04-08-2025, 02:27 AM
The small sound from the tricorder in her hand told her an error message had occurred before she even saw the flashing red exclamation point on the screen. This is ridiculous, I finally get to go on a mission, blow up half the ship, can’t find my way out of a fire fight, and now I’m tasked with opening a archaic door with super technology and anti-scan software, I’d ask if it could get worse, but truthfully, I’m afraid. Ju nibbled on her lower lip as she thought about what specifically she was going to do next. There was no good way to get a feel for the shape that would need to be crafted and that meant she would need tools to try to pick it. I feel like a life of crime would have benefited me more here than the Academy…
Hurrying along from Mara and Ziggy, Crewman Aitken was already feeling the pressure just by being around the Chief. She was huge even compared to the tall lanky man that Jamie was. However, the more space he put between himself and Calleja, the better he felt. Seeing the Engineer with her tricorder, Jamie tried to figure out a good way to approach without startling her. After all, there had just been an intense firefight and he didn’t really feel like getting stunned.
Do I drop my pack beside her? Aitken wondered to himself, but instead went for the standard ‘hey, am I interrupting’ throat clearing cough.
“Kchkmmm. Excuse me? Ma’am. Uh, I’m here to help you pick the lock,” Jamie said in his least hostile voice.
Ju stared at the lock, as though it would somehow give up it’s secrets if the Korean looked at it long enough. Tapping her finger on her lower lip as she thought about the different options. Someone earlier had mentioned lock picks, but she didn’t have any and hadn’t thought they should be part of the standard Engineering kit. Something I will remedy upon return, for sure. A little sound came from behind her a bit, causing her to turn her attention over her should expecting it to be Mara or someone else wanting her to get on with her Engineering prowess. More like Engineering nightmare, she thought to herself with a sigh.
An unfamiliar voice stood behind her, and Ju’s eyes traveled upwards as he was a bit taller than she was. Striking blue eyes met her dark black ones, indicative of her heritage. He seemed shy, or timid, something she understood all too well. She didn’t remember him coming to the Kpop party she and Damian had thrown before. Everything had gone to a handbasket of hell, and she thought she would have remembered those eyes. Blue wasn’t common in Korea despite mixed heritages taking hold around the world. He admitted he had come to help her pick the lock and earned him a kind and warm smile. “Fantastic, do you have lockpicks? I am afraid that’s our first and best option for a lock like this.”
“Yes, ma’am,” his reply was matched with an eagerness, and he set the bag down before her.
“I’ve got a lockpick camera that we can hook up to this PADD,” pulling the tiny lock-sized camera and PADD out, he handed them to Ju.
“Plus I’ve got all sorts of picks! Wave rakes. Disc detainer tools. Proper picks. Tension bars. I’ve also got lots of different things for just poking and prodding inside the lock too.”
Aitken was rifling through the bag, pulling out things as he was talking and setting them on the deck. It wasn’t until he took a moment to catch his breath from speaking so quickly, that he noticed Ju’s eyes.
“Oh!” he exclaimed, blushed, then felt awkward.
We are supposed to be working, not talking about eye color. But where in the world do you get black eyes from? Betazed?
“Plus! Plus!” Jamie tried to course correct to seem like his original ‘oh’ was just excitement.
“I’ve got det cord and all kinds of other explosives in here too. In case we can’t actually pick the lock.”
As the boy launched into a whole sales pitch on the tools that he had brought in his mess of a bag, Ju’s eyes shifted up to Mara, a single eye brow arched in surprise and confusion before her eyes dropped back to her helper. He pulled out a contraption that he said was a camera she could hook to her PADD so that she could see what she was doing. Ju took it from his hand and pulled out her PADD the happy panda sticker on the back still decorated the device from her time on her other ship. It was intriguing to watch her Helper peddle all the wares that he had brought for them to use, each tool hitting the deck with a clang of metal on metal before the next was brought out, named, and put beside it. Before she knew it, she was positive a large portion of his bag lay on the deck plating at her feet while Ju was still struggling to mentally catch up with his verbal vomit.
Then he looked up, and promptly lost his balance. Ju’s head tilted to the side as her hands shot out in an effort to catch his shoulders and help him steady eyes flickering to Mara again before going back to him. He righted himself before she could lay her hands on him and carried on with his sales pitch as though he hadn’t fumbled at all. “Okay, great, thank you for being well prepared,” Ju said, still a bit in shock. Who is this guy? Where does he get his energy from? I need some of what he has…
Ju moved back over to the lock and pushed the camera attachment into the hole in the hopes of getting a better idea of what was going on inside. A light on the end of the camera would help light the inside of the lock and the screen on her PADD would be good enough to give her a decent image of what they needed to tackle in order to get this door open. Maybe if it’s this hard we shouldn’t open it. What if it’s a space virus? What if it’s zombie astronauts? What if it’s zombie Klingon? I watch too many movies…
“That there!” Jamie nearly shouted as he pointed to Ju’s PADD, his smile still on his face from seeing the happy panda sticker on it.
