Sumiko closed the lid on the cylindrical case that held the items she was going to need while Atlantia was docked. The crew had been ordered to take leave while the ship was having her warp coils replaced. She opted to pack light as they were only expected to be docked for a few days at the station, but made sure to bring enough to get her through a conference on subspace field harmonics and deflector shield modulations that she had heard was taking place on Earth later that afternoon.

Maybe I can take the time to visit mom in Okinawa while I’m here. She thought to herself.

Tossing the case’s strap over her shoulder, she took one final look around her quarters to make sure she hadn’t missed anything before leaving and then instructed the computer to turn out the lights.

With more than a hundred people both incoming and outgoing all trying to funnel through a narrow corridor at the same time, Sumiko began to think that perhaps today was the wrong day to take the catwalk rather than transport off the ship. She was however already committed and bore the frustration as she waited impatiently for her turn.

Ruvok had been anticipating a change of scenery from the Tesla, though he liked the ship it was nice to have a change. He had been asked to take part in a conference at Earth Spacedock. The Tesla had been tasked with a small mission to Vulcan and Michael had approved Ruvok for a slight leave from the ship.

He had arrived at the Spacedock only hours earlier and wasn’t quite sure where he would be staying, but he beamed down to Earth and looked for a place to stay near the conference location. He decided on a small condo for the week-long conference.

After settling in he went and grabbed a bite to eat wondering what he would run into during the conference.

Finally making it through the crowded mess, Sumiko found herself standing in the arrivals and departures lounge. This was the first time she had actually been to Earth Spacedock. All of her tours of duty, she’d either beamed directly to the ship, or was escorted by runabout.

She found herself an isolated location to sit and pulled out a PADD from her carry case to refresh her memory of the event location. The conference was to be held at a conference hall between Golden Gate Park and the Presidio. She scanned a list of hotels, apartments and condos within a five kilometer radius that had listed vacancies and settled on a condo a mere couple of blocks away.

Registering the coordinates in her PADD, she located the nearest station directory to guide her to the closest transporter room.

When she materialized in the streets of San Francisco, she could feel the warmth of the mid-morning sun caressing her face, and the smell of the salty sea waters penetrating her nostrils. A sensation she had not experienced since she was a cadet. The life of a Starfleet officer was not easy, especially when one could spend years in deep space before even the remote possibility of leave to return home.

Masking the sun from her eyes with her hand, Sumiko glanced around to orient herself and located the condo. It took her a few minutes to settle the arrangements with the management, but ended up with a small unit on the third floor.

Once she was settled into her unit, she still had some time to kill before the conference, and decided that lunch was in order and proceeded back to the open streets to search for a nearby cafe to eat.

Ruvok had settled into the condo and was getting bored in the room. He decided to go for a run. He hadn’t run in quite a while, but it was always something he loved doing. He put on his running shoes and changed into something a bit more comfortable and headed out. He had been to San Francisco when he was a Cadet, but he hadn’t returned since. The sun was blinding and added heat to the run, which was relaxing and rewarding all the same.

After a decent run Ruvok headed back to the condo to clean up and grab lunch. It was still rather early. He had arrived earlier than he had expected too. He made it back to the condo and was heading for the stairs when he ran into an unexpected object.

Sumiko went tumbling to the ground from the sudden impact of being run into. She had clearly not been paying attention to where she was going, allowing her stomach to dictate where she had been watching.

Ruvok glanced down at the girl now half seated on the ground before him. She was beautiful, he had to admit, but he wasn’t quite sure what happened.

“I apologize I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going.” He said embarrassed.

“Forget about it.” She began as she stared at the moderately attractive Vulcan that stood before her while flirtatiously brushing her hair behind her ear, “It’s as much my fault as it is yours.”

He helped her to her feet and looked her over to make sure nothing was broken all while she attempted to brush any dirt from her uniform.

“Again, my apologies. I need to be more careful.” He said, wondering if he should just walk away or see if she had anything to say.

She had honestly not expected a response from her actions, knowing full well that Vulcans suppressed their emotions. Therefore, thinking nothing of it, she let out a polite smile and bid him a good day and continued in pursuit of nourishment.

