Beautiful Science

Posted on Fri May 15th, 2026 @ 6:17pm by Sergeant Jace Morven & Lieutenant JG Electra Drake

2,214 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Prologue
Location: Mess Hall - USS Guinevere
Timeline: Early 2389 (Before First Contact)

Jace Morven was in the mess, sitting alone at a table. He had started to bring a PADD...Not because he read it, or worked with it, but because the presence of one deterred others. He would activate it, let something sit on the screen, a report, a schematic, anything that looked official enough at a glance, and angle it just so, eyes lowered toward it without ever really tracking the words. He did not need to read it. He just needed it to be there. People saw occupied and moved on, and that was enough. He could pull it closer and suddenly he was unavailable.

It said perhaps more about how he had become part of the ship that there had been times people, mostly Elen, had come over and started talking to him here, so the PADD had become introduced. Not a habit, not quite, more a tool. Something that gave him a line he could step behind if he needed to, something that let him manage distance without having to say a word.

In front of him though was what the replicator had picked for him based on his health, workouts and recommended calories for a main meal. Some protein, some carb, some vegetables. He was not entirely sure what the protein was and he did not ask.

Instead he ate, not thinking about it, beginning at one item and moving to another only when that one was finished, his fork moving in steady, economical motions that never quite paused long enough to be called hesitation, just enough to reset before the next cut, the next bite, the next measured swallow. It was routine, the sort that did not need attention once it was set, his body doing the work while the rest of him stayed quiet.

He sat with his back to the bulkhead without having chosen it, shoulders angled just enough to give him a clear view of the entrance and the main flow of people moving through the mess, the PADD resting within reach of his left hand where he could pull it in if needed, where it could become a barrier in the space of a second. His right hand stayed close to the tray when it was not in use, fingers flexing once against the surface before settling again, a small movement that did not draw attention, did not mean anything on its own, just something his body did to check itself, to stay ready without looking like it.

The mess moved around him in the way it always did, voices overlapping, trays shifting, footsteps crossing and recrossing the same paths, the low constant hum of a ship at routine filling in the spaces between it all. He did not follow any of it, not consciously, but nothing passed him without being marked either, movement at the edge of his vision registering and clearing just as quickly, no threat, no change, nothing that required him to adjust. He did not look up. Did not need to. Not until something gave him reason to.

"What are you eating?" the young girl asked at the side of his table, watching him with curious blue eyes. Lucy Drake's hands were clasped behind her back, her long, dark red hair loose but with a slender plait down one side, and her dark blue dungarees sporting a flower brooch. Her mother sat at a table close by, but Counsellor Electra Drake had decided it would do the man good to have some company for a few minutes.

His eyes focused on Lucy and he took a slow breath. A reset, with a blink, as he realised she would want him to respond. He glanced around, seeing Counsellor Drake. Okay. He looked at Lucy again, tilting his head a little. His eyes went back to the food on the tray. "Protein. Carb. Vegetables. Water to drink..." he glanced back at her. "I think the vegetables are....broccoli. And some sort of root vegetable."

Lucy peered in carefully, not getting too close though, not fond of the smell of some foods. "Beetroot," she declared. "It grows under the ground...it stains, be careful..."

He looked at her with surprise before he shook his head. "Don't like things that stain," he admitted before he took his napkin and covered the food that was left on the tray. Usually he'd finish it. But she was looking at him and he was not hungry. He took the glass of water, draining it.

Lucy moved to sit next to him, not feeling the need for an invitation. She settled her hands neatly into her lap, but looked to his PADD with open curiosity. "Is it a starchart? I like looking at starcharts."

"No," he said and looked at the PADD. He reached for it, turning it on for her to look. He wasn't sure what it was. Just some report he had access to. "I don't know what it is. I keep it to make others stay away."

Lucy looked up to him with a thoughtful frown on her serious face, her legs swinging lightly where she sat in the chair. "Does it work?" she finally asked.

He considered it before he nodded, before he looked over at her, studying her face for a moment. Not meeting her eyes, just watching her. "Yes," he finally said. "They think I am working."

"Hm...clever..." she bit on her lower lip, thinking it over as she studied his rank pip rather than his face. "Don't think it works at school though..."

"No," he nodded as he looked ahead, knowing she was looking at him...or more, the pip. He reached up, touching it before he unclipped it, offering it to her to look at. "Might work when you are an adult."

Lucy took it eagerly, letting her fingertip move over it, feeling all the edges and outlines. "But...what if it makes your friends stay away?"

He wanted to say he didn't have any. But that was not...quite true. It certainly wasn't what Elen would say. His jaw tightened for a moment and he looked down, at his wrist...hidden underneath the sleeve was the crochet bracelet that Lucy had done. He hadn't removed it yet. He had been careful with it too...not intentionally, it hadn't hindered his performance in any way. But he had made sure it did not rip off when he was changing. "Didn't make you stay away," he said, as if it explained it.

Lucy gave a small but pleased smile, looking down shyly, the meaning not lost on the young girl. "I...don't think anything could make Elen stay away..." she agreed, clearly already considering Elen to be one of his besties.

