Vacation: No Holds Barred

Posted on Tue Mar 22nd, 2016 @ 9:55pm by Captain Li Hawke & Lieutenant Commander Michael Darwin & Ignatius Reilly
Edited on on Mon Aug 20th, 2018 @ 11:16pm

Mission: Further Challenges

* RAF Penelope *

The sailboat Darwin had ended up with wasn’t the one he’d expected. He had expected a small nine meter sailboat with a single cabin and a small galley. Instead, he’d arrived at the marina and found the Prime Minister had made one of her boats available. It was, as he’d been told, “the smallest currently available”; for him, at nearly sixteen meters, it was just manageable, and then only because it had two self-furling masts and a self-furling jig. He’d tried to reject the gift, but once the dockmaster showed him the main cabin, he’d stopped protesting. The bed in there was meant for more than two people and was easily the longest bed Darwin had ever slept in. At the moment, a slight breeze stirred cat’s paws on the water, but Darwin had the sails rolled in and the boat was at a relative standstill.

He was in the cockpit, kicked back in shorts and a light cotton t-shirt, sipping some sort of fruity drink that had been stocked in the fridge. When he heard the telltale harmonics of the transporter beam, he rose and went forward to make sure that Li didn’t stumble and fall overboard. She did stumble - the transporter chief had played it safe and beamed her just an inch above the rolling deck - and Darwin caught her. “Nice to have you drop in,” he quipped.

That got a laugh from Li. “Thanks, Dar.” She checked to make sure Iggy was safely perched somewhere. It was then she realized she was still wearing a swimsuit and Earl’s lab coat. “Sorry to interrupt your holiday.”

Darwin shook his head, “Oz is okay?”

She will be, once the doctors inject nanoprobes into her again, Iggy chimed in as she slowly moved on the boat’s deck. Hmm... this vehicle vibrates and shimmies quite a bit. Much more than the Station does.

“Ah... first, it’s a vessel, not a vehicle. Well, it is a vehicle, but it’s usually called a vessel. Second, it’s in water and is constantly moving, so things rub against other things,” he looked at Li and grinned, silently drawing attention to the fact that they were doing just that.

“It glides over water, Iggy, so yes, as Darwin said...it...ah...does that.” She wiggled her toes till Darwin lowered her to her feet. “How about we discuss Oz and then we can show Iggy the vessel, let her wander for a bit?”

“Yeah. Anything to drink? I’m well-stocked... except for you Iggy, sorry, I didn’t pack any live insects. That I know of.” He had set Li down and now led them towards the cockpit.

Li carried Iggy along and once in the cockpit set her down by the wheel. She perched in one seat, watching Darwin as he went below, pulled a drink out of the fridge and passed it to her. “So we were just going into the water when Oz started coughing,” she began. “We were in the water and then just like that, she was failing. She asked me to call Piper and I got her and Iggy out of the water and we transported up.”

“That would explain the dr’s coat over a bikini. For a moment, I had questions,” he laughed as he took the seat next to Li, comfortably settling in with an arm around him. “So just out of the blue? Did she get into something on the planet?”

“No. The doctors think that it’s a result of inevitable breakdown. She’s had serious injuries in that same lung twice, and two of the three repairs were not under the best of circumstances. I’m including the surgery on Nelvana in that group. Earl said it could be that it was about to go anyway and the assimilation caused strain….or maybe it was about to go and the borg tech just held it off. No way to know really.” She paused to sip the fruity drink. “This is good.”

“It is. No idea what it is, but eh,” he shrugged. “She’s been a little fragile since ... hey, do you mind if we sail a bit. I hate to miss this wind,” he stood and turned the wheel, looking around at the water. Hearing Li’s murmur of what he assumed was consent, he hit the button to unfurl the main sail. “Iggy, you’ll like this. So, anyway, Oz... ever since that breakdown after Connor’s death, she’s been a little fragile. Don’t tell her I said that. At least Piper has a way to fix her.”

Li nodded. “Yes, with nanoprobes. They are going to put them back in her system and let them repair the damage. As it was explained to Jackson, they can do it far faster than the usual way. They will also make sure the problem doesn’t recur. Jackson told them to do it. He really had no choice and Iggy agreed, so there you have it. She’ll have to keep them forever more.”