With lunch taken care of, a succulent braised lemon chicken and risotto, Sumiko tidied her dinnerware to be collected and then proceeded back to the condo to prepare herself for the afternoon keynote address.

She would have preferred to wear something more comfortable and feminine, but given that the conference was work related, she recycled her dirty uniform and replicated a fresh one before hopping in the sonic shower to freshen up. She could have stayed in there all day letting the vibrations break away all that dirt and grime of the day, including anything from her tumble earlier. She couldn’t help but think of that Vulcan man that ran into her. Who was he? Was he Starfleet?, she thought to herself.

As the sonic shower finished, Sumiko wrapped herself up in her towel and proceeded back to the bedroom to put on her uniform. She stood there for a moment wishing she had packed her favorite perfume, but in her haste to leave the ship, it was one of the luxuries that she felt she could do without. Not to mention, ship protocol often meant going without scented products in the workplace.

She quickly went and replicated herself a small vial and applied a small amount to her wrists and rubbed them together before applying another small amount to her neck. Now she had that sense of femininity that she desired, even though she was still in uniform.

Now feeling set to go, she reached for her carry case containing a PADD with her work notes and questions she would have for the panelists and headed out the door.

It was a lovely walk to the Conference Centre. The sun was still shining as it had been previously and the sound of birds chirping was very melodic and soothing. For a moment Sumiko had forgotten that she was on a work related trip, but seeing the crowd of people attempting to gain access to the building, snapped her back to reality at the realization that it would take her several minutes to finally get inside.

Ruvok had decided to take a nap before the conference which was slated to begin around 15:30 that afternoon. After the embarrassing accident earlier Ruvok couldn’t seem to get the stranger out of his head. The face kept flashing before his eyes as he tried to sleep. After trying to fall asleep for an hour he decided to just wake up and get ready for the conference.

After another quick shower and putting on his uniform he decided to head for the conference location and see at which panel he would be a part of. He hadn’t planned on being a part of the conference, but he was asked to participate in a panel.

He arrived at the conference location already seeing a queue forming, but with the pass he was given he got through without having to wait, as he made his way into the conference center the room opened up into a huge foyer and hallway. The center was bathed in pure white, but with many holographic banners hanging to show what was currently happening. The echo of voices reverberated through the halls like an alarm on a starship. A slight scent of refreshment hit Ruvok’s nose. His stomach growled at the thought of eating, but was quickly quiet again.

Ruvok was walking towards the auditorium, which had soft music emanating from it, as if it was a distraction to the throng of people present. He stopped for a second after he looked over and thought he saw the human female from the earlier accident, but before he was able to tell the female turned her back to him.

Ruvok felt a lump in his throat. He was Vulcan, but he was also human and emotions were always a problem for him. On the one hand he knew it wasn’t logical to feel emotion like he was over someone he didn’t know. He started to walk over towards the female when he was interrupted by a former academy mate who was attending the conference. Ruvok wasn’t wanting to be rude, but ended the conversation as quickly as he could with an excuse that he needed to find the event staff. When he looked up the female was gone after looking all around him he could not spot the stranger and decided to walk towards the auditorium spotting an event staff member.

The staff member smiled at Ruvok as he approached. The staff member was tall and decently built. A feeling of power came across as Ruvok approached.

“How can I help, Sir?” The man asked.

Ruvok pulled up his identification card “I am trying to find out where I need to go and when for this panel.”

The man opened a PADD and looked before smiling again “Ahh yes Lieutenant Ruvok! Head through that hallway to the backstage and find stage director Krevok. He will get you all set up.”

Ruvok nodded and glanced at the man’s name tag “Thank you, Nrian.” He said, trying not to butcher the name.

Having finally reached the interior of the conference hall and locating the auditorium in which her specific panel was to be held, Sumiko entered to see an aisle separating two large groupings of chairs with a podium and microphone at the head of the aisle for people to ask questions to the prospective panelists. A stage with a long rectangular table with chairs and microphones for seven individuals, each with a nameplate before it was at the furthest end of the room. She proceeded down the aisle and took an empty seat about four rows back from the front between some Bolians and a Human delegation.

