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

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

Posted by Commander Mason Black (Executive Officer) in Mason and Paris - Taking a Break
Posted by… suppressed (1) by the Post Ghost! 👻
It was late, the evening shifts had ended and Mason knew that Paris would have been back in her quarters for little less than half an hour after her shift. Tonight, he knew she had left on time because one NE Snoopy had done exactly as instructed, comm’d Mason when she had left shift.

It would have been just enough time for her to shower, unless she was taking one of her famous Long Showers that stressed the Replicator systems almost to breaking point with excess water, however Mason was pretty sure he could handle that, if needed. Moving up to her door, he was dressed in civilian clothing that was casual yet rather tidy, as if he was going out for the night. Lately, he knew Paris had been working hard, and the two of them hadn’t had much chance to catch up around shifts and work created from the events on the Ferengi homeworld. Tonight, Mason was going to change that.

Coming up to her door, Mason was generally allowed to just enter. She had after all given him her access so he could come and go as he liked, and while his quarters were more spacious, from time to time the two of them did enjoy spending the night at hers for a change of scenery. Reaching out he opened the door with a small grin, and it slid open easily as he looked left and right quickly, then stepped inside to let it close behind him. “Hey Gorgeous” he called out softly, “are we decent?”

Lt Cmdr Black
XO

“Mason,” Paris said staring at him with an expression one mostly wore when they were caught in compromising positions with someone other than their significant other. Quickly turning around, Paris scrunched up her face and began to utter a string of silent curses that would have made any sailor proud. Thinking Mason had a few more hours left on his shift, Paris took the time to self-spa. She had soaked in the bath long enough for not only her finger to prune but also to require a second round of hot water. After emerging from her soak, Paris had donned a comfy bathrobe and her favorite bunny slippers. Wrapping her hair in a deep conditioner and applied a thick glob of facial, she had just decided to get a cup of coffee and search Bang for the latest round of epic fails. What she had not planned on was the guy she was trying to schmooze to be in her living room.

“So how ya doing? We did not have a date.....did we,” she tried to keep her voice upbeat as she cringed waiting for his answer.

Lt, Commander Paris Carisi, COS

“Well, I was thinking of heading to the charcoal mud pools of Goopy VI, but it looks like you already made it there before me” he teased her as he moved around to get a better look at the creature with the voice of his girlfriend. Looking at her a moment he sat on the arm of the sofa and leaned closer to her, “You know, I was kinda hoping for a Last Tango in Paris kinda moment, but I think it’s refreshing that our Chief of Security is a little more Harry Henderson with your mud face and slaughtered animal slippers. Wait, is that my bathrobe?”

Cmdr Mason Black, XO

“Harry and the Hendersons,” Paris looked at him crossly with her hands on her hips. “I do all of this to look pretty for you and I get Goopy VI comments,” she huffed and looked anywhere but in his direction. Turning back to face him, Paris narrowed her eyes and glared at him. “You wanna know something Mr. Black,” she took a step closer to him with her eyes full of anger. “You had better get used to this.”

Not giving Mason a chance to react, Paris dove at him sitting on the edge of the couch forcing him backward with her on top of him. She then proceeded to rub her face all over his slathering him with kisses. Large streaks of her facial now smeared his cheeks, chin, and neck.

“Oh my god” Mason said, feigning horror at the attack and cringing as he felt the facial smear over him. “I’ve been Slimed. Wait, is that strawberry?” He asked and wiped some of the offending smear from his cheek, sniffing it. “I love strawberry” he stated as he wiped his finger on the tip of Paris’ nose where some had rubbed off.

Laughing, she pulled the towel from her head letting the hair fall in wet clumps over her shoulders and down her back. “Everyone knows that when you smile and crack one of these masks,” she swirled her face with a pointed finger, “you get wrinkles so the only thing you can do to make it up to me is to stay with me forever.” For a brief second, she stopped the pretend pout and pressed her lips to his. She loved kissing Mason. She could do it for hours. It felt natural and like they had been together for years. After breaking the kiss she laid her head on his chest transferring more of the facial to his uniform as she got comfortable in his arms.

“If staying with you forever is my punishment, I’m going to make you laugh every time I see you wearing one of these things” he told her, and held her closer to him, his arms not letting her wriggle out even if she wanted to. “Was there ever any doubt this is exactly where I want to be?”

