Transmission Interrupted... Please Standby.

Processing... Processing...

Link has been Reestablished. Now Resuming Transmission.


"... I don't care if she's sick, you're second in command! It is your job to take charge of the sector leader's duties when they themselves are unable to do so!" Rachel fumed into one of the various transmission screens on the moonbase. "So quit making excuses and stop the Common Cold from infecting those kids!" The operative moodily agreed and gave a halfhearted salute before he cut the feed. Rachel let out a long strain of breath she had been holding and turned to another screen with another kid tapping her foot impatiently. "And I'll be with you as soon as someone turns the subtitles on, Numbuh 518." She wished the girl didn't look so ruffled with her. What could she do? It wasn't like she could speak chinese.

A week had passed since her and Nigel's date and things had gone back to the norm. Well, as normal as anything could get in this type of life. Rachel figured that it just all came down to her being back on the moonbase doing her job as Supreme Leader as she should be. The blonde didn't return to the lunar station until the weekend was over and she had totally stressed herself out wondering how bad things had been falling apart in her absence.

But then it had been a complete shock for her to find out that everything was okay. No kids were running around like headless chickens, Fanny hadn't turned the place into a female dictatorship, and all paperwork that she herself had to do wasn't that large and was in decent order. Sure, one or two papers had been misplaced, and the mess could have been a little tidier, but all that was just her nitpicking habit she seemed to get from her mom. Things may have not met her personal standards exactly, but she would be lying if she claimed they had been slacking.

'I'm being too literal.' Rachel admitted to herself as she starred off into space. 'It wasn't a big shock as much as it was an eye-opener.' It put things into different perspective. Her past bad experiences with this line of work had her into believing that things would go to heck in a candy bag if the Supreme Leader wasn't there to babysit every operation. But the Kids Next Door wouldn't fall at the seems just because one kid was gone. There were others like her who would step up and take charge.

The blonde also hadn't been blind to the slight change in atmosphere when she began her seemingly never-ending shift. A few kids had hunkered down at their post and groaned, like she was some taskmaster or something. She frowned as she thought of it that way. So what if they think she was a big mean boss lady? Someone had to be to whip them into shape. This wasn't a game, this was a world wide organization and it needed to be managed as such! Everything would be going a lot smoother if even half of the operatives got off their lazy butts and did their jobs without being told to.

'I sound like an adult. Heh, fantastic.' She mused sarcastically as she blew her bangs away. Her brown eyes softened as she looked about the deck. A few kids were trying to work harder then they should be just so she won't yell at them, and others were sneaking conversation like this was some strict classroom. She sighed sadly as she started to rethink her character as this job tended to make her do. But this time for the better. Nigel was right. It wouldn't kill her to ease up a bit would it?

"AHEM!"

Rachel snapped out of her personal musings and turned her attention back to the screen were the leader of Sector C was getting even more aggravated. Her surprise fled her face as she glared to an operative a terminal away from her. "Numbuh 74.239! Why aren't the subtitles up yet?" She quickly snipped as her hands fumbled behind her back.

"ACK!" The orange haired scientist gasped as he jumped up. He had been so focused on his work that he forgot what was going on. "Huh?" Was the noise he made as his neck twisted around to see Rachel's stern expression. "Subtitles? I-I mean, yes! Of course, subtitles." He added with a nervous grin as his fingers blitzed across the keyboard. Suddenly, they ceased all movement as his eyes trailed over the report. "Um, sorry m'am. But it appears lingual servers are down due to system maintenance." He apologetically replied. "We're still cleaning out files infected from Father's virus, and that...other thing we found." He hinted with a deep voice trying to add dramatic effect.

Rachel only nodded in understanding and turn to her screen with a groan. "Of course I'll have to do this the hard way." She grumbled as she reached under the counter to get out the old, 'Operatives Speak the Darndest Languages', book kids kept when they needed to translate manually. However, her hand stopped as she got an idea. She could exasperatingly flip through pages like she normally did. Or, she could redirect Numbuh 518 to the Chinese Representative down on deck B-88. She really never tried to do that before. She figured all those reps had other matters to attend to and this fell under her duty to handle.

