What's on YOUR Mind?
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Arcadia # 2561 | |
| original continuity | |
| — Reverse Course — | |
| |
| year | 316 CE (2379) |
| posted | December 17 2002 |
| previous | The Dark Side |
| next | Tab Reflects |
[Tabatha Brisk's office]
Dante Winters-McTiese rapped on Tabatha's door and leaned in.
"Hey... got a minute?"
Tabatha looked up, startled. She had been crying. She spun in her chair, facing away from him long enough to wipe the tears from her cheeks and adopt a measure of composure. As she did, it occurred to her that this was the second time in the last 24 hours Dante McTiese had come to her office. Was he stalking her? Was he... interested in her? Clearing her throat and sniffling, she said, still not facing him yet, "What I can do for you, Chief?"
[And, one deck up: Conference lounge]
Folding her arms across her chest, Eve said, "Make it quick, Mr. Ringo. What is on your mind?"
Ringo's gaze momentarily lingered on Eve's chest over which she had folded her arms, making it clear what was on his mind. But then, men did that to women a thousand times a day. It was a constant of the gender – some things never changed. "Well, I could tell you what's on my mind," he said, cracking a grin, but Starfleet decorum kept him from actually saying it... a little bit of the hanky-panky, a little bit of the mush-push. He met her eyes and said, "You've got a counterpart on this Earth, and she's... uh, she's pretty..."
Eve shook her head slightly. "She is pretty?"
"No... well, I mean she's that too, I mean YOU are too, but... uh... See, it's like this. Back in this time – on our world; guess this one's not too different – people played in movies. You know, screen entertainment? Some of 'em got.. a lot of exposure. And..." He laughed, a bit nervous. "She's pretty... visible. You are. She is. The you on this Earth." He frowned. "I mean... she must be human... unless maybe a Bartokian went into p—" He paused, catching himself. "Landed on Earth, but I thought they didn't exist here. Hell, I dunno what I'm saying. Okay, let me start over." He took a breath and straightened his shoulders. "This ship picked up some of the transmissions of your... movies. And... some others have seen them. And... they... I wouldn't say they weren't too flattering..." He glanced at the floor, sotto-voicing a thought: "In fact they were very flattering." He looked at her again. "Uh..." He reacted at the way she was looking at him. He flashed a nervous grin. "You know what? Forget it. You don't want to know. Pretend you never saw me."
He went to book for the door, hoping he could catch the rest of Happy Gilmore before it got over. He knew the captain ordered a hold on viewing this Earth's transmissions, but hey, he was the captain's assistant! He was special.
▷ TBC ◁