“I am glad you did come home when you did,” she said letting out a long relaxed sigh as she tightened her hug around his body. “I just got word that I have to go to Beltran II. The away team leaves in two hours. Not enough time for fun but enough for a snuggle and maybe a quick shower. I got the shower over without you unfortunately and unless I want the away team comm’ing my butt off the snuggle is over too now,” she let out a deep sigh huff and slowly pushed up until she was sitting on him and no longer laying down. Adjusting his robe she began to finger comb her wet hair as she looked at him with the thin layer of black facial mud covering his face. Even with it, Mason was still the most handsome man she had ever seen. “I should be back in a couple of days. Maybe we can pick up where we left off but without the goop,” she winked wiping a spot off of his cheek with her thumb.

Lt. Commander Paris Carisi, CoS

“Oh when we are back we so have to pick up where we leave off, I mean, this spot right here” he told her and moved his hands gently along her thighs to her waist, “is one of my favourites.” He grinned at her with mischief. “What do you think? Do you think I can pass this stuff off as ninja camouflage before we leave or should I shower first?”

Cmdr Black, XO

“We could shower first,” Paris said biting her lip and waggling her eyes. Leaning over she kissed him softly. She tried to control it. Not let it get too passionate for the sole reason that they were due in the hangar bay in less than forty-five minutes. It would not look good for either of them to be sprinting to the location hand in hand. Still, Paris’ mind went fuzzy as her lips continued to be pressed to his and Mason’s hands moved to the small of her back.

Exactly forty minutes later Paris was scowling at Mason. “I told you we did not have time for all that,” she slightly scolded her boyfriend as she tucked in her shirt. It was not that she hadn’t immensely enjoyed herself. It was more that Paris did not want to be red-faced when they strode in together. It was not a secret the two were a hot and heavy couple off duty and as senior officers, they were never off duty so times like this did occur. “So I am going to take the right corridor down. You take the left,” she said holstering her phaser and moving to the door. “Oh but,” she stopped abruptly and turned back to Mason, “You give me a fifty count before you leave the room.”

Paris held up a hand forestalling the complaints she guessed would start pouring from Black’s mouth.

“You are the XO and are late doing XO things. No one will say a word. I, however, am a lowly department head and they will just assume I was with you and that is why we are late so the separate paths and fifty count will randomize it. Rising on her tiptoes, Paris gave him a quick peck. “Remember fifty,” she said before disappearing through the door.

Lt. Commander Paris Carisi, CoS

Victus I

Two hours later, the shuttle began its descent to the surface of the planet. It was not a desert world but it was on the warmer side as climates went. There were no lush forests or oceans. In fact, the only speckles of green came from along the edges of the three great rivers cutting a path through the dry red surface. Several mountains dotted the terrain with white capped peaks but the general impression was this mission was going to be a hot one. “Why anyone would think this could be a viable colony is beyond me,” Paris remarked looking out the window of the shuttle.

Lt. Commander Paris Carisi, CoS

“Because it’s an M class world with an acceptable climate, even if a little hot and has soil suitable for large scale agriculture, despite the looks of it. We’re you not paying attention in the briefing, Commander?” Mason said to her, his eyes asking the question while knowing the answer only too well, “I hope you weren’t, preoccupied in your preparations for the mission.”

“I was preoccupied with our away mission but work does seem to want to get in the way,” Paris said slowly taking in the view as the descent continued. “Scans show a lot of life forms down there but I don’t see a thing,” Paris said squinting her eyes as if that would help. “I mean a lot of life forms.” Paris tapped the console and then gave Mason a side glance.

“I doubt there is anything larger than a beetle down there” he said, leaning over and looking out of the window where Paris had been looking. “Nothing’s been showing up on scanners of any size, it’s unlikely we’re going to come up against anything that’s going to suck our brains out, is it?”

Cmdr Black, XO

“Well since it is an unexplored planet I am not sure if there are brain-sucking animals or not but to be on the safe side how about I go check the weapons hmm,” she said in an upbeat tone.

“Good plan” Mason nodded to her, “brain suckers haven’t got anything on a good phaser. The landing site is coming up, let see what this paradise has to offer.”

Five minutes later the descent was complete and the shuttle’s door opened. The heat and humidity hit the pair like an oven. Paris tilted her head to the side, back and forth several times as if that would help ease the instant rush of heat coming up from her neck as the uniform added to the sweltering temperature. Paris was careful however not to start complaining already. While it was hot, it was not face of the sun hot as her father called it.

Mason moved from his seat after locking down the shuttle and took one of the Phasers from the locker, then stepped out beside Paris as he slid it into his holster. “Wow” he said as he looked around and shielded his eyes from the sun, “Didn’t they say in the briefing that this was their cool season?”

