James T. Kirk

"Of course," she agrees mildly. "Your universe is nothing like mine. They're almost direct opposites, or so I've observed." Marlena's smile isn't very pleasant. "Here, though, in this universe, things are a bit different, aren't they? Would your Spock ever disobey your orders?"

"Tell me, Jim, how did you convince the captain not to throw you in the brig when you arrived here?"

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But Spock has disobeyed him. Early on in their association, but there had been ramifications. It had set them back, however understanding Jim had been of Spock's mutiny. Intellectually, logically, it had made perfect sense. But Jim trusts on instinct.

He smiled at Marlena, the smile that offers all of his attention and charm. "It seems I have a special talent for blending in," he says. "At least for awhile. But no; Jim is... me. He trusted me. Spock once told me it is easier for civilized men to act like barbarians than barbarians to act civilized; hostile intentions will tell. I hope you won't, Marlena, I really do. You saved my life. You've a striking, talented woman. And an asset to any crew. I'm willing to give you the chance to prove it to them. If you're willing to give our ways a fair shot."

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"Yes, I'll give it a shot," she says. "I'll do anything you want, Jim." And for once, there's no innuendo in that statement, just the honest desire to please him. Even more surprising to Marlena is the realization that she really doesn't have an ulterior motive. He's not the captain here; to put effort into manipulating him would be futile. You're going soft, she thinks.

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"I believe you," Jim says softly. It's not in him to be easily manipulated, whatever his reputation for a weakness for feminine charm. It's more that he's willing to give nearly anyone the benefit of the doubt, to believe the best of them, to allow them the opportunity to succeed. Or fail. He constantly had to temper this with his good sense and judgment, but James Kirk does not wish to live in a world where optimism is never rewarded.

Perhaps he can see her honesty. He knows what manipulation looks like. He smiles, and his smile doesn't seem to agree that she's going soft--just that he's happy she's reached that decision.

"I'll go talk to the captain," he says. "But I think you've made the right choice."

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She straightens to attention, and her hand is halfway to her chest before she remembers Spock's caution, and instead brings it to her forehead, stiffly. The salute is awkward and unpracticed, but at least she means it.

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Jim smiles again, in approval. He'd have understood her other salute, but he appreciates the effort. Even if she only learned it to fit in undetected.

He can appreciate that, too, from the other side.

He nods in answer to her salute, and goes off to find Jim.

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[OOC: Thanks for the notice!]

Kirk was still sitting in the guard booth, looking thoughtful. He glanced up as Jim came into view, and frowned a little. "...interesting. Wasn't what I was expecting, to be honest."

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"No?" Jim glanced at the monitors. "What were your impressions?"

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"Well, honestly... she seems like she could be honest... but I'm worried about letting her out into the crew." He said honestly, frowning still.

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Jim nodded.

"I want to trust her." He glanced at the captain. "It's your call, of course. And there's no denying she might be dangerous; she was an accomplice to my counterpart's ruthless elimination of his enemies. At least an accessory. And she's from a world where her considerable personal charms have directly benefited her."

He sighed.

"But keeping her locked in the brig doesn't seem like the solution."

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Kirk looked into the distance, thinking silently for several long moments. "...I think I need to talk to her and see how she reacts to me compared to how she acted with you."

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Kirk nodded slowly.

"I'll buy that," he said.

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He levered himself out of the chair and gestured for his other-self to take it. "Wish me luck." A grin, and he slipped out of the office and down the hall of the brig (glaring briefly at Pher as he went by) and stopped in front of Marlena's cell. He looked her over (damn, she was pretty) and offered a small grin, "...So, you're the one I'm hearing so much about."

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[OOC - Sorry about the delay. I'm so bad at keeping up with everything. >.< ]

Her face lights up when she recognizes him. "Captain Kirk, I presume," she greets him. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance." She looks him up and down, unsubtly. "You're much younger than the Kirk in my universe was when he took Captain Pike's command from him."

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When he took command from him. Usurped him. Kirk tucked that information away. He offered a grin to her, "Youngest Captain in history." He confirmed that. "So, putting aside the bullshit, tell me about yourself." He definitely wanted to compared notes on what she had told his counterpart versus what she did now.

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She smiles back--she can't help it, really, not when he grins like that. "Lieutenant Marlena Moreau, Starfleet sciences department, chemistry division," she introduces herself. "On my Enterprise, I was head of the chemistry department, and quite good at my job." There was no arrogance in her voice, just a statement of facts.

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Small wonder Spock put her in there so quickly. Kirk thought to himself. "How did you end up here? And I don't mean the brig," A flash of teeth in a grin, "On my ship. This universe."

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She shrugs. "Your guess is as good as mine. I was quite honestly minding my own business, about to go to sleep, when suddenly I'm landing on the deck down by Engineering. I think I heard somebody mention something about observing a temporal anomaly, but I didn't catch any details. Not my field, you know."

She leans forward a little and lowers her voice. "Captain. I understand if you wish to keep this information confidential, but am I right in guessing that I am not the first person from my universe to show up here?"

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"Possibly. Hard to say if its the same universe, honestly." That he was being truthful about. It was impossible to say exactly what universe anyone came from unless they came together.

"The chances of you getting home is fairly slim to none, you know. And honestly, you haven't done anything to keep you down here, nor do I really wanna." He studied her face. "But equally, I don't really have any reason to trust you. Or anyone that comes mysteriously to this ship... but considering where you come from, even more so."

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"Considering where I came from?" She steps back, frowning, and folds her arms across her chest. "You mean, where I helped Jim escape from after saving his life?"

Abruptly, she gives up the posturing and sighs. "I'm not evil, Captain. I'm just trying to live as best I know how. I don't hurt people unless I need to." She chews her lip thoughtfully, considering how best to get her point across. "It's not black and white. Your universe isn't the good universe and mine the bad. If you're anything like the Jim I know, you understand that. Have I yet given you reason to distrust me?"

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"But I'm not a fool either." Kirk was unmoved, but he liked her way of thinking. "This is my ship, my crew, and I can't just release a potential danger without making sure. Nothing is ever black and white, just infinite shades of gray."

"I'll make this simple. We're over Risa right now. You're free to leave." He was testing her, lightly.

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She turns over in her mind the prospect of trying to make a living on Risa. It's not very pleasant, unless this Risa is very different from the one she's familiar with. She suppresses a shudder at the thought of that potential future, seeing herself as a corpse in some back alley.

"Risa's nice enough," she says slowly, "but I shouldn't like to stay there too long. What if I wish to stay with the Enterprise? It is, after all, what I'm accustomed to."

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Bingo.

"I've been thinking about that." Kirk said slowly. "Like I said, I can't just trust you running around the ship... but since it seems we're the home for everyone from another universe..." He smirked a little, "You'd have to agree to being on Risa for now until we rig up some way for you to be on this ship without me having to worry about it."

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She smiles at that. "Sure. I could use a little vacation on Risa, anyway." She looks almost as though she's ready to skip out of the cell, and playfully flicks her fingers against the forcefield, making it snap and hiss.

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