A Bittersweet Arrival

Posted on Tue Apr 2nd, 2019 @ 8:27pm by Specialist Rennen Lokn D.Sc., Ph.D. & Specialist Kenura Lokn
Edited on on Tue Apr 2nd, 2019 @ 8:29pm

Mission: Ready For The Weekend!
Location: Sapientia/Main Oceanic Research Lab
Timeline: 2388/08/31 0945 (Sun. Aug. 31 2388 9:45am)

Just as the sun cleared the horizon, a shuttle came shooting down from the Sapientia's ionosphere and started to circle the planet, then angling until it was flying steadily along the coastline, giving Kenura a beautiful first impression.

One of the planet observation/labs came into view, and Rennen smiled, glancing over to her, "Welcome to Sapientia," and made another course adjustment as they flew past it.

"It's beautiful." Kenura breathed, looking around her in wonder as the shuttle glided over planet. "I can see why Starfleet chose to locate the Academy here. If I was a cadet I'd never want to leave." she turned to smile at him, a glimpse of the woman she once was shining through as she let her guard down.

Rennen nodded, caught by that smile for a moment, and returned it. "The planet was a gift by the Kotharians," he continued, while needing to force himself to refocus on his flying. "as a thank you gift for the UFP taking them under their protection."

"I can't wait to find out what secrets those beautiful oceans are holding." she sighed happily, "I bet it's ten times more beautiful down there."

"It is," he nodded, making another course adjustment, "with some of the most unique ocean life I've ever seen... There's the campus....you can make out the colony... That transit tube there," he said, pointing out the one that went over the ocean, "takes it's passengers to several of our labs...but not to the one...where we'll be living."



"Why not?" Kenura frowned, "Aren't we living by the labs?" she asked, thinking that it would be the most logical arrangement.

"Actually, we live in the main lab facility. It's further up the coastline, more isolated," he explained, glancing over to her and seeing her frown, "the transit tubes don't go there. Sorry for the confusion."

"Oh I see." Kenura nodded, "So we can only get there by shuttle?" she prompted.

"By shuttle, speedboat, and hoverboat. On occasion, by transporter. The land between it and the Campus is zoned blue, which means it's in the process of scientific study. The roads are there, so once it's been cleared, we'll be able to travel between the two by hover car and ground vehicles. We're there.." he smiled. Having kept the shuttle flying low, he curved around the coastline, and into a bay, the facility now in full view. A moment later they landed on a small landing pad next to a beach.

Exiting the shuttle after her, Rennen eyes laid on the facility and he smiled, "So what do you think?"



"It's beautiful." Kenura breathed, breathing deeply of the fresh salty air, "I don't think that I ever want to leave." she turned to face him, looking much younger than her years in that moment.

Time seemed to stop in that moment at what she said and his heart pounding, Rennen found himself staring back at her. "There's a landing on the roof," he finally managed to get out, "but I wanted you to see it for the first time from here."

"Thank you." she looked at him gratefully then caught the way he was looking at her and added "I appreciate it." then she smiled "You always did know how to impress a girl."

Listening to her, Rennen had swallowed, his heart continuing to beat hard in his chest, "You're the only one that mattered."

Kenura frowned at that comment as she watched him for a moment then said "Please tell me that you haven't been alone ever since we...ever since we broke up." Even though their marriage had gone into meltdown, there was a huge part of her that cared deeply for him and the thought of him being alone for all this time made her heart cry. Of course, the fact that she hadn't so much as looked at another man since she had left was beside the point.

Unable to give her the answer she wanted to hear, he needed to look away. "I can't do that."

With a sigh, she admitted "Me either." Truth be told there wasn't another person in the whole universe that she'd want to be with. Regardless of the way that their love had been ripped apart, she knew that she could never feel the way she did about Rennen. Not ever. The question now was could she be around him every day and manage to keep sane?

Rennen could feel a surge of emotion well up in his chest at what she had just admitted. "Are you going to be able to work with me?" he asked gently. It was as if he read her mind, which he hadn't.

"I don't know." she admitted honestly, "But I want to try." she added, giving him a small, nervous smile as she wondered if she was making a mistake.

Licking his upper lip out of the nervousness that had been growing inside of him, he nodded, "Okay," and then headed to the back of the shuttle. "First, we'll get you settled in to your room...and then I'll show you around."