“Welcome, welcome, welcome,” a man in a dark suit met them at the end of the ramp with his hands spread. “I am Jaxon Smythe. I was told you were coming. We are so happy to have the Federation seeking to develop on our little corner of the universe,” he said. “Chellron Industries was pleased to have the Federation as a partner in their efforts to colonize. We supply the initial infrastructure and you the eager, intrepid and adventurous colonists.” As with any civilization, there was the symbiotic creatures that worked in conjuncture with another organism. There was also the parasitic ones and Chellron was the new breed of entrepreneurs. They found a planet and instead of colonizing it themselves they brought in anyone to provide the people. They provided the shops and businesses making a killing in profit. The Federation was not thrilled with such ventures but even less thrilled to have a real estate market that could allow Dominion or Romulan neighbors.

“Well we are just pleased as punch to know that you will try to make these colonists life the best they can be for a price,” Paris said in a snarky tone. While this was a formal delegation, Paris could not keep nice in check seeing the swarthy representative.

Lt. Commander Paris Carisi, COS

“Good morning, Mr Smythe” Mason said, after very obscurely giving Paris a slight elbow nudge and stepping forward. “I’m Commander Black of the Asimov, I’m sure you know, but we’re here to evaluate the progress the colonists and yourself have made in the last few months and send our report back to Federation headquarters.” He turned and indicated his away team, mostly engineers and scientists that specialized in the fields that they were here to check up on. “This is our Chief of Security, Lt Commander Carisi. She’s going to take a look at the colonies security measures and make sure that no shortcuts have been taken in protecting our colonists. How about we head into the compound?” Mason said looking back at the man in the suit and holding out his hand as if he actually lived on the planet and was inviting Smythe himself to accompany him.

Cmdr Black, XO

“Of course. Of course. I have refreshments and I can show you to your rooms. We saved the ambassadorial suite for you Sir and the rest of your crew also has the tops rooms but for you, nothing but the best Chellron has to offer.” The man had an oily quality to his voice. It was slippery as if nothing he said held true but sounded like something wonderful all the same. The group walked past a common area and past a series of what looked like governmental offices until they reached a set of tube-like elevators.

Mason stopped and looked over the doors to the elevator’s, not just any old door these seemed able to withstand something heavy or an immense amount of pressure, they looked thicker and more reinforced that the doors to a turbolift. “These certainly seem designed to keep something out” he observed quietly to Paris.

“I thought we were going to go to our rooms,” Paris asked as they stood in front of the military steel grade doors.

“Yes but you are not staying on the workers level. Come come,” he gestured for the group to enter as the doors slid open.

“You mean colonists,” Paris raised an eyebrow as she cast a side glance to Black.

Mason had heard about the Chellron types before, although never actually met any. He was aware of the more businesslike mindset of the company and the way in which they viewed everything, absolutely everything as a resource or an investment and stuck rigidly to long term and short term goals. On paper, they ran an impressive operation with numbers that always beat budget and time projections. In reality, they were regarded as ruthless and slimy operators who treated people like their pay grade. He knew that his fiery little wildcat wasn’t going to be able to keep her snark to herself for long, and if by miracle she did, he was going to hear all about it very soon. “Colonists, I think the correct and required term is, indeed, Mr Smythe” Mason said to the Suit, “especially as they are Federation Citizens.”

“Does the term really mean that much to you,” Smythe asked a bit annoyed.

“Yes. Yes it does. My daddy always said you can’t bull crap a bull crapper. Commander do you smell something,” Paris asked Mason. After all their time together, Mason would be able to tell his petite blonde was about ready to call a spade a spade.

Lt Commander Paris Carisi, COS

“It could be the Electro Plasma Grid running this lift” he said, narrowing his eyes at a nearby inspection panel, and quietly trying to deflect their diplomatic inspection from becoming a polite request to leave within 4 minutes and 30 seconds of their arrival.

“Or maybe it is just the smell of hard work,” Paris said looking at Mason with a blank expression. Shifting slightly towards Smyth she sniffed the air and shook her head. “Nope has to be the plasma grid. The smell of an honest day’s labor is not apparent in here.” Paris could not stand the pompous types that droned on and on about the affluence of their culture, planet, business. Whatever word they wanted to fill in it was always the same. The people in power often forgot it was the little guys that kept them smelling elegant in their hundred credit colognes.

“Or maybe they have used some substandard parts or purchased second hand goods from a Ferengi merchant” Mason said to nobody in particular as the doors opened and he stepped out to look around at their surroundings, finding that they were now high above the colony in one of the towers in what looked to be a reception hall with glass windows all around, short sets of stairs to the next level and what appeared to be the more ‘affluent’ suites.
Paris opened her mouth to verbalize everything the occupants in the elevator could see. The hard, metal, echoing infrastructure had disappeared during the transporter ride to be replaced with a modern, clean, and shining area far above the ground.

