If at First... & Try...

If at First… 

Month 15 Day 3

1947 Hours

Capac

Capac looked up from his display of cards on the rec room table and frowned at the redhead who now sat opposite him. “I don’t need you telling me how to play solitaire.”

“I won’t,” Mac stated, and placed another deck of cards on the table, shoved it towards him. “If you’ll shuffle my deck for me.” Her green eyes regarded him hopefully.

He put down the cards he held and picked up hers. After shuffling the deck 3 times, he handed it back to her. She smiled her thanks and started setting out her own game, using just her left hand, since her right was in a sling.

“How long are you going to be in that sling?” he asked.

She grimaced in frustration. “I don’t know. Maybe another week, but I swear that’s what they said a week ago.”

“Maybe you should ask for some healing ray for the shoulder.”

“I have. I’m scheduled for a 3-hour session tomorrow evening. But I shouldn’t expect miracles.”

“What’s that mean?”

“Apparently, ligaments are harder to heal than bruises. Even for healing rays.”

“What rotten luck for you.”

“I’m going to be a leftie by the time I get out of this sling.”

He watched her manipulate her cards rather haphazardly. “You don’t seem very good with your left hand.”

She gave him a half-angry glare. “It’s been typing all day; it’s tired.”

“Typing?”

“Light duty,” she responded, and stopped playing to brush a wayward strand of hair behind her ear. “I can’t even play pool.”

“Why not see a movie? You and Bugs used to do that regularly.”

"Used to," she agreed, and let the suggestion drop.

Somebody further down the table cleared his throat. "Do you want to go to the movie, Mac? I'd be happy to go with you and keep the riff-raff away."

She turned her head to consider the man for a moment. When she spoke, it was without any heat, but with a touch of hardness. "I'm still capable of taking care of myself. I don't need that. I just—" She sighed and returned to her game. "I just need someone to shuffle my cards between games."

"I could do that," said another voice, and Mac looked over her shoulder to Mr Smythe.

"Capac has already agreed," she stated.

Smythe gave the navigator a calculating look. "Perhaps he'd rather organize a game of poker."

"No," Capac returned shortly. The last 3 times I did that, I wasn't even allowed to play, so where's the fun in that?

Mac stopped playing to turn around in her chair. "Am I to stop speaking to Capac?"

Smythe's eyes widened in surprise. "I never said that."

"Not in so many words," she answered coldly.

The engineer sighed and backed up a step. "I'll let you play your game in peace." He turned away and headed for the drink dispenser.

Mac turned back to the table and gave a quiet sigh of relief. "Thank you, Capac."

"Sure," he said automatically, while inside he wondered, What did I do? He glanced at her game and then took another, closer look. "Mac, you can't..."

She held up a finger to stop him. "We agreed not to comment on each other's playing."

"But it's an obvious mistake!"

She gave him a withering look. "It depends on what rules you play with."

Capac scoffed. "It's not solitaire if the rules let you put a black 5 on a black 6!"

"What?" She studied her cards and grimaced, began taking the game apart. "That's what I get for playing cards while I'm thinking about engineering."

"You're on light duty. Besides, I didn't think anything about engineering was over your head."

"I wouldn't say that," she returned. She smiled and said, "It would sound like bragging." She handed her deck of cards over for him to shuffle. "Anyway, it's not human engineering I'm thinking about; it's Yukoskian. And nobody aboard this ship understands that any better than I do. Which is to say, nobody really understands it."

"Well, that didn't sound conceited at all," he smirked and handed her shuffled cards back to her. "Didn't you learn all sorts of Yukoskian stuff while you two were in one body?"

"Not as much as you'd expect," she answered. "What I did learn didn't stick around long after we separated."

"So you really are as much in the dark as everybody else."

She shrugged her good shoulder. "Well, I know the language, and Kolla's always willing to give instructions. I just have to make sense of..." She stopped to consider a card she had just set atop another in setting up her game. "Capac, how much distance would you say is between these 2 cards?" Would you say half a hair's width?"

"No, I would say one is sitting on top the other."

"You might be right," she agreed and flashed him a big smile. "I wonder if I've just solved our problem."

