Betrayal Of The Fraghile Heart

Posted on Thu Feb 6th, 2014 @ 2:40pm by James Holbridge

The mood in the Holbridge house was somber as Jim walked in, another day in Intel wasted when he could have been flying fighters, chasing pirates, or something equally useful Instead, he was stuck in a goddamned office staring at intelligence data that had the possibility of being phony. All he wanted was a warm meal, some time with his family and then an early sack time.

Tricia came out into the living room, dressed in a revealing bit of frilly lingerie that kept just enough of her ample curves hidden from view. "Hello there, Bouncer," she purred.

Jim smiled and walked over to his wife. "Where are the munchkins?"

"I sent them with Lorenz to Archadia Prime to see the new mining gear your father sent us on the last cargo shipment. They won't be back until tomorrow afternoon. Something about a broken warp coil in the runabout they used not being ready till then." Tricia grinned slyly.

Jim kissed her on the mouth and slid his arms around her waist. "I feel bad for the poor bastard who brings the kids back early."

THREE HOURS LATER

Both Holbridges lay in bed in very close proximity of each other. Tricia's eyes were closed and her beathing was normal, but Jim knew from experience that his wife often rested her eyes and let her other senses wander. He ran his hand along her side, earning him a shiver. "Stop that!" Tricia protested, her body pressing firmly against his hand.

Jim smiled, then let his face melt into a mask of business. "I have been contemplating something for awhile now."

Tricia opened her eyes and stared at her husband. "Finally going to retire from the Fleet?"

Jim shook his head. "Ghost Team isn't doing that well, although we have landed a few choice contracts already. You know about the Archadian PM and our deal with her, right?" Lorenz had negotiated a deal through which Archadian security personnel and Ghost Team operators exchanged information. "If I left Intel, I could focus more on getting Ghost Team's operations expanded."

Tricia regarded Jim with a stare. "What about Wyatt and his final resting place?"

"I haven't heard jack-shit from Kieran and probably never will." Jim quickly changed the subject. "Dad and I talked about this back in the Alpha Quadrant and he was willing to give me the start-up venture capital I needed to get the company I wanted to form up and running. I told him yesterday that I was going to let Dave and Quentin run things for me until my tour on 900 was up, then I would tender my resignation and remain on the station as senior-executive-veep of Delta Quadrant operations."

Tricia saw the gleam in her man's eyes, something that had been missing for the longest time since their reunion. Jim was looking beyond the Fleet, which was good. She knew he had to stay in for another year before his hitch was up. Wegener would not be happy to be losing him to civilian at the end of next year, but the good news was the good admiral would be able to contract the new company for escort missions, VIP security, and other operations as well as keep the HMC on the station. "So, you are out at the end of this hitch?"

Jim nodded. "Yeah, I have had enough of this bureaucratic bullshit. I talked to Smith over in the Air Wing and I will retire as a major with a reserve option. Not that I give a good tin shit." Holbridge had no use for the Corps after they left him twisting in the wind upon his return.

"What is your dad sending you as far as weapons and equipment?" Tricia asked, her own voice tinged with excitement.

"He just made a lot of latinum and creds available for me to spend on what I think we'll need out here. I was thinking of recruiting a company of Archadian women and then running them through a Ranger selection course. The gear would be enough for a company; things like phaser rifles, 3p's, non-classified Starfleet issue, Gryphon-class fighters, a few Arrow-class gunabouts and a new version of the ol' Ghost"

Tricia nodded and smiled. "You know the admiral has to approve a private military contractor garrisoned on this base, right? If he says no, I am sure the Archadians would allow you to use the mansion the company built planet-side as a staging area."

Jim looked over at his wife, who was genuinely enthusiastic about this idea. The Intelligence game wasn't what he thought it would be, and he was really no closer to finding the location of Wyatt's remains. The Corps had hung him out to dry. Maybe it was time to get out of the Fleet.

"Like I said, babe, I'll give it till the end of this enlistment and make a decision then. In the meantime you can have Dad get some things set up in case this project gets the go-ahead." Jim looked at Tricia lovingly. "A guy can't ask for a better wife!" He reached up and kissed her soundly, then jumped out of bed and put on a robe. "I'm going for some tea, want some?"

Tricia smiled and nodded her head. As soon as Jim had left the room, Tricia quickly typed a message of her own Quentin, we need to talk. It's about last summer. Meet me in the Nexus as soon as possible. T. She hurriedly sent the message and dove back into bed just as Jim came breezing in with a tray of tea and biscotti. Dear God, if Jim finds out about Quentin and I, he'll go off the deep end. Tricia thought to herself as she accepted the mug of tea from her husband.

"For now, I need to concentrate on the job at hand." Jim smiled as he sipped his tea. Holbridge noticed that his wife was unusually tense around him lately. He looked into her eyes. "You wanna tell me what's bugging you now or wait until it explodes into a fight?"

Tricia winced, chiding herself for forgetting that Jim was, in addition to a damned hot flier, trained to tell when people were lying. "I suppose you've talked to Quentin," she began.

Jim's eyebrows shot up. "Not yet. Do I need to?"

Tricia shook her head. "When you were on Deep Space Four, Quentin and I had an affair. It was nothing serious, just two people who were lonely and hurt...."

Holbridge's face was a mask of anger, yet he kept his voice glacially calm. "Was this before or after we reconciled?"

"Before. I wasn't sure if we were going to...."

Jim held up a finger, silencing his wife. "I can't get mad at you for something that happened while we were apart. I am glad you told me." Jim scooted over beside his wife and wrapped his arms around her. "Don't worry about Quentin. He is not gonna be doing shit details for a month or nothing like that. But I am gonna talk with him about this.

Tricia looked up at her husband with tears of gratitude in her eyes. "Thank you, Jim." She took off her robe and pulled her husband to her, kissing him firmly