Personal Favors

Month 9 Day 24

0808 Hours

Ivy Wilson

Mac was laughing when she walked into her own living room from the corridor, with Bugalu behind her. “...always watching me,” she finished saying, and then saw Ivy sitting on the sofa. “Hello, Ivy.”

“I hope you don’t mind. Della said I could wait for you.” I had hoped by waiting in her quarters, I might manage to avoid Bugalu, but... never mind. It was bound to happen sooner or later.

“Not at all. I’m glad to see you. I have a favor to ask.”

“If you and Bugalu are busy, I could come back another time,” Ivy offered. Space, that’s cold, to talk about him as if he isn’t here. “Hello, Bugalu.” Her voice almost cracked, but she got it out.

“Hello, Ivy. Like Mac said, it’s good to see you.” He turned his attention to the redhead. “Listen, I walked you home. Now I’m going to enjoy my day off while you chat with Ivy and then sleep. I’ll come back around 4.”

“Don’t feel you have to leave on my account,” Ivy blurted out.

“I’m not,” he returned. “Now that Mac can sleep, we’re learning to give each other some space. Okay, so, later, Mac. See ya around, Ivy.”

They watched the helmsman leave, and then Mac eagerly sat on the other end of the sofa. “Okay, so here’s the thing, Ivy. Smit has been... a little... slow... about getting me cross-trained. Bugs suggested I study up on my own. Suits me, but I’d like to have someone who can make sure I’m not... mis-learning. Is that a word?”

Ivy smiled. “Whether it is or not, I know what you mean. I’d be happy to help. Send me any questions you have, and I’ll answer. If it seems you need more than that, we can find some time to get together. Just so I know what he’s done so far, what has he had you trained on?”

“He had me tested on computers. I passed that. And he had me assist as he installed a GR142 in my bed so I can sleep in Gaelund gravity.”

Ivy blinked in surprise. That’s not slow, that’s practically standing still. But I can’t let her know that. “Oh, is that why you have some extra bounce in your walk these last few days? I’ve noticed you looking well rested, but somebody said Dr MacGregor had you sleeping under a cold blanket.”

Mac laughed and shook her head. “Rumors! He had me spend a shift under a cold blanket because I’d fallen out of bed so many times, I was a mass of bruises all down my back. The weight of the cold blanket allowed me to sleep. The next day, Smit installed the GR142, and now I can sleep in my own bed! I feel well rested, and happy, and sane. It is such a relief!”

“I imagine so. I don’t know how you could function, without any sleep all those months.”

“Actually, it came on pretty slowly. Then we discovered I could sleep - fairly well - if Bugsy sat next to my bed and read and held my hand. I can imagine the rumors going around about that, but that’s all it was. And I was unhappy about having to monopolize his time so much. Especially since I didn’t remember spending that time with him. Well, anyway, you said you had something to ask me. What is it?”

She’s still trying convince me she and Bugalu aren’t lovers. “Do you remember what you and Kolla did to the equipment on the bridge to separate and become yourselves again?”

“Oh, yes. I not only have my memories of it, but if need be, I can dip into Kolla’s memories about it. Why?”

“I was hoping we could get together and go over that. Smythe still has the drawings of what you did...”

“Drawings?”

“Abdulla and I took it apart on the auxiliary bridge and tried to reconstruct it on the main bridge, since that’s where Kolla’s body was at, according to the charge that remained in the ruined communications console. We made very detailed schematics and notes.”

“Oh, I’d love to see those! And explain what we thought we were doing. Hoped we were doing.” She gave Ivy a broad grin. “Maybe I should start by giving you a copy of the paper Kolla and I wrote about it.”

“There’s a copy in the library,” Ivy told her. “I’ve read it, but now I’d like to really get into the details of it.”

“Happy to do it. When do you want to get together?”

“My days off are ship’s Monday and Tuesday,” Ivy stated.

“Mine are Sunday and Monday.” Mac paused and then suggested, “Next Monday? I’ve developed the habit of sleeping B shift, so do you mind if we make it during C shift?”

“Monday on C shift will be fine. I also sleep during B shift.”

