Date: Fri, 22 May 1998 01:00:24 -0400 From: Elizabeth Jones Subject: The Party: Part Four Sender: owner-tales@mcfeeley.cc.utexas.edu To: "'tales@mcfeeley.cc.utexas.edu'" Reply-to: tales@mcfeeley.cc.utexas.edu Part Four: Set 'Em Up, Knock 'Em Down Katie was standing in an honest to God ballroom, with white, marble, veined floors slick beneath her feet. On the far wall, windows ran from floor to ceiling. A French door led to what Katie assumed was a balcony. The room's only illumination was the moonlight that fell on the floor in patches and the flickering of strategically placed candles. It was everything Katie expected a masked party to be. "Her Majesty, the Queen of Hearts." Katie was started, whirled around to see just where the voice was coming from. From the shadows by the door, a Harlequin grinned out at her. He was apparently playing door man this evening. More sound at her back caused Katie to turn around again. A crowd had gathered at the bottom of the steps, and now they were cheering, laughing, clapping, or just generally carrying on. It was a rare treat for them to see the unflappable Katie Hitchcock flustered. Regaining her composure, she swept down to where her hosts were waiting at the foot of the stairs. To Katie's further consternation, Nathan sketched a small bow as she came swirling up to him and Kristin. Katie sighed. She had hoped since Kristin knew who she was, all this faux identity stuff could be laid aside for the evening. Apparently not. "Your Majesty, " Bridger began smoothly, "may I introduce myself. I am Mr. Knightley, and this," he indicated Kristin, who curtsied in turn, "is my wife Emma." Katie smothered a grin; she'd have to tell Tim he' had been right. "If you would please sign this paper." Kristin proffered a small slip of paper and a pen. Katie took them, looking confused. Seeing her confusion, Kristin explained, " Something we did at these parties when my parents used to have them here. It's a dance system. Everyone signs their name on a slip of paper and puts it in one box. After that take a name from another box. When you find that person whose name you drew, you owe them three dances. Then you have to hazard a guess at that person's real identity." Both were staring at her expectantly. Katie sighed. Seeing she was outgunned slowly put her name in one box, then looked beseechingly at Kristin. Who just smiled and proffered the other box.. Resigning herself to her fate, Katie slipped her hand into the box. She blindly snatched a scrap of paper then retreated into the crowd. "Emma" sat the box down, then stooped down to pull another box out from beneath a nearby table cloth. Quite efficiently, she whisked the first box back under the table, picked up the second, and went on grinning like the Cheshire cat. Did it work?" queried her husband. "Two down, one to go." Kristin Bridger only laughed in return. In the crowd, Katie Hitchcock looked at the name on her piece of paper, then looked again to make sure. The Waiting One. That could mean anyone! Katie surveyed the thronging crowd with growing dismay. Julianna made her way through the crowd, getting more frustrated by the minute. What was Kristin *on* when she decided to have this stupid party? What was she thinking? Besides torturing the general population of the seaQuest ? > She looked down again at the piece of paper in her hand; it read, in bold and decidedly male handwriting, D'Artagnan. Julianna assumed she was looking for a wanna be Musketeer. So far she had seen no one matching that description. In her concentration, Julianna barely noticed where she was going-and plowed right into a guy who had to be Lucas. Julianna began cursing mentally to herself, this was *not* the way she'd plan to meet him at this party. Would he recognize her? He was blinking rapidly, then staring blankly. She knew he was trying to place her. Well, she honestly hoped he was just happy to see her. "Julianna?" he whispered. Oh boy, even the way he said her name was turning her into a big pile of goo. "Yes, it's me." His smile was equal in wattage to that of a small sun. "Julianna!" Julianna was dumb- founded. This reaction was *not* what she had expected. Still she wasn't about to lose this chance. With a delighted smile on her face, Kristin watched Lucas practically tackle Julianna. Her smile grew wider when they hugged and Julianna gave her the thumbsup sign. "Mr. Knightley" gave his wife a small nudge. "You are enjoying this, aren't you?" "Of course!" she laughed brightly in return. "I am not myself tonight, I am completely Emma, so blame her!" Before Nathan could even think of a reply, Kristin went on. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go bring Ford out." She began to move away. Nathan caught her by the elbow, holding her fast in place. "What exactly did you do to the poor man?" Kristin's smile was positively wicked. So that's all so far folks...any suggestions? Things you'd like to see done differently? Suggestions for Ford's costume? E-mail me! :) lilyj@citynet.net Date: Fri, 22 May 1998 00:43:50 -0400 From: Elizabeth Jones Subject: The Party: Part One Sender: owner-tales@mcfeeley.cc.utexas.edu To: "'tales@mcfeeley.cc.utexas.edu'" Reply-to: tales@mcfeeley.cc.utexas.edu Forgot to disclaim!!! These characters are *not* mine. They belong to Amblin and all that lot. Sarah Elizabeth is Iain's... On with it... The Party By Ellie Part One: Now *There's* Something Scary For Halloween It was that idea which now had Kristin perched on a step ladder six feet off the ground, wearing a green, velvet Regency style gown. She was hanging the last of the crepe. Well, she was trying to hang the last of the crepe. If only her *beloved* spouse was not having linguistics problems. She was trying hard to keep both her balance *and* her temper. "All I want is some more crepe," she called down, for what seemed the like the thousandth time. Nathan looked up at her, confusion written all over her face. "Some more what?" "Crepe." She sighed in exasperation. " Those things you twist together, hang from the ceiling, and any other available space?" Nathan understood it now but apparently felt like teasing her for a bit "Oh, you mean streamers." "No I mean *crepe,*" she snipped, not really annoyed. Nathan continued to claim confusion. "You know I love you, but sometimes it feels like we're not speaking the same language," he called up to her. Nonetheless, Kristin always had a come back. "That's because I am speaking English as God intended, "she made a final adjustment to a sagging "piece of crepe", "and you, dear Nathan, are using a corruption." "Is that more of the Anglofanaticism I get on a daily basis?" he grinned, shaking his head. "Just because." His wife's retort was cut off just as Jonathan Ford appeared seemingly, out of nowhere, to hand Kristin a roll of orange and black twisted streamers. "Thank you." She glared pointedly at her husband. "It is a sad day when Jonathan Ford understands me better than you do." Her smile took the sting out of words . "Easy enough," Ford interjected, "always know your enemy." The commander barely ducked in time to avoid the roll of streamers that "accidentally" tumbled from Kristin's hand. " Jonathan," she said sacchrine sweetly, " shouldn't you be putting your costume on by now. The rest of the crew are going to be here quite soon..." "If that's my cue to step out, I will gladly take it." Ford went ducking out *of* a near by door. Kristin decided she was done with the crepe, and there was nothing left to decorate with. Now, if she could only descend the ladder in one piece. Kristin frowned, sized up the distance between her and the ground. Easier said than done. Sensing his wife could use some assistance, and was probably too proud to ask for it, Nathan made his way over. He wrapped his hands securely around her waist, lifting her off the last two rungs and setting her down on the floor. "You shouldn't have done that," Kristin mildly scolded, "you might have hurt yourself." "And where would I be if you'd fallen and broken your neck," Nathan retorted. Kristin snorted. "Oh I don't know." She wiggled around, his hands still on her waist, until they stood face to face. "Probably off chasing some woman young enough to be your daughter." She was grinning broadly so he didn't take offense. As she expected, he laughed out right. "You really think so?" he mused. His laughter was contagious, she caught it, and couldn't shake it. Soon she was laughing so hard she had to lean up against him for support. Not that Nathan minded in the last bit, she was sure. "No!" she finally managed to gasp out. "Not unless you were a pod person or had your personality completely re-written!" Nathan gave a mock shudder. "Now *there's* something scary for Halloween." Suddenly, a sound like a thousand bells chiming filled the air. Kristin straightened up, wiped at her watering eyes with the palm of her hand. "Too early to be the guests. Must be the DJ and our," she gave her spouse a conspiratorial grin, "special guest." She reluctantly stepped out of the embrace, but not before giving him a quick peck on the cheek. "Be right back." "Is that a threat or a promise?" She only winked in return, then went swishing down the hall. Date: Fri, 22 May 1998 06:50:30 -0400 From: corgi@IDT.NET (corgi) Subject: Re: The Party: Part One Sender: owner-tales@mcfeeley.cc.utexas.edu To: tales@mcfeeley.cc.utexas.edu Reply-to: tales@mcfeeley.cc.utexas.edu >Nathan continued to claim confusion. "You know >I love you, but sometimes it feels like we're not >speaking the same language," he called up to