chapter = 26

author = Dwparsnip

Rating = AP15

Type = Angst

fanfic =

Rick landed the training Alpha on the hangar deck of the SDF-3 with an ease that demonstrated the wealth of experience he had at the controls of an aircraft. When the canopy was fully raised several moments later, he climbed out of the Alpha and waited at the bottom of the ladder to help his son get down.

Miriya carefully held onto Roy as he stepped out onto the ladder to begin his descent towards the deck. Rick reached up and picked the boy off the ladder and placed him gently on the deck. Roy looked tired to Rick, which wasn’t really all that surprising. They had been on Tirol for nearly the entire day, and for most of that time Roy was bouncing around at top speeds. The only time he stopped playing with his friends was when it was time to eat.

Rick glanced up as Miriya began her climb down, just when her foot slipped and she began to fall backwards. Even as Miriya yelped in surprise he reached up with both of his hands and held Miriya up enough for her to regain her balance and reseat her foot on the rung of the ladder.

He breathed a deep sigh of relief as he brought his hands down, and his first thought was to check on Roy. He looked over to see his son watching him with an awed expression upon his face.

Miriya finally, and safely, set foot on the deck and turned to Rick. He was surprised to see that her cheeks had a hint of pink in them. He assumed that her embarrassment was caused by the fact that she had slipped in the first place. After all, she was even more experienced than he was in getting in and out of mecha.

Wrong.

From behind them came the amused yet accusing voice of Max. “Rick, can I ask you why your hands were on my wife’s butt?”

The question only half registered in Rick’s mind, even as he noticed the pink in Miriya’s cheeks deepen. He turned to Max and said, “She slipped and I reached up to hold her up, Max.”

Rick noticed that Max had a slight smirk on his face and his arms folded across his chest. “Really Max”, he said. He turned to face the Alpha and assumed the position he had been in when he caught Miriya, with his hands up in the air about where they were when contact was made. He held his hands there and turned his head to face Max. “She slipped and I reached up like this and held her up.” He turned to look at his hands and something in his mind clicked. He stood there, frozen as the realization of where his hands touched her came to him. His eyes opened wide, and he quickly brought his hands down by his side, almost as though he hoped that Max hadn’t noticed it. He turned to Miriya, whose cheeks had almost returned to normal, then to Max who was by now grinning and then back to Miriya.

As his cheeks started to burn with embarrassment, he couldn’t figure out who to apologize to first. In the end…it didn’t matter. “I’m so sorry”, he announced to the world at large. He reached his right hand up and scratched the back of his head. “I just heard Miriya call out and I automatically…”

Rick looked over to Max and was relieved to see that the General now had a wide smile on his face, though Rick could easily see that it was a smile of delight in seeing him so flustered. He looked over to Miriya who also had a smile on her face, but it was more of a sympathetic smile.

Rick decided it was best to quit before he got himself farther into trouble, as was the case most of the time when something embarrassing happened to him. He sighed and his shoulders slumped as he resigned himself to the inevitable jokes and wisecracks.

Max began a slow walk, pausing as he passed Rick and giving him a humorous glare, up to Miriya. When he reached her he kissed her cheek and whispered something in her ear. She nodded and reached over to pick up Roy. When she had him in her arms she looked to Roy and said, “Is it okay with you Roy if I take you home?”

Roy looked to his father, and after Rick nodded his permission Roy nodded to Miriya. Miriya hugged the little boy and started to walk across the deck.

She had only taken a couple of steps when she turned around to look at Rick with as neutral an expression as she could. “Rick, thank you for your…”, she paused as if trying to find the right words and her green eyes started to dance with laughter, “… helping hands.”

Before Rick could say anything in the lines of a defense, she whirled around, her green hair flowing around her, and walked off the hangar deck with Roy still in her arms.

Rick looked to Max with what he was sure was a mortified expression, only to have Max look back at him with a bright twinkle in his eyes.

“Don’t worry, Boss. I saw the whole thing.” He walked up to Rick and patted his arm. “I’d rather you’d do that than let her fall on her butt.”

Rick released a breath of relief. He laughed as he said, “I don’t think Lisa would be as forgiving as you if she had seen it.”

Rick stopped laughing and felt the grief return. It had been relatively at ease for the whole day. He was so caught up in watching Roy being so happy, it was almost as if the grief allowed him a small respite to enjoy it.

Max looked at Rick. He could see that Rick had realized what he had said and that it hurt him. Max, remembering what Jean told them, decided to go with it. “I think that if Lisa had seen that, it would have been you with your ass on the deck.” He waited to see how Rick would react and much to his relief, when Rick looked at him he was smiling.

Rick nodded slowly. “You’re probably right about that, Max”, he said softly and a half-smile came to his lips. He took a deep breath and widened his smile as he added, “In fact, I know you’re right.”

