Trick or Treat, Part 2

By Jill Weber

Characters owned by Sony and Darkhorse and are used without permission or intent to make a profit

This chapter is dedicated to MadArtiste and prtygirl83

Lt. Dwayne Hunter looked at the sheet of paper in his hand as though he'd never seen anything like it. "What's this all about?" he asked Gen. Thorton.

"It's called a leave of absence," Thorton replied. His face was deadpan, but there was a twinkle of amusement in his grey eyes. "I believe civilians call it a day off."

"On a holiday?" Hunter asked skeptically. He looked at the Pit Crew as if he expected the three of them to be playing a practical joke on him.

His loyal, hardworking members of the Big Guy's maintenance team looked back at him with expressions of such sweet innocence that Hunter knew that he was being set up for something. "I just wish I knew what was on your evil little minds," he said to them.

Thorton leaned forward in his chair, rested his elbows on his desk and steepled his fingers in front of his face to hide his grin. Hunter didn't see Thorton's amusement. The former fighter pilot cum Big Guy's 'chief mechanic' was too focused on the Pit Crew's overdone expressions of surprise and hurt.

"Lieutenant!" gasped the grey haired, lanky master sergeant. Mack held his hat over his heart like he was about to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. "We just mentioned to the general that you've been working so hard lately that you deserve a break."

"We've all been working hard," Dwayne said. He looked at the papers in his hand, trying to guess what the joke was. His leave was for Oct. 31 and Nov. 1. He couldn't see any particular joke in having Halloween off. It wasn't like April fool's day, now.

"But we can cover for each other," Jo pointed out. "So we get more time off than you do." The freckled faced blonde smiled at Hunter with such sincerity that Hunter was tempted to make a break for it.

But with his characteristic courage, Hunter looked over at the tall, muscular black man who was his second in command. "You know we usually get two or three calls on Halloween," he cautioned.

Garth shrugged. "And you know that they're usually false alarms or something minor, like a practical joke getting out of hand or some intergalactic tourists who should have made a left at Alpha Centauri. Nothing I can't handle." He paused, and then added his kicker. "Don't you TRUST me?"

There was no way to gracefully argue with that one, so Hunter didn't try. "Okay," he looked at his leave papers with some bemusement. "But I wish you'd given me a little more advance notice," he said. "I don't have any plans for Halloween."

"Oh, just use some of your usual resourcefulness," Thorton said. The white haired general leaned back in his chair, all traces of amusement carefully hidden.

"There's plenty to do," Mack said.

"Yes, there are all sorts of special events being planned," Jo said with un-Jo like perkiness. "Amusement parks are having fright nights. Restaurants are having dinner specials."

"Even Quark is planning a special night of mirth and 'scariment,'" Garth said. He held out a bright orange flier. "See? Maybe you could get Dr. Slate to invite you to Quark's Halloween party."

Hunter was only barely able to restrain his gasp of horror. 'Matchmaking! These three…' He looked at Gen. Thorton's bland expression and amended the thought to: 'These four… monsters… were trying to fix him up with Erika Slate!' He'd better put a quick stop to that!

"I guess I'll call my sister and see what her plans are," he smiled blandly at the four poker faces. "She'll probably be glad to see me." Which was true, he realized. He and Darlene hadn't spent a Halloween together since he'd enlisted almost two decades ago. Suddenly, he felt very happy about this unexpected holiday treat and he began to look forward to seeing his sister again.

"Well, we should make sure that Big Guy is ready for anything, if you're going to be short handed for the night," he said to the Pit Crew.

"Yes, sir," they said with a noticeable lack of enthusiasm.

"Dismissed," Thorton said. If the general was disappointed, he gave no sign of it. Of course, Thorton hadn't survived three decades of attacks from aliens, mutants and assorted monsters by only having one trick up his sleeve.

As they filed out of Thorton's office, Hunter asked the crew. "You're sure you don't mind me taking time off during the busy season?"

"Nah, we can take care of business," Garth said. "What could possibly happen that we aren't ready for?"

The four stopped as if somebody had yanked on their leashes. Three heads swiveled to direct glares at Garth, who winced and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Sorry, that just slipped out," Garth said.

Hunter shook his head. "Well, I guess YOU will find out what you're not ready for." He strode off towards a bank of pay phones so he could call his sister.

Behind him, his Pit Crew was feeling glum. Not only had their plan to throw Dwayne and Slate together failed; they were now operating under a well-known jinx.

"You think it's going to be bad?" Garth asked forlornly.

"I think we're doomed," Mack said.

"I think you're an optimist," Jo replied.