Posted by Lieutenant Duncan Rhodes (Chief Science Officer) in Rhodes quarters. How to lose a fiancé in ten days.

Posted by Captain Remy Boudreaux (CO) in Rhodes quarters. How to lose a fiancé in ten days.

Posted by Lieutenant Duncan Rhodes (Chief Science Officer) in Rhodes quarters. How to lose a fiancé in ten days.
Posted by… suppressed (1) by the Post Ghost! 👻
SNIP
Lily flopped on the couch looking at the room. It was spacious for being a department head’s quarters but it was much smaller than his rooms on the outpost. At least Lily would have the chance to decorate it right. Petting Trico she glanced around imagining the space. The walls were definitely going to need some color.

“What do you think Trico,” she looked at the kitchen. “Should we go red? Like spicy pepper red,” she began to imagine the walls a vibrant red with dark cherry cabinet overlays and natural stone countertops. “There was no reason we can’t personalize the space. I mean Starfleet gave us a blank canvas. If they wanted it to stay the same color they would have made everything neutral.”

Trico’s head popped up and her ears followed suit, from her space on the couch she blinked a few times at the two legged thing Duncan had bought home one night that hadn’t left since, and was pretty sure she had said the magic word, ‘pepperoni’. It sounded different, but was close enough. She wagged her tail and blew a buff of smoke through her nose, something she had learned to do since Lily had started sneaking her the spicy meat that Duncan wouldn’t let her have. She was glad this two legged thing had stayed, she liked her.

Decorating was going to be fun. She had never been in a place where she actually planned on staying long enough to hang a picture or paint the walls. Well there was that time she took up with Raul who used latex balloons filled with paint to create art but she was looking for something more stylish and applied with a real paint roller.

Taking a deep breath she exhaled slowly. Decorating was going to be fun but there was something else that could be more fun today. “Duncan,” she called out, “wanna go to the beach? There is no reason we should worry about moving in when Risa is below us. I know a guy we can bunk with. He and his wife are real cool. They have a tent so they should be easy to find. All we need is a tooth brush and a change of clothes,” she said in a sing song voice.

Lily Locksley soon to be Rhodes

Coming out of the bathroom, Duncan had a towel wrapped around his waist and his face was half covered in shaving foam. There were easier ways to shave in this day and age but he still preferred to do it this way, a slight hangover from his traditional family and military upbringing.

“I would love to, but you remember that we start work tomorrow, right?” He asked her, then paused and looked at her a moment.

“Yeah and that is tomorrow. I am taking about today. Me you and a beach with drinks and sun,” she sat up on her knees with steepled hands like she was praying. She was praying in fact that Duncan would say yes. She could go by herself but going alone wasn’t fun. Sure she could meet interesting people but the person she wanted to be with was across the room, draped in a towel looking hot enough to turn any head in a room. She paused her moment of begging to stare at his chest. For a science guy he was remarkably fit. As her eyes trailed up she stopped to stare in his blue eyes. They were his best feature if she had to pick one. The color was so deep they almost looked fake.

“Okay, Sunshine, I have a couple of things here,” he took a cloth from beside the table and wiped his hands on it as he walked over to the couch she was sitting on, “first, you’re in Starfleet now, and you can book a room to your account when you are on leave.”

“And they just pay for it,” she looked at him. “Dude this Starfleet thing was a great idea. “I mean if I knew you got room and board for free I would have joined up way before you proposed,” she picked up a PaDD. If it was going to be in Starfleet’s bill she would get a suite. She had heard they gave you quarters and meals but thought there had to be a catch somewhere yet wherever that was, Lily wasn’t going to look for it.

He paused, and leaned on the arm of the couch looking at her, “Second, who is this guy and his wife that you know that live in a tent on Risa?” He smiled slightly, expecting another of Lily’s stories, she was resourceful, friendly and had a way to end up on the right side of any situation no matter how badly things went off-plan, it was part of what had made Duncan take notice of her, well, that and her making him give her a foot massage as she took his order at a cafe the day he met her.

