Second Chances (Part XII)

Posted on Mon Aug 23rd, 2021 @ 9:02pm by Lieutenant Bobbie Sue "Bobcat" Hunter & Lieutenant Soren Dillinger 'Speedy'

1,638 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Operation Romulus Return
Location: Rio de Jainero
Timeline: Immediately after "The Wrong Foot"

[PREVIOUSLY]

"You should come back more often, Max." Bobbie said, grinning. She was enjoying watching the two old friends banter. "Maybe you could bring a special friend, too?"

[CONTINUED]


"Special friend?!" Rafe said with a raised brow, looking over to Bobbie Sue, before returning his attention to Max. "Why, Maximillian Hunter, is there something you need to tell me?"

"Your clearance level isn't high enough, Adriano. I'm afraid you've been out of the game for too long." Max replied playfully, giving Bobbie a slight look before clearing his throat.

"Don't give me that, Max. You and I know well enough this is not a clearance issue." Rafe turned to face Max before adding. "If you have a special friend I should know, irmão (brother). And if you still hold it back, you know I can find out."

Max laughed slightly. "Good luck with that."

Rafe smirked as he gestured to Max. "So there is someone. You wouldn't be so cautious otherwise." He patted his friend on the chest before saying. "Remember, Maxie. Sometimes, what you don't say, is more important than what you do."

"You forget who you are talking to." Max countered.

"And you forget who you are talking to as well." Rafe said before smiling again. "Max, I'm sure this special friend is lovely and you care deeply about her, but I'm your brother. Irmão em armas (Brother in arms). If you can't trust me then who else can you trust?"

Max let out a sigh and smiled in return. He tapped his hand on the side of Rafe's face and replied. "You have a point, old friend. If I can't trust you then I should reevaluate my definition of trust." He nodded his head as he placed his hand back on Rafe's shoulder. "After all we've been through together, I have no excuse."

"For the record," Bobbie interjected, "I only said he might bring a special friend. I made no statement about whether or not he had one. I was thinking of his comment about coming here more often and the fact that I brought Soren and this is our first official date." She looked at Soren. "More or less." She knew she was opening herself up for teasing by inferring that Soren was a special friend and that this was their first date, but she wanted to protect her Uncle, even though Max made it worse by the way he avoided Rafe's questions.

"It's okay, Bobbie Sue." Max replied, looking over to her with a smile. "You did nothing wrong and you're not in trouble." He said as he looked back to Rafe. "This is a conversation that's long overdue. I should have come around more. Even after-"

"Don't worry about it, Max. I don't hate you. I never will." Rafe whispered back, smiling a bit.

"Still, Rafe..." Max continued, with a slight sigh. "After Gloria died, I should have come around more than just those two times. My job, my career, got me all wrapped up I mixed up my priorities. I'm-"

Rafe stopped him. "Don't say it. You have nothing, nada to be sorry about. Both me, and Gloria, knew how important your work was. We never expected you to be here any longer than you usually stayed. You forget... we helped you start this thing. You're still hard at work and there is no need for apologize. Entenda (Understand)?"

"But still." Max said softly. "I closed myself off."

"For safety." Rafe countered.

"Maybe, but I closed myself off from my friends too. I kept secrets from everyone. Even people I knew could keep those secrets I still kept them. Out of fear. Safety. Whatever excuse I used it was still unnecessary. I carry too much weight on my shoulders." Max said as he let out a deep sigh.

Rafe placed his hand on his friend’s shoulder. "You've always done that and we never pushed you. When you're ready to speak I am here to listen. No obligations, Max."

Max placed his hand on Rafe's and smiled. "I know, brother. I know. It's time to let some of that weight off, Rafe. Let's say, you and I, go have that conversation. Maybe even give me a chance to see my god-children."

Rafe smile as he put his arm around Max again. "I'm sure they will love that, Max. So would I." He tapped his chest before kissing his cheek with a chuckle. "Maximillian Hunter! I always wondered why you didn't take the name of Atlas instead of Merlin. You've always had more in common with him than some magician who ages backwards." He laughed heartily again.

