The Answer

Month 16 Day 12

11:57 Hours

Drake MacGregor

Drake hurried into engineering, and saw several officers leave the office, including Smitty's counterpart, Facchini. He barely reached them before they disbursed. "Where's Smitty and Mac?" he asked.

"In the office," Facchini answered. "But they want to be alone."

"They'll want to hear this," he responded, and opened the door. He caught the couple in mid-hug, and they instantly sprang apart. "I've got the answer!" he announced.

Smitty frowned at the interruption. "Can't this wait, Drake?"

"This is the answer you 2 have been pestering me about for a week."

"What answer?" Mac asked.

"The answer to—" It dawned on him that this was medical information, so he stepped inside and closed the door. "How you became pregnant."

"You know why our shots failed?" Smitty asked, turning to face him. His hand sought out Mac's.

"I had to go back to the original raw data, where people reported their side effects. It was hiding among headaches, chills and other such—"

"Spit it out, Drake!" Smitty snapped.

"Alcohol poisoning!"

The pair stared at him for half a beat, then Mac shook her head. "I've never had that."

"Yes, you have," Drake told her. "At least once since you came aboard the Fireball. You both have. I mean, since Mac came aboard."

"I think I would know," she protested.

"You felt extremely drunk," he told her. "And I de-toxed you before it became a problem. Again, both of you. But for a brief moment before the detox started to work, I considered slapping you into sick bay. Luckily, I gave you enough detox to avoid sick bay. But you drink so much, I'm surprised you haven't wound up in somebody's sick bay with alcohol poisoning."

Again, Mac shook her head. "I don't drink that much."

Smitty had been studying the floor thoughtfully. "Shore leave." He glanced at her. "Specifically, on Ulsess, where you suddenly decided to have a drinking contest."

No, that's not when—

She stiffened. "Men wanted to buy me a drink."

"Tell them no," he offered. "I've told you that.

She sighed. "It doesn't stop them. And I know why they offer, but I can out-drink them, so I do. It seems more civilized than beating them up, but sometimes I resort to that. Not in a long time, though."

"How can you possibly know you can out-drink them?" Smitty sounded miffed. "A lot of those who accepted your challenge were heavy drinkers. It's entirely possible one or more of them could have out-drunk you!"

Mac dismissed the idea. "Not likely. I've been drinking whiskey since I was 5. By the time I left Gaelund, I was as good at holding whiskey as my brothers. And they were known for it."

"That was Gaelund," Smitty answered, still irritable. "Out in the whole wide universe, there's no telling who might be able to hold their liquor better than you can!"

Mac got very still for a moment, and her hand removed itself from his grasp. "You think I'm lying?"

"No, I never said—"

"I out-drank all the men who agreed to that drinking contest! Every one of them!"

"Except me!" Smitty shot back.

Mac's face turned red. "It was a draw! So even you couldn't collect your 'winnings' when it was over!"

Wait a minute, haven't they figured out that—

"I might have, if you hadn't ducked out with Bugalu for a cuddle on the street corner!"

Her hands clenched, Mac retorted, "What you thought was a 'cuddle' was a crying jag, because... because..."

"Because you couldn't face that you might have been out-drunk?" Smitty demanded.

"No, because you didn't want me enough to manage to out-drink me!" she shot back.

After a moment of sudden silence, Smitty managed to ask, "What?"

Time to break in. Drake stepped forward. "Neither one of you were near alcohol poisoning when you... dropped out of the competition."

They turned to look at him, their anger turning to confusion. "What?" they both asked, more or less at the same time.

"To be honest, neither one of you actually passed out during that competition, either," Drake answered.

Smitty turned to her. "You faked passing out?"

"Well, I had to. Everybody else had lost. You were the only one left. I didn't know how much more you could handle, and—" Her face went pink and her voice lowered as the stronger emotions left her. "I wanted you to win. Though I'd never figured out how the winner is supposed to 'claim his prize'."

"You're right, I was the only one left who could win," Smitty agreed. "And then you passed out, or seemed to. And in that moment, I knew I didn't want to 'claim' you as a prize! I wanted you to be with me willingly. That was the way I wanted it, so I... I faked passing out, too. So I couldn't claim you; it was a draw."

Mac's hand claimed Smitty's again, and she stared at him with big green eyes. "You wanted me?"

"More than I've ever wanted anything," he stated softly. They moved closer, about to kiss, but Smitty suddenly took a step back and turned to Drake. "Wait a minute. If not during that contest, then when?"

"Oh, after Mac's first week, when you 2 returned to the Fireball after a short shore leave on Station B29. You 2 both arrived barely upright; you probably had more alcohol in your system than blood. I had a difficult time getting you detoxed enough to be fairly functional. Especially you, Smitty, since you were reporting straight to duty."

Mac's face drained of color. "As far back as that?"

"I don't even remember getting back to the Fireball," Smitty muttered. "I remember drinking heavily, and then you were giving me multiple shots and sending me off for duty."

The doorbell rang, and they all glanced at the clock on the wall. Mac muttered several words and turned to Smitty sadly. "Our time is up. Again."

"You'd better go," the engineer said and gave her a peck on the forehead.

She turned for the door. "Thank you, MacG, for letting us know." She opened the door and stepped outside.

Drake turned to leave, but Smitty stopped him with a hand on his arm, his face as white as Mac's had been. "Thanks, Drake," he whispered. "It's a good thing we're the only people whose shots failed. "

That we know of, Drake thought, then followed Mac out of the office.

"What were you lovebirds fighting about?" Facchini asked Mac.

"Oh, just about a stupid drinking game on our last shore leave," she answered. "Are you headed for lunch, Ben?"

"No, I want to talk to Smitty. It's about time to wrap up this rescue and send you guys back to the Fireball. Although I'll be sad to see you go."

"I'll go to the messhall with you, Mac," Drake volunteered, stepping up beside her as she walked for the exit. As they left engineering, Smitty's last comment to him made sense; Smitty may have been yearning for Mac, but he's had sex with others.

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.