Lt Rhodes, CSO

“His name is Paola and his wife Marina,” she explained. “I met them once when I was in Oceania Prime. I decided to try fishing for a while. I was totally stressed out and someone told me fishing relaxed you. It didn’t. It was incredibly boring but Paola was a fisherman. I signed on with him to learn the trade. Two months in a storm hit. Totally destroyed his boat. For the next two months after that he and I got a job at some fish and chips shop. He told me all about his and Marina’s dream to own a jet ski store on Risa. A few years later I caught up with him in a space port. Turns out after I left him and Marina there was some kind of grease fire. The store burned to the ground but they got a fat insurance check and invested the money into his jet ski business. They only had enough money to buy the business so they sleep in a tent for now. Can we go see them. Please,” she wiggled in the couch full of excitement.

“A jet ski store huh, and sleeps in a tent.” Duncan didn’t sound quite as enthusiastic as Lily did on this one. “Did you hear the part about how we start work in the morning?” Duncan asked her, knowing full well that that detail was information that Lily simply chose to ignore because it didn’t match what she wanted at that moment.

“Yes and did you hear the part about paid vacations. Starfleet really has a lot of benefits to joining. Every time I turn around I am hearing about something else they are giving you. It really is a wonder more people just don’t sign on up,” she shrugged.

Remembering his friend Evie’s fascination with plants and Duncan being a scientist, Lily decided to sweeten the deal. “They have pitcher plants big enough to eat a man. I can show you where to find them,” she bit her lip smiling at him. “So are we going,” she asked again.

Lily Locksley

“On Risa?” Duncan raised an eyebrow.

“Yes on Risa. Duncan not everything is as it seems,” Lily crossed her arms looking at him.

“Love, I… you know what? Show me.” Duncan grinned but held up a finger and made sure her eyes were firmly on his, “Two hours, okay? We have two hours and then we are back on the ship and ready for bed, deal?”

Lt Rhodes, CSO

“Done,” she nodded with a smile and pushed a lock of hair away from her face. “But when you say bed you are so not meaning to sleep right?” At times she loved Duncan’s ability to reign her in and settle her down; however other times he did need to loosen that neck collar.

Ten minutes later the transporter placed them on a stretch of beach that seemed deserted. For a planet that was known for its beaches it was rather shocking a stretch of it was abandoned with lush vegetation lining the beach instead of fancy walkways and hotels. Reaching down, Lily remove her flip flop and began crossing the sand towards a shack in the distance. “So are you going to lose the shoes,” Lily looked at Duncan? “There is no reason to wear shoes at the beach. I mean people pay an insane amount of credits to hang out at beaches. This trip is free. Enjoy it,” she linked her arm into his. “You are not going to be this uptight on our honeymoon are you?”

“You know that is entirely going to depend on where we go for the Honeymoon, who you know there, why, how, and how many laws we have to break to get there.” Duncan smirked as he spoke quietly, his eyes looking around the beach and resting on the shack. His mind worked quickly. One hour and fifty-eight minutes.

“Speaking of that what do you want to do for a honeymoon? We should do something neither of us have ever done before to make it special What have you always wanted to do but never did?”

Lily Locksley

“Well, I heard there is a fantastic holiday resort planet that is far more stunning than Risa, called Erewhon,” Duncan said and glanced at Lily. “From what I hear, you would love it there and every need is taken care of by the attendants. Shopping, horse treks and sailing, coffee shops and anything you might want. We could do that any time though, not just a honeymoon. We could always check out the frozen sunken cities on Andoria, or take a tour of Delta IV.” Duncan slipped his arm around Lily, paused their walk and then slipped off his own jandals so he could walk barefoot in the sand next to her, his face not giving away what he actually thought about a honeymoon on frozen Andoria.

“Will you wanna build a snowman,” she sang out a well-known children’s song that had been passed down for so long no one really knew who wrote it in the first place. She laughed hard as she walked with him taking his hand in hers swinging it slightly. “I don’t really care where we go as long as it is a place you have never been to and that we do things you have never done except for one thing,” she said rapidly. “I want you to do one thing I haven’t so I can tell our grandkids that ol’ Grampy Rhodes taught their fabulously still amazing Memaw one thing.”