her. > >Nonetheless, Kristin always had a come back. >"That's because I am speaking English as God >intended, "she made a final adjustment to a >sagging "piece of crepe", "and you, dear >Nathan, are using a corruption." > >"Is that more of the Anglofanaticism I get on a >daily basis?" he grinned, shaking his head. Oh god does this sound Just like me and Georgie! Believe me it's hard to talk american english and brittish english and understand everything! Espcially for us teeny boppers who speak in half slang. I like it just as much as the original....but I forgot how everyone was dressed...could you send out a little list or somthing? I have no memory :P Anyway it's cute :) I loved the Mmmm boo! hehe! Gave me a giggle :) Thanx! I'm having a general F***ing bad morning and that cheered me up a bit :) ________________________________________ A mind is a terrible waste of space I am a genius.... and you are someone who plays hide and seek with a sandwhich ________________________________________ :@) :@( theatre pigs! Subject: The Party: Part Three Sender: owner-tales@mcfeeley.cc.utexas.edu To: "'tales@mcfeeley.cc.utexas.edu'" Reply-to: tales@mcfeeley.cc.utexas.edu The Party by Ellie Part Three: An Unlikely Ghost Under only the light of the moon and stars, Katie could see how easy it was to catch the Halloween spirit. Waiting in lines outside the huge house, the entire complement of the seaQuest was fairly buzzing with the electricity. She felt it herself, and it was heady stuff. "Favorite horror movie, " Piccolo was asking the "Three Musketeers" (and D'Artagnan too). Katie laughed softly to herself. They'd been doing this the whole way to the party, trying to spook each other. "Mmmmm, what's a horror movie?" Dagwood asked. Suprisingly it was Loni Henderson that answered. "A movie with stupid women and their even stupider boyfriends getting killed in large numbers." Just when Katie was beginning to think there was some shred of redemption in the girl, Loni went and said. "I prefer romantic comedies." Katie rolled her eyes. "How'd we ever guess?" O'Neill muttered. "What was that, Tim?" Ignoring Loni and Tim, Ortiz answered the question. " I really like this old horror from the seventies if you can imagine it. Saw it in a nostalgia film fest: Poltergeist." There were murmers of approval from around the crowd. "Speaking of old movies," Tim O'Neill contributed, "my favorite is The Uninvited." At the looks of confusion he explained. "There are two ghosts in this one house, one is good and the other is malevolent." The other guys nodded their approval and O'Neill looked relieved. Katie smiled to herself. She knew he was *still* getting razzed on about the Jane Austen thing. Wendy had to get her .02 in. "Old movies seem to be the best. My favorite is "The Haunting" about this team of ghost hunters and the house," she lowered her voice to a harsh whisper, "wants one of them to stay and take care of it." "Doesn't seem too scary to me," Loni chirped. Smith looked annoyed, like she was considering doing something unethical. Henderson, however, was obviously oblivious as she turned to Katie and asked, "What's your favorite scary movie, Katie?" Katie looked up, catching the eyes of a near-by friend. "I haven't seen a horror movie in years. Not since..." "Since our little foray on the King George," Lucas finished for her. Katie nodded. "Neither have I. I rented one about two years ago, while I was staying with Nathan and Kristin. Thought Kristin was going to have a stroke! She still writes the whole incident aboard the George off as nitrogen narcosis you know." An uncomfortable silence fell over the first year staff. Katie saw that the newer additions just wondered what they were talking about. She wasn't about to explain it. Something had to be done to break the moment. "Mmmm ...boo?" Dagwood offered. Katie came out of her reverie. Dagwood was a tall, very real,*rather quiet ghost, very different than the trapped souls she'd run into three years ago. She had to laugh. Which caused everyone else to begin laughing, as Katie had an improbable little girl-like laugh. The clouds lifted ;it was party time again. The good natured razzing began anew, with Lucas as the new target. Katie wished the souls of the King George a good journey and turned her attention to a more temporal problems. Katie stared dubiously at the narrow doorway only a few feet from here. How on earth was she supposed to fit her skirts through that? No more time to wonder, it was her turn to make an entrance. She approached the door slowly muttering a quick prayer beneath her breath. Her hands dropped to her sides, pressed her skirts to her, and she managed to squeeze through sideways. Then she took her first look around the party. Date: Fri, 22 May 1998 00:56:16 -0400 From: Elizabeth