Max watched as Rick looked to the Alpha he had just flown, and after a second he stepped closer to it. Max wasn’t sure what Rick was up to, that is until Rick reached up to touch the fuselage, bowing his head and closing his eyes as he did so. ‘The decal’, thought Max sadly. Rick had reached up to touch the Chief’s decal as though it was a part of Lisa. ‘Perhaps it is’, realized Max.

Max stood still, allowing the man he thought of as a brother the time he needed. Max would wait as long as he had to. He would wait until Rick was ready though he didn’t have to wait long. Rick leaned in to whisper something to the Alpha, or so Max thought.

Rick turned to Max and said with a forced cheerfulness, “Let’s go, old friend.”

Max nodded and they walked across the deck returning the salutes and greetings that they received. They continued that pattern as they walked the corridors of the ship towards Rick’s quarters.

For the entire trip they walked in relative silence, except for the words that Rick whispered on the hangar deck ringing in Max’s ears…’I love you, Lisa. Thank you for watching over us.’

----------------------------------

Angie looked into the mirror and couldn’t help but wince at the sight of her haggard looking reflection. The trip back from the moon had been uneventful and she had managed to keep her emotions in check, though they threatened constantly to bubble to the surface. Even when Jenson called her over the tac net to ask if she was okay and Angie heard the concern in her voice, she managed, barely, to keep her voice from cracking as she lied and told the Lieutenant that she was fine. Then on the hangar deck when Jenson congratulated her on a job well done, Angie managed to maintain a most professional attitude and appearance.

So it was through the flight debriefing as well. Ordinarily the debriefing was held between the flight leader and the higher ups if nothing out of the ordinary happened, but because this was Angie’s recertification flight, she was included. When Angie walked out of the mini-conference room and back onto the hangar deck, she was relieved to see that Admiral Hunter was nowhere to be seen. She had been having a hard enough time from seeing his haunting image everywhere she looked, but seeing him in person brought her to the brink of physical sickness and emotional collapse. When he came over to her on the hangar deck before her flight, she was almost tempted to tell him the whole thing then and there. It was probably her mortification at being so surprised that kept her silent.

She then walked to her quarters after the debriefing session, keenly aware of the thankfully ordinary obligatory glances and greetings she received from those crewmembers she passed in the corridors. There were no suspicious glares. There were no wary greetings. Just the usual. She walked into her quarters and closed the door, leaning back against it after it closed tight. Her hands came up to rub her eyes, and then moved to rub her achy neck. She waited for the guilt to take charge and ravage her mind and body.

It declined. Mercifully.

She looked again to her reflection in the bathroom mirror. The signs of immense stress were becoming more pronounced by the hour, so it seemed. She was surprised that no one had actually mentioned it to her. It was why she had been carefully avoiding Jean Grant for the last couple of days…that and seeing Dr. Grant so sad over the loss of her very good friend cut Angie like a knife.

At the thought of Jean Grant she closed her eyes tight as a sob began to rise in her chest towards her mouth in an attempt to make a rather loud escape, but she managed to cut it off as it reached her throat.

She opened her eyes and sighed. She was shocked to see that Sue hadn’t been waiting for her and even more shocked that Sue hadn’t at least left some messages for her. While she felt surprised by that, she couldn’t help but feel a little comforted by the little bit of peace that she had been able to find. That is peace as in ‘peace and quiet’, not ‘inner peace’. Angie doubted that she would ever find inner peace again. She had a little time until Sue got off work, so Angie thought her best course of action would be to have a nice relaxing shower before she saw Sue and the inquisition began.

Angie took the zipper of her flight suit in her hand and slowly pulled it downward. It seemed that everything happened slowly for her these days. She didn’t really know why it seemed that way, although her leading theory was that her mind was cruelly slowing everything down for her just in an effort to make her suffer for the misdeeds she had carried out.

A couple of minutes later she stepped into the shower, savoring the hotter than usual water as it gently bombarded her body. Unfortunately for Angie, the rising steam became the perfect canvas for her guilt-ridden soul to paint for her reminders of what she had done. She stood in the middle of her shower as her eyes began to glaze over and despite the hot water, Angie felt a chill come over her as the memories came in rapid succession: Lisa Hunter saluting her when they first met; Rick and Lisa on the hangar deck unabashedly showing their love for one another; Rick and Roy at the memorial service trying with all their might to be strong; Lisa chained to the wall of that dark and dingy cave yet still conveying a sense of authority and strength; the faces of the pilots who died in the explosion she arranged; and finally the pleading eyes of Lisa Hunter when she asked Angie to keep Sue from hurting Rick and Roy.

Angie closed her eyes and shook her head and moved forward, shaking her hands wildly through the steam. Her hands finally hit the wall at the front of the shower and she slowly opened her eyes.

She reached up with both her hands and latched onto the showerhead protruding from the wall and bowed her head forward. As the water cascaded down her bare back and legs onto the bottom of the shower and made it’s way to the drain, Angie’s tears mingled with the water as she cried without any inhibition whatsoever.

