fanfic_name = The Sit. Room Incident
chapter = 3
author = Dwparsnip
dedicate = The Usual. :)
Rating = AP15
Type = Romance
fanfic = It had been eight days since the Sit. Room incident, and Lisa and Rick Hunter had enjoyed another night of alone time. Every evening since that night they spent together, sometimes by themselves and sometimes with their friends, but they had at least been together, not separated by bulkheads or space as too often had been the case in the last couple of years.
Their passion for each other was immeasurable. They were together now in their bed after another night of showing each other how much love there was between them. Lisa was lying on her left side, with her back up against her husband's strong chest. His arms were around her, holding her as though he was making sure she wasn't leaving without him ever again. Her right arm was lying on top of his, and her delicate hand held his, their fingers interlaced in their own loving embrace.
Lisa was tired, even weak from their night together but there was so much on her mind that she was unable to get to sleep. Her husband, almost as though sensing his wife's restlessness, tightened his embrace and softly said, "I love you, Mrs.-Admiral Hunter."
She smiled. She could still remember the first time he'd said that, the morning after they were married. She awoke to find him staring at her, the most serene look on his face. He kissed her gently and said 'Good morning, Mrs. Hunter.' Before she had a chance to respond he asked, 'Or is that Admiral Hunter.' She giggled, which only encouraged him. Ever the jokester, he continued, 'Mrs. Hunter.Admiral Hunter.Mrs. Hunter.Admiral Hunter.hmmm.' Suddenly he exclaimed with a smile on his handsome face, 'I've got it! Good morning Mrs.-Admiral Hunter.' They shared a laugh, and she responded to his greeting by pressing her soft lips against his.
It was during reliving one of the most important events in her life that Lisa finally fell asleep, in her husband's arms.
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Lisa was dreaming. It was a hazy dream, in which it seemed that she was detached from her own body, watching things from above as though she floated through the air.
She saw herself on the bridge, saluting her command crew as she left for the day; then watched herself go to the Officer's Mess and have a small lunch with her friend Miriya Sterling.
The dreaming Lisa vaguely noted as she watched herself and Miriya that they laughed constantly, laughed at each other, but more often with each other. Yes, she could talk to Max about Rick, comfortably and most times even preferably, but well, Miriya was a woman and there were just some things that could only be understood and appreciated by someone with two X chromosomes.
The dreaming Lisa followed herself, as she said good-bye to Miriya and left the Officer's Mess. She watched as she walked down the corridors of the ship, returning salutes and greetings until she got to the Sit. Room. She walked in and the dreaming Lisa thought that it was strange for the Sit. Room to be so dully lit, and abandoned. She watched herself walk past the monitors and computers up to a chair in the center of the large room, seemingly illuminated by a spotlight in the ceiling. The chair held someone who was leaned back, with his head resting against the high back of the chair. It was Rick, asleep with the warmest smile on his face, and the dreaming Lisa thought it was so cute that he had fallen asleep like this. He heard herself say aloud, "Poor thing, he must be exhausted." Neither Lisa noticed that his uniform top was not done up and his chest was exposed.
"Yes, he is", the Lisas heard a sensuous voice say in the darkness of the Sit. Room.
And as the dreaming Lisa tried desperately to focus, the source of the voice obliged her by stepping into the spotlight. The source of the voice laughed at the reaction of the Lisa that was next to Rick as she slowly continued doing up her own uniform.
Dreaming Lisa, still floating above the scene screamed, and when Sue Graham looked up at her she laughed harder, and harder and harder.
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Lisa opened her eyes in a state of panic and tried to focus, her emerald eyes darting around her surroundings, way ahead of her brain which was trying frantically to catch up.
It took a few seconds, but finally she thought to herself, "Not the Sit. Room." Relief washed over her as she realized it was a dream, a nightmare, and she was in her own bed with Rick's reassuring arms still around her. Tears flowed from her eyes and she instinctively squeezed her husband's hand while bringing them as tight to her own body as she could.
