Triangles Ch. 6

Triangles
Chapter Six

Entering her quarters, Trey looked at the clock. She'd been flown to Australia from New Cape Quest, on a red eye express. But since she, for one, had no problems sleeping on a plane, her internal clock was insisting that it was the middle of the day. Feeling out of place and vaguely out of sorts, and, after meeting Ensign Adler, also feeling old and off-balanced, she wanted to be out and doing things. But, she thought ironically, there's no place to go out on a sub.

     Considering what to do now, she stopped to think over the interview. Trey shook her head, surprised that any woman as old as Adler could appear so innocent and naive. She wondered if the girl knew how much she betrayed her feelings for this guy, this Miguel, every time his name was mentioned. With a slow shake of her head, Trey started stripping off the damp uniform, wondering about her own feelings. Normally, she didn't care much for other women, men were easier to understand. Well, to be honest, to manipulate. You just get them by the short hairs and you could lead them anywhere. But there was something about that child, something insistently appealling.

      Hanging up the soiled outfit, Trey paused for a moment to consider that she'd better be sure to get that wet-suit, or else more uniforms. As for now, she was still too wound up to think about sleep. Perhaps some exercise would help settle her down enough to sleep. Or at least exhaust her so that she could. One of the docs had given her a prescription of sedatives, but those merely made it impossible to wake out of the cryo-nightmares.

     Wriggling into an exercise leotard and pulling on a pair of shorts, she started to leave, then shrugged. No telling what kind of unspoken skin taboos the SeaQuest operated under. She took a pair of sweat pants out of the drawer and drew them up over the shorts, slipping her arms through the sleeves of the matching jacket. Throwing a towel over her shoulders, she grabbed her portable stereo, checked the tape in it, and headed out.

     Trying to navigate the corridors, filling up as people came off liberty and headed on duty, Trey thought about the interviews with Lucas, Darwin and Adler. She stopped with that name. How curious, she hadn't noticed that they hadn't used first names. What was her name? It was on the papers. Trey's visual memory was not as dependable as her aural, and for a second, she wavered, considering returning to her quarters to look it up in the papers. But then she remembered, Irene. Irene Adler. She wondered where she had heard that name before.

     Anyway, so far, she'd met three, no, four members of the SeaQuest pod community, all participants in her study. From what she'd been told, it was obvious that Captain Nathan Bridger was an integral participant of any podding going on here. Even if he didn't play the games with the younger members. An idle thought occurred to her about what games he might play.

     Thrusting that thought away angrily, she recalled Lucas, and Adler, feeling the tension rising as she realized that she still had no idea of what she was expected to do. This posting had to work out, because Trey was certain that neither the USA Navy nor the UEO would ever place her anywhere else if she showed any signs of being a problem. She'd had enough Psych courses to know what the shrinks probably put in her medical records, and she had the feeling that Bridger had been asked to keep close watch on her. An ironic smile twisted her lips to one side. The observer observed. "And who will watch the watchers?"

     Shaking her head, Trey realized that such an attitude on the part of the powers that be was completely understandable. After 30 years of involuntary absence, she was a Rip van Winkle. And the fact that the technique had been in the experimental stages made it more difficult. The dreams she'd had while under still haunted her sleep and woke her shivering in the darkness, straining against the cold. But the sensation of being watched, of being judged made her feel that she had to think twice about every action. She smiled again. She and her subjects had a lot in common.

    Feeling the need for some action, Trey looked around, trying to remember where she'd found the gym in her earlier perambulations. In the months that had preceeded her placement on the SeaQuest she had come to relish something that would never have occurred to her before, working out. Ever since she had been revived and found herself lost out of time, she'd been surrounded by doctors, technicians, psychologists, historians, and, even anthropologist. But when she was in the gym, exercising, that was the one time she allowed herself to just let everything go, to be herself. And right now she needed to hit something.

     Checking her watch, she paused to figure things out. It was about 10 pm, civilian, ahhh, 2200 military time. So, it should be a few hours until the end of second shift, third would be getting up and moving, and first shift be heading off to bed, like ensign Adler. There was a good chance that the gym would be empty. Maybe she could work out some of this tension and get her head together before tomorrow's marathon of introductions. Walking into the almost deserted gym, she was struck, almost a physical blow, by the heavy beat of loud guitar driven music. With a surprised grin, she realized that she felt at home for the first time, since stepping out of the plane hours ago.

