When it rains...
2408 - Second Dominion War
[USS Otomaro, near the Helaspont nebula]
Here we go again…
The little Efrosian stomped her way across the bridge of the refitted Iwo-Jima class Starship and did her best not to frown. Summoned to see the Captain. How many did that make now?
And the looks from the bridge crew were all too familiar, too. Some sympathetic, some disinterested, and here and there the characteristic ‘serves you right’.
Jin was not one to easily give in to fatalism or go down without a fight, but it wasn’t easy this time. She’d really come to like this ship and the bunch of crazy misfits that made up her squadron, old “Smokey” notwithstanding. Poor guy had gotten himself outfitted with pilots no one else wanted a year short of his retirement and taken it with a cranky old man’s good grace. Meaning, kicking behinds when needed and buying drinks for the kiddos when they behaved. She’d never had a squad leader like that. Or Captain, for that matter. Kuroda ran just about the tightest ship she had ever seen, but still had no qualms about keeping his fighter pilots on a long leash. But apparently even that leash had limits.
Well, at least she wouldn’t take Roosevelt down with her, that much Jin was determined to do. Setting her jaw tightly, she pressed the chime and once more was surprised by the even, melodious voice answering. How such a deep tenor could come from a man barely a hand’s width taller than the tiny Efrosian was perplexing. How someone could sound so relaxed and serene and at the same time commanding enough to make even Jin scramble to the best sort of attention she could muster, that was just plain amazing.
“Ah, Miss Rha-Yaleii.”
The man behind the desk looked up and treated Jin to a long look out of eyes as clear and dark as a shaded forest pond on Efros Delta before gesturing to the chair opposite him. He watched the little pilot carefully slide into the offered seat and studied the sad smile on the lovely face. Collecting the empty glass on his desk, the Captain stood up and walked to the replicator before turning back to the young pilot “Might I offer you some tea?”
Confused, Jin cocked her head and simply nodded. That was an odd way to chew someone out, but she sure wasn’t going to argue.
In short order, two glasses with something that smelled both soothing and fresh to Jin’s sensitive nose were placed on the perfectly spotless desk and the small-framed human with first silver streaks at his temples had settled in his usual alert but oddly relaxed pose.
When the good Captain still wasn’t talking, Jin just decided to get it over with and go on the offensive. “It wasn’t Roosevelt’s fault, Sir. He just sometimes forgets how strong he is. And well, he thinks of me as a friend, and,…” The man calmly held up a hand and Jin’s mouth snapped shut. Damn.
Well, he had a right to be irritated, the big half-Klingon had squarely broken a jaw and a few ribs, not to mention a table and a few other small thingies that had gotten in the way. But he had only wanted to help when that other guy didn’t seem to get the idea that even Efrosians like to have a say in whom they pick as pals. Jin was sure her transfer orders were already signed, war or no war. Maybe this time they’d just dump her onto a poor Marine unit who’d let her fly at Dominion ships until she either went up in flames or toppled over from exhaustion. Those guys didn’t mind trouble. Trouble was their middle name.
“I have received all reports from sickbay and security, Miss Rha-Yaleii.”
Meaning, he had already heard all the stories he had wanted to hear and wasn’t interested in what Jin had to say. Oddly familiar, but for some reason the little pilot was just a bit disappointed. Somehow she had expected this Captain to at least hear her out. No matter how hard she tried not to be her normal flirtatious self, she had found wonderful friends in this squadron of pilots nobody else wanted and damn if she hadn’t gotten careless again. How would Rafi say? C’est la vie. Or that other thing about leopards and shorts.
She opened her mouth to say something in Roosevelt’s defense but the hand stopped her again.
“What I need to know is if you wish to press charges.”
“Look, I know as a captain you can’t have your crew just … come again?”
“Against the Lieutenant Commander. I am no JAG officer but I do think harassment and assault would apply.”
“They would?”
One could almost hear mental gears screeching when Jin tried to wrap her head around the turn this conversation had just taken. He was not mad at her but the guy who had been … a bit rude? Okay, pretty damn rude. At least after she had told him she was not interested.
