Note: Paramount, the at-times-stingy-about-their-money-making-child-Star-Trek owns Star Trek, that oh-so-cool series of shows, and Alan Decker created and owns Star Traks, that very-funny-very-cool online series of stories. Next Frontier, the irreverent-bastard-offshoot-of-Alan’s-brainchild, is mine. Hope that clears things up.

Star Traks: Next Frontier

“A Roll in the Hay”

By Cory Parker

As he awoke, Captain Bobby Halloway rubbed his forehead and yawned. His eyes slowly opened, revealing a brand new day aboard the USS Haymaker, a day filled with promise, a day filled with excitement, a day… “What the hell happened last night?” muttered Bobby as he surveyed his room. There were clothes strewn everywhere, things were knocked over, and Bobby seemed to be wearing not much of anything. As Halloway jumped out of bed and searched for all the parts of his uniform, he tried to remember what had happened the night before. Oddly enough, it was a big blank. “That’s the last time I drink that much bloodwine in one sitting,” he said to himself as he searched for his boxers. Finding the underwear, which had the words ‘Captain’s Privileges’ inscribed all over them, he put them on and stumbled into the bathroom, stepping on a few red and black plastic discs on the way there. As Bobby splashed some water on his face to wake up, he noticed that the sonic shower had been activated.

“Is that you Bobby?” came a feminine voice from inside the sonic shower. Halloway clinched his teeth as he thought of what to say.

“Yep, it’s me.” The shower stopped, and the door slid open partway. Halloway leaned his head to the side, trying to catch a glimpse of who the voice belonged to, and he also wouldn’t mind seeing the voice naked, either.

“Hand me a towel,” asked the woman. Halloway nodded and turned to grab one. Hanging on the rack beside it was the blue uniform of an ensign. Without a word, he turned back around and gave the towel to the outstretched hand coming out of the shower. “Thanks. Now, don’t peek.” Halloway sighed lightly and turned around, facing the other direction. Scenarios raced through his mind, each more varied than the last. He still couldn’t remember what had happened last night. There was a party on the holodeck, he was sure of that, but who for, that eluded him. And the voice of the female ensign…”You were incredible last night,” purred the woman into Halloway’s ear as she passed by him, heading towards the bed.

“I was?” he asked quizzically.

“Oh, you were amazing. All night long, too.” The ensign’s blonde hair, slight Southern accent, and gorgeous tan all pointed Bobby’s mind to one person.

“Ensign Spears?”

“Hmm?” Halloway silently sighed in relief. Damn, he was good.

“I was just wondering if you had seen my commbadge.”

“Under the table,” she responded, pointing in the direction while she dried her hair. Halloway nodded and bend down to retrieve it. “So, is what you said last night true?”

“Um…about what?”

“You know, that thing we talked about last night at Cindy’s birthday party.” Halloway thought quickly as he threw on his uniform.

“Oh, that thing. Yeah, it’s true.”

“Really?” asked the ensign with a quizzical glance. “I wouldn’t have guessed that.” Halloway smiled slightly and racked his brain to try and discover what the hell she was talking about.

“Well, you know, all in a day’s work. Speaking of which, I think you’re late for duty. I know I am.” Spears glanced at Bobby’s clock and cursed under her breath. Heading for the door, Spears paused briefly by her captain and kissed him on the cheek.

“Call me,” she said as she departed the quarters. Bobby grinned widely for a moment, then regained his composure and hurried off to the bridge.

“Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in,” smiled LaCroix as Halloway stepped onto the bridge. “Late night?”

“You could say that, Commander,” he answered quickly as he took his chair. “How is everything today?”

“Oh, no you’re not,” said LaCroix with a grin. “You’re not getting away that easily.” She stared into his eyes while she leaned on the armrest of her chair.

“Oh, yes I am. Status report first, then gossip.” Rachel sighed heavily and threw herself back in her chair in frustration.

“Astrometrics reports that they should be done in about 6 hours with their scan of the red giant out there,” reported Halvox. “And speaking of red giants, I’m surprised that you didn’t get a headache the size of one, considering all that went on last night at Lt. Davidson’s birthday party.”

“It’s that Irish constitution, Kerry,” smiled Halloway.

“Yeah, right,” she muttered under her breath. Halloway pretended not to hear and glanced at Gabriel.

“What’s happening, Gabriel?”

