Backpost!  USS Churchill 

The petty officer rank on her uniform had been there for nearly six months. Filling some large shoes when the old crew-chief transferred suddenly, Kannina had taken the role and run with it. 

Walking the flight deck, padd in hand, she headed back towards the office and the endless checklists and maintenance logs. Passing one of her fighters, she noticed a set of tools and work coming from the cockpit. Sensing the frustration, and hearing something bang, Kannina changed to an intercept course, her mental faculties switching to overdrive.

Looking into the hole, she spotted someone in the cockpit. “Whatcha doing there with my ship, Ensign?”

Ensign Marcus Ming looked up from scowling at some adjustments he’d been working on.  He had initially thought of snapping and raining down verbal abuse at whomever interrupted him.  He immediately corrected his line of intent after a quick visual assessment of the woman in question.

She was likely the crew chief based on rank and bearing.  The part he noticed and immediately filed away was that…well….she was damned cute.  With a brief shake of the head that failed to buck that thought he said, “Ah, Chief….I am making a few adjustments to the Peregrine’s controls.  I’m rather picky about the setup especially if it means getting my ass shot off or not and the way the controls respond makes all the difference.  That is especially with the Gamma quadrant making angry noises there at the Cardassian/Bajoran frontier.  Fair chances it’ll be war which adds more weight to my reasoning.”  

As Ming finished speaking and gave Petty Officer Chasu an almost apologetic smile/shrug combination.  Almost. His violet irises sparkled a bit in the landing bay lights as he did so.

“Not quite, Sir. You are making adjustments to my fighter.” The Petty Officer replied. “Now, I can make allowances for a one-time exception, but the reason I take exception to this? This is your way of telling me I don’t know how to do my job. ” She could tell the pilot saw her as attractive, and while he was cute, it remained to be seen if there was brain matter between the ears. 

“Now. For starters? Out of MY chair.” Kannina said. It wasn’t a request. 

Ming blinked.  He wasn’t used to being ordered around by ratings or even NCOs…even the attractive ones.  The deck chief, however, did have a lot of pull though.  He wasn’t the type to buckle easily but, in this case, it seemed the best move to take.  He stood and started to vacate the seat as he said without irony, “Yes ma’am.”

Once Marcus had relinquished his place, the small woman climbed past Ming and into the cockpit. Asking him to assist, she pulled up the controls. “No. No. Interesting. No…hmmm.” Climbing back out, she pulled out a handheld calculator. “You can’t get there from here.” Kannina offered. “Overdriving the controls are going to cause a failure. So no.” She said, handing him back the tools. 

Little doubt remained that this pilot was attracted to her. While technically the pilot outranked her, it was her vehicle. She also could easily put him on report for unauthorized repairs and safety violations.

Softening the tiniest bit, she added. “However.” Looking up at him, “Flattery has a zero meter effect range as crap doesn’t fly ‘Bright Eyes’. Put my bird back the way you found it, and know I will check personally. Then after nineteen hundred, maybe you can apologize appropriately for violating my fighter, and we can talk about doing what you want it to do without violating any safety protocols or non-judicial punishment for you. ‘Kay?” She said smiling sweetly. 

Ming quirked an eyebrow as he stuidied the woman before him for a heartbeat.  He saw where she was going with this and nodded slightly deciding to play it her way.  After the thoughtful pause he said, “Alright.  That seems….fair. If I may?”

With her nod he returned to the cockpit.  As he worked to restore things to the way they were he resolved to figure out a way to avoid such conflicts in the future with any flight crew lead.  This wasn’t annoying persay.  It simply seemed unnecessary. It also seemed that learning some of what they did and how would be an asset toward that end in the future.  

The ensign blinked.  He’d finished restoring things to where they were without really noticing. He’d always been a good tinkerer.  His parents drove him to have a diverse knowledge base and to excel at whatever he did.  He’d never be an engineer but it came in useful like now.  

He scrambled back down out of the cockpit and smiled at the NCO.   It was taking a bit more effort to put how pretty she was out of mind.  Very unfair.  

Forcing his thoughts aside, Ensign Marcus Ming said (maintaining his smile), “If things are to your liking maybe we could begin the discussions as to our plans for after 1900 hours.” 

 was so deep in thought that she didn’t hear Marcus for a second. In front of her on the massive display was a Tri-view of the Peregrine’s control board on the screen. Turning to face him, Kannina saw the smile and caught something from the man standing before her. The smile turned into a smirk. Kaninna leaned in as she inhaled slowly. Her black eyes flashed, at his.  “I think you’re cute too, Sir. But take a look at this first.”  Then she turned back to the console display. 

“I pulled up the service manuals and maintenance logs. A few of the pilots have had complaints and there was even a refit board, these all received. I don’t think it went far enough. I’m going to have a few pulled and tortured tested.” Kaninna offered. “So plans. Dinner would be nice. It’s been a busy day. You know how needy these pilots can be, Ensign.” She said, flashing a genuine warm smile. 

Ming gave her a deadpan look that poorly masked his playful sarcasm, “Pilots?  Needy?  Never noticed.”

