Subject: FRONTIER: Keanu tells Houston where to go

SD 80510

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FRONTIER Engineering

>Houston returned to see Keanu still in the office.  She walked round and 
>in the door, taking a seat opposite him.  She folded her arms on the
>desk gazed at him, the familiar feelings sweeping through her.  Only
>now she wasn't afraid so much of what it could do to her.


Keanu looked up from his console, he could tell she was going to be 
trouble. "We need to talk. I want you to know that I have no feelings 
for you. Last night was... last night was a mistake." He tapped his 
comm badge, [Festore, report to my office now, Maren out.]

Houston reached for Keanu, "But I love you."

"Houston, I don't care," he said as he pushed her hands away, "I don't
want to be with you."

She leaned back in her seat.  "Why not?"

Keanu held up his hand, "One, I'm not attracted to you. Two, there's 
someone else." 

She sighed and remarked, "If I recall correctly, you were not so slow 
to take up such a proposition before.  What has changed?"

"That was different," Keanu was interrupted by the door.

<Tweedle bleep>

"Come in," said Keanu as Festore came in.

"I'm not... interrupting anything am I?" asked Festore sardonically.

Keanu met his stare, "Sit down. I want you to know that I was not 
responsible for last night."

Neil's gaze shifted to Houston, "Thanks, I'll stand.  And I don't give
a damn, as far as I am concerned it is *over*."

Keanu waited a few seconds, "Houston, you don't love me, its just a 
crush. You should be with Neil, he's the one you love."

"That is not true," she replied.  "Last night changed everything, 
Keanu.  Everything."

"Look, for the last time, I don't want you, I don't care for you, and 
I don't find myself attracted to you." Keanu got up and left the room.

He walked over to the warp core to ckeck on the progress. It was going
slow, the core started to take shape, there was still lots of work to 
be done.

He felt a tap on his shoulder, and turned round with an angry 
expression to face whom he thought was Houston.

"Hello, Keanu," said Caroline Ramsay.  "Is there something I can do?  
The holodeck's on the blink, and I've just spent an hour in my 
quarters exhausting every possible avenue of entertainment."  She 
looked down for a moment at Christopher, who was strapped into a 
carry-cot.

"You could help with the new core." Keanu said, "I think I'm going to 
go to sickbay, I feel a little ill."

"Oh?  How come?" she asked, catching the suggestion in his eye.

"I've had a tough night. And Houston is bugging me."

Caroline frowned, "Tell me about it."

"Oh, I'm sure someone will tell you about before long. But I'm not to 
blame," Keanu said as he rubbed his head with his hand.

"Well, I'd rather hear it from you than anyone else," she replied with
a smile, "I get the feeling you're the one who's come off the worst."

"Well, last night I was a little drunk. And Houston and Calidan stayed
the night in my quarters," Keanu said as his headache got worse.

"Ah.  I see.  So what's the problem now?"

"She thinks she loves me. And Neil's found out. I'll be in sickbay if 
anyone needs me." Keanu left and headed towards the turbolift.


FRONTIER Sickbay

"Doctor, do you have anything for a headache?" asked Keanu as he walked in.

"Yes, I have a hypospray for everything," she smiled.  "How long have you 
had this headache?"

"Since this morning."

"Any idea what brought it on?"

"Joanna."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Joanna has been pestering me all morning, she thinks she loves me."

"Had it occurred to you maybe it's not a crush?" asked Ruth patiently.

"It had.  Look, she can't possibly love me, and even if she does I don't 
love her."  He paused for a moment, "And why am I telling you this?"

"Because you're worried about her.  You forget, I can sense these things.  
Even without using my empathic senses, I can tell by your face what you're 
feeling."

"Why, of all the people on the ship, did she have to pick me?"

"Good-"  Ruth cut herself short, then amended, "You really have to assess 
what's on offer here.  I mean, you're probably happy with Calidan at the 
moment, but would you be better off with Houston?  Who can tell?  At the
end of the day, it's your decision, but personally I like to keep my
options open where love is concerned.  That's how I can have a date with
Patrick tonight and still keep seeing Neil.  He doesn't mind you see,
because he knows he has a head-start on Patrick already."

"Thanks... I'll think it over," said Keanu, leaving Sickbay.

Ruth called after him, "What about your headache?" but he was already gone.


            _________________                
           /                 ||||   Respectfully submitted:
          /   ()  ()  ()  () ||||   Dale Forster
         /___________________||||   [Lt.] Keanu Maren, CEO FRONTIER
             /     /   /            
            /     /__ /   
           /     /        
          /_____/      


      S            [Captain] William Ramsay, CO FRONTIER             S
    D   A          [Cmdr] Caroline Ramsay, rodXO FRONTIER          A   D
  R       M        [Lt.Cmdr] Joanna Houston, aXO FRONTIER        M       R
A       M                                                          M       A
  W   E       "He said, `You're too late.  We're everywhere'."       E   W
    D                       Odo, Star Trek: DS9                        D