"By playing cards?"

"Could be," she answered, but shook her head, as if to shake the thought away. "Well, I'll research that later. Right now, I promised myself an hour of solitaire."

Capac looked at her in disbelief. "Solitaire is a treat for you?"

Again, she shrugged her good shoulder. "It's a way to relax. Isn't that why you play?"

He left the question unanswered. I play it out of boredom. Pure boredom.

 

 

Try…

Month 15 Day 4

1559 Hours

Smitty

Smitty walked into his office just as Colleen was logging off the computer. "Lt, could you stay for just a moment?"

She didn't look surprised by the request, but she did glance at the clock. "Of course, sir."

Smitty glanced at it, too. It was still seconds before she was officially off duty. "Have you made any progress in automating the daily schedule?" Best to keep this work related until she's— There, now I can ask what I really want to ask.

"The program is ready for Oakhurst to look over," she answered. "I was going to ask if I should send it to him in the morning."

"By all means, do that," he answered quickly. "Would you join me in the privacy dining hall for dinner? Afterwards, I thought we could see the movie. You must be bored, with your forms of entertainment being so curtailed while you heal."

"I can't," she answered at once. "I'm due at Sick Bay for physical therapy."

"We can do it after physical therapy," he suggested doggedly.

"I'm scheduled for 3 hours of healing ray for my shoulder," she revealed. "I've been promised a drink afterward that will satisfy my hunger. Or so I'm told. So all I'll have to worry about is getting some sleep."

"I'll come meet you after the healing ray is done, see that you get home okay," he stated.

She made a slight grimace with her mouth, which quickly faded away. "I've already made arrangements for that." She made a point of looking at the clock. "May I go, sir? I don't want to be late."

At least she made excuses, and didn't just say no. I don't know if that means she's warming up to me again or not. "Yes, your health is important. Go ahead and go."

"Thank you, sir," she said, and left his office.

Yesterday, she preferred Capac's company. Tonight, I suppose Bugalu is seeing her home after the healing ray. If she had any feelings for me, you'd think she'd make some time for me in her schedule. Other than work. Unless... unless she doesn't dare, seeing how easy it was for us to slip into 'talk'. I can hope that's the problem, but if it is... how do I overcome it? If she finds herself alone with me, she retreats into anger.

Caught in the Act (Part 1)

Month 10 Day 25

1933 Hours

Smitty

 “Deck 4,” Smitty growled as he and MacGregor entered the lift. The computer obligingly sent the lift upwards. Don’t know what’s wrong with Drake tonight. First, he shows up at my place demanding that I accompany him. Apparently, he feels he has to see Colleen - tonight - so that he can give her a present. If it’s as innocent as he claims, why didn’t he just give it to her in the messhall, like Takor did? Why get me involved at all? I already had my boots off and was just settling in to finish that eggnog. He wriggled his toes as they exited the lift on her floor, wondering if he should have paused to put his boots back on. But in the end, seeing that Drake wasn’t going to stop arguing until he got his way, he had suddenly just wanted the thing done and hadn’t given a thought to putting on his boots. Now they neared the door of Quarters 42, and Smitty felt a great need of the eggnog he’d left on his desk.

As Drake rang the doorbell, Smitty stood off to one side, intending to be seen as little as possible. Not at all, he hoped. The door opened, letting out a variety of voices and music. “Uh oh,” Drake muttered.

“Hi, Doc!” greeted a familiar male voice that Smitty couldn’t place in these circumstances. “Didn’t know you were invited!” Smitty stepped forward so he could be seen. “Woops.” Capac’s face didn’t know whether to go red or white. The uncertainty lead to a blotched effect.

I confine her to her quarters, and she has a party! Enough! He pushed his way across the crowded room, searching for her. As people realized who he was, they slunk away, but he paid no attention; he didn’t care about them. There she is! In the midst of things, of course. Enticing 2 men into the bedroom, from the looks of it! One hand on Ferguson’s chest, but she’s concentrating on seducing another man. Isn’t 1 enough? Who’s she working on? Then he heard the man speak. “You don’t want me, Mac. Get someone else.” Bugalu! Of course!