But, she would waste a lot of time flipping through that old book. And the Chinese rep was very interested in Operation: C.H.I.N.A. Which was no doubt what Numbuh 518 had called to discuss. Rachel shook her head a bit. No. She was supposed to be doing this. Rules stated that-

You act so uptight all the time.

Her eyes widened as Nigel's words came back. Then she frowned as her fist unclenched. Oh, she would show him. All of them.

"Numbuh 518," The blonde began after finally composing herself. "due to maintenance, lingual services are down, and without them I'm pretty much useless to you right now. Guess it's what I get for flunking that course." She idly joked, feeling a bit more confident when she got a tiny smile out of the strict girl. "However, if it's suitable for you, I could reroute you to our Chinese rep, Numbuh 379. He can translate your transmission, send it to me, and I can act accordingly as soon as I can."

After her suggestion was posed, the Sector C leader's face went blank, as if thinking it over. Rachel tensed and began to panic on inside. A brief wave of paranoia overcame her. What if she reported her? This technically was breaking a rule. But then all her false fears vanished when the girl just beamed and gave a thumbs up. The blonde blinked before giving a small smile in return. "Great. Just wait a second while Numbuh 74.239 reconnects you."

The operative in question was trying not to let his jaw clatter to the floor. How could he not? He just witnessed history. But upon hearing his codenumbuh, the brace wearing boy went to work. "Ah yes. A simple twist of our satellite's frequency... and... done." As soon as the last word was uttered, Numbuh 518 disappeared and 74.239 turned on his mic. "Numbuh 9-to-5, let Numbuh 379 know he has a transmission waiting on line 40."

Rachel stared at the blank screens before her. No one else had called in. She saved Numbuh 518 for last because she knew something was up from the get-go. But now that she had just took care of it with a snap, she felt...good. Her eyes closed in bliss. For the first time in such a long span, there was silence over the 'Help-Me!' Hotline. She found herself enjoying this symphony quite well. Maybe she should let up like that more often.

Suddenly, her brows crinkled as she felt eyes on her. She opened her lids and looked over to see Numbuh 74.239 staring at her with a look akin to astonishment. "What?"

"Forgive m'am, but I must be disorientated." He said as his hand pressed against his forehead as if checking for a fever. "Did the Numbuh 326 just shirk a petty responsibility?" His hands gripped his face, tugging at his cheeks to give off an overselling shocked look. "It's a sign of the apocalypse I tell you!"

"Very funny." Rachel muttered as she rolled her eyes. "It was way better then wasting valuable time wiping dust off those century old pages."

"Oh, I concur. It was a more efficient, and less infuriating, solution to this situation." He batted off with an agreeable smile. "It's just that, you never struck me as someone who would resort to that."

"Well, I've been thinking that maybe I don't need to do every little thing." She stated back while jumping off the pedestal. "I have limitations. Not being able to speak different languages is one of them." Her arms folded atop the railing as she peered down below. Watching as every other kid worked while she had some spare time. "Trying to overdue myself is just going to lead to another I.T. fiasco. Besides, nothing is perfect, so maybe I should stop trying to make everything around here as such." The Kids Next Door was just like any other organization, it had it's own problems. The Splinter Cell, if not a better example.

"Interesting philosophy." 74.239 acknowledged as he closed out whatever program he was slaving over. "But I can't help but contemplate that it's brought on by some outside factor. Personal problems maybe?" He curiously inquired while his finger silently moved to hit the delete button.

"No." Rachel calmly answered. "Just a bit of criticism from someone."

"Someone." 74.239 silently repeated to himself. The printer dinged like a toaster and a report file popped out. The scientist took the warm paper and scanned over it's readings. A dark expression befell his face as he read, and his eyes flicked up to analyze Rachel while she was distracted. He quickly tucked the paper into his lab coat and his face brightened as the blonde turned in his general direction. "May I suggest that you take a little break?"