“Ah ha! So they are rather old school disc-detainer type cores. You don’t usually see stuff like this except from like… really old Klingon or even Cardassian locks. Cardassian’s love disc shaped physical locks… if they even use them at all.”
Huh, kinda looks like an old Klingon one… what was it called again? Aitken wondered, his enthusiasm really shining through. For the first time in a long time, it felt like he’d actually encountered a real ‘spy’ challenge.
“Only problem is, there are two keys needed here. Which, if I’m right in thinking that this is an old coh’Dugh system, they need to be turned at the same time. Which then also means that we need to pick these locks together.”
Pulling out the disc-detainer picks, he handed one that was the appropriate size for the locks they were going to work on to Ju. Then he paused. He’d picked some practice locks before. Mostly ones that were the real old school cylinder and pin-style, as those felt much more in vogue that they would have used from the spy novels he read. But disc-cores he was more unfamiliar with.
“Another problem. Uh, I haven’t really worked with these types before.”
Disc style, Ju was just glad that he seemed to understand the words that were coming out of his mouth. It wasn’t that they had never covered locks in the Academy but they certainly hadn’t discussed picking them and exactly how to do that. She supposed that she should have sought that info out at some point. Add Klingon and lock picking to the list of classes to take when I live through this mission. The nameless helper said that they were going to have to pick and turn the locks together or it wouldn’t work and with her luck it would trigger some sort of emergency shut down protocol, or how her day was going, they’d probably vent the area into space just for giggles.
He handed her one of the picks that apparently would work on this kind of lock and Ju took it in her slender fingers trying to think about what would happen if she sucked at this. There was a lot riding on this moment, and Ju didn’t want to mess up. Surely, this couldn’t be as hard as she imagined. People picked locks all the time in movies, and sometimes they used hair pins, so how hard could it be to pick a lock that was apparently old style?
Blue Eyes mentioned that he had never worked on this kind of lock before, causing Ju to let out a bit of a chuckle and shrug her right shoulder. “Well then, we make a good pair, you and I, because I’ve never worked on any locks before.” She knelt down in front of the lock because, frankly, that’s what people did in the movies when they were picking locks. Perhaps it helped see or hear better. At least it’s not a safe. Why don’t I have a cool stethoscope to listen for the tumblers with? I need to stop relying on movie trivia right now and get this door open. Ju looked over at Blue. “Okay, Blue, what are we doing first? You at least have more experience than I do, so I’m following your lead on this.”
“Oh.”
Jamie thought about heading over, beside the blacked eyed engineer, and helping guide her for the first few steps. But then he remembered that they were going to need to pick the locks at the same time. It was a conundrum.
Well, I mean, it doesn’t have to be right at the same time I suppose. We just can’t tension anything to start with.
Cuddling up to the Ensign, Jamie started pointing at the pick she was using.
“So, if you’ve never used these before…” he started before explaining, in rather great detail, exactly the different parts of the pick and how to use it.
“...you are tensioning off the last disc. Now, we’ve got to be careful, because these style locks due have some magnetic security discs too. Usually, that kind of stuff is built right into the key. But for us, we’ve got to use this little adaptation in the pick to lock those magnetic discs in place.”
It felt amazing to be in a real world scenario, having to use the things he’d only dreamed he’d ever use in the field. It was thrilling, and Jamie had to make sure his breathing was under control. Thinking about it he worried for a moment.
What if this sets off some kind of trap? Alarms? What if we get vented into space?!
Aitken swallowed hard, and wiped his brow with his uniform.
“Okay. I have to go over and start work on my core. There should be ten discs total, before we rotate the final one. When you get to the ninth disc, let me know. Or if I get to the ninth disc, I’ll let you know. Actually, we should probably talk to each other while we do this and communicate through it.”
Ju felt prepared for many things, being in the arms of another man, had not even been close to being on the list. When he came over and slid behind her putting his arms around her so that their hands could work the lock picks together she knew that her cheeks tinged pink, how could they not? Ju had been raised where skinship was something that was very intimate and now she and Blue were sharing metallic lock picks and the warmth of his body was pressed against her back.
