Just Say No & Gossip

 

Just Say No

Month 11 Day 30

0757 Hours

Bugalu

 

Bugalu whistled as he left the lift and turned to the side. “Hey, Mac—”

“No,” she answered shortly.

What? “I haven’t had a chance to ask you anything yet,” he pointed out.

She craned her head around to look at him, then, and her white, stressed-out face relaxed. “Sorry, I thought you were— Well, never mind. What did you want?”

“Supper,” he answered. “I don’t think we’ve had supper together since—”

“Too long,” she broke in as she rubbed the back of her neck. “I’d like to, but not in the main mess hall.”

“Fine.” Doesn’t matter to me where we eat. “Meet me—”

“No, you come and get me,” she told him.

Getting kind of bossy, isn’t she? I’ll have to ask about that at supper. There’s always a reason for her behavior. “Okay. I’ll come and get you,” he agreed, and headed for his workstation as she completed turning hers over to her replacement.

“Hey, Mac,” Bugs heard someone say as he signed in at the helm.

“No!” she bit out, and Bugs turned his head to see her walk away from Toshiko. What was that all about?

 

 

Gossip

Month 11, Day 30

1156 Hours

Jane Burke

 

 Jane sat at a corner table with her back to the rest of the mess hall. I always expect my officers to take their regular days off, but I seldom bother to take one myself. And Duck may be right, about skipping them being a bad idea. I certainly have had a fair amount of stress lately. So, maybe a day off, with nothing to do, will prove to be just what the doctor ordered. She smiled slightly at her own little joke. Although I do it so little, I’m not comfortable wearing civvies aboard ship.

“Hey, Della,” a man greeted someone not too far away. “I guess you’ve finished that special project for Smythe. What in space did he have you doing?”

Suddenly alert, Jane peeked over her shoulder as the woman moaned. “Oh, don’t ask! He was punishing me for something; he must have been! But I can’t imagine what I did that was that bad!”

“Poor Della,” Lt Peron sympathized. “You need a hot date to get you relaxed.”

“Maybe, she answered, sounding a bit flirty. “But as it happens, I’m pretty booked for another week.”

“My loss, then,” the day shift engineer muttered. “But here’s an idea. Why don’t you tell me how to get a date with Mac?”

“What makes you think I know?”

“You are her roommate,” he pointed out.

“So, let’s see if I understand,” she suggested. “You asked me out, but what you really want is a date with Mac.”

Not a smart move on his part, Jane thought.

“I want a date,” he answered. “And you said you’re booked.”

Nice save.

“Try Monroe,” she suggested.

“She’s probably booked, too,” he answered. “Anyway, I don’t want Monroe. I want to ask Mac out.”

“Well, ask. But don’t come crying to me if she says no, cause she probably will.”

“I thought Bugalu had turned her loose.” Jane could almost hear the groan in the man’s voice. “I’ve heard she’s been dating others.”

“She has, of sorts,” Harris confirmed. “She had a date with Tall Bear, and that seemed to go okay. Then she went out with Ryan, which lasted all of 5 minutes, I think. Since then, I haven’t heard of any others.”

“Then help me get one with her. What’s she looking for in a date?”

“If you really want my opinion, I don’t think she wants to date. She’s only doing it—what little of it she does—to remind us ladies that she has no claim on Bugalu.”

“As if anybody could lay claim to him,” Peron remarked.

“Well, there’s some who’d like to.”

I imagine there’s plenty who would like to.

“So, how do I get her to go out with me?”

“Oh, for crying—” Harris began irritably. “Look, you aren’t the first to ask me for help. I’ll tell you the same thing I’ve told the others; I don’t know! She doesn’t really confide in me. Maybe she figures she’s done enough to revive Bugalu’s love life, and will go back to not dating anyone. Maybe she’ll try a few more, and find she likes it. Or not. But I will say that having every man aboard swarm around her like... like a bunch of spawning salmon isn’t her idea of fun! Anyway, why ask me? Tall Bear had a successful date with her. Why don’t you ask him?”

“I did.”

“What did he say?”

“Well, he just kind of stared at me for a while, then he rumbled, ‘What makes you think I want competition?’ And that’s all he’d say about it.”

Harris giggled. “Sounds like Bear.”

“Well, it irritated me,” Peron said. “So I explained that he’s already got competition.”

“Oh, Bugalu isn’t competition for Mac’s affections.”

