The Trinity Sitch - Book 3: Blade of the Fury
Chapter 21: It Is February, You Know
After a brief but thorough system diagnostic, the X.S.S. Trinity jumped back into Hyperwarp. She wasn't aware of it, but it was the first time she had ever made such a jump without a full crew of experts monitoring everything about her. Still, she thanked her makers for the fully integrated automation system that allowed her to do so.
This time the jump was perfectly normal and almost imperceptible, the sensation much like an express elevator beginning its descent. Ron disposed of the buckets and returned to his seat, looking much better as his stomach settled from their first Telewarp experience.
"Okay, kids." Trin began. Kim was amused how familiar the AI was becoming with them and at the same time was amazed how human-like the ship-mind's personality really was. "In about ten hours we will be close enough to Earth to try intra-warp communications."
"KP phone home!" Ron said in a strange voice. She shot him a mock scowl before melting into a smile. He grinned back wiggling his forefinger like the friendly alien in that old movie.
"Well, not so much phoning home, more like a one-way message. My transmitters can send a signal, but we'll be all the way back to the solar system before we can receive a return message. Wade has upgraded his systems, but they just don't have a transmitter powerful enough yet. Well, they do, but without intra-warp technology it'll take years for the signal to reach us, plus we'd have to drop out of hyperspace to receive it."
"Ten hours." Kim repeated, leaning back in her seat, watching the 'stars' fly by outside. Now, with home in front of them, it was strangely beautiful. Now it wasn't the unknown they were sailing toward. "There's no place like home." She whispered, letting her eyes close for a moment. "At least they'll have a little fore-warning that we're okay."
It didn't take long for the adrenaline to run out and when it did, both of them could feel every muscle, every bruise. Their flex-armor suits were also quite clammy and wet and thoroughly filthy with the silt laden water they had almost been swept away in. Kim felt the lethargy wash over her as her 'combat high' wore off. At least coupled with the relief she felt she could enjoy the feeling of her muscles relaxing, days of tension melting away like a distant memory.
Ron was in much the same boat. He had taken some pretty good shots though he'd given better than he got. She just couldn't quite get over what had happened back there. Yes, Ron had gotten much, much better over the last few years, especially when he was able to use his Mystical Monkey powers along with his hard-learned skills, but what she witnessed back there at the Spiron was beyond even that. Once, long ago he told her to become 'one with the mixer.' Now she finally knew what that really meant. He was truly one with his weapon. It wasn't even just with the sword. He fought with the staff the same way. He was, after all, still Ron and he was much like her, not willing to take a life, even in desperate combat. It was a wise choice to switch to the staff during the fight, throwing the sword right where she could easily cut her way out of her bindings.
Now he was sitting back in the acceleration lounge, his eyes half closed, enjoying the soft leather seat. Her seat was almost insanely comfortable too. It seemed everything about the X.S.S. Trinity was made to be comfortable. It was luxurious, yes, but not in the more opulent sense. Maybe that was the reason it lacked a lot of decoration. Whoever outfitted the ship was more concerned with physical comfort rather than filling the ship with comfortable things. That thought took her back a couple years to a slightly ratty but comfortable house on the Georgia coast.
Why am I thinking about Neil Argus? Yes, this would have been his ship if he had lived. Eventually it would belong to his daughter. Quite an inheritance, if you thought about it, though it would probably have been infinitely better for that sweet little girl to have actually known her father.
Half awake and half asleep she mused about things that may or may not matter, things like the way Neil's last name sounded so much like the Arkonian title for a wizard. Things like this ancient general the Blessed Mother had mentioned, whose name also sounded much like Neil. Arcus Nayeel? What a freaky coincidence. Then her mind drifted back to her battle with Adreina Lynn, the one woman who could make the word 'freaky' sound like nails on chalkboard. Thoughts of a lost friend drifted away, replaced by more pleasant memories. Memories of her victories, of their victories, all that she had shared with Ron. Ron, the man she now shared a soul with.
She almost fell completely asleep when Trin asked, "Comfy?"
Kim's eyes snapped open to behold Trin's computer generated face on the monitor trying its best to convey unseen hands on virtual hips.
"Just ferociously tired." Kim said, tilting her head back and letting her eyes close once more.