The flicker of a smile crossed Kuroda’s face when the little Efrosian stared at him in open astonishment. “Yes, to the best of my knowledge. One could argue conduct unbecoming an officer as well but I shall leave that to the proper authorities. You have not answered my question.”
“Well, I hadn’t quite expected that so you’ll have to excuse me for being a tad … surprised.”
“Oh?”
She stared at the tea, and back at the calm eyes still studying her. Somehow she had the feeling he was trying really hard not to chuckle at her baffled expression, but he was a tough one to figure out where body language was concerned.
“You are something else, Captain-san.”
If anything, he looked even more amused at that.
“But no, no charges, Sir. I’m used to stuff like that. And I think he got the message now. At least I hope he’ll think about it.”
“I will respect your wishes, Miss Rha-Yaleii.” He picked up the tea with slow, graceful motions and took a sip, never leaving the little pilot out of his sight “But perhaps you should ‘think about it’ as well. Simply because you are used to some people behaving a certain way towards you does not give them the right to do so. Tolerating unacceptable behavior will only encourage more of the same.”
She was about to formulate a reply to that, when the red alert klaxons blared into her poor little ears and Kuroda was out of his chair before she could do so much as blink.
This was bad. Really bad. They had taken such a beating in their last engagement, the Otomaro was little more than a bucket of bolts held together with spit and hope and the curses of a tireless Chief Engineer. And they were only eight hours from the Starbase where they had wanted to put in for repairs. Figures.
Abandoning tea, the serenity of this Ready Room and any thought of ever not trusting this Captain again, Jin scrambled after the human towards the bridge.
“Report.”
Gods of Efros, he still sounded as if this was just a minor nuisance. The little Efrosian briefly stopped, looking at the Captain seated calmly in his chair, but when he gave her a brief nod she jumped past the tactical station and darted towards the turbolift. Something about three Jem’Hadar fighters was announced by a cranky tactical officer, and you could bet old Smokey was already chasing the “Fighting Crows” into their birds down there.
And she would have made it, too, only the very moment the lift doors opened all hell broke loose. Torpedo and phaser impacts made the Otomaro lurch and groan, and Jin had to hold on to a science station if she did not want to get thrown backwards into the Andorian with the antennae pressed back into her beautiful snow-white hair.
Like in a dream when everything slows down and becomes surreal, Jin heard the Andorian shout about shields being gone and saw the woman reach for her phaser the very second at least a dozen Jem’Hadar appeared on the bridge.
Why not blow us straight to hell? They could, and without breaking a sweat.
But why blow it up if you could take it home and do whatever with it. They were pretty much sitting ducks either way.
Cursing the fact that she had no weapon on herself, the little Efrosian ran head first into the nearest Jem’Hadar who sent her flying into a console for her troubles. Well, at least he had staggered and made an ‘oof’ sound. Kind of mean to try and shoot her for that, though.
Jin was already airborne again by the time a weapons blast impacted the console, this time aiming a heavy combat boot squarely for that gray, ridged face. All around her energy weapons heated the air on the bridge and added the scent of ozone to the abundance of blood.
A satisfying crunch told her she had hit something that would hurt, but as usual Jin had not thought much further than this and dropped to the floor after having made a big dent into the Jem’Hadar’s face.
Shit.
Much to her surprise, she was scooped up by an Andorian moving at speeds Jin had never thought possible, and she stared wide eyed when a gray scaled intruder went down right next to them because … well obviously Captain-san had thrown another Dominion soldier right into that one. Third Hell and Thunder.
When another weapon swung in their direction, the tiny Efrosian managed to make a warning sound, but the security officer had already seen it and pivoted around, tucking Jin behind her as if the pilot was little more than a child in her arm. The phaser went off the same second Jin felt something impact the Andorian’s chest and she fell to the deck, all air knocked out of her lungs so she could not even scream when the other woman fell on top of her.
Nothing alive felt like this.
Hurting like hell and drenched in blue blood, the little pilot cried angry tears and tried to struggle free when she realized the bridge was suddenly eerily quiet.