The main reason for Sumiko attending the conference this particular day was that Reginald Barclay was supposed to deliver the keynote address. However, it was rumored that he was out sick with some kind of ailment and a Commander Steinbeck was to be delivering it in his stead. Sorely disappointed, she still attended anyway.

Over the next several minutes the auditorium continued to fill up with more and more guests from various Federation delegations across the quadrant, all looking to hear the latest and greatest developments. As soon as the room was seemingly at capacity, the lights dimmed and the main stage lighting kicked in. The room grew silent as everyone waited for the event to commence.

Ruvok had followed the hallway that he had been urged to go down, finding himself backstage and quickly stopped by a gruff voice “What are you doing back here?”

Ruvok jumped slightly as he turned to see a well built Klingon looking at him. Ruvok smiled and handed the man his id card. “I was told to find Krevok. I am a part of the panel taking place after the keynote speaker.”

The man stopped and cautiously observed the ID before handing it back and nodding “My apologies Lieutenant Ruvok. This way please.” he said, motioning for Ruvok to follow him. After a small walk, he found himself in the dressing room where a worker applied makeup before his appearance. He could see the main stage through the monitors in the dressing room, as the conference kicked off he could see the auditorium was packed and started to feel a few nerves emerge. This was one of the first times he had partaken in such a big event.

He was interrupted as the worker combed back his hair and nodded “You ready Lieutenant?”

Ruvok nodded as he looked to see the keynote speaker take position and began their speech. He was quickly rushed to the area where he would walk on stage. He listened to the keynote which was disappointing since it wasn’t the original planned speaker. He was given an earpiece and put in the line with the other panelist. He didn’t know any of them personally just through professional means.

The audience applauded showing the keynote speaker had concluded and Ruvok along with the other panelists were rushed onto the stage, the lights blinding him as he walked to his seat. He sat down putting down the PADD he had with him. As his eyes adjusted he looked out at the crowd not really able to see the faces. He smiled and waited.

Sumiko just about gasped and her heart nearly skipped a beat when she saw the panelists take their places. It’s the Vulcan from earlier! She thought. She never expected him to be a panelist at the conference. There were questions she had planned to ask during this panel, but now realizing that the man she suddenly became infatuated with could potentially be answering those questions made her nervous to her core. Suck it up Sumiko. It’s just another officer in uniform. Think of him as a colleague when you’re addressing him. She said to herself as she attempted to psych herself up.

One by one guests made their way up to the podium and asked their questions, and in turn, one of the panelists would inevitably speak up and answer. Finally building up enough courage to speak up, she stood and snuck past the two Bolians to her left to get in line. A Tellarite and a Denobulan stood ahead of her.

Ruvok patiently listened to the questions from the audience, each member answering in order. The answers were all professional and determined to show the knowledge of the members. Ruvok was next to answer and he began to wonder just what question he would be asked.

When Sumiko’s turn finally came up, she placed her PADD down on the podium and cleared her throat. She felt like she was going to throw up, but she knew inside she could do this. She glanced up at the seven individuals on stage and began to speak “Good after…”

Her voice crackled in a slightly higher pitch than normal from her nervousness. She paused and then continued. “Ahem…Good afternoon. Lieutenant Commander Sumiko Tamura of the USS Atlantia. I have two questions I’d like to ask the panel. Regarding the issue surrounding the shield frequency degradation in the upper EM bands, have there been any breakthroughs in nominalizing such power losses and maintaining shield strengths?”

She gazed upon the stage as she waited for one of the panelists to speak up, all the while hoping it would be the Vulcan to answer her question. She simply could not take her eyes off of him.

The voice was not what Ruvok expected and it shocked him. It was the girl he could hear the voice just like he did earlier that day. His heart jumped and he tried to stay composed from the revelation she was present.

Ruvok cleared his throat and began to answer the question. He made a mental note of the girl’s name Sumiko Tamura before speaking.

“In most cases it is still an issue, though some ships have tried some experimental ideas. For instance the Engineering Officer on my ship The USS Tesla has begun to test the minimization of degradation in the EM bands by finding any spare power and applying it to the system, in doing so it has been simulated to help the shield strength by continuing to harden the strength and maintain a steady power flow.”