Jones Subject: The Party: Part Two Sender: owner-tales@mcfeeley.cc.utexas.edu To: "'tales@mcfeeley.cc.utexas.edu'" Reply-to: tales@mcfeeley.cc.utexas.edu Everything Disclaimed In Prologue, people thanked, ramblings of the author's deranged mind, and feed back begged for... BTW I did not include "Brown-Eyed Girl" by Van Morrison in here for pure cheese. In this alternate universe that song is a long running in-joke between Nathan and Kristin... On with it! The Party by Ellie Part Two: The Special Guest Minutes later, Kristin returned with a very tall man in black and a young woman in tow. "Thank you for having me," the girl was saying, "I appreciate it, as I'm not a crew member ." Kristin laughed and waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. "Nonsense. If I had my way you would be. The offer is still open. We could always use someone of your specialization aboard." The girl gave a small, polite smile. "Thank you." Kristin turned to the man in black. "It's all over there." She she waved, indicating the massive amount of stereo equipment in a corner of the room. As soon as he had departed, she turned back to her other guest. "Truth be told Lucas has been in a bit of a funk lately. You may be just the thing he needs to cheer him up, Julianna." Julianna Williams smiled :a real, open smile this time. "Believe me, I'll do my best." While Kristin and Julianna conversed, Nathan gravitated towards the electronics. Idly he surveyed the rows and rows of gleaming CDs. Yes, old fashioned compact discs. The party was, after all, being hosted by Nathan and Kristin Bridger, a Baby Boomer and A Generation Xer, respectively. When it came to music, CDs were the end all and the be all of modern music technology. All this modern stuff was for the birds, as far as either were concerned. To his amusement, Nathan noticed this archaic attitude was also present in the musical selection. Mixed in with the necessary Halloween hits was a wide selection of mid to late 20th century popular music. A large portion, he was amused to notice, was eighties. No surprise there: his wife was a self-described Child of the Eighties. He just wondered what some of his younger crew would make of the music. Something caught his eye. Nathan pulled it out just to make sure, then gave a low chuckle of delight when he realized he was correct. He beckoned the DJ over. Her Renaissance style sleeves were driving Julianna crazy already. Whose idea had it been for her to dress as Juliet again? Thank goodness Dr. Westphalen was giving her management tips: how to hold her arms just so, to let the sleeves drape. Julianna regarded the woman Lucas held in such high regard. The lady looked good, no doubt about it. Julianna only hoped *she* looked that good at fifty-two. Suddenly there came the opening bars of an old sounding song, at least it sounded old to Julianna. Her instructor seemed to know what it was, judging by the look on her face. Hey where did we go Days when the rains came Down in the hollow Playin a new game Laughing and a runnin' Skipping and a jumpin' All along the waterfall With you, my brown eyed girl Kristin looked as if she couldn't decide to be annoyed or amused. She seemed to settle for amused when Bridger came up and wrapped his arms around her shoulders and sang along My brown eyed girl You, my brown eyed girl An obviously pleased Kristin blew air out between her teeth. "Please, I am too old to be anybody's girl." She was smiling as she said this though. Nathan bent his head to Kristin's, whispered something in her ear Julianna couldn't make it out. Whatever he'd said, it made the doctor grin like a cat that ate the canary. Julianna was looking for a polite way to excuse herself from the conversation, when she was saved by the bell. The door bell that is. "Guests?" asked Julianna hopefully. "Guests," Kristin confirmed. The door bell came again, this time doubled by the striking of the grandfather clock in the hall way. Eight o'clock. Van Morrison died out, and seconds later came Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor". The Bridgers shared a smile of delight, then lowered their masks. Nathan offered Kristin his arm, she took it, and they went to greet their guests. Date: Fri, 22 May 1998 00:38:40 -0400 From: Elizabeth Jones Subject: The Party: Prologue Sender: owner-tales@mcfeeley.cc.utexas.edu To: "'tales@mcfeeley.cc.utexas.edu'" Reply-to: tales@mcfeeley.cc.utexas.edu Hi All!! :) It's me Ellie again. Here are the first four chapters of "The Party", which is a sequel -at last! *g*- to "Prelude To A Party". Now wheither it goes beyond four chapters, whether it gets finished _at all_, depends on feedback y'all :) Feed the e-mail monster! :) lilyj@citynet.net Author's Notes: A long seaQuest piece that I'm allowing to see the light of day..what *am* I thinking? :) This is a piece of an alternate universe that I share with friends, so allow me to explain a few things. Everyone in Season One , with the exception of Crocker , stayed on for a second tour. Season Two crew just added on. The ten year gap and subsequent third season_ did not happen!