     The lone male in the gym, dressed in shorts and a muscle tank top, was obviously doing a rehab set rather than a regular workout, she thought as she paused in the doorway to admire his form working. And it was well worth admiring, broad shoulder, one strapped with surgical tape, narrow waist, well-formed legs. His hair was a little too long and curly for Trey's taste, very dark. A contemplative smile tugged at her lips, all that she could see of him was rather dark. Feeling the draft from the open door, and sensing eyes upon him, he stopped his set to look around curiously.

     Stepping away from the exercise equipment, the man, he looked to be about Trey's own chronological age, not her calendar age, moved toward his own music, putting out a hand to the volume control. "UMMM Hi. Sorry for the noise, I can turn it down, if you want? You look as though the sound level is scaring you away. It does most of the others, too."

    Quickly, Trey moved forward, further into the room, protesting his action. "No, no, no! Please don't, I was just getting my bearings, that's all. But that's great music." Stepping forward, she smiled brightly, holding out her hand. "Hi. I'm Trey Barlow."

      He nodded, his eyes looking her up and down. Trey was uncomfortably aware that it was not the look a man gives a woman, but one a person uses on someone of whom they are not entirely certain. For a few seconds, she considered taking the challenge, of forcing him to see her as an attractive woman.

     Then he smiled broadly, welcomingly, and she felt a sense of deja vu. As if she'd seen that smile before. Blinking at the odd sensation, she almost missed his words. "You're the doctor who's going to be working with Ari on the Darwin and crew as community thing, right?" The force and warmth of his smile almost made up for the initial sense of assessment. Trey nodded.

     "Trey Barlow, and I prefer to go by ensign, if you don't mind. As far as I know, I'm to be working with an I*rene Adler. I haven't heard anything about an 'Ari'? She didn't mention anyone by that name." She stopped suddenly. "But Darwin did," she remembered. "Why didn't Ensign Adler describe Ari to me? She did everyone else."

     The man laughed, "Probably because she was right in front of you. Air-ren-nay" he pronounced the name very carefully, "has a French uncle who virtually raised her, and that's the way he pronounces it. She usually goes by Ari, though." Trey nodded thoughtfully.

     "That explains the faint accent," she murmured as if to herself, then stopped. "No it doesn't," she declared. "That wasn't French." Looking up, she was stopped by his blinding smile.

     "Was she lilting? Yeah, that's not the French in her, that's the Irish. Means she's feeling pretty good." His face changed, became worried. "Or very tired. How did she seem?"

     Trey nodded sympathetically. "Tired and very happy, for the most part. You sound as if you know her very well," she observed curiously. "And you are...?" She almost felt she could already put a name to this one.

     He shook his head, amused at his own thoughtlessness. "Senior Chief Miguel Ortiz, sensor and WSKRS," he replied, holding out his hand again. "Sorry for my lack of manners. I got back from leave a little while ago and need to unwind before I can get to sleep." So this was the man who had Adler, Ari, glowing. She looked at him closely. He was good-looking, in a very Latino way, machisimo oozing from his pores. She could see why the kid looked so pole-axed, and so conflicted.

     He was reaching down toward his stereo again, placing a small piece of cardboard propped beside it down on its face. But not before Trey recognized the woman she'd just met, and this man standing behind her. She nodded toward the photo.

      "So, is Ensign Adler your girl?" Trey asked, thinking that Ari must have more to her than she appeared she'd managed to land this one. But then, the animated, flushed woman in the hall had something special. Miguel, realizing that Trey had seen the picture, picked it up and smiled fondly at it.

     "Well, lets say I'm working on that." Trey moved her hand to take the photo, but he didn't notice, placing it carefully in a pocket of his bag. Trey had a feeling that if she hadn't been there, he would have kissed it. He looked up, his smile including her into his world, "So. You here for just a work out or rehab like myself?" Trey blinked in surprise. She had thought that all the physical signs of her long incarceration had been eliminated. Then she flushed, realizing that Adler had probably told them everything she knew about her.

