Homeward Bound

Posted on Sat Jan 5th, 2019 @ 2:33pm by Major Cornelius Tremble & Staff Warrant Officer Jennifer Masters - Calhoun
Edited on on Sun Jan 6th, 2019 @ 1:31pm

1,316 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Episode 5 - It Would Be Their Pleasure
Location: Hawkeye
Timeline: MD009 1800

Three hours.

Anytime he traveled and was returning home, the last few hours gave him the jitters. He was anxious to get off the ship and away from the stench of the mission, but it was always more than that.

He wanted to be home.

Neal knew it always took a while for a new post to feel like home. In his experience it took a mission like this to realize it. He sighed, stopped his pacing and slumped against the rear ramp and slid to the deck, enjoying the cool surface against his back. He’d dumped his shredded enviro suit and ruined armor into the recycler and changed his shirt. The canteen he’d been sipping from was unappealing and he set it on the floor by his foot and glanced at Warrant Officer Masters who was resting nearby.

“Ready to be back home, Ms Masters?”

Jenn turned over to Neil. "Oh, God yes, and in to a shower as well." She groaned a little under pain on her chest abdomen. She put an arm around her chest, as if that was going to help. She coughed. "And, lieutenant, call me Jennifer or Jenn." She smiled. "What about you, sir?"

"We're off the clock now, so you might as well call me Neal," he smiled at her. "And I'm more than ready. The Hawkeye's a good little ship, better than most of I've been on over the years. But still, I'm glad this was only a short hop." Seeing her grimace, he considered for a moment and pulled a slightly battered red flask bearing a cross from a thigh pocket.

Unscrewing the cap, he took a swig letting the alcohol slide down his throat. It was what he imagined drinking mercury might be like. The alcohol was smooth, until it hit his stomach, where it settled like a ember.

Seeing Jenn's eyes he grinned. "Marine Corp regulation T25-AJ339 states that a Marine Officer while embarked upon a vessel that does not have a full doctor and/or fully functional medical suite, may dispense medicinal alcohol as he or she see's fit for the betterment of moral."

He offered her the flask, continuing "I may now, legally, keep a private stash from my grand father's still for just such occasions."

Jenn took the flask from him and put it on her lips and took a sip. She couldn't help but make a face and then laughed. "I am not much of a drinker, only at parties I would down sweet, fruity cocktails. And just my luck I end up on a ship where they all drink whiskey."
She handed the flask back. "I thought about joining the marines when I was at the academy. You know the order and punctuality and all. But I realized it wasn't for me, I am too free spirited to be tamed like that. If I had, I probably be running laps around the marine barracks every day, or you know cleaning the lavatories for disobeying orders." She chuckled. "But you know, this was nice, having a little taste of that thrill."

Neil took another pull from the flask then put it away. He'd made the rounds earlier with the flask and there wasn't much left, but everyone who had partaken in the mission had gotten their ration, save Kunadt who was piloting the last leg. She'd get hers when they landed.

"Serious work calls for serious booze and you'd have made a good Marine, but it's not for everyone," he told Jennifer. "You're welcome to come along for more tastes anytime you want." He slumped a bit more before saying, "I don't know that I had much choice. The Corp runs in the blood: both my dad and grand-pop served."

"If I had had my druthers, I might have chosen to just run Pop's fishing boat, but I can't conceive a universe where that would have happened," he smiled slightly to himself. "

"Well," she started, "If I am not tied with work, I would love to join you again." She smiled. "And I never thought there was a universe where I would be a career starfleet officer, were married and have kids. And you know what, I was wrong."

Neil considered the deck in front of him, forcing a bit of a laugh. "I couldn't have conceived of a universe where my mirror self was female and a cold hearted harpie. I'm still getting sympathetic images from time to time."

Jenn started to laugh and said, "Really, a female?" She held her chest. "Oh, Neil stop it. You're killing me here." She then sighed. "You know, having a five year old jump on you doesn't sound that bad anymore now knowing what you've been through. I would love to hear that story."

Neil snorted at her comment and sighed, "Yeah, it gets worse. I was in this guy Hoyle's body and he and my mirror self were...involved. I don't know if I'm even ready to think about that story. I think having a five year old jump on you is better by leaps and bounds."

"At any rate," he sighed, "I think I'll sit on the rest of that story for a while. There's no use giving you too much ammunition."

Jenn giggled. "No, I suppose not. Also, what else can you tell me otherwise if we gone out again, and sitting around injured." She straitened a bit. "Well, a five year old jumping on me wasn't even the worse part of that trip. It was waking up in bed with a strange man. I think I almost kicked the hell out of him, hadn't lieutenant Myles drop in on us."

"So. It was a bit weird to be in bed with a strange man, until Myles showed up and everything seemed normal?" He had a mischievous glint to his eyes as his lips twisted into a teasing grin.

"Oh, hell no," She laughed. "Everything was not normal," She said. "Myles just stopped me from kicking the life out of him. I am kind of a hot head. If I loose control I go all out and don't know how to stop. I think I went a little over board with the attack on the SCIF on those maquis. I am a hacker, but piss me off..." She smirked. "Well, that is until a bull rams you to a wall. That still hurt," she groaned.

"Tell me about it," he grunted at her, "I had the thraggling thing roll on and step on me." He considered that for a moment then chuckled, "Reminds me of a Klingon woman I know, now that I think about it."

"Oh right," Jenn said chuckling. "Well, maybe next time you should ask the giant caterpillar on a date. I think she is more skilled than that Klingon woman."

"Following that logic, I don't know. The caterpillar tried to eat my face. The Klingon kicked me in the balls. I'm sensing a pattern that makes my teeth itch," he jokingly groused.

Checking the chrono, then giving her another look, he suggested "We still have a couple of hours, if you want to try and get some rest."

"Well, I could try, but don't forget, I danced with a bull today," She grinned and tried to close her eyes for a bit. Despite the pain she was really exhausted.

"Get some sleep, Ms. Masters, I tore up your dance card until we get back to the Pioneer." Neil leaned his head back against the ramp and closed his own eyes. Within a minute, he had drifted off.

A Joint Post By

Second Lieutenant Cornelius Tremble
Marine Commanding Officer, USS Pioneer

Warrant Officer Jennifer Masters
Chief Intelligence Officer, USS Pioneer

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