Focus on the job at hand, Ju, we’re learning valuable skills here, she chastised herself paying attention to what Blue was doing so that she could replicate it when he moved away. Blue began to explain how each disc was put into place and how the tool in her hand was designed to lift each disc out of the way allowing access to the next one. There would be ten discs in all but they would have to lift the last disc together or risk something happening. When they got a few discs in he pulled back and stated he would start working on his own set of discs and they would have to let each other know when they reached the ninth because it was vital they did this together.
“Okay, sounds good,” she said as he moved away and began to work on his own lock. As he settled in he told her they should probably talk to each other while they were picking the locks. Does he mean, lock pick wise? Or are we having an interview session? Is this a dating profile moment? Is he going to ask my favorite color and what I do on off shifts? Ju shook her head clearing her mind for a moment as she began to work on the next disc.
“So, what’s your actual name, Blue?” she asked him curiously her eyes never leaving the lock she was working on. This was delicate and Blue had mentioned that there were magnetic defenses put into place and she definitely didn’t want to mess up and cause a whole lock melt down or something like that. “I’m Ju by the way, it’s actually Eun Ju but everyone just calls me Ju because it’s easiest,” she said bypassing another disc and moving further into the lock.
“What?!” Aitken’s hand slipped and nearly dropped one of the discs he was working on.
I didn’t introduce myself!?! I didn’t even say my name?! there was a panic in his eyes, his social interaction alarm klaxon going off in his head.
“Oh, oh, well I didn’t realize. I mean, I thought you’d have known maybe, somehow.”
How would she know?!
“I mean, I knew you were Ju already. Well, I knew because Ziggy back there used your full name. But also because I’ve heard of CoJu, if people are shipping you and the FO specifically.”
Now Aitken fully blushed, realizing that he shouldn’t have said any of that last part. Wiping more sweat from his brow, that was now coming down profusely, he tried his hardest to focus on the discs as he cleared his throat to speak again. Instead of words, there was an awkward croak first. Clearing his throat again, Jamie then finally was able to form full words.
“Aitken. Jamie Aitken. Crewman Aitken really.”
So smooth Jamie!
Ju found herself tensing as he slipped slightly with her question. He did say he wanted to chit chat, right? I’m not wrong, right? He specifically stated talking while we worked. Maybe he meant just about locks, but how stimulating can lock-picking conversations be? Maybe he needs to find a reformed thief or something to spend long hours talking the finer art of picking Klingon locks…
Then he went on to say that he thought she would have known. Her brow rose curiously and Ju let her dark eyes shift over to Blue for a moment, tilting her head to the side in confusion because, how could she? She hadn’t been on the ship for very long and it was a massive ship there was no way she knew everyone, and she doubted highly everyone knew her. Turning her focus back to the work on hand Blue continued to ramble in the cutest most awkward way possible.
Blue admitted that he had already known her name because of Ziggy but also because of Coju. “Coju?” she said curiously, thinking perhaps that was someone’s name on the ship that she also hadn’t met yet. But then he clarified that people were shipping her and the First Officer. CoJu… Co… Coleman and Ju?! I never in my life had a ship name, I guess bucket list item complete. Maybe that’s right under ‘new boyfriend gets arrested in front of ship full of associates’ Ju sighed, closing her eyes and breathing in for a second before letting it out again. “I didn’t realize I was so widely known, I mean yes, Commander Coleman, however, I just.. I guess I didn’t realize how many people, ship us, as you said,” Ju blushed again and focused on the next disc. Well this went left.
He finally told her his name and Ju almost wished she hadn’t asked because Blue suited him much better than Jamie. Jamie was what you called some young cousin back home or something like that. But, he didn’t stop at Jamie, he went with Jamie, Jamie Aitken, then Crewman Aitken, as though she couldn’t put it all together herself, causing Ju to chuckle. “Well it’s nice to meet you Crewman,” she said not sure what else to say, she felt that if she caught him so off guard by simply asking his name she was a bit afraid to ask much more.
Too bad her impulse control was not in check today. “So what made you decide to learn how to pick locks? You seem educated in the matter.”
Jamie sighed as Ju replied to him, not realizing that she hadn’t heard about anything regarding all the rumors that circulated on the ship. Well, it wasn’t just rumors. People gossiped about anything aboard the Artemis. Who was dating who. What was said in the Officer’s Mess the evening before. The lower decks were always filled with crazy stories being traded around like old-Earth baseball cards. He wondered if he shouldn’t tell her some of what people talked about. Then again, there was also the nastier side to gossip. The side that he didn’t relish at all.
Maybe just keep that to yourself Jamie…
“Oh yeah, people gossip about all sorts of things on the Arty. It is one of the best ways to pass the time whenever you are scrubbing coils or cleaning phasers. But yeah, people totally ship you and Commander Coleman. There’s betting pools and everything…”
Jamie! Shut up! he scolded himself, furiously trying to work the discs so that he’d be done and could stop his verbal spewing.