     Catching herself, she shook her head, gesturing around the gym. "I was hoping to find a speed bag. Speaking frankly, I feel like beating the shit out of something. I've got to get rid of this tension, somehow."

     "First day that bad?" the amused CPO asked, leading her toward the equipment. She grimaced.

     "It wasn't even an offical first day, just a moving day, my sixth move in the past year." She laughed, an angry, hurting sound. "Good thing that I don't have a lot of belongings left." At Miguel's inquisitive sideways glance, she flushed. She hadn't meant to say that.

      "What happened?" he asked.

     "Umm, don't you know? Didn't Adler tell you?" He raised his eyebrows and shook his head no, an air of polite confusion on his face.

     "Ari told us that you'd be helping out with the project and that was it," he informed her. "She tends to be a bit close-mouthed at times. Probably the influence of the nuns." Trey blinked with surprise, taken aback by that last bit. Nuns? What nuns?

     With a shrug, she continued. "Even if she didn't tell you, I assumed that everyone in the world knows my life's story," she said. "It's been written up in enough tabloids. 'Sleeping Beauty Awakes!' 'I was my master's sleeping sex slave' and so on." Observing his startled and confused expression, she shrugged, feeling obscurely embarassed to be mentioning this. "Just grist for the yellow journalistic rumour mill. I thought that it would be all over the boat." He shook his head decisively.

      "Nope. You assumed wrong. All that we heard was that some expert was coming to do dolphin research and Ari was worried you'd take over her work with Darwin." He paused, a big grin on his face, adding, "Tonight, she told me that she liked him better than me. I almost feel jealous of the fishy guy." Trey laughed, as she realized he'd intended. But there was a very real shadow behind the joke.

     "Not me. I'm just a 'people person' on this study. Anything dealing with the dolphin is her show to run. And if I can help her, in any way, hey! thats great." she grinned, chuckling a little. "Because if if I can't, I'm ballast." With a sense of shock, she realized that her face hurt. She hadn't smiled or laughed so much in the past year. Maybe even in the year she lived before that either. Trey looked at the man in front of her with greater respect. She was beginning to see just what that child saw in him, beyond the attractive outer packaging.

     Miguel was shaking his head at her, pulling a pair of boxing gloves out of storage. "I doubt just that," he contradicted. "Haven't you gotten a copy of your schedule? The captain and Commander Ford have you scheduled for duty rotations starting early next week." He paused, looking at her curiously. "Are you rated in anything?" adding, with a small, private laugh, "I just lost my best WSKRS assistant." He waved to her to put out her hands, and helped her with the gloves. With another smile and wave toward the speed bag, he returned to the weight machine, and set the program to continue the set from where he left off, leaving the insistant, compelling, hypnotic beat of the music low enough to allow the conversation to continue.

     Starting the slow, steady warm-up motions of someone who knows what she's doing, had done it before, Trey answered the question. "Well I would guess communications, the equipment doesn't seem to have changed all that much in the past 30 years. But, from what I've heard, I don't have the languages required. Is it true that the officer in charge of communications knows a dozen different ones, and can speak them all?" she asked curiously.

    Miguel laughed. "Naw," he said reassuringly. "He only claims to speak six. But he says he can understand another half dozen, and he wants Ari to teach him dolphin, too."

      "Is she?"

     Miguel grimaced, and Trey suddenly realized that if he were in here, working out in the middle of a weight program, that he couldn't have been the source of the second message Ari received. His next words, spoken almost bitterly, confirmed her sudden suspicion. "I hope not! The two of them get to jabbering in all languages and no one knows what they're saying. I hate it when they do that!" Angrily, he pulled hard and suddenly groaned with pain. With a hissing intake of breath, he sat up. "I think that did it for the night." Turning off the program, he sat on the bench, watching Trey hitting the bag.

     "Anything else interest you?" he asked. "Any other systems." She looked over her shoulder at him, keeping her feet moving.

     "Well, everything else seems too have changed out of all recognition since I had my basic training. I had a few months at Groton, but it's all too technical for me to understand beyond rudimentary level of what it's supposed to do." He nodded.

