RoustWriter: Blog

This week with Arlene and Jeff:

..."Computer, did Tosha take anything with her?"

"Yes, My Prime. She took her overnight bag with her."

Why the fuck would she do that? She was supposed to spend… Somebody must have pissed her off, or else hurt her feelings. I'm gonna have somebody's ass for sure.

"Computer. Review the last couple of hours of Tosha's interactions with any and all of us with emphasis on an argument or any derogatory comments that might have hurt Tosha's feelings. Are you programmed to do that?" he asked after having second thoughts.

"Yes, My Prime. I have an extensive subroutine that covers that area of human interactions; however, I anticipated your request, and I have found nothing that my programming would consider to be an insult, nor did she show any facial expressions that would coincide with that while she was conversing with anyone at the Retreat. She continued to smile while walking down the hall as she left, but once she was outside, her expression changed and seemed to express tension - perhaps a great deal of tension according to my programming."

"Shit. Shit. Shit." Now, what the fuck happened? Then aloud again, although it was more muttering than coherent speech, "If she didn't argue with anyone, and she didn't show tension while talking to anybody, then what? Shit. Women. I will never understand them. Somehow, someway, somebody must have hurt her feelings. But dammit, my women don't do that kind of shit, and besides, they all like her. If Diana is to be believed, they all find her extremely likeable and want me to marry her. So how did she get her feelings hurt? If that's what it is."...

Have a goodun;

Roust

This week with Arlene and Jeff:

...After a lengthy search, the Second Officer found a particularly rugged asteroid that was approximately one mile (interpreted) at its widest point. It was inundated with overhanging crags and crevasses that their small craft could easily hide in or under. Yet the asteroid wasn't so big that he and his crew could not put out sufficient passive scanners so that their AI could maintain a full watch in every direction.

Of course, parts of the asteroid belt were now on the opposite side of the sun from this Earth, but the part they chose was not. However, it was approximately 3.5 AU's from the planet, and it took light roughly 29 minutes (interpreted) to travel from this Earth to where their scout hid in a deep canyon. This should allow a tremendous leap in the volume of information they could accumulate when compared to what they could learn from four light years away. If they were not discovered and their scans turned up nothing over a reasonable time period, the Second thought he might venture nearer, maybe even to the giant moon orbiting the planet. Still, for now, he was going to continue to err on the side of caution. The First continued to be adamant about something watching their ship, and that was good enough for the Second Officer. With that in mind, the Second advised his crew, yet again, about what the First Officer had said, reiterating that they would use only passive scanners and be very vigilant about anything approaching their position.

After locking themselves to the rock with a tractor beam, he ordered remotes put out around the asteroid so that they could see in every direction. When all the remotes were finally in position, he personally checked to make certain there were no blind spots in their surveillance system. Satisfied that nothing could slip up on his little ship, the crew settled down to watch for unusual movement or energy expenditures in the belt. Once the Second was satisfied that they were alone in the belt and safe, he would shift his search to the vicinity of the planet...

Have a goodun;

Roust

This week with Arlene and Jeff:

...When the phone rang, Olivia was deeply asleep and dreaming that the scout's proximity alarm had gone off. Still mostly asleep and thinking she was on the scout's narrow bed, she sat erect, turned and went through the motions of putting her feet on the deck in preparation to hurry the few paces to the command seats. The problem was that she was on the inside of a full bed, and her right heel rammed squarely into Joe's crotch as she struggled to stand.

The lights were low, but there was sufficient illumination to allow her to realize what just happened, not to mention his gasp when her foot connected with his balls. "Sorry, Baby. Oh, I really didn't mean to do that. The phone," she said, motioning.

Between the two of them, they managed to retrieve the phone and Olivia answered after the fifth ring, although there was a bit of muttering from Joe in the background.

