Hanging It Up?
Posted on Tue Feb 2nd, 2016 @ 8:57pm by James Holbridge & Sam Elliott III
Edited on on Tue Feb 2nd, 2016 @ 8:59pm
Mission:
Further Challenges
Location: Holbridge Estate, Archadia Prime
HOLBRIDGE ESTATE
Jim rose from his bed and yawned, the sound resembling a grizzly bear coming out of hibernation. After a couple of inaudible curses, Jim hauled himself to his feet and trudged into the bathroom. Further cursing erupted as he attempted to find the temperature of water with his eyes shut, fumbling with the knobs until the cursing died out. As he washed himself with his wife's sponge, Jim slowly came to life, inhaling the scent of the residual soap on Tricia's sponge before slathering his Old Spice onto it and lathering himself.
Once he was satisfactorily clean, he stepped out of the shower and towelled off, then slid into his robe and bear-foot slippers. Jim padded down the stairs and into the breakfast nook where a steaming mug of coffee was waiting for him along with a Starfleet padd. Li Hawke had granted Jim security clearances because of his work in the defense industry and as a favor to a former Intelligence officer. He wasn't cleared for operational intel but he was generally well-informed about specific areas that affected his interests. Most of the morning brief was a bunch of summaries about useless bullshit, but a couple of items concerning Talaxian troop movements and regional instability in the Dekola Cluster caught his eye.
Jim took a sip of coffee, the set the padd down. He was tired in a way sleep wouldn't cure. The loss of his wife had drained him emotionally and physically, and he had been seriously considering selling his businesses. But, he had a few loose ends to tie up before he did anything as stupid as quit his livlihood.
“Eddie, please inform Sam Elliott that I wanna see him as soon as possible.” Jim said aloud to the estate AI
At once, Mr. H! was the semi-cherry response. Jim had grudgingly allowed his daughter to adjust Eddie’s personality interface, and the result was just enough cheer to keep jim in a slightly bad mood when interacting with Eddie.
The housekeeper, Mrs Hoting, set a plate of steaming Southern biscuits and gravy with hashbrowns and onions in front of him. “Thank you,” Jim said politely and dug into his food. It was weird not eating with Tricia scolding him about eating like a hog, and for the first few days after her death he tried valiantly to stay within the norms of what his dead wife considered civilized behavior, but as the weeks wore on his old habits took over and he was soon belching loudly and wiping his face with his robe instead of the provided napkin.
“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, why the hell did I ever bother giving you a napkin?” Mrs Hoting groused, sliding a tall glass of orange juice in front of him. “Would you like this in a glass, or shall I put the food and drinks in a trough on the floor?”
“You sound like my wife,” Jim said quietly.
“She knew how to keep you in line!” Mrs. Hoting retorted. “You’re too good a man to let yourself go like this…”
“When I want your advice, I’ll ask for it!” Jim hissed. “Please leave me alone!”
After the woman had left the room, Jim’s daughter breezed into the breakfast nook. “Morning, Grumpy!” she smiled as she sat down next to him.
“Morning, sweetie. Mrs Hoting will bring you your breakfast in a minute.” Jim looked at his daughter and smiled, his bad mood evaporating. “You look rested!”
“Yep, Dr. Swift’s people gave me something to help me sleep, and it works really well.” Kim let Mrs. Hoting put a plate of eggs, bacon, and grits in front of her, rewarding the woman with a sunny smile. Mrs. Hoting smiled at the girl, scowled at Jim, then left the room.
“What would you think of me retiring from work, honey?” Jim asked
“Which job?”
“All of them.”
Kim pursed her lips. “I don’t know about the shipyards, Daddy, but the security business is doing a lot of good.” One of Kim’s friends was the daughter of a Federation dignitary that used one of Nebula Gold’s security teams.
“Make sure you tell Sam that when he gets here.” Jim smiled
“Tell me what?” Sam aksed as he walked into the room with his own coffee.
“Uncle Sam!” Kim squealed, running to the man for a hug.
“Hello, pumpkin!” Sam grinned hugging the girl. “You’re getting so tall!”
“Thanks!” Kiim looked at her dad, who was looking at her intently. “Well, I gotta go to school. Bye!”
“What’s up, chief?” Sam asked as Mrs. Hoting slid a plate of food in front of Sam, giving both men disapproving glowers before leaving.
“I think it’s time for me to get out of this racket.” Jim sighed, taking a sip of coffee.
“You’re not old enough to retire,” Sam replied evenly\\
“I’m tired in a way sleep can’t cure, Sam. I can’t seem to pull it together ever since Trish died.” Jim slumped back in his chair, feeling the familiar exhaustion pull at him.
“You need a vacation, you damned workaholic!” Sam smiled. “You have done nothing but work since she died and you’re fucking burned out! Admiral Wegener’s people are going bonkers over the new gear and guns we are making and the shipyards are producing all kinds of ships for the Fleet in all three Quadrants. To tell you the truth, we don’t need you at the office for the forseeable future, so why don’t you take a vacation for a couple months. Go to Risa, get laid, get a new tattoo, do something as long as you get the hell outta here for awhile. Mrs Hoting and I can watch Kim, but I get to stay down here while you’re gone!”
“I’m locking my room!” Jim grinned, remembering the sexual prowess of his friend. Maybe retiring was a bit premature, but a vacation sure sounded good. “Done!”
SIX HOURS LATER
Jim was back aboard Starbase 900, waiting for the USS Huron and passage to the Alpha Quadrant, specifically Risa. Jim left a message for Dave Lorenz to contact him upon the return of the Marines from whatever mission they were on. At the moment, Jim was at the VIP lounge sipping an orange juice, pretending to read a padd while scanning the room. Old habits died hard, but Jim was still alive amd keeping alert for trouble was a habit he couldn’t just stop.
A few seats away, a Cardassian man was studying his padd, keeping the human in sight. He was being well paid to keep tabs on the retired Intelligence officer who was now a weapons mogul, and he didn’t care if he was made or not. A job was a job….
“You need to tell your employer I don’t like being followed!” Jim hissed as he sat next to the Cardassian. The Cardassian opened his mouth to object, but Jim pulled a pocket phaser out and showed it to his observer. “Take the next ship to wherever you need to go and get lost!”
The Cardassian rose and left with no argument. Jim was suddenly alert for trouble, his ruined eye socket throbbing under his eyepatch. He quickly typed a message to Sam Elliott, then quietly boarded the transport to the Huron. Gonna be an Interesting trip! Jim grinned to himself. One thing was certain, he wasn’t retiring just yet.
Jim Holbridge
Still Active