Sumiko was pleased that the Vulcan accepted her particular question to answer. She eyed the nameplate in front of his microphone and made sure to document not only his answer, but also his name into her PADD before readying herself with her followup question.

Looking back up at the lieutenant, she spoke up, “My second question is during times of combat, we’ve been able to increase the range of shield modulations using redundant systems as an alternate power source to feed into the primary shield grid as well as using their inverses. Are you aware of any blueprint redesigns, short of feeding power directly from the warp core to increase the power capacity of the shield generators on a more permanent basis?”

Ruvok waited as he expected another panelist to answer the question, but all the panelists looked his way. He stared blankly at the group So this is what it feels like being put on the spot.

He turned back to the crowd and put on the face that would be expected and he began to answer Sumiko’s other question. “Combat is a tricky situation and for engineers even more so. I’m constantly being fed information from the engineers. Shield modulations can vary in range, yes, but sometimes depending on the atmosphere it is not possible to increase the ranges. That being said redundant systems are often used just for the purpose of an alternate power source and on my ship the Captain feeds the shield grid depending on the situation. I can’t give you a redesign l, but if I recall from reading, the USS Aurelius did a similar redesign so that the shield generators had a permanent increase of 7%. It may not seem like much, but when needed it can be a big help.”

Sumiko absorbed every word the lieutenant said in detail and thanked him for his answers before returning to her seat. She was impressed with the level of detail he provided and she planned to take this knowledge to the chief engineer as soon as she was back on the ship.

The event continued with the remaining delegate representatives posing their questions and in turn getting responses. Sumiko was nearly oblivious to what was going on. She couldn’t get that Vulcan out of her mind. Ruvok, she thought. She had to meet him, but she would have to wait until the conclusion of the panel, otherwise she might appear disinterested if she was noticed.

Ruvok continued to answer questions from other members of the audience, but in the back of his mind he kept thinking of the girl. Sumiko, he knew unlike most Vulcans he wasn’t the same and his parents always told him don’t be ashamed of who you are. Ruvok was his own person, but he was good at his job and to most of Starfleet that was all that mattered. He had to meet her, but he did not know when. His mind reeled back to the panel and he waited for his next question.

Sumiko wasted no time leaving the hall after the panel had concluded. If she was going to find this Vulcan, Ruvok, she was going to have to get out before anyone else had the chance.

Arriving in the main foyer, she looked around trying to see if she could spot him. He probably hasn’t come out yet, she said to herself. She continued to scan the area and had nearly given up, until she noticed a woman with a lanyard around her neck holding an identification card for the conference. If there was anyone that could help her in her search, it would be this woman.

She approached the woman and politely interrupted her conversation with another colleague. “Excuse me miss.”

The woman turned her attention to Sumiko with a mild visible sense of irritation and waited for Sumiko to continue. “I’m looking for a gentleman who is a panelist at this convention. Where might I be able to find him after the conclusion of one of the talks?”

The woman’s expression changed from one of irritation to one of absolute cluelessness. After a brief few seconds of thought, she answered, “I’m not exactly sure. I was brought on for access control for the event, but there’s a door back from where you came on the left. I’ve seen people going in and out of there all day. I think it leads backstage. If I had to guess, I’d say that your friend will come out of there at some point.”

Sumiko thanked the woman for her help, as vague as it was and proceeded to the area in front of the door that had been pointed out to her to wait and hope this man would show up.

Ruvok was inundated with people coming to him after the panel wanting to ask him questions at the edge of the stage. He had tried to answer as many questions as he could. The whole panel had taken up the remaining amount of time for the conference that day.

Ruvok finally concluded the last question and left the stage grabbing his stuff as he left. He made his way through the backstage area and was thinking of the girl, as he left the backstage area and entered the hall. He wasn’t paying attention, but heard his name called and snapped back to reality.

He recognized the voice and it was her. He stopped immediately and looked ahead. There she was standing in front of him. Beautiful and charming just as he remembered her. He didn’t know what to do. He froze for a moment and tried to figure out what he should do. He finally realized he probably looked like an idiot and snapped out of it.

