Bear With Me
Posted on February 20th, 2019 by Linxi Jude and Kathryn Harper

by Linxi Jude and Kathryn Harper

Linxi’s mind was rushing a mile a minute as she stepped off the transporter. She stepped outside of the transporter room and leaned against the wall of the hallway, bouncing on the balls of her feet. The information she gathered, and the interactions with the ursines gave her such an adrenaline rush that she was still feeling it.

Linxi shut her eyes and tapped her fingers against the wall as she took deep breaths to calm herself down. She wanted to let loose all of her excitability over these… discoveries- scream, ramble, bounce up and down- anything. She mumbled what seemed like rapid gibberish to herself as she stepped away from the wall.

Captain Harper had started down the hall for the turbolift, but paused as she passed the lieutenant. Her excitement was still palpable, but what she just said made no sense even to Kate, even with all the languages she could speak. Stepping to the wall, she leaned forward and grinned. “What was that?”

Linxi snapped her head towards the captain, then turned her body. She took a deep breath, “Permission to completely, utterly, and totally geek out for sixty seconds, Captain?”

“Oh, by all means, granted!”

Linxi paused a moment, before words practically exploded out of her mouth at a rapid rate, “I somehow connected with a giant bear, watched the bears write, played hide and seek with one of them and I RODE ON HIS BACK and I swear, I started to get some of the verbal bear language nuances by the time we had to leave, and this is like, the third best day ever!” She took a deep breath, then squealed, before returning to attention, as the sixty seconds wound up.

The grin on Kate’s face continually grew wider during Linxi’s exuberant gush of excited speech. She, too, had thoroughly enjoyed the day, at least once the outcome was no longer in doubt, and seeing it put a member of her crew in such an ebullient mood warmed her heart. “It was quite a day, yes?”

“Oh hell yes! I mean- look- I-“ Linxi paused and grunted to herself, trying to think of the right words. “When I first signed up for Starfleet, this is what I was thinking of- what I actually wanted to do, y’know? Not exploding starships or species on the brink of war, but this.”

“It was the same for me when I joined,” Kate answered with a warm smile, thinking back to the insatiably curious version of herself that set off for Earth and the Academy. “Despite any one person’s reasons for joining, though, this is why we are all out here, as a fleet.”

Linxi gave a snort, “It seems like Wolfe’s reason is to blow stuff up, but I digress.” She leaned against the wall and crossed her arms, “Do you think we’ll stay in contact with them? The bears and the colonists?”

Tilting her head back, Kate pinched her chin and considered the question a moment before answering. “Yes, almost certainly. Two successful first contacts gives us new friends that we had yet to meet just a few months ago. What we have established here is a nexus of peaceful relations among three peoples, once the Kvolir establish their colony, and to keep up relations, I think that our involvement is a necessity.”

Linxi stared into (metaphorical) space, and seemed to drift off into her thoughts, “I really liked the bears.” She paused for a moment, before words rapidly shot out, “Amber Sun was so soft. Didyoupethim-youshouldhavepethim. WhydoIhaveweirdfeelingsrightnow?” Linxi stared at Kate for a short moment in silence, before appearing to come alive again, “Anyway! Considering that I am covered in dirt and bear fur, I think I outta make my way to my quarters.”

“I did not get to pet any of them, no,” Kate answered with a wistful chuckle. “But, since it seems to have been quite the experience, I am glad that you did! Please, take the time to get cleaned up, and I will see you later on the bridge.”

“Aye, captain!”