----------------------------------

Sue stood next to the main communications console in the middle of Fleet Intelligence and watched the gathering out of the corner of her eye as she pretended to look down at the report in her hands. Woods was having his meeting in the conference room at the very far end of Fleet Intelligence, and even though the door was partly closed, she could see that the conversation inside the room was intensely animated.

Woods was keeping almost everyone in the dark about any leads in the investigation, including her. Being out of the loop was driving her insane like almost nothing else could. A few hours earlier Major Woods came into her office and let it out that some sort of residue had been found on some of the shuttle wreckage. She didn’t dare ask him what kind of residue, or any other question pertaining to the investigation for that matter. Sure, she could disguise any inquiries into the investigation as professional interest, but she really couldn’t afford at this point in time to risk drawing attention to herself.

Sue Graham really hated not knowing.

She had been waiting ever since then for the chance, as slim as she knew it was, to glean some sort of idea as to where the investigation was and what this residue was about. She waited and she watched for the Tirolians to arrive and was surprised, sickened really when she realized the most senior member of the Tirolian group was the chief of their research and development program, responsible primarily for the area of explosives. She didn’t recognize the other two Tirolians, but she knew from their uniform insignias that both were intelligence officers…very high ranking intelligence officers.

Woods was standing by the table, and his usually calm and jovial demeanor had given way to one of frustration and anger. He was listening to someone, she couldn’t tell who as they were hidden behind the door, and he obviously didn’t like what they were saying.

Sue stayed very still, trying not to draw attention to the fact that she hadn’t moved from her spot for a couple of minutes.

Woods was handed a report which he began to read immediately. Over the next couple of minutes he flipped through page after page in the report. He looked up and spoke, and a second later a blond haired woman she recognized as the Assistant Chief Engineer, Commander Fraser, walked up to stand beside Woods. Woods pointed to something on the page he had stopped at and spoke to Fraser, who shook her head and spoke back, presumably answering a question from Woods. When Commander Fraser finished speaking, Woods glared at each person around the table with a look of absolute fury.

Woods began to shout something but stopped. He looked to the door, apparently only then realizing it was open. He walked to the door, grabbed it and slammed it shut with a force that reverberated throughout the deck.

Sue winced as though she were standing right next to the door. She closed the folder she had in her hands and looked to the door, silently fuming over her opportunity being ruined before she could learn anything important. She was still glaring at the door when she heard someone quietly clear their throat behind her.

“I’ve never seen him so pissed at anyone or anything before”, said the voice.

She turned around to see one of Woods’ long time intelligence officers, Lieutenant Commander Dora Baxter, looking at the door as well. Sue never had much in the way of contact with Baxter, but from what little she did have and from what others, particularly Woods, had said about her, she was a capable and friendly officer. Sue could see concern in her blue eyes which Sue realized, for some reason, really complimented her natural blond hair.

“I haven’t either”, replied Sue. She shrugged her shoulders and added, “Must be something really serious.” Sue smiled at her fellow officer and started to walk to her office, realizing a moment later that Baxter had fallen into step beside her.

“Rumor has it that they found some sort of, ah, residue in the shuttle wreckage”, whispered Baxter a little tentatively.

Sue resisted the urge to stop and grab Baxter by her shoulders and shake more information out of her. Instead she slowed her pace and said softly, “That’s what I heard too.”

Baxter seemed to hesitate but finally asked, “Is that all you heard, Commander?”

Sue stopped and turned to face Baxter. “I’m afraid it is”, said Sue quietly. She could see the disappointment in her eyes, so she felt safe in asking her next question. “What about you?”

Baxter quickly glanced around to make sure that no one was close enough to listen. “I heard the Major talking to Captain Grant this morning.” She gave the immediate area another quick scan and then leaned in closer to Sue. “An engineer found a blue stain on the underside of one of the shuttle seats. He didn’t know what it was, but one of the Tirolians helping with the investigation did.” She looked to the closed door of the conference room and added, “That’s when these guys got the call.”

Sue had a hard time keeping a straight face, and she had to swallow the lump in her throat twice before she could speak. “A stain? A blue stain?”

Baxter nodded. “I was hoping you knew something about it.”

“Why would I know anything about a blue stain?”, asked Sue harshly. When she saw Baxter open her eyes in surprise, Sue reigned in her own shock at the information she had just been given. “Sorry, Commander. It’s been a long week. I didn’t even know that much.” Sue adopted a contemplative look. “What possible significance could a blue stain have?”

“I was hoping you’d have an idea, Commander”, said a deflated Baxter. She looked to Sue. “If you hear anything…”

“I’ll let you know”, finished Sue. “You’ll do the same?”

Baxter smiled. “Absolutely. I better head back to my office, Commander. I’ll see you later.”

“Absolutely.” Sue watched as Baxter walked away, pleased that she had been able to obtain some information, but extremely irritated by what that information was. Sue glanced once more at the conference room door and then turned and entered her own office. She closed the door and sat down heavily in her chair. The chair had seemed incredibly relaxing when she first sat in it after transferring to Fleet Intelligence, but lately it was getting harder and harder to find any sense of comfort in it, and it had little to do with the sore spot on the right cheek.