She blinked furiously and tried to see what was going on, but the bulk of a very much headless Jem’Hadar spread out before her obscured her sight. Jin breathed deeply although with the terrible stench permeating the bridge that was no easy accomplishment, and ever so carefully dislodged the body of the tall, beautiful security officer that held her pinned to the blood soaked carpet. Muttering both horrible curses and apologies to the Andorian’s spirit in her native language, the little Efrosian managed to lift the weight and pull herself into a crouch, checking for anything still alive.
Right.
When nothing that stirred sounded even vaguely like a Jem’Hadar, she scrambled to her feet.
Dead and badly injured people, broken consoles, and the damn red light that made it so difficult to see properly. Still, someone was moving over there and Jin scrambled towards the helm console where a poor lifeless Benzite was slumped in her chair. But on the floor … the moment she slung her arms around the small person to lift him up, she realized who it was.
“Captain-san.” She murmured, both relieved and shocked when she felt her hands drenched with warm human blood.
“Do we know our status, Miss Rha-Yaleii.”
“You know, usually people ask for a medic first. But no, I don’t. There are three more people breathing from what I can hear and one very faint. Might be the species though, I don’t know, I’m not a … oh for crying out loud will you stop it. You need to sit down.”
She was ready to stomp her foot on the carpet and yell at the man who seemed determined to bleed to death and she didn’t have the faintest idea what to do. They needed medics but the commbadges didn’t work. They needed bridge officers who were trained for this mess and not a little fighter pilot completely out of her element, but none of them was moving.
“Would you help me to the tactical console, please? It seems to be working fairly well.”
He managed to make his voice sound like a man asking for another cup of tea. If Jin hadn’t been so distraught, she’d actually have been incredibly impressed. As it was, she bit her lip and did what her Captain asked, cursing under her breath all the way.
“Yes, I would have to agree.”
“What? You understood … I’m sorry, I’m just…”
“I can venture an educated guess, Miss Rha-Yaleii. Ah, it seems our good engineer has been creative. He must have been really upset to vent main engineering.”
Jin blinked at the console, the profusely bleeding human and wondered whether this was the Starfleet version of the Fifth Hell. At last, her practical side kicked in and she snorted, limping towards one of the wall panels that would probably have a medkit hidden behind them.
When she came back, there was a grim expression on the dark eyed human’s face but she nudged him into one of the science console chairs without allowing for any debate.
“You can court-martial me later.” Jin tried to remember her first aid classes and sighed with relief when she at least recognized some of the stuff in the kit. Human. That meant ... that one there for the pain, that to prevent shock. Now how to stop the damn bleeding…
“And why would I do that?”
There was that faint smile again, although his voice was sounding a bit strained at last.
“Because I’m keeping you from doing whatever it is Captains are supposed to do in a mess like this? I don’t know. Hold still.”
The little Efrosian carefully peeled the tattered remains of the uniform jacket from a gaping wound where apparently an energy weapon had grazed ribs and burned skin, but damn if the man so much as flinched.
“Ah. Is that what you are doing?”
“What? No. I mean, in a way, maybe. Damn, Captain-san, I’m not sure what I’m doing. Just… don’t die on me, alright? This day has been bad enough as it is.”
“Agreed.” Dark almond eyes regarded the muttering Efrosian and finally a calm hand was placed on her shoulder. “You are doing just fine, Miss Rha-Yaleii.”
She looked up at him, ice blue gaze meeting nothing but quiet reassurance, although for a moment she could have sworn there had been something bordering on parental affection in that level voice. “There.” The little woman ran a blood stained hand through her snow-white hair, nodding at the clean bandage on her Captain’s side “Unless you plan to throw any more Jem’Hadar across your bridge, it should hold a while. But if your ribs are poking into a lung, I don’t have anything …”
“It will do. Would you help me to my chair?”
“You’re kidding.”
This time, he outright smiled at her. A bit melancholic, a lot determined, and again there was that odd feeling of fondness that made Jin blink. She was so overwrought; she had to be imagining things.
