Altered Vacation Plans
Posted on Thu May 7th, 2015 @ 6:52pm by Jackson Banning V & James Holbridge
Mission:
Breaking New Ground
Location: NGSC ASSEMBLY AREA
EN ROUTE TO FAMILY QUARTERS
Jim Holbridge was in a foul mood, which was not typical since he had returned from the Alpha Quadrant. The shipyard was 75% completed with raw materials inbound thanks to some clever finagling with a crooked Ferengi looking to make an honest buck to avoid the FCA. The meeting with Admiral Cruzado had soured his outlook, especially after learning he was now a target of whoever was after the admirals Wegener and Hawke. An official request for services had ended with a tersely worded "Hell, no!" from some flunky in Command, definitely not the admiral.
Jim's palm began to buzz, and he held up his hand to his face. "What is it, Beatrice?" he asked the disembodied AI of Holbridge Industries.
=/\=Jackson Banning has asked to meet with you in the Nexus Club and he said to 'bring the shattered bottle'."
Jim smiled. The old man doesn't waste much time! "I'm on my way. Inform my wife to pack up the children and get to NGSC immediately. Collins and Elliott are hereby pulled from whatever details they are on, along with Fulton and Chanera." Chanera was an Archadian NGSC member-liaison.
THE NEXUS CLUB
When Jim arrived at the Nexus it was after hours. Vic was the only there, waiting by the door. He directed Jim back to Jackson's office, then relocked the door behind him. Jackson's office door was open and he was behind the desk in casual clothes, his feet propped up.
"Come on in Jim."
Jim looked around the room cautiously, knowing Banning was an old pro. "What the hell is going on Jackson? It seems like the loonies are coming out of the deck plates?"
Jackson motioned him to a chair. "That's the million-dollar question isn't it? The shit pile's suddenly stinkin' in the sun. I got a little tip off tonight though and wanted to check in with you. It seems that there's a certain time in question that may concern the both of us."
“Yeah, and the creepy part is that the admiral who came here and grilled me about it already knew what went down. I am starting to think that Admirals Hawke and Rick are getting the nasty end of the shit-stirring spoon.” Jim said, eyeing the bottle of booze on Banning’s desk. “Cruzado give you that bottle?”
“At dinner,” Jackson grinned. “He owed me one from a bet a while back.” Jackson opened the bottle and poured two glasses, passing one to Jim. “Lemme guess, they were askin’ about your intel days? What are they lookin’ for?”
Jim was about to take a sip of the booze when he looked closely at the bottle cap and saw a tiny orange light blinking. Frowning, Jim reached for the cap and swiped his left hand over it, eliciting a buzz from his palm-padd. Jim looked at Banning and motioned to the cap, then tugged his earlobe, indicating a listening device. “No,he wanted to know about the CSAR operation I flew to retrieve Lt Cmdr Nicolao.”
Jackson raised an eyebrow at the statement. There had been no such op but he played along. “Ahh, I see. Nothing outta the ordinary there as I recall. If that’s all they want, they’re wastin’ their time. He did say I am on the list though I’ll be seeing the other one.” He lowered his feet and stood, scooping the cap off his desk. Moving like a ghost across the room, he opened a cabinet in the wall and dropped it into a box.
“You never knew about that fiasco mission I flew to pull Nicolao's fat outta the frier?” Jim briefly covered the high-points of the harrowing mission. “It’s a damn good thing the Cardie’s can’t shoot straight.” Jim looked right at Jackson. “I am not liking this at all, Jackson. There is a rotten apple in the bin. Cruzado is an asshole, but he’s not smart enough to be pulling the strings. Someone wants the admirals’ asses in a bad way.”
“So it would seem.” Jackson closed the cabinet. “That little bug won’t bother us again.” He returned to his seat, propping his feet up once more. “I will be seein’ Admiral Azoulay so we’ll see how that goes. But it’s known you were close in to all this, you better watch yer ass. I see a big red target on it. I’m curious ta see how much about my activities at that time she knows.”
Jim nodded, gunning down half his drink. “Yeah. Just so you know, I won’t be at my place on Archadia. I have a bolt-hole in the tail-end of the old mining hangar that is still operational. You better tell Dave and Q-Ball that the password is ‘scrotum’. Quentin will get the joke.”
Jackson nodded. “I’ll pass it along. I’ll also feel a helluva lot better once you and yours are outta range. I’ll know about what’s what once I’ve gotten my third degree.”
“I am gonna stash my family and reactivate Team One, minus Dave and Q. This whole thing is rotten, and the last time someone from Intel wanted to wreck my day, I left the Fleet. Soo, now i can make whoever it is miserable by sticking my foot in the door.” Jim’s eyes were murderous, and he was gulping his booze, a bad sign.
Jackson watched him a moment, then cleared his throat. “You gonna do that, might wanna slow down on the joy juice, Jimmy. Anyhow, I’ll keep ya posted on the usual channel if anything happens. An’ if somethin’ blows on this end, expect Dave in a taxi to bring ya back here.”
Jim grinned, knowing that Dave, despite his status as a Marine, was always on “the team”. “Right. If you want I can deploy some of my archadian teams to the club for the time being. A little added protection and Amazonian eye candy for your patrons? The ladies need some practical experience and this would be a dandy time to train ‘em up.”
“Nah, the last thing whoever this is will wanna do is piss me off. They don’t want me to start talkin’. We both know how that’ll go. An’ makin’ a public move would be beyond stupid unless they are beggin’ to get caught. How’s Tricia takin’ this sudden vacation?”
“She knows why, and so does JD. The boy got his tickets to Risa, but he’s gonna have some Amazons guarding his six, maybe even be his date for the time. Tricia is scared, but she knows what’s involved and will stay the course this time.” Jim sighed. “
“Better Risa than here.” Jackson pulled a small padd out of his desk and handed it over. “Give that to JD. It’s a list of people he can call in case there’s an issue. Some of Dae’s relatives.” Jackson relaxed back in his chair. “So, you two have a good trip. Wear sunscreen. Use protection...all that jazz.”
“Tell Oz Quentin wants to have her love child!” Jim grinned.
“Yeah...I’ll save that for you to tell her honey.” Jackson laughed. “Now git while the gittin’s good. Let me know when y’all are there and in one piece.”
Jim was up and nodded. “Later!”
Back out front, Vic opened the door for Jim. “Watch your back Jim. We’ll be in touch.” He looked out as several women passed by, one of them with vivid red hair. His gaze followed her as she passed, then turned to give him a quick wave.
James Holbridge
Annoyed Rook
&
Jackson Banning V
Owner & Mother Hen
The Nexus Club