Sue was running over what Baxter had said. ‘A blue stain on a seat’, she repeated. ‘Angie said she placed the bomb underneath a seat cushion, but Vidam said the explosive was untraceable. He said it was undetectable.’

Her first thought was that Vidam, the rogue Tirolian Intelligence officer she received the explosives from, had lied to her. But what possible reason could he have for doing so? He didn’t know her well enough to want to get her in trouble. In fact he didn’t know her at all. She had disguised herself as best she could. And Vidam was most definitely a rogue agent with allegiance only to himself…there was no doubt about that. There was no way it was some sort of setup or sting. If it was, they’d have stopped her or arrested her by now.

Sue narrowed her eyes in contemplation. She tried desperately to think of what else it could possibly be. Some sort of paint stain? No, nothing in the shuttle interior was painted blue. Ink? Doubtful. Some sort of drink spillage? The only drink Sue could think of that was served on the shuttle was tea or coffee, neither of which would leave a blue stain. She thought through the drinks she had seen on board the ship, and the only blue one she could remember was an alcoholic drink that wouldn’t be permitted on the shuttle.

‘It’s something silly, Sue’, she thought to herself reassuringly. ‘Something was wasted and the stain is still there. Simple.’ She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “And even if it is some residue from the explosive, they can’t trace it back to me.” She shook her head in a show of confidence. ‘Not a chance.’

She looked to the clock and realized with some amazement that Angie hadn’t entered her mind for a while. She reached down and typed the necessary commands into her computer to check for any messages, but found only work related items…nothing from Angie.

She looked again to the clock. ‘Ten minutes left’, she thought. ‘Ten more minutes and then I’ll go and see Angie.’

Ten minutes never seemed so long, especially when she saw a blood drop suddenly appear on her desk, right under where her lip was situated…

----------------------------------

It took Angie a long time to tear her hands from the showerhead and finish her shower. A very long time. When she finally got out of the shower and into a comfortable pair of sweats, she found a message waiting for her from Jean Grant. She sat down at her computer and read the message, and as she read the text her eyes opened wide in surprise.

‘Temporary transfer’, she repeated to herself. Angie leaned back in the chair and tiredly rubbed her eyes. She was exhausted and the thought occurred to her that she was either dreaming or seeing things so she read it again out loud.

“Angie. The Hermes is short on medical staff and needs some short-term replacements. You’re the most experienced medic on the ship so I would like to temporarily transfer you to the Hermes until their permanent personnel arrive from training courses on Tirol. It would only be for a few days a week at the most, but I need to know ASAP. Jean Grant.”

She leaned forward to read the note from Jean one more time. She had no idea what to do. She kept her gaze on the letter from Jean, but the words became fuzzy and out of focus as she tried to figure it out. More confusing than anything was the assortment of feelings that she felt at the thought of leaving the ship, even if only for a while.

Her fears about what would happen and could happen flashed foremost in her mind. First she would not be around to keep Sue from throwing her to the wolves. Angie knew that Sue’s ability to look out for herself was one of her strongest traits. It was even one of the things that Angie actually admired about Sue. Her second fear was closely related to the self-preservation nature of her first fear. If she left the ship it would leave Sue without someone she could depend on for help should the need arise. After all, if Sue went down she would be going down as well. Third, if Angie weren’t on the ship there was no way she could keep the promise that she made to Admiral Hunter to make sure that Sue did nothing to harm Rick or Roy Hunter. As odd as it sounded, she desperately wanted, and perhaps needed, to keep that promise.

Angie reached for the keyboard, and as she typed a response for Jean she read out loud: “Dr. Grant. While I appreciate the faith you are showing in my abilities by asking me to take this assignment, I must respectfully decli…”

For some reason that she didn’t yet understand, Angie stopped typing.

The more she thought about it, the more she felt a measure of joy and anticipation at the thought of being somewhere else. There was no doubt in her mind that being away from Sue could be dangerous, but there was also little doubt that it could do Angie some good as well. Seeing Sue was a glaring reminder that somewhere in her being there was an ability to do evil things, and that hurt her deeply. There was also something to be said for having some time away from the haunting eyes of Rick Hunter. She saw terrible pain in those eyes, and the person inside of her that wanted to help people wanted to help him too. The only way to do that however was to tell him everything which would land her in prison…or worse. With that in mind, time away from Admiral Hunter was very appealing indeed.

Angie shook her head. There was no way she could leave. She looked back to the screen and continued with her message. “…I must respectfully decline the assignment to the Hermes as it would take me away from…”

Again her mind went back to her fears about leaving, followed by the overwhelming need and want to get away from Sue, Rick and the mess she had gotten herself into. For several more minutes those opposing forces jockeyed for position, with her going back and forth between going and not going. Finally, the need for a respite finally won out. She looked to her keyboard, hit the delete button and erased the partial message on the screen.