“Please, Bugsy!” She’s practically begging. “Papa...” She leaned closer to her lover. How can he resist? He can’t, of course. And he’s got no reason to. The negro’s arms slipped around her, and their lips met. What I’d give to be-

“Mr Smythe?”

Smitty jerked his gaze away, found himself looking at Harris. “What?” he growled. He was just as aware of the lovers, even if he no longer saw them, as he had been before Harris had interrupted his thoughts.

Harris was pale, and frightened. “This is my party, Mr Smythe. Mac didn’t know anything about it until everybody started showing up. And she-”

“Did she bother to tell you she’d been confined to her quarters?” he demanded.

“Well... everybody knows that,” Harris admitted. “I mean, now, but when I thought about having this party-”

“Smitty,” Drake said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

He roughly shrugged the doctor’s hand away. “Make a choice, Harris,” he told her. “Either you move your party elsewhere, or I’ll have MacDowell confined to the brig!”

“Yes, sir,” Harris agreed unhappily. People quietly began leaving, taking the snacks with them. Someone captured the wandering mistletoe unit and filed out with the rest. And through it all, completely unaware of any of it, the lovers kissed. Smitty walked over to wait for them to finish, his mood black.

“More,” Bugalu breathed as their lips finally parted.

“Yes,” she agreed.

“Not tonight!” Smitty barked. They sprang apart to stare at him in shock. “What’s the meaning of this?” he demanded. As if I don’t know!

“Well, Della was-“ Colleen began, but her voice faded away as she glanced around and saw the room was empty. Her face blanched. “There was mistletoe over me, and so we... we kissed.”

Smitty let his eyes wander around the room. “There’s no mistletoe in this room.”

“No, sir,” she agreed meekly.

Having won that point, he turned his attention to the helmsman. “Did you know MacDowell had been confined to her quarters?” Of course he knew it! He was in the messhall when I did it.

“Yes, sir, but-“

“But,” he interrupted, “you chose to ignore that, in order to fraternize in a most intimate fashion!”

“Fraternize?” the redhead squeaked.

“He’s implying sex,” Bugalu said bluntly. The woman turned bright red, and then became so white, it seemed she must faint.

“Smitty, they were just kissing,” Drake broke in. “They aren’t in bed; they’re fully dressed. And you know perfectly well there was a party going on here, with mistletoe. Furthermore, it wasn’t Mac’s party.”

He scowled at MacGregor’s interference and turned to face him. “What makes you so sure?”

“Mac would have invited me,” Drake returned. “Besides, she’d admit it. Mac might try to dodge trouble, but she doesn’t lie to do it.”

Shows how much he knows!

“Mr Smythe, the first thing she said when I showed up was that I shouldn’t be here because she’d been confined to her quarters,” Bugalu stated.

“And you chose to ignore that,” Smitty growled.

“He was here to see Della,” Colleen insisted.

Of all the daft defenses... “He wasn’t kissing Harris, he was kissing you!”

She turned red again, only not as deep a red as before. “I asked him to.”

No doubt. And if I hadn’t shown up, they would have been in bed by now! “Colleen, this is a blatant disregard of orders. The same disregard for orders that got you confined in the first place! I have half a mind to throw you in the brig!”

Daring Decision

Month 10 Day 25

1911 Hours

Bugalu

Bugalu walked into the living room of Room 42 expecting to find Mac working on her projects, and stopped in surprise. His adopted sister stood with a foot resting on her desk and was bent over, trying to touch her forehead to her shin. And she isn’t wearing that much, either, just a skimpy 2-piece exercise outfit. When did she get it? Abdulla did a blast of a job taking her shopping, but I’m not surprised I’ve never seen her wear this outfit in the gym.

She had twisted her head toward him when he entered, and now she stood up. “You shouldn’t be here,” she told him. “I’ve been confined to quarters. I’m pretty sure I’m not supposed to have visitors.”

“Actually, I’m here at Della’s invitation,” he returned. “Sort of.”

Mac gave him an uncertain, scared little grin. “Do I get to watch this time? Because I can’t leave.”