At Olivia's gasping hello, Diana hesitantly said, "Hi. This is Diana Matthews. I'm sooo sorry for awakening you two. I should have realized that you might be short of sleep after the mission. Would you please give me a call at your convenience? And again, I apologize for having awakened you."

"What time is it?" Olivia asked while trying to focus her sleep-laden eyes enough to read her watch.

"Almost seven-thirty in the early evening. Look, if you can, just go back to sleep and give me a call tomorrow. I'll…"

"Is it the Sergeant?" Joe asked.

"No, Honey. It's Mrs. Matthews." Then back to Diana. "I apologize, Mrs. Matthews. We were tired from all those four on and four off shifts, and we were just going to catch up on our sleep a bit. We're awake now, though. How may I help you?"

"Again, I apologize."

"No problem, Mrs. Matthews, normally neither of us would sleep that soundly." Three straight hours of making love will do that to you, Olivia thought, her face a bright red, although Diana couldn't see her.

"Well, I was calling to offer my congratulations upon your engagement. So, congratulations from the Matthews family."...

Have a goodun;

Roust

This week with Arlene and Jeff:

...An hour later, the debriefing and the breakfast were both over, and the table now contained only a couple of recorders and coffee cups. "So, when are you two going to do it?" Whitworth asked.

White and Martin looked at each other before White said, "As soon as we can get our license, tell our parents and make arrangements for them to come. As you know, we both normally live on base, but because of the training on Ship, we have been stationed here with Security for the past few months." With a glance at Martin, she went on, "I suppose we'll make arrangements for our parents to stay in Winter Park, and we'll get married at the courthouse."

Strangely, the Colonel, General, the Sergeant and Kayla all chuckled at the same time.

Jeff caught their eyes. "Do me a favor and hold off on your plans for a few hours. Since you probably need some sleep, anyway, I suggest that you go on back to your quarters after we're through here, and I'll get back to you late this afternoon. Please don't make any firm plans until I contact you."

"Does anyone have anything else to add that might be of concern to the debriefing?" Whitworth asked.

"Yes, Sir," the Sergeant said as he turned to White and Martin. "Despite all the time you two have worked with your four on and four off shifts, and with the aliens' arrival still up in the air, we need to continue training for that arrival. I can only give you two weeks off at this time, and you will be subject to call even during that time, so stay within a reasonable distance as per our normal orders concerning emergent leave. Also, expect to load up on training when you return to duty."

"Yes, Sergeant," they again responded in unison...

Have a goodun;

Roust

This week with Arlene and Jeff:

...After a series of jumps so close together that they were barely distinguishable as separate, five she thought, but it may have been more, the shipyard ballooned in her screen. Knowing that the Admiral had decided to ram the enemy dreadnought, she sucked in a breath and prepared to die.

What she didn't know was that the cruiser had launched a massive nuclear device between the last two jumps, planting it, more or less, literally in the shipyards beside the dreadnought.

There was another microjump, this one lasting a fraction of a second longer. When her abused mind could again focus on her screen, there was a brilliant ball of blue-white where the shipyards used to be. Nuclear, she thought. The cruiser made another jump to stay clear of the debris field but as everything steadied, something seemed wrong. According to her screens, none of the spider ships were attacking - they almost seemed to be only… drifting.

Diana remembered there was speculation about the spiders having a hive mind, but if true, the bomb must have killed the queen or whatever the mind that controlled the spiders was called.

There was a pause as the Captain of the cruiser cleared his throat on the command channel. "I have just verified that the Admiral has bought the farm. He died from flying shrapnel while manning his post. I have assumed command of our fleet until relieved of that duty.

"All vessels, see to your wounded and dead, of course. While that is going on, every functioning ship will destroy every spider vessel in the system. When I say destroy, I mean that no hull plate on any spider vessel will remain attached to another hull plate. Let them know what it means to attack Federation planets. Any vessel not able to go to warp, signal me and I will assign a vessel to tow you home. Now, let's get to it."...

Have a goodun;

Roust