For twenty minutes she was like this, clinging to Rick and crying quietly into her pillow. She looked at the clock on the stand next to her side of the bed. 0643. The alarm would go off in a couple of minutes. She reluctantly let go of Rick's hand, and turned off the alarm before it could wake him. "He's been working so hard", she thought, tears still rolling down her cheek onto her pillow, " he deserves a few extra minutes." She took his hand in hers again and gave it a loving kiss. She let go and as softly as she could, slid out of his arms and got out of bed. She brushed her hair back out of her face and found her robe, which she quietly slipped on over her slender figure. She opened their bedroom door, walked out and closed it behind her, but not before she took one more caring look at her sleeping husband.
She went to the kitchen and began the morning coffee ritual by turning on the coffee maker, and sat down at the kitchen table, bringing her hands up to hold her face.
"What am I going to do Rick?" she asked softly, in the most pitiful voice she had ever heard from herself. She brought her hands over to cover her eyes, trying to stop the tears from falling.
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'Rick!' a voice shouted in his mind. 'Something's wrong Rick! Rick, wake up!' Rick woke up and he automatically checked to see if Lisa was all right, and when he realized she wasn't next to him, and with his mind's voice still ringing in his ears, fear gripped him. He sat up and said, "Lisa?" He rubbed his eyes and tried to get his mind to wake up faster. Finally he smelled the aroma of coffee and realized Lisa was in the kitchen, probably getting ready to go to work. He reached over and picked up the clock to look at it. 0650. He sighed, wishing it was later than that. He put the clock back on the nightstand and as he moved back, his right hand brushed Lisa's pillow where she had been crying. He touched the wet stain reverently, like it was a piece of Lisa's essence.
"What the .", he thought. He had seen this before. Lisa was more sensitive than many people gave her credit for. He looked at the stain again, his heart breaking that she would be sad enough to lose so many tears. The last time he'd seen Lisa's pillow like this was a few years ago on the anniversary of Khyron's last attack, the anniversary of the deaths of Kim, Vanessa, Sammie, Claudia and Admiral Gloval.
He bent down and kissed the stain as if it were her soul and got up. He was so intent on finding Lisa and comforting her that it never even dawned on him to put on his slippers or robe. The sole purpose of his life at that minute was to console her and make her feel better. If the Regis attacked now, it wouldn't matter to him. All that mattered was her.
When he came into the kitchen she was still sitting at the table, elbows resting on the tabletop and her face still hiding in her hands.
His heart sank in despair at her pain. He went to her and put his hand gently on her shoulder. She looked up at him and his heart sank even deeper. He got down on his knees beside her and gently reached over with his hand to brush her hair from the left side of her face so she could see him.
"Whatever it is Lisa, it will be okay", he vowed.
She put her arms down and Rick hugged her with all of his being, his arms around her waist and his head resting against her chest.
"I love you Lisa", he said with tenderness that he never knew he could summon.
After what seemed like an eternity to him, but was in fact only a couple of seconds, she brought her arms up around his neck. Then as she rubbed her hand affectionately through his hair she said in a strong voice, "I love you too. I'll be all right Rick, thanks to you."
And she knew it to be true.
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"Holy cow, Rick. That was the nightmare to end all nightmares for sure." Max Sterling was walking alongside his friend on the way to hangar deck for an inspection of the newest Alphas of the Skull squadron. "Is she all right?" he asked with concern.
"She was shaken up pretty bad Max", said Rick, "but you know Lisa. She's tough. After she told me about it she seemed to feel better. In fact, she even said that telling me helped."
Rick was so intent on Lisa that he bypassed the turnoff to get to the hangar and kept going straight.
"What am I going to do Max?" he asked as he turned to look at his friend and realizing he wasn't beside him called out, "Max?"
"Back here Boss," said Max, waiting by the turnoff with a smile on his face. "You missed the turn."
Only slightly embarrassed, Rick went back to the corridor and asked Max in an amused tone, "How far were you going to let me go before you said something?"
"I hadn't decided", came Max's honest reply, and they laughed.