“Do you think we could use a briefing room? I don’t need Adams or Jones interrupting us to tell me why what I did couldn’t possibly have worked. Or I suppose we could use a privacy room.” She shook her head. “No. We’ll probably want to spread the schematics out, maybe even make new ones, so a nice long table for plenty of room.”

Ivy stood up. “I’ll find a place for us to meet.”

Mac stood up also and gave her a brief hug. “I’m glad we can still be friends, Ivy. I mean, Bugsy is my brother, and Della is my roommate.”

“I was mad at Della,” she confirmed. “At first. But I finally realized she was working hard to show me - not just tell me - that LaPour was not as serious about me as he pretended. So I shifted my anger to LaPour, where it belonged.” I don’t dare say anything about Bugalu. I might start crying.

“Okay, find a place and pick a time to meet and let me know. And don’t forget to bring those drawings!”

“I’ll have them,” Ivy promised, and left, relieved to be headed for her own bed. I was a fool to break off with Bugalu, but I can’t expect him to forgive me.

An Eager Student (Part 2)

Month 9 Day 17

0812 Hours

Smitty

Previously:

He took a deep breath , worked hard to gather all his will power together. And hoped it was enough. “The idea is for you to watch and listen to my explanation concerning the installation, possibly even to participate to some measure.”

Her face lit up with pure pleasure. “Sounds like fun!”

He was surprised by her enthusiasm. It was an emotion he didn’t remember seeing on her face before. “There’s a... panel at the head of your bed, in the storage unit. Go ahead and open that. We’ll need to patch the GR unit into the power grid.”

She was on her knees and had the panel open in under a second. She doesn’t seem to be pretending an eagerness to learn.

He lowered himself beside her, and handed her the small piece of equipment. “This is a GR142. Not the smallest grav unit in existence, but one of the smallest we keep on hand. If we need one smaller, we’d have to fabricate it. Now, I know you aren’t familiar with grav units, but look it over. Can you tell which side goes up and which goes down?”

Her brow furrowed as she looked it over. “Is this a grav unit or an anti-grav unit?”

“Both, depending on how you set it up.”

She promptly held it out on one palm. “Since we want to add to the existing gravity field, I think it should be set up like this.”

“Very good. You’re right. Now, a gravity field is generally round, and it peters out after a certain distance. The smallest distance on this size is 3 feet in 6 directions. I can tweek that a bit, make it 3 feet in both directions on the x axis, 2 feet in both directions on the y axis, and 4 feet in one direction on the z axis.” He proceeded to show her how to manipulate the 3 tiny sets of controls to get the configuration he’d spoken of.

She considered the size of the bed. “So, if I roll over in my sleep, and a hand or foot winds up in a corner of the bed, it might feel like it’s floating?”

“That’s right. And if you sit up of a morning without turning off the extra gravity, you might get dizzy as your head emerges from the gravity field.”

“Probably not,” she returned. “I’m pretty short. Compared to most people.”

“Ahhhh...” The first several responses that came to mind were highly flirtatious, and for the life of him, Smitty could not think of any responses that weren’t. He felt his face go red and decided to concentrate on the work at hand. “Okay, so this looks like about the center of this storage area.” He laid the unit down and reached for a tool, only to find Colleen handing it to him.

How did she do that? I didn’t feel it leave my tool belt. How did she know what I’d need? “Thank you. A few twists on each of these two anchors will fix it in place. And then-“ He felt the next item tug lightly at his tool belt, wasn’t surprised when she handed it to him. “Now we connect the power supply.” He shoved the small connector on the length of wire into the receiving hole on the GR unit, let her plug in the other end in the panel. “Computer, initialize and coordinate the GR142 unit now attached to Colleen’s bed.”

“Command not understood,” the computer told him.

“Computer, initialize and coordinate the GR142 unit now incorporated in MacDowell’s bed,” Colleen requested.

“Confirmed,” the computer agreed.

“Why did it balk when I asked it to do that?” Smitty muttered.

“You used my first name,” she answered quietly.”

I did?

“The GR142 unit is now initialized and coordinated,” the computer reported.