They walked a few more minutes before Lily stopped looking around like they were lost. Scanning the pristine beach she was sure they were in the right place. It had been years since she had seen Paola and his wife but there was no reason to think they just closed up shop and left. Staring at the pristine waters and white as snow beach she began to do some mental calculations. “Okay so I might be off a little bit on the location,” she admitted putting her hands on her hips. “I know he didn’t leave. They said it was a thriving business so who would ever give that up and just walk away,” she asked more rhetorically than answer-seeking.

“Tell me, I mean I may not be the most savvy businessman around but wouldn’t setting up a jet ski shop on a deserted beach on a tourist world, kind of be an obvious reason a business might not do so well?”

Lt Rhodes, CSO

“Not completely obvious. I knew a guy once on Ghaltane V who started an alpaca farm in the middle of the city. He used the rooftops as a pasture because it was a city and there was no real pasture but he put in a living roof and while the alpacas were growing out their coats, he sold rides to the kids in between. Parents complained it wasn’t safe as the creatures made their way in circles on the rope bridges he created between the buildings but those animals are really sure-footed. He didn’t have an injury once so if that can survive,” she let her voice trail off.

Suddenly her face lit up with a huge smile. “I know where they are,” she said raising on her toes to give him a quick peck on the cheek. “This way,” she started walking to the lush foliage that lined the beach about fifty yards back. “There is a path that will take us to the other side of the beach. I just put us on the wrong side. It has been a while since I was here.” As soon as they got to the start of what could only be considered a path if you were a jungle survival expert, Lily touched a tree that was split down the center and oddly shaped. “See,” she said proudly tapping the trunk. “I knew I was right.” Moving a few branches to the left she found a small carving in the wood of the truck. Lil and Jill ‘90 it said. Lily ran her fingers gently over the inscription. “Jill and I came here following a band called Two Splintered Stars. They were amazing and I can’t believe they never made it big. Jill married the drummer but I knew if I waited long enough I would find my mister right,” she winked at Duncan.

‘Two Splintered Stars, huh?” Duncan said as he looked over Lily’s shoulder at the carving. “I wonder where that name came from. You know that is sometimes what the ancient Greeks called diamonds? Splintered Stars. Fun fact.”

“Okay so since you aren’t the jealous type I can share this but I did know that about the splintered stars. See there was this geologist named Mason Black. I met him once in a remote moon. As insane as this sounds my shuttle broke down. I had no idea how I was getting off. This place was nothing but rocks and minerals. Anyway out of the blue as I am sitting in on the tailgate or as you call it landing ramp this guy appears over the ridge. He kinda is a bit anxious and such Becuase apparently the hill I crashed on was the rim of a caldera. That’s the hole to a volcano ,” she paused in the story to grab a breath.

“To make a long story short he gave me a lift back to Deneva. He also spent the trip talking about rocks and gems and such. I was so thankful I used one of the huge blue stones he had in a bin makered “clarity”. It was so milky I thought it was being tossed out so I got an engraved and made him a thank you paper weight. Turns out most gems need to be polished to get rid of the milky fog. Since I engraved it the rock could. I longer be processed after that,” she wiped her brow and started looking around.

Turning from the tree, he looked in the direction they had been walking. “Lily are you sure they are still here? The carving might be but this place is pretty remote.”

“Oh yeah,” she waved him off.

“Anyway it is just a hop skip and a jump so if we walk down this path a few yards we will be jet-skiing with the dolphins in no time. Come on,” she said happily tugging on Duncan’s hand as she pushed back a few palm fronds and headed into the lush vegetation.

Lily

“A few yards huh? And if you happen to lead us into one of those man eating plants you seem to think they have around here....” Duncans voice trailed off and he looked at her with a grin. “You aren’t one of those secret cultists that worship man eating plant monsters and this is all a ploy to get me to come so you can sacrifice me, right? I wouldn’t be that tasty, all muscle and bone and no fat.”

Lieutenant Rhodes, CSO

“You know when you get swallowed I am going to make you say “wow lily I was wrong” before I rescue you. But come on,” she waved him forward. “So tell me something you have never told me about yourself before,” she asked pointing for him to follow the path. Duncan might be a man of science but once those tendrils grabbed your ankle you were done for. She had seen it a few times. The tendrils were actually its tongue and they retracted like a winch to drop you in its gullet but as long as they stayed on the path they would be fine.

Lily

“No,” Duncan replied, and ducked a branch that flicked back towards him that Lily had let go as she pushed her way along the path. “You already know quite a lot about me that I haven’t told anyone, how about you tell me something about yourself? Not about one of your adventures or some guy you knew some time ago, tell me something about Lily Locksley.”

Lt Rhodes, CSO

“I have always wanted to dog,” she said and did not miss a beat. “I have had dogs but never owned one myself.” Turning around she walked backward so she could look at Duncan. Lily smiled at the handsome man following her in the jungle. For the first time in her life, Lily had everything she wanted. Duncan wasn’t some guy she palled around with on a crazy adventure. Duncan wasn’t some guy that was as broke as her so they were splitting the rent when she was too broke to have a place to live. Duncan wasn’t some guy who equated her desire to learn new things with cheap labor as an intern. Duncan was the man that loved her for who she was. He was the guy that loved her adventures because he wanted to be an active participant in her life. Duncan was the guy that wasn’t going to take chances because she meant more to him than reaching the top of a mountain or discovering a new rare plant.

“I have never brought anyone home to meet my family,” Lily stopped walking and let Duncan catch up to her, “because no one has ever been anyone I cared enough to bring home..until now.”

Lily CMO

“Until now?” Duncan asked and grinned. “Who is this guy? Maybe I should meet him and have words with him, make sure he treats you right.” Tilting his head to the side, Duncan couldn’t resist one final tease about her intentions in bringing him here. “Until now. You know that still sounds like you are bringing me here to be sacrificed, right? Like here is your home.” Reaching out and taking her hand, Duncan brought it to his lips softly and looked Lily in the eyes. “I do want you to take me home, I’d love to meet your parents. Do you know that?”

“Pffft my family would never live in a place this congested and populated,” she gave a small head nod at the flora surrounding them. “I am just worried that they will freak you out a bit. They are so liberal. It’s one of the reasons I keep visits short. I mean they get flustered with my more conservative outlooks but you are going to be fine,” she placed her palm on his chest reassuringly. “I promise.”

Duncan had barely finished speaking before behind him in the jungle, a dark shadow suddenly seemed to get darker and rose above him silently. Lily would have had a meer moment to register the darkening area in the same way Duncan did, just enough time for Duncan to sigh. “It’s behind me, isn’t it?” he asked.

Lily nodded not sure what to say or do. She was used to things going bump in the night but they normally had a face, hands, and teeth. This…this was a surprise. Knowing that Duncan was running out of time, she nodded and said, “yes.”

A tentacle like vine suddenly slid around Duncans waist and tightened, Duncan letting go of Lily’s hand the moment before the vine yanked him backwards like a bungie cord at the end of it’s stretch. “Lily!” Duncan yelled as he flew backwards, catching himself on the branch of a tree that bent in protest of the weight of his body and pull of the vine, but held. Looking backwards, Duncan caught sight of a huge plant that looked like some kind of giant flytrap, petals extended as if reaching for him and ‘mouth’ open with a row of sharp, razor sharp Stamen rimming the mouth. Duncan frowned at it, and the plant thing roared back. “Why is it roaring?” Duncan called out to Lily, “It’s a plant, why is it roaring? This isn’t the kind of rare plant I enjoy discovering Lily!”

Lt Rhodes, CSO

“I don’t know! You are the scientist,” Lily ran after him batting back palm fronds and leaves. Jumping up she grabbed Duncan’s legs trying to help. “Don’t worry. I have you just don’t look it in the eyes and try to use a soothing tone,” Lilly suggested wiggling her feet as her toes left the ground.

“Don’t look it in the eyes!?” Duncan exclaimed, pausing in his struggle just for a moment to look at Lily. “What eyes? It’s a plant! Shall we name it as well, how do you like Audrey? Hmm? Audrey the Third maybe, after Audrey II. How very Poetic.” He wrapped his arm harder around the branch that had halted his momentum despite it starting to give way, and tried to kick the vines off his legs in vain.

