FIC: Command Post: October 6th, 2152, 3/6
Apr. 23rd, 2006 08:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cloudy_ficTitle: Command Post: October 6th, 2152
Author: CloudyJenn
Fandom: Enterprise/Quantum Leap Crossover
Pairing: Archer/Reed
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None
Summary: Onboard the Helisan ship.
Author's Notes: Happy Birthday, Jessica!
"This is our medical facility." Kessar led the Enterprise crew into
a spacious room that permeated an antiseptic smell. "As I said
before, the Kaees is the largest ship in the fleet, so we have need
for a large hospital space. We have a team of four professional
healers and many more assistants."
Sam and Archer's crew had been aboard the Kaees for about twenty
minutes. The first thing they'd been shown was the gigantic
Engineering room which Sam was pleased to find contained the elusive
warp core; a large cylinder that glowed a bright blue and gave off
the impression of immense power. Trip had engaged the Kaees' head
engineer in a fast paced conversation about Helisan technology that
Sam had been able to follow the general principles of, though there
were plenty of concepts and devices discussed that had no meaning to
him.
So far, there had been no sign of Lurd; Kessar and two security
officers were the only Helisans to meet them at the shuttle bay.
Still, that hadn't stopped Sam from making sure that he was always
within two or three feet of Reed. Sam couldn't be sure, but he
suspected that Reed was a little irritated with his Captain, though
of course, he hadn't said anything. Sam knew what he was thinking;
that Archer didn't trust him. But that couldn't be helped.
"This is Sheal, our most senior healer. I will allow her to speak
more about our medical capabilities." A Helisan taller than any
Sam had seen so far stepped forward and with the joviality Sam had
seen in all her race, began to show the crew around the sickbay.
Sam walked along beside Reed, listening raptly as she explained
various devices and their usage, his inner physician delighting in
this glimpse into alien doctoring skills.
"Sam! Oh thank God!"
Sam jerked with surprise so violently that he had to put a hand on
Reed's arm to steady himself. Reed immediately tensed up and his
own hand went to his weapon as he glanced around for potential
threats. Sheal's voice trailed off, which got the attention of the
rest of Archer's crew.
"Captain, what's wrong?" Reed asked urgently. Al wiped a hand
across his face as Tucker came to Sam's side and put a hand on the
small of his back.
"Captain?"
"Sam, I'm sorry, I was just so relieved to find you," Al
apologized. Sam shot him a grateful look, letting him know that he
wasn't angry, just happy that he had found a way back.
Meanwhile, everyone else was still giving him concerned looks. "I'm
sorry. I'm fine. Just a…a sudden pain in my side." Tucker let out
a breath, his posture relaxing. Reed, on the other hand, became
even more worried.
"A sharp pain, sir?"
Sam waved him off. "No, no. It's gone now. I apologize, Sheal,
please continue."
The Helisan woman, however, did not return to her tour. Instead,
she moved closer to the Captain, pulling out a circular disk from
her front pocket.
"Perhaps I should examine you, Captain Archer. There is a
possibility that something in our environment is affecting you in an
unexpected way."
Sam felt a blush rise up on his cheeks. His simple surprise was
turning into an interplanetary emergency.
"Really, there's no need. I feel fine."
To his amazement, Reed let out a tiny snort, only loud enough for
him and perhaps Tucker to hear. "Captain, maybe you should let her
make sure you're alright. `Fine' doesn't always mean healthy." He
gave Sam a significant look, which was utterly lost on him.
"Yes, please allow Sheal to check you, Captain. If nothing else, it
will give your crew an opportunity to see how our people conduct
physicals," Kessar added.
Sam finally nodded and allowed himself to be led to a nearby bench.
Sheal aimed the disk at his head and began to sweep it down his body
as she explained everything she was doing. He would have liked to
have listened to her words. Now that he'd gotten over his
embarrassment, he realized how neat this was-to be examined by an
alien doctor. But he wanted to hear what Al had to say even more.