Bobbie squeezed Soren's hand. "I think this is a good place for us to leave the two of you to talk, only I'm not quite sure where to go."

"That's not necessary." Max said as he nodded to Rafe before walking over to Bobbie. "Rafe and I will go upstairs and talk. You two should explore. Get some rest. You have breakfast to look forward to. I know I always did when I came here." He placed his hand on each of their shoulders and smiled. "You two have your own conversation to have. Talk. Learn about each other. You'll find you have more in common than just this place."

She smiled back. "Thanks, Max." Bobbie watched the two men leave, still holding Soren's hand.

When they were gone, she turned to him. "I'm not sure where to start. There's a lot to see here, and I'm sure there's more."

Soren laughed slightly. "Take it easy." He said with a smile. "It's not like we're flying blind. We have Alice."

"You're right." She looked at him for a long moment. There were so many things she wanted to say to him, but she wasn't sure where to begin. Maybe a tour would help her put her thoughts in order.

She turned to Alice. "Will you give us a tour, or should we look around on our own?"

Alice gave her pleasant smile before replying. "I would be happy to." The hologram gestured to the work area with the starfighter tools and schematics on the monitors. "That is the flight work area. It's designed for repairs and modifications for fighters and shuttles." She than gestured to the other work area. "That is a second workstation that has been modified for wheeled vehicles. Primarily for maintenance services." As she gestured to a wall by the room that Max entered from she began to speak. "This is the-" Suddenly she stopped. As if paused or showing hesitation before saying. "I am sorry. You do not have access to that information." Alice replied before looking over to them, holding onto her smile.

"Alice?" Soren interrupted. "How can we have access to this level but not information about it?"

"While you have been given access to this level by Rafe, my files have not been updated to show I am allowed to reveal key information dedicated to Paladin's services." Alice replied with a smile, before the smile quickly faded. "I am sorry if this upsets you. My program was only re-initialized only a few hours ago. Perhaps they have not had sufficient time to update you access levels."

Soren made a good point. They'd been left here with Alice, told to look around, but were not really allowed to look at much. She smiled to Alice. "That's okay. Just show us the areas we're allowed to see." She looked over at the monitors with the starfighters. "Can we look at the starfighter information?"

"Unless that is information we cannot access?" Soren added with a smirk.

Alice smiled for a moment before gesturing to the monitors. "You have access to that information." She replied pleasantly as the monitor displayed a list of starfighters from Starfleet to various alien races they encountered.

"Thanks." Bobbie Sue grinned at Soren and went over to the monitor to peruse the information. She was more interested in the upgrades and alien ship designs as she already knew a good deal about starfighters.

"You looking to modify your fighter or upgrade to a different model?" Soren said as he walked up behind her, looking over her shoulder as she looking though the list.

"No, but I might at some point. I do like to know what's coming down the pike and this is...fascinating." She didn't spend too long looking at the data. There was a lot to see, and she did want to spend time with Soren.

She looked at the other monitors, then went back to Soren.

"I'll stick with Bettie if you don't mind." Soren replied as he looked at the list. "I spent a lot of time on my Valkyrie, getting parts and modifying it to my exact specifications, so I wouldn't trade it for-" He stopped as he tapped on one of the names. "Alice? You have information on Scorpion Class fighters in here?"

That got Bobbie's attention.

Alice nodded her head. "Yes. Paladin came into possession of a few. Rafe and his wife, Gloria, spent a great deal of time taking one apart and putting it back together. Compiling data on the fighter for Starfleet's Engineering Database."

"Wait?! You mean you have a few here?" Soren turned to Alice.

"Yes." Alice replied with a smile.

"Take me there."

"I'm sorry. You do not have access to that section." Alice replied, still smiling.

(To be continued...)

Admiral Max Hunter
Covert Operations
Intelligence

Rafe
Race car owner

Lieutenant Soran Dillinger 'Speedy'
Squadron Leadler
USS Tokyo

Lieutenant Bobbie Sue Hunter
Squadron Leader
USS Tokyo

Alice
AI

RSS Feed