by Chris Hechtl
“Psychological … he's what, afraid of them?”
“Deeply afraid, enough to balk at getting the full implant package. He's put off the surgeries and nanite treatments. He managed to cover it by having his flag lieutenant and others go first. Now that it is his turn though …,” she shook her head.
“Balking. Stalling …,” the admiral pursed his lips. “If he's got that sort of a reaction, he's not really ready for a promotion,” he said.
“Sir, the additional rank will be helpful when he goes back into Bek,” Sprite warned. She knew that the rear admiral's problem was just one additional reason not to promote him. Admiral Irons wanted to meet and personally assess each flag officer. That wasn't going to happen anytime soon with Zek it seemed.
“I know. He's got time-in-grade. Bump his name to the bottom of the promotions list. We'll work through the others first. If he's still in Pyrax when we get to him, then we'll discuss him. But if he's the reason Caroline's mission is still delayed, he's not going to enjoy it,” the admiral vowed.
“Aye aye, sir,” Sprite replied, making a note. “Not much happened when you went off shift. The usual SITREPs from the star systems under Federation control, no changes there. Sally Ride caught up with that Pyrax convoy by the way, so she'll be taking on some additional helm help in the form of water dwellers before she departs for B101a1. We've got two requests for comment and clarification in the media, and a bill working its way through the committees that you might want to take a second look at.”
~<><{<^>}><>~
“Admiral Irons has inquired about the Caroline mission. Specifically, why you haven't gotten your full implants yet, Admiral,” Saul said, looking expectantly at Admiral Zekowitz.
The rear admiral cursed internally. “I'm scheduled to get them early tomorrow morning,” he said, latching onto and firmly getting control of his temper. He couldn't blame the messenger if the message bothered him. And it boiled down to it that it was no one else's fault but his own.
“Okay,” the chief of staff replied with a nod. “No more problems, sir,” he said by way of warning.
Zek spread his hands apart. “The last wasn't me. Commander Fox had a major trauma event come in and I got bumped.” He grimaced. Which sucked since he'd fasted the night before and had taken the meds to clean out his digestive track as well. That hadn't been at all pleasant he thought, squirming in his seat a bit.
“Okay. I'll make certain the commander knows as well. Admiral Irons made it clear he wants this done now. Today if possible sir,” the chief of staff stated, locking eyes with the senior officer.
“You don't have to tell me my duty. I'll get it done all at once,” Zek said quietly.
Saul studied him and then nodded slowly. “Yes, sir. I'll pass it on. Okay, we're going to be swamped with unloading for a bit. You might get an extra day to recover but don't count on it. Any last minute changes you two should probably come up with before the final loading begins,” he said, eyeing both flag officers.
Horatio nodded. “I don't think we left anything out. We've got everything planned right down to the kitchen sink,” he said ruefully.
“Good. But just in case, go over your wish list again after they get the loading under control. The manifest should be on file. We're going to eyeball each piece of equipment to make sure nothing went astray during shipping,” Saul stated.
“That happens?” Zek asked, staring at him.
“From time to time, yes. But normally it is a mistake or a minor item. NCIS can track it of course.”
“Oh, okay,” Zek replied.
“Now …”
~<><{<^>}><>~
Admiral Zekowitz rather regretted deciding to take the plunge and get the rest of the implants and such sorted out all at once. Time was up however; the much anticipated convoy was due in within a day. She would take three days to get to the annex, then another day or so to unload and then they would be underway at last.
Getting it all done, including the nanotech had seemed the best way to handle it at the time, at least as far as getting over his fears were concerned and moving the project forward. He wasn't so sure anymore though.
He'd finally understood some of the benefits and their detractions when he'd woken. His implant enhancements had been locked down for a time, but after the first day, a nurse had come in and had gently shown him how to turn them up and down on his own.