Max could always be counted on for a number of things, Rick had discovered over the years. He could count on Max to watch his backside in the skies. He could count on Max to give him sage advice about anything: combat, tactics, diplomacy, love. He could count on Max to give him a swift kick in the pants when he needed it, and that had been often. He could count on Max to be loyal and supportive. Perhaps most importantly though, Max Sterling could always be counted on to lighten the mood of anyone he came in contact with, especially Rick.
"Max."
"I don't know Rick." Max had followed through on his promise to Lisa to assign Graham to the Jupiter Division.sort of. With the delays in getting the ship ready, most recently the problems with the Reflex Furnace for example, the push to organize the attack divisions had slowed. The orders were tentatively drawn up for mecha assignments, duty rosters, logistical support groups and so on, but there had been no actual movement. In other words, the Jupiter Division for example, was fully armed, manned and ready for deployment: on paper. Not in reality. Until then they stayed in the slots they presently occupied. Lt. Sue Graham for example, currently serving as an intelligence officer aboard ship was slotted to be the intelligence officer for the 36th squad, Jupiter Division. Max and the other officers responsible for getting the divisions together had decided not to release the assignments until it was time to actually get the divisions together. There was no guarantee as to what tomorrow would hold, let alone what would happen in days, weeks or months.
Unfortunately, according to Lang it looked like it would be months.
They entered the hangar and a MP stationed at the entrance bellowed, "Admiral on deck!" and came to attention, as did everyone else.
"Except Max", thought Rick gladly, not wanting it to be any other way.
"As you were", he said loud enough to be heard by everyone, and the hustle and bustle continued. He had always hated that. He hated it when he was a recruit, lieutenant, commander and captain when he'd be the one coming to attention, and he hated it now when everyone came to attention for him. "Go figure", he thought sourly.
Miriya came up to Rick and saluted, which he did in return. She was the opposite of Max. Where Max was casual with Rick at all times, on or off duty, Miriya was almost always military with him when they were on duty. Almost.
Max winked at his wife and smiled.
Miriya narrowed her eyes at him, cleared her throat and said to Rick, "The new Alphas are ready for your inspection Admiral."
"All right let's get it over with", said Rick, as he thought, "I hate inspections."
The inspection didn't take very long; they were brand new after all. Max was talking to his wife about pilot assignments, and when they were finished and she wasn't looking, he quickly kissed her cheek and ran away before she could get angry with him. When Miriya was on duty, she usually wanted to avoid that type of thing to help keep discipline in order.
"Max!" she yelled as he ran. When he was out of sight she brought her hand up and touched her cheek saying softly, "Thank you." After a second she went to finalize the roster assignments.
When Max felt he was out of danger from his wife he stopped and looked around for Rick, who had wandered off as Max talked to Miriya. A quick scan of the hangar came up empty for any sign of his friend.
"I bet I know where he is", thought Max, and he started walking to the extreme far end of the bay. Sure enough, Rick was right where he thought he'd be: looking over Skull One.
It wasn't the Skull One that Rick flew those many years ago. That Skull One was long since gone, and Rick had made his peace with that.
It didn't matter to him anymore. This Alpha's designation was Skull One, and that was it.
Rick had his left hand on the fuselage, leaning down to look at the under carriage.
"Hey Boss", said Max coming to stand beside Rick.
"She's a beautiful ship Max", Rick said, almost jealous.
"Yes sir, she is indeed."
Suddenly Max noticed a something in Rick's face. He was smiling and nodding to himself.
"He's up to something", thought Max with some excitement. When Rick had that look, it meant something special was going to happen.
Rick called Miriya over to where they were. "Why is she glowering at Max", Rick mused.
"I have an idea", he announced to them. "But I'm going to need your help" he said to Miriya, "and your plane", to Max.
Rick filled them in and when he was finished Miriya gleefully scooted off to do her part. Miriya had seen Lisa earlier and the hollow look on her face, as though she had gotten little sleep. Max yelled to the flight crew chief, "Hey chief, I need Skull One ready to go in ten minutes!" The chief popped his head up out of the cockpit of the Alpha he was working on and said "Yes, sir."
Rick looked at Max and asked, "What do you think, Max?"
