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.