Making Progress

Month 16 Day 10

23:57 Hours

Smitty

 Smitty glanced at the clock of the engineering office and finally brought the briefing to a close. "Thank you all for your hard work these last few days. It's a relief to see Lt Cmdr Facchini has recovered enough that the doctors are allowing him to attend our briefings at least once a day. I hope he isn't too disappointed in the progress we've made since our arrival."

"Not at all," Stinky stated. "I'm a little amazed at how much you've gotten done."

"Well, good. Happy to hear it. Now, Lt Jamison, if you will relieve Lt Vojeck, and Wilson, please relieve me." Once that formality was done, he went on to suggest, "Lt Jamison, would you please take Mr Facchini to the warp power alcove and let him examine the crystals we've installed? I think that will help set his mind at ease, and in a couple minutes, I'll walk him back to med bay." Once everybody else had left the office, he closed the door and turned to Colleen. "I didn't realize just how difficult a time you had at the Academy. Now I understand why you only gave that idea a ranking of 3."

Green eyes looked up in surprise. "Who have you been talking to? About the Academy?"

"Bugalu," he admitted. "He explained a lot about your background there." He cleared his throat. "And I also explained to MacGregor why sanitation engineer is not a good position for you."

"You've been busy. Wish I had that kind of time to go through all the different jobs you 3 have been sending me."

"I hope you look through mine first."

She hesitated briefly before admitting, "Now that you're emailing them to me, I do." She licked her lips and added, "I haven't seen any mention of the ship-yard station that you once thought highly of."

"I... thought you had rejected that one."

"I was angry at the time, but we could toss it into the pot and see where it lands," she countered.

He smiled and took hold of her hands to pull her forward for a brief kiss. "I wish I could give you a proper embrace."

"It's probably a good thing you can't, else we'd most likely go way beyond the 2 minutes we're allowing ourselves."

"I also wish you'd move in with me."

She canted her head to the side mischievously. "How would that work with our quarters being barracks? And us working opposing shifts?"

"Don't tease me. I meant, once we get back to the Fireball. But I've already ruined you in the eyes of your family, by getting you pregnant before we got married."

Her gaze turned serious, almost morose. She softly stated, "There's an old saying, something about in for a penny, in for a pound."

His heart skipped a beat, and he reflexively squeezed her hands. "Does that mean you will? Move in with me?"

"If all goes well between now and... then." She swallowed, and he was afraid she was already feeling misgivings about the idea.

"Then I'll be on my very best behavior."

"No, don't," she said quickly, and licked her lips. "I want to know the real you, not some made up version of you."

His mouth dry, he offered, "Soon as we get married, there'll be nothing to stop us from living together."

She smiled again, though not as fully as before. "Thank you. For understanding."

He wanted to surge forward, but instead, he shuffled his feet back half an inch. "I'd better go, before I forget where we are."

"Yes, I'm not sure you remembered to lock the door this time."

"No, I'm pretty sure I didn't." I was so eager to turn my attention to her, I'm surprised I remembered to close the door. He gave her another kiss, this one just a brief peck, because he didn't trust himself to stay any longer. "I have to go." And yet, he continued to stand there, her hands in his, as his eyes studied her face intently.

Eventually, she glanced at the clock, cleared her throat, and whispered, "You are relieved, Mr Smythe."

"I hope you have a productive shift, Colleen," he responded just as softly. "Good night, my love."

Her eyes widened, as if he'd just said something she thought she would never hear him say. "Love?"

The doorbell rang.

Startled, Smitty let go of her and turned to open the door, found Stinky standing outside. "Did I give you two enough time?"

Smitty glanced at the clock and winced, started for the exit with his friend. "More than we usually get." He stepped outside, forced himself not to look back.

"I hear Red and Wilson did the work in the warp alcove."

"That's right. Including the choice and examination of the crystals. But not the welding. I did that with the help of one of your ensigns."

"You all did wonderful work. Tell the girls—I mean, tell the lieutenants—that they did great work, especially with the crystals. They look perfect."

"I will," he promised, and they stopped to wait for the lift. Of course the crystals are perfect. They have to be perfect, or they don't get sent out as inventory. But Stinky always was paranoid about the crystals. After this, I'm surprised he isn't finding fault even with crystals that are perfect. "It was good to be able to include you in the briefing tonight."

"I thought maybe we could go to the mess hall and eat together before I return to the med bay."

Smitty hesitated. "I was going to take my supper to the library and look for positions for Colleen and me."

"Good. Let's do that. We can both look. I still have the contact information for some of the Academy professors we had. Most of them knew people both inside and outside the Fleet."

If any of them are still alive. Have to admit, I never thought of asking any of them in looking for job openings.