Max looked his friend up and down and said, "I think you're going to need a flight suit", pointing towards the pilot's locker room, laughing as he did so.
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Lisa was in the infirmary talking to Jean about the upcoming drill that they had decided on initiating. It was going to be a monumental task, this drill, but worth it. The estimated casualties for the attack on the Regis were astronomical, so it would be paramount that medical evacuations be handled safely and expeditiously. They had nixed the idea of using Tirol for the exercise, and there wasn't another suitable planet nearby. There was a small moon on the outskirts of the system that would do the trick, and it could be reached using subliminal drives at low power levels. The only problem according to local spacefarers was the unusual electromagnetic storms that sometimes ran across the moon's surface. They were very sporadic and hadn't appeared in a little over a year, so it was decided to give it a try.
Jean was going over the list of things she was going to need for the practice. It was a long list.
Jean was still reading the list to Lisa, when a nurse came and told Jean she had a call. She went into her office to take it, leaving Lisa in the main section of the infirmary. All the beds were empty, which relieved Lisa immensely. "I pray they never have to be used." She knew it was a futile thought, but she thought it anyway.
When Jean came back she had a little grin on her face.
"Good news?", asked Lisa.
"Oh, you could say that", was Jean's reply. The call was from an excited Miriya, but Jean kept it to herself. "Anyway, that's it Admiral. I'll send all of this up to your office for your perusal and authorization." Jean was like Max and when she spoke military it was usually in fun.
"Thank you Doctor. I will take all of your requests and suggestions under advisement", said Lisa matching Jean's smile and sense of humor.
"Lisa!" exclaimed Miriya as she rushed into the infirmary. "Please, come quickly! You're needed on the hangar deck!"
Miriya took her by the arm before could even ask what the problem was and starting pulling her towards the door.
It wasn't until they almost got to the hangar that Lisa finally got Miriya to stop, or so she thought. Instead, Miriya handed her something, "A flight suit?", and pushed her into an empty briefing room saying only, "Please put this on Admiral." And closed the door.
Lisa was tempted to go to Miriya and demand an explanation, but she knew her friend well enough to know that what was happening, whatever it was, wasn't dangerous or anything like that. Besides, when Miriya was determined to do something, well, there was no stopping her.
Lisa took off her uniform and pulled the flight suit up over her body. When she was done she knocked on the door.
Miriya opened the door and after a quick inspection, nodded her head in approval and again took Lisa by the arm.
"Come Admiral," she said in an almost magical voice as they went into the hanger. They went through the door, across the hangar and as they turned into the bay that housed Skull One she said to Lisa, "Your brave knight and his steed are waiting for you."
She gasped. There was Rick, in a flight suit standing next to Max's Alpha. Max was moving away from Rick to come over and stand beside his wife.
Lisa went to Rick. "Would you like to go for a spin around the block, Admiral?" he asked, grinning from ear to ear.
"Yes", she said, in awe of her husband's actions, "I would."
Rick climbed up into the cockpit and Lisa followed. She got in and sat on his lap, just as she had done many years ago when he came to save her from the destruction of Alaska Base like."A brave knight on a steed", she thought.
Rick lowered the canopy and engaged the hermetic seal used for space flight. That done he looked at Lisa and asked, "Ready, baby?" and she nodded.
Rick took a second to look at Max and Miriya. He gave them a quick salute and moved the throttle forward, engaging the thrusters and taking them out of the hangar and into space. They flew around the system for an hour, not saying a word, just holding each other and marveling at the sights of space. Rick pulled the Alpha into a close orbit of Tirol. He let go of the controls and hugged his wife, nestling his head against her chest.
"Thank you Rick", she said to her husband. She sighed and continued, "I really needed this."
"Watch", he said, pointing to the edge of Tirol. As the Alpha drifted leisurely in it's orbit, Tirol's sun started creeping slowly around the edge of the planet, bringing a breathtaking view of the sun and planet together for them to see.
"Thank you", she whispered again.
"You're welcome", he whispered back. "Finally", he thought, alone with his wife in an Alpha watching a most spectacular sight. "I've finally found out why they say that 'rank has its privileges.'"
