Posted by Commander Mason Black (Executive Officer) in Taking a Break

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Paris Carisi (Chief of Security) in Taking a Break

Snip

It didn’t take long to reach the access panel where Paris had entered the vent earlier. At that time of night the only person they had passed had been a member of the Asimov’s crew, likely returning to their own quarters after a late night liason of their own. They had begun to speak, but Mason had held up his finger for silence and made the time honored ‘See no Evil, Hear no Evil, Speak no Evil’ gestures. Considering their rank and position on the Asimov, NE Parks nodded and continued on his way, the encounter forgotten.

Pausing at the panel, Mason looked at Paris and sighed. “You know this isn’t quite the kind of tight space I hoped to get into tonight,” he grinned wickedly. “We had the penthouse suite, double king bed, real chocolate. Now we are playing Gweer Bryls: Dodgy Colonial Corporate Edition and packing Phasers and gas grenades. I was expecting a different kind of bang, honestly.” He pulled the panel from the door and placed it to one side, then turned back to Paris and took her around the waist, pushing her against the wall and pressing his body close to hers, awkward enough considering their bulky hazmat suits.

“How many bangs are you looking for Sir,” she said softly so close to him that she could feel his exhaling breath cascade down her neck. If they were anywhere but a public hallway Paris might have gone for round two, yet they were here and not back in the suite Mason was just speaking about. “I am up for it. You think we can fit in the panel. This is a bit public and while I am okay with people knowing I am going to be your wife I am not sure they should see wifely duties,” she laughed, “unless that is some Denevan custom I am unaware of.” Paris did not try to kiss him or pull away. She wanted the tension between them to be electric. Paris knew as well Mason that the horizontal mambo would not be danced in the small access hallway but it was fun to tease him.

“There is never a dull moment with you, Paris,” he whispered to her gently. “You know you are the best thing that ever happened to me, right. Even if we get eaten by giant, man eating bugs or drown in a sea of bug poop for your crazy scheme, at least i’ll go down with you by my side. I love you, always know that okay. I don’t know of anything that could complete me more than you do.”

Cmdr Black, XO

“Good,” she said patting him on the chest several times before ducking under his arm. “And I am going to need you to crush any creepy crawlies we meet along the way.” Entering the panel Paris crawled on her hands and knees down the tunnel. It was tight as Mason commented but not tight enough that she was feeling claustrophobic yet. She had worked on overcoming the panicky sensation tight spaces brought onto her. The incident on the surface of Mars that started it had been played out over and over in a holodeck program enough times that Paris could react without freezing but that was a long way from being over the fear of small enclosed places.

Lt. Commander Paris Carisi COS

Mason followed her in, pausing to adjust his Phaser as he did. Reaching back out he picked up the panel and replaced it from the inside, now any trace of their having been here was gone. Flicking on his helmet light he stifled a yawn, Paris had no idea how hard it had been to get back out of bed after their little interlude but the thought of explaining why three ruffians were tied and stashed in their sonic shower without any evidence of wrongdoing, other then their attack on the Starfleet Officers, brought a little more determination to his crawl as he followed Paris’ rear end down the tunnel. Looking after her, he marvelled at how different it looked in the flesh rather than a heavy hazmat suit and grinned.

“So how far do we have to go before we get into the bug poop you found?” he asked through the comm on their suits and noted the chute was angling down further, eventually they passed a point where he recognised extraction fans for vents and guessed they had passed ground level, and were now underground. He frowned, it should by rights have ended in a system for the air conditioning but seemed to be continuing on. “I haven’t seen any bugs yet.”

Cmdr Black, XO