“Now we should test it,” he muttered, and stood up, intending to put the mattress down where it belonged. “Computer, increase MacDowell’s bed to Gaelunde standard gravity,” he instructed, and felt as if a weight had landed on his back as he reached for the mattress.

“Computer, cancel gravity on MacDowell’s bed!” Colleen insisted, sounding panicked.

Smitty looked at her as everything above his knees seemed to suddenly be floating. He saw her reach for him, and then suddenly turn green in the face. He forgot the mattress, reached down to grab her shoulders and shoved her out of the newly-installed gravity zone, softening her fall with his arms. “Are you all right?”

Green eyes stared at him in confusion. “I guess so. What happened?”

“You canceled gravity in your bed. The computer took that to mean all gravity.”

“No wonder I suddenly felt sick.”

“Why did you do it? I said we needed to test it.”

“You were moving into the gravity zone. I didn’t want you to hurt yourself.”

“Okay, I may only be an Earthling, but even Gaelund gravity isn’t going to make a mattress that heavy.” Her face turned pink, and he marveled at how much more beautiful a little blush made her. “Computer, return gravity to normal 1 G on Colleen’s bed.”

“Command not understood.”

Space, I’ve done it again. “I meant MacDowell’s bed. And in the future, if I ever mention Colleen in this room again, I mean MacDowell.”

“Instruction understood. And achieved.”

“I like it when you use my name,” she whispered.

And I like laying here next to her. Space, what am I doing? This is no position to be in with an underling! He started to get up, ignoring the way her fingers seemed to pluck at his uniform sleeves. “I’ll put your mattress back where it belongs, and then we’ll test the field strength.”

He put the mattress to its usual position, and reached behind him for another tool, only to find her hand already around it. He jerked his hand away, and she brought the piece of equipment around in front of him. “A grav field tester?”

“Right,” he agreed, took it from her and lay it in the middle of the mattress, then turned it on. “Okay, Earth standard, as it ought to be. But grav units are notorious for not being accurate when you first install them. Only to be expected; they’re usually built under natural gravity, and once they’re installed, they have to work in conjunction with other grav units. Computer, adjust the gravity on Colleen’s bed to Gaelund standard.”

“Achieved.”

“That readout doesn’t look right.”

“It’s not,” he agreed. “Computer, adjust the gravity on Colleen’s bed up by 1% of 1G.”

“Achieved.”

“That’s better.”

“Still not right.” Don’t want her to start dreaming she can’t breathe. “Computer, adjust the increased gravity down by .1%.”

“Achieved.”

“Down another .13%”

“Achieved.”

“Okay. That’s good,” he decided. “Computer, until instructed differently, this is where you set the gravity field to produce standard Gaelund gravity on this bed.”

“Understood.”

“Good. Standard gravity on Colleen’s bed.” He scooped up the grav field tester and handed it to her. “The 2 fields that now cover your bed area will take some time to adjust to each other. Keep this tester for a few days. Each day, before you go to bed, test the double field and make adjustments like I just did. Do you understand that?”

She stared at him for several seconds. “You trust me to do that... on my own?”

“I’m beginning to think you pick up things a lot faster than I gave you credit for.” Anything to keep me out of her bedroom again. And I can always have Della double-check it in the mornings before she reports for duty.

She gave him a slow smile as she accepted the tester. “Thank you, Smit.”

“Okay, then. I’m done here, so you can get some sleep. And no nightmares!”

“I’m pretty sure my dreams will be much nicer now,” she assured him, laying the tester on the table next to her bed.

“Good night,” he told her, and forced himself to turn and leave. No doubt my dreams tonight will be hot and steamy!

An Eager Student (Part 1)

Month 9 Day 17

0802 Hours

Smitty

The lift opened on deck 4, and Smitty got off without waiting for her, but certain she would follow him. And that was confirmed a moment later when she uncertainly stated, “If I knew what I’d done to earn your ire, I’d find a way to make amends.”

Smitty stopped short and glared at the floor. She hasn’t done anything to ‘earn my ire’. I’m not mad at her, I’m mad at myself for not having done with her what I’ve done with every other communications officer, and start her cross-training. And I’m also mad at the captain for pointing that out to me. She shouldn’t have needed to. My fault again.