"Sorry about that, Sam. Gushie said there was some kind of power
drainage. Anyway, Ziggy's back up now and Gushie says it won't
happen again." Al looked around the sickbay. "So, this is the
Helisan ship, I take it? Not bad." He put his cigar into his mouth
and nodded. "Though I have to say, the Helisans aren't nearly as
sexy as the Vulcans…" His eyes fell onto Reed, who had taken up a
position next to Sam. They widened dramatically and he quickly
pulled the cigar from his mouth.
"Sam, what is he doing here?!"
Sam couldn't have answered if he wanted to, given that Sheal had
inserted a short rod of indeterminate metal into his mouth. If he
had been at liberty to speak, he probably would have asked him why
he just now noticed the armory officer.
"No, no, Sam. This is all wrong!" He punched at his info pad
violently and turned it around so that Sam could see the
screen. "Reed didn't go to the other ship! He stayed behind on
Enterprise! Now, everything's off." He began to pace back and
forth right through Tucker. Sam really wished he would stop. He
was beginning to feel sick to his stomach. "Sam, for all we know,
this will change the time and place of the shooting."
Now Sam definitely felt sick to his stomach. Sheal paused in her
explanation of how the Helisan peoples had been given access to
human medical information by the Vulcans. "Interesting. Your heart
rate appears to have increased." She double checked her
data. "Though it is still within safe human levels. Are you
feeling unwell?"
Sam shook his head miserably. All this time, he thought he had to
bring Reed aboard the Kaees in case Lurd decided to shoot him there
and that decision might have been the very action that caused
history to change.
"Ah, yes, your heart rate is now decreasing. Now, as you can see…"
Her words began to blur together as Sam fought down his panic. This
wasn't the end of the world. There was still a good chance that
Lurd wouldn't shoot anyone today.
"Ok, Sam, don't panic. We can do this. So we don't have the
details. You know what? Screw the details! You've gotten out of
worse situations than this." Al shook his fist at the
ceiling. "This is Ziggy's fault. If she were human, I swear, I'd
punch her right out. Even if she is a girl." He looked back at
Sam. "Well, maybe not a girl."
Somehow, watching Al flip out at Ziggy, something so familiar and
comfortable, calmed his nerves. He smiled at Al, though given that
he was still standing half inside, half out of Tucker, it made it
seem like he was directing the warmth towards the engineer. Tucker
lifted an eyebrow at him and chuckled.
Al checked the info pad. "Well, maybe not all is lost. Ziggy,
useless though she may be, says there's only a 30% chance that the
shooting's been changed to this ship. That sounds hopeful."
Sam agreed silently, though he still felt uneasy, like there was
something they might have overlooked. However, there was nothing he
could do now except keep an even closer eye on Reed and hope to God,
Time or Fate, that he hadn't screwed up.
"You appear to be in top physical condition for your kind, Captain.
Perhaps the muscle pain was just a one time occurrence. Still, if
it happens again, I would advise you get your own doctor to examine
you immediately." Apparently, even in the future, doctors were
overly cautious.
*********************************
The Enterprise party left the sickbay several moments later. Sam
had been given a small data pad that Sheal assured him was full of
information about Helisan physiology for Archer's doctor. He had
pocketed it, thinking vaguely that he might take a peek at it
himself before handing it over to Enterprise's medical team.
Kessar then directed the team to a set of elevators, intending to
take them to the bridge. Their group was so large that he suggested
they split into two smaller groups. Predictably, he volunteered to
remain with Sam, which was just fine with him as long as Reed was
there, too. He stopped just short of putting a protective arm
around the smaller man, but he still managed to make it fairly
apparent that he refused to be separated from Reed. At least, if
Tucker's smirk and Reed's flushed face was anything to go by. Even
Al made a suggestive comment that Sam chose to pretend he didn't
hear.
