Oh What Fresh Hell Is This?

Posted on Tue Apr 16th, 2013 @ 12:04pm by Captain Li Hawke & Cadet Senior Grade Eli Ziyad & Cadet Senior Grade Chance Conradi

Mission: Breaking New Ground
Location: Oz's Quarters / Li's Office

* * * Oz & Jackson’s Quarters * * *

Eli was deliciously cozy and warm. In fact, he was dreaming he was floating on a turquoise sea, the sun shining down. The water began to buoy him up and then Chance popped up from beneath the surface, splashing him. Chance opened his mouth to speak and a strident beep came out.

What the hell?

The beep continued, finally pulling him from sleep. Opening his eyes, he realized he was in Oz and Jackson’s bedroom. He sat bolt upright, heart beating in his throat. What if they had come home? He sensed no one else in the rooms and that was something of a relief. The beep continued and he climbed out of bed, rushing to the comm panel. It was a computer recorded message.

=^= Cadet Conradi, please report to Captain Hawke’s office =^=

Eli blinked. Then got in motion. He bounced back in the bed and shook Chance.

“Chance, wake up! Come on, sleeping beauty, you’ve been summoned to Li’s office.”

"Few more minutes," Chance muttered and brushed away Eli's hands.

“No, no more minutes.” He leaned down to give Chance a deep kiss, knowing that might get better results. “Did you hear me? The XO’s ordered your presence. What did you do?”

"Hmm?" Chance reacted to the kiss, though possibly not the way Eli meant for him to. "I don't recall doing anything. Must be something you did." He held onto Eli and kissed him again.

“Nice try but no. She didn’t have the computer call me, it called you. You need to get moving and we need to get out of here in case they come home.”

"They?" He sat up then and opened his eyes. He saw a filament of spider silk and nearly swallowed his tongue. "Oz and Jackson!" Waking up in Oz’s and Jackson’s bed, Chance was, at first, disoriented. How had he ended up...? Moving slightly, he quickly recalled the night. What they’d done there, in this bed, made him grin and then groan as he moved to get out of the bed. ‘Gentle’ hadn’t been par for the course. He realized the only clothes he had were his robe and a pair of jeans. "Ohjeez, and I need to go see Captain Hawke? I need a shower."

“Oh yes you do.” Eli grinned up at him from the tangle of sheets. “Use theirs, I’ll get this mess cleaned up and let Li know you’re on your way.” He reached out with his foot and nudged Chance in the ass. “Go.”

"Yeah, going," Chance headed into the shower.

* * * Li’s Office * * *

Fifteen minutes later, he was dressed in a uniform and hurrying for Li's office. On arriving there, he paused, wondering where Li's assistant was. He tapped the surface of the empty desk then shrugged and tapped the door chime for admission.

The doors to the inner office slid open and Li’s voice reached him. “Come in Cadet Conradi.” Here in her office, it was clearly formal business.

"Sure," he stepped in, feeling like the stupid fly going into the spider's parlor. "Congratulations on the promotion, Captain."

“Thank you. Please have a seat.” She indicated one of the chairs before her desk, then pointed at the profusion of padds on her desk. “Do you see this?”

He stared at her a moment then asked, "Is that a trick question, Captain? A test of whether my eyes work?"

“More of a rhetorical one actually. Since my return, I’ve been absolutely swamped. I’m looking for an assistant but until I find one that suits me permanently, this is my life. The Academy director has a request in for some real world assignments for all of you, which I’ve been attending to as well. Cadet Vor is currently on loan to diplomacy, and Cadet Ziyad is to be sent to Commander Nalas. That is where you come in. As our other junior grade, you’re next on the list.” She finally smiled at Chance, just briefly.

He stared at the pile and realized that it was about to become his life. "Oh, joy," he said with no inflection.

“It’s not that bad, really. There’s far more to it than these padds. By the time I am done with you, you will know this station and every department in it inside out. It’s time you chose your area of specialization, maybe this will help. Are you game?” She sat back in her chair, watching Chance now. “It should only last two or three weeks and I asked for you specifically.”

What harm could there be, right? Chance nodded, "I'm always game. Though, this isn't some way of getting back at Oz for leaving you all these reports, is it?" He had the idea that, in some way, by being Li’s assistant, he’d be ‘over’ Oz and able to boss her around. A tiny bit, at least.

Li laughed at that and shook her head. “No, Oz isn’t the only one. These are from everywhere. We were gone quite some time and a lot happens on this station from hour to hour. Now that we are back and getting caught up, I have departmental meetings, duty rosters for department heads and various other people, various departmental issues to review, diplomacy questions to look into, some intel projects...you get the idea. It amounts to everything needed to run a station. The first thing you’ll have to do is inform your academy director you’ve accepted, then you and I will spend this afternoon getting you up to speed.”

He thought about that and then about the night he and Eli had had - the first part, mostly, though some thoughts about the second part came up, too. He knew he had to take care of something before attempting to settle into a new situation. “Ah, actually, first, I need to do something else, then I’ll see the Director and then come back ‘round to you.” For a Cadet, he had cojones and wasn’t afraid to tell a captain, ‘no’; at least he wasn’t afraid now, now that he’d faced down death and had the Hazari’s swagger in his metaphorical walk. “Depending upon what happens first, it might be tomorrow that I come back. Would a start time of oh-ten-hundred hours work for you?”

Li clasped her hands together and sat regarding Chance, her expression unreadable. “Did I say tomorrow?”

He grinned, ever so slightly, taking a perverse pleasure in digging himself in deeper, “No, I did.”

“What is it that is so pressing, Cadet Conradi?” Li reached over to her terminal and tapped out a brief message as she asked the question, then hit send.

Wondering what message she just sent, Chance replied, “Ah... I need... I just need to see to a personal matter, Captain Hawke.” He might have leaned on Oz’s friendship with Li a touch too much at this point.

“Very well, you have two hours, then I expect to see your smiling face back in this office. Understood?” She smiled at him now. “And no need to bother, I informed the academy.”

“Two hours? Well, if I need more time, I’ll let your husband debate that with you,” he said.

“I’m sure he will. Now go, time’s wasting.” Li was already reaching for one of the padds on her desk. “See you soon.”

“Yes, Captain,” Chance stood and headed out, making a beeline for his meeting with Sakkath.

______________

Cadet 2nd Class Eli Ziyad
The Alarm Clock

Cadet 2nd Class Chance Conradi
Alarmed

Captain Li Hawke
Watching Him Squirm