Ju paused in her movements when he mentioned that people had betting pools for her and Damian. She looked over her shoulder at Mara giving her a scathing look because Mara was pretty deep in the inner culture of the ship and hadn’t mentioned any of this. Her eyes shifted over to Jamie. “What are they betting for? How long before he dumps me?” she asked in a light hearted way but she felt a solid steel in the core of her being because she knew it had to be that. It certainly wasn’t going to be for how many years they’d be together. She would have been an idiot if she didn’t think people were ready for the inevitable failure of her relationship with Damian. It hurt her feelings, only because she wished people had faith in her, but they also didn’t know her. She had already heard people thought she was only on the ship for Damian and not because she wanted the opportunities here.
There you go Jamie, you’ve done it now.
“They bet on all sorts of things. How long it will take for someone to get a promotion. Who the next person is that Calleja punches, in training or on an away mission. It isn’t really meant to be personal, but…” he paused and held his hands in place as he looked over at Ju.
“...but it can hurt, what people say and think about others.”
That statement had come from experience. Aitken had been the butt of many a joke and often wondered if people were being good-hearted about it, or if they really meant it. Either way, it didn’t really feel all that good no matter what. Regardless, the gossiping happened whether he wanted it to or not.
Ju could tell that he had experience being on the receiving end of the gossip that was the cruz of entertainment on a starship. Ju knew that she had too, from time to time, but she hated thinking that people were already counting her and Damian out when they had just barely gotten started. She knew that a lot of people were upset about Damian and his arrest and there was a lot of people talking about that and if she would find someone else or wait for him.
“But to be honest, most people aren’t making bets about your failure; though I’m sure there are some mean intentioned people that perhaps are. Most of the stuff I’ve heard was wondering where you two would have your next date. Or where that will be. If he orders steak bites as an appetizer on that next date, because he apparently orders those all the time. I mean, some are even pulling for you two for the long loooong term too, so there’s conversations about that,” he chuckled.
“I think most people want to see a happy ending. In the end, most of us lower deckers are envious of what you and Coleman have. You can tell he’s smitten with you.”
Ju rose her brow looking over at Blue in surprise. “Really? That makes me happy to hear, I really like him. It’s a shame that everything happened recently the way it did but I think he’ll be back soon and I am hoping we can pick up where we left off. I really miss him, even though it’s only been a short time it feels like it’s been really long,” Ju admitted moving another disc to the side. “Don’t let people talk bad about you, Blue. I have your back now, I may not look like a lot, but I can kick people in the shin pretty hard when I want to,” she chuckled. “I’m actually a black belt in taekwondo, so I may not look it, but I’m not necessarily the person you want to mess with.”
Jamie laughed at Ju saying she’d shin someone for him, and honestly it simply felt nice to make a connection with her. Plus, if rumors were to be believed, she also had the backing of the Chief too, and no one wanted to mess with Calleja. Though as Ju went on, it sounded like she could handle herself just as well. Smiling, Aitken returned to his lock, letting a couple of discs fall into place as he returned to conversing with her.
“As for locks, I love to read old school spy novels and comics! They are always doing all sorts of amazing things! I guess picking locks was just something I got into because it was adjacent to what I was reading about.”
There was a thud as one of the magnetic discs settled into place, and that brought a bigger smile to his face.
“I’m on the last one. You?”
Ju was intrigued that spy novels was what inspired him to get into lock picking and probably other odd talents that came from such a hobby. Ju had never read spy novels she preferred scifi and romance. She doubted she was going to change that any time soon either, she would just need to expand her skillset. She supposed that was part of learning and working on a ship was realizing you had a gap in your education and fill it.
“Yeah, same,” she admitted looking at the position of her pick and giving a nod. “Yep, last one, okay, are you ready to do this thing? I’m kind of nervous, I don’t want to blow up or unleash zombie klingons on the ship, okay? So like, if zombies are back there, you let Mara deal with them and we run!”
Ju was kidding, mostly, but she also was actually nervous about the whole thing. This was their moment to shine and she was both excited and nervous.
“If there are zombie Klingons back there, I’m hoofing it!” he laughed, but straightened himself and got his serious face on.
“Okay, turn on three. One, two, three!” Aitken turned the last disc, hoping that Ju did the same.
There was a solid thud, the sound of some sort of mechanism turning, and then something made another loud noise… and Jamie had closed his eyes just in case. Wincing, he then looked over to Ju, and waited.