He'd been intrigued by the abilities. He could see without need of goggles. He could see the entire light spectrum including infrared and ultraviolet. That hadn't been in the brochure. He could see where it could come in handy, especially with tracking down stress areas or microcracks. His eyes ability to zero in like a hawk and magnify to see tiny things was fascinating … right up until he'd gotten vertigo. His nausea had triggered his implants to handle it, but the nurses had still checked on him and given him a light meal that evening until he was sure he was better.
He didn't see the need for his other senses to be enhanced. The additional ones might come in handy, but enhanced hearing? Smell he could definitely do without he thought. They hadn't bothered with touch or taste and he understood why.
It took time for his flesh to heal despite his time with Quickheal and the regen tank. Modern medicine could only do so much to get the body to accept major insult to itself. They had to do a lot too, he'd thought they'd covered the basics in his trip on Caroline and in the visits prior to the surgery, but apparently the medics had only scratched the surface.
Really, come to think of it, they'd barely done anything at all. They'd given him some pills to swallow to make the ID implant. They'd scanned every millimeter of him. They'd logged his health and made some changes to his body, mostly minor adjustments or repairs. But that had been about it—as noninvasive as it could get. He appreciated it.
He did his best to rest and read to keep his mind occupied. Resting was okay, reading and watching the wall screen gave him headaches after awhile though. He looked forward to the daily regime of rehab and implant access training once the medics cleared him for such things. They broke up the monotony nicely. He was determined to get out of the hospital and into hospice or other care fast if only to get away from the nosy nurses and the horrible food.
“You'd think they did it on purpose just so people would get well and not linger,” he murmured to himself after his last meal of tasteless drivel.
The occasional visitor was a welcome distraction most of the time. Horatio stopped in once. His most common visitor was Lieutenant Si.
His interaction with Admiral Subert had been short and annoying. He'd been a bit out of it still, recovering from the anesthetic and the body insult. He'd also been surprised by the visit. He'd thought it had been a morale boosting thing. Instead it had been work. Admiral Subert had jacked into him and then uploaded his keys. “You can get someone else, most likely Horatio to show you how to use them,” he'd said before he pulled the link. He'd patted the Bekian admiral's arm once and then he'd left. Zek shook his head in memory. The man needed to work on his social skills … and his bedside manner.
No matter. Since he was going back to Bek, at least he wouldn't have to deal with the man for much longer. Now that he had his implants initialized and his keys activated, he could use them as needed. That was a major step in the right direction in his eyes. Hell, anyone's eyes he thought.
~<><{<^>}><>~
“Hello, where is the brat pack?” Bailey asked warily as he entered the condo. He looked around, expecting to trip or be ambushed by the brat pack at any second.
“They are out and about with their friends,” Sylvia said from the kitchen. He wandered around to the kitchen and then leaned against the wall to watch his bonobo wife finishing up with the dishes. She had an apron on and a towel over one shoulder.
“You know Galiet hates it when you put them away wet, right?” he asked.
“I'll just tell her you did it again,” she said, focused on the job.
“Oh, really,” he drawled,
coming over and wrapping his arms around her waist. “Naughty girl, getting me in trouble,” he said. “You know I can do that for myself, right?” he demanded in her ear. He kissed it.
She turned her head to smile mischievously up at him. Sometimes he wondered what luck he'd stumbled in to get a family troop like he had. He had three wives and a passel of kids.
“Behave,” she teased coyly, catching his hands with her wet hands as they began to wander.
“Why? You are already getting me into trouble,” he teased in her ear. She chuffed but then splashed water at him to get him to back off.
“Wicked woman,” he said, blinking to get the sudsy water out of his eye. His hand reached to get it out, but her towel stopped him. She wiped it off and then snapped the towel at him to get him to keep his distance.
“Go get a beer or something,” she said. “I'm almost finished here,” she said.
He grunted. He wandered over to the fridge, opened the door and leaned in to grab a beer and got snapped in the ass by the towel for his trouble.
