Part I of III in my mini Jonathan & Emory series.
Originally published May 2, 2017, and revised. Most recent edition: January 27, 2020.
✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
"Emory!"
The brunette looked over from the window to the voice, which belonged to her friend- and superior officer- Charles "Trip" Tucker III. He was standing over with Captain Archer, and the two made their way over. Great. Emory had been planning to eat dinner by herself, but obviously her plans were interrupted.
"Hello," she gave a shy little smile and looked up at the two. Both of them sat down. Of course, she knew of both Trip and Archer, but she didn't really know what to say. Trip was one of her best (and only) friends on the ship, but the captain? She'd heard various things about him, both good and bad.
"I don't believe we've met," Archer began, extending his hand to Emory. "Captain Archer."
Emory gave a nod and shook his hand, "Lieutenant Emory Evans." She'd never really met the captain; she mostly stuck around Engineering and avoided movie night. Socializing wasn't her top priority. She was on this ship for however long, and she didn't want to damage something irreparably.
"It's nice to meet you, lieutenant," Archer gave nod to her. He noticed that she kept her hair in a high ponytail, while most other crew members had it in a low ponytail.
Trip gave a smile, taking a bite of his food. "She's one of our best engineers. One of the ones who ensured we got to warp 5 safely that time the ambassador was onboard."
"Really?" Archer looked over at the woman. He'd seen her around the ship, but not a lot. From what he'd heard, Emory liked to be by herself. "That was some impressive work."
"Thank you, captain." Emory was already finished with her lunch and felt a little awkward just sitting there. She crossed her legs under the table and then pushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear. She'd tried to get all of them to the top, but her layers didn't exactly like that.
"Bridge to Archer," a nearby panel chirped. It was Lieutenant Reed's voice. Emory hoped that the awkwardness that she felt would be over soon. Maybe Trip and Archer would head back to the bridge.
The man gave a sigh and tapped the panel. "This is Archer."
"You're going to want to see this."
Archer gave a sigh and looked back at the two still sitting at the table. "Well, I guess we can talk later. Duty calls," and headed out.
Emory turned to Trip. She'd only become friends with her when they met in training and Trip had taken a liking to her. (Too much of a liking, but he settled for "older brother" despite being younger than her.) And when he found out that she hadn't met the captain, he vowed to fix that. "So, what'd you think?" he asked, taking another bite of his food.
Emory gave a shrug. Honestly, she still thought Captain Archer was just the captain; someone going down in history. "I don't know. I met him for about five minutes, how can I judge him by that?"
Trip gave a shrug and waved his fork. "True, but you needed to meet him. He's the captain and you're my best engineer."
Emory gave a little smile and leaned back on her chair, sitting in comfortable silence. Trip had helped her get the job in the first place. She felt she owed him a little, so meeting the captain was an easy way to pay it back.
"Did you think he was cute?" Trip teased the girl. He knew that both Emory and Archer were single... and had been for far too long. Archer was outspoken and sometimes rash; Emory would balance him out. She was quiet and thought things through. Opposites did attract.