“Nothing. Everything’s fine here. No ships on sensors, no threats to security. Well, except for…you know.”

“I know what?” Bobby was really wishing that he could remember what happened the night before. Gabriel raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“You forgot that I had to take Crewman Jacobs away after he attacked you for that passing remark you made about his mother?”

“Oh, THAT! I thought that you were talking about something else. Of course I remember! Where is he now?”

“In the Brig, cooling his heels. Shall I write him up for assaulting a superior officer?”

“No, that’s okay. He just had a little too much to drink, that’s all. He probably doesn’t even remember it.” Halloway finished with a nervous chuckle. Gabriel stared at him for a minute, then nodded.

“Okay by me. You’re the captain, Captain.”

“Thanks. Anybody else? Nope? Well, I think I’ll take a walk. Commander, you have the bridge.”

“Oh gee, thanks.”

“Captain’s Personal Log, Supplemental. I’ve been reviewing the security scans of last night’s party for three hours now, and I’ve yet to learn anymore information. Well, I did learn about Bannon’s crush on that girl in Astrometrics, and Halvox’s ability to down three bottles of bloodwine and not start hitting on anyone, unlike Commander LaCroix, who gets one or two drinks into her, and the next minutes she’s crawling all over some lieutenant like a…Uh, never mind. I’ll keep looking. End log.” Halloway sighed loudly as he turned back to the monitor, where the playback was paused and centered on Crewman Jacobs preparing to lunge at Bobby. Just as he was about to resume playback, the door to his quarter’s chimed. “Come in,” called Halloway as he quickly shut off the monitor and swiveled around in his chair to face the door.

“How was your walk, Captain?” inquired Gabriel as he entered Bobby’s quarters.

“Fine, just fine. Something I can help you with?” asked Halloway as he headed for the replicator. “Bolian blue tea, hot.”

“Yes, actually. I was on the bridge just a moment ago…”

“No s**t.” Gabriel raised an eyebrow. “Sorry.”

“…and I noticed that someone was accessing security scans from last night,” continued Gabriel as though Halloway didn’t speak. “They were being accessed here.”

“Here?”

“Actually, there,” said Gabriel as he pointed to Halloway’s desktop monitor. “May I inquire what you were looking for?”

“No.”

“Allrighty then, I guess I’ll be going.” With that, Gabriel turned around and prepared to exit Halloway’s quarters.

“Wait, wait, wait. I’ll tell you what I’m looking for, but only if you keep it quiet.” Another raised eyebrow. “Never mind, dumb request.”

“Are you looking for intruders?”

“Uh, no.”

“Spatial anomalies?”

“Nope.”

“Signs of trouble?”

“Not exactly.” Gabriel sighed lightly in disappointment.

“What are you looking for?”

“Commander, I can’t remember what went on last night. And stop doing that with your eyebrow, you’re beginning to look like a damned Vulcan!”

“Sorry. Force of habit. So, when does your memory go blank?”

“I can remember the first hour of the party, but everything after that is a blank.” Halloway walked up to the monitor and flicked it on. Gabriel chuckled softly as he looked at the frozen view of Crewman Jacobs about to go into a drunken rage at Halloway.

“I see that you’re up to the good part.” He touched the screen with one claw, and the picture sprang to life. The people in the holodeck parted like the Red Sea as Jacobs dashed for the captain. Just as the crewman was about to deal a unexpected attack, at the last possible moment Halloway smacked Jacobs across the face with a left cross, leveling him to the ground, and all without spilling his drink. The captain then calmly went back to fraternizing with two lovely female ensigns, one of which happened to be Ensign Emily Spears.

“I must have been pasted already.”

“But you brought Jacobs to the floor with one shot.”

“I know. I fight better when I’m drunk.” The security chief shrugged.

“Good to know.” Gabriel then hit the fast-forward button on the monitor and skipped ahead an hour. “Here’s another part of the evening that you should watch.” Halloway rubbed his forehead and watched as he, Bannon, and Monty commenced in singing a wonderfully drunken rendition of a Klingon opera tune entitled ‘The Sound of Killing’. “Definitely a highlight of my evening.”

“Oh, ha ha. When did I leave with Ensign Spears?”

“Ensign Aguilera. You left with her, not Spears.”

“I did? Then how did Spears end up in my quarters?”

“Ensign Spears ended up in your quarters?” Halloway mentally slapped himself and groaned.