“I wasn’t talking about Bugalu.”

“MacGregor?” she asked. “I didn’t think she thought of him like—”

“No, I don’t think it was MacGregor,” the man remarked musingly.

“Then who?”

“I don’t know,” he answered. “I didn’t get a good look at him. I mean, the red dress and bright red curls were unmistakable, but I couldn’t tell much from the back of the man’s dress uniform. Couldn’t even see his rank.”

“What are you talking about?” Harris demanded, exasperated.

“New Year’s dance, I slipped out with... a friend for a look at the observatory.”

“To make out,” she interrupted. “Good choice of scene. One of my favorites.”

“Well, someone beat us there, as I discovered when I turned the light on. I was so surprised, I backed out. Didn’t realize who we had interrupted until later. Like I said, it was obvious who the woman was, but all I saw of the man was the back of his uniform. But it wasn’t Bugalu, I’m sure. Wasn’t big enough to be Tall Bear, and I’m fairly certain it wasn’t MacGregor, either.”

“What were they doing?”

Jane could almost hear the man leer. “It was plenty hot in there.”

“Hmm,” Harris responded. “So you want to get some of Mac’s heat for yourself.”

“Why not?”

“Men!” Harris snorted, and her chair scraped the floor. She must have stood up. “If Mac wants to give you some heat, she’ll let you know. But I have to get back to work.” The sound of her boots moved towards the door.

Left alone at the table, Peron sighed, stood up and also left the mess hall.

I should definitely try this more often. I pick up juicy gossip when no one realizes I’m here. And they’re much more likely to not realize who I am when I’m not in uniform. Now, the question is, who was MacDowell making out with? I’m hoping really hard it wasn’t Winthrop.

Eavesdropper

Month 11 Day 20

2009 Hours

Smitty

 

“Oh, this feels so good, MacG.”

Smitty came to a stop, recognizing the voice, despite the sensuous tone of what was said. He looked around, trying to figure out where the redhead was. That’s what she calls McGregor. But I don’t see— Then he saw the slightly open door to the privacy room as MacGregor’s voice happily said, “I try to please.”

I just bet he does! Ice stabbed through his chest, and his feet seemed frozen to the floor. He could at least close the door before they make love!

The unseen woman gave another moan and sighed. “You always seem to know what I need.”

“Does that mean you feel better now?”

“Absolutely,” she answered. Smitty could imagine them inside, putting their clothes back to rights. “Remind me how good it feels, the next time I need it.”

“I don’t think—” The door opened wide, and Smitty found himself staring at a surprised MacGregor. “Hello, Smitty.”

The engineer could not move, but stood glaring at the other man. The redhead slipped around the doctor and stepped into the hallway. “Smit,” she greeted him softly.

“Colleen,” he responded with what breath he could muster. He cast wildly through his mind for something he could say to her. But the only thing he could think of was the fact that she had now started dating Tall Bear as well as Bugalu and MacGregor. And women always enjoy their dates with Tall Bear. “I, uh, ... I, uh, hope your evening went well?” What a stupid thing to say! Her date with Tall Bear was over a week ago! And I don’t hope it went well!

Her face went red. “No, not really,” she answered softly. “I was lucky MacG came along to make things better.”

Is she saying she prefers MacGregor to Tall Bear?

“Hey, wait a minute,” Drake stated, as he hurriedly stopped another crewmember who was walking past. “Wherever you’re headed, take Mac with you, okay?”

Yellow Dog gave Colleen a hard look before stating, “Sauna.” She took the redhead’s hand and pulled her away.

“While we’re there, could you give me a back rub?” Colleen asked. “I’ve just had so much tension lately!”

Smitty watched the 2 women disappear around a corner, then angrily turned to MacGreg, who was grinning, still watching where they had disappeared. “She has got legs that won’t quit,” the doctor mumbled.

“I’m sure you know that for a fact,” Smitty growled.

“Not like I’d like to,” the doctor answered.

He just had a quickie with Colleen, and he wants to know her even better than that? “And you call yourself a doctor!” Smitty rounded on the other man. “And an officer! Yet, here you are, having taken advantage of her when she’s trying to recuperate from a terrible ordeal!”

MacGregor finally came out of his daze. “What? What terrible ordeal? I can hardly get her to talk to me!”

“She didn’t seem to have any trouble in the privacy room!”

“What privacy room? What are you talking about?”