This time she began an acceptance letter to Jean, but after a few keystrokes she abandoned the attempt and picked up the communication headset. She dialed the number for the Infirmary and asked for Jean, who came on the line a moment later.

“Hi, Dr. Grant…it’s Angie.” She listened to Jean for a moment and then said, “Absolutely, Doctor. When do I leave?” Again she listened, this time she smiled as Jean spoke to her. “Tomorrow morning? No, Doctor, that’s no trouble at all. I’ll be ready. Thank you, Dr. Grant.”

Angie replaced the headset and placed both her hands behind her neck as she strolled across the living room to her bedroom. ‘It’s just what the doctor ordered’, she thought to herself with a smile. Her smile faded quickly though as she realized she needed to figure out how to break the news to the visitor she was expecting to pound on her door any minute.

----------------------------------

Rick sat at the table in his quarters and watched with a sense of melancholy as his son triumphantly raised his arms after once again defeating Max in a game of checkers. It was rigged of course. Max always lost to Roy, though Max always gave the perfect appearance of someone who lost when they shouldn’t have and couldn’t figure out why. Miriya had gone home to freshen up and relax…as he ordered.

Rick sat in silence as he watched the epic battle between his son and best friend, trying to figure out why he couldn’t bring himself to feel any happiness at the sight. It didn’t take him long to realize it though. Like everything else in the last few days, the fact that Lisa had taught Roy how to play checkers glared at him like the twin suns of Geridon.

‘Get a grip, Hunter’, he chided himself. ‘If a little game of checkers does this to you what’s going to happen when something serious happens?’

Yet that was the very heart of the matter. Everything was serious when it came to Lisa. Her death made it so. The tiniest little thing, like Roy playing checkers, was a reminder that she was gone. He shook his head at the realization that every minute of every day for the rest of his life would be a struggle to keep those memories and feelings under control.

“Daddy I won!”, came Roy’s excited voice.

Rick forced a smile on his face as he responded. “I saw, buddy. You’re still the champ.” Roy smiled widely at his comment, as did Max.

“Still the champ”, echoed Max with an air of resignation. He slumped his shoulders and added, “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to beat you, little man.”

As Max hung his head and reset the pieces on the checkerboard, Roy got up and walked over to him. He placed his tiny hand on Max’s shoulder, and when Max looked at him Roy smiled broadly and said in a reassuring voice, “Don’t worry, Uncle Max. You’ll win someday.”

Max laughed and was about to challenge Roy to a rematch when a knock sounded on the door. Max started to get up to get it but sat back down when Rick got up himself and started for the door.

Rick opened the door and stepped aside to allow their guest to come in. Jean walked in carrying a tray that nearly over flowed with food. She entered without a word, concentrating instead on not wasting anything off the tray, or dropping it all together. Finally, and with an enormous sigh of relief, Jean set the tray down on the table. She looked to Rick and said, not all that jokingly, “I really didn’t think I was going to make it.”

Rick stood next to Jean, his eyes open wide with wonder. “And just what do you suppose we’re going to do with all this food, Doctor?”

Jean looked at Rick with an expression that told him that she was hoping he would ask that very question. “Well Admiral…we begin by eating it. After that, who knows?”

As she went into the kitchen Rick looked over to Max, who just shrugged his shoulders. When Jean returned she had in her hands an assortment of plates and cutlery. She placed the items on the table, stood back and pointed to the table.

“Dig in, Admiral.”

Rick lifted an eyebrow and said, “I’m not hungry, Jean, but thanks.” Before Jean could say anything, he turned to Roy and asked, “How about you, buddy? Hungry?”

Roy nodded and Max picked him up, making Roy yelp in surprise. Max brought the boy over and placed him gently onto one of the chairs. As Roy picked up one of the many sandwiches on the tray, the adults moved over into the living room proper. Jean was the first to speak.

“How are you doing, Rick?”, she asked quietly.

Rick smiled appreciatively at the concern in her voice. “I’m fine, Jean.” He looked over to Roy, then back to Jean. “We had a good time today. Roy had lots of fun, and that made me happy. I’m going to ask him if he wants to back to Tirol to stay or if he wants to stay here for a little longer.”

Jean nodded her understanding. “Do you think he’ll want to go down to the planet?”

Rick shrugged his shoulders. “I’m not certain, but he seemed to really enjoy it there today with all of his friends. I just want to give him the option.”

The three friends fell silent as they watched Roy for a moment, and then Jean spoke again. “So what did you guys do on Tirol?”

Rick told Jean about their day in detail, about being at the playground and visiting Roy’s many friends. When Rick was finished he turned to watch Roy again, but turned back to Max when he spoke up.

“And then Rick took the opportunity to grope my wife’s behind”, he said as though he were stating something as boring as the weather.

Rick felt the burn in his cheeks, Jean’s eyes bulged open in shock and Max smiled triumphantly at eliciting those amusing reactions from his friends. After letting them both stew for a moment he explained it to Jean.

“Miriya slipped getting out of the Alpha and Rick helped her out by holding her up.” As he finished he held his hands up, mimicking Rick’s pose at that fateful moment.

