A Dip

Posted on Mon Mar 10th, 2025 @ 12:43pm by Commander Alex Flynn & Doctor Intharia T'Zor & Lieutenant Commander Atna & Ensign Nimah

2,215 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Masters of the Stars [2]
Location: Public Immersion Tank 3 Entrance
Timeline: Morning - MD03

Alex waited in her short-sleeved command-issue red and black wetsuit at the turbolift, expecting Ensign Nimah shortly.

Alex had noticed in their first meeting that she was one of the few from the Challenger who had been bold enough to verbalise a desire to meet the extrauniversal beings aboard, so she decided to give her a hand in doing so. It just so happened that she knew Atna and Dr T'Zor's schedule ahead of time, and she agreed to meet the Ensign at the entrance to one of the massive habitation water tanks in the liquid atmosphere sector where the two women had been studying Dr T'Zor's exotic abilities.

Alex shifted her large towel to her other shoulder as the turbolift in front of her arrived.

The turbolift doors opened to reveal the Cardassian ensign standing beyond with a wide smile on her face and a swimming bag carried in one hand. What did she need it for? Who knows. She wore the standard issue wetsuit, though, which fit her like a glove as she stepped out of the car. "Ready, Commander!" She said, cheerfully, and with a glint of excitement in her bright green eyes. "Who did you say we were to meet, again? T'Zor?"

"Alright then, lets go." Alex said with a smile. "Doctor Intharia T'Zor is her name. She was our first arrival from another universe. Apparently in her universe there's some ubiquitous exotic element we don't have, it gives some people the ability to manipulate fields of dark energy with their minds. She and Commander Atna have found that the water is the best place to practice. Have you met Atna yet?" Alex asked as they reached the doorway into the immersion tank's entrance, knowing the Vulcan science chief had been fairly flat out with all the new discoveries.

"I have. I believe working with her will be an experience indeed." Nimah said with a tiny smile. "But now that you've mentioned getting to swim as part of my job, I think it's going to be simply marvellous." She'd heard of T'Zor and their handful of extradimensional visitors in passing. If T'Zor was so inclined, she was determined to have a sit-down with her and pick her brain for anything and everything she was willing to share about her homeworld - but, of course, first impressions mattered tons.

"What do we know about Dr. T'Zor?" She queried. "Anything I should know, other than... well, her abilities?"

"She's a scientist, she worked for what seems to be her reality's answer to the Federation. Her people are called the Asari, they live for millennia and are all female, insofar as that term applies in the context. They breed telepathically. There's a lot going on." Alex said as they entered the large empty area, like a very deep swimming pool with a fairly sparse series of walls around it. "Oh, and she and Atna are an item."

"Is that so! Well then." Nimah grinned. "I'd be interested to find out how that relationship works, too, if they'll let me. Meet you out here in five, ma'am? A shower is always good beforehand."

"Sure. You know where to find me." Alex said, sitting down on the pool's edge, letting her legs up to her knees get wet.

Without warning, Atna emerged from the deep pool, a spherical forcefield around her head. She climbed out of the body of water at a nearby ladder and approached Flynn, deactivating the field. "Good morning, Commander. What brings you here?" Atna asked.

"Here with Ensign Nimah for a dip." Alex said, looking around to check for the Ensign. "She wants to meet our blue friend, and I kinda decided to oblige her."

"I see. Intharia should be with us shortly. We are currently -" Atna was cut short by a massive breaking of the surface, as a sphere of dark energy with Dr T'Zor at the centre emerged. The sphere of energy skimmed along the surface, and dissipated to allow Intharia to step down easily onto the solid floor. "As you can see, her abilities are growing with practice and study." Atna observed, with something one might have interpreted as pride.

"Hello Commander. Coming in?" Thari asked, noticing the XO's wetsuit.

"I'm content to let my lower legs do most of the work." Alex said confidently. "How's the freaky mind powers coming along?" Alex asked of Thari's gifts.

"No less freaky, but I may be nearing the level of skill required for an official ranking, at least as things are organised back home. Not bad for something I've been ignoring for more than a century." Intharia said with a smile.

Nimah returned just then, somewhat damp, as one might be following a shower for hygiene before swimmimg. "Well, I'm ready- oh, my." The Cardassian anthropologist took a moment to examine the blue-skinned woman. She was unlike anything Nimah had ever seen - and mind you, living and working on Risa, one definitely does see a lot - which made the prospect of learning more about this fascinating woman all the more appealing.

"Nimah Prenn. I'm a scientist. Specifically in the area of culture studies. Anthropology." She said, holding out her hand for the doctor to shake. She didn't know if the concept of anthropology existed where T'Zor had come from - might as well start simple and take cues from there.

Intharia shook the woman's hand with a warm smile. "Intharia T'Zor. A pleasure to meet you. I'm more towards the quantum physics end of things myself, but I've learned a lot since I've been here. My people's science is close to your own, but the differences are fascinating. Forgive my uncertainty but you're a... Cardassian, yes?" Thari asked, she'd done well to memorise most of the more commonly seen species already, but there weren't many Cardassians about.

"That is what I am, yes. Though I'm afraid I can't tell you all that much about my own culture. That itself is a story for another time." Nimah said with a giggle. "But I promise to tell you what I know, if you will do the same for me."

"Of course." Intharia said warmly. "It's a little unusual being the highest authority on an entire universe, but I'll do my best. How long have you been in Starfleet?" Intharia asked.

