You Look So Good In Love

Posted on Sun Feb 23rd, 2014 @ 5:00pm by Admiral Ricky Wegener & Captain Li Hawke

Mission: Breaking New Ground
Location: SB900 - Wegener's Office

Rick awoke at 0530 hours. He’d forgotten to set the alarm but his body was already getting back to business. Turning to his left he was met with the raven colored hair and beautifully pointed ear of El’Shar who had spent the night with him. He thought it odd, but there was something incredibly gorgeous about her ears. She didn’t mind his fascination with them and that satisfied him to no end.

He slid out of the bed as quietly and easily as he could, so her sleep wasn’t disturbed, and had a quick sonic shower, put on his uniform and headed in to work. His quarters weren’t far from his office but he did meet several officers and crew who seemed happy to have him back. He’d committed their names to memory, which was easy for a man with an eidetic memory, but he always found it more personable for a commanding officer to know his crew and not just randomly call out their ranks instead of adding their surnames to the greeting.

Getting into the office before Hope arrived was an oddity. He was usually a few minutes late and she was normally quite early. It’s not that it mattered to him unless there was something pressing that required them both. But now that he thought about it, he’d just taken a long vacation and he wondered how long it had been since she’d had one? He’d lock that away and broach the subject with her later.

“Computer, lights to eighty-five percent,” he said as he walked through the doors to his office. He ordered a breakfast and raktajino from the replicator and sat at his desk. It was now 0600 hours, time for him to start working.

With Sakkath absent from the station, Li’s time at home was used as a refuge from duty and the million and one things she had to deal with as a matter of course with Rick on vacation. She’d even put off dinner with her father and Aia, all in the name of a little peace and solitude. As she dressed this particular morning, she was amused by the notion that she’d become very Vulcan-like over her years with Sakkath. That was alright with her but she was feeling the need to go out, maybe the Nexus, catch up with friends, maybe dance. The more she thought of it the more she liked the idea. Still there was today to get through and Rick was back so there was a lot of catching up to do. Once she was dressed, she departed for Rick’s office.

By the time she arrived, Hope was in residence in the outer office, though Li sensed Rick inside.

“Good morning Hope. I see the big guy is back in the hot seat.”

Hope smiled. “He is, although I haven’t been in there yet to see him. He even beat me in today! That’s just not normal,” she said with a soft chuckle.

Li raised her eyebrow at that bit of news. “He did? Okay, something’s up. You may be too chicken to go in, but I am going to find out.” She winked at Hope. “If you hear yelling, come get me.”

Rick had finished his meal and was sipping the last of his drink as Li entered. “Good morning,” he said, smiling more than usual. “Were my people good while I was away?” He stood and replaced his dishes and the mug into the recycler.

Li stopped just inside the office and the doors closed behind her. She regarded Rick for a moment, then shook her head. His mood was as bright as if he were wearing a flashing sign.

“Not nearly as good as your vacation was it seems.” She gave him a cat-like smile.

“Alright, out of my head, woman!” He was joking, though. He knew Li well enough to know that she didn’t go diving into people’s heads without permission or unless it was necessary. “That easy to sense it, eh?” he said with a shrug as he sat back down. “It was fun, I’ll admit. We both miss it already.”

“It’s been a long time since I saw a smile like that on your face.” She sat down in the chair before his desk. “So...’fess up. What’s going on?”

He fidgeted around his desk a bit before looking directly at her. He knew she was probably already well aware of what was going on but just wanted him to say it. “I’m sure you already know what’s going on. But, as you might have noticed, El and I have been becoming much closer of late. And this trip did everything to help foster those feelings between us.” He fidgeted more before actually coming clean. “We’re in love. I love her, Li. We’ve talked, you know how long it’s been. This is a very big step for me, and maybe El as well. I think she’s had almost as long a dry spell as I have.”

Li gave him another smile, this one droll. “Given your species, I highly doubt it.” She couldn’t resist the joke. “But really, I’m happy for you. Maybe she’ll mellow you out.” That was another joke and it was obvious. Rick was about as mellow as they came, but she couldn’t resist prodding him.

He feigned throwing one of his small desk accoutrements, a replica of the USS Oppenheimer, at her. “I’ll mellow you out.”

After replacing the ship on the desk, and straightening it a few times to complement the replica of the Berkeley, he leaned up onto the desk. “I just don’t want to go too fast, you know? We’ve known each other less than three months and already we’re head over heels for each other. It’s just been so long since I’ve been in this game, Li. I don’t want to overstep or make some grandiose gesture that falls flat and potentially ruins a good thing.”

“Then don’t. To use an old Terran golf saying, just play it as it lies. If it’s easy, enjoy it and don’t make it hard. Trust me on that one.” She regarded the two model ships for a moment, pondering on how far they’d all come since then. “That is the best advice I can give you.”

“I guess it’s just one of those feelings that most males get in wanting to ‘do’ so many things for their mate,” he said, now leaning back lazily in his oversized leather chair. “Dates, flowers, jewelry, trips and other romantic gestures.” He rolled his eyes. “I guess I’m going to have to really employ that age-old El-Aurian tradition of listening, huh?” He chuckled.

“Yes, and realize she loves you not those things, though they are nice from time to time. You’ll be fine I think. She is far more down to earth, which suits you. Who else would enjoy holing up in a cabin in the woods and getting dirty?”

“A Mohawk Vulcan, that’s who,” he said. “Well, now you know my little secret and I’m relying on your incredible skills learned from your years in Intelligence in keeping your trap shut. I’m sure everyone will notice soon enough. I don’t need people making cooing sounds and ‘Awww’ comments in the corridors.” Changing the subject he asked, “So, did I miss anything?”