"This is Kaees' bridge, the very…" Kessar paused, searching for his
word. "The very heartbeat of the ship, if you will." He widened
his short thick arms in welcome as they all stepped off the
elevators. The bridge crew stood at attention at their various
stations, different degrees of smiles on their faces. As Kessar
walked to the centre of the bridge, the man that had been occupying
the Captain's chair stood stiffly and turned to face them. Sam knew
instantly that this man must be Lurd, though he couldn't be sure
what made him feel that way. Perhaps it was the slight hesitation
before his own smile appeared or maybe it was the somewhat forced
quality of the grin. Both things were so subtle that Sam might not
have noticed them if he hadn't been expecting to meet someone with
ill intentions toward his crew. Either way, his suspicions were
confirmed almost instantly by Al.
"That's him, Sam! That's the lousy good for nothing himself!"
"This is my First Officer, Lurd," Kessar announced happily,
oblivious to the tension Sam felt. Lurd moved closer to him, a
faint gleam of malice lighting his eyes for a brief second.
"I am honored to make your acquaintance, Captain Archer. I believe
the correct human gesture of introduction is to shake hands?" He
reached out a surprisingly slender hand in Sam's direction. Sam
unconsciously moved closer to Reed.
"That's right." He took the offered hand, resisting the temptation
to wrinkle his nose at its dampness. Lurd gripped his hand tightly
for just a moment longer than necessary before letting go and
allowing Kessar to continue with the introductions.
Sam watched him closely the whole time, not really paying attention
as Kessar went on to show Archer's people around his bridge. Lurd
moved with a fluid grace that made him very nervous. He could
easily imagine him slipping a knife into someone before they even
noticed he'd moved.
His concentration on Lurd was so great that he didn't see Reed
moving closer and closer to him as T'Pol engaged both Lurd and
Kessar in a discussion about their ship's computer.
"Hey, Sam," Al warned him just as Reed leaned closer, taking
advantage of Kessar and Lurd's distraction to whisper quietly in his
ear.
"I'd watch out for that Lurd fellow, Captain. There's something
about him I don't trust," he murmured. Sam stared at him, his
uneasy feeling inexplicably returning full force. It should have
made him feel better that Reed was now going to be watching Lurd as
well, but for some reason, it didn't and Sam couldn't explain that.
It was just a gut instinct.
Reed moved away again, his eyes remaining locked on Lurd as the
First Officer spoke to the rest of Archer's crew. Sam glanced at
Al, a question in his eyes. Al shrugged in response.
"I don't know what to say, Sam. It's probably nothing. Reed's
security, after all. I'm sure he would have kept his eye on Lurd
anyway."
Right, probably. Sam just wished he didn't feel so…ka-ka.
"Captain? Come look at this, it's amazing!" Tucker stood next to
Kessar and Lurd, his face lit up with awe. Normally Sam would have
walked right to him, but he was a good ten feet from where Sam was
standing with Reed. If Sam left his side and Lurd decided then was
a good time to attack Archer, Reed would be much too far away. He
didn't want Reed to think he was being clingy, but that concern
hardly mattered in the face of saving Reed's life. Such was the
dilemma of a leaper. The number of embarrassing and illogical
things he'd done since he'd leapt that first time was overwhelming.
"Malcolm?" He asked expectantly, hoping Reed would get the hint and
just think his Captain wanted everyone to see what Tucker was so
eager about. Reed gave him an exasperated look. He made sure the
others were talking again, and then spoke in the same low tones as
he had before, only with a bit of sarcasm thrown in.
"You don't have to watch me so closely, sir. I don't get hurt on
every away mission." Then he turned on his heel and walked towards
the others.
Let's hope you're right about that one, Sam thought. He followed
Reed to Tucker's side and pretended to listen attentively as Kessar
and the engineer went on about something or other to do with the
Helisans' computer. Lurd stood off to the side, his small keen eyes
watching every movement the Enterprise crew made.
"You see, Captain, we have made use of interactive holographic
technology to connect the bridge to Engineering. That way,
adjustments to our warp core can be made from the bridge in the case
of emergencies."