Smitty pointed to the privacy room where the doctor had recently emerged. “And a quickie on the table in a privacy room doesn’t usually involve a lot of talking!” he barked.

“Keep your voice down,” MacGregor told him. “You want the captain to hear us talking at the top of our lungs about quickie sex? Hardly the kind of behavior she expects from her senior officers, is it?”

“Oh, but I suppose having a quickie in a privacy room with the door halfway open is perfectly okay!” Smitty snarled.

“What are you talking about?” Drake asked once more. “I was in there with Mac, not Yellow Dog. Trying to get her to relax.”

“Who said anything about Yellow Dog? And the door was half open,” Smitty growled. “I heard you!”

MacGregor looked thoughtful for a moment, as if he was reviewing what had happened in that privacy room. “First of all, it wasn’t what you think.”

“It never is, is it?” Smitty spat, and turned to leave.

“What’s it matter to you?” Drake asked, his own temper aroused. “Is it any of your business what Mac and I might have done in a privacy room?”

No, it’s not. But if I admit that, he’ll realize... Blast my foolishness! What excuse can I offer for my stupid behavior? Stupid, Smitty, acting jealous over the sexual antics of an underling. With a sudden stab of hope, he turned back. “She’s my underling. If she’s being taken advantage of by a man of higher rank, it’s my responsibility to keep her from getting hurt.”

MacGregor stared at him for a moment. “Next, you’ll ask me what my intentions are.” He shook his head slightly. “No wonder she has you confused with her father.”

“Don’t change the—”

“Figure out your intentions, Smitty,” MacGregor broke in. “Don’t worry about mine, because I promise you, Mac doesn’t.”

“My intentions!” he sputtered. I don’t have any intentions! I can’t have any! “Don’t try to turn this back on me! If you do anything that makes her—” Careful what you say! “—makes her less... efficient in her work, I’ll have you up on charges!”

“Will you?” Drake asked. “Well, turn about’s fair play, Smitty. Been spying on her, have you? Watch yourself. Because if you do anything that causes her pain, I’ll put you on report for behavior unbecoming an officer. Now, if you don’t mind, I was on my way to a game of pool before Mac... distracted me.”

Trying to Relax

 

Month 11 Day 20

1939 Hours

Drake MacGregor

 

“Hands off!”

Drake stopped short as Ryan came flying out of the deck 9 rec room, nearly hitting Drake before bouncing off the opposite corridor wall. That can only be the work of— Mac appeared in the doorway and glared at Ryan. Like I thought.

“I don’t know how I can put it any more plainly,” she said angrily.

“Come on, Mac, what’s the big deal?” Ryan asked. “It’s not like Bugalu cares if you date others. You’ve already been out with Tall Bear and Clines.”

“They keep their hands to themselves!” she growled. “And I haven’t dated Clines, he needed help with his pronunciation of the Yukosk language.” She turned and started up the corridor.

She is so upset, I can almost see steam emanating from her. Drake hurried forward to catch her. She whirled when his fingers touched her elbow, and he flinched, expecting her fist to explode against his face. But although her fists were balled, they were held stiffly near her thighs.

“Oh, it’s you.” She turned away and started off again.

Drake walked with her, careful not to touch her again. “Mac, you need to calm down.”

“No kidding!” she snapped.

“Well, I can help.”

“I’m sure you’d like to!” she spat. “Like every other man!”

Ouch. That hurt. “Hey,” he objected softly.

She came to a sudden stop and took a deep breath, but didn’t turn to look at him. “I am so upset. I can’t even think straight,” she muttered

“I can see that,” he agreed.

She glared from the corner of her eye. “Well? What do you want me to do?”

He glanced around. They had long since left both Ryan and the rec room behind. A rec room probably isn’t a good idea for what I have in mind, anyway. His eyes landed on the door of a privacy room that wasn’t far away. “First, let’s get you away from irritants like Ryan,” he suggested, gesturing towards the privacy room.

She hesitated for a long time, then bolted inside. Drake followed at a more sedate pace, pausing in the doorway. Good. This one has a table and chairs. Still have to be careful, though, if I don’t want to go flying against a wall. Mac was already sitting at the table. Leaving the door ajar, Drake took the opposite chair, and turned it backwards to sit down, thus placing the chair back between them as well as the table.

“Now what?” Mac asked.

“Now I’m going to send you on an imaginary vacation,” he answered.