Jean held her right hand to her lips in an effort to stifle the laugh that wanted to escape. She looked over to Rick who was still blushing furiously at the whole situation and was rubbing his head in frustration, as he often did in comparable situations.

Rick lowered his arm to his side and decided to try to head of any more embarrassment by changing the subject. “Roy met Angie today, Jean. She was getting ready for her recertification flight when we saw her on the flight deck. He said on the way down that he likes her.”

“I’m not surprised that Roy would like her”, said Jean, a warm smile gracing her face as she thought of her subordinate. “She was recertified by the way.”

Rick nodded confidently. “I had no doubt that she would be.”

“She’s a good medic and a great person”, said Jean affectionately. “I’m going to miss her.”

Rick turned quickly to Jean. “Miss her?”

Jean smiled reassuringly at Rick. “I’m transferring her to the Hermes for a few days. They need some people to help out while they wait for some replacement personnel.”

Relieved, Rick smiled back at Jean. Angela Marques was the last person to see Lisa and for some reason, having her around made him feel better, even if it was just a very tiny bit better. He couldn’t really understand it. It’s not like he knew Angie well. In fact all he knew about her was what Lisa had told him and a couple of little things that he heard Jean say. When he saw her as he walked out of Lisa’s memorial service, her look gave him a sense of comfort and he had no idea why. It was doubly confusing considering the exact opposite reaction he had upon seeing Sue Graham standing next to her.

Taking the pause in the conversation as an opportunity to excuse himself, Max spoke up. “If it’s okay with you, Boss, I’m going to head home and check on Miriya.”

Rick adopted an irritated expression and said, “Yes, go home and bug Miriya for a while.” Rick allowed a smile to slowly creep across his face and added appreciatively, “Thanks for everything, Max. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

Max laughed softly and said, “You bet, Boss.” He looked to Jean, “See you later, Jean.”

“Bye Max”, was Jean’s cheerful reply.

“See you later, little man”, he called to Roy. Roy, his mouth full, waved emphatically causing a ripple of laughter among Max, Rick and Jean. Max waved back to his nephew and then left to go and see the woman who made all the darkness go away.

When the door closed behind Max, Rick walked over to the table and scanned the tray but couldn’t find the only thing that his stomach seemed remotely interested in.

He turned to Jean and asked, “How hard is it to get some pizza?”

“Rick”, said Jean with an amused grin, “you’re the Admiral.” She went to the communications unit, punched in the appropriate sequence of numbers and turned to Rick as she waited for a response. “Hi”, she said when her call was answered by someone in the Mess. “This is Dr. Grant calling for Admiral Hunter. We need a pizza…”

----------------------------------

Angie sat cross-legged on her couch, with her back resting against the arm of the couch. She used her slender index fingers to tuck her hair behind her ears and prepared herself to tell her company the news of her temporary transfer, though it was hard to concentrate on anything with Sue constantly wiping her lip.

When Sue arrived a half an hour earlier just as Angie was starting to pack, she barged right in and sat on the couch with an expectant look upon her face. There were no niceties or small talk. She was focused on Angie’s visit to Admiral Hunter and nothing else, although Angie could see that Sue was troubled about something. So Angie obliged and told Sue about her trip to the moon. She told Sue how she went in and serviced the SCLU; how she gave Lisa Hunter the items she brought for her; and she told Sue about the conversation that they had…well, most of it anyway. She neglected to mention a few tidbits of the dialogue she had with the Admiral, especially her promise to keep Sue from hurting the Hunter men. In fact, Angie tried to give the impression that nothing happened and that the trip was a mundane affair. As Angie took a second to watch Graham as she digested the information, Angie could see that Sue was having trouble believing that, but Angie also suspected that Sue wouldn’t push it.

She suspected correctly.

“Well”, said Sue in the lines of a preamble, “that’s great. I’m glad it went well, Angie.” Sue lowered her voice. “I confess I was a little worried about what she would do and say, and how it would affect you.”

Angie adopted a dubious expression. “A little worried?”

Sue looked at Angie, and seeing the look on her face couldn’t help but laugh. “Alright…more than a little”, she confessed.

“Don’t worry, Sue. I was more than a little worried myself.” She took a deep breath and let it out in a rush. “But it’s over now and I’m fine. She’s fine. We’re fine. But there is something I have to tell you.”

Sue lifted her eyebrows inquiringly and Angie placed her hands on her knees and began.

“Dr. Grant is sending me to the Hermes for a little while to help fill a shortage in their medical department. I leave tomorrow morning.” Angie could see the anger and panic rapidly fill the hazel eyes of Sue Graham. Angie held up her left hand to stave off the impending onslaught of comments and questions. “It’s only for a few days, Sue. The personnel replacements are finishing their training in the next couple of days.”

Sue reached over with her left hand and slapped Angie’s knee. “You scared the hell out of me, Angie!”, she said angrily.