"Sounds good." Kenura nodded almost mechanically, relieved that they were returning to more solid ground, "I can't wait to see it." she smiled at him, trying to forget about the deep ache of longing that seemed to be coiling its way around her heart.

He pulled out her bags and with her walking beside him, started leading her there. The air was warm and there was a light cool breeze that seemed to pick up as they stepped onto the dock that lead to the facility. He looked around then and said, "The rest of the team is out in the field. It could be several hours before they return."

"It'll give me time to unpack and have a look around." Kenura replied, amazed at how easy it was to fall in to a relaxed and easy conversation with him after the initial awkwardness. Perhaps being around him wasn't going to be so bad after all so long as she kept reminding herself that they could never return to how they were.

Rennen smiled over at her, "You're going to love this."

"Oh and what makes you so sure?" she asked, her reaction impulsive and thrusting her back in time before everything that had ripped them apart had happened. Back to the days where she used to make his life hell by throwing a question at every comment he made.

Not having gone back there immediately, Rennen was about to reply how he knew her so well, and then was suddenly there. He stopped walking, and stared after her with a hurt expression.

Hearing the footsteps falter, Kenura stopped to turn and look behind, catching his expression and frowning, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he said, understanding now that she hadn't meant anything by it. "I just..." unable to finish, it took a moment for him to say, "It was nothing." He started walking again, catching up to her, and didn't look at her as he walked past her. Once he reached the end of the dock, he stepped carefully into a boat, and placed her bags off to the side.

"Nothing?" Kenura muttered under breath as he turned away from her to set down the bags, "Sure..." she added, closing her mouth abruptly as he turned back around.

When he reached out a hand to take hers, their eyes locked and stayed there as he help her step in.

"Thanks." she swallowed hard, the look in his eyes making a thousand butterflies swarm inside of her belly. As she stood there, her feet forgot to move as time froze and she found herself simply standing there, gazing into his eyes.

Her gaze penetrating him, it took everything Rennen had within himself to tear himself away, to not lean in closer to her. "You'll need to sit down," he said, while looking away as he took his own seat.

"Okay, good. Sitting's good." Kenura nodded mechanically as she took the seat beside his and let out a breath that she didn't even realise that she'd been holding.

Although he was feeling more unsure than ever about the two of them working together, Rennen pushed a lever forward, easing them away from the dock. It was a short distance to the center pillar of the discus-shaped building, and as they started moving towards it, he found himself needing to say, "Kenura, what happened back there...I'm sorry."

"Sorry about what?" she asked, not sure that she understood why he was apologising for it.

Sounding a little frustrated, he returned with, "You have no idea?"

"Tell me." she turned her full attention to him, wanting to hear him say it.

As the boat pulled up to the large center pillar of the facility, he shook his head, glancing over at her. He grabbed her bags and climbed out of the boat. Then held down his hand to take hers.

"Rennen..." she uttered as she took his hand and stepped off the boat onto the quay. "Please..." she stopped to look up into his oh so familiar eyes.

"I misunderstood something," he finally answered, really not wanting to go into it, her close proximity making it hard to just pull away, "and I realized I was wrong. I think it's best...we let it go at that."

Kenura forced herself to nod, the sparkle in her eyes extinguished as disappointment flooded through her. He's not yours anymore she told herself before forcing a fake smile on her face "Okay...guess we should get going then." she began to walk away from the quay though she had no idea where she was going.

"Yeah," he nodded, the change in her eyes not escaping him, and his remained on her as she turned away. She wasn't going to get far and as she walked pass a hatch door on the pylon, he said to her, "Kenura...over here." He went over to it, and started entering a code.

She stopped. Back ram-rod straight as she turned to face him and nodded, moving to his side as he opened the door. The reality of being around him every day was beginning to sink in and she had no idea how it was going to end.

The door opened revealing a turbolift, and he stepped out of the way for her to enter. "After you," he said quietly.

"Thank you." she managed a wavering smile before stepping past him into the turbolift.

Trying not to feel discouraged, Rennen took in a deep breath and followed her in.

~~~End~~~


Specialist Kenura Lokn
Ocean Researcher/Marine Geologist
Sapientia

&

Specialist (Dr.) Rennen Lokn
Oceanic Dept. Sr. Researcher
Sapientia