A new experience

Posted on Sunday October 18th, 2020 @ 12:14am by Petty Officer 1st Class Jaxson Morris & Cadet Freshman Grade Chloe Graydon

2,281 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Shakedown Cruise
Location: Holodeck
Timeline: Day 4 - 1430

Chloe held onto Jaxsons hand, as he led them towards the Holodeck. After they'd both eaten, they had agreed to go to the holodeck for some much-needed downtime. She didn't know what Jax had planned, but she was looking forward to it anyway.

Stopping just outside the large doors to the holodeck Jax accessed the control panel and tapped in a few commands. Glancing over at the girl he'd only just met he smiled, "You ready?"

Chloe nodded enthusiastically. She was looking forward to having some time to relax and do something she hoped she would enjoy.

A few moments later they entered the holodeck, and Jax came to a stop just inside the doors. "Computer, activate program Morris-1-3-7-Alpha," he called out.

Before their eyes, a large garage appeared. It was open, and spacious, and filled with various projects, and tools he'd accumulated over the years. "This," he said, spinning around, holding his arms up and wide, "This is where I come to relax."

Chloe looked round as she room materialized before her. Her nostrils were instantly filled with a strange smell she hadn't experienced before. "What is that smell?" She asked, smiling.

Jax chuckled aloud, "Probably a mixture of things. Grease, oil, the metallic tang of manual tools, sweat," he replied. "And, honestly, probably a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. I've spent my best times in this program, and I've spent some pretty terrible ones here too. It's my own private little getaway for all of life's many occasions."

Chloe's smile grew. "So, where do we start?" She asked, not sure where to go or what to do.

"Well, I do believe we were supposed to be going for a ride, where we not?" Jax asked, with a grin.

Before Chloe could respond he held up a finger, and spoke, "Computer, load object Jax-7."

Immediately before them a hoverbike appeared, sat squatly on the floor on its rubberized landing pegs. Jax walked over and pressed a small switch in the middle of the bike's handlebars, and gentle hum began to resonate from deep within its body as the repulsors came to live. A seconds later the landing pegs retracted back into the body of the bike and left it floating above the ground.

Holding out his hand, and smiling broadly, Jax spoke again, "Shall we?"

Chloe nodded, stepping up, but pausing, to allow Jax to get onto the bike first. She was slightly nervous, having not been on a hoverbike before, but also looking forward to it.

Pulling her along with him Jax approached the bike and swung his leg over it, straddling it as he sat his weight down. It was always surprising for people, the first time they rode on a hoverbike, just how strong the repulsors were when they were set to stationary. As his full weight settled on the seat the bike didn't budge an inch. "Now you get on."

With Jax sat on the bike, Chloe climbed up behind him, trying to find somewhere to put her feet, but failing miserably. She sighed, quietly. "Where do you want me to put my feet?" She asked sheepishly.

Jax groaned, embarrassed at his own stupidity. "Sorry, I'm not used to having passengers," he said, reaching down he pressed another button, and suddenly two small pegs folded out near the back of the bike. "I didn't have it in passenger mode," he explained.

"It's fine, it happens." She answered, putting her feet onto the pegs, and putting her hands around Jax's waist to keep herself held on, like she'd seen bikers do before.

"Hold on tight," Jax said, and put the bike into drive mode. Suddenly the repulsors softened noticeable, the bike dopping a few inches, and the hum become far more pronounced. Jax gave it a little throttle and the bike moved forward, inching closer to the large bay door. As they approached it the door slid aside, opening on a bright, sunny scene.

"I grew up about an hour from here, in Atlanta. This program is modeled off the country house a friend of mine would visit during summer break. He'd bring me with him a lot, and we'd go riding for hours," Jax said, explaining the scene. "Since it's your first time doing this I'll keep it slow, but you can let me know if you wanna go faster, okay?" he asked.

Chloe nodded, then realising that Jax couldn't see her. "Ok, lets go then!" She replied.

Feeling Chloe's hand clasped around his waist, and the warm breeze blowing across his skin made Jax feel like he had traveled back in time to his teen years. Leaning slightly forward to give himself a better center of gravity he gave the bike some throttle and felt it shoot forward over the uneven dirt road. He hadn't discussed it with her, but he'd set the safeties as high as they would go, so even a fall at max speed wouldn't hurt them, as the holodeck would immediately compensate and protect them, so they weren't wearing helmets and he knew the feeling of the wind against her face was going to be an elating experience for her, and hopefully take her mind off the rest of the stuff they'd discussed.

Chloe was loving the feeling of the wind flowing through her hair, and let out a whoop of joy followed by a laugh as they sped along. "So how often did you used to do this back home?" She asked, still laughing.

Jax laughed as well, her enthusiasm infectious, and put on an extra burst of speed. "Literally every single day of the summer vacation. We'd get out of school and the next day me and Michael, my best friend would be here, and the first thing we'd do is get on our bikes and blast off for hours at a time," he answered. "I think the only time we didn't spend out on the bikes was when we were taking them into town to try to pick up girls..." he added with a chuckle.

"Try, or succeed?" She asked with a giggle. She wasn't used to being so bold with her questions, but she felt really relaxed with Jax, and it just slipped out.

Jax considered his answer for a few moments before responding, "A little of both. I was a lot more geeky back when I was a kid, so it didn't always work out, but the bike helped. A lot, actually." As he was speaking they'd come up on a hill and he had pulled back on the throttle a little so they wouldn't go shooting over the top, which he would have done freely if he'd been by himself.