“What?”

“Try and humor me,” he smiled. “What do you like to do on furlough?”

“What do I like?” she frowned. “I don’t know. I drink. A lot.”

This could be tougher than I thought. “Okay, forget that question. If you could go anyplace you wanted to go, and do anything you found relaxing, where would you go, what would you do?” She still looks confused, like the whole concept has no meaning for her. “Okay, let’s say you have a half hour to do anything you want aboard ship, and nobody’s going to bother you while you do it.”

“Oh!” There was a gleam of interest in her eyes at last. “The arboretum, during twilight. There’s a willow there, and when I climb underneath it, I can almost believe I’m at home.” She gave a little grimace. “Well, except this willow doesn’t have a spring flowing past it. I used to sit under that willow and soak my feet in the warm water.”

“Warm water?”

“Yeah, it was a warm spring,” she answered at once. “Pretty close to a constant 99 degrees.”

Now we’re getting somewhere. Warm water, solitude, surrounded by plants. He smiled. “That good, Mac. Now, close your eyes and try to imagine what I describe”

“What are you going to do?”

Still too upset to remember she trusts me. “I’m going to sit here and describe a scene I think you’ll find relaxing.”

She stared at him blankly for a moment, then her eyes slammed shut. “I’m ready.”

“Okay, imagine this. Furlough has arrived, and you’ve booked yourself a room, your own private little hut, on a beautiful tropical island. Your hut is surrounded by gorgeous, fragrant flowers and tall palm trees. Just off the patio at the back of your hut, there is a pool of water, bubbling gently...” He went on to describe the natural jacuzzi and how good it felt when she let the warm water surround her; the aroma of the flowers wafting past her nose. He could see her body relaxing, and let his voice fade off, letting her own imagination continue the daydream. After a few minutes of silence, she raised her hands to rub their backs and fingers. After a couple minutes of that, he softly asked, “Do you need a hand massage?”

Her eyes opened just a slit, instead of popping open. “A what?”

“A hand massage. Similar to what you’re doing, but I would do it for you, work the tension out of your hands.”

She stared at her hands as she continued her efforts, then pushed them across the table towards him. “It’s like they’ve been permanently balled up for pretty much the past week.”

He gently picked up one and began rubbing the fingers, working the tension out of the muscles. Wow, if this is how badly knotted her hand muscles are, I hate to think how tense the rest of her is. Her whole body would be one big knot.

He continued working with her hands, first one and then the other, then the first one again. He wondered if he dared suggest a neck and shoulder massage. But then, as he was trying to figure out how best to make such a suggestion, Mac gave a deep sigh, and most of her tension just seemed to melt out of her. She breathed a low moan of appreciation. “This feels so good, MacG.”

I’ve never had a hand massage work so well on the entire body. “I try to please,” he returned lightly. I wish all her problems were as simple to fix as this one has been.

The Date / The Plan

The Date

Month 11, Day 12

1904 Hours

Tall Bear

 Tall Bear was careful to keep his hands in his pockets as he and Mac walked to the theater. She had agreed to a date at New Year’s, but after Winthrop’s attack, he figured it would be quite a while before she was ready to consider it. So it surprised him when she had suggested a movie tonight. He didn’t even know what was playing. Nor did he care. He just didn’t want to do anything to frighten her, so he kept his hands in his pockets.

As they approached the theater’s concession area, he asked, “Did you want any popcorn or anything?” When she gave him a slightly confused look, he explained. “It’s fairly traditional to have popcorn and a beverage while you watch the movie.”

“Not for me. I just had breakfast. Tradition for Bugs and me is to have ham and pineapple pizza after the movie.”

“I didn’t know that. I didn’t order any pizza.”

“That’s okay. That’s my tradition with Bugs. If we continue to have more of these dates, maybe we should find our own tradition to go with it.”

“Oh, you mean, like following up with a cheeseburger and fries? Or an ice cream sundae?”

“Unless we watch the movie twice, it would be a little early for those. For me. Did you want to watch it twice?”

“I don’t even know what the movie is tonight,” he admitted.

“I don’t remember the name, but somebody said it’s a comedy. I could use a comedy. I’ve had to limit my sessions with Dr Fong to every 2nd day. Too much drama to do it every day anymore.”

“I don’t want to get too nosey, but is he helping you at all?”