“Note that down, Ms Carisi” Mason said to Paris as he looked at her with a very straight face, “The contract here was to provide a first class facility for the colonists, I’d hate to think that the Federation funding has been spent on anything less than that, and I am sure that Starfleet Command will want a report on anything out of place.” Not waiting for any kind of comment, Mason walked to the nearest window and looked out over the colony below. The entire planet seemed hot and arid and largely inhospitable. Altogether not a place one would think to settle but with terraforming technology the way it was these days, the forecast was that in 20 years these people would have a lush, green and beautiful world to call home.
She closed her mouth knowing that Mason cut her off to be the ever diplomatic XO. There would be time to voice her concerns and then Mason would get an earful.

“I understand that there is some kind of dinner or function this evening?” Mason said, still looking out the window, “I expect that the head Colonists and Engineers are going to be there to fill us in on their progress before we run our inspections tomorrow?.” His query, although it sounded like a question, Paris would recognize as being more a statement of expectation at what should be happening.

“Of course,” Smythe said waving his hand as if he was a magician revealing a surprise. “Dinner will be eight pm sharp. Please feel free to explore as you like and we can discuss and questions over dinner. Now I must sadly leave you. Etheria does not run its self. Commander, Lt. Commander,” Smythe bowed and quickly left before anyone could pin him down for a moment longer than he wanted.

“Sir, would you like me to check out that turbo,” NE Erlick Trician asked Mason. “I am not sure the chief’s comment about smell was related to a mechanical failure but I think you did hit on something?”

“Ms Carisi I’d like you in my room after you get yourself settled into your quarters, we have a few items on the agenda to discuss before the function and inspections and I know we were a little rushed for prep time before we departed the Asmov.” He threw Paris a sideways glance with a slight smirk that vanished almost instantly, and anybody watching wouldn’t have known that the smirk had even been there, certainly not one as oily and self absorbed as the Suit who had met them.

Cmdr Black, XO

“Uh huh,” Paris said nodding but not really acknowledging his request. Her mind was running a mile a minute.

Lt Commander Paris Carisi, COS

==================
THREE HOURS LATER

Mason might have thought it was going to be a lackadaisical day lounging about in an apartment that brought to mind a city in the clouds from a long forgotten movie yet he could not have been more misguided. No sooner had he dropped his bag at the entry to the door, the console beeped showing an incoming message from the powers that be back in San Francisco. Since this was not a real weekender type event, Mason and his crew were still technically on duty even if they were not on the Asimov. After three hours of discussion about what was now being called the Ferengi Affair, details about the upcoming mission, and finally mind-numbing prattle about which Admiral was trying to scramble to the top while the Admirals speaking to him at various points was trying to stop it, Mason heard the sound of his freedom. A soft chime at his door indicating someone was seeking entrance.

“So Mason have you thought about transferring to San Fran,” Admiral Boxlight continued either ignoring the chime or not caring.

Lt. Commander Paris Carisi, COS

“I have considered it once or twice, but the opportunity was never right or available at the time” Mason said, trying to be diplomatic. “I’m also a Starfleet explorer, Admiral. Being out amongst the stars is where I really want to be.”

“Being cognizant of your potential and where your best chances for promotion are where you should really want to be,” the Admiral countered.

“Wait, Sir… you’re breaking up” Mason said, suddenly looking confused and straining to hear the Admiral, then squinting as if the screen had gone fuzzy.

“What? No, there doesn’t seem to be any interference on my end,” the Admiral cast an angry gaze at the ensign next to him.

“There seems to be some interference, maybe this colony is having....... an issue with it’s receiver, I am going to have to look into that”

“Is it the transceiver,?”

”..... let… me ”

“Come on Holmes get that line fixed. I am losing him,” the Admiral bristled only hearing every few words Black was repeating back. “Black....Black. Hold on we are trying to boost the line.”

”....try… and clear......” he said as he reached forward, and shut off the perfectly clear and functioning communication in the middle of whatever sound the Admiral was making. “Drats” Mason said with a disappointed tongue click, “Lost him.”

After that, he stood and moved to the door, knowing it was Paris that was finally there. Pressing the chime, he opened it, then as soon as he saw Paris looking back at him, he launched into his small rant. “Three hours?” he said, drawing out the word hours. “Three? How long exactly does it take you to get settled into your quarters Paris? Did you have to fumigate it then wipe it down or something? Three Hours woman? You put me on Paris Time didn’t you?” He said to her, and folded his arms in a very judging sort of way.