"Two years. Not very long, compared to the rest, but... I've never really seen anything quite like you before." Nimah's face flushed a slightly darker shade of gray. She didn't want to make any unwanted implications, not when T'Zor's girlfriend (and her boss) was in their direct vicinity.

"Sorry. It's just... I'm excited to meet a totally new species. That's all." She added swiftly.

"It's fine, really. You have no cause to apologise." Thari said encouragingly. "I went more than two centuries before I heard of or saw Cardassians, too. Your whole galaxy is quite extraordinary. As much in the similarities as the differences. It is an interesting quirk of fate that of the three multiversal beings who remain aboard, the other two either appear human or were once that way, according to their DNA. But I hope you will never let the thrill of discovery be dulled by the expectations of others."

"Of course not. I know that very well." Nimah smiled. It had only been so long ago that she'd received vitriol for being... well, Cardassian. The Dominion War had only ended so long ago, after all.

"At any rate. I can't wait to see what you're capable of." Nimah added cheerfully.

"I can show you, if you'd like." Thari said, generating a showy flickering field of dark energy around the surface of her hand. The shimmering glow over her hand disappeared.

"It's most impressive in the water, the most I can do outside is make a wall. A wall that's only as strong as I am. But traveling through a liquid medium is simple enough. I've even figured out how to take another person safely along." Intharia offered the Cardassian her hand.

"Show me." Nimah breathed, placing her hand in T'Zor's. If she was right, here she was about to take the swim of her life - if by swim meant being able to breathe without issue underwater in... a bubble? Yes. A bubble. She still preferred the usual way of swimming, though; there was no equal for cooling water surrounding one's body.

"Computer, stairs." Intharia said like someone who grew up with the technology. Suddenly, a series of 0.3 meter steps appear out of the wall nearest to the edge of the pool they stood by. She led Nimah down to or three steps, until their knees were underwater. "Alright. Now don't worry about hurting me, and stand on my feet. Put the ball of your heel right in the middle of my foot." She offered Nimah her other hand.

"Alright, now. Lean your butt out and put your center of gravity into it. Keep your hands holding mine and my feet under yours." Thari said, arching her posterior out without fully leaning into it, waiting for Nimah to do the same so the tension would even out and support them equally.

Nimah did the same, honestly unsure how exactly this was supposed to work out. Did even bubbles of... force... possess properties akin to surface tension, perhaps? Was weight distribution that important to their integrity? Perhaps she'd just have to see.

"Alright. Here we go. Keep looking down." Intharia said, as a sphere of dark energy formed around them. They floated across the surface towards the centre, and suddenly plummeted into the depths of the aquatic deck. The atmogen pack on her jacket kept them both breathing. Within, there was zero gravity, they had only the pressure against each other to keep them from flying apart.

They passed by the Orca Ensign Cassius, who gave a polite nod as he went.

They stopped in one of the aquatic throughways, there were heavy fixed stones and a great deal of organic growth.

"How are you feeling?" Thari asked as they stopped.

"I..." Nimah had, honestly, been quite lost for words as she and the doctor plunged below the surface of the water. Nimah expected even a small measure of water spray on her face, but to her great surprise, none was forthcoming. Water rushed past them outside, including past the one orca, but both women stayed dry.

"...I don't know how you're doing this." She admitted at the end of it. "But it's beyond anything I've ever seen or felt before, certainly. I think I'll have a long report to write after this..."

"I'm glad you're impressed." Thari said, amused. "Commander Atna has already been given the credit for the discovery of all the major mechanisms, but there's still a few things your science can't totally explain. It's not something I ever paid a great deal of attention to back home."

"Well, I'm sure you'll discover more about it soon enough. We are the types that love to dig until we hit bedrock, so to speak." Nimah smiled.

Intharia looked around the aquatic intersection. "We should probably head back. I've been at it for a while already today." There was a slight but sudden onset of fatigue in her eyes. Suddenly they rose, and after a short but direct journey they emerged in the entry pool where they'd started.

Alex was just finishing a smoke and a conversation with Atna when they emerged. "Having fun?" She asked, butting out the cigarette in her little hygiene drone.

"More 'fun' than you can imagine, Commander." The very first thing Nimah did as soon as her feet touched dry ground was to reach out and gently clasp the other woman by the elbows. Probably better not to hug her, or grab her hands, not while her girlfriend was nearby. Presumably. "Please do rest. I can see the tiredness in your eyes." She murmured. "I think you've probably suffered enough for our investigations for one day."

"Well, if you're wanting to meet people from new universes, Commander Flynn could perhaps take you aboard the Excalibur?" Intharia suggested, knowing it was a long shot for a few reasons, and Nimah may not have even been interested.

"I don't see why not." Alex said. "But I think the Ensign had her heart set on a swim. An actual swim, where one touches the water." Alex corrected herself. "What's your preference?" She asked Nimah.

"How about both?" Nimah suggested, raising both eyebrows. "As is reasonable, of course." The chance to meet people from totally different universes? Yes please! Nimah did also want the dip, though - she'd been looking forward to the swim for a while now.

"Sure." Alex said, standing up out of the pool. "I think I've had my share of water for the moment. How long do you need? I'll come back and we'll head over." Alex suggested.

"Twenty minutes?" Nimah suggested. "Though if it's urgent, the swim can definitely wait."

"Nah, no urgency." Alex said, waving a hand dismissively. "Just gotta have a chat with Lieutenant Singh, but that can be done via combadge. I'll come back. Enjoy!" Alex said.

"Noted, Commander. Thank you!" Nimah grinned and headed back to dip her toes in the water.

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