"And may I ask why you're even suggesting?"

"Because I can tell that this character conflict you seem to be having runs deeper then you think. I'm not saying take the day off, but maybe retreat to your personal quarters for a minute or two. Just to let yourself relax." Her face was still skeptical and he crossed his arms; a tad offended. "I was a part time counselor at the Deep Sea Lab y'know."

Rachel's brow raised disbelievingly. "What credentials does a 'part time' counselor have?"

74.239's face stoically blanked. "Have you ever tried to defuse a situation between a group of rabid video game nerds and have your sanity come out intact?"

"Maybe a little break wouldn't hurt." Rachel quickly said after hearing that. If it was one thing she dreaded it was when the scientists started bickering over video games. She still had nightmares about the time they fussed over Sonic 4. 'If I ever hear the words, 'model' and 'mine cart' in the same sentence again, I'll-'

"That's the ticket!" Numbuh 74.239 chorused as he patted her on the shoulder. "And if it's alright with you, I can manage your terminal at the Global Command deck until you get back."

"Thank you." Rachel nodded felt a little weight being taken off her shoulders. But before she could even walk off, he stopped the orange haired boy as she remembered something she needed to talk with him about. "Wait up, Numbuh 74.239. There's something we need to discuss first."

The boy stopped and slightly turned. "Hm?"

"It's about a complaint from Numbuh 77.849." Her brows furrowed as she waved her hands about. "Well, more like a worry then-"

"You tell Carl I don't have his Yipper Card Number 49 anymore! I left it on his desk two weeks ago and-"

"It's not about that." Rachel sternly intervened causing the boy to shut it. The girl rolled her eyes before continuing. "Numbuh 77.849 is worried about your behavior lately."

"My behavior?"

"He says you seem withdrawn all the time. You didn't even show at his house last Sunday to watch the original Dr. Time-Space movie. The one with the deleted scene where he finds out his grandfather was the cause of Rift Eighteen?" Her eyes suddenly shifted as her foot shuffled. "At least, I-I heard that's what happens."

"Thanks for ruining it for me!" He whined. "Serious spoiler alert!" He then let out a sigh as he calmed himself. "But that aside, nothing is wrong. It's just that I've been utterly focused on a new project of mine."

"A project?"

"Yes. One, that once finished, will insure a bright future for all of the Kids Next Door. Every kid in the world in fact." He stated proudly.

"I see." Rachel hmmed before shaking her head. "Well how much longer can I expect you to be working on this project? You're one of my top researchers and I can't have you distracted all the time."

"Time is of the essence." He mumbled, his fingers fiddling with his coat. "But don't worry, I'm very close to finishing. In fact, I was almost done."

"'Was'?" Rachel questioned. "What happened."

"Let's just say a problematic variable placed itself within the equation. And in order to finish, I have to find a way to dispose of it." It was all he said as he turned away, his eyes narrowing once out of distance. "By any means necessary."

Rachel didn't quite catch that last part, but shrugged it off and headed to her office. Taking 74.239's advice and enjoying a break.

But only a short one.


two hours later.


"Welcome to Kids Next Door Moonbase, cadets." Patton Drilovsky, Numbuh 60, spoke as he marched into the uber main auditorium room. A platoon of hopefuls trailing in behind him. The drill sergeant stopped on the dime, and the kids tensed so they wouldn't knock into him. "Get a good, long look at it while ya can. 'Cause the only way you're gonna see it again, is if you maggots survive my torture." He announced without looking back.

A girl with pigtails shivered as she eyed the operative like he was crazy. "D-Don't you mean, training?"

Patton flicked a glance over his shoulder, his black eyes gleamed and his smirk would make lower villains pee themselves. "Why lie about it?"

The girl paled while she tried not to faint. Another curious and brave boy decided to voice his question next. "So, sir. Why are we even up here? Sir." He added trying to appease the sergeant.