"I don't think I'd ever have seen you as nerdy. You must have changed a lot since then." She replied. Jax seemed to be anything but nerdy. She looked up the hill as they started to slow. She was thankful they'd slowed down, because she was starting to feel a little nauseas.

Her comment made Jax chuckle again, this time from deep in his belly. "Yeah, you could say that... I used to be super skinny, had short hair, no tattoos, and big ugly glass..." he replied. Pausing at the top of the hill Jax put his feet down on the ground to steady them and looked back over his shoulder, "You doin' okay back there?" he asked, having noticed a slight tremor in her voice.

"Yeah, yeah i'm fine." She said, a tiny lie, but she didn't want to ruin the fun time that Jax was having.

Jax was sure she wasn't being one hundred percent honest, but he also realized she needed a distraction, so he let it slide. Slipping back into gear he started down the hill. "Hold on a little tighter, it's about to get a bit more intense," he said over the rush of the wind in their ears.

Chloe gasped as they started to come to the crest of the hill, and seeing how it twisted and turned. She grasped tighter around Jax's waist, smiling as she did so.

As he felt her grip tighten he opened the throttle up quite a bit more, sending the bike shooting down the hill and towards the twists and turns of the road laid out before them. A huge smile bloomed across his face, and he realized that the only thing that could make this any more fun would be having Mike there with him, but at least the present company was proving to be quite a fun person to get to know.

As they neared the first turn he leaned, ever so slightly, tilting the bike and shooting into the curve with a yell of pure joy.

Chloe leant with Jax, trying to keep the balance of the bike with him. She was still feeling a little sick, but not as much as she had before, and she was still enjoying the feeling of the wind through her hair. She gasped again as they went down another hill, steeper than the last, and she felt her stomach jump as they went down at quite a speed. "This is amazing!" She shouted, trying to be heard over the sound of the wind that was whipping at her face.

Jax continued on the track he had gone on so many times with Mike, all those years ago until it brought them back within view of the barn. Just as they were sliding around yet another tight curve he heard a pop and a sizzle, and suddenly the bike was losing altitude, and he could smell the acrid smell of burnt-out components. "Damn... Hold on, we've got a problem..." he said, struggling to keep the bike under his own control.

Finally, after a few minutes of struggling, he realized there was no way he was going to keep them airborne. "We're going down, brace yourself," he called out, leaning back and to the side to canter the bike up on its rear repulsors. With a screech of metal and crunch of plastic, the bike's rear end slammed into the ground and dug a groove into the ground as it continued for several meters before they lost enough momentum for the rest of the big to slam to the ground as well. As it skidded the last few feet Jax jumped, and pulled Chloe with him, hoping she knew how to tuck and roll as they hit the ground, and began to tumble down the hill.

Chloe tumbled down the hill, unsure what to do, and stupidly put her arms out to try and stop herself from hitting the ground head first, more out of instinct than need, as she assumed the safeties were on. The first thing she knew of a problem was a sudden pain in her right wrist. "Ahhhh!" She cried out in pain as she continued to roll.

Jax fared better, but he also had a lot of experience of falling off a hoverbike. Once they'd come to a stop be quickly scrambled up and approached Chloe. "Computer, end program!" he practically yelled, and then dropped beside her, his knees skidding across the holographic grass as it melted away. "Are you okay?" he asked, panting, his heart pounding in his ears.

Chloe sat up slowly, tears filling her eyes. "I think I might have broken my arm..." She said quietly, cradling her arm with her other arm, trying to fight away the tears.

"I am so sorry... I have no idea what happened. It was a holographic bike, that shouldn't even have been possible. And I had the safeties set to maximum, we should have been fully cushioned, even in mid-air..." he said, all of it tumbling out at once as he reached out and helped her to her feet. "We've gotta get you to sickbay," he added.

"It's not your fault Jax, honestly. It was probably a freak glitch in the system, and my own stupid fault for trying to put my arms out to stop myself from falling." She said, trying to smile, but grunting in pain as she was pulled up off the floor.

Jax nodded, letting her talk, and dismissing everything she said. It was his fault. He hadn't been as careful as he should have been. She'd never ridden before, he had no business doing some of the stunts he'd pulled. "Is anything else hurt? Can you walk?" he asked.

"I'm fine, except my arm. Please don't beat yourself up about it." She said. Jax looked as if he was beating himself up about it. "For me?" She asked.

Jax took a deep breath and then slowly let it out, forcing himself to calm down. "Alright, I'm better now, I'll try not to beat myself up. But we really do have to get you to sickbay."

Chloe nodded. "I suppose..." She said. "This could be fun." She muttered to herself.

Jax wasn't sure exactly why she was not already demanding to be taken to sickbay, but he couldn't worry about it right now. She needed medical care. Putting his arm around her waist, he pulled her closer so she could lean on him if she started to get dizzy or anything and began helping her make the trip to sickbay.

Chloe held onto Jax with her good arm. She was worried about going to sickbay, because she knew that Caleb would be on duty, and also that she had only recently left there after her first check-up on the baby.

=/\= To Be Continued =/\=

Cadet Freshman Grade Chloe Graydon
Operations Cadet
USS Poseidon

&

Petty Officer 1st Class Jaxson Morris
Propulsion Specialist
USS Poseidon

RSS Feed