The plant seemed to shake and brace itself as if hearing Lily’s words of encouragement. It also seemed like the alien plant grew angier not being able to pull Duncan where it wanted to go. Tightening its tendrils around Duncan’s waist it let a howl and began to pull Duncan closer and closer to its gaping maw. Thick droplets of liquid streamed from the edges of the open petals creating an image of the plant salivating over its next tasty bite.

Lily Locksley CMO

“Lets go to Risa,” Duncan said in a voice mimicking Lily’s back on the Wolverine, “It’ll be fun, I promise. Well, how’s that going for you, Mr Rhodes!” He stated with a kick at the plant vines, knocking one off his leg although with Lily pulling on the other, he felt like a morbid prize in a game of tug and war that Lily simply wasn’t built for.

“How ‘bout we sing a verse of Kumbaya,” Duncan suggested, “Isn’t that one of those space hippy songs that is supposed to lul native wildlife to sleep? Listen, if this thing eats me, get out of here. I don’t want you to end up in it’s big brother. Get back to the ship and get a phaser or something.”

Duncan reached for her cheek, but the branch he held at that moment gave way and the plant pulled him back with what sounded like a roar of victory. Other vines slid towards Lily but the planet lifted Duncan and dropped him into it’s open maw, the petals snapping shut around him and the planet suddenly going still. The vines sliding towards Lily stopped.

“Well that’s just wonderful,” Duncans muffled voice came from inside, and Lily could see where his hands were exploring the inside for a hand hold or way out. “It’s sticky in here, and there is some kind of giant bug that it hasn’t finished eating yet. Lily? Can you hear me?”

Lt Rhodes, CSO

“Yes and don’t worry. We got this,” Lily looked at it alarmed but also fascinated. There was no way to know a human was in the plant if you hadn’t seen Duncan get sucked in but it was obvious something was inside the plant. As Duncan pressed the soft fleshy petal walls, the faint imprint of fingers bulged out thinning the pink coloration to a white rose color. Even though the plant was going to eat Duncan slowly over probably weeks, right now the rippling effect of Duncan moving inside the large flora reminded Lily of a butterfly in a cocoon. This cocoon was not however going to produce anything beautiful or living if she didn’t act fast.

“Okay so this is going to be easy right? I mean people kill plants all the time. They are defenseless. You just need to need to tell me how to do that....right,” she asked for the first time feeling a bit nervous. Rubbing her hands together Lily waited for Duncan to give her directions.

Lily Locksley

“Defenseless? It roared and ate me, Lily. I don’t think not watering it for a few days is going to do much.” Duncan’s voice came from inside the closed petal walls. “Ow! the sap is burning. That will be how it dissolves its prey. I’d guess the bug in here has been dinner for maybe a week, thankfully it’s very dead.”

A bulge appeared in the walls, in the vague shape of someone’s back and shoulders and it appeared Duncan was leaning on the side of the thing. The whole plant leaned to one side slightly. Lily knew that when Duncan was particularly deep in thought, was when he folded his arms and leaned on something. Duncan almost never leant on things.

“How about those friends of yours? Think they have a phaser or laser scalpel or something?” Duncan looked at his hands, the red patches where the sap clung to him thickest were starting to break out, and he was covered in the stuff. He could see the stitching on his shirt starting toi dissolve and it was clear that the bugs on Risa had carapaces’ that were resistant to the sap. His Human skin and fabric was not.

Lt Rhodes, CSO

OOC: Would you two stop messing up the local flora. Tat poor plant is liable to get a bad case of indigestion. :p

OOC: Hey, this thing took a liking to me! It’s not my fault it’s fond of a full English Breakfast LOL

IC: At that moment, a call came in from the Wolverine informing every crew member that shore leave was cancelled and they were all to return ASAP.

NE Bell (at the comm station)

IC: Duncan paused hearing the sound of the Captains voice coming from his pocket, reaching into it he felt the metal of the device and had an idea. “Lily! I know how to get out of it, hang on!” Knowing Lily had her badge on her like he did, Duncan opened the Comm.

=/\= Wolverine, emergency transport to Sickbay on mine and Ensign Locksleys Comm signals, energize immediately! =/\=

Lt Rhodes, CSO

Bump