     "Yeah, we get a lot of new people like that. Don't worry. Every one will understand. And if you have any questions, then ask Ari. She'll be doing the rotating duty, as well, but she's got a solid tech background and recently did an in-depth analysis of almost every system on SeaQuest."

     Trey shot him a curious look, shaking her head with the wonder of it. Didn't these two realize just how obvious they were? Every comment he made came right back around to Ari, as if his every thought revolved around her. Trey sighed, wishing that someone had felt that way about her, when she was alive the first time. Then, maybe, she wouldn't be stuck out of time, the way she was. Miguel stood up, stretching carefully. Walking over to her, he clapped an hand on Trey's shoulder.

    "Look, I've got to get some sleep before duty tomorrow. Can you manage the gloves by yourself?" he asked. Trey looked down at her hands.

     "Yeah, I think so. You go on, I'll be okay." She paused to watch him, collecting his gear. He stopped and smiled at her.

     "I'll leave my music, if you wish," he offered. "You can give it back to me later."

     "No, that's not necessary. Just turn on mine before you leave. I don't think that there'd be time to give it to you at breakfast," she replied, grinning suddenly at his surprised look. "Your Ari has already invited me to join in the 'fun and games'," she explained. He nodded.

     "That's ok, then." He straightened up and flipped a hand to her in farewell, heading toward the exit. Watching him leave, Trey sighed. Too bad he was taken. He'd be a tasty morsel. She flushed, angry with her thoughts. No! She was not going to start that again. With greater resolve, she began to beat the bag, trying to exorcise the demons from her own mind.

     Lucas read over the message from Ari again, a mixture of friendly banter and big sisterly advice. She'd had a great time. But she was babbling on about Morden, so maybe it wasn't all that wonderful. His hand hesitated over the close command, then with a small expulsion of breath he pushed it down. Flopping back on his bunk, he reached up and lifted one of the photos on the wall, revealing the one hidden beneath. Ari smiled back at him.

     A small answering smile touched his lips. He remembered when he'd snapped the shot. One of the few times that Miguel wasn't around to chaperone and interfer. He'd rigged a program so that when she accessed the training sequence, it began to recite rude rhymes at her, all rhyming with '-airy'. She'd been laughing so hard that she couldn't breathe, and then she'd started throwing pillows and it had degenerated into a pillow fight.

     His smile fading, Lucas lay back, looking up at her laughing eyes. It wasn't fair. Miguel was years too old for her. He winced at the thought. Well, yeah, maybe, but when they got together, it didn't seem to matter to either one of them. They were so right together.

     But he wondered what it would be like if MIguel wasn't around. What if Miguel were somehow out of the picture, off SeaQuest, or just not available. Maybe then, she'd see him as something more than a kid brother. He was almost her own age, after all. Settling back comfortably, a small smile on his face, Lucas closed his eyes and fantasized about SeaQuest with Miguel Ortiz out of the picture.

     Opening her eyes reluctantly, Trey groaned, wondering what she was doing awake. She'd continued in the gym several hours after the CPO had left, and that meant she'd only had... rolling over, she looked at her clock, moaning loudly, a little more than five hours of sleep. She grabbed the pillow and put it over her head. An anxious voice called from the hall, accompanied by a gentle tap, the second sound, her sleep starved mind recognized, being the source of her waking.

     "Ensign Barlow? Are you all right?" The voice was young and female, probably Ari, checking on her for breakfast. With a mental comment to the effect that this was not a good start to a working relationship, she raised herself on her arms.

     "I'll be right with you," she managed to say almost politely. There was a short silence. Then the other voice humbly called through the door, "I'm sorry I disturbed you." Trey blinked, realizing that the footsteps were retreating, she rolled out of bed, calling out, "Wait a minute, hold on there!" Stumbling to the door, she pulled it open. Ari stood uncertainly a little distance down the corridor, looking disgusting wide awake and ready for the day.

     Walking slowly back, she repeated in a small voice, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you up. But it's almost six and I thought that you were going to join us. But maybe tomorrow would be better," she offered hopefully. Bleary eyed, Trey shook her head.