He glanced at her before he gave a nod, taking a deeper breath. "Not even a crisis," he said before he nodded. "We have an...understanding. She likes to talk. I don't mind listening."

"I listen," Lucy declared as she played with the pin in her hands, watching how it caught the light as she turned it around and around. "I always listen. Adults talk a lot...but it doesn't all make sense."

"It doesn't," he agreed before he looked at how she moved the pin. In her hands, it looked...strange. It never looked like it belonged on his collar anyway. In her hands, it was just...he wasn't sure what. Not even a symbol. He glanced over to where Electra was, just to make sure she was still there, before he looked back at Lucy. "School...better?"

"Sometimes," the girl shrugged with a soft sigh, frowning as she considered the question carefully. "I like learning. It's people that get tricky. I need a safety PADD too."

There was a small tug at the corner of his lips at the words and he shook his head. "People are tricky," he agreed, because it was...well, he found people difficult. The unspoken stuff, the things others were fluid in and he felt that he was...just outside, not understanding what was going on. "You can tell them you don't want to talk."

"Teacher says that's rude," Lucy's lips became a slight pout and her nose wrinkled with disapproval. She had yet to master the art of hiding her feelings. "I'll talk to you," she replied, as if it was obviously the only solution.

Jace looked at her at that, properly looked at her. The red hair, the way she sat. There was a softening at his mouth, a small rise in the corner of his lips. "I'll listen," he said, because...he was good at that. "And keep you safe if you ever need it."

A small, shy smile came to the girl at that and she squeezed the pips fondly in her hand. "Because...you're a soldier...?" she asked carefully, clearly information her mother had shared with her at some point.

"Yes," he said, without any hesitation. It was what he was. To...some level, it was who he was. "And I'll protect you, and your mother. If you need it."

Despite her young age, the promise made the girl feel warmer. Safer. She might not know what it was she needed to be protected from...but she knew there were enough things she didn't understand in the world that made her feel wrong. "Who will protect you?" she asked with a fiercely serious expression.

He considered it before he tilted his head, a slight frown coming to him. "I protect myself," he said, almost automatically, but he stumbled a little over the words. He met her eyes, briefly, before he glanced over at where her mother was.

She followed his gaze, smiling softly at seeing he was looking at her mother. "She's a good Mummy. Lots of rules. She keeps me...me safe too. Even when I'm a silly fluffy tribble. Maybe she can help you when...when you're a silly fluffy tribble."

He frowned slightly at that before he nodded. "She is my counsellor," he said, a statement of fact. He then looked at Lucy. "I knew someone else once with red hair. She was...smart. Kind. She...talked easily to people. Held them together when they were sad."

Lucy looked down to her own red hair with wide eyes, playing lightly with it as she tried to imagine what he'd described. "Like a Mummy?"

"I...don't know," Jace admitted as he gave a small shrug, looking down. "I don't remember." It was true enough. Raimi had...been that figure for his old squad. But he had never had a reference point to think she was like a mother.

Lucy nodded lightly, accepting that easily enough. She'd learnt there were lots of types of families in Starfleet. It seemed a little sad to her though, that he couldn't think of what a Mummy might be like. So she offered what she always did when she wanted to give something nice to someone. A fact. "Red hair is a...mu-ta-tion." The way she said it made it clear she wasn't entirely sure what that meant, but held it as an interesting fact.

He looked at her at that, tilting his head as he considered it. "I didn't know that," he said, his eyes going to her hair. "Mutations happen...spontaneously, or because of things around people. It's the change in...cells, DNA. You have it after your Mummy."

Lucy gave a shy but pleased smile at getting another fact in return, her shoulders hunching with it. She reached to the black cord around her neck, tugging it to pull the metal disc free from under her dress, the one he had engraved for her. "And I gots this after you."

He looked at her before he nodded and pushed his sleeve up a little. "And I this after you," he said before he gave her a quick nod. "Been careful with it."

She positively beamed at seeing the friendship bracelet still on his wrist, reaching to touch it too, reminding herself of the feel. "I can make you more, if you like. I remember how," she added with pride.

He looked at her, at the smile...at how happy she looked. "Yes. Please." He didn't need them. He had one. But she had a skill developing...and she looked so happy with offering it. And...he found he wanted to see that more.

Lucy nodded thoughtfully, her lips pursing as her fingertips played with the sage green bracelet. "I need to make you a red one...orange one...yellow one...blue one...and purple one....then you have a rainbow arm..."

Jace nodded as he looked at her fingers, letting out a soft breath. "You like rainbows?" he suddenly asked, glancing to her face, at the look of concentration on her face.

"Yes...it's...bea-u-tiful science..." she looked to him with a shy but honest smile.

Jace nodded, taking her words in face value. "Then...I'd like a rainbow one," he said, his blue eyes softening a little.

Lucy's jaw tightened a little with determination as she gave him a firm nod. "I can do it," she promised.

---

Lucy Drake
Civilian Child
USS Guinevere

&

Sergeant Jace Morven
Platoon Sergeant, Alpha Squad
Federation Ground Forces Detachment
USS Guinevere

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