He turned to glower at her mockingly, but she was innocently back to work with the dishes.
“Uh huh,” he said, catching the curve of her lips as she smiled in mischief. “Someone's in a good mood,” he said as he pulled a pair of long necks out. He popped the cap on his and set hers down on the island. He took a sip of his and then leaned back.
“You are seriously going to just stand there and watch me work?” she demanded.
“What, I'm admiring the view!” he said with a grin.
She glowered at him.
“Well, if you seriously want me over there …,” he said pretending to set the bottle down.
“Never mind. I don't need to be tripping on you,” she said. She snagged her bottle, popped the top, and took a pull of beer, then set it back down so she could start reloading the dishwasher.
He opened his mouth to protest that Galiet liked it when they prerinsed everything but caught himself. He could see her mood changing as she finished up and closed the door. A twist of the timer and the machine came on.
She turned and used her towel and apron to wipe the water off the counter and then she rinsed out the sink. When she was finished, she took the apron off and hung it on the hook nearby. The towel went into the laundry. By the time she was back, he'd replaced it with a fresh one from the drawer.
“See?” he said when she took notice. “Don't say I didn't help,” he teased.
“Right,” she drawled, recovering her beer. “I wanted to talk to you about this trip,” she said. She took another pull of the beer.
He fought a grimace. “Oh?” he managed to get out. “Second thoughts?”
“A bit. I'm not thrilled about being apart for so long,” she said.
“Well, they do say absence makes the heart grow fonder. Just ask Galiet,” he teased.
“She got to see us every couple of months,” Sylvia retorted. “This is different.
He grunted. From the way she was drinking that beer, he realized she was going to get it done before he was. The separation must really be bothering her he thought as he took another sip of his own beer.
“I wish you and the brat pack could come with us,” he said gruffly. “I know the kids would love being on a warship,” he said.
Sylvia rolled her brown eyes at that and then gave a theatrical shudder. “Yeah, right. 'What's this button do?'” she asked then pantomimed an explosion.
He chuffed, nearly doubling over. She was right; the brat pack was quite good at getting into trouble even when it was out of innocent curiosity.
She tipped her bottle back and downed it. “Easy there, lady, someone might think I'm trying to get you tipsy to get laid,” he teased as she rinsed the bottle out and then put it in the food replicator.
“I thought it was the other way around?” she teased, bumping her hips as she came back over to him. He smiled, but then his smile turned into a protest of surprise and dismay as she stole his beer.
“Wow!” he said as she drained it too.
“It's … I'm not thrilled about this, you know,” she said.
“Don't turn into a lush or something,” he said, rubbing her shoulders. “We'll be all right,” he said as she set the beer down.
She leaned into him, groaning as his expert hands worked at her neck and shoulders, easing the ache she'd felt coming. “I …”
“We're not gone yet you know. Besides Galiet's right, she deserves some time with me. Just think, we get back we might even have more brats for you to play with. And they'll be out of diapers,” he said.
“Oh, gah, more of the brat pack,” she said, shaking her head. “Our own population explosion,” she said.
“Something like that,” he chuffed. She elbowed him. “Owe, what was that for?” he demanded, rubbing the spot.
She turned a glower on him. “Braggart,” she said. He chuffed again as she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him.
The hug was all too brief though. Duty called her back to action. She released him before he could do much and took off to take care of his beer bottle. He turned to get another, but she cleared her throat. “No more. Ration them, remember?” she demanded.
He grimaced but dutifully shut the fridge door.
“You still have time to back out,” Sylvia teased. “Take on that job with the Spacebees you were thinking of or the chief engineer slot on a ship here,” Sylvia said.
“You know if I took a chief engineer slot it would have to be a civilian ship. Since I'm a reservist and the navy is hurting for people, they might activate my commission. Which would mean I'd be cycled through a training course and then put in a navy ship. Which would mean a posting who knows where.”
