Touch Through A Screen

Posted on Wed May 15th, 2024 @ 6:21pm by Ensign Alexandra 'Lexi' O'Connery & Commander William Gerhard
Edited on on Wed May 15th, 2024 @ 6:22pm

Mission: Contagion
Location: Comms Center
Timeline: Day 367 Late
1588 words - 3.2 OF Standard Post Measure

Lexi was pacing back and forth the communication centre as she waited for William to find a space that was free for them to have a conversation about what was going on. The Captain had allowed the crew over there to speak to speak to people over there but she knew the Executive Officer would let everyone have communication first before he was given a chance.

After repositioning the shuttle to a closer docking port, William had been coordinating the arrival of Avira's requested supplies before setting a security rotation. The area outside the docking port was serving as their base of operations, adjacent to the station's command center. William had posted two guards to watch the perimeter while he allowed those not on guard duty or assisting Avira and Darru to get some rest and contact the ship. Once everyone had had a turn, William entered the shuttlepod and sat down before the communications console, letting out a sigh as he did so. He input the commands to establish a secure link with the ship, and in a moment Lexi appeared before him on the screen. He gave her a smile, "Hey you."

She leaned over the chair as she saw him and smiled moving to sit better on the chair and just took him in. He looked tired but that was nothing new but, there was something about the creases around his eyes that worried her but she did not let it show on her face. “How are you?” She wondered cutting straight to how he was.

"Well, just getting things settled over here. So far, no symptoms to report or anything like that. Dr. Avira is still in the early stages of trying to find out what this is," he offered before rubbing the bridge of his nose between his eyes. This whole situation had certainly turned into something much bigger than what they had been prepared for.

Lexi let him talk for a moment before she touched the screen. She did not often get sentimental but this was the first time they had been separated like that since the Babel planet where she had gotten injured. “Well that sounds slightly more positive than what I have been imagining since I heard the news.”

"The way Avira is describing it is that there's no need to worry about what might happen until we start showing symptoms. From what she's found out from the Luminari, it has a fast onset. But from what she has said, she thinks we are past that threshold now," William offered before he saw her touch the screen and he mimicked her motion. The display screen was hard and cold, but he imagined the warmth of her fingers intertwining with his.

Lexi took a long moment from his assurances and nodded. He was fine there and she was fine there so it was okay for the most part but there was just something odd about it all. “So what are these aliens like?” She asked having since the scans but it did not compare to seeing them through William’s eyes.

"Tall, and they seem to communicate through some type of bioluminescent," he said and when she gave him a quizzical look he smiled before continuing, "They change color based on their mood. I'm not even a linguist, but it is really quite fascinating." He raised an eyebrow before asking her, "Are you wishing now that you'd volunteered to come over here instead of Cal?"

The woman raised an eyebrow and looked back at him just as fascinated by it. But she would not give anyone the satisfaction of seeing how jealous she was when the situation was so dire over there for the crew. “No because Calanthe needed to get off the ship and do something communication related other than listening to the distress call or space sounds.”

"Are you trying to say that you don't enjoy listening to 'space sounds'," William asked teasing slightly, but he let her continue when she gave him a slight smile before continuing.

“Plus I do not really need to get poorly if whatever is happening over there can cross species. My body has been through enough.” She pointed out for the first time how everything had taken its toll on her from being shot by the Varv and nearly being crushed by the tower she needed a moment to heal, recover and breath.

William nodded as he recalled the events she was referring too. Lexi had been through a lot recently, and she deserved to have a break. He knew that she was still worried about him because the look she gave him showed as much. "Well, hopefully this doesn't turn into a recurring pattern between us. Our bodies can only take so much," he said with a slight sigh as he leaned back in his chair and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"I hope not. I really would like to heal up properly from my leg and I like having you around." Lexi smiled and wished she could snuggle up to him as she could see the signs of stress on his face. "Are you going to get some sleep soon?" She wondered hopeful that he was going to be able to wind down enough to rest. It would not do for him to not be the top of his game.

William laughed slightly before he looked back at the screen. "I told you, you are not getting rid of me anytime soon," he said before he nodded and rubbed his eyes again. "At some point, I'm going to try, but for now I've just been making rounds to make sure that everyone is still where they are supposed to be," he said before shaking his head. "This place...It's not like that alien ship we ran across all that time ago. It's different," he said.

Lexi smiled as she heard him laughing. She did not want to go anywhere or get rid of him as for the first time in her life she felt that someone loved her as much as she loved them which made her heart beat fast just thinking about it but also terrified her. "How different? Is it because it is not abandoned and you have the glowing emotion expressive aliens or..."

"Not that is different because of the Luminari, just that...It gives me a weird vibe. I mean the walls move on their own over here, that's how our group got separated the first time," William said explaining his gut feelings. The more time he had spent over here, the more the feeling had grown on him. Lexi was always a good sounding board for him to voice his gut feelings towards, she offered an outside perspective.

Lexi did not like the gut feeling he was having at all. It did not make her feel any better with him being tired over there and worrying about everyone. Everyone she could call family was currently over there which was not good in her opinion at all. "I can understand why you feel weird about it all over there. That sounds uneasy." She admitted. "Have the Luminari offered much?"

"As much as they can, though I'm getting the impression they are not indigenous to this place," William said as he mulled it over. In actuality, the Luminari had not offered much of anything apart from the fact that this sickness had devastated their people. "They are definitely more concerned with their sick than answering most of our technical questions about this place, though i can't say i blame them," he said.

"What has the Captain said about it all?" She asked thinking that Leroux would have better experience and insight into that than her. This had been the first time she had left Earth and they had ended up lost in space.

"Just to keep our eyes open and our heads on a swivel, save all our scans so we can try and analyze them later back on the ship," William said. He glanced over at the chronometer on the console and noted the time before he looked back at Lexi's image on the screen. "Our time is almost up, I think Corporal Sutler was next up on the call log," William said with a smile. He hated to have to leave her, but he also didn't want to appear to be hogging communication time.

Lexi wanted to tell him to pull rank, to demand more time but he was too much of a good guy to do something like that. It was one of the many things she loved about him. "I love you. You better hurry back soon." She said touching the screen again wishing more than anything that they had more time but she knew it was over.

William placed his hand on the screen to match hers as he looked her in the eye. "I love you too. Don't worry, I'll be home soon," he said softly. They looked at each other a moment longer before the screen went black and displayed the ship's crest on it. He sat back again with a sigh as he rubbed his eyes before standing and making his way towards the hatch. He nodded to Corpoal Sutler who returned the gesture and entered behind him before he began walking towards their makeship sleeping area. He had some time for a quick rest before he would head back to the med bay to confer with Avira again.