Muttering softly, she decided not to argue and simply slipped under his extended arm, carefully getting the Captain to his feet. At least they were well matched in size and it was surprisingly easy to keep him balanced as they limped towards the center chair.
“What a funny pair we make.” The little Efrosian couldn’t help but smile wryly while circumnavigating the headless Jem’Hadar and was rewarded with another look of mild amusement from Kuroda.
Over to the left, someone stirred and Jin’s heart made a little leap. Med kit. Maybe she could at least…
Before she got to finish the thought, the turbolift doors burst open and security officers spilled onto the bridge, led by a tall human barking orders. Right behind them, engineers with toolkits bustled along, nudging the guys with phasers out of their ways. When her Captain settled in his chair and pointed the lone, bewildered medical officer in the gaggle towards the figure on the floor who had just begun stirring, Jin felt such a wave of relief she actually slumped forward and felt her head come to rest against the fabric of a uniform.
“Gods of Efros, about time.” She muttered and then blinked rapidly when an arm unexpectedly moved around her shoulders, holding her companionably close for what seemed like a long time but in truth was hardly more than a few seconds.
Behind her, the cracked viewscreen spluttered back to life and an engineer let out a whistle, accompanied by several shouts.
She wanted so badly to stay right where she was, but this mess wasn’t over yet. Not by a long shot. Forcing herself to snap to, Jin straightened up and turned towards the screen where – she nearly jumped when she saw the ragtag assortment of Valkyries going after two Dominion ships, evading the debris of a third.
A pleading look towards Kuroda was all it took and he nodded, watching the little pilot bolt towards the turbolift.
“Sir?” the security officer had taken over tactical, looking after the tiny woman “We still have intruders on board.”
“Yes.” The Captain allowed for another smile and shooed away the flustered doctor “And one can assume that any who might try to stand between Miss Rha-Yaleii and her fighter will soon cease to be your problem.
Marjani
Disclaimer: If the fact that two ladies can engage in romantic activities without male assistance offends you or causes acute feelings of being left out, please skip reading this log.
2408
[Starbase 27, near Denobula Triaxa]
Stretching lazily, Jin wasn’t quite sure what had woken her up. Usually, her sleep was what people called “like a log” and the blood wine only helped with that. She looked over to the chrono and propped herself up on her elbows, prompting the lovely human next to her to make some unidentifiable sounds.
Her head felt as if a Targ had used it for Tango practice, but the little Efrosian nonetheless placed a friendly kiss on the elegant, dark brown neck and briefly buried her face in the mass of black hair that crowned this Kenyan jewel.
With a colossal yawn, she slid off the bed and made for the replicator, ordering a jug of water. For about two seconds, Jin considered to just pour the whole damn thing over her head but her parched throat won out.
Ah, better.
Next time, she’d stick to the Romulan Ale.
Jin sauntered over to the window and leaned her forehead against the cool surface of the clearsteel. There it was again. The hair on the back of her neck stood up and her fists clenched almost without her noticing. Damn.
“What is it, mpenzi?”
Jin chuckled a bit at the term of endearment and then turned back towards the ebony-skinned woman who fixated her with a look that was part concerned, part inviting.
“Not sure, really. Sorry if I woke you up.”
“You’re going to catch a cold. But any passing ships will sure appreciate the view.”
The Efrosian gave a low, throaty laugh and then let her appreciative look rest on the human in turn. Marjani had finally decided to join her new friend at the window but had wisely wrapped herself in the white and gray covers. The smaller woman did not resist when the human opened her makeshift robe to wrap it around the both of them, and together they looked out at the stars, long black hair and wild white strands mingling as they leaned their heads against one another.
“You’re still sad about your friends?”
“Hm, yes. No helping that, really. But that’s not … “ she finished the sentence with a string of curses which were drowned by the whooping of a red alert siren.
In unison, the two women jumped away from the window, fishing for the strewn about pieces of their uniforms.
“That’s mine.”
