Contact Light ((Kent/Riley))

[Samantha_Kent 0]

Sam Kent was in a hurry. The ship had only an hour to prepare an entire holographic projection of the information obtained in the caves on Nevuluz, and that meant that the science team was extremely busy. She hurtled along one of the Arcadia corridors at a quick jog, moving towards one of the holodecks to begin some sort of setup, her mind on the incredible amount of data they had managed to obtain and the fascinating technology that had lain buried, that still waited relatively unexplored below the surface, and, distracted by her scientific curiosity, she completely forgot to watch where she was going and barrelled around a corner and directly into the chest of a crewmate on the other side.

 

Station keeping was probably the most tedious and mind-numbing responsibility of a helmsman, and Brian had been doing just that since that fleet showed up. At the moment he was looking forward to a quick shower and a possibly a nap before returning to his post in an hour. He looked longingly at the closed doors of the holodecks as he made his way toward his quarters. An hour spent in the 'Tarnished Star' was tempting but the Science division had appropriated all of them for the impending meeting. Turning back in time to see a blue blur round the corner allowed him just enough time to brace himself for the impact. He quickly caught the female crewmember before she went tumbling on to her backside and was pleasantly surprised to find himself holding Samantha.

 

A pair of firm arms gripped her before she could tumble backwards into the corridor she had just turned from, and she glanced up to apologize for her distraction and found herself staring into Brian Riley's blue eyes. Her heart, which had been thumping from energy and adrenaline already now began to pound at an almost alarming level. "Oh...ah, hello," she said, grinning a little up at him. "Sorry...wasn't watching where I was going."

 

A grin spread across Brian's face as he looked at her, "I have imagined you in my arms, Samantha, but not quite in this way." He had caught her in a position that looked a bit like he had just dipped her at a dance. Slowly he helped her upright, his gaze locked on her eyes, then very reluctantly unwrapped his arms from her.

 

Sam flushed a little as his eyes locked with hers, still staying on her face as his arms released her, but her grin didn't waver. "Yeah..." she said, a little too quickly. "I'm heading for the holodeck...got a lot of programming to do." She glanced at him, wondering what he had been up to these past few hours. With the ship locked in orbit the helm must be pretty dull. "Ah...where were you headed?"

 

He saw the color show on her cheeks and wondered why he had ever tried to convince himself to stay away from her. "My quarters, I need to refresh myself before I go back on duty for the big meeting."

 

"Yeah...the meeting..." Sam said a little tiredly. She'd been in a hole with the archaelogical evidence of an entire civilization at her fingertips and rather than having the leisure time to bury themselves in it, the science department was being thrown directly into constructing and planning a program that would have to convince two enemy races not to blow each other to kingdom come. These combined stresses were starting to wear a little bit, but she forced a grin at him. "Lucky man...wish I had time for a shower."

 

"You could join me." Brian glanced at another crewmember who, while walking quickly past, did a double take. He realized that neither he or Samantha had stepped back and they were standing awkwardly close. "They have every operations, science, and engineering officer working on this project. I am sure I could smuggle you away for a few minutes."

 

The slight flush that had come from her run, combined with their definitely slightly awkward situation (in both the global and specific sense), abruptly deepened. Sam ran a hand through her hair and chuckled softly. "I doubt it...I was down there when that thing cut us off and played its little tape. Me and Daena and Oliver are going to need to be in on this if anyone is."

 

Brian nodded slightly and found himself again getting lost in her eyes. "I didn't really expect you to say yes anyway. This could deter the annihilation of a race and I know you take your duty seriously."

 

"I try," Sam said, forcing herself not to take a step back under the expression on his face. "We may have something really important here...something to save lives...don't come across that every day." She looked back at him as they stood there; the last time she had had a chance to speak to him his mood had been dark, even scared, and she had promised to help him, but now his mood seemed lighter, which she was pleased to see. She doubted that the things which had been troubling him then were any different now but at least for now things weren't quite so tense.

 

He saw the look on Samantha's face and misread it as discomfort. Stepping back, Brian looked to the floor between them as his hand found his pocket. "Well you did say you want to make a difference. You seem to be doing a good job of it so far." A cynical smile formed on his face. "Me? I am the integral cog that makes sure a nearly 700-meter starship doesn't drift more than thirty meters from its assigned position."

 

Sam watched him step back and wondered if she had put him off somehow. Was he upset at not being involved in the goings-on of this particular mission? She could understand that sort of frustration. "You must be bored out of your mind up there..." she said sympathetically, then cracked a grin, trying to cheer him up. "For your sake I hope our next mission is just one giant obstacle course."

 

Brian chuckled and looked up again at her. "Nothing so extravagant, maybe just some shuttle work." He impulsively reached out and gently brushed his fingers across her cheek. "Thanks for trying to cheer me up."

 

Sam jumped at the sudden contact and reached up and grabbed his hand, holding it still at the wrist but not exactly pushing him away. "Any time..." she said, matching his quiet laugh with one of her own. "Is it working?"

 

He looked at her grip on his wrist and then back at her. Lowering his hand, he kept the smile on his face. "I would've felt happier if you accepted my offer to join me. But I guess a shower alone is better than none at all."

 

Sam raised both eyebrows at him, not sure whether to laugh or act embarrassed by this. Brian was definitely in a different mood than he had been in the last time she had seen him and she wasn't sure how to take that. "I guess so," she said. "And you can be clean enough for both of us when the delegates arrive." She muffled a low laugh at the image of herself in her current vaguely rumpled state appearing at a diplomatic function.

