Month 9 Day 17
0802 Hours
Smitty
The lift opened on deck 4, and Smitty got off without waiting
for her, but certain she would follow him. And that was confirmed a moment
later when she uncertainly stated, “If I knew what I’d done to earn your ire,
I’d find a way to make amends.”
Smitty stopped short and glared at the floor. She hasn’t done anything to ‘earn my ire’. I’m
not mad at her, I’m mad at myself
for not having done with her what I’ve done with every other communications
officer, and start her cross-training. And I’m also mad at the captain for
pointing that out to me. She
shouldn’t have needed to. My fault again.
He spun around on one foot, was shocked to see there was
hardly any space between them. She must
have very nearly run right into me, when I stopped so abruptly. Another woman, I
could almost regret that she was agile enough to avoid that. Simmer down, Smitty. There’s no need for
thoughts like that. They’re inappropriate.
She cocked her head to one side. “Smit?”
He very nearly raised a hand to touch her cheek, but that
hand seemed occupied, and he realized he was holding a GR142 unit, which
reminded him why he was here. Why they
were here.
“I didn’t mean to take my anger out on you. I’ve been
reminded that I haven’t made a proper effort to get you cross-trained. That’s
completely my fault, with all the distractions we’ve had since your probation.
So, we’re going to start your training this morning. Come along.” He whirled
and started off again, suddenly eager to get this... done.
“Where are we going?”
“Your bedroom,” he answered, and continued for several steps
before her startled voice reached him.
“I beg your pardon?”
He turned to face her again, this time surprised by the great
distance between them. She must have stopped as soon as he’d answered her. Irritated
at that seemingly vast distance, he held up the GR unit. “We’re going to
install this.” And then he moved on, through the bedroom door of her quarters.
He barely had time to put the anti-grav unit on a side dresser
before she walked in. “What’s wrong with my bedroom?”
He glanced around the room. “Nothing that I can see. Which
one is your bed?” She swallowed and pointed to the one in the skinny end of the
room. “Well, that figures,” he muttered. “Still, we don’t want to get the field
too big in either case. Here goes.” He walked over, grabbed the edge of her
mattress and pulled it up, leaned it against the wall on the other side of the
bed, then considered the storage space he’d uncovered.
It held a pair of bright yellow spike-heeled shoes and an
equally bright yellow pantsuit, each carefully wrapped in a clear plastic bag
to keep them clean. He remembered that pantsuit from her first shore leave; how
gorgeous she had looked with her intricate hairstyle and flawless complexion.
Just catching a glimpse of her from across the room had made him forget his
paid companion. For a moment. That type of thing had never happened to him
before that evening.
“Smit?” Her voice quivered a bit. “I don’t wear those items
aboard ship.”
“I was-” He wasn’t sure any sound had come out, so he cleared
his throat and tried again. “I was thinking that if you use the space under
your mattress for storage-which is what it’s for, after all-then you’ll need to
make sure what you store doesn’t interfere with the function of the GR unit.”
She glanced into the storage space in utter confusion. “What
GR unit?”
It was her look of frustration and confusion that made him
realize he hadn’t taken the time to explain anything. He never should have
expected her to recognize the anti-grav unit, since they weren’t used in
communications. And without recognizing it, she wouldn’t have any real idea
what they were here to do. The best she might have were suspicions.
He tried to imagine what she must have thought, to be
commanded to accompany him, then led to her own bedroom after a brief apology
for his anger and an even briefer statement that he would start her ‘lessons’
right then. He hoped his imagination was wrong about what she must have
thought, but was afraid it was completely right. What else could she have thought? If any of my supervisors had ever
acted the way I’ve been acting...
What was even worse, having gotten started on thoughts like
that, was that he suddenly had an overwhelming urge to give her those ‘lessons’
that had nothing to do with engineering or communications. And the scent of
lilacs that still clung to her, even after a full shift of work, introduced the
idea of a leisurely dalliance in the arboretum.
Smitty forced himself to cross the room and pick up the GR142
once again. Turning to face her, he crossed his arms over his chest, as a form
of symbolic barrier between them. “I’m here to install variable gravity on your
bed. It’s been suggested that if you have Gaelund gravity to sleep in, then you
won’t have nightmares and will be able to sleep.”
“Oh.” She gave a big sigh that Smitty was hard pressed to
ignore. “Well, that would be a relief. Should I leave while you install it?”
Yes. No. It would be
a lot less distracting if she wasn’t here. And how would that teach her
anything? Get hold of yourself, man! A real
man can think of something besides sex, even when there is a pretty girl at
hand. And she would be at hand,
within arm’s reach. If not closer.
He took a deep breath , worked hard to gather all his will
power together. And hoped it was enough. “The idea is for you to watch and
listen to my explanation concerning the installation, possibly even to
participate to some measure.”
Her face lit up with pure pleasure. “Sounds like fun!”
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