The Date
Month 11, Day 12
1904 Hours
Tall Bear
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
“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!”
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