For the first time since Sam had walked onto the bridge, he was
distracted from Lurd. His eyes finally focused on what Tucker had
been exclaiming over. It appeared to be the entrance into a small
room filled with monitors and panels. Inside the room, a Helisan
crewmember wearing bright red gloves walked about with an electronic
notepad, keeping watch over the instruments. Every so often,
another Helisan would walk through the room and occasionally through
that first Helisan.
"As you can see, we only have the main Engineering panels set up in
the holochamber. If there is some kind of emergency and our chief
engineer is on the bridge, he can enter the chamber and make
adjustments to the equipment there. Of course, that is not always
the best course of action, but we have used it to great effect many
times already," Kessar explained, a hint of pride in his voice.
Al walked through the others and into the chamber. "Look, Sam. I'm
a hologram inside a hologram! That has to be some kind of first."
Sam grinned, amused not just at Al, but at the looks of awe on the
other humans' faces. This was old hat to him, but clearly it wasn't
something they had ever seen before. Humans must have abandoned
holographic technology, at least on starships. As far as Sam could
remember, very few humans in his time period even knew about the
technology. Perhaps the government had put further research on hold…
"Sam! Watch out!" Al suddenly yelled out.
His thoughts halted with a jolt. Reed had moved away from him to
get a better look at the room, right past Lurd. Who now stood
between Reed and Sam. And who was putting his hand into his pocket…
Sam leapt forward, hardly noticing as he knocked Tucker out of the
way and reached out to grab Reed's hand and pull him close to his
body. He whipped the two of them around to face Lurd.
The Helisan First Officer was holding a communication device up to
his mouth and looking at Sam as if he'd lost his mind. Tucker was
unhappily rubbing his elbow, Hoshi and Travis were both staring open-
mouthed at their Captain and T'Pol's eyebrows were in danger of
raising right off her forehead. Beside him, Sam could feel Reed
trembling with shock or anger or possibly both. Only Kessar seemed
unfazed by this new development. Indeed, he actually looked
delighted.
"Captain Archer!" He exclaimed, moving forward and taking Sam and
Reed's joined hands into his own. "You did not tell me that
Lieutenant Reed was your mate!"
Author: CloudyJenn
Fandom: Enterprise/Quantum Leap Crossover
Pairing: Archer/Reed
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None
Summary: Onboard the Helisan ship.
Author's Notes: Happy Birthday, Jessica!
"This is our medical facility." Kessar led the Enterprise crew into
a spacious room that permeated an antiseptic smell. "As I said
before, the Kaees is the largest ship in the fleet, so we have need
for a large hospital space. We have a team of four professional
healers and many more assistants."
Sam and Archer's crew had been aboard the Kaees for about twenty
minutes. The first thing they'd been shown was the gigantic
Engineering room which Sam was pleased to find contained the elusive
warp core; a large cylinder that glowed a bright blue and gave off
the impression of immense power. Trip had engaged the Kaees' head
engineer in a fast paced conversation about Helisan technology that
Sam had been able to follow the general principles of, though there
were plenty of concepts and devices discussed that had no meaning to
him.
So far, there had been no sign of Lurd; Kessar and two security
officers were the only Helisans to meet them at the shuttle bay.
Still, that hadn't stopped Sam from making sure that he was always
within two or three feet of Reed. Sam couldn't be sure, but he
suspected that Reed was a little irritated with his Captain, though
of course, he hadn't said anything. Sam knew what he was thinking;
that Archer didn't trust him. But that couldn't be helped.
"This is Sheal, our most senior healer. I will allow her to speak
more about our medical capabilities." A Helisan taller than any
Sam had seen so far stepped forward and with the joviality Sam had
seen in all her race, began to show the crew around the sickbay.
Sam walked along beside Reed, listening raptly as she explained
various devices and their usage, his inner physician delighting in
this glimpse into alien doctoring skills.
"Sam! Oh thank God!"
Sam jerked with surprise so violently that he had to put a hand on
Reed's arm to steady himself. Reed immediately tensed up and his
own hand went to his weapon as he glanced around for potential
threats. Sheal's voice trailed off, which got the attention of the
rest of Archer's crew.