Cmdr Mason Black, XO

Paris gave Mason a funny look and then gestured at herself. She had always held the suspicion that men never really noticed any difference in a woman’s appearance unless they were dolled up for a night on the town or doing manual labor with mud smeared all over their cheeks. “Yes, I was busy,” she half squawked. ‘Look at me. There are cobwebs in my hair and enough grime that I am going to need an hour shower just to get the top layer off.” Paris threw her hands up walking into his quarters.

As Paris walked past him Mason opened his mouth to reply, but instead of doing so shut it tightly and made a face. Luckily, Paris couldn’t see him but whatever ‘grime’ she was talking about stank to high heaven. A slight gag action took place and he looked down at the carpet of the high end penthouse that he had been given to stay in, wincing at the smelly footprints his girlfriend was leaving behind. “Paris, baby” he said to here, following but making sure he stayed a discreet but effective distance away, “where exactly have you been to get in that state? And more importantly, why?”

“Remember when you said something smelled in the turbo? Well, I was just being snarky claiming it was Smythe but it turns out there is something rotten in Denmark. So Parsons ran a scan on the turbo. Turns out there was this residue in pretty much all the duct works from levels 10 to sublevel 86. Might go lower but our scan could not reach that far. The residue is a combination of decenaldehyde and trans-2-octenal. This may not mean a lot to you but when you are hip deep in it, it stinks to high heaven. This combination of chemicals is only found in the Halyomorpha halys or more commonly known brown marmorated stink bug. Now the scans of the fauna have shown no stink bugs but something is leaving the smell.”

“So we have a whole lot of” he waved a hand in the direction of the grime on Paris, “bug poo in the ducts, which follows the ducting down as far as we can scan through the sublevels and beyond, no good idea of what is producing it and a smooth talking corporate business suit who wants to make sure the colony, and his company, looks good and that Federation funding continues to pour in? That sounds like a really bad use of foreshadowing in a cheap B-grade holonovel, but I can tell by the smell that you might have, uh, put your foot on something.” Mason now came towards her with a smirk although his eyes showed concern for what she had discovered, and looked her up and down much closer. “That dinner is supposed to start in about an hour and we are supposed to be there, we need to get you showered, scrubbed and changed bub, and get that uniform burned.”

“On top of that,” Paris continued barely taking a breath. “The ducts have more armor than a blast door. It is like they are built to stop something but the question is what and why? The specs say they are solely for airflow. You should come see,” Paris said standing up taking Mason’s hand.

Lt. Commander Paris Carisi COS

As Paris took his hand and he felt the grime sliding between their skin, Mason winced again but it was too late now, he had been slimed. “Alright, we have time and if anyone asks, we will say we decided to run an inspection without the Company looking over our shoulders.” Instead of walking with Paris, however, he stood and held her hand firmly and pointed at the bathroom. “First, you shower and get that stuff off. We don’t know if it will have an effect on our skin and without Medical here to check it, we need to minimize the risks. Shower first, then we replicate some Bio suits and gear to go on this Spelunking expedition of yours.”

“But Maayyyy sooon,” Paris said looking back at the door before turning to face him with a soft smile. “Is that an order,” she asked suddenly becoming a bit coy. “Can we make it an inspection. White glove,” she bit her lip and waggled her eyebrows. By now Paris had gone nose blind to the stench. This was supposed to be a small getaway even if it was a working one. Looking at the time she realized Mason was right. She had other plans for the first three hours here. Since they did not pan out maybe she could use the last hour more to her advantage. “I promise not to use those girly soaps and make you smell like sun-dried raspberries.”

“It’s not the dried raspberries” he told her, “but the lavender and edelweiss that I had the issue with. You know how hard it is to be the serious Commanding Officer when you smell like lavatory flowers?” But his serious look took on a cheeky smile, “you go shower, for, say, 10 minutes. Then I will be there ok, and I promise that my inspection will be very, very thorough. It’ll make you sweat, bite your lip as you fight to keep silent while I carry out my work. I promise your Adrenalin levels will be through the roof as you watch me work. Now go shower before we have to be at the dinner.”

Mason watched her walk away, taking particular note of her hips and then walked to the window where a small table sat. On it were two wine glasses and a chilled bottle of wine, prepped for when Paris had supposed to have been there three hours prior. Looking out the floor to ceiling glass window/wall that showed the hot and almost inhospitible planet, he popped the cork and let the wine breathe for a few minutes before he himself undressed completely, folding his clothes over the chair. Letting the cool air from the air conditioning flow over his skin for just a moment, he picked up two glasses on one hand and then filled them with the wine. Deciding that Paris had more than enough time to wash the grime off, he smirked and turned for the bathroom with only the two wine glasses and bottle of wine for adornment.