“Yeah, she did.” Gabriel thought for a moment, then looked at Halloway.

“Well, I can’t help you on THAT one. But I bet I know someone who can.”

“Now remember, the next time you get to drinking, don’t go around punching bulkheads!” yelled Dr. Clinton as Lt. Vanan walked out of Sickbay. “Crazy Rigellian…” he murmured as he examined his next patient, an Alpha Centari woman named Jessica Palso. “Let me guess, Lt. Davidson’s party?” Palso nodded. “Headache the size of that red giant we’re orbiting?” Another nod. Clinton sighed and pressed a hypospray next to Palso’s neck, administering the medicine with a ‘hiss’. “You’re free to go. Just keep away from the hard stuff next time.” As Palso was leaving, she gave a nod to Halloway and Gabriel as they stepped into Sickbay and headed for a grumbling Clinton.

“Doctor?” Scott looked up and threw up his arms.

“You too!?! Do you have any idea how many cases I’ve treated today? More than I have ever since we’ve been in this godforsaken sector!” Halloway and Gabriel looked at each other.

“He’s no handling the stress well,” commented Gabriel.

“Oh, most definitely not,” added Halloway. Clinton mumbled something about ‘appreciation’ and scowled.

“Can I help you with something, Captain?”

“You’re just pissed cause you weren’t invited.” Clinton crossed his arms and looked away.

“No I’m not,” he said in the manner of a six-year-old.

“UHHHH-huh. Anyway, I need your help, Doctor. And you can put the tricorder down, I just need some information.”

“Listen, after what happened last night, I’m not in the mood to give out information to you right now.”

“But I’m the captain!” protested Halloway.

“Doctors outrank captains.”

“In medical situations only!” Clinton looked confused.

“Oh. Well, what do you need to know?”

“Wait just a minute, I want to know why you’re mad at me!”

“You don’t remember?” asked Clinton, producing his tricorder, which Halloway promptly batted away.

“Just for the sake of argument, explain why.”

“Well, I was here reading over a lab study on Ferengi ear infections when you and Ensign Aguilera burst in here, sucking more face than a Orion leech, and then you two proceed to hop onto a biobed and begin to take off each other’s clothes. Naturally, I stormed out of my office, we got into a shouting match, and you eventually left, but not before calling my mother a ‘vicious, degenerate woman who has taken quite a few rides around the galaxy,’ if I recall correctly.” Halloway gave a nervous smile and kicked the floor with his left foot.

“Sorry about that, I was…”

“Inebriated, yes, I could tell.”

“I would consider it a personal favor if you keep that fact to yourself.” Clinton laughed harshly and looked at Gabriel.

“You know about this too?”

“Unfortunately.”

“So, just the three of us, then,” said Halloway as he put each of his arms on the other two’s shoulders. Gabriel and Clinton glanced at each other in mutual consolation. “So, doc, what happened after I left?”

“You’d have to ask Aguilera, she went with you.”

“She works in Astrometrics, I believe,” stated Gabriel after a moment’s thought.

“That’s funny because so does Ensign Spea…Uh oh,” finished Halloway as he came to a frightening realization about the same time Gabriel did.

“What does Ensign Spears have to do with any of this?” asked Clinton.

“She was in the captain’s quarters when he woke up this morning,” answered Gabriel.

“He didn’t need to know that!” yelled Halloway.

“I figured he needs to be informed,” replied Gabriel with a shrug.

“Captain, do you remember what we talked about when Cimorene was on board?”

“Yeah.”

“About the little hypo right before intimate contact?”

“Yeah.”

“Did you take my advice with Ensign Spears?”

“I don’t know,” grimaced Halloway. Clinton pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.

“I don’t know why I even bother…” he muttered with a shake of the head.

“So, how the hell am I going to talk with Aguilera without Emily seeing me?” asked Halloway, changing the subject.

“I can call her here for some reason,” suggested Clinton.

“Do it.”

The Astrometrics department on board the USS Haymaker was abuzz with excitement over the red giant they were studying. Well, let me take that back. Most of the department was abuzz with excitement. The youngest two members of the department, Ensigns Spears and Aguilera, were not really buzzing with excitement. They were more like whirring with boredom. Wait, that doesn’t make much…Oh, never mind. The point is, they spent a lot of their time in Astrometrics working side by side so that they could talk and alleviate at least part of the boredom of their ill-chosen career field. “So, did you get a response back from LaCroix about that transfer to Engineering?” asked Spears as she initiated another scan of the red giant.