“I don’t think that’s what she had in mind,” he replied, and looked around the room, which was devoid of any other people, including Mac’s blond roommate. I guess Della let reason prevail about that crazy party idea she had. “I thought you’d be working on your projects.”

She grimaced and put her other foot on the desk to do a similar stretch. “I checked on them. The computer is chugging right along without too much input needed from me. Since I won’t be able to get to the gym to work out, I thought maybe I should try to see how much ballet I can remember. It’s shocking to see just how un-flexible I am these days. So I guess I’ll be working on that.”

“You should have told Smythe you didn’t build those things.”

She stood up again and walked over to stand in front of him. “I tried. He wouldn’t even let me finish the sentence. He obviously was not in the mood to listen to anything I said.” She put a hand on his shoulder, raised the opposite foot behind her and tried to coax it toward her head with her other hand.

Bugs heard the door open behind him. “You might want to get some clothes on,” he suggested. Mac stopped stretching to peer around him, then turned and made a mad dash for the bedroom. In a moment, he heard the bathroom door close. He turned to find Capac and Ryan staring at the bedroom, their mouths open.

“Did we... interrupt?” Capac asked.

“No,” he answered. “She’s a little upset.”

“Can’t blame her!” Della stated, and Bugs realized she was organizing a few bottles of liquor on her desk. “I can’t imagine what she’s done that makes Mr Smythe so angry with her all the time.”

“Well, has she been in his bed yet?” Ryan asked. “Maybe he’s overheated.”

Interesting idea. But the look Bugs gave the other man was cold. “He’s not Winthrop.”

Ryan grinned. “No, of course not. But he is a man.”

Della giggled. “Some of us wonder. He never even looks at a female.”

“You mean, female engineers,” Ryan corrected. “I hear he’s seen Monroe.”

“Who hasn’t?” Bugsy asked. “She’s almost as active as you, Della.”

“Almost,” Della agreed cheerfully.

More people entered, some carrying bowls of snacks. Kyle brought 1 of the mistletoe units and let it loose. Someone started some music. By the time Mac emerged from the bathroom - fully dressed in long sleeves and slacks - Della’s party was going full steam. “What’s going on?” Mac asked in bewilderment.

“Della’s having a party,” Capac told her. “But you didn’t need to change for it.”

Mac looked around wildly. “Della!” She hurried across the room, and her roommate obligingly turned her attention away from Ryan. “Della, we can’t have all these people here! I’m confined to quarters!”

“They’re my guests, not yours,” Della answered with a shrug, and moved away.

Mac opened her mouth to protest, hesitated, and then had to follow the blond, who stopped next to Bugalu. “Wait. Does that work? It doesn’t seem right.”

“Look, I wanted to have a party,” Della told her. “It’s not your fault if Mr Smythe didn’t know that.” She turned to the helmsman. “Tell her, Bugalu.”

Bugsy stared into Mac’s green eyes and knew he could not give his sister the answer Della wanted him to give. It’s obvious Mac hasn’t been studying regulations. And whatever I tell her right now, she’ll accept as the truth. Because I keep her out of trouble. But if Della is determined to have a party, and Mac realizes she can’t stay here during such a thing, but she can’t leave... What a mess. It’s never pretty when roommates argue. “Here’s the thing, Mac-”

“Hey, Mac.” Ferguson breezed past, put a hand on her arm to turn her to face him. Her back suddenly stiff, her hands clenched, she swung into a fighting stance and took half a step backwards. Ferguson held up his hands, palms facing her. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to startle you. But I thought maybe... you know.” He gestured over her head. “Mistletoe”. He grinned.

“Not again!” she groaned under her breath. “It was almost a relief to get confined, to get away from that stuff.”

“It doesn’t have to be a big kiss, Mac,” Ferguson stated softly.

She placed a dainty hand on the big cook’s chest. Then stiffened her arm so he couldn’t pull her any closer, grabbed Bugalu’s tunic with the other hand and pulled him toward her. “Bugalu?”

