arrival . ota

[chaotica]

Hugh Cambridge is partway through an analysis of an artifact - an old one, part of an extended paper that he'd never finished - when the transition comes.

At first, he assumes the ship's entered some sort of anomaly, and he turns away from the viewport (the stars have shifted, how odd), his hand moving to his combadge. A quick touch, and he starts, "Cambridge to -"

This isn't Voyager. In fact, this is the Ten-Forward of a Galaxy Class starship, unless he misses his mark. Populated with a few handfuls of people, some out of uniform, some in uniform, but those in are wearing the style that was in use twenty years earlier. Cambridge's uniform has shoulders of a grey-purple, and the turtleneck inside is medical/science blue. His combadge is thinner and sleeker.

"- Oh, bugger," finishes Cambridge. It's an illusion or it's time travel - neither of those bodes well.

Comments

[chaotica]

He shifts a little closer. "Easy," he says, a little softer. "I strongly dislike anyone giving me a runaround, and I do not tolerate avoidance and deflection in my patients, but I'm not going to rip your defenses away on first meeting. Suffice to say: yes, I can see that you are in pain. You don't have to dance around it like it doesn't exist. You don't have to lay it bare to me, either."

[magneticxman]

He's being very blunt about it, which both annoys and relieves Lorna. She nods and leans back a little, pushing a hand through her hair. "I'm not sure I want to share my problems with Starfleet right now. They're not going out of their way to show themselves as trustworthy."

[chaotica]

His eyebrows go up.

"Really," he says. "I mean, something of that is to be expected, given that this is the fleet's flagship, and those aboard are all unknown quantities. On the other hand, I've generally found Starfleet to be trusting to the point of foolishness, as a matter of principle."

Voyager is a bit different, especially when stranded in the Delta Quadrant, but even then Voyager went out of its way to make friends, explore, solve problems, when it could have descended into paranoia.

[magneticxman]

Lorna makes a small face. "I have a lot to lose if the government doesn't want to play nice with me. In my experience that's usually the case. Picard seems fine but he has superiors I don't trust." It all comes down to how Picard would handle an order to hurt or study them. The thought is too unnerving for Lorna st the moment.

[chaotica]

Cambridge studies her, for a long moment.

"From what I know of Jean-Luc Picard," he says, "and, in fact, of any well-known Starfleet captain, is that his bounds of duty extend their furthest not to respect and obedience of superiors but to respect for the principles underlying the Federation. To hurt or kill without being attacked first does not comport with those ideals."

[magneticxman]

She doesn't like being studied. Lorna forums uncomfortably in her seat. He might have a good point. She simply doesn't know.

"That's not how it works in my time and I just don't know who I can trust, if anyone, except for the people I knew back home."

[chaotica]

"I simply encourage you," says Cambridge, "to be just trusting enough to allow them to prove themselves."

And if this turns out to be something other than the Starfleet he knows - he doubts it, not if the trappings are so similar, the immediate first impression of attitudes and emotions present in Ten-Forward - he will take that advice back at a later date.

[magneticxman]

It's a tall order. Lorna licks her lips and nods, though her expression makes it clear she's not so sure about this. "I'll try." It's all she can promise.

[chaotica]

"One of the wonderful things about sentient beings is that, as history moves on, we have chances to be better and better. Who's to say what a few hundred years can do?"

He glances up as a pair of security officers enter Ten-Forward, scanning for a new arrival.

"Ah, I believe that's my queue," he says, moving to his feet.

[magneticxman]

Lorna nods again, giving him a small smile. "Good luck. I hope you like it here."

[chaotica]

"I will not," he tells her. Even in mundane times, he isn't really built to be on a capital starship. He's not the type, duty oriented and perfectionist. And these are not mundane times. "You, on the other hand, have a more than decent chance."