The news had traveled fast — John Malachi was a Captain. Granted it was a brevet rank, but it was still big news on the Sargon.
Amy Chin couldn't wait to see him. Like other crew members, she wanted to congratulate him — though she hoped to give him a more personal congratulation.
But it was unseemly for a Lieutenant to chase after her commander, but she hoped he would stop by her quarters. She slipped off her uniform — she wondered whose bright idea it was to make the female duty uniform a short skirt, there wasn't much room for modesty.
She selected a loose pair of sweats, put them on and sat on the couch. This was the perfect chance to catch up on her reading — she had been working on Allan Peskin's biography of President James Garfield. It was still a great book, even three centuries later. Unfortunately, there was only a precious few works produced by the biographical genius.
He was one of her favorite authors. She developed a love of history and was introduced to Peskin's works during an American history class. His descendant, Admiral James Peskin, she later learned was an esteemed member of the Academy staff.
She had read the book on a datapad many years earlier, but there was something about having the hard copy of book to read. Her older brother found her an original edition — it was even signed by the author, "To Brad, Best Wishes, Allan Peskin."
Who Brad was she didn't know, but the book was in remarkable condition, considering its age.
Opening the book up, Chin smelled the paper, being careful not to rip the pages. She only got three paragraphs into the introduction when her door chime sounded.
"Enter."
The door opened and in walked Captain Malachi. Chin broke into a wide smile.
"Mr. Chin," Malachi said and she knew this was about official ship business.
She came to attention and saluted. "Yes, sir."
"You are on report."
"What for?"
"Drugging your commanding officer."
"Hey, I got it too."
"Yes, I know, but you were part of the group that planned it, so you're going on report for not showing proper respect for a fellow officer."
When he said that, she knew he was only doing what he needed to do.
"Is that all, Captain?"
"Yes."
"Good," she said, breaking her stance and threw her arms around Malachi's neck.
"Congratulations, John." She gave him a kiss, which he returned.
"Thanks, Amy."
She gave him a devilish grin. "You know, you made be salute you. I bet I could get you to salute me, at least part of you."
With that, she dropped to her knees and started to undo his pants.
He called it afterglow, the warm, comfortable feeling one experiences after sex.
Malachi couldn't believe it was even thinking that. He didn't want to sleep with Chin again, but he did. He couldn't resist, yeah, that's it, he lied to himself.
Though deep down he knew that wasn't the case.
What's worse, Tony Ramos was right — he was feeling guilty again.
What he couldn't deny was that he was enjoying the time he spent with Chin. Not only for the sex, but because he could talk to her. Surprisingly, he was able to talk to her about Lisa and talking about her definitely made the pain lessen.
"What are you thinking about?" Chin asked.
"I have to appoint command officers and department heads, at least for the interim."
"You'll make the right decision," she said. "You know who would be best in what position."
"Do you have a position you would like?"
"I have one in mind," she said, smiling as she pulled him on top of her.
Tony Ramos was sitting in his quarters, thinking about whether he should go to dinner or just relax, when someone rang his door chime.
"Come in."
In walked Scott Blattner.
"Scottman, what can I do for you?" Ramos asked with a smile. But the look on Blattner's face told him this was serious. "What's the matter?"
"They found her."
"Let's get our dress uniforms on," Ramos said. "Is everything ready?"
"Yes, just like we planned."
"Someone should get her crucifix and rosary."
"Already done, I'll be back in a few minutes after I change." Blattner's quarters were across the hall, so he didn't have far to walk.
Ramos didn't know how he would react, but figured it was best if the two of them approached him. He pulled his dress uniform from the closet and began to change.
After a few moments, Blattner returned.
"Ready, Tony?"
"Yeah, let's get this over with."
"Where is he?"
"You know where he is. Everyone knows."
He was with Chin.
"He is going to cause himself a ton of problems if he isn't careful," Ramos said.
"He's a big boy."
She didn't know it could be this good.
John was much better in bed than she would have ever guessed. She wanted to scream, but she was holding her breath.
He froze for a few moments and then collapsed next to her.
"O Captain! My Captain!" she said.
"So that poetry class came in handy after all," he said.
Before the lovers could recover, the door chime rang, causing the couple to rush to get into their clothes.
Ramos and Blattner could hear the couple scurrying around the room, probably trying to make things look normal. "Johnny," Ramos thought. "What are doing?"
After a minute, the door opened. Chin stood in the doorway.
"We need to speak to the Captain," Blattner said.
"Why are you in dress uniforms?" she asked, as she let the pair into her quarters.
"We need to speak to John," Ramos said.
"Come on in," she said.
Malachi was walking out of her sleeping quarters.
"What's up gentlemen?" he asked. "A little formal aren't we?"
"John, there's no easy way to say this," Ramos said. "The Murdoch found Lisa. We are having her transferred over."
"We asked Anders if she would allow the bodies of both Lisa and Captain Rice to lay in state here, but she wouldn't," Blattner said. "We talked her into allowing us to take Lisa back to Earth. It will be a chance to have some closure for the crew and you."
Malachi didn't say anything, instead looking down at the floor. Chin put her arm around him while Ramos put his hand on his shoulder. His tears dripped slowly off his face to the floor below.
"When did you plan on having the service?" he asked.
"As soon as you are ready," Ramos said. "The Murdoch will dispatch a shuttle with Lisa when we give the word John."
"Give the word," he said. "I'll contact Smith to bring me my formal uniform."
"Smith is getting it ready now," Ramos said. "It will probably be about two or three hours before the service will be ready, so there isn't any reason to hurry."
"No," Malachi said. "I might not want to do this, but I knew I would have to face this eventually, there is no reason to put it off." He sat down on the couch, putting his head in his hands. Chin sat next to him with Ramos on the other side, both putting their arms around him.
Malachi started to sob.