"Well, I guess then I won't mind all the muddy water you're letting soak into the leather upholstery." It instantly dawned on her that Trin took pride in herself and she was in the process of making a mess.
"Oh! Sorry." She said with a sheepish half smile. Kim had to admit, too, that wet flex-armor was really not the most comfortable thing in the world, despite sitting on overstuffed leather with computer controlled lumbar and back support. It was just her body overriding one discomfort with the desire to rest. She started to get up, realizing how her body was protesting. Both of her shoulders felt as if they had been almost ripped out of their sockets. Well of course they did! It took everything she had to hold onto Ron with one hand and keep from being swept away herself with the other. Still, she gritted her teeth and got to her feet.
"Come on, Ron."
"Aw, Mom! It's Sunday, let me sleep a little longer." He never once opened his eyes.
"Up and at 'em Mr. Stoppable" She grabbed his still-gloved hand and tugged, sending fresh pain lancing into her arms. "You owe me a good shoulder rub."
"Man, I feel like I could sleep for a week."
"That's just the aftereffects of to much adrenaline. Let's go get out of these wet things and into something more comfortable. Then we can crash for a while!"
"Mmmm, slipping into something more comfortable." Ron said dreamily. She thought for a moment he still hadn't woken completely up, then she caught his expression, a sly grin coupled with half-lidded eyes.
"Ron, you are a bad boy." She grinned at him, though she still blushed.
"The ladies love the bad boys, especially the misunderstood ones."
"Misunderstood my foot." She understood all too well what he meant. Amazing how the male mind works even when the body is so tired it could fall down!
"You do know what today is, don't you?"
"Well, technically it's still Saturday, at least for a couple more hours back home."
"Right…" he prompted.
She tilted her head at him, at first not quite sure what he was getting at. "It's…Oh my! I almost totally forgot!"
The fourteenth of February! They were so wrapped up in their sitch she had almost missed Valentines Day! At the very moment dinner reservations were going to waste.
"Yeah, so did I until just now. Sorry I haven't gotten you anything, but I've been a little too far away from the jewelry store." He finally got up from his seat, though not too quickly. The fight was catching up to him too!
"Well, you can owe me until we get home." She said sweetly. She twisted her ring around so the tiny stone was centered once more. "I've still got the most important piece of jewelry right here!"
"I've still got to convince Dad to free up some of my Naco money so I can buy you a real one."
She smiled lovingly at him. It was the same conversation they had over and over again but she never got tired of it. "That doesn't matter. What counts is what I said when you gave this to me!"
"Too bad that was the very moment the park sprinklers went off." He said, recalling the series of unfortunate events the night he proposed to her.
She got an army under his shoulder, the pain notwithstanding. His arm wrapped around her waist and they slowly made their way back to the stairs supporting each other. She let her head droop on his shoulder for a moment before she decided that wasn't quite as comfortable with a thick shoulder pad sticking up.
At the head of the twin spiral staircase he stopped. "Hey, you think that clothes thing will work on this stuff?" Instead of a conventional washing machine, the Trinity was equipped with small electronic clothes sanitizers that used some unexplained molecular process to perfectly clean without harming the structure of their clothes.
"At the moment, I'm not sure I care." She answered.
That seemed to be the answer he was looking for. Instead of taking them down the stairs, Ron led her aft to the smaller crew cabins. Once inside he pulled down one of the folding benches and sat, unsnapping the multitude of buckles on his boots.
"No sense dragging all this dirty stuff to our rooms then. We can put our clothes in that thing and worry about these suits later."
"Good thinking." She started assisting him with his armor, helping him shrug out of the thick flack vest and pentronium mesh jacket, dumping both on the floor. She wrinkled her nose at the white turtleneck that he normally wore under his sweater.
"That bad, huh?" he was busy with the snaps of her upper armor.
"Not so much the smell, but I don't think that thing will ever be white again."
"Speak for yourself." He smiled, gingerly helping her out of her own jacket.
"Eeeeeyyeewwww." She said, surveying the grey-tan mess of her clothing.
"All the more reason to get out of these things!" He said, wagging his eyebrows.
"Time and place." She said with a smile as she started pulling off her boots. They finished peeling off the armor, throwing the whole silted, dirty mess in a pile.
