Another Encounter (part 1)

Posted on Fri Jul 13th, 2018 @ 10:32am by Lieutenant Bobbie Sue "Bobcat" Hunter & Lieutenant Soren Dillinger 'Speedy'

1,363 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Caught in the Cracks
Location: Fighter Lounge
Timeline: Before "On the Fighter Deck"

ON

Bobbie Sue decided the best thing she could do right now was stay close to the fighters and stay out of the way. So, she decided to clean the fighter's lounge area. It clearly had avoided for some time.

To make her job easier, the computer was playing The Beach Boys.

Soren was getting a bit antsy. He hated the idea of being on the ship and the small truce developed by the two crews, but he hated more so that his Mirror counterpart was a heartless machine and his ex, Tammi, was alive as one of his mindless drones. Seeing her again brought back so many feelings and memories he buried deep down inside. He was a mess, more so that he was to begin with, and it wasn't helping the matter that he saw them whenever he closed his eyes. There was only one place where he could find comfort and that was in his fighter. In Bettie. In order to do that he had to go through the lounge.

As he approached the fighter lounge doors, he could hear the sound of a familiar tune. "Wait... wait. I know that song." He paused slightly before entering. "Thats County Fair, by The Beach Boys. Don't tell me someone on this ship actually has some taste when it comes to good music." He rushed into the fighter bay and looked around, stopping when he saw Bobby Sue. He raised a brow and couldn't help but smile. Of course it was her. It had to be her. He was impressed, but he couldn't let her know he was impressed. He put on a grin and walked closed, clearing his throat before shouting. "So much for peace and quiet."

"And just when I thought the day couldn't get any worse," she said without any heat in her voice. She didn't stop working and she didn't look up. "Do you make a habit of yelling at people?"

She sighed. "Computer, play Bobbie Sue." When the music began to play, she moved to another table and continued to clean.

"When the music is loud enough, I kinda have to." He replied with a smirk as he made his way to doors leading to the fighter bay. "Do you normally take everything personally or is today one of those special days?"

"It's just loud enough to hear over my cleaning," she said, "But not enough to cause nerve damage or keep me from hearing someone talk."

"Look, I was minding my own business. You came in here, yelled in my ear, and insulted me, and YOU say I'M touchy?" She threw her wet cleaning cloth at him, hitting him in the chest.

Soren smirked, kicking the cloth away. "Again with the yelling? Next time play your music a little lower, or get a personal listening device so only you can hear it." He said as he shook his head and turned back to face her. "I thought we were good, at the very least civil, what possible reason do you have to hate me?"

Bobbie Sue was surprised. "What?"

"What?! What?!?" He mocked before laughing slightly. "You heard me. Ever since we ran into each other the first time you suddenly developed a disliking to me. I don't know if you have a good reason, but I can't seem to recall what I have done lately to end up on your bad side, other than not recognizing you right away."

"I don't recall any problems from our first meeting," she said. "But you've been quite rude here. I know pilots are protective of their birds, but even when I explained what I was doing, you were obnoxious. How was I to know that was your ship? I'd only met you once. ONCE. And now, I'm cleaning the lounge and you come in shouting at me about my music. It's not that loud, and I was alone, so it didn't matter. And because I don't appreciate your kindergarten behavior, you think I don't like you? I barely know you." She had liked him the first time they met on the Pathfinder, which made his behavior on the Tokyo all the more surprising. He made her feel like everything she did was stupid.

"Okay. Fair enough." Soren replied with a bit of a smirk before adding. "My humor isn't for everyone and I tend to move at my own pace, but can you blame me? I'm not a typical by the book pilot. I left and came back with my other option being jail, so I chose cake over death. If you know your history you'll get that one." He added a bit of a chuckle before concluding. "As far as the fighter goes, I made her what she is. Modified her. Upgraded her. She was mine long before I came back so she means something to me. We've kept each other alive so it makes sense that we've grown attached to each other. As a pilot you should understand that much."

"I do understand," Bobbie Sue said, trying not to smile at the cake or death reference. "I'm not referring to your attachment to your AI, I'm referring to your behavior towards me since you came into the fighter bay. Protective is one thing. Downright antagonistic is another. And then, after showing all the charm of a porcupine, you accuse me of being the Grumpy Cat?"

Soren looked down slightly before looking back up to her. "Again, I didn't recognize who you were at first and you, downright, accused me of having a relationship with my AI, so I took a defensive position on that." He paused slightly before clearing his throat and taking a step to her. "So how's about a do-over? Start fresh with nothing but what happens next as a flight path? What do you say? You willing to take a chance?"

One side of her mouth quirked up. "Sure. But you do have a relationship with your AI," she said, her eyes sparkling with humor.

"Yeah, but not that kind of relationship you sicko." He added a bit of a chuckle before nodding his head. "So, do you have a callsign or do you prefer Bobby Sue?"

Bobbie Sue tossed her hair almost defensively. "Bobcat."

"Bobcat?" Soren replied, a bit of a smirk on his face. He should have guessed as much. He nodded his head and cleared his throat before. "Just out of curiosity, did you give yourself that callsign or was that the best someone could come up with?"

"No, I did not give it to myself," she countered. "I don't think someone with the handle of Speedy is in a position to mock." She actually liked her call sign. Of all the names she could have been given, Bobcat was great.

"Hey, to be fair, Soren Dillinger doesn't sound anything like Speedy and if you know my style it makes sense. Bobcat and Bobby Sue does go hand and hand." Soren replied with a smirk. "I didn't say I hated it."

Bobbie Sue just shook her head. "And here I thought it referred to your prowess in...other areas."

"Hey." Soren replied quickly with a slight chuckle. "I could have gone with a cougar joke but I held back. And you said my humor was kindergarten and childish."

"I'm not old enough to be a cougar," she retorted. "That's why I'm just a Bobcat. You, on the other hand..." She shook her head. "There are so many things I could say but I'm too much of a lady to say them."

"If you were that much of a lady you wouldn't be a grease monkey." Soren replied quickly, adding a laugh before crossing his arms over his chest and continuing. "And I'm only one year older than you, Bobby Girl, so let's not go making up stories about each other just yet."

(To be continued...)

Lieutenant Bobbie Sue Hunter
Flight Leader

Lieutenant Soren "Speedy" Dillinger
Chief Intelligence Officer

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