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Lt. Sue Graham was sitting in the Officer's Mess finishing off her coffee when the laughter of three female flight crew members caught her attention. They were laughing and talking about something, but she couldn't quite make out what it was.
Curious, she got up and went to the self-serve coffee area near their table and refilled her coffee mug. She knew two of the three women, but not well enough to intrude on their conversation. As she slowly got more coffee, she listened.
"You should have seen it, Sally", said one of the women. "They looked so cute and in love."
Sally looked at her companion and said dreamingly, "Wow, Pam, that's so romantic. They have barely been able to keep their hands off of each other lately. It's really nice to see."
"No kidding," said the third woman. "Our lives are much easier when they're like this." She noticed the dismayed looks on the faces of her comrades and added, "Oh come on, it's true. I'm thrilled for them too, but let's be realistic."
Sally looked at her friend with a sour expression and said, "No one can accuse you of being a romantic Sarah." All three laughed.
Sally looked at Pam and asked her to tell her the whole story.
Sue listened as Pam started telling her friends the entire incident. She told of Admiral Hunter, Rick not Lisa, ending his inspection and a few minutes later talking to the Captains Sterling. When he'd finished Miriya took off with a flight suit in her hand and Max got Rick into his own flight suit. A few minutes later Miriya Sterling returned with Admiral Hunter, Lisa not Rick, who was wearing the flight suit and led her to where Rick was waiting for her, next to Captain Sterling's plane, Max's not Miriya's.
The mug in Sue's hand began shaking, ever so slightly.
Pam continued, saying how Rick asked Lisa to fly with him, how she said yes, and how she sat in his lap in the Alpha, exuding the air of love. They were gone for over an hour, and when they got out of the Alpha after returning he took her hand and kissed it lovingly, everyone watching them. Then, still holding her hand, he led her out of the hangar.
The mug was shaking considerably in Sue's hand, and some of the hot liquid leapt out onto her hand, burning her sensitive skin. She put the mug down softly, oblivious to the pain and walked out of the Mess.
She went to her quarters to change her uniform as some of the coffee had landed on her sleeve, and took a few moments to calm herself.
"Not long", she thought. "It won't be much longer and he'll be doing things like that for me." She looked at the burn on her hand, really noticing it for the first time, and applied some burn cream to it, after which she headed for her office.
A composed and in control Sue Graham walked through the doors of Fleet Intelligence and headed towards her own office. She had, to her own surprise, become quite comfortable since transferring here. The people she worked with were competent enough, and she enjoyed the work. Being an intelligence officer wasn't that different from being a photojournalist, the obvious exception being the absence of photography in her current assignment. She still tried to get the story, only for different reasons with a different result in mind. Then of course, there was the satisfaction of still being near Rick, and she hoped that was going to get better any minute now.
As if the gods had been listening, Major Timothy Woods, the CO of the Fleet Intelligence division summoned her to his office. As she went there, she thought of Woods. It hadn't taken Graham long to realize that he was a brilliant man. He had to be to be in his position. He had welcomed her into the division warmly and that had meant a lot to her. If he knew why she transferred he had not done or said anything to indicate it and had treated her fairly. If he didn't know why, then his fairness and warmth were genuine.
'Lt. Graham', he said to her after she presented herself to him on her first day. 'I've heard good things about you. I'm sure you'll make an excellent addition to Fleet Intelligence.' Then he offered her a handshake, which she accepted and he said with a broad smile 'Welcome aboard.'
She paused at the door to his office, knocked and went in when she heard him say, "Enter."
Woods was standing next to his desk, reading what appeared to be a personnel dossier. He motioned to her to sit down, and as she did he sat down in his own chair behind his desk. "Lollipop?", he offered, holding a jar of lollipops to her.
She declined. He reminded her of stories that people told her of old fashioned doctors on Earth who used lollipops to charm or reward children in the face of or aftermath of discomfort. She knew though, that Woods' use of this simple gesture was to make people think he was soft and simple in order to get them to lower their guard, giving him the advantage in any dealings he had with them. In the little over a week that she'd been in Fleet Intelligence, she had never taken a lollipop.
He placed the jar back on his desk, noting with interest that she again refused a lollipop and looked at her with his brown eyes. "Lt. Powell has asked for a transfer to the cruiser Copernicus. I'm inclined to grant his request. He's a fine officer and good man, and he's served me well. The problem I have though, is with him gone we'll be a little short staffed. You've done a superb job since you arrived Sue, and even though it's only been a short time, I can see that you're an intelligent hard working officer. If I can depend on you to keep that up, even pitch in a little more, I'll grant his request. What do you think?"
What did she think? "Perfect!" This was actually part of her plan to get closer to Rick.
The plan involved Lt. Powell. She had done a little digging when she discovered he did the EoD intelligence briefings with Rick and discovered that his fiancé was a communications tech aboard the Copernicus. She checked up on that ship and it's upcoming missions and noticed that the ship was soon going to be ordered on a trip to the worlds of the Sentinels on a patrol route that would take at least eight months. She then made sure that Powell discovered this when she sent him to the Copernicus a few days ago, the day she sat in for him and gave the EoD briefing to Rick.
As she had arranged, he learned of the mission, and he had now proved her people reading skills accurate by requesting a transfer.
"Well sir, first of all thank you for your kind words. Second, rest assured that I will do anything I can to keep Fleet Intelligence working as efficiently as it is now, better even, though I doubt it's possible." "A little flattery never hurts", she thought. " I know there are several areas that I can step up and take some of the workload of Lt. Powell". She shrugged her shoulders acting as though she hadn't rehearsed this moment at all and said," The end of day intelligence briefings with Admiral Hunter for instance."
She held her breath.
Woods looked thoughtful for a second, scratching the graying beard on his cheek. "Excellent", he then said jovially. "I'll inform John of his transfer and Admiral Hunter of the change. When you get a chance, think about any other duties you would be able to assume and we'll decide which ones you take. Fair enough?" She nodded and he said, "You'll begin regular EoD briefings tomorrow. Dismissed."
"Yes sir", she said as she stood up, and continued, "If it's all the same to you sir, I'd prefer to inform Admiral Hunter that I'll be assuming the briefing duties." He narrowed his eyes for a second but nodded his approval. She stood at attention and gave Woods a crisp salute.
He saluted back and said, "Thank you Lieutenant.
She smiled at the success of her scheme and said before she turned and left, "No sir, thank you."
The rest of her plan floated around her mind as she walked back to her office. She closed the door after she entered and sat down in her chair, releasing an immense sigh of relief. She calmed herself down.
She'd have to be patient.
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It was the end of the day and Max was feeling great. Rick's plan worked like a charm. Max learned that after they had left the hangar deck upon their return they both cleared their schedules for the rest of the morning. When he saw Lisa a few minutes ago in a meeting she had an aura about her, an aura that Max saw on Miriya may times before, an aura of love.
Rick's little stunt had another consequence though. It left Max with a feeling of desire to be with his own wife. He saw her now as she serviced her Alpha, her back turned to him.
Max smiled, and slowly began sneaking towards her. Closer and closer he came to her, quiet as a mouse. He was about two feet away from her now. "She's gonna kill me", he thought, " but I don't care."
He was just about to grab her in a passionate embrace, when she whirled around and with an almost crazed look on her face sprayed his chest with a can of mechanical lubricant.
Max stood there, arms akimbo, uniform drenched in lubricant and looked beseechingly at his wife.
Miriya twirled the can of lubricant in her hand, brought it up to her delicate lips and blew at it, as if blowing the smoke from the end of a revolver after it had just been fired. Just like she'd seen in the movie that Max often liked to watch.
She started to move past him, but hesitated by his side and said softly, "Really Maximillian. Did you think you could sneak up behind me unawares?" She laughed a short laugh and continued on her way.
She was off the hangar deck and halfway to their quarters, when Max finally forced himself to move. Remembering something he said to Rick a few days earlier he thought, "Another battle lost Sterling", and laughed to himself.
State = Continuará/To Be Continue
feedback = Sí/Yes
email = dparsnipAThotmail.com