Ju turned hers on three as well and listened to the sounds that came from the door her body coiled and ready to run if things went South. Mara was ready and able to handle a catastrophe, Ju was the brains behind the operation. “Hey Chief,” Ju called to Mara, “Something is happening, I think we got it unlocked,”
==GM, what’s behind door #1? Gold and riches? We like gemstones and cute dogs!==
=== Tags to Calleja and Co. Also co-written between Ju and Ramius ===
Hurrying along from Mara and Ziggy, Crewman Aitken was already feeling the pressure just by being around the Chief. She was huge even compared to the tall lanky man that Jamie was. However, the more space he put between himself and Calleja, the better he felt. Seeing the Engineer with her tricorder, Jamie tried to figure out a good way to approach without startling her. After all, there had just been an intense firefight and he didn’t really feel like getting stunned.
Do I drop my pack beside her? Aitken wondered to himself, but instead went for the standard ‘hey, am I interrupting’ throat clearing cough.
“Kchkmmm. Excuse me? Ma’am. Uh, I’m here to help you pick the lock,” Jamie said in his least hostile voice.
Ju stared at the lock, as though it would somehow give up it’s secrets if the Korean looked at it long enough. Tapping her finger on her lower lip as she thought about the different options. Someone earlier had mentioned lock picks, but she didn’t have any and hadn’t thought they should be part of the standard Engineering kit. Something I will remedy upon return, for sure. A little sound came from behind her a bit, causing her to turn her attention over her should expecting it to be Mara or someone else wanting her to get on with her Engineering prowess. More like Engineering nightmare, she thought to herself with a sigh.
An unfamiliar voice stood behind her, and Ju’s eyes traveled upwards as he was a bit taller than she was. Striking blue eyes met her dark black ones, indicative of her heritage. He seemed shy, or timid, something she understood all too well. She didn’t remember him coming to the Kpop party she and Damian had thrown before. Everything had gone to a handbasket of hell, and she thought she would have remembered those eyes. Blue wasn’t common in Korea despite mixed heritages taking hold around the world. He admitted he had come to help her pick the lock and earned him a kind and warm smile. “Fantastic, do you have lockpicks? I am afraid that’s our first and best option for a lock like this.”
“Yes, ma’am,” his reply was matched with an eagerness, and he set the bag down before her.
“I’ve got a lockpick camera that we can hook up to this PADD,” pulling the tiny lock-sized camera and PADD out, he handed them to Ju.
“Plus I’ve got all sorts of picks! Wave rakes. Disc detainer tools. Proper picks. Tension bars. I’ve also got lots of different things for just poking and prodding inside the lock too.”
Aitken was rifling through the bag, pulling out things as he was talking and setting them on the deck. It wasn’t until he took a moment to catch his breath from speaking so quickly, that he noticed Ju’s eyes.
“Oh!” he exclaimed, blushed, then felt awkward.
We are supposed to be working, not talking about eye color. But where in the world do you get black eyes from? Betazed?
“Plus! Plus!” Jamie tried to course correct to seem like his original ‘oh’ was just excitement.
“I’ve got det cord and all kinds of other explosives in here too. In case we can’t actually pick the lock.”
As the boy launched into a whole sales pitch on the tools that he had brought in his mess of a bag, Ju’s eyes shifted up to Mara, a single eye brow arched in surprise and confusion before her eyes dropped back to her helper. He pulled out a contraption that he said was a camera she could hook to her PADD so that she could see what she was doing. Ju took it from his hand and pulled out her PADD the happy panda sticker on the back still decorated the device from her time on her other ship. It was intriguing to watch her Helper peddle all the wares that he had brought for them to use, each tool hitting the deck with a clang of metal on metal before the next was brought out, named, and put beside it. Before she knew it, she was positive a large portion of his bag lay on the deck plating at her feet while Ju was still struggling to mentally catch up with his verbal vomit.
Then he looked up, and promptly lost his balance. Ju’s head tilted to the side as her hands shot out in an effort to catch his shoulders and help him steady eyes flickering to Mara again before going back to him. He righted himself before she could lay her hands on him and carried on with his sales pitch as though he hadn’t fumbled at all. “Okay, great, thank you for being well prepared,” Ju said, still a bit in shock. Who is this guy? Where does he get his energy from? I need some of what he has…
Ju moved back over to the lock and pushed the camera attachment into the hole in the hopes of getting a better idea of what was going on inside. A light on the end of the camera would help light the inside of the lock and the screen on her PADD would be good enough to give her a decent image of what they needed to tackle in order to get this door open. Maybe if it’s this hard we shouldn’t open it. What if it’s a space virus? What if it’s zombie astronauts? What if it’s zombie Klingon? I watch too many movies…
“That there!” Jamie nearly shouted as he pointed to Ju’s PADD, his smile still on his face from seeing the happy panda sticker on it.