“Not yet, but you know how she is,” responded Aguilera as she catalogued the scan previous to the current one. “How’s your work-study program on the bridge with Ensign Bannon going?” Spears laughed and shook her head.

“We’re talking about Bannon here. Half the time he can’t even remember my name. But he sure can remember yours.” Aguilera grimaced and stuck out her tongue.

“Don’t remind me.”

“He’s a really nice guy, Katrina. A little absent-minded, sure, but he’s sweet. In a goofy sort of way.”

“If you like him so much why don’t you go out with him?” The two erupted into laughter.

“Actually, I’m seeing someone,” said Spears after she regained her composure.

“Oh, really? Some guy you hooked up with at the party?”

“You could say that.” Aguilera grinned and ran a diagnostic on one of the lateral sensors.

“Me too.” Spears’ eyes lit up and she dashed across the lab to Aguilera, who was still smiling like a Cheshire cat.

“Who!?! Who was it?”

“Guess.”

“AGGGHHH! Don’t do this to me, Katrina! Brian from Sickbay?”

“Me, go out with a male nurse? Please!”

“Lt. Abbott down in Engineering?”

“Tempting, but no. Besides, I heard something about him and LaCroix.” Spears made a face at the sound of the commander’s name.

“Ugh! Bad move, Bud!” A smile sprung on Emily’s face. “Was it Bannon?” Now it was Katrina’s turn to make a face.

“Yeah, right. Actually, it was…”

“Clinton to Ensign Aguilera.” The ensigns sighed as Katrina hit her commbadge.

“Aguilera here.”

“Could you come down to Sickbay for a moment? I, uh, have something I’d like to go over with you.”

“Be right there, Aguilera out.” Katrina shrugged to Emily as she headed for the door. “Gotta run, Emily.”

“I expect a full report when you get back!”

“Oh, you’ll get one, don’t worry.”

“Be right there, Aguilera out,” came the ensign’s voice over the comm as she broke communication. Halloway uttered a sigh of relief while Gabriel looked quizzically at Clinton.

“Well, what did you want me to say?” asked the doctor as he threw his hands up in frustration.

“I don’t know. Something with a little more subtlety, perhaps.”

“I’d like to see you do better.”

“I am the chief of security, you know. Subtlety is part of the job description.” Clinton eyed over Gabriel’s imposing red frame.

“Riiiiiiiiiight.”

“Look, you two,” interjected Halloway, “she’s going to be here any minute, and I need to figure out what to say to her.”

“You’re on your own there, Captain,” responded Clinton, turning to his desktop monitor. Suddenly, the sickbay doors hissed open.

“Ensign Aguilera!” greeted Halloway as he spun around to face the newcomer to Sickbay. Problem was, the woman standing before the three men was not Aguilera.

“Expecting someone else, Captain?” inquired Halvox with a glare.

“Uh, nope, Lieutenant. Can I help you?”

“We were just wondering where you had run off to. I’m no expert or anything, but I believe the captain’s place is on the bridge, not in Sickbay.”

“Unless he’s sick,” added Clinton. Halloway turned his head to give the doctor a look.

“Thank you, Doctor,” he said with a certain degree of sarcasm. Not totally dense, Clinton looked hurt.

“No problem.” Just then, Ensign Aguilera walked into Sickbay.

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything,” she said. “Doctor Clinton called me down here about something.” All eyes went to Clinton, who thought fast and stood up.

“Um, it’s…time for your physical, Ensign,” he said, grabbing a tricorder and waving it around her.

“But I just had a physical last week.”

“Uh, the…computer lost your file. Have to start from scratch. Sorry.”

“Oh, I’m sure Monty can fix it,” chimed in Halvox. “Computer, activate EEH at this location.”

“No!” yelled Halloway and Clinton, but it was too late. Gabriel merely shrugged.

“Hello! You rang?” asked the hologram.

“Clinton lost Aguilera’s med file,” explained Halvox.

“No, I didn’t!” denied the doctor. Aguilera looked puzzled and looked at Clinton.

“But you just said you did!”

“I…uh…um…” stammered Scott.

“Let’s have a talk, Ensign,” said Halloway as he quickly grabbed Aguilera’s arm and walked her into the corridor. After they had left, both Monty and Halvox stared at Gabriel and Clinton.