A part of Angie was actually pleased by that, and as she analyzed it she realized that was why she actually worded it that way. “I’m sorry, Sue. I didn’t realize what I said until I saw your face.”

“I’ll forgive you this time”, replied Sue, allowing a hint of forgiveness into her voice. She took a deep breath and released it slowly. “So you’re going for a few days…that’s not so bad.” Sue got up off the couch and walked slowly around the room, finally stopping behind the recliner. She bent over enough to allow her elbows to rest on the back of the chair with her hands resting underneath her chin, her bloody tissue clenched in between her hands.

Angie watched Sue’s sluggish jaunt around her living room, and her current pose confirmed that something was on her mind. Sue wasn’t in the habit of being mopey or preoccupied. Then of course, she had taken all of Angie’s news way too well.

“What’s wrong, Sue?”

Sue had made a decision. Since she hadn’t been able to find out with any certainty what Woods’ blue stain was, there was no reason to burden Angie with the information. If the stain was some left over residue from the explosive Angie had planted on the shuttle, she would probably go berserk, or at the very least have some sort of emotional break down and want to give up. On the other hand, if the stain was something unrelated to the explosive, which was the theory that she personally subscribed to, then she would be getting Angie upset for no reason.

“Something at work”, replied Sue finally, and not totally untruthfully she thought. “Nothing serious…just really irritating.”

Angie looked at her friend. “Are you sure, Sue? You look upset.”

“Of course I’m upset”, said Sue calmly, and seizing the opportunity to score some points with Angie she added, “you’re leaving me here alone.” Before Angie could say anything she continued. “But I’m fine. Like you said, it’s only for a few days.” She lowered her eyes to the floor and said softly, “I’m just going to miss you, that’s all.”

“I’ll be back before you know it”, said Angie reassuringly, though she never totally believed Sue’s story. “Are you sure…”

Sue looked up and smiled. “Positive. I’m going to go and let you pack.” She headed for the door.

Angie got up and met her there. She leaned in close to Sue to regard her lip. “Are you taking your medicine correctly? That should be healing by now.”

“Yes, Mom. I’m taking it exactly as was prescribed by Dr. Wacky-Pants.” Sue laughed and added, “I’m fine. Let me know when you get back.”

Angie nodded. “I will. Take care of that lip, Sue.”

Sue nodded and reached over to give Angie a hug, which Angie returned. “Thanks, Angie.”

Angie released Sue and smiled as Sue opened the door. As she backed out the door she said, “Have a safe trip, Angie.” She was just starting to turn around to start walking to her quarters when she ran headlong into someone who had been walking down the corridor.

Angie watched as Sue got knocked backwards. She managed to catch herself by grabbing onto the doorframe of Angie’s quarters, though her lip had taken a direct impact. Blood was flowing like a river from Sue’s lip, rapidly covering the front of her uniform in crimson.

Angie rushed to her. “Sue!” Angie picked up the tissue that Sue dropped when the collision occurred and held to Sue’s lip. It was obvious that Sue was disoriented, so Angie made sure that she was securely situated.

“Sue, can you hear me?”

Sue looked at her and nodded. She said something, but Angie couldn’t understand a word of it because it was muffled by the tissue she was holding against Sue’s lip. Angie adjusted the tissue so that Sue could speak freely.

“What the hell was that?”, asked a dazed Sue.

“Sue, look at me.” When Sue responded to her voice, Angie looked into her eyes. Sue’s eyes finally focused on her and Angie knew that she’d be fine…more or less.

“Angie. What hit me?”

“I haven’t gotten that far yet. If I let go can you keep standing?” When Sue gingerly nodded Angie let go and turned to see who it was that had collided with Sue, and the sight brought a very ill feeling to her stomach.

“Oh, crap”, was all she could say as she went to help the person.

----------------------------------

As Max walked towards his quarters and his waiting wife, he thought about Rick. Max knew that Rick was tough and that he had bounced back from some pretty heavy hits in the time since they first met. The deaths of Roy and Ben and dozens of other examples immediately flooded Max’s mind. Not once during those times did Max doubt that Rick wouldn’t persevere. Never. But now…

He mentally shook the thoughts from his mind. It wasn’t the first time recently that the thought had occurred to him, and the only time he voiced his concerns out loud he got a very hard verbal slap from his wife.

He was just beginning to smile to himself at the image of his wife lecturing him when he was given a body check that any professional hockey player would have admired. He never saw it coming, and as a result never had time to react.

Before he knew it the cold hard deck met his tailbone, then his back and finally the back of his head, bringing a kaleidoscope of stars to his eyes. He heard voices, but couldn’t make out what they were saying. The voices sounded muffled, as though they were coming to him through water or a couple of bulkheads. All he could discern was that they were female voices. That realization hit his pride hard. ‘Brought down by a lady, Max’, he thought shamefully. ‘Brought down hard too.’

Mercifully the stars began to fade and the voices began to clear. He could now pick out two distinct voices. He still couldn’t place either of them, but they did sound vaguely familiar.

