Short Fiction: the Orville - Hard Words

 Part 6: Hard Words

"Kelly," Laura felt a lot more comfortable in the bathrobe than being naked, and it was great to see Kelly. Laura looked out the window of Kelly's office at the stars and shook her head and turning to look at Kelly behind her desk with a little Kermit the Frog, smiled. "There are Stars out there."

"Yes Laura," Kelly turned from looking at Gordon Malloy and John LaMarr to looking at the hologram of Laura Huggins now somehow standing in her office in Kelly's white bathrobe and took a deep breath and nodded several times at the girl from Albany. "Those are real Stars."

"Can someone explain to me how Laura Huggins, hologram from Albany..." Laura walked over to Kelly's desk and picked up Kermit the frog to examine it forcing Kelly Grayson to reach out to retrieve it from the holographic hands of Laura Huggins intent on returning it to its place only to hold Laura's hands in hers. Laura felt flesh and blood warm. "...is now Laura Huggins, flesh and blood alive and standing in my office?"

"I know that." Gordon and John were cut off by Laura Huggins. "We were in that bar where Gordon said I was a hologram of the real Laura."

"And then he had me touch a silver metal that flowed into my hands making me feel a bit weird." Laura looked in the direction of Gordon Malloy who smilled at her and nodded, John LaMarr next to him staring at her. "And when I asked him what happened he said I should think of it like a hard light upgrade to my hologram."

"And I thought he was just pranking me about being a hologram," Laura looked from Gordon to Kelly again. "but when we left the bar my clothing vanished."

"Thanks Laura," Kelly got to her feet and stole back Kermit the Frog, guiding Laura backwards to a sofa, and out of reach of the antique Kermit the Frog that had been passed down Ed Mercer's family for centuries. "That gave me a sane person's perspective of what happened."

"Now," Captain Kelly Grason turned her gaze on Gordon Malloy. "By silver metal I assume Laura means the Kaylon stuff Isaac used to fix you?"

"Yes." Of course it was the Kaylon magic metal. Kelly hated being right. She waited for Gordon to finish confessing to his part in this as Kelly looked at Laura in amazement. "John had gathered up the remaining metal and had it on his desk in Engineering and was feeling frustrated by not understanding how it works and I thought I would get us a change of scenery on the holodeck."

"Okay," Kelly held up a finger to pause Gordon from speaking further and activated comms. "Isaac, please come to my office."

"Lieutenant Gordon Malloy," Kelly Grayson returned her attention to Gordon who immediatly breathed in and stood at attention. Kelly pointed at the door to her office. Laura was impressed that Kelly Grayson wielded that kind of respect for her position. "Twenty-four hour shift on the bridge starting now."

"Yes..." Gordon Malloy hadn't even gotten sleep after the last twenty-four hour shift and he realy didn't want to abandon Laura to the prodding and probing of Isaac but he had no choice. He looked at Laura for a moment. "...right away Captain."

Kelly Grayson waited until Gordon Malloy had removed himself from the room.

"Chief Engineer John LaMarr," Until Captain Grayson spoke his name he had been at the fringe of this conversation, but now he was balls deep in it. He starred at Kelly as she again sat down at the desk and watched as she tapped a mid finger against the back of her other hand as rested them on "I take it you have concerns about Gordon?"

"Some Captain," John LaMarr looked at Laura on the sofa who stared intently at the pair before returning his attention to Captain Grayson. "I don't even know how he could have thought to add that Kaylon metal to Laura's hologram or that it would give her a flesh and blood body."

"Captain," Isaac entered through the door to the Captain's ready room and found his attention drawn to the strange glowing life form sitting on the couch. His sensors could see that she exhibited all the hallmarks of being a flesh and blood human except that she had an unbelievably high photonic energy state. He paused as the strange lifeform responded with at his presence. He could not bring himself to look away. "You wish to see me?"

"Is that?" Laura got to her feet and walked toward the person in the odd suit of armour that looked like a robot with a smile at the idea they were all pranking her. "Gordon is that you?"

"That is Isaac, a Kaylon." Kelly thought introductions were in order. "Isaac, this is Laura Huggins, a holographic human."

"Kaylon?" Laura was realizing that the Suit of armour was in fact not Gordon and stepped back. "You mean like the liquid metal Gordon used to turn my hologram into flesh and blood?"

"This..." At the information provided by the entity identified as Laura Huggins, Isaac turned in surprise and looked at Captain Kelly Grayson and Chief Engineer John LaMarr. "...is most unexpected."

Chief Engineer John LaMarr said what they were all thinking: "And then some."