He quickly walked up to her and smiled, “A pleasure to see you again especially since I didn’t plow into you this time.” He said with a bit of embarrassment still present.

Sumiko blushed, embarrassed that he remembered the run in from earlier. “Lieutenant…” she paused for a second desperately wanting to remember his name, but in the heat of the moment it was the one thing that was escaping her, “Lieutenant Revok, correct? I want to thank you for answering my questions. We’ve had a couple of situations where those situations came up and our chief engineer and I felt we had come up with solutions, but the results were only marginally improved.”

He smiled “It’s actually Ruvok, but that’s ok. I’m glad I could answer your questions. It was my pleasure! Those situations are not easy and overcoming them can be very difficult.”

He stopped and thought for a second. “I was actually planning to go on my evening run. Would you like to join me? Of course, I need to go back to my room and change, but I’d really like it if you’d join me?”

She looked at him and smiled, “I would love to.”

It didn’t matter what Ruvok had asked her to join him in doing, as long as she had the chance to spend some time with him, it was all that mattered at present.

The two exchanged pleasantries on the way back to their temporary lodgings to gather their workout clothing. Sumiko surmised that Ruvok came prepared with his attire, but given that she had not expected to be doing any physical activity during this trip, she packed light. It was alright. She could easily replicate something appropriate.

As Ruvok proceeded to his unit to prepare, Sumiko entered hers. “Computer, any messages while I was away?” she said, closing the condo door behind her.

“There are two messages.” The computer replied.

“Who are they from?”

“There is one from Captain Treylana Hess, and one from Hashira Tamura.”

She hadn’t heard from her sister in months. How would she have known she was on Earth? She thought. “Computer, display message from Hashira.”

Sumiko had expected a written message, but no sooner had she asked for the message to be displayed, she heard the energetic voice of her younger sister, “Sumiko! Why didn’t you tell me you were in orbit? Bob in Molecular Sciences told Stacy Atlantia was docked. You should stop by the house. Mom would love to see you. Contact me as soon as you can. Bye.”

“Of course Bob and Stacy would have talked to each other, and Stacy and Hasira work for the same company.” She muttered to herself. She had already planned on visiting her mother, but after hearing the message from her sister, she had all the more reason. She then requested the message to be shown from her captain.

She was surprised at the message. Atlantia was being put in for refit and effective immediately all personnel were hereby transferred to the USS Horizon. Departure to take place at zero-nine-hundred hours in seven days time. “Well…that’s gonna cut vacation short.”

She quickly went and changed her clothes and then headed back out to look for Ruvok, who undoubtedly was already waiting for her.

Ruvok had enjoyed the small amount of talk on the way back to their lodgings, which excited him for more time with Sumiko. He had noticed a message in his PADD when he arrived at his room. The odds of getting a message that would be priority was rare and he knew the contents must have been important.

He quickly pulled it up glancing at the message. It was from Captain Ryder. The message was short but informed him that the crew of the Tesla were being reassigned. He stopped for a second fearing the worst. Then he realized they were being upgraded to a Vesta class. His eyes got wide at the shocking revelation and realized he needed to get changed. He laid the PADD down making a note of the new announcement.

He quickly changed into his athletic outfit and headed to the entrance of the building. He had beat Sumiko and began a few warm up stretches as he did his mind wandered to what he and Sumiko would be doing over the next few days, which he was sure would be more exciting than he had anticipated. This was the one unexpected surprise he was happy about. He didn’t usually have good surprises so this was a nice change and after the stressful event of the Tesla’s last mission he needed something to calm him down. His thoughts were interrupted when he heard Sumiko’s smooth and beautiful voice calling out.

“I’m sorry if I’ve kept you waiting long. I received a couple of messages while I was at the conference that I wanted to check before our run.” she said as she reached behind to grab her foot to begin her warm up.

“It seems my arrival back at Earth didn’t go unnoticed. My sister sent a message and suggested I come home to visit mom while I’m here.” she continued.

