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?