"To fill out your final registration forms." Patton explained as he did an about-face to overlook his cadets. "After you have all passed basic training, you all be placed in different branches of the Arctic Base to hone the skill you seem to have an affinity for. These forms help us decide where to place you." His arm suddenly popped out and pointed a series of tables at the other end of the room. "You will fill up those forms over there once Numbuh 57.47 arrives to assist you. Does anyone have any other questions before he gets here?" A boy in the back raised his arm and Patton immediately reacted. "Yes, Johnson?"

"I kinda have a question about an operative."

Patton's eyes trailed to ceiling, wondering if he should answer that. "Depends, which operative?"

"That scary Numbuh 86 lady."

The sergeant groaned. "Numbuh 86 never threw a boy off the empire state building. That was just a Halloween story made up to scare-"

"What? Not that. I had another question." The cadet interrupted. But then he froze as he went over what Patton just said. "W-Wait... she threw-"

"It never happened!" Patton shouted before all the boys ran off in fear. "What is your question then?"

"Oh. Uh, well I'm new here. I heard a lot of things about her, but I was just wonderin'... is she Irish or Scottish?"

"That information is on a strict need-to-know basis." Patton replied emotionlessly without missing a beat. "And off the record Johnson, I would prefer it if you didn't say her name aloud again."

"Why?"

"It's like the old saying goes." Patton muttered. "Speak of the devil-"

"WHADDYA MEAN YE DON'T KNOW WHERE SHE IS?"

"-and 'she' shall appear." Patton droned as he turned to the source of the noise. Over at the other side was Fanny herself. The Global Tactical Officer, (Or Head of Decommissioning. He didn't know what she was calling herself this week.), was currently in a heated argument with a kid running the concession stand. Normally the boy would feel sorry for the red head's latest victim, but the concession stand runners were known to have backbones.

Frowning, Patton turned to the cadets and they all snapped to attention at his sharp gaze. "Take your seats and await further instruction from Numbuh 57.47." The cadets did as they were told and ran to the table while Patton went to try and cool down Fanny's situation.

"How would I know where the Supreme Leader is?" The snack stand owner fussed right back at the furious red head. "What do you want me to do? Check to see if she is hiding behind the green kool-aid!"

"Don't get snippy with me, boy." Fanny snarled with fire in her eyes. Finally, she fumed and flung her hands into the air. "I don't even know why I bother! You're stoopid boy mind has probably been reduced ta mush like ya serve!"

"That is it!" The kid raged, throwing his server's hat to the floor. "I am done. I do not have to take this harassment! I am going on break!" He vented turning away.

"Don't ya dare turn yer back on-"

"AH LA LA LA LA! I cannot hear you!" The kid yelled while covering his ear. "What was that? You want Slurpee? Yes? I give you FREE Slurpee!" He quickly stated, shoving the frozen beverage in Fanny's stunned hands. "Goodbye! Thank you! Come again!" As soon as that was said, his hands moved to a lever on the wall and yanked it down. After that, a steel sheet came down blocking the kid and the inside of the stand from sight, and in the middle was a 'Sorry, I'm Closed' sign.

Fanny blinked at the absurdity. She gazed at the now closed stand, then at the Slurpee in her hands. Soon her eyes narrowed and her grip on the cup tightened as her anger heightened. "GAH!" She yelled in fury as she flung the stupid ice drink backwards. She was about to leave, but stopped when she heard the Slurpee collide with something right behind her. She glanced back and there to her continued surprise, was Patton. The cup was bent atop his ski hat, and the contents of the Slurpee had completely covered the upper part of his face.

"Good to see you too, Fanny." The boy growled as the icy chunks dripped down his cheeks. A small bit managed to slip between his lips and he smacked his mouth in approval. "Mmm, blurpurple berry."

"I don't have time for yer stupidity, Eskimo." Fanny groaned as her hand rubbed at her forehand. "I've got a huge crisis on ma hands!"