“Would somebody like to explain what the hell is going on around here???” yelled Halvox.

“Ditto,” quipped Monty.

“Quiet, you.” The hologram threw up his hands in front of him and backed away.

“Alright.” Halvox then glared at Clinton, who began to back up into his office.

“Knock that off!” he yelled in protest, but the pressure of her glare finally got the best of Clinton. “THE CAPTAIN GOT DRUNK LAST NIGHT AND HE CAN’T REMEMBER A THING!” he shouted, eyes closed tightly and hands up defensively. Halvox smiled and backed off.

“You have to teach me that sometime,” said Gabriel.

“Gladly.” It was here when Halloway reentered the room, sans Aguilera. “Did it go well, you boozer?”

“As well as can be…How do you know what happened?” Halvox pointed to the doctor. “Oh. Yeah, it went well. All I got out of her was that at some point in the evening, we departed from each other. She went to her quarters, and I headed for the mess hall.”

“Did you get some action?” asked Clinton. A grin crept over Halloway’s face as he crossed his arms and looked away.

“Twice…I think.” Gabriel rolled his eyes while Monty patted the captain on the back.

“Good job, Cap! Sounds like you had a really good time last night!”

“Too bad I can’t remember it,” he sighed.

“Wait a minute! See if this recalls a memory!” The hologram opened his mouth wide, spread out his arms, and began belting out a song. “The hills are alive, with the sound of killing! With warriors they have seen slain for a thousand years, the hills fill my heart with the sound of killing!”

“Thank you Monty, that’ll be QUITE enough!” uttered Halloway just as Halvox was about to punch the chief engineer. “There is only one other thing I have to figure out. Just what exactly went on between Ensign Spears and myself. And I have to do it quick, before Katrina has a chance to talk with Emily about last night.”

“Want me to call her here?” asked Clinton. Gabriel sighed and shook his head.

“Let’s try something else, shall we?” muttered the security chief.

“Listen, I’ll distract Aguilera while Captain Numbskull here talks with Spears,” suggested Halvox.

“Since when did you become part of this group?” asked Bobby.

“You want me to tell Commander LaCroix about this?” A resounding ‘NO!’ echoed through Sickbay. Kerry smiled and placed her hands on her hips. “Looks like I’m in, then.”

“So, what did the doctor want with you, Katrina?” inquired Emily Spears as she heard the doors to the Astrometrics lab hiss open behind her.

“I’m not quite sure what the good doctor wanted with her, Emily,” answered Halloway with a small smile. ‘Here’s where it gets tricky,’ he thought. ‘Give me Fallow and his minions anyday…’

“Bobby! Er, I mean Captain. What brings you down here?” Halloway strode up to the ensign and leaned up against the console she was working with.

On the bridge, Ensign Blake Bannon was awoken from his nap as his screen sprung to life, revealing a transmission from the astrometics department. He leaned forward in curiosity and watched as Captain Halloway was engaging in conversation with Ensign Spears. “So, about last night…” started the captain, still leaning with both hands on the console.

“You were incredible, Captain,” purred Spears with a grin. “Absolutely incredible.” Halloway blushed slightly and turned away.

“Thanks, Ensign.” Leaning back for a moment, Bannon raised an eyebrow. He had noticed that it was becoming quite fashionable with the crew lately, especially Lt. Comm. Gabriel. Thinking about this immediately distracted him from the live transmission playing out on the monitor, causing Bannon to look for an unused monitor to begin practicing his eyebrow raises.

“So,” continued Halloway down in Astrometrics. “How good was I, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“The best I’ve ever met. When you made that one jump, I almost died.” Now it was time for Halloway’s eyebrows to rise.

“Excuse me!?!”

“That jump, you know, the one where you got four of my pieces at the same time. That was incredible.” Completely confused at this point, Halloway stepped forward.

“Ensign, what are you talking about???”

“Ensign, what the hell are you doing?” yelled LaCroix as she watched Bannon standing behind the Ops station, alternating his eyebrow raises from one side to the other. He turned around and stared at the commander.

“What am I doing?”

“Yes!” Bannon blinked and looked around for a moment.

“What was I doing? Ah! I was reviewing scans of that red giant. They’re over on the monitor at my station.” LaCroix looked over to the science station.

“That’s not a red giant, Ensign.” Bannon walked back to his seat and sat down.