“Nothing major. The away team should be reaching Charu anytime now and no problems so far. Commander Leroy is off to his science conference. A Lt. Goodshire is here from Starfleet regarding Iggy’s petition. Oh.” She frowned slightly. “Regarding Iggy. She is with the away team. It seems she stowed away and was discovered only after they were two days away.”

He sighed and shook his head. “I trust someone is taking care of her? And is someone treating Oz for what is sure to be some fear and anger issues?” He couldn’t help but smile at that.

That got a laugh from Li. “As I understand it, Iggy’s with the boys. And while it wasn’t planned, perhaps Iggy may be a good set of eyes to take a look around the place from her own particular point of view. The last thing we need is to build a colony, then discover the place is infested with some deadly creature we didn’t know about. You get the idea.”

“Hmm, good point. Well, as long as Oz is okay with it, which is certainly out of her hands now, we’ll play along.” He scrolled back through the screen on his desk. “There doesn’t seem to be anything pending for me today, other than a meeting with Holbridge, who should be here soon. I’ll probably just wander the base a while, seeing the people, letting them know I’m back. Might have lunch with El later. Want to come along?”

“Certainly. And I’m due to make the rounds so we can kill two birds with one stone.” She mentally reviewed her list of updates for Rick and came to two things that were of a more serious nature. “There are two more things you need to know about.”

“Oh? I have a feeling I’m not going to like this.”

“The first, no. It turns out, Iggy is not the only one stowing away of late. We discovered that we had one on the Hammond when we returned from the other dimension and he was only found a few days ago.”

“A stowaway? From--” It dawned on him now what she was referring to. “We brought someone else over from that blasted dimension? Do we know who this person is?”

“We do now.” Li paused a moment. “Suresh.”

It was as if the temperature of the entire station had changed immediately. And if Li had been getting waves of his regard for El before, she was now likely being pummeled by a hurricane force of hatred for that name.

“There…” he started, through gritted teeth and had to stop to compose himself. Finally, he said, “There was another Suresh there, and he managed to get passage to our universe?” His hands were clenched, knuckles turning white. He thought he was finished dealing with that man, no matter what side of a big portal he came from. And his idea to just have killed the old one now seemed like the perfect idea for the one here.

“I take it he’s no Chaplain and is as much a pain in the ass as ours was?” he continued, trying to calm himself.

“Strangely, no,” Li answered. “He’s laid low since he arrived and not caused any trouble...even for me. Oz is looking into it, of course. I’ve also put out the word to a friend of mine who doesn’t intend to let things get out of hand, so we’ll see how it goes. I know this is not what you wanted to hear, but remember, he’s not the same man.”

He almost sounded as if he were growling. “I’ll believe that when I see it. I find it very hard to believe that him being from an alternate universe would change his ways.” He really believed this and wondered just what this man was doing on the station now. “We’ve not had actual contact with him?”

“Not yet, no. As much as we might not like it, until he crosses station law, we are bound to follow our own rules. And while I am not defending the man, remember how different Nahi was between our world and that one. We’ll get to the bottom of this soon enough, however. Either he will behave, or we’ll get rid of him.”

He knew which option he would choose. “And the second piece of news you had?” he prompted, suddenly regretting coming back from vacation.

“I have all the fun when you are away,” she joked, then turned serious once more. “We have a new arrival, a Fleet officer on a Code 99 leave. Black Ops. His name is Nicolao, Enaran. He has been on Earth for the past six months for evaluation and now is here. His case has been assigned to Counselor Swift.”

“I take it we are his last hope?” he asked, knowing immediately what a Code 99 referred to. “If he’d been brought in from the field, on Earth for six months, and now here, this must be his final stop, one way or another.”

“Yes, that is my understanding. I am to see Dae about it later today, since an operative, even one on leave, falls in his domain. I know the story on this officer, and we worked together twice but that was a few years ago. I don’t think it’s quite as straightforward as it appears. Just my feeling, that’s all.” She shrugged slightly. “Again, I suppose we’ll see.”

Having worked Intelligence himself, Rick was slightly partial to the folks in that profession. They stood for everything that the Federation and Starfleet stood for, but sometimes they had to do strange and horrible things to make that stand. “I’m not sure what good it will do, but make sure the counselor knows that we’ll do everything we can to help. But he may have it all under control himself.”

“I will. I haven’t seen this officer yet but I’ll be sure to find him and at least make contact.” She let it go at that. She was curious to see how he’d fared since the last time they’d met but was making no plans beyond that. “And that’s all the important things. Ready for your tour?”

“Not yet. I’ve summoned Holbridge as he’d requested a meeting. I’ll go meandering after that.”

That piqued Li’s curiosity. “Anything I need to know with Holbridge? He’s had an interesting trip back here, at least that’s what I hear.”

“I’m not sure,” Rick replied, pulling up Jim’s request for an audience. “It doesn’t hint at what the subject may be. Hell, it could just be him wanting to visit his old commander, which I have no problem with.”

“Good enough. Give him my best will you? I need to check with Hope on a few things. She’s been helping out since both you and my assistant have been off station.” Li rose and smiled at Rick once more. “Now wipe that smile off your face. It’s about to reach your ears.”

“Away with you!” he said, laughing. She had departed the room and was talking with Hope. He checked to see if Holbridge had responded to his summons--he was--so he busied himself with absolutely nothing, since Li had gotten most everything under control during his absence.

“Nothing to do but wait,” he said, putting his feet upon the desk.

*****************
Admiral Ricky Wegener
Happy And He Knows It (clap your hands)

Captain Li Hawke
Saw His Face Surely Showing It
(claps)