"Captain, what's wrong?" Reed asked urgently. Al wiped a hand
across his face as Tucker came to Sam's side and put a hand on the
small of his back.
"Captain?"
"Sam, I'm sorry, I was just so relieved to find you," Al
apologized. Sam shot him a grateful look, letting him know that he
wasn't angry, just happy that he had found a way back.
Meanwhile, everyone else was still giving him concerned looks. "I'm
sorry. I'm fine. Just a…a sudden pain in my side." Tucker let out
a breath, his posture relaxing. Reed, on the other hand, became
even more worried.
"A sharp pain, sir?"
Sam waved him off. "No, no. It's gone now. I apologize, Sheal,
please continue."
The Helisan woman, however, did not return to her tour. Instead,
she moved closer to the Captain, pulling out a circular disk from
her front pocket.
"Perhaps I should examine you, Captain Archer. There is a
possibility that something in our environment is affecting you in an
unexpected way."
Sam felt a blush rise up on his cheeks. His simple surprise was
turning into an interplanetary emergency.
"Really, there's no need. I feel fine."
To his amazement, Reed let out a tiny snort, only loud enough for
him and perhaps Tucker to hear. "Captain, maybe you should let her
make sure you're alright. `Fine' doesn't always mean healthy." He
gave Sam a significant look, which was utterly lost on him.
"Yes, please allow Sheal to check you, Captain. If nothing else, it
will give your crew an opportunity to see how our people conduct
physicals," Kessar added.
Sam finally nodded and allowed himself to be led to a nearby bench.
Sheal aimed the disk at his head and began to sweep it down his body
as she explained everything she was doing. He would have liked to
have listened to her words. Now that he'd gotten over his
embarrassment, he realized how neat this was-to be examined by an
alien doctor. But he wanted to hear what Al had to say even more.
"Sorry about that, Sam. Gushie said there was some kind of power
drainage. Anyway, Ziggy's back up now and Gushie says it won't
happen again." Al looked around the sickbay. "So, this is the
Helisan ship, I take it? Not bad." He put his cigar into his mouth
and nodded. "Though I have to say, the Helisans aren't nearly as
sexy as the Vulcans…" His eyes fell onto Reed, who had taken up a
position next to Sam. They widened dramatically and he quickly
pulled the cigar from his mouth.
"Sam, what is he doing here?!"
Sam couldn't have answered if he wanted to, given that Sheal had
inserted a short rod of indeterminate metal into his mouth. If he
had been at liberty to speak, he probably would have asked him why
he just now noticed the armory officer.
"No, no, Sam. This is all wrong!" He punched at his info pad
violently and turned it around so that Sam could see the
screen. "Reed didn't go to the other ship! He stayed behind on
Enterprise! Now, everything's off." He began to pace back and
forth right through Tucker. Sam really wished he would stop. He
was beginning to feel sick to his stomach. "Sam, for all we know,
this will change the time and place of the shooting."
Now Sam definitely felt sick to his stomach. Sheal paused in her
explanation of how the Helisan peoples had been given access to
human medical information by the Vulcans. "Interesting. Your heart
rate appears to have increased." She double checked her
data. "Though it is still within safe human levels. Are you
feeling unwell?"
Sam shook his head miserably. All this time, he thought he had to
bring Reed aboard the Kaees in case Lurd decided to shoot him there
and that decision might have been the very action that caused
history to change.
"Ah, yes, your heart rate is now decreasing. Now, as you can see…"
Her words began to blur together as Sam fought down his panic. This
wasn't the end of the world. There was still a good chance that
Lurd wouldn't shoot anyone today.
"Ok, Sam, don't panic. We can do this. So we don't have the
details. You know what? Screw the details! You've gotten out of
worse situations than this." Al shook his fist at the
ceiling. "This is Ziggy's fault. If she were human, I swear, I'd
punch her right out. Even if she is a girl." He looked back at
Sam. "Well, maybe not a girl."