He couldn’t help but remember the feel of her body pressed against his as they danced, during her first shore leave on the Fireball. My kissing her - again - is probably not a good idea. “Not me, Mac. Pick someone else.”

“Please, Bugs!” she pleaded. “Papa...” She couldn’t finish, but he knew what she meant. Blast! Papa has lousy timing! This would have been the perfect time for her to experiment with kissing and then laugh it off and use the mistletoe as an excuse, if anybody wanted too much. “Please, Bugs,” she breathed, stepping closer.

He sighed. This is against my better judgment. “All right,” he agreed, and slipped an arm around her. He intended a light, quick meeting of the lips, but found he couldn’t end it that quickly. Her arm slipped around his neck, and he pulled her tight.

Disobedience & Reaction

Disobedience

Month 10 Day 25

1734 Hours

Smythe

Smitty tried to ignore the table where she sat, but somehow, his eyes kept drifting in that direction. He saw the NAmerInd man take hold of her hands, and then lean down for a flirtatious kiss that lasted far too long for such a public place. Then, apparently, she felt too awkward to woo another lover with Bugalu sitting right there, for she got up and left. Made a great deal of noise doing it, too.

Someone turned his head and kissed him soundly on the mouth. “What the-“ he began when he could push her away.

That blond nurse smirked. “You’re under the mistletoe, Bartholomew.”

Mistletoe? He looked up, froze as he saw the sprig of green attached to the anti-grav unit, slowly chugging its way around the room randomly. There were 3 or 4 of them, now that he looked up. “MacDowell!” he bellowed, lurching to his feet.

She froze in mid-step just as she was about to go out the door. She turned and made her way to him in the suddenly quiet room. “Yes, sir?” she asked softly.

He pointed to the closest mistletoe unit. “I told you not to make any of those!”

“But I-“ she began.

“You know what I mean!” he broke in. “It wasn’t that exact kind of unit, but close enough! And I told not to do it again, didn’t I?”

She stared at the mistletoe unit and swallowed. “Yes, sir, you did.”

“I expected to be obeyed!” he bellowed. “Instead, you’ve deliberately disobeyed! I won’t tolerate it! You’re confined to your quarters for the next week! You’re lucky I don’t throw you in the brig! Maybe that would make you think twice about disobeying orders! Dismissed!” Still she stood there, stiffly at attention, her eyes dazed and not really looking at him at all, although her face was canted upwards as if she were. “Well?” he demanded when she didn’t move off.

“Go ahead,” Burke stated softly. “You might not get another chance.”

With a nervous glance at the captain, Colleen stepped forward, placed a blistering hot kiss on Smitty’s mouth, then turned and raced from the room. This time, she managed it without running into anyone. Or maybe they were careful to stay out of her way.

“The nerve!” Smitty gasped once she was out of sight. It was all I could do to keep from pulling her close and- If she hadn’t caught me so completely by surprise-

“You were under the mistletoe,” Jane stated calmly. “Again. Or still. Whichever. It’s a simple and very old tradition. Don’t be too hard on her. I did, after all, encourage her. Now sit down, and... finish your supper.”

Sit down? Yes, I’d better. But the first thing he reached for when he reclaimed his seat was another drink of eggnog.

Reaction

Month 10 Day 25

1758 Hours

Bugalu

Bugalu watched Mac place a quick peck on the mouth that had just confined her to her quarters and then race from the room. Not a lot of difference between that and the one she let Tall Bear have. Except that she fully initiated that one.

“The more I get to know her, the more I want to know her,” TB stated. Yellow Dog made a series of movements with her hands, which Bear watched intently. “Sometimes, your sign language is nearly as difficult to figure out as your English.”

“Agreed,” Abdulla said. “What did she say? If it wasn’t too personal.”

“I think she said I may have gotten as far as I’m going to get with Mac.” He sighed. “You may be right, Dog. I’m not used to my kiss being barely tolerated.”

“It was an experiment, for her,” Bugalu stated. “But I did warn you not to expect too much. She wants you as a friend, Bear. And to her thinking, friends don’t try to get each other into bed.” He paused, considering. “Well, not for sex, anyway.”