_ *g* At the time of this story, Nathan and Kristin have been married about six months. However they have a two year old daughter, Sarah Elizabeth. Hey these things happen... Other than that everything's peachy :) I hope you have fun! Thanks: Alexi for editing. Thank you thank you thank you!!! :) On with the show! The Party: by Ellie Prologue: Kristin's Reflection, or An Excuse To Party Three months in the past, Kristin Westphalen-Bridger spent a long and sleepless night. She didn't know what to do with herself. Normally Sarah would be waking up at random times, and come crawling into bed with her parents. Kristin would wait until her daughter was asleep, then carry the little girl back to her own bed. The whole chain of events would reoccur several times. However, that night Sarah had decided to sleep all the way through. Kristin's first choice for spending a sleepless night was catching up on the mounds of paperwork she'd left undone at work. She'd brought armloads full home to do just that. However, her husband was a notoriously light sleeper. If she got out of bed and started rustling around, he would wake up. Once awake, Kristin knew, he wouldn't go back to sleep. Not without attempting to help her. No, he needed his sleep. She couldn't be so inconsiderate just because she was a raving insomniac. So she had lain sleepless by Nathan's side, and, instead, contemplated her life. Her personal inner calendar was divided into to segments: before and after seaQuest; her assignment to the submarine had changed her life that much. Life before seaQuest had been fairly ordinary. True she'd had a wretched childhood, but she'd come through it all right. No one was happier than Kristin at her high school graduation. After that, it all seemed to be a big blur : college, graduate school, med school. She and marriage didn't seem the least bit compatible. Her daughters made the misadventures in wedded bliss seem worthwhile. No, it wasn't until she'd gotten the prestigious appointment to the seaQuest that her life began to take so many twists and turns. In the first year alone she seen mermaids, aliens, and ghosts. (Goodness sakes she'd had first hand experience with that last one. )She had been on the scene of two major archeological discoveries. More important to her, she'd made friends, an ability she'd run hot and cold on before. People she never would have met otherwise were now an invaluable part of her life. Miracle of miracle, she had even fallen in love again. That in, and of itself , was worth everything that had happened afterwards. After seaQuest was lost in a last ditch effort to save the world (Kristin loved the melodramatic sound of that) Nathan had estimated it would take a year and a half to build another. It took three years, almost four. Political agendas, bureaucratic penny pinching and Nathan Bridger's own fanaticism for detail all served to bog down the project.,not to mention the multi-national conspiracy to halt construction on the new seaQuest all together. Those three and a half years were quite vivid in her mind. In just three years she had been an unwilling player in an international conspiracy. Her fiftieth birthday had been spent in the back room of her best friend Anastasia's bar and grille, giving birth to her third daughter, Sarah Elizabeth. Kristin had reconciled with her own her father before he died. Then there'd been that whole ordeal with Jackob Sweetwater. Kristin frowned. She still didn't want to believe that whole incident had actually happened. But it made one hell of a story. She turned over on her side,coming face to face with her softly snoring husband the best part, besides Sarah, of the past three years. Marriage number four-God willing, her *last*-was a done deal as of six months ago. Before the night was through, Kristin had reached a decision: the crew of the seaQuest had endured enough angst and torture to last each member three life times,herself especially. It was time she and the others took a breather. They deserved a respite from the pressure. And she, herself, was long over due for a good time. What though? she had wondered, Something fun, something slightly outrageous, something defiantly silly. She'd love to see some of the more serious crew members i.e. Jonathan Ford, do silly things. The first thing that had come to mind was a costume party, the kind her parents gave every Halloween. ******************************************************************************************