“Ah ha! So they are rather old school disc-detainer type cores. You don’t usually see stuff like this except from like… really old Klingon or even Cardassian locks. Cardassian’s love disc shaped physical locks… if they even use them at all.”
Huh, kinda looks like an old Klingon one… what was it called again? Aitken wondered, his enthusiasm really shining through. For the first time in a long time, it felt like he’d actually encountered a real ‘spy’ challenge.
“Only problem is, there are two keys needed here. Which, if I’m right in thinking that this is an old coh’Dugh system, they need to be turned at the same time. Which then also means that we need to pick these locks together.”
Pulling out the disc-detainer picks, he handed one that was the appropriate size for the locks they were going to work on to Ju. Then he paused. He’d picked some practice locks before. Mostly ones that were the real old school cylinder and pin-style, as those felt much more in vogue that they would have used from the spy novels he read. But disc-cores he was more unfamiliar with.
“Another problem. Uh, I haven’t really worked with these types before.”
Disc style, Ju was just glad that he seemed to understand the words that were coming out of his mouth. It wasn’t that they had never covered locks in the Academy but they certainly hadn’t discussed picking them and exactly how to do that. She supposed that she should have sought that info out at some point. Add Klingon and lock picking to the list of classes to take when I live through this mission. The nameless helper said that they were going to have to pick and turn the locks together or it wouldn’t work and with her luck it would trigger some sort of emergency shut down protocol, or how her day was going, they’d probably vent the area into space just for giggles.
He handed her one of the picks that apparently would work on this kind of lock and Ju took it in her slender fingers trying to think about what would happen if she sucked at this. There was a lot riding on this moment, and Ju didn’t want to mess up. Surely, this couldn’t be as hard as she imagined. People picked locks all the time in movies, and sometimes they used hair pins, so how hard could it be to pick a lock that was apparently old style?
Blue Eyes mentioned that he had never worked on this kind of lock before, causing Ju to let out a bit of a chuckle and shrug her right shoulder. “Well then, we make a good pair, you and I, because I’ve never worked on any locks before.” She knelt down in front of the lock because, frankly, that’s what people did in the movies when they were picking locks. Perhaps it helped see or hear better. At least it’s not a safe. Why don’t I have a cool stethoscope to listen for the tumblers with? I need to stop relying on movie trivia right now and get this door open. Ju looked over at Blue. “Okay, Blue, what are we doing first? You at least have more experience than I do, so I’m following your lead on this.”
“Oh.”
Jamie thought about heading over, beside the blacked eyed engineer, and helping guide her for the first few steps. But then he remembered that they were going to need to pick the locks at the same time. It was a conundrum.
Well, I mean, it doesn’t have to be right at the same time I suppose. We just can’t tension anything to start with.
Cuddling up to the Ensign, Jamie started pointing at the pick she was using.
“So, if you’ve never used these before…” he started before explaining, in rather great detail, exactly the different parts of the pick and how to use it.
“...you are tensioning off the last disc. Now, we’ve got to be careful, because these style locks due have some magnetic security discs too. Usually, that kind of stuff is built right into the key. But for us, we’ve got to use this little adaptation in the pick to lock those magnetic discs in place.”
It felt amazing to be in a real world scenario, having to use the things he’d only dreamed he’d ever use in the field. It was thrilling, and Jamie had to make sure his breathing was under control. Thinking about it he worried for a moment.
What if this sets off some kind of trap? Alarms? What if we get vented into space?!
Aitken swallowed hard, and wiped his brow with his uniform.
“Okay. I have to go over and start work on my core. There should be ten discs total, before we rotate the final one. When you get to the ninth disc, let me know. Or if I get to the ninth disc, I’ll let you know. Actually, we should probably talk to each other while we do this and communicate through it.”
Ju felt prepared for many things, being in the arms of another man, had not even been close to being on the list. When he came over and slid behind her putting his arms around her so that their hands could work the lock picks together she knew that her cheeks tinged pink, how could they not? Ju had been raised where skinship was something that was very intimate and now she and Blue were sharing metallic lock picks and the warmth of his body was pressed against her back.
Focus on the job at hand, Ju, we’re learning valuable skills here, she chastised herself paying attention to what Blue was doing so that she could replicate it when he moved away. Blue began to explain how each disc was put into place and how the tool in her hand was designed to lift each disc out of the way allowing access to the next one. There would be ten discs in all but they would have to lift the last disc together or risk something happening. When they got a few discs in he pulled back and stated he would start working on his own set of discs and they would have to let each other know when they reached the ninth because it was vital they did this together.