“Of course not, that’s the captain and Ensign Spears talking in Astrometrics. How did you confuse that with a red giant?” he asked with an eyebrow raised. LaCroix groaned and walked over to Bannon.

“I’m talking about last night. In your quarters. The two of us,” said Spears on the monitor. LaCroix’s ears suddenly perked up.

“Well, this got interesting awfully fast,” she said to no one in particular. Bannon wasn’t paying attention; he was once again was absorbed in his eyebrow raising practice. “And stop doing that!”

“I’m aware of that, Ensign, it’s just I’m a bit confused what you are talking about. Where exactly did I jump you four times?” Before Spears could answer, Ensign Aguilera entered Astrometrics, followed by Gabriel and Halvox. Halloway rubbed his forehead and groaned. “Oh, boy…”

“Captain! What are you doing here?” she asked in surprise.

“We were just talking about last night,” replied Spears. Aguilera placed her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, really?”

“Look, now she’s doing it!” shouted Lt. Benn, pointing at the monitor as she passed the tub of popcorn over to LaCroix.

“Shouldn’t you be piloting the ship, Lieutenant?” asked the commander through a mouthful of popcorn.

“Monty fixed the autopilot yesterday.” LaCroix shrugged.

“Good to know.”

“I wondered why you wanted to talk with me earlier outside Sickbay. Now I finally know what’s going on!”

“She must be the only one,” scoffed Halvox. Gabriel let a small grin escape his lips.

“It’s not what you think, Katrina! At least, I don’t think so,” responded Halloway as the ensign advanced upon him, eyes blazing with the fury of a woman scorned. Aguilera hauled her arm back and slapped Halloway hard.

The bridge crew, who was now all watching the drama unfold, winced simultaneously. “Pass the popcorn, Blake,” asked Lt. Jane Smith.

“Huh? Pass the what?” he asked, turning and accidentally placing his hand on the console, shutting off the transmission. The remainder of the bridge crew screamed in protest. Bannon looked back at the screen. “Oops.”

“What was THAT for!?!” yelled Halloway as he grabbed the side of his face in pain.

“After what we had, you go and do this with HER! And I thought you were someone special…” she cried as she dashed out of Astrometrics, eyes filled with tears as she pushed past Gabriel and Halvox. Halloway sighed and turned to receive a slap from Spears on the other cheek.

“I don’t know what you told her, mister, but I’m never playing checkers with you again!” she yelled, storming out of the lab. This time, Gabriel and Halvox stepped out of her way.

After a thorough verbal pummeling by the bridge staff, Bannon reactivated the screen to see Ensign Spears departing from Astrometrics, leaving Halvox, Gabriel, and Halloway behind. “Ah, dammit! We missed the best part!” yelled Benn, tossing the tub of popcorn to the ground in a huff and heading back to the conn. Person by person, the bridge crew returned to their stations, with LaCroix slapping Bannon in the back of the head before departing. Blake raised an eyebrow weakly and returned the monitor to a view of the red giant.

Halloway shook his head slowly as he rubbed the other side of his face. “This has not been a good day…” he mumbled as Gabriel and Halvox approached.

“So, you played checkers with Ensign Spears in your quarters?” asked Gabriel after a moment of silence.

“Apparently all night long,” stated Halvox.

“He must be one hell of a checkers player.”

“He seems to have a whole slew of abilities when he gets pasted, not the least of which is getting two women more pissed off at him than I usually am.”

“Very funny,” muttered Halloway with a frown as he headed out of Astrometrics.

“I certainly think…”

“Kerry, if you want to keep your job, I suggest stowing that sentence.”

“Sentence stowed, Captain.”

As Halloway slid slowly into the captain’s chair, LaCroix leaned towards him and batted her eyes with a smile. “Enjoy the walk, Captain?”

“Oh, you have no idea,” responded Halloway as he ran his fingers through his hair. Benn turned and shot a smile to LaCroix, whose own grin was widening by the minute. “Lt. Benn, when are we leaving?”

“In about a half-hour or so. I’m waiting for Bannon to okay the report from Astrometrics.” Halloway turned to see Bannon sitting in his chair, eyebrow raised for no particular reason. “Make that an hour,” corrected Benn, turning back to her duties. Halloway sighed loudly and drummed his fingers on his armrest. LaCroix chuckled and leaned back in her chair.

“Just look at it this way, Captain. Next Saturday is Crewman Jacobs’ birthday.”

THE END