mission, and Shawn thought back on
it fondly as he attached the strip to the left breast of his shirt.
He was about to exit into the corridor when a chime sounded,
indicating that someone wished to come in. Wondering who it could be, Shawn
pressed a control on the nearby desktop and allowed the visitor to be admitted.
“Begging your pardon, sir!”
Shawn turned to see his mechanic, Trent Maddox, fully outfitted in
Sector Command attire and standing at attention outside his cabin. Shawn
couldn’t help but manage a smile.
“Well, look at what the cat dragged in.”
The door closed behind Trent as he stepped into Shawn’s quarters and
then quickly stood back at attention. “Permission to stand at ease, sir!” he
barked, then gave an overly exaggerated salute.
Trent was barely
containing a smile, and his face looked as if it was threatening to explode if
he wasn’t allowed to release it soon.
“You know, you suck
at being an enlisted man.” Shawn gave a perfunctory salute in return, thereby
releasing the invisible hold on
Trent.
Trent beamed, then removed his ball cap and tossed it on the bed.
“Yeah, my old division officer used to say the same thing. What’s shaking,
man?”
“To be honest, I still don’t really know.”
Trent moved close to Shawn and adjusted his friend’s uniform collar.
“Well, you certainly look very pretty. Do you have a date?” His tone was
dripping with condescension.
Shawn slapped his hand away. “I have duty, not a date.”
Trent stood back from Shawn and gave him an approving look. “Wow,
you’re really serious about this whole military thing, aren’t you?”
“I don’t have much of a choice in the matter, remember?”
“Yeah, I know. I guess it’s lucky for you that I decided to stick
around too.”
“Um, you didn’t have a choice, either.”
“Yeah, well…I keep telling myself this is all voluntary.”
“Does it help?”
“You mean does it help when I have an imbecile deck officer telling me
how to do my job? Or does it help when I want to see if I can land a wrench
right between his eyes?”
“Yeah.”
Trent shrugged. “No. It doesn’t. Guess that’s why he’s in the
infirmary and I’m here.”
“You didn’t.” Shawn was incredulous.
“I sure as hell did. It was a pretty nice throw, too, if I do say so
myself. He must have been…oh, twenty yards away.”
Shawn shook his head in bewilderment. “You’re serious?”
“Yep.” Trent was almost beaming with pride.
“You should be in the brig, not up here gallivanting through the
passageways.”
“Well, ‘should’ is such a subjective term,” Trent replied as he
casually leaned against the bulkhead. “I know I should be, but for some
reason I’m not. I mean, the MPs showed up, took me down to the lower levels,
and held me in the security office. I think I was there for about five minutes
before they said I was free to go, and that I should have you to thank for it.”
Shawn narrowed his eyes. “I’ve been between a shower and a donut for
the last half hour.”
“That’s nasty.”
“No, you idiot. Not at the same time! I mean I’ve been busy, and I
didn’t do anything to get you out of trouble. Hell, I didn’t even know you were
being detained.”
“Well, someone sprung me out. As soon as I was released, they said I
should report to you for a duty assignment.” He pondered the situation for a
moment before speaking again. “Do you think it was Melissa?”
Shawn briefly wondered the same thing. “Unlikely. Besides, if she had,
she would have taken credit for it just to piss off Krif.”
“Sounds like your kind of girl.”
Shawn narrowed his eyes in frustration.
Trent got the message: back off . “Okay, so if it wasn’t her,
then who was it?”
“I don’t know. Then again, there’s a lot of
it fondly as he attached the strip to the left breast of his shirt.
He was about to exit into the corridor when a chime sounded,
indicating that someone wished to come in. Wondering who it could be, Shawn
pressed a control on the nearby desktop and allowed the visitor to be admitted.
“Begging your pardon, sir!”
Shawn turned to see his mechanic, Trent Maddox, fully outfitted in
Sector Command attire and standing at attention outside his cabin. Shawn
couldn’t help but manage a smile.
“Well, look at what the cat dragged in.”
The door closed behind Trent as he stepped into Shawn’s quarters and
then quickly stood back at attention. “Permission to stand at ease, sir!” he
barked, then gave an overly exaggerated salute.
Trent was barely
containing a smile, and his face looked as if it was threatening to explode if
he wasn’t allowed to release it soon.
“You know, you suck
at being an enlisted man.” Shawn gave a perfunctory salute in return, thereby
releasing the invisible hold on
Trent.
Trent beamed, then removed his ball cap and tossed it on the bed.
“Yeah, my old division officer used to say the same thing. What’s shaking,
man?”
“To be honest, I still don’t really know.”
Trent moved close to Shawn and adjusted his friend’s uniform collar.
“Well, you certainly look very pretty. Do you have a date?” His tone was
dripping with condescension.
Shawn slapped his hand away. “I have duty, not a date.”
Trent stood back from Shawn and gave him an approving look. “Wow,
you’re really serious about this whole military thing, aren’t you?”
“I don’t have much of a choice in the matter, remember?”
“Yeah, I know. I guess it’s lucky for you that I decided to stick
around too.”
“Um, you didn’t have a choice, either.”
“Yeah, well…I keep telling myself this is all voluntary.”
“Does it help?”
“You mean does it help when I have an imbecile deck officer telling me
how to do my job? Or does it help when I want to see if I can land a wrench
right between his eyes?”
“Yeah.”
Trent shrugged. “No. It doesn’t. Guess that’s why he’s in the
infirmary and I’m here.”
“You didn’t.” Shawn was incredulous.
“I sure as hell did. It was a pretty nice throw, too, if I do say so
myself. He must have been…oh, twenty yards away.”
Shawn shook his head in bewilderment. “You’re serious?”
“Yep.” Trent was almost beaming with pride.
“You should be in the brig, not up here gallivanting through the
passageways.”
“Well, ‘should’ is such a subjective term,” Trent replied as he
casually leaned against the bulkhead. “I know I should be, but for some
reason I’m not. I mean, the MPs showed up, took me down to the lower levels,
and held me in the security office. I think I was there for about five minutes
before they said I was free to go, and that I should have you to thank for it.”
Shawn narrowed his eyes. “I’ve been between a shower and a donut for
the last half hour.”
“That’s nasty.”
“No, you idiot. Not at the same time! I mean I’ve been busy, and I
didn’t do anything to get you out of trouble. Hell, I didn’t even know you were
being detained.”
“Well, someone sprung me out. As soon as I was released, they said I
should report to you for a duty assignment.” He pondered the situation for a
moment before speaking again. “Do you think it was Melissa?”
Shawn briefly wondered the same thing. “Unlikely. Besides, if she had,
she would have taken credit for it just to piss off Krif.”
“Sounds like your kind of girl.”
Shawn narrowed his eyes in frustration.
Trent got the message: back off . “Okay, so if it wasn’t her,
then who was it?”
“I don’t know. Then again, there’s a lot of
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