RoustWriter: Blog

This week with Arlene and Jeff:

..."But what's that got to do with me?" Morales asked. "I barely know how to spell those words, let alone be able to ask pertinent questions."

"But you're married to a physical anthropologist, and if I'm not mistaken, she has a minor in cultural anthropology, too. Highly educated people seem to enjoy attending dress up/cocktail parties on Earth, and I'll bet that advanced alien societies have their version of academia that isn't that different. We might both need to have a suit or two, and maybe even a tux. You wouldn't want to have your wife go by herself, would you? Or you could go in uniform."

"What uniform? I'm not in the military." Morales asked with a puzzled look.

"Still, we could have a Ship's uniform so we would all look professional. The crew will certainly be in uniform, as well as my Assault Team. Jasmine would fall into the professional category, as would your other wives. We've talked about your Primitive Survival Tactics. How would we label it? How about something like Primitive Survivalist? We can't have you running around on duty in blue jeans, so we need a uniform for you, too. Hey, that would go well with Jasmine's title when you go with her."

"Shit, Jeff, how do you think up this crap? If I went with her, I would come across as a blithering idiot when they started talking about ancient societies. But… since I've been using the reading program, my speed has tripled at least, and I retain more as well. Bottom line, I've read two of her basic physical anthropology texts - not that I remember a tenth of the names of all those bones, nor much about genetics, either, but I just might be partially able to understand what they would be discussing."

"I would just about bet they would be more interested in a big Primitive Survival Specialist than they would an Anthropologist - particularly the females."

For a long moment, Morales just stared at him...

Have a goodun;

Roust

This week with Arlene and Jeff:

...Shortly after Ship arrived back on Earth, Arlene and Ann, in full uniform, walked into Arlene's office. As Arlene slid into a seat that was far too prestigious - in her opinion. Ann sat on the corner of the desk, partially turning to face her boss/sister-wife.

Against Arlene's objections, Ship had insisted that she have a desk "befitting her position" as Wing Commander.

Shortly after Arlene had taken over as the Interceptor Wing Commander, the General had sent her the paper backup files as well as a digital copy of the aviators' files, saying that holding a hard copy of the file in his hand seemed to give him a better concept of the person the file represented, and thought it might work for her, too. She wasn't sure whether he was messing with her or not. Although she constantly used a computer, after a time, she had found herself reading a hard copy more often than she ever thought she would. The files contained every assignment the airmen had participated in during their careers as aviators for the General, along with much of the radio traffic between the units during practice and combat.

Arlene had, at first, thought the files would only cover training missions, but there were a number of secret missions the aviators had flown here on Earth. So far, other than drones, there had been no flight missions off-planet for various reasons - one being the size of Earth's fighter jets that were far too big to fit through the portal. Some of the teams had reported encountering space-capable fighter craft piloted by an aggressive race. The race seemed to be after some of the things the General hoped to obtain. It usually meant the research teams would have to hurry back through the portal. Pulse rifles would take down the fighters, but they could stand off well beyond the horizon and fire guided missiles. It would be suicide even for the assault teams to try and take out the space fighters.

She remembered that Jeff had mentioned that the General wanted a squadron of interceptors for off-world work, but so far, Ship had refused to provide the interceptors and also insisted that the thirteen she had built would remain with her as her own defense as well as that of Earth's. Even if Ship should approve, the physical size restrictions prevented an interceptor from being sent with the research teams...

Have a goodun;

Roust

This week with Arlene and Jeff:

...When Morales parked the crawler and trailer near the cave, Jeff was standing there.

"I told ship about you guys being attacked last night, and she immediately said that a large beast was making its way toward your cave while apparently using as much concealment as possible."

"That doesn't sound like a saber-tooth. There is nothing bashful about them."

"Well, anyway, she said if it continued to come this way, she would move it toward the plains."

As they stood talking, there was a roar of what must have been a large and pissed-off animal in the general direction of the equipment area, but much farther along the ridge.

"Is that…" Jeff began...

Have a goodun;

Roust

This week with Arlene and Jeff:

..."Shit," Morales grumbled as he now also watched the big animal through his scope. "You're right. He's definitely big." With a glance back over his shoulder, he continued, "It's the better part of a hundred yards to the crawler from here. He's probably three hundred yards away, but… I doubt we could get to the crawler before he would be on us, not the way those things cover ground. Shit," he grumbled, "I don't want to stay up half the night processing a fucking hide, but it looks like I won't have a choice. I'm certainly not going to throw a saber-tooth hide away." Then to Ashley, "Good job. If you hadn't seen him, the first we would have known about him would have been when he charged. We might have had to scramble to get a shot off."

"I wouldn't have noticed him either, but I happened to be looking in that direction, and when he moved, it caught my attention."

"Lobo and Lila would have known he was here as soon as we got out of the crawler, or maybe before," Ashley said.

"So, what do we do?" Christine wondered aloud.

"If we have to kill him, then we'll do it, and we'll all pitch in and help with the hide," Jasmine said.

"We would have to go back for the trailer before we could even start to skin him out," Morales pointed out. "Looks like my idea about checking out the garden was a bust."

"Maybe we could fire a few rounds and scare him off," Christine offered.

"Scare him off or piss him off," Morales said. "We're talking about a saber-tooth. Fear just doesn't seem to be part of their makeup, but let's begin easing back toward the crawler. Maybe he isn't hungry and will let us get away without a confrontation."

"Should we label that as wishful thinking?" Jasmine hurriedly asked as they saw the big beast come out of the woods and enter the field at a slow lope...

Have a goodun;

Roust

This week with Arlene and Jeff:

...After a moment, Camp hesitantly spoke again. "Ma'am, I know him. He'll wait until the last minute to quit. You can absolutely count on it. He'll do it hoping to screw the show up and make you look bad. I've been expecting this and planning. I can fly the demo by myself. With the AI, it can be done."

As Arlene stood there, a grin slowly crept across her face. "Commendable, Lieutenant Camp, but let me ask you this. Do you trust me, really trust me?"

"Ma'am, you know I do, or I wouldn't be standing here right now."

"Good. Just continue to train with Worthington the way you have been. We will plan on his quitting just before the first scheduled date of the show, but it will work out. I guarantee it. Oh, yes. Make certain you are the primary pilot at least half the time. When we meet in the morning, I'll reiterate that everyone should have equal time as the primary pilot. I'll make it clear that I will check. Someone could be sick, and I want us equally trained in both positions."

Camp wasn't nearly as confident as his Wing Commander appeared to be, but when he was dismissed, he saluted smartly and left...

Have a goodun;

Roust