The Contest (Part 1)

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.