“Okay, sounds good,” she said as he moved away and began to work on his own lock. As he settled in he told her they should probably talk to each other while they were picking the locks. Does he mean, lock pick wise? Or are we having an interview session? Is this a dating profile moment? Is he going to ask my favorite color and what I do on off shifts? Ju shook her head clearing her mind for a moment as she began to work on the next disc.
“So, what’s your actual name, Blue?” she asked him curiously her eyes never leaving the lock she was working on. This was delicate and Blue had mentioned that there were magnetic defenses put into place and she definitely didn’t want to mess up and cause a whole lock melt down or something like that. “I’m Ju by the way, it’s actually Eun Ju but everyone just calls me Ju because it’s easiest,” she said bypassing another disc and moving further into the lock.
“What?!” Aitken’s hand slipped and nearly dropped one of the discs he was working on.
I didn’t introduce myself!?! I didn’t even say my name?! there was a panic in his eyes, his social interaction alarm klaxon going off in his head.
“Oh, oh, well I didn’t realize. I mean, I thought you’d have known maybe, somehow.”
How would she know?!
“I mean, I knew you were Ju already. Well, I knew because Ziggy back there used your full name. But also because I’ve heard of CoJu, if people are shipping you and the FO specifically.”
Now Aitken fully blushed, realizing that he shouldn’t have said any of that last part. Wiping more sweat from his brow, that was now coming down profusely, he tried his hardest to focus on the discs as he cleared his throat to speak again. Instead of words, there was an awkward croak first. Clearing his throat again, Jamie then finally was able to form full words.
“Aitken. Jamie Aitken. Crewman Aitken really.”
So smooth Jamie!
Ju found herself tensing as he slipped slightly with her question. He did say he wanted to chit chat, right? I’m not wrong, right? He specifically stated talking while we worked. Maybe he meant just about locks, but how stimulating can lock-picking conversations be? Maybe he needs to find a reformed thief or something to spend long hours talking the finer art of picking Klingon locks…
Then he went on to say that he thought she would have known. Her brow rose curiously and Ju let her dark eyes shift over to Blue for a moment, tilting her head to the side in confusion because, how could she? She hadn’t been on the ship for very long and it was a massive ship there was no way she knew everyone, and she doubted highly everyone knew her. Turning her focus back to the work on hand Blue continued to ramble in the cutest most awkward way possible.
Blue admitted that he had already known her name because of Ziggy but also because of Coju. “Coju?” she said curiously, thinking perhaps that was someone’s name on the ship that she also hadn’t met yet. But then he clarified that people were shipping her and the First Officer. CoJu… Co… Coleman and Ju?! I never in my life had a ship name, I guess bucket list item complete. Maybe that’s right under ‘new boyfriend gets arrested in front of ship full of associates’ Ju sighed, closing her eyes and breathing in for a second before letting it out again. “I didn’t realize I was so widely known, I mean yes, Commander Coleman, however, I just.. I guess I didn’t realize how many people, ship us, as you said,” Ju blushed again and focused on the next disc. Well this went left.
He finally told her his name and Ju almost wished she hadn’t asked because Blue suited him much better than Jamie. Jamie was what you called some young cousin back home or something like that. But, he didn’t stop at Jamie, he went with Jamie, Jamie Aitken, then Crewman Aitken, as though she couldn’t put it all together herself, causing Ju to chuckle. “Well it’s nice to meet you Crewman,” she said not sure what else to say, she felt that if she caught him so off guard by simply asking his name she was a bit afraid to ask much more.
Too bad her impulse control was not in check today. “So what made you decide to learn how to pick locks? You seem educated in the matter.”
Jamie sighed as Ju replied to him, not realizing that she hadn’t heard about anything regarding all the rumors that circulated on the ship. Well, it wasn’t just rumors. People gossiped about anything aboard the Artemis. Who was dating who. What was said in the Officer’s Mess the evening before. The lower decks were always filled with crazy stories being traded around like old-Earth baseball cards. He wondered if he shouldn’t tell her some of what people talked about. Then again, there was also the nastier side to gossip. The side that he didn’t relish at all.
Maybe just keep that to yourself Jamie…
“Oh yeah, people gossip about all sorts of things on the Arty. It is one of the best ways to pass the time whenever you are scrubbing coils or cleaning phasers. But yeah, people totally ship you and Commander Coleman. There’s betting pools and everything…”
Jamie! Shut up! he scolded himself, furiously trying to work the discs so that he’d be done and could stop his verbal spewing.
