A Night Of Twists And Turns - Part II
Posted on Mon May 2nd, 2016 @ 10:43pm by Captain Li Hawke & Maxym Balasz & Lieutenant Commander Michael Darwin & Senior Chief Petty Officer Edana
Mission: Further Challenges
* Bubba’s BBQ *
Edana entered Bubba’s to find it less than crowded. It was late and not exactly Bubba’s rush hour. When Darwin called, she had been deep in conversation with a group of visiting ‘businessmen’ who Suresh thought needed watching. He’d been right. The call had pulled her from Iapetus. She ordered some fries and a coke and took a corner table with a view of the door.
Darwin, who had called Gilroy as well, came into the place in a hurry. As Bubba set a platter of food on the counter, Darwin grinned at him. “For me?” Bubba nodded in answer and handed Darwin a beer. Darwin took it, picked up the platter and headed to the table where Ed was sitting. “Hey there, Ed.” He sat and took a swig of his beer.
She smiled warmly at Darwin. “You are far better company than what I just left. What’s up?” She plucked a french fry from her plate and nibbled at it. “Suresh said you sounded rushed.”
“Oh... I have about 45 minutes left,” he said, “And then I’ll be on a ship headed for Borg and Krenim space.” He cleaned the meat off of a rib slathered with barbeque sauce.
Edana blinked as she tried to process that. “Headed for….where?” She dropped the half-eaten fry to her plate. “And why?”
“You heard me the first time,” he said between bites of brisket. He was eating like he’d never eat again. “The reason is to hunt down a missing ship. The one with our friends on it.”
Ed’s eyes widened and she leaned closer. “They are missing?” she asked in a whisper. “Any idea what happened? What did Oz say?” She hadn’t heard from Leto yet, but given she’d been occupied, that wasn’t a surprise. Her comm badge had been on ‘do not disturb’. He’d had to call Suresh.
“Oz doesn’t know yet. About me heading out, I mean. She knows about the ship, of course, but I only told Gilroy about this side trip. He had a few choice words, some aimed at the Admiral, some not.”
“Ahh, so it’s Admiral Wegener’s order. Who’s going?” She reached for her drink and had a sip. “And is there anything I can do to help you get ready to go?”
He quickly shoved a sweet corn muffin into his mouth, buying himself time before he’d have to answer Ed’s first question. Chewing and swallowing, enjoying the flavor of the muffin, he held up a barbeque-covered finger and made gestures that implied he wanted to answer but was not going to with food in his mouth. Meanwhile, he thought frantically. Did he have to tell Ed that he’d be spending the next week in close quarters with Li Hawke? Almost done with the muffin, he came to the conclusion that he’d likely be better off coming clean now - after all, it’d be common Intel knowledge that Li and he were on this little outing together. “Ah...,” he took a drank of his beer to clear his mouth of corn muffin. “Well... Li is going. I’m just going along as... um... protection? Yeah, protection. That’s all.”
“Li. I see.” Edana moved her plate aside and propped her arms on the table. “Seren’s on that ship, I can see why she would want to go. I would in her case.” She was silent a few beats, trying to convince herself this was not an issue. “What’s Max think about this?”
“Maxym... he’s not thrilled, mostly because I interrupted the two of them in a clutch,” he grimaced and finished off his beer. “As for what you can do before we go...? I have at least one idea and about fifteen minutes before I need to head to the ship’s bay,” he leered at her.
“A little something to remember on the trip.” She winked at him and rose. “Time is wasting.”
“Yep,” he nodded and hurried back to the counter, where Bubba had just placed an insulated to-go bag. Grinning at the man, Darwin took it and left with Edana.
* XO’s Quarters *
Li hurried into her quarters as soon as the doors opened. “Max?” she called out, not stopping as she passed on through to the main bedroom. Pulling a bag from the closet, she began to toss in some clothes, non-descript field clothes, and some boots.Then she zoomed past the dresser to grab a few necessities.
“Li,” Max, who’d been sitting in the living room, rose and followed her into the bedroom. He was surprised by how quickly she moved, how efficient she was with her packing. “You’re going? I was hoping the Admiral would nix the idea or send someone else.”
“At first he did say no.” She paused in passing to kiss him, then continued talking as she stepped into the bathroom. “Because I’m still on light duty and it would be a big no-no. So then, he ordered me to take a vacation and his meaning was obvious. This one is off the books.” She grabbed her toothbrush and hairbrush and tossed them into a small case with a few other odds and ends.
“Li, maybe he meant for us to go get married or something else. Maybe he senses that you’re not yet ready to be on duty,” he said, but he was thinking, Don’t leave. It isn’t safe, it isn’t okay.
That caught Li up short and she slipped her arms around him. “It will be fine,” she assured him. “Darwin’s going to make sure.” She caught the wave of annoyance and shook her head. “No, don’t worry about that. I made a promise to you. Darwin’s not...you know.”
“Sure he isn’t,” Max shook his head. “Li, you’ll do as you wish.”
“I have to go find them. Tell Menna that, if you tell her Reva is missing.” She took his face in her hands. “I’ll call often. I won’t be able to resist. Please try not to worry too much?” She had a moment of deja vu, recalling when she had departed for her many missions, leaving first Rhys, then Sakkath behind. “I’ll come home safely.”
“You better,” he said and kissed her even though he wasn’t okay with her leaving.
She remained there, in his arms, not wanting to leave him here. “Do you want to take the time while I’m gone to move again? The quartermaster’s crew will be in tomorrow to do some work. They will need you to okay some things or change whatever you think needs it since I won’t be here.”
“Make changes to your quarters without you here? I think that’s a recipe for trouble. I can wait.” He laughed.
“Alright. Maybe better, so we can redo it together and make it our place.” She gently stroked his cheek. “I need to go in about fifteen minutes.”
“Then we have a few minutes to celebrate our earlier conversation,” he pulled her to him and kissed her. “And for me to make sure you’ll miss me.”
“I’ll miss you so much it’s going to drive me crazy,” she whispered. “When I get back, we’ll make this official. I promise.”
“I’ll hold you to that,” he said, kissing her.
***********
Lt. Commander Michael Darwin
SCPO Edana
Captain Li Hawke
Maxym Balasz