"You sure do." Patton chimed in while using his ski cap to wipe the icy treat off his face. "If you keep this up, no one is gonna get their snacks this weekend."

"Be serious for once ya life!" Fanny yelled. "Numbuh 362 is missin' and that annoying Numbuh 65.3 won't leave me alone about it!"

"She's missing?" Patton asked sarcastically. Fanny only responded with a curt nod. "And you've checked everywhere?"

"Of course I have! Do you think I'm-"

"Even her office?" He joking asked. But when her mouth opening and shut, he tried his best not to laugh. "Wow. And you call us stupid."

"Aw, shut up!" She grumbled as she stomped off to Rachel's office, leaving Patton to clean up the remains of the Slurpee. His finger scrapped up a bit, and couldn't but help but think it was a waste.

After going up two decks, traveling through an endless portal of whooshing doors, and hiking up a tower of stairs, Fanny finally made it outside her superior's office. The red haired girl placed her hands on her hips and caught her breath. Turns out yelling and running don't make that great of a combination.

Adjusting her helmet, Fanny knocked on the door and awaited reply. "Numbuh 362, m'am! Are ya in there?" After a few minutes, she still received no answer. "Numbuh 362?" Her hand gripped the knob, twisted it, and push in carefully. "Rachel?"

"Wow. I sure wouldn't want people to know about that."

Fanny rose a brow when she picked up the voice. It sounded like Rachel, but her voice was tinged with mirth and she was trying her best not to laugh. The girl walked the rest of the way in, only to bite back a gasp of surprise. There at the Supreme Leader's desk, was the Supreme Leader herself. At least she thought it was. On the left side of the room was a large filing drawer hanging open, and piled on Rachel's desk were the files that went in there. Rachel herself was in her chair. The blonde was reading through a file, the folder blocking her face from view.

"Uh, Numbuh 362?" Fanny silently muttered, still stumped by what she was seeing. In all the time she knew Rachel, she had never seen her so...so mellowed out. She was posed in a relaxing position, one hand holding up the folder and the other twirling with her free hair. Her helmet, which she always wore on duty, was on her desk, and she was using it to prop her feet up with. And apparently, she didn't hear her, because she just kept on giggling.

"He gets caught in a soda drinking binge, and he's still public affairs manager? Ha!"

Finally tired of being ignored, Fanny cleared her throat and did what she did best. "NUMBUH 362!"

"WAA!" Rachel screamed with fright as she lost her balance and toppled backwards. Her arms swung out in a clumsy manner and swept all the contents off her desk, which in turn, followed her to the floor. Fanny winced when the blonde moaned, but it was short lived when Rachel reared back up snarling. "WHAT?"

"It's just me, m'am." Fanny replied, still surprised. "What uh... are ya doing?"

Rachel blinked for a moment, her slightly dazed looking still haunting Fanny, until finally but stood up and tried to tidy up. "Oh! Numbuh uh...86! I was, um, looking for a file, and I kinda got sidetracked." She nervously uttered, a little ruffled at getting caught like this.

"I see that, but ya been sidetracked fer two hours!" Fanny exclaimed. "Numbuh 65.3 started whining and causin' everyone to start acting all crazy!"

Rachel rose a brow before she frowned. "Well sorry. I hadn't time to myself in while. It was fun to unwind for a bit." She then grinned as she held up a folder she had been reading. "I mean get this, Numbuh 21 gets soda-drunk and ends up hanging off the top of Sector X's treehouse by his underwear!"

"He had it comin'." Fanny grumbled. But then her eyes widened when she finally realized what kind of files Rachel was reading. "Are...are those Operative's Personal Info Files?" She asked aghast. "Aren't we not supposed to read those unless a kid comes under investigation?"

Rachel only shrugged. "They're all like a gazillion years old. The oldest one I found was all the way back from 1988." To state this fact, she grabbed a handful of folders, and dumped them in her wastebasket. She dusted her hand off and smirked at Fanny. "Think of it as Spring Cleaning, only it's not spring.