Ju paused in her movements when he mentioned that people had betting pools for her and Damian. She looked over her shoulder at Mara giving her a scathing look because Mara was pretty deep in the inner culture of the ship and hadn’t mentioned any of this. Her eyes shifted over to Jamie. “What are they betting for? How long before he dumps me?” she asked in a light hearted way but she felt a solid steel in the core of her being because she knew it had to be that. It certainly wasn’t going to be for how many years they’d be together. She would have been an idiot if she didn’t think people were ready for the inevitable failure of her relationship with Damian. It hurt her feelings, only because she wished people had faith in her, but they also didn’t know her. She had already heard people thought she was only on the ship for Damian and not because she wanted the opportunities here.
There you go Jamie, you’ve done it now.
“They bet on all sorts of things. How long it will take for someone to get a promotion. Who the next person is that Calleja punches, in training or on an away mission. It isn’t really meant to be personal, but…” he paused and held his hands in place as he looked over at Ju.
“...but it can hurt, what people say and think about others.”
That statement had come from experience. Aitken had been the butt of many a joke and often wondered if people were being good-hearted about it, or if they really meant it. Either way, it didn’t really feel all that good no matter what. Regardless, the gossiping happened whether he wanted it to or not.
Ju could tell that he had experience being on the receiving end of the gossip that was the cruz of entertainment on a starship. Ju knew that she had too, from time to time, but she hated thinking that people were already counting her and Damian out when they had just barely gotten started. She knew that a lot of people were upset about Damian and his arrest and there was a lot of people talking about that and if she would find someone else or wait for him.
“But to be honest, most people aren’t making bets about your failure; though I’m sure there are some mean intentioned people that perhaps are. Most of the stuff I’ve heard was wondering where you two would have your next date. Or where that will be. If he orders steak bites as an appetizer on that next date, because he apparently orders those all the time. I mean, some are even pulling for you two for the long loooong term too, so there’s conversations about that,” he chuckled.
“I think most people want to see a happy ending. In the end, most of us lower deckers are envious of what you and Coleman have. You can tell he’s smitten with you.”
Ju rose her brow looking over at Blue in surprise. “Really? That makes me happy to hear, I really like him. It’s a shame that everything happened recently the way it did but I think he’ll be back soon and I am hoping we can pick up where we left off. I really miss him, even though it’s only been a short time it feels like it’s been really long,” Ju admitted moving another disc to the side. “Don’t let people talk bad about you, Blue. I have your back now, I may not look like a lot, but I can kick people in the shin pretty hard when I want to,” she chuckled. “I’m actually a black belt in taekwondo, so I may not look it, but I’m not necessarily the person you want to mess with.”
Jamie laughed at Ju saying she’d shin someone for him, and honestly it simply felt nice to make a connection with her. Plus, if rumors were to be believed, she also had the backing of the Chief too, and no one wanted to mess with Calleja. Though as Ju went on, it sounded like she could handle herself just as well. Smiling, Aitken returned to his lock, letting a couple of discs fall into place as he returned to conversing with her.
“As for locks, I love to read old school spy novels and comics! They are always doing all sorts of amazing things! I guess picking locks was just something I got into because it was adjacent to what I was reading about.”
There was a thud as one of the magnetic discs settled into place, and that brought a bigger smile to his face.
“I’m on the last one. You?”
Ju was intrigued that spy novels was what inspired him to get into lock picking and probably other odd talents that came from such a hobby. Ju had never read spy novels she preferred scifi and romance. She doubted she was going to change that any time soon either, she would just need to expand her skillset. She supposed that was part of learning and working on a ship was realizing you had a gap in your education and fill it.
“Yeah, same,” she admitted looking at the position of her pick and giving a nod. “Yep, last one, okay, are you ready to do this thing? I’m kind of nervous, I don’t want to blow up or unleash zombie klingons on the ship, okay? So like, if zombies are back there, you let Mara deal with them and we run!”
Ju was kidding, mostly, but she also was actually nervous about the whole thing. This was their moment to shine and she was both excited and nervous.
“If there are zombie Klingons back there, I’m hoofing it!” he laughed, but straightened himself and got his serious face on.
“Okay, turn on three. One, two, three!” Aitken turned the last disc, hoping that Ju did the same.
There was a solid thud, the sound of some sort of mechanism turning, and then something made another loud noise… and Jamie had closed his eyes just in case. Wincing, he then looked over to Ju, and waited.
Ju turned hers on three as well and listened to the sounds that came from the door her body coiled and ready to run if things went South. Mara was ready and able to handle a catastrophe, Ju was the brains behind the operation. “Hey Chief,” Ju called to Mara, “Something is happening, I think we got it unlocked,”
==GM, what’s behind door #1? Gold and riches? We like gemstones and cute dogs!==
=== Tags to Calleja and Co. Also co-written between Ju and Ramius ===