“Figures. Then where’s…” Marjani located her tank top on a shelf and struggled into it, marveling at the speed with which the little Efrosian had managed to get dressed already. When two small hands helped her into the gold shirt, she took another precious second to brush her own finger across the warm skin and then made a leap for her boots.
“You remember those old Valkyries you told me about?”
“Hangar bay three, Jin.” the human’s dark, soulful eyes rested on the pilot’s grim face for a moment and she sighed. No use in trying to talk the little woman out of anything.
It had been just a playful banter at first, after the survivors of the Otomaro had been dropped off here, waiting for reassignment, or in the case of Jin and her fellows, new fighters and a ship to carry them back to the frontlines.
After only two days the pilots had become restless and started to severely deplete the alcoholic reserves of every bar on the station, promptly leading to security getting involved on a regular basis.
Now, one could call Marjani’s approach to keeping her new friend out of trouble a bit unorthodox (in fact, the CSO had made it clear he expected this ‘affair’ as he put it to remain under the radar) but it had worked. More or less.
“No point in asking you to be careful, is there?” the human sighed, catching her lover around the waist before she could bolt out the door.
Jin cocked her head and returned the warm embrace for a second. “No, guess not.”
Eyes like dark brown velvet held her gaze while precious seconds slipped away, but Jin figured she owed her friend that much at least. “Don’t get yourself in trouble, you hear? If anyone objects to a few bored pilots borrowing some beat up old fighters, you don’t need to be involved. You of all people don’t need to be involved.”
“Jin...”
“Nope. Don’t want to hear it.”
“Security codes would help, you know.”
“So will a well placed fist. Now run along, they’re probably already throwing fits up there. Bay three, you said.”
“Yes.”
Jin placed one more cheerful kiss on those soft, beautiful lips to make the frown go away and then bounded down the corridor, hitting her commbadge as she went “Cullain, Ruffles, Tell, Vac, Roosevelt, get your asses to hangar bay three on the double. We got company.”
“Roger that, Voodoo” came the half-Klingon’s cheerful reply “Already under way. Got Vac by the scruff, too. Anything else you need?”
“Just if someone objects, run them over and ask no questions.”
“Ah, standard operating procedure then. Roosevelt out.”
When Jin came bolting around the corner, she already saw a poor Zakdorn decked out on the floor and a Benzite was looking wide-eyed at the Klingon barking orders towards a few bewildered technicians.
“You can’t do that!”
“Actually,” Jin purred “He can. And he’s good at it, too.”
The rest of the squadron, or rather what was left of the ‘Fighting Crows’ came tumbling through the doors and Jin grinned at their ruffled appearance. Their eyes though were as clear and sharp as ever, hung over as the lot of them was. Just then, the station vibrated and rocked, announcing the arrival of however many Dominion ships.
“Ordinance, Roosevelt?”
“Lookin’ good, Voodoo. Nothin’ fancy, but torpedoes to boot.” The Klingon looked positively happy as another group of the ground crew scrambled out of his way and the tiny Trill named VAC (Valkyrie Assisted Crazy-ass, if you must know) left his buddy’s shadow to clamber up the ladder to one of the fighters.
“You can’t DO that.” the Benzite Ensign repeated himself, possibly hoping the small Efrosian would be more sympathetic. “Listen, buddy.” Jin waved her friends down to the deck, not that they needed the invitation, and smiled at the Ensign ever so sweetly “You can either open those doors for us or we’ll do it ourselves.”
Patting the near hyperventilating Benzite on the shoulder, she darted to the first fighter in line and cocked her head in surprise when a Vulcan senior NCO thrust a helmet into her arms.
“I shall speak with the Ensign. One battle cruiser and eight Jem’Hadar fighters confirmed. Starship Lafayette has engaged the enemy, USS Trevix and Huron are under way.”
“Battle cruiser, huh? Don’t I feel special now.” she nodded at the tall male and snickered when he quirked a brow at her “Thank you, Chief. Any other friendlies in the area?”
“None but us chickens!” Ruffles crowed from her ladder, struggling to stuff the helmet over her wild copper-red mane.