The sail had snapped taut and the boat had lifted in the water slightly as it sliced through the water. Darwin made some slight adjustments and the boat picked up speed. “Are you worried about that? It’s not like we don’t have other Fleet officers with Borg tech in them. Six, for the most obvious.” He watched Iggy crawl out of the cockpit and up towards the bow. Idly, he wondered whether she needed a life preserver.

“Should she be attached with a bow line?” Li asked, picking up on the thought. “So she won’t blow away? As for Oz, that is true. Not everyone is so at ease with the idea but given Oz’s more open mind, she should be alright with it. As Iggy pointed out, she will much prefer that to being dead, though her words were a bit more colorful. What it will mean is a longer time off than originally planned.”

“Even once she’s back, it’s not like we’ll let her go charging off into danger,” he laughed. “Iggy’ll be fine. She has those sticky wickets on her legs. Maybe I have a different attitude about Borg tech because I’ve been working so closely with Suresh and Six.”

“If it heals Oz, I’m all for it, not that my vote counts really. I was just terrified when Earl admitted she could die. It’s too soon, Dar, for me and everyone. But especially for her family. I refuse to lose any more.” Li drained her drink and set it aside, taking a moment to settle down the chaotic emotions that had risen within her. “No more death.”

Frowning, Darwin set the auto-pilot; he had an island he wanted to reach by nightfall. He turned toward Li, sitting back down by her and pulling her close to him. “It is too soon. Unexpected deaths always come too soon. What if Piper hadn’t had any Borg tech? Six is off-station... granted, now Eli has the bugs in his system.... Man, soon, we’ll all have them.” His thoughts ran off on a tangent and he made an effort to rein them in and focus on Li. “I’m sorry you had to be the one with her when this happened.”

“I’m glad I was. What if she had been alone somewhere?” Li looked out at the bow and Iggy, who seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the running of the boat. “That’s all I know for now though. Do you want us to get out of your hair?”

He considered that then asked her, “Ever had sex on a boat?”

“It’s been a while but it was back on Earth and...yeah...never mind.” She paused to look up at Darwin. “You asking me to stay?”

“You can, yes,” he nodded. “You’re even dressed appropriately. And, not to jinx us, Iggy’s being quiet.”

Li considered the invitation. She wanted to stay, she realized. This was her time to figure out who she was and do what she wanted to do and Darwin was safe to do that with. She couldn’t do anything sitting in Piper except worry and with the Sakkath’s loss so fresh, sitting there was the last place she wanted to be. She would go later, when Jackson needed sleep. Finally, she nodded.

“I will.”

He grinned. “Great. We’ll be at a little island this evening. We can go ashore and get you a dress - it’ll be a na..., oh, there might be dresses down below. Female clothing.”

“I noticed the royal seal on the bow.” Li smiled. “I’m glad you’re traveling in style anyway.” She rested her head on his shoulder. “How soon will we get there?”

“Couple of hours, unless the wind changes. If you think this is ‘in style’ so far, wait till you see the bed,” he said, laughing. He adopted a mannerism befitting the boat and asked, “May I hang your coat, milady?”

“Thank you, sir.” She rose and slipped the lab coat from her shoulders. “Better?”

“Much,” he didn’t pay attention to the coat; instead, he pulled her close and kissed her. His shirt joined her coat on the decking in short order; he was about to convince Li to let her swimsuit do the same when a particular spider suddenly crowed, Woohoo! This is amazing!

Li interrupted the kiss with a laugh. “Maybe you aren’t the only one who needed a holiday after all that’s happened. She went through a lot too, like the rest of the team. She needed a break from the lab.”

“She bit Jerry. Next we’ll find out that she’s bitten her children,” he replied, untying a string on Li’s bikini. “Later, I can string her up on the mast. I have other ideas at the moment.”

“She’ll like that,” Li murmured. “You do have such good ideas….”