     "Naw, give me a few minutes. I'll be right with you. I gotta give something back anyway." Closing the door, she started to pull out a clean uniform, then realized that would be a stupid thing to do, considering where they were going. She realized that Ari was wearing a set of sweats, so she put on a swim suit and pulled her own sweat suit over that. Running out into the hallway, she found other ensign waiting patiently.

     "Sorry I made you wait," Trey said, walking toward her. "I'm still on States time, my body is saying that it's one ack emma."

     Ari shook her head. "Maybe you'd better go back to bed, I just didn't think."

     "I'm awake now, and I might as well get started as I mean to go on," Trey stated reasonably with a shake of the head. Ari cocked her head considering this statement then shrugged.

     "Ok," she agreed dubiously. "If you're sure?" Stifling a huge yawn, Trey nodded. "I'm sure," she said.

     Entering the galley, with the confusing smell of lunch and breakfast mixed, Trey felt disoriented, as Ari waved toward a young man seated at one of the tables. He looked up with a happy grin, which slipped when he noticed Trey. With a small snort to herself, Trey admitted that she was quickly becoming accustomed to that reaction from Adler's friends, and wondered if she'd end up hating the other woman for it.

     Tim watched the entrance to the galley anxiously. After last night's activities, it was a little worrisome of Ari to be late. What if she decided to avoid both him and Miguel? Or even worse, what if she just decided to avoid him? But no. Her messages last night were pretty normal. He glanced down at his breakfast for a moment. When he looked back up, Ari was entering with someone, probably Lonnie, and waving happily in his direction. As she headed toward him, he got a glimpse of the person with her. Not Lonnie. Blinking with surprise, he stared at the stranger.

     Tim saw a thin woman, of average height, her face refined to its basic structure, a good one, he thought. Her hair was a darkish brown, lighter than his own, cut in a short bob and she seemed to move with a defensive diffidence, as if not entirely certain of her welcome or even her right to occupy the space. Somehow, he couldn't keep his eyes off her. He found himself glancing back and forth between Ari and the other woman.

     Approaching the table, getting a good look at it's inhabitant, Trey felt her eyebrows rise up appreciatively. Now here was a man! He stood up politely as they neared, and up a bit more. He was rangy, about six foot, she guessed, but he held himself as if more compact. Stopping to think about it, she realized that most of the people she'd met so far seemed to have retracted their edges, and that she felt herself bumping into things more than usual. Dismissing the thought for further consideration later, she returned to her appreciation of the beauty before her.

    His face was alive and mobile, intelligent and expressive. Aware of Ari introducing her, making the required responses, she felt his eyes, behind thick glasses, looking her over and approving of what he saw. Trey felt as though he saw, not just the outer envelope, but her inner self, as well, and for a moment, she felt afraid, undressed, vulnerable. But only for a moment, as she recognized his vulnerablities in return, and realized that he had as many defenses as she herself.

    "Trey?" She shook herself, hearing the questioning note in Ari's voice. "I said, do you want to go get something to eat now?" She blinked and felt a little foolish. "Yes," she answered slowly, as if coming out of a dream. "Yes, I do. Through there?" she asked, pointing toward the line. Following the younger woman, threading through the tables, she risked a peek backwards, smiling, warmed by the sight of the handsome man watching her. What did Ari say his name was? She thought back. Ah, yes, Tim O'Neill, a nice name, she thought.

     Returning to the table and Tim, they found him joined by two others, a very pretty, tall young woman with short dark hair and friendly, laughing eyes and Miguel. Ari effected the introductions, starting with the woman, Lonnie Henderson. When she started to introduce Miguel, he interrupted, laughing, "We've already met. Last night in the gym," he reminded Trey, as if she would have forgotten. She smiled back, nodding.

     "Yes, you showed me where the gloves are stored. Thanks. And, as you can see," she added, holding up her hands, "I managed to get them off by myself." The speculative glance Ari gave them both did not escape Trey. The two newcomers went off to get their meals, while the women sat, one on either side of the communications officer. Trey was amused to notice that Miguel was careful to sit on the opposite side of the dimunitive ensign, who just as carefully pretended not to notice him.