Ruvok nodded as he understood what Sumiko meant, though his parents hadn’t messaged him this time around. He knew how busy they were and didn’t hold it against them, but in Vulcan culture it was a bit different, however with a human parent the amount of compromise sometimes was exhausting.

He raised an eyebrow “You said a couple that sounded like one message to me.”

“Oh that? That one was just a message from my captain. It seems the entire crew is being transferred to a new ship. Nothing critical, but glad I found out before going back to a ship that’s completely empty.”

Ruvok shook his head “It must be something in the air. I was informed by my Captain we are transferring to a new ship as well. Probably not what any of us were expecting, but it’s a nice upgrade nonetheless.”

“I have to agree. While I’ll miss the Atlantia, I’m sure the new ship will feel like home in no time. Not to mention, the challenges that await on a newer class vessel.”

Finishing her warmup, and seeing that Ruvok was ready to begin, the two set off down the street. Sumiko had suggested a path that would take them through the Presidio and finish along the beaches near the Golden Gate bridge. Long enough to make the run worthwhile but also it would have the two arrive near dusk and the lights would be illuminating making for a pleasant view of the bay. Probably inconsequential to a Vulcan, she thought.

Ruvok agreed to the route, but he didn’t care if they went down a boring route; he just felt happy and it was something he didn’t understand. He struggled with emotions in some cases. He knew he liked Sumiko, but happiness wasn’t something he felt often and he didn’t know how to react. He just pushed the doubt out of his head.

In an attempt to strike up a conversation during the run, Sumiko remembered that Ruvok had been in uniform during the conference; gold if she could recall correctly. He also mentioned the Tesla. Was he engineering? Tactical? Operations? “What line of work do you do on the Tesla?”

The question from Sumiko made Ruvok chuckle, “Well, gold does leave a lot to the imagination. I am the Tesla’s Chief Operations Officer. It can be quite the job sometimes, but Captain Ryder is a good CO and even in the few missions the Tesla has partaken in while I have been aboard it has taught me the Captain cares more about his crew and would do anything to keep us safe.”

He looked over at Sumiko for a moment as they passed an area where the light illuminated perfectly. “Look to your left, quite a view don’t you think?”

Unsure of what Ruvok was wanting her to look at, she turned to look in the direction indicated and could see a stunning view of San Francisco Bay. One which she had not remembered since her Academy days. Based on her ignorance of Vulcan culture, it seemed odd for him to emphasize beauty, even illogical and so she mentioned it to him.

He nodded “Well, contrary to what some think people don’t realize I’m half Vulcan. I do struggle with some parts of juggling the two cultures, but I have continued to work on refining who I want to be as a person.”

Aside from what she knew about Spock from history books, she was not immediately familiar with any other hybrid Vulcans. “That’s admirable. I had no idea that Vulcans would struggle as such. I always assumed you would be in complete control of your thoughts and emotions.” she replied, unintentionally allowing her ignorance to show.

Ruvok shook his head “In most cases you would be right, but you could call me an exception. I behold beauty, but to admit beauty can be hard…like how beautiful you look at this moment.” he said as his eyes locked onto Sumiko’s eyes showing the honest truth behind his words.

Sumiko blushed. She didn’t know what to say. The fact that he was opening up to her in a way that she had not expected for a Vulcan excited her. She wanted to express her true feelings toward him; that she felt an attraction to him but she didn’t want to be too forward. She’d only recently met this man. She didn’t even know if he was available. Could she make such an assumption based on his actions? She thought to herself.

“I’m flattered.” She replied, “I find you quite attractive as well, but if I’m to be honest, I almost didn’t say anything out of fear of how you’d react.”

Ruvok looked over at her and smirked “If I am being honest I thought you might punch me, but I thought the best thing I could do was to tell you the truth. I have learned it is best to be honest and see what happens than to never say anything and miss out on an opportunity of a lifetime.”

Sumiko smiled, almost to the point of giggling thinking that he believed that anyone could strike a Vulcan successfully. However, now she knew the truth about how he felt, and she felt the same toward him. With this newfound knowledge, she took the remainder of their run, which had now turned into a casual stroll and the rest of the evening for the two of them to get acquainted in greater detail.