He spun around on one foot, was shocked to see there was hardly any space between them. She must have very nearly run right into me, when I stopped so abruptly. Another woman, I could almost regret that she was agile enough to avoid that. Simmer down, Smitty. There’s no need for thoughts like that. They’re inappropriate.

She cocked her head to one side. “Smit?”

He very nearly raised a hand to touch her cheek, but that hand seemed occupied, and he realized he was holding a GR142 unit, which reminded him why he was here. Why they were here.

“I didn’t mean to take my anger out on you. I’ve been reminded that I haven’t made a proper effort to get you cross-trained. That’s completely my fault, with all the distractions we’ve had since your probation. So, we’re going to start your training this morning. Come along.” He whirled and started off again, suddenly eager to get this... done.

“Where are we going?”

“Your bedroom,” he answered, and continued for several steps before her startled voice reached him.

“I beg your pardon?”

He turned to face her again, this time surprised by the great distance between them. She must have stopped as soon as he’d answered her. Irritated at that seemingly vast distance, he held up the GR unit. “We’re going to install this.” And then he moved on, through the bedroom door of her quarters.

He barely had time to put the anti-grav unit on a side dresser before she walked in. “What’s wrong with my bedroom?”

He glanced around the room. “Nothing that I can see. Which one is your bed?” She swallowed and pointed to the one in the skinny end of the room. “Well, that figures,” he muttered. “Still, we don’t want to get the field too big in either case. Here goes.” He walked over, grabbed the edge of her mattress and pulled it up, leaned it against the wall on the other side of the bed, then considered the storage space he’d uncovered.

It held a pair of bright yellow spike-heeled shoes and an equally bright yellow pantsuit, each carefully wrapped in a clear plastic bag to keep them clean. He remembered that pantsuit from her first shore leave; how gorgeous she had looked with her intricate hairstyle and flawless complexion. Just catching a glimpse of her from across the room had made him forget his paid companion. For a moment. That type of thing had never happened to him before that evening.

“Smit?” Her voice quivered a bit. “I don’t wear those items aboard ship.”

“I was-” He wasn’t sure any sound had come out, so he cleared his throat and tried again. “I was thinking that if you use the space under your mattress for storage-which is what it’s for, after all-then you’ll need to make sure what you store doesn’t interfere with the function of the GR unit.”

She glanced into the storage space in utter confusion. “What GR unit?”

It was her look of frustration and confusion that made him realize he hadn’t taken the time to explain anything. He never should have expected her to recognize the anti-grav unit, since they weren’t used in communications. And without recognizing it, she wouldn’t have any real idea what they were here to do. The best she might have were suspicions.

He tried to imagine what she must have thought, to be commanded to accompany him, then led to her own bedroom after a brief apology for his anger and an even briefer statement that he would start her ‘lessons’ right then. He hoped his imagination was wrong about what she must have thought, but was afraid it was completely right. What else could she have thought? If any of my supervisors had ever acted the way I’ve been acting...

What was even worse, having gotten started on thoughts like that, was that he suddenly had an overwhelming urge to give her those ‘lessons’ that had nothing to do with engineering or communications. And the scent of lilacs that still clung to her, even after a full shift of work, introduced the idea of a leisurely dalliance in the arboretum.

Smitty forced himself to cross the room and pick up the GR142 once again. Turning to face her, he crossed his arms over his chest, as a form of symbolic barrier between them. “I’m here to install variable gravity on your bed. It’s been suggested that if you have Gaelund gravity to sleep in, then you won’t have nightmares and will be able to sleep.”

“Oh.” She gave a big sigh that Smitty was hard pressed to ignore. “Well, that would be a relief. Should I leave while you install it?”

Yes. No. It would be a lot less distracting if she wasn’t here. And how would that teach her anything? Get hold of yourself, man! A real man can think of something besides sex, even when there is a pretty girl at hand. And she would be at hand, within arm’s reach. If not closer.

He took a deep breath , worked hard to gather all his will power together. And hoped it was enough. “The idea is for you to watch and listen to my explanation concerning the installation, possibly even to participate to some measure.”

Her face lit up with pure pleasure. “Sounds like fun!”