"Luci, hold up a second!", Lenny shouted as he ran down the corridor after the ship's XO, "I got something to show you."

Stopping at Lenny's call, Luci turned to respond, "yes, Mr. Kearnan, what can I do for you?  You say you have something to show me, perhaps you should direct this request toward the captain."

Stopping for a moment to catch his breath, Lenny replied, "Actually Luci, this is something I've been working on for you.  I'm sure the boss won't mind and we can let her know about it after we're through.  If you'll just follow me to my workshop, I'll show you what I've created for you."

"Your workshop?", Luci queried, "when did you get a workshop?  I was not made aware of this... and as far as I know, neither was Aria."  Then with a sigh, "very well, take me to this workshop of yours and we shall inspect this item you have made."

As the pair approached a hatch at the end of one of the service corridors, Luci stated to the young man, "isn't this a garbage hold?"

"Was a garbage hold, when this ship had a full crew at one time.", Lenny proudly proclaimed, "took me three weeks of my off duty time to clean out every nook and cranny, and deodorize this place.  Then another three weeks to gather my equipment and set it up."  As Lenny punched in the access code, he said over his shoulder to the Lekkulion, "you're the first person to see the place, hope you like it."

Entering behind Lenny, Luci looked around at what the man had done with the area.  "I must say, Mr. Kearnan, you've seemed to have modified this area quite efficiently, I am impressed by your work ethic."  Continuing to glance around the room and noticing all the equipment present, Luci stated, "under normal circumstances, I would ask where all this equipment came from... but after years of working with humans, I've come to the conclusion that, as you say, 'it is best not look a gift horse in the mouth'.  Now let us have a look at this creation of yours."

Walking over to a workbench, Lenny picked up what appeared to be a common costume jewelry bracelet, then turned back to the Lekkulion and presented it to her.  "Here, put this on," he instructed the woman.

"While I appreciate the gift, Mr. Kearnan, I find it hard to fathom with all this advanced equipment," Luci flatly stated as she slid the bracelet on her wrist, "all you were able to create was this bauble"

"I designed it to look like that so that it's appearance wouldn't draw attention.  It's actually a holographic emitter, the middle stone will turn it on and off when squeezed.", Lenny informed her, then continued to explain, "you see Luci, it kind of bothered me that when we are in port, you have to remain on the ship because your unique appearance could draw unwanted attention to the ship and crew."

"I thank you for your concern, Mr. Kearnan, but I have accepted the situation," Luci replied to the man, "you should not have wasted your time with this endeavor."

"You're a friend Luci, it was never a waste of time," Lenny replied sheepishly, "and now, it's time to see if it works. If I've calibrated it right, when you turn it on, the emitter should camouflage your natural Lekkulion physique with the image of a human female."  Turning to his workbench to get a piece of equipment, Lenny continued to tell the woman,  "go ahead and turn it on.  I haven't had a live subject to test it on, so the emitters may need a little tweeking..."

With his back still turned toward Luci, the woman informed the man in a mildly irritated tone, "the mechanism seems to be working, but as you stated Mr. Kearnan, it appears to be in need of as you said, 'a little tweeking' ..."

To be continued...

++++++++++++++++

Not sure what's going on?  Well give this link a click: A Little Introduction Is In Order and hopefully it will clear things up for you.
Thanks for dropping by and hope you enjoyed yourself!
Until next time, this is Aria... signing off.