Star Trek: Spock

A Pursuit

Her red shirt was decidedly itchy. When Jamie had finally, finally, gotten her post aboard the Enterprise, she did not anticipate her uniform to be this uncomfortable. In fact, once she was made aware of her assignment, her mind went wild with all of the possibilities. Possibilities of exploration, discovery, and danger flooded her wild imagination. Jamie had only dreamed of being assigned to the Enterprise. Sure, she had made sufficient grades at the Academy. She always tried to do her best, and she was a dedicated student, but she never thought that she was made of Enterprise material. Yet here she was, back at the Academy, preparing to return to THE First Officer Spock, wearing that damned red shirt that she had worked so hard for, her mind consumed with the fact that Enterprise material was actually extremely itchy. 

Jamie paused among the towering stacks of books. She scratched at the collar of her shirt for the umpteenth time. "Where the heck are the books on anti-matter?" she muttered, frustrated. She was usually adept at finding her way in libraries; they were, after all, her natural habitat. The past few weeks had been hard on her, she knew. She also knew that the extreme pressure, the impossible repairs, and, yes, the deaths, were all what she had signed on for when she took this position. When she hopped on board one month ago, she knew that these were the inevitable and necessary evils that must be faced for the sake of human progress. Jamie stood searching for the books she wanted, seeing but not seeing, lost in memories of what had been her first horrible experience aboard the Enterprise a few days ago. She really just wanted to sit down, read about her favorite engineering principles, and not bother herself or anyone else, but this shirt, the irritant she knew she really shouldn't be concerned with considering the fact that she had seen her coworkers find their demise in the same, wasn't helping the fact that she was exhausted and couldn't find the DARN BOOKS SHE WANTE-

"WHERE ARE THEY?" she uttered, exasperated in the worst way. 

"Uh, miss? Can I help you?" A young lady with short, choppy brown hair and pale yellow skin peeked around the corner. Jamie took a step back, flushed. She hadn't realized that anyone was nearby.

The brunette stepped into the narrow isle between the shelves and smiled at the Starfleet officer. Jamie noticed the name tag pinned on the lady's chest. It read "Ea" in small, black letters. There was a tiny gold star in the corner of the tag. She looked back up to the employees eyes and cleared her throat.

"Yeah, actually. I'm looking for books on the electromagnetic qualities of anti-matter? I'm usually really good at finding these things, but I guess I'm off my game today," she told Ea, chuckling softly. 

Ea responded with a knowing gleam in her eyes. "Oh, that's not irregular for people wandering this library for the first time. Don't feel too bad. Come with me." Ea turned, returning from the isle she had entered from, and left Jamie's sight. Jamie immediately followed, thankful for some guidance. 

She followed Ea for about a minute, absent-mindedly taking in her leader's appearance. The choppy brown hair was course, and she was wearing a cream sweater with a purple collar peeking out, along with some cute khakis. The more that Jamie watched Ea, however, the more she wondered if Ea was a "she" at all. Ea moved with grace and purpose, finally ending up in a incrementally wider isle than Jamie had previously found herself in, and turned to face the ensign. 

"Here they are!" Ea declared softly, smiling. 

Jamie looked at the books on the shelves directly to her left to confirm that they were what she was searching for. They were!

"Thank you so so much!" Jamie sighed gratefully. 

"No problem. There are several library attendants around, so don't be afraid to exclaim in frustration if you need anything else," Ea teased. Jamie remembered that she needed to meet Spock soon. Ea turned to go, gold skin soft under the harsh lights of the isle. 

"Actually," Jamie responded. Ea faced her once again, waiting. "Could you tell me how to get to   from here? I'm meeting back up with a friend." Jamie wondered in the back of her mind if Spock would've agreed with that designation of their relationship. 

Ea, pulled at the white sleeves of her (maybe his?) sweater, and nodded. 

"Yeah, so you'll follow this isle until you see the blue wall, where you'll turn left. Then you'll go up the stairs, take an immediate right at the 'Read More' sign,  and follow that isle until you see the comfy chairs." Ea watched as Jamie tried to process those directions. 

"Okay, I think I can remember that." Jamie said, hesitant but mostly sure. She watched as Ea turned and disappeared once more. 

Jamie faced the shelves, took off her red shirt, leaving the fitted black tank top underneath, and let the air calm her red, itchy skin. Time to find an antimatter book.