Fanny stared at the folders in the trash. She supposed if they were that old... "I guess so." Before she could say anything further, another kid rushed into the office.

"THERE you are, m'am!" Herbert, Numbuh 65.3, proclaimed as he stumbled, carrying a large stack of paperwork. He shifted the teetering tower of sheets, and his head poked around, sweating due to all the weight. "I need you to sign the the 45-Sub A sheets pronto! Then there's the Numbuh 44s' latest case file, and that's gonna be an all nighter!" He then hefted the papers back up and made his way to the door in the back leading to Rachel's private quarters. "Some of these don't need to be filled out for another few weeks, but I'll leave them on your counter since you usually- EEP!" He yelped when he felt a hand grip down on his shoulder. He glanced back expecting to see Fanny. She had been looking for an excuse to sock every boy on the moonbase for a while. But his glasses nearly fell off when he met Rachel's cold stare.

"Don't. Go. In. My. Room." She grounded out. "Private quarters, are private for a reason." Her hand then snapped to the top of papers and scoffed at the sheet she picked up. "And you want me to sign a form deciding whether Numbuh 590 or Numbuh 498 gets the last piece of gum?" She asked disbelieving. "What kind of crud is that!"

Herbert was shocked. Rachel never denied paperwork like this. "B-But, you're the Supreme Leader-"

"And with the duties I, as Supreme Leader, have to preform, do you think I have time to do something as silly as this?" She asked waving around the sheet. "Well?"

"Uh..." Herbert stuttered. She did kinda, sorta have a point. But, "You've always handled all the paperwork! I gather all the important forms from other departments and they tell me to bring them here to you." He stated with jitters. "At least, that's how it's always been."

"Well I think it's time for a change." Rachel spoke as she rubbed at her chin. Finally, she snapped her fingers. "New rule. Unless the paperwork is important enough for a Supreme Leader to look over-"

"You mean like a Triple Encrypted Ultra Important File?" Herbert questioned curiously.

"Yeah, unless it's...whatever you just said, then all departments have to fill out their own paperwork." She started with a smile. "Perfect solution."

Herbert wasn't so sure. "I don't think everyone will like that..."

"Then tell them 'boo-hoo' and order them to get it done."

"M-Me? Order?" Herbert stuttered. This had to be a dream. Was the Supreme Leader about to... "You mean l-like, be in charge?"

"You said all the others tell you to bring this to me." Rachel smoothly started while patting Herbert on the shoulder. "Aren't you tired of being their running dog? Having them laugh at you just for doing your job?"

Numbuh 65.3 blinked before his brows knitted. "Yeah." His face broke into a full frown as he thought of all the taunts he's endured. "Yes I am! They all think I'm some fat nerd and don't respect me just because I give them missions they don't wanna do! I'm sick of it!"

"Well not anymore!" Rachel cheered, rallying the boy into action. "From now on, other then me, you are in charge of all things paperwork. Fully. If they don't follow your orders, then they can expect punishment from now on." She then slapped the boy on the back and motioned out the door. "Now go get 'em!"

"Yes m'am!" Herbert cheered. Fueled with new purpose, he strutted out of the room like a proud peacock. Well, as best as he could carrying a ton of paperwork. "Get ready losers! 'Cause now it's either my way, or the high-WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!" He screamed as he tripped over the first set of stairs, tumbling all the way down.

Fanny had somehow managed to remain silent throughout the whole exchange. Her mouth hung open as she watched Rachel give Numbuh 65.3 a promotion. Just so she didn't have to do paperwork that much anymore. It wasn't until Herbert had reached the bottom of the on-going stairwell that she was able to form a response. "What...was that?"

"Me trying something new." Rachel offhandedly said as she walked around the room to her desk. "Just because I run everything doesn't mean I have to do everything. Besides, most of the kids up here need to learn a bit more responsibility anyway." That was her justification as she lifted her chair back up. "I think it'll work out well."