"Yeah, but isn't this the time and the place?"
"Oh yeah!" She agreed.
"Well, I guess it's standard after-mission procedure." He said, stretching slightly.
"Oh?" She looked at him in confusion.
"Yep, I'll take the spare shower up here and you can have the big one downstairs." A big lopsided grin spread over his face.
She stared at him a moment, and expression of confusion still on her face. Then she realized just how many times he had been chased by her mother to the downstairs shower after missions while she cleaned up their mission clothes. Why on Earth would they have to take separate showers here?
Then it occurred to her. He was playing her!
"Ronnie." She said with stilted sweetness. "How will you rub my sore shoulders then?"
He reached out and gently squeezed her injured joints. "Like this." His big, strong fingers found exactly the right points to chase the ache from the point where her arms met her shoulders.
She closed her eyes, enjoying the touch. "Mmmm, I could get used to that." Leaning in close, her lips met his in a tender kiss. He let go of her shoulder and gently touched her cheeks, leaning closer, his mouth opening slightly against hers. Her hands rested on the top of his upper legs, supporting her slight weight on him.
"Happy Valentines Day." He whispered as they parted just scant centimeters. She slipped onto his lap, wrapping her arms around his shoulders as she kissed him again.
"It is now." She whispered back
"Not exactly our usual Valentine's Day date, is it?" He tilted his head, indicating the small room they were in."
"Yes it is. You're here with me." She breathed in his ear, nuzzling him.
"Uh, why is it we're here in this little room when there's like three other places on this ship to be comfortable in?"
"Cause we're dirty." She leered at him breathlessly, leaning in for another, deeper kiss. Her thumbs slipped into the band of his boxers.
"Yeah, dirty." His hands slipped from her face to her waist, his thumbs emulating her move.
"Got a spankin idea." Kim gripped his waist, pulling herself up against him.
"M'Kay?" he had a feeling he knew where she was going.
"I know a way we can be clean and dirty at the same time." Her hands caressed the small of his back, one of them plunging downwards.
"Badical! I can scratch one more thing off my 'To-Do' list" He leaned over her shoulder and started lightly nibbling her neck.
"Hmmm?" She tilted her head back, enjoying his touch.
"You know, that list you caught me making back when we first started dating."
She pulled back a moment, her cheeks turning crimson. "Oh…my…God! I'd forgotten about that!"
"You're kidding! You didn't speak to me for a week!"
"Well 'doy! I couldn't believe you did that! That was single the dirtiest thing I'd ever seen, and to think you drew that!" She almost couldn't get the last out, she was giggling so hard.
The sensation of Kim giggling while pressed up against him like that was very, very nice.
"It's a shame you made me shred it, then burn the shreds." He started laughing himself.
"Ron! What if somebody found that by accident! You were always losing stuff. Imagine if that got mixed up with a homework assignment, or worse, Daddy got his hands on it."
He shuddered involuntarily, not knowing what would be worse, Barkin seeing it or a trip into deep space just over three years too soon.
"I just thought of something." He said, his hands cupping her backside.
"What's that?"
"Your Dad always said if I did certain things with you, I'd end up in deep space, yet, when we actually did, we were already there!"
She put her head on his shoulder, her whole body shaking as she tried stifling the laughter. "Should we ask Trin to fly by a black hole or two?" She went back to nibbling on his ears as her chuckling subsided. Kim swung her feet back to the floor, pulling Ron up as she stood. She wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed him deeply, molding her body to his. His hands went to her backside again, lifting her a couple inches off the floor so he wouldn't have to lean over so far. (It was also a nice excuse to hold her that way.)
"Come on." She said as she broke away finally. "Let's get this grime off us and fix your 'to-do' list" She took his hand and started leading him out of the small stateroom.
"Booyah!" He shouted as they started down the stairs.
A/N: A Bon-diggity New Year to everyone! Just in case anyone is wondering, yes, that was a allusion to Ivymae's "Ron's To Do List" over at DeviantArt. I just can't resist references to her badical artwork! If anyone is checking, yes, Valentine's falling on Saturday is correct - considering I use So the Drama as a reference point and their Junior Prom was in 2005!
Peace and Love - S'all good!