James T. Kirk

"Grace?"

T'Vau raised an eyebrow and turned once more to the other Vulcan.

"You are not Spock."

If she were an emotional human, her tone would certainly have been one of triumph.

From:

"I am Spock," Spock explained almost patiently. T'Vau was wearing on her. "My secondary name is Gracen. The Captain has selected it to aid in delineation between myself and my variants."

From:

(OOC: Gracen. Dammit, sorry. I am terrible with names lately aren't I??)

"When there's three people named Spock running around, I had to call at least one of them something else." He explained to T'Vau.

From:

T'Vau carefully avoided the other Vulcan's eyes.

She calculated quickly. There was only a 17.4% chance that the Vulcan and the Human were working together to deceive her. In addition, she could think of no obvious motive for them to do so.

Unless this was a psychological experiment.

She checked the room for cameras, casually.

"Captain Kirk." She bowed slightly in greeting. "I am Lieutenant Commander T'Vau, Science Officer, USS Jefferson Randolph Smith."

From:

The ship didn't sound familiar, "Lieutenant Commander, it's an honor to meet you. If you'll excuse the questioning... what year is it where you came from?"

From:

"Where I come from?" T'Vau repeated, and raised an eyebrow. "The current year aboard the Jefferson Randolph Smith is 2268. I presume it is the same everywhere else."

"Time may be relative, Captain, but if you will excuse the colloquialism, it is not that relative."

From:

"It's relative in this case, trust me. It's only 2259, here." So she was from the future. "Does this ship look as advanced as the ones you've seen? More so, less so?"

From:

"Fascinating," T'Vau commented.

If this was a deception, it was a poor one. This young Captain expected her to believe that she was in the past, yet the technology was more advanced than that with which she was familiar.

"It does appear to be more advanced," T'Vau admitted, "at least, upon a preliminary evaluation. I would have to do more research to be certain."

"Do you have any explanation as to how I may have been...displaced?"

From:

Silence pervaded the office for 37.456 seconds. It became apparent that this was going to be Spock's responsibility. The Vulcan folded her arms behind her back and absolutely did not sigh.

"My current hypothesis involves the conceptual dilation of muons across the temporal, reality barrier. This dilation would inevitably create a neutrino, anti-neutrino decay flux, uniting the various planes of existence represented on board this ship," Spock explained blandly. There was an answering silence. "The specific decay pattern of the elementary construction of the Enterprise has likely formed the central point of this indefinite singularity."

More silence.

"The universes cross paths at this point and occasionally there is a snag," Spock simplified, a hint of distaste in her voice.

From:

T'Vau tilted her head.

She raised an eyebrow.

"A fascinating theory," she said. "Yet impossible to test. The ability of muons to cross the temporal-spatial barrier is purely theoretical. If the particles indeed have this capability, it has never been proven, since they carry no intrinsic radioactive signature specific to their universe of origin that would serve to distinguish them from muons in neighboring planes of existence."

"Or am I mistaken?"

T'Vau looked blandly at Spock.

She wondered if the mess hall here served pie.

From:

Spock regarded T'Vau and exhaled almost audibly. She blinked and arched a slow brow.

"The hadron particle valiance could be used as an identifying factor, if the qualities of the quarks could be defined," Spock argued. This T'Vau, much like her own, was obviously a proponent of Grand Unified Quantum Theory.

Delusional fool.

"The individual particle permeation is categorically worthless, if the speed constant and fluctuation of spin can be determined. Admittedly, the variable permittivity of the reality barrier must be assumed, but there is no way around this hindrance."

From:

"You are forgetting the expanded Heisenberg principle," T'Vau said dismissively. "It is impossible to determine both the speed constant and fluctuation of spin of muons to any useful degree of precision. In addition, the constituent particles of hadrons are notoriously difficult to describe to any specificity outside of controlled laboratory settings. Your theory is intriguing, but ultimately academic."

She turned back to Captain Kirk, wondering how long he would keep them here.

From:

Kirk, despite what most people would think, was following along with the conversation well enough. He patiently waited until they seemed to be finished, and gave a small smile to them both, "If you ladies are done... I'll make sure that you're reported to my first officer so that you can get assigned a schedule for working hours. As for your quarters..."

His voice trailed off, and he stared down closely at the quartermaster's report. "We're getting almost to the brink on people.... ship's not meant to hold so many extra..." He murmured, trying to find an open room.

From:

"Working hours?" T'Vau repeated, as if the concept were utterly foreign to her.

She blinked as Kirk frowned at the PADD in his hands.

"Captain Kirk," she said, somehow sounding more interested and alert than she had during the entirety of her discussion with Spock. "I must insist upon proper quarters. I do not wish to be assigned to a garden bench."

The again was unspoken, but heavily implied. The situation on Dentarus II had been...unacceptable.

From:

Kirk just slowly lifted his head, giving T'Vau an unreadable expression. He couldn't tell if she was joking or serious, but if it was the latter, did she really think he would do something like that? "...You... worked on the ship you were on, right? You said you were a science officer, or did my ears deceive me. This ship can only hold so many in separate quarters and we've had dozens of people show up out of no where, space is a limited quantity."

She didn't seem like any Vulcan he had ever know. He looked to Gracen, and decided he would ask Gracen to .... keep an eye on this one.

From:

"I am a science officer," T'Vau assured him.

Perhaps he would forget to report her arrival to his first officer.

Her brow furrowed as she thought. "In that case, Captain," she said slowly, "it is logical to assign new arrivals to quarters that are not...separate."

It was not ideal, but it would be preferable to the garden bench.

From:

Spock believed in neither Luck, Fate, or Karma as conceptual constants. This conversation, however was rapidly progressing through a series of paths she did not know, expressly, how to divert. She was not unfamiliar with her emotions, and the one inspiring a visceral tension in her lower abdomen could only be called foreboding.

She reluctantly met the native Kirk's eye and then inclined her head.

"Space is a severely limited luxury on a starship, of this we are all aware," Spock agreed slowly. "Perhaps there is someone appropriate for her to share quarters with?"

From:

"Since you suggested it, Gracen... let me introduce you to your new roommate." He gestured to T'Vau beside her. "T'Vau, Spock Gracen, Gracen, T'Vau. May you live long and prosper." He held up his hand in the familiar salute and basically felt the urge to duck.

From:

Spock went stock still, possibly stiller than she had been only moments prior. She understood the basic tenets of Human humor well enough to know that either: a) this was not a joke, or b) this was in very, very poor taste.

At the moment it seemed to be both, somehow.

Spock blinked and stared at Kirk for 5.6 seconds before turning to regard this...T'Vau.

"...Very well. It is only...logical," Spock agreed almost hesitantly.

From: