by J Palliser
"Yes, that had occurred to me."
"So, what are you gonna do?" he asked.
"I don't know. For the moment, I'm going to sleep. After that, well..." she trailed off.
"You're going to have to tell her eventually."
"Oh? And why is that?" Sonya snapped.
"Because, Casana isn't the kind of person that you get over easy."
***
The next day, Exobiology Lab, Deck 14, 1130 hours Casana was staring through a microscope when she heard the door open. "Just give me minute," she heard Becker say. Casana looked from her work.
"Hey, Jacob," she chriped.
"Hey, Cassie," he smiled back. "I came by because I wanted to apologize."
"For what?" Casana asked innocently.
"For not telling you about Sonya's... feelings earlier." "Oh, that's okay," she grinned. "I understand. You didn't want to cause any trouble, so you kept quiet. I get it." You can be such a softy, she smiled to herself.
"No, I really should have told. Look, I'm going to talk to Sonya later, let her know that we discussed it, and try to iron this out."
"Good idea! And when we find your body, assuming there is any of you left, I can do the autopsy!" she said sarcastically. Again, Becker saw fangs and teeth. "I'll talk to her."
"If you insist," Becker sighed in relief. "I do. Now, what are you up to?" she said, smiling mischievously.
"I'm supposed to be watching the deck 14 torpedo bay, but I needed to get this off my chest."
"Well, let me escort you back to your post," she said, jumping to her feet, smiling fiendishly.
***
At the same time, 1 deck below
Sonya walked down the corridor with Zira, staring blankly ahead.
"Ma'am, are you okay?" Zira asked.
"Hmm? Oh, yeah. I'm fine," she responded mechanically.
"Oh, good. 'Cause I thought you were moping over Casana."
Sonya stopped in the middle of the corridor. "Come on, not you too!" she cried.
"Yes." "God, this is like a nightmare!" Sonya said, throwing her hands up in frustration. "Everyone I talk to is giving me advice. Am I that easy to read?"
"Yes. Yes, you are," Zira laughed.
"Great! So, everyone is going to have an opinion! Maybe I should take a poll of the crew! Hey, you, what do you think? Should I tell her or not?" she yelled at a passing crewman. He looked at Zira, who waved him on.
"Until you actually do something, pretty much."
"Why? Why do they care?" Sonya asked pleadingly. "Do you remember what Lina said about the crew of a star-ship? That they are all your friends? It's true. They are your friends, and people don't like seeing their friends in trouble." Sonya looked at her skeptically. "Look, you remember those three crewmen that came with us to take the Matter Injector?"
"Hill, Falkirk, and Taylor?"
"Yeah, do you know why they followed us?" Zira asked.
"Orders," Sonya shrugged. "Yes, they were ordered to, and they did it unquestioningly. Because they trusted you. They knew that you would watch out for them, and they watched out for you. its instinct for a battleship crew."
"How does this, in any way, relate to me and Casana?" Sonya growled defensively. "I once saw a Lieutenant Commander take a plasma gun shot for a Crewman he had never met. It was point blank, full power. He was dead before he hit the ground."
"Did you just tell me to kill myself?" Zira ignored her. "You protect your shipmates, whether it's diving in front of a pulse rifle or helping them through a tough time," Zira said.
Sonya looked silently at Zira for a long time. She had heard this speech before, from her parents. Brothers, born of blood, she remembered her father saying of his shipmates. Sonya had begun to understand what he meant after the Drac attack. "So, what do I do?" she whispered.
"You talk to her."
"Just like that?" Sonya sighed.
"Just like that. Either she accepts or she doesn't. Either way, you'll get better."
"Okay," Sonya said, tears starting to well up in her eyes. "Hey," Zira said, gently grasping her shoulders. "It's going to be okay. Even if she turns you down. It will hurt at first, but it will be okay."
"Alright. Alright, I'll talk to her when our shift ends," she promised.
"Good. 'Cause if you kept up at this rate, I'm pretty sure you'd end up throwing Becker out an airlock."
14
Thirteen
Deck 14, Main Torpedo Bay, 1200 hours Since the Drac attack, Sonya had re-positioned her team. Instead of placing one person on each launcher, where they couldn't see each other, she now placed them together at the door to the Main Torpedo Bay. But as she rounded the corner with Zira, only Schultz was at the door. "Where's Becker?" she called to him. He turned to look at her, an expression of panic on his face.
"Uhh, he's in the bay. Inspecting the... bay, ma'am," he stuttered nervously.
"Nice try," she said, walking past him into the room.
"Remind me to play poker with you sometime," Zira said to him as she followed Sonya into the room. "Crewman Becker, why are you not at your..." Sonya stopped in mid-sentence as she entered the room, causing Zira to nearly walk into her. In front of her, Casana was lying on her back on a control console, naked from the waist down. Becker stood between her legs, his pants around his ankles, still wearing his helmet and armor. Her legs were wrapped around his waist, and he was thrusting his cock into her powerfully. They had not noticed Sonya.
"He's very... vigorous," Zira said quietly to Sonya, who simply stared at Casana as Becker fucked her. Casana arched her back, digging her fingers into Becker's arms.
"Ohh, fuck, I'm gonna come again!" she cried. Becker grunted in response, and leaned forward, grabbing her shoulders for leverage.
"Attention on deck!" Sonya screamed at the top of her lungs.
"Fuckin' warn me before you do that," Zira complained as she covered her ears. "Shit!" yelled Becker. Casana's legs released him and she shot upright in surprise. Becker pulled out of her and turned to face Sonya and Zira. His rigid cock was glistening with Casana's juices, pointing directly at Sonya, and the room was filled with the smell of sweat and sex. He stood at attention, panting for air, as Casana slid off the console, looking for her pants. His eyes were filled with pure terror.
"Harry, don't you know to knock when-" Sonya cut Casana off.
"Quiet, Ensign!" she yelled.
"You're pulling rank on me? My promotion is official tomorrow!" Casana protested.
"This is a restricted area, Ensign. You are not authorized to be here," Sonya snarled.
"Harry..." Casana began, but was again cut off. "You will address me as Lieutenant Mueller or ma'am!" Sonya screamed, taking a few steps towards Casana. "Do you understand, Ensign?" Casana looked at Sonya with a wounded expression.
"Aye, ma'am," she said softly, her eyes starting to fill with tears. Sonya turned her gaze to Becker, who visibly shrank from her.
"Crewman, why are you not at your post?" she yelled, stepping directly in front of him, his rapidly deflating cock only inches from her abdomen.
"Ma'am, I was just, uhh... I went to see Cass, and..."
"You left your post?" Sonya barked at him. "Only for a moment, ma'am. I needed to speak with Cas... Ensign Olan, and she offered to walk me back to my post," he said, desperate to escape his almost certain dismemberment.
"And you accepted? You left your post, disrupted the routine operations of this ship, and escorted an unauthorized person into a highly restricted area! And that isn't even the worst part!"
"Ma'am, I..."
"So, what happened then?" Sonya demanded. "Ma'am, when we arrived, Casana heard something inside the room. I asked Schultz to stay at the door while I checked it out. Casana followed me inside."
"And?" "And, well, I didn't find anything. And when I turned around, she was smiling at me, and I smiled at her, and from there we just kinda..."
"Fucked?" Sonya screamed into his face.
"Well, it wasn't
like we planned on it, ma'am!"
"You mean you didn't think, right?" Sonya yelled.
"No, it's not that, ma'am, it just kinda... happened." "It just 'kinda happened'? You were fucking on the PLASMA TORPEDO LOADING CONTROLS, Crewman!" Sonya wailed. "Put your fucking pants on," she ordered, stepping in front of Casana, who had found hers.
"Why are you here, Ensign?"
"I came with Becker," she said softly. Unconsciously, Sonya's voice softened slightly as she looked into Casana's eyes, now full of shame, tears flowing down her cheeks.
"No, but you were about to," Sonya said venomously. Casana closed her eyes, grimacing.
"Ensign!" Sonya shouted, startling Casana. "Why are you in here?" Casana breathed out, opening her eyes. "Ma'am, I escorted Crewman Becker down here, and told him that I heard a noise inside the bay."
"And did you?"
"No, ma'am. I wanted to get him alone," she confessed, looking at the ground. " Priority message from Arcadia for Ensign Olan," said a voice over the intercom. Casana looked silently at Sonya, and the two women stared at each other for a few moments. "Ensign Olan, please acknowledge."
"Sonya?" she asked softly. Sonya stared back at her coldly, but nodded. "Acknowledged," Casana said as she hurried over to the communication console on the wall. She pulled up the message and read it.
"I have to go," she said excitedly, and ran out of the room.
"What the hell?" exclaimed Zira. "I am not done with you yet, Crewman," Sonya snarled at Becker as he finished putting his pants on. "You're on patrol. Dismissed." As he skulked out the door, Dejah pushed past him.
"Lieutenant, we have detected anomalous activity from the Torpedo Loading Control Console. I have been sent to examine the console for a malfunction."
***
Exobiology Labs, Deck 14, 1210 hours Casana sat down at her work station, tears still wet on her cheeks. She accessed her personal communications and opened the message. It was marked "From: Joint Initiate Commission".
"Oh, great," she sighed. Then she read the subject: "Evaluation by Field Review".
"Yes!" she cried in joy. "Yes, finally!"
"Casana, are you alright?" Dr. Rollins asked with concern as she entered the room.
"Hell, yes! I just got a message from the commission, and they are sending someone to evaluate me!"
"Evaluate you? For what?" Casana remembered that Dr. Rollins knew nothing about the Joining. "A... special honor. It is only given to a select few people."
"That's wonderful!" Dr. Rollins said, patting her on the shoulder. "When?" She scanned the letter. "Wow. Tomorrow. They must be close, and it must be urgent if... oh, shit," Casana's heart sunk as she read the last line.
"What's wrong?"
"It's who they're sending. Ambassador Korzo Drax."
***
Armory, Deck 19, 1600 hours Sonya paced back and forth in front of her locker, a scowl across her face. I am going to fucking kill him, she thought coldly. She was in her off-duty uniform, waiting for Becker to report. Abandoning his post, allowing access to a restricted area. Fucking Casana. Her blood boiled when she remembered the image of the two of the on the console, half naked, sweating, pawing at each other.
Sonya had accepted that Casana and Becker were having sex, but to be so publicly ambushed by it was unbearable. She had always been proud of her self-control, but it was being severely tested. Her first instinct when she saw them together was to run away crying, but that was quickly replaced by fury. It was as though it had been planned.
The thought gave Sonya pause. It was as though they had planned it, like they had designed it to inflict the maximum amount of pain on Sonya. Did they? she wondered. Did they do this to hurt me? She couldn't decide. Did they know how Sonya felt, and decide to humiliate her for it? It was certainly a possibility. Casana, at least, had to have known how she felt.
Slut , she thought. At first, she chastised herself for thinking it. But it wouldn't go away. Fucking whore. The more she thought it, the angrier she became, and the more it seemed right. Worthless bitch. Her hatred began to shift. Now, she blamed Casana instead of Becker. Sonya lashed out, punching the bulkhead. She heard a crack, but ignored the pain that shot through her hand.
Suddenly, there was a pinching sensation on her shoulder, and she blacked out.
***
Crew Quarters, 2100 hours Casana sat on her bunk, swinging her feet off the edge, staring blankly at the door. I'm screwed, she thought. Drax. It had to be Drax. She had worked her entire life to qualify for the Joining, and now it seemed farther away than ever. Drax. Drax never passes anybody. Despair began to overtake her. He's going to humiliate me. Assuming Sonya doesn't kill me. Oh, god. Sonya. She remembered the look on Sonya's face when she saw her with Becker. Once again, tears began to well up in her eyes.
She held her face in her hands and sobbed softly. Stupid, she thought. How could I be so stupid? Casana was sure that Sonya had finished eviscerating Becker by now, and was waiting for her to return to their quarters. Casana planned to beg forgiveness from Sonya, and try to salvage their friendship. She was not optimistic.
Casana was sufficiently distracted that she did not notice Daniel enter the room. He walked slowly up to her, placing his hands on her knees comfortingly. Casana looked up tearfully into his eyes. "Hey, how ya doing?" he asked softly.
"How does it look?" Casana sobbed. "Like hell. Come on, you need to sit somewhere where you won't fall," he said, pulling Casana down from the bunk. Daniel guided her over to the table, coaxing her onto the couch-seats. He walked around the table and took a seat next to her. "It's okay," he said softly, wrapping his arms around her comfortingly.
"No. No, it's not okay," she whispered. "What happened?" "Jacob came to see me in the lab today," she said, struggling to form the words. "We talked for a bit, then he had to go back to his post. I offered to walk him down."
"What did you talk about?"
"Sonya. Jacob said that she likes me." "Well, of course she does. You two are friends," he said, slowly rubbing her back. Casana was silent. "That's not what you meant, is it?" She shook her head. "I see. So, you walked him down to his post. Then what?"
"When we got there, I told him I heard something in the torpedo bay, and he went to check it out. And I went with him."
"Isn't that a restricted area?" Casana nodded.
"When we got inside, I kissed him, and..."
"And you had sex?" "Yes. Well, we tried. Sonya and Zira walked in right in the middle of it!" she cried, starting to sob uncontrollably again.
"It's okay. Take your time," he said, rocking her back and forth. "Sonya started screaming at Jacob. She was furious. I tried to calm her down, but then she started yelling at me!" she said, squeezing Daniel tightly.
"What did she say?"
"I called her Harry, and she yelled at me."
"She always does that." "No!" she cried insistently. "She always says ' Don't call me Harry'. She screamed at me. She said 'You will address me as Lieutenant Mueller or ma'am'. She wouldn't let me call her by her first name!" Casana bawled.
"I'm so sorry," Daniel said. "Then, she goes off on Jacob for a few minutes, and then she turns to me and starts to yell when the announcement came."
"About your message?"
"Yeah."
"At least that saved you," Daniel tried to console her.
"No, it made it worse," she said pitifully.
"Why? What did it say?" "You know that thing I have been trying to get?"
"That award thing?"
"Yeah. Well, the commission that awards it is sending someone to evaluate me."
"That's great, Casana!" he cried.
"No! The person they are sending is horrible! He never recommends anyone. Everyone he evaluates gets rejected."
"You aren't going to get rejected."
"How do you know?" she asked, looking up at him.
"Nobody can reject you. Not this Drax, not Sonya. You'll see."
***
Dec
k 7, Main Sickbay, 0500 Hours
"Oww," Sonya moaned. "Lieutenant, your ' patient' is coming around." The voice caused a throbbing pain in her head. Sonya opened her eyes, but the light was so bright that she shut them again immediately.
"Thank you, doctor," said a soft, even voice. Sonya immediately recognized it.
"Dejah?" she asked groggily.
"Yes, Lieutenant?"
"What the hell happened?" Sonya asked. She tried to sit up, but was pushed pack down by a small, powerful hand. "You need to rest. You fractured your wrist, and recovery from a Centuri nerve touch requires some time," she answered.
"A nerve touch? Who put a nerve touch me?"
"I did," Dejah responded. "Open your eyes." "What?" Dejah pulled open Sonya's right eye and shined a light into it. Sonya tried to bat her hand away, but Dejah calmly stopped her. "You knocked me out?"
"That is correct," Dejah said. In anger, Sonya opened her eyes and tried to sit up, but was again pressed back into the bed. "Remain on the bed."
"Why the hell did you do that?" Sonya said angrily.
"It is important for you to remain still while your central nervous system recovers."
"No, why did you put me in a nerve touch?" "To incapacitate you without causing permanent injury," Dejah answered, as though it were obvious.
"Why would you do that?" Sonya yelled. It was loud enough that it hurt her head, causing her to wince.
"I was concerned with your reaction to discovering Crewman Becker and Lieutenant Olan mid-coitus." "He left his post, permitted unauthorized access to a secure area, and, uhh... something else, too," Sonya groaned, trying to stop the pain in her head.
"Carried his weapon in a non-regulation manner."
"I've never heard it called that," Sonya said mockingly. "All of them relatively minor offences. The absolute maximum punishment allowed by regulation is a letter of reprimand and five days in the brig."
"He endangered the ship!"
"And Lieutenant Olan?"
"What about her?" Sonya snarled back.
"What regulations did she violate?" Sonya thought for a minute.
"Unauthorized entry into a secure area," she finally answered. "You are incorrect. Lieutenant Olan did enter a restricted area, but did so at the request of a Security Officer, and was escorted at all times."