“What other reason is there for getting someone into bed?” Capac asked.

“Sleep!” Bugalu declared, exasperated. “Haven’t you noticed how tired she looks?”

“She’s still beautiful,” Capac asserted.

“She doesn’t look much better tonight than she did when she got off shift this morning.”

“You think her sleeping problems might be back?” Beth asked.

“I don’t know,” he answered. “Seems unlikely, but she’s been looking tired the past week or so. I think she’s getting some sleep, but not enough, so I wonder if her projects are starting to eat into her sleep time.”

“You’re making a mountain out of a molehill,” Della stated. “It’s not her regular projects getting the best of her. Or have none of you noticed that all the presents she handed out came from fabrication? She researched what she wanted to give, and then spent time to work out the fabrication file. Because if she’d asked fabrication to do the file for her, these items would have cost too much and probably wouldn’t have gotten done on time, either. I saw her down in fabrication one day last week, working right along with the normal crew. I don’t know if she was trying to make brownie points or get a discount on all the things she asked them to make, but that’s where she’s been instead of getting a full night’s sleep this past week.”

“Wow, she really threw herself into this holiday thing,” Bear muttered.

“The fact is, it’s Christmas!” Capac protested. “Confining her at Christmas is criminal!”

Bugalu gave a little shake of his head. “Normally, yes. But in this case, maybe getting confined will be good for her. Maybe she’ll catch up on her sleep out of sheer boredom!”

“In any case, it doesn’t matter what we think,” Beth stated softly. “I’ve rarely seen Smythe that angry.”

“For some reason, Mac has a knack for irritating him,” Abdulla muttered.

“Now I wish I really had planned a Christmas party,” Della stated. “Instead of just thinking about it.”

“Party?” Capac repeated eagerly. “I think I remember getting invited to that.”

Della gave him a calculating look. “I think I remember inviting you.”

“Trouble,” Yellow Dog breathed.

“Right,” Abdulla agreed. “Count me out. I don’t want to know anything about it.” She stood up and started collecting her presents.

Tall Bear stood to collect his, also. “I haven’t heard anything about it, and like Abs, I don’t want to.”

Bugs considered the senior lieutenants who were leaving, the food and desserts still offered on the buffet table, and the friends who were still there, watching him. “I think you’re nuts,” he told Della and Capac. “Della, would you take her presents to her? She didn’t even get to open all of them. Maybe Capac can help you with that. But if you get caught having a party, all you’ll do is make more trouble for her. And for yourselves. When you see her, Della, tell her I’ll check in on her - briefly - later this evening. I have some people to see.” He got up, collected his presents and wandered out of the messhall. Now, after I drop these off at my place, who do I know in fabrication on C shift?

Gifts Among Friends

Month 10 Day 25

1721 Hours

Bugalu

Bugalu and Mac each took a tray of dirty dishes to the receptacle while their friends discussed in what order the presents should be opened. “I was surprised to see you prepared with gifts,” Bugalu told his adopted sister. “Knowing how strict your father was, even at Christmas...”

“Well, I knew from the Academy that what he had expected wasn’t ‘normal’. And my years on tugs showed me I didn’t want to sit on the sidelines. So I asked Tall Bear for some guidance.”

“You asked Bear? And you haven’t even adopted him. Yet.”

She shrugged. “He’s a nice guy. I don’t think he’d steer me wrong. And I find I like his company.”

“Careful, Mac, that’s beginning to sound like he might be dating material,” he teased.

Her face flushed. She moved a step closer and whispered, “He told me a date doesn’t always include sex.”

“True,” he agreed in surprise. “For me, as well.”

“Yes, but you’re already off the table,” she answered and led the way back.

“We decided to open the presents by their size,” Della greeted them. “The biggest gets opened first, and that would be this thing for Capac.” She moved the large lump of wrapping paper to a position in front of the navigator.

“Who is it from?” Capac asked, turning over the label. “It’s from Mac!” He looked up in surprise. “Thank you, Mac. I don’t know what it is yet, but I already like it.”

She gave him a smile that held just a hint of hardness to her chin. “You were not easy to find something for, Capac. I’m afraid it’s fairly generic.”

