Shuttlecraft Sureswift, Deep Space:
Sasha Hrelle and Giles Arrington dressed in quiet, by the light of a PADD sitting on the floor of the sleeping compartment. She stretched out the time adjusting her boot, more than once, in order to work out something to say. She had to say something to him after losing their virginity to each other. Didn't she? I mean, she had been vocal enough at the time, with stifled cries to God, assorted profanity, and complaints about some sharp object that had been sticking into her when she was on the floor and he was on top. What was it, anyway- Oh, it was the corner of her combadge, which must have fallen off the table when they had decided the bunk was too narrow and awkward and the floor was roomier.
And then they fell asleep, not even thinking about what would have happened if her father had come in and seen them lying on the floor, entwined.
She had to say something.
Anything.
Come on, you stupid cow... "Good work."
He looked up, looking pale and as confused as she felt. "Uh, thanks. You too."
They nodded to each other as they continued dressing. Terrific, she thought. That'll be up there with the love sonnets of Shakespeare, Shelley and Tarbolde of Canopus. "Let's- let's not tell my father about this, okay?"
"No, no, of course not."
Sasha nodded with some satisfaction. The last thing they needed was Dad getting involved.
They blinked as they emerged into the bright light of the rest of the Sureswift, which continued on its race back to its mothership the Surefoot. The cockpit was unoccupied, though that wasn't too worrying, as it worked mostly on autopilot and would alert the rest of the ship to any problems or incoming transmissions.
Her father was in the aft section, where he sat hunched over the table, working an engineering tool on a transtator panel. His tongue poked out the side of his muzzle in concentration as he focused on some delicate work. "Morning, you two. At least I think it's morning. What's the time, Giles?"
"The time, Sir?" He glanced at the chronometer on the adjacent wall. "0833 Hours."
"Thanks. Sit down. I'll be done in a minute."
They looked to each other and took the seats on either side of the man. Captain Esek Hrelle was still dressed in civilian gear, something which Sasha knew had distracted Giles since they started this journey, never having pictured the man wearing anything other than Starfleet uniforms. Sasha knew better, having spent a good portion of her life in the company of the man who had married her mother and had become her father; she smiled inwardly at some of the outrageous outfits he chose to wear whenever they went on vacation at the beach or in the mountains... Mom used to laugh her head off-
Mom. Thoughts of her brought her back to the reason for their being out there now: Sasha had become obsessed with witnessing the execution of Mom's murderer, the criminal Alexander Giger. She scared herself now with how bloodthirsty she had been, since receiving the invitation from the Nist. She had cursed her Dad as a coward when he'd initially refused to let her attend the execution, tried to conspire with her friends to steal this very shuttle, insulted Commander T'Varik, assaulted Counselor Kami- she shuddered at how bad she had become.
And when Dad had finally given in and took her there, the results were... horrifying. The Nist's method of execution had been unexpected. And unforgettable. She swallowed.
"Are you cold, Sash?" Hrelle asked. "Turn up the heat, if you want."
She shook her head. "I'm okay. Just woke up."
He nodded, his pointed ears twitching as he bared his fangs. "Get a good sleep, you two?"
She exchanged glances with Giles, before she finally replied, "Yeah, thanks."
"I have to say, I'll be glad to get back to the bed in my own quarters. How do those bunks compare to the ones in Alpha Squad's quarters?"
The cadets exchanged looks again, before Giles offered, "Not as good, Sir."
Hrelle nodded, still seemingly concentrating on his work. "I'll bet. Still, it does have some advantages for the two of you, sleeping together."
Giles frowned wordlessly at her, mouthing 'sleeping together?'
Sasha felt herself blushing, but couldn't find anything to respond with.
Then Hrelle elaborated, "You know, just two of you in the room instead of six. Less snoring."
Giles visibly relaxed. "Uh, yes, Sir. Quieter."
"I never got used to it when I was a cadet and sharing a room with someone else. It took a while when I started sleeping with your mother, Sash. I loved her with all my heart... but she could rattle the windows with those sinuses of hers. And she always denied it. Fortunately you don't seem to have inherited her considerable talents in that area."
She nodded, after a moment adding, "No. What are you doing, anyway?"
"A little creative sabotage of the replicator. I'm hoping to bypass the dietary override Dr Ling put in its programming so I can get something other than the rabbit food she's put me on. Hopefully I won't screw this up and we end up eating emergency rations for the rest of the trip." He chuckled and added, "You won't squeal on me, will you?"
"Us? Our lips are sealed."
"Much appreciated. I know how much you two hate keeping secrets."
They went silent again, sitting there, before Hrelle leaned back, holding up the transtator panel while setting down his tool. "There. Fingers crossed."
"Sir?" Giles asked curiously.
"Fingers crossed. Humans used to cross their fingers to wish them luck with a venture. Of course, they also would do it to negate a promise they had just made. Humans can be perplexing and mysterious - present company excluded, of course." He rose and inserted the panel into a waiting slot below the replicator unit in the wall. "There's nothing mysterious about either of you two."
Sasha frowned at Giles, as if the boy might have let slip something in the very, very few words spoken since they emerged from the compartment.
The replicator came back online as Hrelle stood up again. "There, now for the acid test. Computer: bottle of Spican flame whiskey and three shotglasses."
Both cadets looked at their Captain, as the requested materials appeared in a swirl of energy in the replicator slot, and the Caitian collected the items and brought them back to the table, taking his seat again. "You're lucky: my first instinct was to order a massive plate of fried chicken. And eat it all in front of you and give you none."
Sasha watched him uncork the bottle and pour some of the cherry-coloured liquid into the shotglasses, sliding one to each of them. "Alcohol? Isn't this... unbreakfasty, Dad?"
"Yes, and if either of you started your day with this, then you'll inevitably find yourself under the unforgiving gaze of my Vulcan First Officer. But this is a special occasion." He smirked at their reactions as he raised his glass.
Sasha never touched her glass, but given the way her temperature seemed to double, she felt as if she had downed the whole bottle. "You know, don't you?"
"He knows?" Giles asked, looking equally flushed.
"Yes," Hrelle confirmed, chuckling. "He knows... 'Tiger'." He downed his shot in one go.