“Indeed.” The Vulcan said levelly, even as the station rocked under another impact. “Which is why I am inclined to interpret your sudden arrival here as officers anticipating orders. Or carrying out orders which may have been delayed due to…” the odd sound of straining shields could be heard even in here and Jin could have sworn the man looked annoyed “… circumstances.”
By the time Jin had struggled into seat and helmet and completed one of her fastest preflights ever, the bay doors slid open and the old battered fighter was hovering over the deck, impulse engines aglow.
“How you want to play this, pappy?”
“Squad’s yours, Voodoo.” came a grumpy voice over the comm.
“Negative, Tell. You’re the most senior.”
“Stop arguing and GO”
“Roger that. Flight, the “Fighting Chickens” are heading out. Tight formation, kids, speed’s the mantra for today.” A few snickers and mumbled ‘roger’s’ answered her and the Vulcan Crew Chief signaled them they could launch without butting head first into a hostile. At least for the next 4 to 6 seconds. As the old fighters went screaming out into the cold vacuum of space, Jin briefly wondered if the Vulcan had used logic on the annoying Benzite or settled for a neck pinch instead.
“Oh SHIT.”
“What the…”
“Word!”
They had emerged right underneath the behemoth’s underbelly and for just a second, Jin considered smacking the Vulcan NCO behind his admittedly cute ears. Provided they got out of this alive.
“Hey, not lackin’ for targets at least. Tally Ho on all fronts!”
“Today IS a good day to die!”
“Oh, shut it, Roosevelt.”
“Right kids, since we got ourselves a big fat target, have at it.” Jin banked her old Valkyrie to port, half expecting it might lose a few screws in the process, and headed straight for the sickly purple glow of the cruiser’s weapons array. “Doin’ fine, old girl.” she murmured, patting the straining ship with gloved fingers.
Volley after volley thundered into the gigantic Dominion cruiser’s shields, but the only small victory the little fighters could achieve before three Jem’Hadar fighters that hopelessly outgunned them required their full attention, was that obviously the big beast’s targeting sensors had suffered.
Several torpedoes and phaser beams struck into emptiness or merely grazed the station’s shields, prompting a hearty roar of satisfaction from Roosevelt.
“Tell, two bandits at your six!”
“Oh, you think I didn’t NOTICE? Less yapping, more shooting, Ruffles!”
“Roger that, pappy.”
Jin could tell from the sheer ferocity of her friends’ attack runs that they had a score to settle. And although she had a headache about the size of Qo’noS, the little Efrosian focused on the job at hand, firing her torpedoes with deadly precision. That is, until through the haze of another Dominion fighter being reduced to scrap metal, she saw Ruffles’ bird spin out of control, venting plasma. And Vac racing after the fighter that was about to finish the wounded enemy, three more bandits behind him, vying for the kill.
“Dammit Vac! What do you think you’re…”
He didn’t listen. Nothing new there. Jin’s HUD beeped happily with acquired targets and she raced after the fighters chasing Vac, ever faithful Cullain and Roosevelt right behind her, afterburners at full.
But by the time they had finished off the four targets, a second Valkyrie drifted lifeless between the wreckage of Dominion warships, and a slow pass over Ruffles’ position only confirmed a limp human slumped in the Valkyrie’s seat.
A green veil of rage threatened to descend over the little pilot, something she had only ever felt once before in her life, when their ship along with so many of their comrades had gone up in flames over some gods-forsaken planet and left her stranded and alone.
It had been only her and her wingman, faithful Nemo having saved her from the killing shot at the cost of his own shields, sticking to his friend even into the middle of a freezing forest. They had taken what they could from the wrecks of their fighters and tried to jury-rig a distress beacon, but the only answer they got was a group of Jem’Hadar coming to finish the job. Her stomach revolting, Jin remembered the mad fit of fury that had made her tear two of the gray scaled things into pieces, quite literally, after they had left Nemo with a giant hole in his chest.
Standing amidst torn off limbs and bleeding, stinking corpses, the small Efrosian had lost whatever food she might have had for the past several days and then cried bitter tears over her friend’s body. If this was what her ‘other’ heritage brought with it, Jin didn’t want any part of it.