She considered that question as they found seats in the middle of the auditorium. “I think so. But mostly I think I keep surprising him. I’m not sure he’s grasped that what surprises him is either boring and/or something I’ve tried to suppress a good deal of my life.”

“Like your father’s belief that women don’t know how to fix anything?”

“We haven’t even gotten to that one yet. And that’s only one of daddy’s many dictates.”

“Yeah, I can see where you would need time in between sessions,” he told her. “When I went to NAmerInd school, I was glad they left us so much time for ‘Inner Searching’. We not only were learning all the skills our ancestors had once mostly lost, but we needed to figure out how we were going to incorporate ourselves into the world we now lived in.”

“Why would you want to learn lost skills?”

Because it’s part of our heritage. No culture should have their heritage obliterated just because a new culture appears. Anyway, that’s what my ancestors thought. My recent ancestors. So several tribes banded together and formed schools where they could teach the old skills, ancient rites and myths to the youngsters. It’s pretty intense, but I thought it well worth the 2 years I spent there. Yellow Dog spent 3 years at hers.”

Somebody poked his nose between them and remarked, “So Tall Bear finally has a date with MacDowell. I knew there was something between you two, all those lunches together.”

“Adams, keep your nose out of my business,” Tall Bear told him without looking around.

“Or what, Mr Temporary Security Chief? Are you going to punch me and let me file charges against you?”

“No,” Tall Bear answered. “But I won’t see anything if my date does.”

“None of us will see a thing,” said a voice a little further away.

Wow. That’s what comes from her piping the midnight bridge conversation around the ship, I guess.

“Leave them alone, Adams,” said a female voice. “I only agreed to this date because you promised to be on your best behavior, and I’m already starting to regret it.”

That seemed to be enough to shut Adams up. Good thing, because the movie was starting. As the lights dimmed into darkness, Bear was astounded when one of Mac’s hands found his where it lay on his thigh. Slim, warm fingers slipped between his thumb and forefinger to rest against his palm.

Dr Fong isn’t the only one she’s surprising these days.

 

 

The Plan

Month 11, Day 16

1123 Hours

Smitty

 “Blossum, take a break,” the captain told her yeoman as Smitty followed Jane into her office. “Take a seat, Smitty.” Once they were both seated, she asked, “Have you had a chance to study the reports Oakhurst provided us?”

“I have, and I’m of a mind to break Lt Adams down to technician!”

“I know how you feel. My report on Evans is less clear than the one on Adams, but I’m demoting Evans to ensign and getting him off the bridge. And if he still doesn’t straighten up, I’ll either demote him again or transfer him off. Or both. So, who will you replace Adams with?”

Oh, blast! I haven’t given it a thought, I’ve been so riled over how little attention he’s given to engineering the past 6 months. Maybe Harris. No, she’s not ready for that kind of responsibility. 2 or 3 other names came to mind, and then another name, one he didn’t dare suggest for that position. “Um, captain, as you know, I’ve been working on that Yukosk machine with, um, Wilson, Abdulla and Colleen.”

“I remember,” Jane returned, looking mildly confused at this non-answer to her question. “Has Abdulla finally agreed to transfer to engineering? I thought she was happy on the bridge.”

“She is. Happy. No, it’s not her I’m thinking of.”

“Well, who, then? Wilson is already one of your shift supervisors, and MacDowell is communications. I’m not sure where that gets us.”

“As far as naming a new shift supervisor for engineering, not very far. But I must admit to being impressed with Co—MacDowell’s apparent grasp of engineering concepts. Then, too, I’ve recently found out she has a habit of reading technual manuals as ‘something to do’. She’s currently working her way through the one for the warp engine.”

“I can’t say I’m terribly surprised. Now that she knows she doesn’t have to hide it, it’s obvious she has a brain.”

“I’d like to... test how much engineering she does know,” he stated.

“To what end?”

“Well, you know I like to cross-train my people. But this one... there might be the possibility of transferring her into engineering. I mean, if she wants to. If not, then... there’s no need to cross-train her on things she already knows.”

“By all means, test her, cross-train her. However you want to do it. But don’t get your hopes up. After all, Abdulla hasn’t transferred yet.”

“Yes, sir. Then I’d like to move Wilson to A shift and have her work with MacDowell 2 days a week. And I’ll work out the next shift supervisor in the next day or two.”

“Make it snappy. These guys have been getting away with this for far too long. I want Evans off the bridge!”