He tore open the paper, to reveal what looked like a chunk of crudely carved rock. “What... is it?” he mumbled.

“It looks like a prehistoric carving,” Abdulla stated. “Aren’t those usually of gods and goddesses?”

“It’s a replica of one,” Mac agreed. “I had fabrication make it. The original is in a museum in Peru. It’s from a people before the Incas.”

“I thought it was awfully light to be real rock,” Temple stated. “But it looks real.”

“Something from Peru,” Capac muttered, running his hands over the fake carving.

“Well, Mac gave that present, so now it’s time for her largest gift to be opened. And that looks like... this one.” Temple handed her a present to open.

And so it went, back and forth among the friends, with quite a lot of laughter and thank yous. The presents ran the gamut of ‘the usual’ for the most part; perfume or after-shave lotion, books, music chips, and so on. Except for the gifts given by Mac. She gave Beth a medical medallion; not suitable for wearing with her uniform, but perfect for partywear. Della got a hair comb with the engineering logo, and Abdulla got a large piece of intricate lace that she could use as a scarf or a shawl. She gave Bugalu a small plastic pot with a strange looking plastic plant, which he recognized immediately as a Venus Flytrap. “Fabrication had a lot of trouble making that look right, so don’t let it die!” she admonished her adopted brother.

He laughed at her nonsense. “I promise to somehow keep this not-alive plant from dying!”

Mac gave Yellow Dog a bracelet of polished stones, and presented Tall Bear with an arrow head.

“I appreciate the thought, Mac,” Bear told her. “Did you get the pattern for this from some museum back on Earth?”

“No, I got it from Dog’s arrows,” she answered.

“You have a bow with those arrows?” he asked the NAmerInd woman.

YD nodded slowly and said, “Art.”

“She keeps them on the wall over her bed,” Mac added.

“Maybe we should take our artwork and practice together sometime,” he suggested.

“Good,” Dog agreed, and handed Mac a present to open. Inside was a length of reddish-brown cloth.

“Umm, what is it?”

“Headband,” Dog answered.

“Hey!” Bear protested. “Trying to push her into my tribe?” Dog grinned, and Bear settled down. “Well, we could do worse,” he decided. “If you want to try wearing it, Red, I’ll teach you how to tie it. Don’t go tying a bow into it. And if nobody objects, I’d like to give her my present now. It kind of goes with what Dog gave her.”

“Kiss,” YD stated.

“What?” TB responded.

“Well, if you think Mac will let you, she is under the mistletoe,” Abdulla stated calmly.

Mac looked straight up and her face went absolutely white. By the time she lowered her face, she had developed red flags on her cheeks, and a determined look in her eyes. “Give me your hands,” She told Bear. He offered his hands, palms up, and she took a firm grip on them with her own, then looked him straight in the eyes. “Keep it simple,” she instructed softly.

“Brief,” Bugalu added.

Bear obligingly bent forward and touched his lips to hers. She didn’t resist, he didn’t try for anything more than that simple contact, and it seemed to go on for a long time. Then she suddenly pushed him away and stood up as so many emotions chased across her face so fast that Bugs couldn’t be sure what emotion was winning the race.

“I have to go,” Mac breathed hoarsely and headed for the exit.

Apparently, she wasn’t watching where she was going, for she ran into Bosiljevac, knocking him to the floor, and landing atop him. Bosiljevac wiped potatoes and gravy from his face. “Mac? What’s going on?”

Freyer, who had arrived with Bosiljevac, shoved her supper tray onto the nearest table and helped the Gaelunder to her feet. “What’s the matter, Mac?”

Mac was nearly in tears, and looked at the food smeared on the floor as Bosiljevac climbed to his feet. “Oh, space, look at this mess! I don’t have time to clean it up! I have to get out of here!”

“Well, then, go,” Bosiljevac urged. “It was my supper; I’ll clean it up.”

With a look of deep gratitude, Mac started for the doorway again. Wow. She’s never abandoned a mess of her own making before! She is really upset. And that was the most gentlemanly kiss anyone could have given her!