2352-APRIL-17
Brill stopped by during my watch and we arranged to eat aboard before heading out for the evening’s festivities. Cookie had one of his garlic and lamb dishes on the menu with fresh potatoes and it sounded good to me. I had smelled it all afternoon every time I had gone into the mess deck for coffee. The aroma made me drool in anticipation. When I stepped onto the mess deck for dinner, I found Diane and Brill having some kind of intense discussion.
I crossed to their table and heard Diane say, “But Murdock? You know what happened the last time—”
Brill saw me coming and gave me one of those big smiles. “Hi, Ish.”
Diane turned to me then and I got a matching grin from her. “You even look better in that shipsuit. Funny what some new clothes will do, huh?”
“Problems?” I asked looking back and forth between them.
Diane shook her head. “No, just having a little discussion about a contractor.”
“We need some plumbing done and we’re just trying to figure out who and when.” Brill lied very smoothly, but I did not call her on it. If she wanted me to know, she would tell me. It did pique my interest though.
“Okay, well, I’m starved, so I’ll be right back.”
Sarah was in the galley with Cookie and they were working on something with a lot of flour scattered around the prep table. It looked like pie crust discussions, so I just waved. I did not want to get into the shortening versus butter debate just then.
The lamb and potatoes looked great, though, and they had sautéed some carrots as a vegetable side. It smelled divine and I took a big helping, dithering around the buffet until Diane and Brill had hashed out—or at least set aside—whatever it was they were discussing but did not want me to know about. When the coast appeared relatively clear, I headed back to my seat.
“Okay, what’s on the agenda for tonight?” I asked.
“We’re meeting Bev around 21:00, so we’ve got some time to get ready. There’s a bar down on the oh-two level that caters to spacers. Good drinks, music is usually live, and the people there all understand what being a spacer means,” Brill said.
I glanced at Diane who still had a bit of a glower going on and asked, “What’s that mean? About being a spacer?”
Diane answered, “Civilians have a different perspective. They’re going to be here next week. We’re not. It can be problematic at times.”
Whatever they were talking about was all Greek to me, so I just nodded like I understood. I dove into the lamb and potatoes. It was superb. Say what you will about the ambiance on the mess deck, but the food was always excellent. With Pip and Cookie augmenting the stores’ budgets with port-trading, it was definitely improving, too.
It did not take long to put away my dinner, so I bussed my plates and drew a fresh mug of coffee for dessert. I did not want to fill up too much. I had a feeling I was in for a long night. “Anything I should do to get ready?” I asked. “Trim my nose hair? Shave my legs?”
I caught Diane in mid-drink but she recovered well. “Where’d you hear that?”
“Mom always shaved her legs before a hot date,” I said with a smile. “And she always came home complaining about guys with an excess of nose hair.”
“Tell ya what,” Brill said. “We’ll shave our legs. You trim your nose hair. Clip your nails while you’re at it. You don’t know where those fingers might end up.”
She caught me with that one, but I did not recover as well as Diane had. I had to get towels from the galley to clean up the table. That was the point where I knew for sure that it was going to be an interesting night.
We horsed around over the remains of dinner until 19:00, then cleared our table to help Sarah out as much as possible before going our separate ways. I headed for the gym to get in a short run and a sauna. I took it easy because of dinner, but it felt good to run. I had been so busy the previous few days that I did not really have much of a chance to exercise. The sauna felt good too, and I had the place to myself. I let the heat seep into me and worked on that feeling of languid relaxation that only serious heat brings.
Afterward, I took a quick splash at the gym to get the sweat and grime off, but headed up to the berthing area to get my real showering in. Rebecca was reading in her bunk when I got up to the berthing area.
“Not going out?” I asked her.
She shook her head. “I got duty in the morning and I’ve already had one late night and hangover here. I’ll wait until tomorrow for another. Looks like you’re going.”
“Yup. Someplace down on the oh-two deck.”
“Well, have fun and leave some booze for us.”
“I’m not much of a drinker.”
“In that case, be careful. If the tip of your nose starts getting numb, shift to ginger ale with a cherry in it.”
“Does the cherry help?”
“Yeah, it makes it look like you’re drinking so people stop bugging ya.”
I made a mental note of that one. The implication of what she had said as well as the tip. “Thanks. I’ll remember.”
I like to have a good time as much as the next guy, but on my sixteenth birthday, Mom got me really drunk and I was sick as a dog. When I came to on the bathroom floor, lying in a puddle of my own making, she was sitting on the floor of the hallway outside. She said just one word, “Remember.” Then she left me to clean up the mess. Rebecca had just given me a good warning and I intended to heed it.
I took my jeans and briefs with me into the san and started to get ready. I took my time preening. It was not like I had a lot of beard yet. My hair was just too fine, but I had seen guys with wispy hair trying to look older by letting it grow out and I did not want to be one of those guys. While I was at it, I trimmed my nose hairs and clipped my nails for luck. The shower felt good and I let it finish what I had started in the gym. When I got out I dried off, slipped into my briefs and jeans, and bundled up my shipsuit and skivvies. I stowed them in the bottom of my locker and then faced the decision of which shirt to wear. The pink looked good, but I had just worn it and I wanted to spread the wear out a bit. The turtleneck was likely to be too hot in a crowded club, and the crewneck just did not feel dressy enough. I was standing there in my jeans, shirtless and barefoot when I realized Rebecca had moved to the berthing area table. I glanced over at her and caught her staring at me.
“What?” I asked. “Is something wrong?” I checked my buttons and made sure they were done up.
“Oh, no,” she purred in that voice that would melt titanium. “But if you’re gonna put on a show like that, I wanted a front row seat.”
I laughed and threw my wet towel at her. She caught it, threw it back, and pretended to go back to her reading. I pulled the white oxford shirt out of the locker, slipped it on, and slowly buttoned it up, taking care to get the tails tucked in just right. I picked the green stone and tied the leather around my neck so that it lay just below my collar bone in the hollow of my throat. I took my socks and boots over to the table and sat there to slip them on.
Rebecca moaned. “You’re a tease.”
“Thanks,” I said, and she slugged me in the arm with a laugh.
When I got the boots on, I pulled the coat out of my locker and slipped into it, leaving it unbuttoned before turning to the big mirror outside the san. I thought I looked good and, judging from Rebecca’s blush, she thought so too.
“Okay, well, I think I’m ready,” I told her. “Don’t wait up.”
“Take care, Ish. Have fun.”