Minding the Moon

Posted on Fri May 25th, 2012 @ 1:22am by Lieutenant Cedric Shepherd

853 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Bleeding it Dry
Location: USS Ranger, Deck 9, Security Office
Timeline: As Halliwell leaves for the USS Pelican

"You ever stare at something, just to see how many other people will come stare with you?" asked Crewman Gregory, staring at her screen.

PO Erne grinned from her position on the couch with her feet propped on the low decorative table. "Me and my friends back home did that all the time. There was this one time we were all staring, and this boy comes up and tries to play it casual, but we can tell he seriously wants to know what we're staring at. So he starts staring, and after a while he starts to ask what we're looking at, but we're so intense staring he whispers, like," she dropped her voice to a theatrical whisper, "what are--"

"And we're all 'Shh'!" she interrupted herself, working two parts of the story, "like we're trying to concentrate. And we start making up details, like 'you can't see that?' and 'why is it red?', that kinda stuff. He got all crazy, and then he got really mad when he figured out we were just messing with him."

Sternbach chuckled from behind the desk. He was watching a screen too, every bit as bored as the two women. "How mad could he get? It's his own fault."

Erne shrugged. "He was an idiot anyway. He got so mad he cut a hunk out of my cousin's hair."

"Her hair?" Gregory asked. "Wait, how old were you?"

"Like 9 or 10, or something," answered Erne.

"That's just so," Gregory smirked, "cootie-kid."

"What the hell's a cootie-kid?" Sternbach arched an eyebrow.

"Like what little kids do," replied Gregory. "Hair cutting like that would only be a big deal if you're a kid."

"Oh, it was a big deal," Erne nodded. "My cousin had pretty hair. It was about the only pretty thing on her, you know what I mean?"

"Your cousin's hasn't got a skinny-dipping twin, does she?" Sternbach was suddenly more interested.

"Naw," Erne scoffed. "We can't all be sexy like Rhi here."

"Hey, I never said my sisters were sexy," Gregory waved a hand in defense. "You pervs did that all on your own."

"You told us a story about 18 year-old skinny-dipping twins," said Sternbach. "I can't get it out of my head."

"You're twisted," said Gregory, her voice laden with mock-disapproval.

"Little bit," nodded Sternbach. Both women gave him the eye, and he cleared his throat to try and move on. "So anyway, your cousin had nice hair?"

"Yeah," nodded Erne. "She was kinda homely, but she had super-great hair. She grew it long, and her mom would braid stuff into it. Beads and ribbons and stuff. Really nice."

"I can see where this boy would think it was extra-mean to cut into it, then," mused Gregory.

"Yeah, but we made him pay," said Erne.

"Did you beat him up?" asked Sternbach.

"Two of us did. My friend Tasa held him down and I stomped his hand 'til it broke." Erne punctuated this statement by popping a palmful of peanuts into her mouth and chewing thoughtfully. Gregory and Sternbach glanced at each other.

"Damn," said Sternbach, unsure what else to say.

"That's, um, a little extreme, maybe?" asked Gregory.

Erne shrugged again. "He had it comin'. He was an idiot. He never messed with us again, I'll tell you that."

Sternbach thought a moment on that, but could conceive no significant point of disagreement, so simply shook his head and returned his attention to his screen. Gregory was considering a follow-up question when the door to the office sushed open to admit Lieutenant Shepherd.

"Hello, sir," said Sternbach, rising to give Shepherd the chair. Erne straightened on the couch and Gregory sat a little more upright in her chair, both attentive.

"Stay, Sternbach," said Shepherd, waving the Ensign back into the chair. "I'm only here for an update. What's the status of our neighbors on the moon?"

"The mining operation continues," replied Sternbach. "We've got scanners tasked specifically for the mine site feeding their data here. We haven't picked up anything out of the ordinary. No power spikes, no comm traffic, no nothing."

"It's like they're trying really hard to ignore us, hoping we'll do the same. Maybe even just go away," suggested Gregory.

Shepherd nodded. "You may be more right than you think. Quick FYI: The Captain's gone over to the Pelican to pow-wow over what to do next. She should be back in a couple of hours, tops. If anything crops up, call me down here to explain it. Don't explain anything over the comm for now."

Erne looke perplexed. "Why no comm?"

Shepherd hesitated a moment before answering. "If I come down here to get news, it means I've already got part of the department together to discuss options. Anything explained on the comm would just need to get explained again in person. So just call me down here. Clear?" he asked the question to the trio in general.

"Clear, sir," they replied, more or less in unison.

"Good," Shepherd nodded once, and with a "Carry on", he turned out of the room and back down the corridor.

 

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