Somehow, watching Al flip out at Ziggy, something so familiar and
comfortable, calmed his nerves. He smiled at Al, though given that
he was still standing half inside, half out of Tucker, it made it
seem like he was directing the warmth towards the engineer. Tucker
lifted an eyebrow at him and chuckled.
Al checked the info pad. "Well, maybe not all is lost. Ziggy,
useless though she may be, says there's only a 30% chance that the
shooting's been changed to this ship. That sounds hopeful."
Sam agreed silently, though he still felt uneasy, like there was
something they might have overlooked. However, there was nothing he
could do now except keep an even closer eye on Reed and hope to God,
Time or Fate, that he hadn't screwed up.
"You appear to be in top physical condition for your kind, Captain.
Perhaps the muscle pain was just a one time occurrence. Still, if
it happens again, I would advise you get your own doctor to examine
you immediately." Apparently, even in the future, doctors were
overly cautious.
*********************************
The Enterprise party left the sickbay several moments later. Sam
had been given a small data pad that Sheal assured him was full of
information about Helisan physiology for Archer's doctor. He had
pocketed it, thinking vaguely that he might take a peek at it
himself before handing it over to Enterprise's medical team.
Kessar then directed the team to a set of elevators, intending to
take them to the bridge. Their group was so large that he suggested
they split into two smaller groups. Predictably, he volunteered to
remain with Sam, which was just fine with him as long as Reed was
there, too. He stopped just short of putting a protective arm
around the smaller man, but he still managed to make it fairly
apparent that he refused to be separated from Reed. At least, if
Tucker's smirk and Reed's flushed face was anything to go by. Even
Al made a suggestive comment that Sam chose to pretend he didn't
hear.
"This is Kaees' bridge, the very…" Kessar paused, searching for his
word. "The very heartbeat of the ship, if you will." He widened
his short thick arms in welcome as they all stepped off the
elevators. The bridge crew stood at attention at their various
stations, different degrees of smiles on their faces. As Kessar
walked to the centre of the bridge, the man that had been occupying
the Captain's chair stood stiffly and turned to face them. Sam knew
instantly that this man must be Lurd, though he couldn't be sure
what made him feel that way. Perhaps it was the slight hesitation
before his own smile appeared or maybe it was the somewhat forced
quality of the grin. Both things were so subtle that Sam might not
have noticed them if he hadn't been expecting to meet someone with
ill intentions toward his crew. Either way, his suspicions were
confirmed almost instantly by Al.
"That's him, Sam! That's the lousy good for nothing himself!"
"This is my First Officer, Lurd," Kessar announced happily,
oblivious to the tension Sam felt. Lurd moved closer to him, a
faint gleam of malice lighting his eyes for a brief second.
"I am honored to make your acquaintance, Captain Archer. I believe
the correct human gesture of introduction is to shake hands?" He
reached out a surprisingly slender hand in Sam's direction. Sam
unconsciously moved closer to Reed.
"That's right." He took the offered hand, resisting the temptation
to wrinkle his nose at its dampness. Lurd gripped his hand tightly
for just a moment longer than necessary before letting go and
allowing Kessar to continue with the introductions.
Sam watched him closely the whole time, not really paying attention
as Kessar went on to show Archer's people around his bridge. Lurd
moved with a fluid grace that made him very nervous. He could
easily imagine him slipping a knife into someone before they even
noticed he'd moved.
His concentration on Lurd was so great that he didn't see Reed
moving closer and closer to him as T'Pol engaged both Lurd and
Kessar in a discussion about their ship's computer.
"Hey, Sam," Al warned him just as Reed leaned closer, taking
advantage of Kessar and Lurd's distraction to whisper quietly in his
ear.
"I'd watch out for that Lurd fellow, Captain. There's something
about him I don't trust," he murmured. Sam stared at him, his
uneasy feeling inexplicably returning full force. It should have
made him feel better that Reed was now going to be watching Lurd as
well, but for some reason, it didn't and Sam couldn't explain that.
