answer.

"I think you both are," Cindy responded slowly and hesitantly. "Just you belong here and she.... I don't know."

The helmsman shook her head. She wasn't sure what to make of this, but at least she didn't have someone trying to take her place. "Could we be up against a thin veil between dimensions?" She held out her hand to stop any of them from dismissing her out of hand. "I know...you probably think I'm blinkered, but how else can people be here, then not here? I just don't know how to go about proving it."

Kevin nodded slowly, considering. “Dimensions... or something off about time.” He narrowed his eyes, thinking aloud. “Both of us, Captain,” he murmured. “But how could we co-exist in the same time?” As he thought, his fingers began dancing in the air, his written calculations only visible in his mind.

"There are theories about alternate universes and realities where we may be everywhere at the same time. But for certain small changes in their realities or times, we could be the same or slightly different, and may have completely different lives. Heck, we might not even exist but everything else is very similar," Cindy lectured. "Does this make sense?"

"I feel like we're all saying the same thing, just in different words." Xenia replied. The question is: How is it happening?, which I'm hoping will lead us to How do we fix it?"

"At this very moment, I don't know," Cindy replied. "However Arev..." Cindy looked at Neza very confused. "I mean, Neza will sort it out. I will help to the extent I can, too. But for now, I would suggest that everyone get some sleep, to the extent that they can."

Xenia nodded, "Aye, Captain."

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