     Observing the interactions between the three of them, she found herself growing increasingly confused. While the attraction between Ari and Miguel seemed so overwhelming as to be unmistakable, the woman appeared to divided her attention between both the handsome, fit CPO and the disturbingly attractive lieutenant equally. And just as confusing, the other female ensign took it all in stride, as though it were normal behaviour.

     Lonnie nudged her elbow, pointing down at Trey's empty tea cup and jerking a head toward the open galley. "Come on," she said, "lets get more." Guessing that she had more on her mind that just a refill, Trey stood and followed.

     Pouring out more coffee, Lonnie laughed. "I can see that our little group has you confused. Need some Cliff notes?" Trey nodded thankfully.

     Standing at the urn containing hot water, she shook her head with wonder, half asking, "I had the impression that she was seeing the CPO?" Lonnie laughed.

     "Poor Miguel. He thought so, too. But he pushed a little too hard and made a few too many assumptions. Don't be fooled by that demure exterior," she warned, her seriousness hidden by the laughter, "she's as stubborn as they come. When Ari makes up her mind, then she goes after it, come hell or high water, but heaven help the poor soul who tries decide for her."

     Carefully, Trey asked, "And she hasn't made up her mind?" She tried to reconcile this with manner in which her new collegue described the two men. Lonnie gave her a twisted smile, lowering her voice as they approached the table again.

    "Her logic is telling her one thing and her emotions another. And since she's more accustomed to being guided by logic, there's no telling which one will win out in the end." Trey nodded, things beginning to fall into place.

     "And where do you come into this?" she asked curiously, feeling her way carefully.

     Lonnie smiled on one side. "I don't," she laughed. "I'm just along for the show. Oh, I went out with both guys a time or two, and I thought that there might be something between Tim and me at one point, but," she shook her head. "It just didn't pan out." As they returned to the table, they found another member of the crew had shown up, bent over the back of Ari's seat.

     "Oh, hey, Lucas. Thanks for thinking about me last night." For some reason, the comment caused the youth to swallow hard and flush. Ari had already turned away, explaining, "He sent me a message asking about the movie." Lucas swallowed hard again, in relief, Trey thought, and pulled a chair over, fitting it in between the dark-haired sensor chief and the young ensign.

     "Well, the way you went on and on about missing it before, I just wondered if it was worth the wait. Did you have the kind of dreams you expected?" Ari looked down at her toast, veiling her eyes with her lashes, while the heads of the two men quested up like hunting hounds scenting the prey.

     "Umm, yeah, sort of, in a way. Mr. Morden was definately in my dreams." One hand raised to her face and her finger lightly touched her lips in a thoughtful, caressing way. Pulling it away, she looked at it as if wondering what it was doing there, and firmly replaced her hand in her lap. Looking around with an air of competance, she asked, "Are we finished then? Sorry to run out on you, Lucas, but you know how it is."

     "Yeah, yeah. I know," he replied, pushing back his chair and replacing it at the table from which it had come. Trey thought that there was a tone of bitterness in his voice as he continued, "I gotta go get something to eat anyway." Apparently Ari thought so too, because as she stood, she reached up and patted him on the cheek.

     "Come and join us," she invited. "We won't be doing a lot of strenuous stuff today, but you know we have fun." He shrugged, his mood improving slightly.

     "Well, maybe. I'll see." He glanced down, then back at the young woman before looking around the table. "I'll see you." Flipping his hand at them, he walked away. As the others stood up and began picking up their trays, Trey looked down at her own in surprise. She'd been so interested in the interactions between them, that she'd eaten everything on her plate without even realizing it. Gulping down the last of her tea, she stood as well, and followed while they returned the dishes to the kitchen to be washed before heading out of the galley.

     As the four friends chattered and discussed some movie they'd seen while on liberty, Trey thought about her own interactions with men. Granted, she felt the situation Ari was in to be ridiculous and unduly complicated, but honestly, she couldn't say that she'd handled herself any better. In fact, she'd done a lot worse. At least Ensign Adler's problem was one of honest confusion, Trey knew that she herself had always mixed cool-headed opportunism with hot blood. Caught up in her own thoughts, she didn't even remember to worry about what awaited them, until they were actually entering the Sea Deck.

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