It was just a gut instinct.
Reed moved away again, his eyes remaining locked on Lurd as the
First Officer spoke to the rest of Archer's crew. Sam glanced at
Al, a question in his eyes. Al shrugged in response.
"I don't know what to say, Sam. It's probably nothing. Reed's
security, after all. I'm sure he would have kept his eye on Lurd
anyway."
Right, probably. Sam just wished he didn't feel so…ka-ka.
"Captain? Come look at this, it's amazing!" Tucker stood next to
Kessar and Lurd, his face lit up with awe. Normally Sam would have
walked right to him, but he was a good ten feet from where Sam was
standing with Reed. If Sam left his side and Lurd decided then was
a good time to attack Archer, Reed would be much too far away. He
didn't want Reed to think he was being clingy, but that concern
hardly mattered in the face of saving Reed's life. Such was the
dilemma of a leaper. The number of embarrassing and illogical
things he'd done since he'd leapt that first time was overwhelming.
"Malcolm?" He asked expectantly, hoping Reed would get the hint and
just think his Captain wanted everyone to see what Tucker was so
eager about. Reed gave him an exasperated look. He made sure the
others were talking again, and then spoke in the same low tones as
he had before, only with a bit of sarcasm thrown in.
"You don't have to watch me so closely, sir. I don't get hurt on
every away mission." Then he turned on his heel and walked towards
the others.
Let's hope you're right about that one, Sam thought. He followed
Reed to Tucker's side and pretended to listen attentively as Kessar
and the engineer went on about something or other to do with the
Helisans' computer. Lurd stood off to the side, his small keen eyes
watching every movement the Enterprise crew made.
"You see, Captain, we have made use of interactive holographic
technology to connect the bridge to Engineering. That way,
adjustments to our warp core can be made from the bridge in the case
of emergencies."
For the first time since Sam had walked onto the bridge, he was
distracted from Lurd. His eyes finally focused on what Tucker had
been exclaiming over. It appeared to be the entrance into a small
room filled with monitors and panels. Inside the room, a Helisan
crewmember wearing bright red gloves walked about with an electronic
notepad, keeping watch over the instruments. Every so often,
another Helisan would walk through the room and occasionally through
that first Helisan.
"As you can see, we only have the main Engineering panels set up in
the holochamber. If there is some kind of emergency and our chief
engineer is on the bridge, he can enter the chamber and make
adjustments to the equipment there. Of course, that is not always
the best course of action, but we have used it to great effect many
times already," Kessar explained, a hint of pride in his voice.
Al walked through the others and into the chamber. "Look, Sam. I'm
a hologram inside a hologram! That has to be some kind of first."
Sam grinned, amused not just at Al, but at the looks of awe on the
other humans' faces. This was old hat to him, but clearly it wasn't
something they had ever seen before. Humans must have abandoned
holographic technology, at least on starships. As far as Sam could
remember, very few humans in his time period even knew about the
technology. Perhaps the government had put further research on hold…
"Sam! Watch out!" Al suddenly yelled out.
His thoughts halted with a jolt. Reed had moved away from him to
get a better look at the room, right past Lurd. Who now stood
between Reed and Sam. And who was putting his hand into his pocket…
Sam leapt forward, hardly noticing as he knocked Tucker out of the
way and reached out to grab Reed's hand and pull him close to his
body. He whipped the two of them around to face Lurd.
The Helisan First Officer was holding a communication device up to
his mouth and looking at Sam as if he'd lost his mind. Tucker was
unhappily rubbing his elbow, Hoshi and Travis were both staring open-
mouthed at their Captain and T'Pol's eyebrows were in danger of
raising right off her forehead. Beside him, Sam could feel Reed
trembling with shock or anger or possibly both. Only Kessar seemed
unfazed by this new development. Indeed, he actually looked
delighted.
"Captain Archer!" He exclaimed, moving forward and taking Sam and
Reed's joined hands into his own. "You did not tell me that
Lieutenant Reed was your mate!"