 

"Oh, I am being purely selfish. I'm not cleaning up for any diplomat." Brian took a moment to look her over with some seriousness. "Though considering that you just crawled out of a hole in the ground, you look almost ravishing. I wouldn't be concerned unless one of them is looking for a mate."

 

"At least I didn't have to fall in the hole. I got a nice cushy transport; you should see what the others look like," Sam said cheerfully, flattered in spite of herself at the compliment. "Unless I'm required to give a speech or something, I'm not all that worried, really...I'm just glad I don't have to deal with the diplomacy itself."

 

Brian shook his head, "What little diplomacy I have seen kind of reminds me a bit of bartering, without a lot of the swearing. It's just as much a matter of selling yourself as your item, or idea." A cloud drifted across the glimmer in his eyes as memories tried to intrude a bit more than he wanted.

 

Sam, with what was beginning to become the ease of practice, noticed a slight darkening of Brian's gaze and swallowed slightly. It had been only a matter of time before it came back. The urge to do her best to change the subject was strong, but she had promised to help him and evading the subject on his behalf somehow didn't seem quite the way to do it. "Diplomacy...well, I've seen a lot of it. Some of it's productive, some of it...really isn't," she said slowly, remembering a couple of times she and her father had watched potentially explosive situations go up in flames. "I really have no idea which one this is going to be."

 

"With the people I was with, when a deal went really bad it usually involved disruptor fire." He crossed his arms and looked over her shoulder with a distant gaze. "I really doubt you have the time for me to start telling war stories."

 

Sam sighed. She really didn't have time; the clock was ticking down and she had more work to do than she really liked to think about. But she wasn't going to let him avoid his problems simply on her account. "Some other time," she said firmly, catching his eye so he would know it was not a dismissal but nearer a request, and reaching out to tap him lightly on the shoulder. "Unfortunately I've got to be making sure this one doesn't end that way."

 

Brian looked back at her and cocked his head to the side slightly. "Are you suggesting a date?"

 

That caught Sam a little off-guard. Am I? she wondered. She supposed she was; promising to be a support wasn't worth much if they didn't have five minutes together to actually talk, but putting that term on it made it sound so...final. "If you like..." was how she finally responded, trying to make it sound slightly offhand and failing rather miserably. "Just don't want to seem like I'm ignoring you."

 

He studied her a long moment, his gaze of his crystal blue eyes almost boring through her with its intensity. "Actually, the question is what you would like, Ms. Kent." Brian's voice dropped in pitch and sounded almost cold. "If you will excuse me, I have a shower waiting." A good part of his life had been spent being strung along by woman who had entranced him, he had no intention of being in that position again.

 

Sam's stomach bottomed out at his sudden change in expression and tone. She had done it; she had crossed the line. In the back of her mind she had realized that she was stringing him along but as long as things seemed to be on an even keel, she had managed to persuade herself that she was doing the right thing. But clearly that wasn't going to work; the look in his eyes said that she had failed before she had even begun, and she heard words tumbling out of her mouth before she could stop them. "Brian, wait," she said, reaching out again to grip his shoulder more tightly, halting him as he tried to leave. "That...wasn't what I meant. I want..." She paused. Whatever she said here was going to change everything and the sudden pressure of that made it hard to breathe. You have to make a choice...

 

"I want whatever will tell you that I am with you. Whatever...whatever that is."

 

Brian stopped as Samantha's hand grabbed his shoulder, though he didn't turn to look at her. He hadn't intended his statement as an ultimatum, but that seemed to be how it was taken. This was a woman he desperately wanted to spend time with, to learn about, to share with, and she had just offered that to him. Happiness, joy, those would be appropriate emotions. Instead there was fear and hesitation. It was his past that dragged on him like an anchor, that made him reluctant to throw himself freely into this relationship. But maybe she was his light at the end of the tunnel. Could he pass up the chance? He closed his eyes and took a slow deep breath, then turned to face Samantha and looked into her eyes. "Lets just start with a date. You may change your mind once you know me better."

 

Sam nodded slowly, catching his gaze and doing her best not to blink under it. She had a feeling she had overreacted a little to his words and she got the impression that she may have startled him a little bit. Hell, she had startled herself, but something had had to be said. All caution was now effectively blowing about in the proverbial wind and the ball was in his court now. She had made her choice and she felt a little wobbly with it, as if a sudden tension that had been supporting her body had been snipped. She realized that her hand was still gripping onto his shoulder and loosened her fingers slightly. "Alright," she said quietly, forcing herself to keep her mind and her eyes on his face.

 

A slight, almost tentative smile brightened his face. "When this is over, what say we reserve some holodeck time and have a quiet dinner? I know a little pub...it's not too pretentious."

 

Sam relaxed a little at the change of expression; at least she had maybe done something right finally in this whole convoluted situation. For a moment there he had looked almost afraid, hardly the best beginning for...whatever this was going to turn out to be. "Alright...yeah...when this all calms down," she said, a little unsteadily, a half-smile as tentative as his creeping onto her face as tension continued to drain from her like water out of a leaking faucet.

 

"Right...good." Brian felt a sudden surge of nervousness as the idea of dating Samantha became a reality. "Um...we don't have much time left. I should probably go." Not knowing what else to do he leaned in and kissed her softly on the cheek.

 

Sam's grip on his shoulder tightened as he kissed her and she looked up at him, resisting the urge to gulp. "Right. See you then, then..." she said carefully, nodding, and turned, moving further down the corridor away from him and turning another corner out of sight. Once he was safely out of view she slowed a little and let out a long sigh. She knew this was the right thing to do, she had told Brian she would be there for him, she wanted to be there for him, but...

 

Prophets and Jesus God...what am I getting myself into? And what in God's name am I going to tell Malik?