* Later *

Wooo!!! I am the queen of everything! Iggy, four legs in the air, leaning into the wind, was perched on the top of the mainsail’s mast. Wind was rifling through her hair and the hum of the boat moving through the water was vibrating her; it all combined to give her sensations she’d never had before. Darwin, you show me the best stuff!

In the cockpit, sixteen meters below Iggy, Darwin looked up, saw that the sail was about to luff and adjusted the boat’s direction slightly. “Just don’t fall. Hey, have you secured an anchor line?”, he yelled up to her.

Yes, I have! I am looking for excitement, not death.

“I could agree with her sentiment,” Li teased him. “About being shown the best things.” She spoke the words aloud, but sent them directly to Darwin from her spot in the bow of the boat. Like Iggy, she was letting the wind buffet her as they sliced through the water towards the island. She was thoroughly warmed, by the sun and Darwin’s attentions and for now, the world felt so very far away. She had checked in with Jackson but told there was no news yet. She intended to transport up to the planet once they landed and check in, then return. She passed that thought on to Darwin as well.

You’ll leave Ignatius with me while you go up? I can take her to the island and let her catch dinner, if she wants, he thought back to her. He smiled as the boat hit a wave, lifting the bow, and shuddered as it crashed into the next wave. A spray of water soaked Li.

The wave had caught her full on and she yelped aloud. Once she’d wiped the salt water from her eyes, she joined in the laughter. She can stay. Let her have some fun, Li agreed. I need to clean up before I go see Oz so I don’t appear in sickbay drenched and salt-encrusted. Maybe a shower.

And smelling of sun and me..., Darwin added to her list. There’s a shower below. Once we drop anchor, it’ll be okay to use it. He had the sails taut with wind and the big boat was hitting seventeen knots - he was pretty proud of himself for getting that out of the boat, wind and water. And for showing Ignatius and Li the beauty of a vessel under sail, in more ways than one. Another hour, ladies.

Iggy, you okay up there? Li looked up at the mast where Iggy fluttered in the wind and smiled. This trip had been worth it for her sake if nothing else. But it had pulled Li herself back to Darwin as well. That was something to think about later, not now, when she had to decide if this side trip would come up in discussion.

I am good, though I will come down soon. I think I may have lost some hair in this wind.

Darwin laughed. Forty-five minutes later, he’d furled the foresail and the mainsail. And was in the process of dropping the anchor when Iggy crowed, Watch this! Darwin’s heart stopped when he looked up to see Iggy leap off of the masthead. He calmed slightly as he saw her anchor line glint in the sun and a small parachute-like webbing spread out above her, breaking the speed of her fall. She landed on the deck with a metallic thunk.

“Don’t do that!”, he shouted.

I am fine. We are going ashore?

“We are. You can hunt for your dinner with Darwin. I’m going to go back up to check on Oz, then I’ll be back. Don’t run him ragged Iggy.” She slipped her arms around Darwin and looked up at him. “We can get dinner when I get back? And is there anything you need from up there?”

“Dinner when you come back, yes. According to the dockmaster, there’s a tiny house just beyond the treeline,” he pointed towards the empty beach, “that serves an amazing dinner every day. They only serve the fish and shellfish they’ve pulled from the bay that day.” He scanned the beach and pointed again, “There: I’ll bet that’s the fisherman.”

“Would you bring back a bug for Iggy, just in case?”, he added.

I will eat fish. I do not need a bug, Iggy assured him. She was back at the bowsprit, leaning over the edge to look at the water below. I can see the bottom here!

“Crystal clear, Iggy. Maybe a swim after dinner. I know it’s not the ravine, Dar, but the water’s just fine.” She let go of Darwin and leaned over the side next to Iggy, loving the shimmer of the water as the sun reflected from it.

“I’ll talk to the fisherman, see if there’s anything special we should do here besides eat at the house.” He knew that sailing in with the Royal Seal displayed on their sails was likely to garner some attention. “How about you get that shower, Li, and head up. Bring back news about Oralia. Iggy and I will go into shore and talk with the folks about dinner.”

Li nodded and turned to go below decks. “I’ll see you two soon.”

**********
M. Darwin
Captain Li Hawke
Ignatius J. Reilly-Zeferino