-------------- Elsewhere in the Tower--------------

Yes Sir, she entered the Commanders Quarters 20 minutes ago. She and that Engineer Parsons were in the ducting, they came out covered in the substance. Yes sir, we have people on the way to the access points now. They will block them from heading back in until we can use the thermite charges to purge the substance from the ducts. It was scheduled for tomorrow Sir but they arrived early as you know, we didn’t have time to purge it. We will just claim it’s a reaction from our mining operation, that produces similar vibrations Sir. Yes Sir, understood.

The Assistant Secretary of Security turned off the Monitor to the smooth talking suit and looked over at two of his bulky henchmen who both nodded and patted the bulges in their coat pockets. “You know what to do” he told them, “especially if they do not co-operate. Inspecting the mines can be a dangerous job when you do it without the correct safety measures. How unfortunate.”

Turning back to his monitors on his desk, the two henchmen looked at each other and wordlessly turned and walked away.

Cmdr Black, XO

=====================
During the Dinner............

Paris walked back to the quarters with Mason in a slow stroll. While the food at the event was five star, the dinner was completely lackluster in the conversation. A small smile curled on Paris’ face as she remembered Mason getting his first text from her. Her boyfriend was amazing at being on. During staff meetings, conferences, away mission, heck anything job related, it would be hard pressed to know that they were a couple. The man had a poker face that was set in stone. Paris had taken this as a challenge early on. Tonight she entertained herself trying to make him break. Smythe had little to say to her and the other officers but he was up Mason’s butt so far, Paris was not sure how Black was able to sit. To pass the time and not fall asleep as Smythe preened about the colonies accomplishments, Paris sent numerous texts to him via the personal communicator. The first messages were simple. Sassy little messages asking if he wanted the right side or the left side of the bed but either way if he played his cards right both sides of the bed with be right.

“Is there a problem,” Smythe asked hearing Mason’s communicator bleep. “Is that a message from your ship? Your other crew? You know they were all invited right? Even the non-officers?” Smythe did not like that everyone wasn’t here but his people were monitoring them.

“No problem Smythe” Mason told him, reading over another message, this time acompanied by a picture found on Bing Universe that depicted a particualrly difficult yoga position that Mason thought was vaguely familiar. “I’m just getting routine reports that I will have to follow up with when I am back to my quarters, Duty rosters, work requests, inspection details and extra curricular training activites. I may be tied up for a few hours after dinner unfortunately.”

The messages then progressed to snap shots of her wardrobe. She was glad he had installed the privacy protector on his comm until. This meant that unless one was directly behind him and looking at the exact angle Mason was holding it, no one but Mason could see the screen. She had planned to send this stuff to entice him when they were levels apart actually working her but the wine and her libido were working together right now.

The extra beeps made Mason look at his device again, and this time he raised an eyebrow and tilted his head as if in thought slightly. “Make that an all nighter” he told Smythe, “the demands on an Executive Officers time are endless it seems, it looks like I am going to be hip deep in work all night, head buried deep in fact in these work requests. I assume you can arrange for room service Smythe? I’m going to need something to keep me going. Wine, peanut butter snacks, fresh fruit with dipping sauces and some ice. I’m sure the tower kitchen has then fresh, not replicated? My energy levels suffer with replicated food at times.”

“My my you are a busy man. How do you do it,” Smythe said as a series of hums could be heard when the conversation paused.

“He is always on top of his crew’s needs,” Paris immediately replied taking a sip of her wine to hide her smile. Mason might have a face of stone but she did not and at this moment was particularly enjoying herself.

Lt. Commander Paris Carsis COS

“Always” Mason admitted, “My crews needs are always top priority Smythe. You keep your crew happy, and they will bend over backwards for you, work on their knees if you tell them to and keep their opinions to themselves when your busy and need quiet. Talking about crew needs, Lieutenant Commander we should get an early start, I am going to need your assistance with most of this. I think we should come together and put our heads to work. Good night Mr Smythe, first room service delivery in an hour and then each hour after that, yes?” Mason stood up from his chair and nodded to Smythe, and a few of the other guests at the tables, holding his hand out for Paris to help her up like the Gentleman he was.

Cmdr Black, XO

Paris took Mason’s hand and let him help her up. He had half proposed a few weeks ago on the holodeck. In her mind, she was as good as his fiancee so taking his hand was not out of the ordinary under those circumstances. They smiled and nodded to the hosts of the dinner and saying the polite goodbyes that were always necessary at events like this. As Mason dealt with the oily Direktor of the facility, Paris’ eye happened to catch something. A man at the far end of the room was acting just like Paris felt. He wanted the dinner over as bad as she did but Paris had a gut feeling it was not to cuddle up with the man he loved and spend the night making love. The way he tugged at his collar, glanced at his PaDD and let out deeply held breaths so his chest rose and fell impatiently showed he had something important to say but secretive enough that he was not going to draw attention to his presence any more that he was.