“But Destiny …”
“Destiny was and still is a navy reserve ship, remember? We got away with it there. I'm hoping Galiet and I signing up for duty with Commodore Logan will keep them happy and keep them from activating your commission too or Clennie's,” he said. He caught her head and drew it closer. He puckered up and kissed her forehead as the bonobo sighed and closed her eyes. He could tell a lot of the fight had gone out of her at that moment.
“I … damn it. It's not fair that we can't all be together,” she grumbled.
“We've been together, remember? Been that way for months now. I'd thought you'd be rid of me by now,” he teased.
She snorted and stroked his chest. “Not hardly. I can't get enough of you,” she murmured, nuzzling into his chest and wrapping her long arms around his waist.
He felt her grip his cheeks. “Hey there!” he said, going on his toes …
She chuffed in amusement at his response. Suddenly his previous statement penetrated. She looked up with worried brown eyes. “You don't think they'll activate one of us while you’re gone, do you?”
“I doubt it. I suggest when your time is up you don't renew your contract. I don't know if they'll let you get away with it or not, but you should try it. It will mean a drop in income, and you won't be able to get into the commissary and other places as easily,” he warned. “Medical attention you'll still get, so will the kids, but it will be more of a hassle,” he said.
She grimaced. “The kids … they won't send us off with dependents,” she said, looking down and rubbing the small of his back. “They can't.”
“I don't know. Both, no. One of you … maybe. If it was one of you, it would most likely be Clennie,” Bailey admitted. She frowned. “There aren't a lot of calls for gardeners on ships, Sylvia. I think you are safe.”
“I am a fully-qualified life support tech too you know,” she growled.
“But one with dependents. They don't want or need that sort of headache,” he said. “No, you are safe. Clennie though …,” he pursed his lips thoughtfully. “I don't even know how to shield her. I'm not sure I can.”
“I … I don't know,” she murmured.
“The good news is you might get into San Diego if she does get recalled or you'll be transferred to the nea
rest base where she is posted if it is a long-term assignment. A shipboard one though …,” he grimaced. After a long moment, she felt him inhale and then exhale. “But we may be borrowing trouble. Let's let it lie for the moment.”
“Okay,” she said in a small voice. Her hands squeezed his rear again and then began to wander.
“Um … isn't that how we got kid number …”
“Yes,” she said quietly but firmly. He knew that tone of voice and knew better than to argue with it.
He chuffed as she persisted and began to push him to the bedroom. “Okay, just checking,” he said as she reached up with one hand to wrap around his neck and pull his head and more importantly his lips down to meet her own.
~<><{<^>}><>~
Once Admiral Zekowitz was sufficiently recovered from his surgery, he took another tour of the advanced academy in San Diego. He was interested in the engineering courses but steered to the tactical courses. They were more entertaining and instructive to him not only as an officer, but also as someone totally bored with the crap the media put out over the airwaves.
Besides, it let him observe the mentality of the officers in Pyrax. That might come in handy when he went back to Bek. He was fairly certain he was now something of a hybrid. He'd gained his foundation of instruction in Bek, and it was rock solid. But some of his finishing work had come from Pyrax. He knew that he'd never look at things in quite the same light as he did anymore. And he'd definitely look at some of Bek's hide bound traditions in a different light.
Definitely, he growled mentally. He'd chafed under them before. Now they were intolerable and had to go. He just wasn't certain how to effect such necessary changes. Not with his rank and orders.
Again he got to see the Crusher simulators in action. Initially he had thought it had been a class going at it like they should, treating it like the real thing. It was only when he'd noted some of the ranks in the room that he'd realized it had been something more. He'd fumbled with his implants to check the Crusher's docket. A Veraxin Captain X'll'r had reserved the time. That was when he understood that what he was witnessing was actually an effort to simulate combat along the Eastern front, from B101a1 to Konohagakure and beyond.