“Oh, crap” he heard one of the voices say, and a moment later he felt the presence of someone kneeling next to him. He gently turned his head as the voice spoke again. “General Sterling! Can you hear me, sir?”

Max blinked his eyes rapidly to try to clear the fog, and after a few seconds it began to lift out of his eyes. “Yes.” He tried to sit up, but was held down.

“Don’t try to get up, sir. Give it a minute to make sure you’re okay.”

Max felt the person feel around his head and he could see the person bend over to look into his eyes. “Lieutenant Marques?”, he asked cautiously.

“Yes, sir. Recognizing me is a good sign. How’s your vision, sir?”

Max tried to get his eyes to center on her, but his vision was still fuzzy. “The stars are gone, but everything is still fuzzy.” He could see that she furrowed her brow, then open her eyes wide as she obviously thought of something. He watched as she reached across him and picked something up off the floor. A moment later she reached towards his face and slipped his glasses back into their usual position. “That’s much better”, he said after everything came into focus.

Max slowly turned his head and began moving his arms and legs, making sure everything was pain free and working as they should. After a few more moments of testing, he discovered that the only thing wrong with him was the fact that he was still lying on the deck…and he had a splitting headache.

He tried to sit up again, and this time he felt Angie put her hand on his back to help him. Finally in a sitting position, Max looked around and asked, “What did I hit?”

Angie shook her head. “Not what, sir. Who. You hit Commander Graham.”

Max felt a sudden chill and looked past Angie to see Graham leaned back against the wall. The front of her uniform was covered with blood and she was holding a blood soaked tissue to her lip. ‘Well, at least she got the worst of it’, he thought with a sense of satisfaction. He should have been terribly sorry and should have felt genuine concern, and he would have if it had been anyone else.

“Can you get up, sir?”, asked Angie, bringing him back to the issue of his own functionality.

“I think so, Lieutenant.” He started to get up and gratefully accepted the assistance that Angie offered. When he was on his feet and made sure he was able to stand on his own, he looked to Graham. “Are you okay over there, Lieutenant Commander?”

Sue looked up, but didn’t speak. She simply nodded.

Ever the gentleman, Max felt compelled to apologize, despite the fact that he was apologizing to Sue Graham. “I’m very sorry, Commander. I was lost in thought and didn’t see you. You should go to the Infirmary and get checked out.”

Sue was just about to tell Sterling what he could do when Angie interjected.

“I’ll make sure she’s taken care of, sir. Do you need any more help, sir?”

Max turned to Angie and for a second his field of vision included the both of them at the same time and he was reminded of Lisa’s memorial service, when he saw them sitting together. It struck him as odd.

“No Lieutenant, thank you all the same. I think I have my sea legs back, as the saying goes.” He regarded Angie more carefully. She seemed genuinely concerned for his well being, but it also seemed as though she was…nervous? Why would she be nervous? He wasn’t sure, but the way she kept glancing towards Sue didn’t bode well. “I better head home. Thank you again, Lieutenant.”

Max took a couple of ginger steps towards home but stopped along side Sue. “I am sorry, Commander.” He turned to Angie and nodded once, then turned around and headed for home…and an ice pack. As he walked, his mind drifted to the image of Sue and Angie standing shoulder to shoulder…

----------------------------------

Twenty minutes later Angie closed the door to Sue Graham’s bedroom and walked out of her quarters altogether. She still had to pack and the shuttle to the Hermes would be leaving very early in the morning.

Sue’s lip was a mess. It was still bleeding when she left, but Sue assured her that it would be okay. Angie laughed to herself at the image of Sue lying down on her bed. The bleeding had been so bad that Sue put several towels on the bed where her head would be, put her hair up so it wouldn’t get full of blood, took off her shirt and laid down with just her bra and pajama pants on. Angie had never seen the like. As it was, it didn’t take long for the blood to trickle down her jaw onto her shoulder and the towels.

‘Of all the people to literally run into’, thought Angie. ‘She had to run into Max Sterling.’ She shook her head at the improbability and misfortune of it. The look that came to Sterling’s eyes when he heard her tell him that he hit Sue was just chilling. What got to Angie the most though, was the way he looked at her as he was getting ready to leave. She couldn’t tell if it was as a result of the solid hit that he took, or if it was something else, but he looked at her…suspiciously? ‘Must be my imagination, or the knock Sue gave him.’

Angie got to her quarters and started packing. As she packed, she couldn’t stop the relief from building at the thought of being away from Rick Hunter, Sue Graham, Max Sterling and hopefully the guilt, though she knew that would be too much to ask for.

----------------------------------

Lisa leaned back onto the thermal blanket and thought about Rick as she had done for every night of her captivity, and almost every night since she had fallen in love with him. She wondered what he was doing, where he was and who he was with. She wondered if Roy was with him or back on the planet and she wondered if they were okay. But most of all she wondered why, for the first time in years, she had a sudden ravenous hankering for pizza.

State = Continuará/To Be Continue

feedback = Sí/Yes

email = dwparsnipATyahoo.ca