Month 9 Day 9
(Shore Leave Day 10)
1330 Hours
Bugalu
Bugalu reached Mac’s side just as the AmerInds finished their
game. “Don’t feel bad, YD,” TB told his rival. “I’ve been playing this game
since the Academy. You gave me-“
“Ladies and Gentlemen,” came a loud voice over the arcade’s internal
speakers as the lights began to dim. “Today, we have two teams lined up for a
game of Survival!, and this could prove to be a game to remember! First, the
team of challengers, all members of the crew of the SS Fireball. Starting with the
Medical position, Head Nurse Beth Temple!” Beth had already been standing in
the correct space, and when the spotlight hit her, she tried not to blink in
the sudden bright light. Much applause surrounded her.
Bugalu grabbed Yellow Dog’s arm and placed her in a spot a
couple feet from Temple. “Stand here.” She gave him a strange look, but stood
where he left her.
“Security for the challengers will be handled by Lieutenant-
no. This can’t be right. Security is a yeoman? Do they have yeomen in security?
Friends, this list says the challengers’ security will be handled by Yeoman
Yellow Dog.” The tall AmerInd folded her arms and stood stoically as the
spotlight hit her. A spattering of uncertain applause greeted her.
It only took a second for Mac to realize Bugalu had placed her
in line with the other 2 women. “What are you up to, Bugs?”
“Just stand here and go with the flow, Mac,” he said as he
stepped away.
“Engineer for the challengers will be Lt Coleen MacDowell.”
As the spotlight found her, Mac’s head whirled to her adopted
brother. “Engineer!”
“Think of it as Nooto for engineers,” he told her.
“But I…” A belated smattering of applause drowned out what
she said, but quickly petered away.
“And the one who issued the challenge, Lt Boogaloo.”
“Close enough,” Bugsy muttered as the spotlight hit him.
Applause surrounded the group, as fellow crew members realized he was leading
the group, even if 2 of his choices seemed… odd. Perhaps they thought he was
confident that Temple and himself could pull the other 2 along in this game.
“And now to introduce the team that’s been challenged.” There
was a brief rearrangement of shadowy people in the darkness in front of the line
of challengers. “Medical will be handled by Dr Drake MacGregor!” The spotlight
found him and applause thundered. As a real doctor, he was already the favorite
in that category. And if he was in the game, had Bugalu finally challenged
senior officers?
“Security is in the hands of Lt Tall Bear!” Bear was larger
than Dog, and instead of greeting his ‘challenger’ with stoic disdain, he held
up a hand in a greeting of peace. Once crew members realized it was not
Winthrop handling security in this game, the applause was thunderous.
“Engineering will be Lt Cmdr Smythe!” The spotlight showed a red-faced
Smitty, who ignored his opponent to glare at her team captain.
Not far from where the teams were lined up, Capac groaned. “Bugalu,
what are you thinking? 2 of your team members don’t even belong to the field
where you’ve assigned them!”
Bugalu turned and gave him a big grin. “I think they’re going
to surprise you.”
“But can they win?” somebody else called out.
“Watch and see,” Bugalu returned easily. But winning isn’t my major reason for doing this. Not any more.
“And finally, the challenged team captain; Captain Jane
Burke!” The captain smiled and waved at the audience, made some quiet comment
to Smitty, who strove to put a more pleasant aspect on his face. It obviously
was not easy for him.
“Well, how about that, folks? A team of men led by a woman
and a team of women led by a man. I don’t know if that will make any difference
to the game. Will the team members please shake hands and enter the game room!”
Smitty stepped forward and thrust his hand out. “If I’d known
you were part of this, I wouldn’t have started with computers,” he mumbled.
Mac took his hand tentatively, pulled hers back quickly.
“Okay,” she squeaked.
“You’ve made some interesting choices,” the captain said.
“I think they’re up to it,” Bugalu returned.
“We’ve been here before,” MacGregor told Beth. “You should go
to med school.”
“I like what I’m doing,” Beth returned. “I wouldn’t mind some
respect, though.”
“You can do this, Dog,” Bear told his opponent.” She gave a slow
nod of acknowledgement.
They all turned and entered the ‘gameroom’. It was actually 2
rooms facing each other, a wall between them. The outer walls were one-way
vision, so those outside could see what the team members were doing. Each room
had 4 stations. Each station had a pair of ear buds and one ear bud had a
microphone attached to hang next to the wearer’s mouth.
“Okay, friends, we are the crew of a ship,” Bugalu stated as
he reached for his ear buds. "Well, more like the senior officers. The bud
with the microphone goes in the left ear; that’s how we’ll hear each other. The
other bud goes in the right ear and lets us hear the other team. We start out
on routine patrol, then something happens. The other team will be involved in
the same incident. Probably. But we won’t know if they’re a friendly ship or an
unfriendly ship. It’s our job to hold our ship together and try to avoid losing
any crew. Afterwards, for an additional charge – which I’ve paid – we’ll get a copy
of this game, so we can study how we did, so above all else, this is a learning
experience. Now take a minute to get acquainted with your stations and get comfortable.”
Mac put in her earbuds quickly, sat down and began to study
her controls. “You’re going to pay for this, Bugsy.”
“I know,” he stated, making sure the console was the same as
it was the last time he had played as team captain.
“You’ll have to help me learn everything I mess up during
this game,” she went on.
“I can find much better tutors for you than a helmsman,” came
Smitty’s voice over the right earbud.
“Of course,” Mac agreed at once. “But that wouldn’t be punishment
for Bugs.”
“It wouldn’t be as confusing for you, is my thought,” Smitty
returned.
“Mr Bugalu,” came Captain Burke’s calm voice. “I believe we
are ready on this side, as soon as you are.”
“Are we ready?” Bugalu asked his team.
“Ready,” Beth answered. Yellow Dog nodded. Mac stood up and
kicked her chair away.
“What’s wrong?” Bugalu asked.
“If I sit down, I can’t reach half the controls. I have the
feeling speed is a component in this game.”
“It is,” Smitty answered. It might have been a mutter; everything
coming through from the other team was at a lower volume.
Bugs glanced at Mac’s boots, which had tall heels. “You want
to take your boots off, too?”
She stuck out her tongue at him. “I’ll manage. Anyway, if I
take them off, I won’t be able to reach the console at all!”
Probably there was laughter outside the game as the arcade patrons
watched. They could hear what went on inside the game, but the teams could not
hear anything beyond their ear buds.
“Go easy on shorty, Bugs,” Tall Bear suggested. “You’ve put
her in a tight spot.”
“Don’t you talk to my captain like that!” Mac replied. “The
mood I’m in, I’m likely to remember you two are best friends, and find a reason
to be mad at you, too!”
“Mac...” Bugalu stated.
“Right.” She took another look over her console, twitched one
rocker switch. “Okay, I’m ready.”
“We are go,” Bugalu stated.
“We are go,” Captain Burke repeated.
The lighting in the game room became a bit more yellow, and
the consoles all came to life.