Paris snapped out of her scrutiny of the man as she half heard Mason speak to her and place his hand on the small of her back indicating it was time to get moving. She mumbled a reply and began walking with the group back to the designated living quarters. With several members of the crew with them still, Paris could not be his girlfriend yet so she kept silent as the group discussed the night. Reaching Mason’s quarters she did not miss a beat as she entered acting as if this was her room. This did get an eyebrow cock by Paulson.

“Goodnight Paulson” Mason told the man, a slight smirk on his face. “I suggest you get some rest, you’re going to need it tomorrow with the amount we have to do.”

The man thought about replying with something less professional like “have a nice night sir,” to Mason’s question watching the turn of events at the XO’s door. Mason was a good guy and a guy. He was not a stiff officer and had been known to drink too much with his crew and stay up too late during poker games. This, however, seemed not the time to comment with ‘you are one lucky man,’ as they did at times when they talked about which female officers they were dating or had an interest in. Instead, he opted for a simple, “good night Sir,” as he left to go to his own room.

As Mason entered the room he could not have missed the string of clothes like breadcrumbs leading towards one particular room. He would pass a single high heeled shoe then a second one. Her dress lying almost flat on the ground as if she had laid it out instead of just taking it off. Her bra was draped over one end of the chair indicating the end of the trail to a closed door. Behind the door, he would hear movement about the bedroom.

Lt. Commander Paris Carisi, COS

Locking to door behind him, Mason looked over the clothes spread across the ground and had to give a low chuckle. Taking his time, he slowly approached the bedroom door while undoing the cuffs of his sleeve, and loosening the collar of his shirt. Admittedly their brief time before the dinner had, by necessity been cut short although they had still been fashionably late and now Mason paused to pick up the bra she had draped over the back of the chair and grin as he had an idea, so he took it with him as he carried on to the room she was in.

As he came up to his room he threaded one of the bra straps through his fingers, feeling the texture and remembering the same from earlier that evening. The doors slid open and Mason had his fist glance at what was waiting for him in the bedroom.

Cmdr Mason Black, XO

“What are you doing with my bra,” Paris said looking at him as if he were nuts. She, however, had little room to talk. Mason would have entered the room to see his fiancee wearing a high tech bio contamination suit. She hadn’t put her helmet on yet so she had the appearance of an old fashioned astronaut just before take off. Paris made a few head motions as if she expected Mason to jump right in with dialogue she had in her head.

“Um, what are you doing in That?” Mason asked her, “Are you trying out a new kink or something? Aren’t those the suits the janitors wear in refuse maintenance?” He screwed up his face at her slightly, “You remember we agreed that, that, particular type of kink was off the cards, right? I said No once already Paris. No means No.” He managed to keep a straight face for most of the tease, but his eyes and the twitch at the edges of his mouth gave it away.

“This,” Paris held out her hands and gave him a spin. “You don’t like this.” She gave him a small pouty face and sighed. “I left the maid costume at home because I soooo thought this would do it for you baby,” she walked up to him and kissed his nose. “You said you wanted to add a little bit of spice right. This is not it,” she shook her head with an innocent look. It was then she rolled her eyes. “Mason work first play later.”

“We agreed to go check out those conduits and work tubes I was in earlier after that dinner,” Paris explained. “The suit might be overkill but I am not spending ten minutes washing my hair again to get the smell out hence the suit,” she gestured down at her clothes. “I got you one too. It’s on the bed. Chop chop,” she clapped her hands.

“Oh” he said, and now his face did screw up slightly as his mind returned to work. “Good thinking, I don’t want to be smelling like that bug poo you found earlier. Best we take Phasers and tricorders too.”

“You’re right. I like where your head is at,” Paris said moving over to her bag and pulling out a few phasers. Checking them to make sure they had a full charge, she tossed one on the bed for Mason and then tried to find a spot to store hers. Since she was already dressed and the suit was hermetically sealed, Paris spun a few times, patted herself down and then tossed the second one on the bed. There was no place to put the phaser so Mason would have to carry both of them. “Okay get dressed and take both of those but keep them where we can get at them.”

“We need to get going and check this out. Something is wrong here. There is no reason they need blast grade doors on all entry points in a service conduit. Get dressed and meet me in the living room,” Paris said walking out of the bedroom.

