Kelly walked into her quarters to find Ian looking quite perplex staring at the door frame she just entered. “Stop,” she held up her hand. “Before you tell me what little problem you are concerned over I have a far bigger one. Apparently, my heart rate and respiration increase when I am around you and we have been spending way too much time alone in the holodeck. Mardusk thinks you are parking the family Plymouth every ten minutes in the holodeck so I covered for us by saying you were creating a crew event grand enough to occupy them until we can get to a place for shore leave,” Kelly said flopping on the couch and propping her feet up on the coffee table. It concerned her some that Mardusk seemed to be overly interested in her personal life but she could deal with that if it became a problem.

“Ian, we knew going into this some there might be some sticky situations but I think we need to come out so to speak,” Kelly announced looking at Ian from across the room. “Gossip mongering and secrets can create instability. The crew does not need to know the details of our personal lives. The crew also needs to understand I am not going to Picard it and act like I am happy being a cloistered nun at the Atlantis Monastery.”

Kelly took a long look at Ian. He was everything she needed for a fresh start. She was willing to roll the dice and see what happened. Kelly just needed to know Ian was on the same page.

Captain Kelly Shultz