"Whatever ya say... I guess." Fanny coughed into her hand. Rachel just seemed very different.

"So." Rachel boringly droned as she plopped in her chair. "What do I have to do?"

"Huh?"

"My job?" The blonde asked as she twiddled with her hair some more. "What exactly do I need to be doing now? Anything important? I would like to get them out of the way."

"Well..." Fanny tapped her chin, only to embarrassingly come up with nothing. "You kinda just, cleared yer schedule."

"You're kidding?" Rachel asked slowly. "You mean all I do is paperwork?"

"No." Fanny started. "Ya do other things like...well if you didn't manage... Argh." She growled frustrated. "I don't know what you do. I don't have yer job! Ya took care of everything else this week, ya usually just use the extra time ta work on some documents and give us some orders on...stuff."

Rachel closed her eyes and thought to herself for a few seconds. After a few seconds of awkward silence, (at least to Fanny), the blonde let out a little chuckle. "So I'm done."

"Wha-"

"I'm done." She smiled as she stood up. "No one's trying to blow us to bits, paperwork is taken care of, and it's the weekend! Everyone's going home." Rachel hand dropped below her desk, and pulled back up a small black bag. "So I'm calling it a day."

"But...but..." Fanny didn't know what to think. "Can you do that?"

"Geez, it's only noon. You guys can survive without me for the rest of the day can't you?" Rachel muttered with an eye roll.

"But where are ye going?"

"Hmm." Rachel stopped to think for a moment. Slowly, her lips curled into a smirk and her eyes gleamed with an emotion Fanny had never seen in Rachel's eyes before. It jarred her extremely. "I think I owe my boyfriend a visit." She turned to Fanny, that...odd look still there. "What? Is that going to be a problem for you?"

"Not at all." Fanny eveningly answered. She didn't know what was going on with Rachel, but it just didn't feel right to her. Or maybe it was because she was dating that stupid Numbuh 1. She was too confused at the moment. "But before ya go to yer... boyfriend, any final orders?"

"Not really." Rachel answered. She paused in her stepped and her brown eyes flicked to the door to her private quarters. "Oh yeah, don't let anyone go in there." She then continued to the exit. "I've got to clean out the mess later."

Fanny glanced at the door then at Rachel again. "But what if some sector complains over the 'Help-Me!' Hotline?"

"You like yelling at things, don't you?" And without looking back, Rachel left the room, intending to leave the moonbase.

At the bottom of the stairs of the Commander's Deck, Patton passed through the metal doorway, not even admiring the cool whooshing noise it made. One of the cadets had shown a high mark on the espionage and he needed to speak with Rachel about it, since she technically was still in charge of Covert Operations.

However, before he could even start up the endless stairway, he glanced to the side to see quite the sight. There, buried under a pile of papers was a groaning Herbert. His helmet had rolled off to the side, his glasses were crooked, and his perfect pocket protector was ruined.

Patton paused, thinking of the best way to delicately to approach the situa- "What the heck happened to you?" So much for subtlety.

Herbert raised his fist and smiled a dizzy smile. "I got a promotion." His head then fell to floor, completely wiped out.

The drill sergeant just shook his head. "That's why I don't work in Zero Gravity." Suddenly the sound of footsteps entered his hearing and he looked up only to see Rachel walking down. "Numbuh 362, m'am!" He stated loudly, tensing into attention with a sharp salute.

"Lighten up, commando." The blonde joked as she walked right past him, not sparing him a glance.

Patton's eyes widened and he slumped in confusion. What just happened? But Rachel sure as heck wasn't going to answer, she just kept walking out. Laughing a bit at Herbert as she passed him. All Patton could say was that something weird was certainly going on.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

-Transmission Interrupted.


I hope that was long enough for ya. What can I say? I like to tell a story. May have not been the story many of you wanted updated, but I'm working on it.

Was Rachel OOC? If not...I need to try harder. Curious? Wait and see.

As always, reviews are greatly appreciated.

Later.