The ensign returned the warm smile with an added playfulness.   He added, “This could be the start of a very interesting relationship….and I’m quite alright about it oddly enough.”

Kannina suddenly stopped. “You’re okay with what. exactly?” Her eyes narrowing.

Ming blinked and replied, “I am sorry if I sounded like I was expecting anything other than some dinner and some conversation.  I promise you that.”

“I’ll chalk that one up to cultural differences.” Kannina resisted the urge to probe his mind. She didn’t know him well enough. “I’m expecting you to level up on this you understand?” Kannina asked him directly. “Trust me. I’m worth the emotional investment.”

Ming nodded and gave her a bit of a smile, “Level up huh?  I always liked a challenge.  I don’t invest all that often but…..I think you might just be worth it.”

Marcus froze slightly after the last sentence.  His eyes met hers and he asked softly, “You’re telepathic?”

“I can be.” Kannina said with a wink. Then added, “I don’t allow just anyone up there. Enough clutter as it is. “Why is that a deal breaker?” she asked Marcus adding a sweet smile. “Because having a small mind would be a waste of good looks.”
 

Ming chuckled.  He then said quietly, “Nah.  Far from it.  I’ve got a condition not many know about.  It’s not even on my Starfleet record.  I hope you can trust me with what I am about to do….I am trusting you with something hardly anyone else knows about me.” 

Marcus paused and looked around before closed his eyes for a moment, taking a few deep, slow breaths.  He noticed her scent was intoxicating.  With an effort of will he pushed that as far aside as he was able.  His heart slowed a bit.  He reached out with something between his concious and unconcious mind and, for a lack of a better term, tickled what he thought felt like her mind before raising his mental shields again.  

He wondered if he actualy did what he was trying to do or if it was merely his imagination.  It generally was imagination unless it was someone he was quite close to or if they were a race with telepathic abilites.  He slowly opened his eyes and found hers with a questioning look on his face.  

Kannina saw his struggle, she wondered what he was doing, but she did hear something. She adjusted her mental shields. “Can you hear me now?!” She said telepathically to Marcus. “You’re trying too hard.” She added. 

Verbally she said. “You need to stop hiding. It’s not a crime. Plus you can’t get good at what you never practice.” 

Ming smiled appolgetically and said softly, “I have been.  It’s still sporratic for species that aren’t natural telepaths.”

With a sigh he closed his eyes again then focused.  Telepathically, “Many other humans don’t like telepaths.  My natural abilities are limiting.  … Gods, why am I so attracted to you?”

Marcus gulped audibly as he opened his eyes, raised his mental shields somewhat, and started to fluster.   He muttered sounding quite embarrassed, “Sorry about that last part.  It just came out as a blurt.”

She put a warm hand on his chest and offered verbally. “Relax. You didn’t learn to talk as a young’un a day. You won’t learn to develop real talking or shielding, without practice. You should get some practice. “ Switching to her mental voice, she softly swept his shields aside. ”It’s a skill that can come in handy.” Adding a wink. 

Kannina smiled and even laughed a bit.“ Anyone ever tell you that you’re stupid when you’re cute?” She joked. “Kannina. My friends call me Nina.” No one looking at them would know they were talking. It would look like a staring contest.

Ming found himself being a bit surprised.  His tallents were so sporatic it wasn’t common at all something like this happened….even with someone of a telepathic race.  Here we were though.  

Relaxing, Marcus tilted his head looking at this unique lady.  He smiled a bit and spoke mentally, “It’s not often a woman’s beauty makes me seem goofy anymore.  Points to you on that one I suppose.”

He thought for a moment before he continued, “My name is Marcus David Ming.  My friends back home and family often call me MD.  Most of the pilots around here call me ‘Lunatic’ as a callsign.  Came from an interesting period while at the academy …. plus the fact I spent a lot of time growing up in New Berlin, Luna.  I can tell you more over dinner if you’re interested.  If not we can find plenty to discuss I suppose.”

“Well, then. At least I know you are interested.” Nina said smiling widely, then added. “If I weren’t interested, I wouldn’t have asked you to level up, Marcus—oh and hint. I don’t mind vegetarian, but it also better be next level. Plants are an addition or a side dish.” Nina offered, making sure it would be a few items to select within the menu

“I joined the omnivores are us food club many years ago.  I even level it up when I am sluffing it so I’ve been told,” Ming thought.  It came attached with the memory of one of his favorite dinners that he crafted:  Medium rare (beef) steak, a baby spinich salad with all the fixins (including bacon bits), and his infamous mac and cheese with all sorts of gluttonous additions.

“It’ll be interesting to see what you come up with. Dress or jeans?” Nina asked Marcus. 

Marcus paused and studied Nina for a moment, enjoying the view admittedly, as he thought. He smiled slightly, “Dress, I think.  Might as well level up a bit there too.”

“See you then…Lunatic. ” Nina offered with smile and a wink. “I’d walk away, but you’re in my area of operation, and you’d probably walk into something.” Adding a squeeze to his arm.