Gritting her teeth, Jin banked away and decided to let out her anger on the remaining Dominion ships. If there was a special hell reserved for Jem’Hadar, she was going to see it would get crowded there today.
“Voodoo, the Lafayette looks a bit banged up.”
“Ya think?”
If having one warp nacelle tumbling away from you counted as ‘a bit banged up‘, Jin didn’t want to know what qualified as ‘totally screwed’.
“Diamond formation, gentlemen, and let’s take some pressure off them.”
In the good old tradition of the cavalry arriving just in the nick of time (meaning when everyone else was just about finished without them, either way), the Trevix and Huron came in phasers ablaze just as Roosevelt proudly yelled another “Quapla’!” and Jin’s Valkyrie made that odd sound that said ‘stick a fork in me, I’m done’.
Well, the old lady had held up nicely, all things considered. Since she was fresh out of torpedoes anyways, Jin was quite content to let the poor overheated engines whine down and watch from the sidelines as the gigantic battle cruiser was blown to kingdom come. Nicely, too. Very dramatic and all, the way the Trevix came flying through the debris after she’d just cracked the damn thing in two.
“USS Huron to unidentified fighter craft. Do you require assistance?”
“Duh.”
“Unidentified fighter, please repeat. We did not copy that.”
“Huron, this is Voodoo. Yes, I’d appreciate a lift, if it’s no bother.”
“Roger that, Voodoo. No bother at all. Nice job you did here, only left us some scraps to clean up.”
If that’s what you wanted to call it….
As the tractor beam latched on to her fighter that was by now really just an assemblage of wrecked metal, Jin leaned back in her seat and sighed.
[Several hours later, Starbase 27, Lt Marjani Anyango’s quarters]
“I told you not to stick out your neck for us, Marjani. Yelling at your CO is not a smart career move.”
“Well, he was wrong. Damn it, Jin, you and your friends may well have saved our necks here.”
“It’s the ‘may have’ part that’s the problem. From where he’s standing, we commandeered his fighters and wrecked them, not to mention we used two of his personnel as punching bags. If in the process we also wrecked a few Dominion ships, that merely counts as mitigating circumstances.”
“Your two friends could have died, mpenzi.” Marjani sat on her bed, her dark velvety gaze resting on the small Efrosian.
There were still drops of water slowly rolling down Jin’s elegant neck, and her warm golden skin tone gave her the appearance of one of those ancient idols that had once graced lavish temples and now stood silently in museums on Marjani’s home continent. Of course the fact that her Efrosian lover was adorned with nothing more than a crystal glass containing Kenyan ale and now moved towards the bed with the easy grace of a leopard on the prowl made it difficult for Marjani to continue the argument.
“But they didn’t.” Jin heaved a small, content sigh and ran her hand through the beautiful human’s hair. Smiling dreamily, she brushed her fingertips across full, soft lips, down across Marjani’s chin, under the loose Kaftan along a marvelously shaped shoulder. “Matter of fact..” she murmured, lowering her lips to follow the trail of her fingers “… Ruffles has already requested her bed to be moved to O’Leary’s bar and Vac has reportedly chased a nurse all the way to the CMO’s office. So, where did we leave off?”
“Leave off?”
“In the shower. I think you mentioned something about certain maneuvers being a bit too dangerous in there?”
“Jin…”
“Hmmm?” Having freed the lovely dark shoulders from any pesky fabric, the Efrosian pilot continued her slow, enticing touch along a sumptuously shaped waist.
“What am I going to do when you leave? They’re going to send you right back out there, and….”
Jin silenced her lover with a single fingertip to precious lips “There was a friend at the academy who thought I should learn about the other part of my equation.”
“Friend?”
“Hush. Most of it was mystical nonsense, but one thing I remember that made sense. When they say Kaiidth, they don’t mean you can’t change what is. What they mean is, yesterday is gone, tomorrow doesn’t exist. There is only now.”
“Only now.” Marjani repeated in a soft whisper, but there was a tear glistening on one of her silken black eyelashes.