We're Off To See...Something

Posted on Mon Nov 11th, 2013 @ 5:47pm by Cadet Senior Grade Eli Ziyad & Cadet Senior Grade Chance Conradi

Mission: Breaking New Ground
Location: USS Hammond

* * * USS Hammond * * *

“What did you pack in here, rocks?” Eli grunted as he hefted Chance’s travel bag into the closet. Chance’s room onboard the Hammond was a mirror image of his own - decent sized and with a portal. Chance’s portal overlooked the station and Eli moved across to take a good, long look. It would be some time before they’d see it again.

"Rocks, yup. Stole some from Oz's collection, just to give you something heavy to whine about." Chance grinned and goosed Eli.

Are you excited? Eli sent the thought to him as his gaze lingered on the station.

Chance's gaze wasn't on the station though the thought he sent Eli was about excitement - just not about the mission. "Oh, yeah," he intoned, "Very."

A low, warm laugh escaped Eli. “Well, we do have travel time….” His voice let the words linger between them. “And it gets you away from Li’s paperwork for a while.”

"Ah, yes, that is the best part of this - getting away from Li and the endless paperwork."

Eli snorted. “Most of the cadets would kill for your job you know.” He turned and leaned back against the portal, his dark eyes resting on Chance now.

"Hmm, I suppose," Chance shrugged and smiled lopsidedly. Stepping closer to Eli, he revealed his ego: "Most of the female cadets would kill for your position right now, you know."

“That so?” Eli hooked his finger in Chance’s collar and pulled him close. “To borrow a phrase of yours...sucks to be them.” He leaned closer but was halted by the door chime.

With a quirk of his brow, Chance chuckled and said, "Saved by the chime." He stepped back and called, "Enter!"

The doors slid open and Li stepped in. Eli out of habit snapped to attention. “Hello cadets.”

Chance didn't snap to attention. Laconically, he nodded at her in greeting, "Captain. What brings you by?"

She waved at Eli to relax. “Just a quick visit to see you two before you go. I left Sakkath just about an hour ago with some orders for you two.”

“Sure, like what?” Eli looked back at her then his eyes widened. “Wow.”

The part-human in the room looked from one telepath to the other. "Wow?"

“We have a job. Undercover, Chance.” Eli smiled.

Li nodded at his words. “More or less. I’ve told Sakkath to have all the telepaths, you two along with Riley and Reva and Sakkath himself, on full alert. I want to know the story out there and you all are the ones to find it it there’s something hidden.”

Suppressing a wild grin, Chance bounced on the balls of his feet. "Undercover? Thats great! Just like Bond, James Bond. I call the tux," he joked, nudging Eli with his elbow.

“Tux?” Eli looked puzzled. He paused, then picked the image from Chance’s head and smiled. “Nice.”

Li shook her head as she watched them but couldn’t hold back a smile. “You can coordinate with the rest. Ensign Madhava is the chief engineer for this trip and Lt. Sukatov is the Hammond’s Chief Science Officer. I believe they are already on board.”

Chance's head swiveled back to Li. "Madhava? The Orion chick?" His thoughts were less than respectful of the superior officer.

“Yes, so you’ve already met her? Good. That should speed things up. You’ll all have time to get together on the way there.”

Nodding, Chance agreed, "yes, we will." His smirk did nothing to hide his eagerness. "Well, Captain, ah, anything else?"

“No, that will be all. Be careful out there.” She gave them a brief nod. “Gentlemen.” Now done, she turned and made her way out, the doors closing behind her.

Once they were alone again, Eli nudged Chance in the arm. “That’s interesting. And I thought this was just some quick fly-by that would be ‘educational’ for us.”

His companion had a one-track mind: "With the Orion onboard, it most certainly could be educational."

Eli groaned aloud and shook his head. “Should I give you and your fantasies some time alone?” The corners of his mouth twitched as he fought back a smile.

"Yeah, hang on a sec," he closed his eyes and briefly put his hands out, miming touching a woman's body. A second later, he moaned, dropped his hands and opened his eyes. "Man, that was good," he wisecracked. "Undercover! How awesome!"

“Kiss my ass,” Eli answered good-naturedly. “I don’t think Li meant under Reva’s cover. And I need to get my stuff unpacked next door.”

"Uh-huh. Unpacked? Want some help?"

“Sure.” Eli strolled to the door. “Then we can get out to the observation deck for departure. It’s so strange to be leaving 900 of my own free will, you know? I want to see it, if that makes any sense.”

"Ok," Chance nodded and followed him. "And after, I can introduce you to the Orion. And after that, the moves I'd put on her if... you know, if you weren't so important."

“Keep talking…” Eli opened the doors and looked back at Chance over his shoulder. “You’ll turn my head.” Without another word, he strolled out into the corridor.

*****************

Cadet 2nd Class Eli Ziyad
Full Of Anticipation

Cadet 2nd Class Chance Conradi
Full of Himself