Lt. Commander Paris Carisi COS

================================
Security Control Room

“Sir the guests seem to be planning to go adventuring and not going to bed. Orders,” a voice said from outside the XO’s room? The Direktor had informed them to watch the officers from the Asimov and report every move they made. This was just the first of the ten replies the control office had recieved in the past hour.

“Why can’t they just go to bed like the rest of the people,” the head of security grumbled. “Send in a two-man team with some Axonol and make them sleep it off. I am going to bed.”

“Understood,” the security officer said clicking off the comm. “Let’s go,” he said to his partner moving ot the door.
The XO’s rooms on the planet

Mason watched her go, and once the doors closed he looked at the bra in his hands, sighed and threw it on the bed. Then, he did the standard boyfriend thing. He screwed up his face into what boyfriends called the ‘bossy girlfriend’ face and spoke in a high pitched voice. “I got you one too” he mimicked, “get dressed and meet me in the living room, chop chop.” He made some random karate chopping motions in the air with his hands as he walked robot like to the bio-suit, then picked up one of the arms and dropped it.

“What are you doing with my bra,” he mimicked again, picking it up and grinning. Looking down, his grin spread wide and he quickly suited up in the large yellow hazmat suit. In only a couple of minutes, he was wearing the horrid yellow bulging suit and looking at the door.
“Mason come on,” Paris yelled pacing the room. “We need to go.”

The door to the bedroom opened, and Mason strode out in a goose step wearing the over sized yellow suit, and Paris’ bra over his face. The two roundy bits were positioned strategically over his eyes, the lace of the bra meaning he could peek out of the multitude of holes. Noticeably, he was making a loud buzzing sound as he walked, straight towards Paris, her bra like a pair of huge bug eyes over his face. “Guess what I am?” He said to his girlfriend, “I’m big, yellow and sweet like honey.”

Cmdr Black, XO

Paris spun to give Mason a half laugh as she rolled her eyes matching his words with what she saw. This is why she loved him. Paris knew his plans tonight did not involve plastic yellow suits and as he mentioned earlier if it had she would have been concerned; however, he was still at her side when she needed him. Paris opened her mouth to speak when all hell broke loose. The soft swoosh of a pneumatic door pulled her attention from Mason to the room’s entrance. Instead of a member from the Asimov crew, a small metal canister was tossed into the room expelling a thick white gas.

Mason paused slightly as the canister had rolled in. It was either going to make a boom, or..... gas. When the thick white gas started billowing out, his eyes snapped to his girlfriend. “Paris!”

“Mason,” Paris yelled out before she started to cough. “Ah…ahks....axo....nol,” she sputtered naming the common gas security staff used to take down occupants in a room. Mason was wearing his full hazmat suit even if he was being silly about it. Paris, on the other hand, was only dressed. Her helmet was across the room on the couch but right now she was doing everything, not to breath. She had to hold her breath not to pass out but the gas was making the room fuzzy. Paris reached her hands out looking for either Mason or her helmet.

Lt. Commander Paris Carisi, COS

Mason hadn’t frozen after he called her name, he had moved. In barely a second he had taken Paris’ hand and knelt beside her as she fell to her knees. “Wait, hold your breath,” he said, then let go of her hand.

Another second and a click was heard, then a helmet slammed down on top of Paris’ head and hazmat suit, locking into place automatically as it was designed to do, the helmet flooding with oxygen from the suits on board tanks. Mason’s face, his unhelmeted face, came in front of her helmet and grinned, then he coughed as the gas tricklled into his nose even though he had taken a deep breath and was holding it as much as he could. Paris would feel one of the Phaser’s pushed into her hand, and then Mason was gone, making a dash for the other side of the suite and her helmet on the couch.

A flash of light, and a beam of light flashed out at Mason from the doorway as the men coming in were surprised at the figure moving so fast through the cloud of gas. Paris might see the shadowy form of Mason seem to slump over the couch, gripping something round in his hands as his body flipped over the back of the couch and crashed on the ground.

Cmdr Black, XO

“Freeze. Hands up,” one of the men said as he came around the chair. “I got her. You get the other one,” he motioned his partner around to where Mason was hiding.

“Big mistake,” Paris said as she lunged at his once his friend was far enough away to not be any help. Hopefully Mason was not passed out behind the couch.

Lt. commander Paris Carisi COS

From under the couch, between the gap that separated the base from the floor came a sharp beam of light and the sound of a phaser firing. The thug walking towards the couch yelped, the sound muffled through his oxygen mask and he lifted his foot as it suddenly went numb, causing the man Paris was charging to pause and glance slightly at his companion.

In that moment, Mason popped up from behind the couch, his phaser pointed at the man whose foot he had just stunned, and shot him squarely in the chest, dropping him stunned onto the coffee table. As he had flopped over the couch and the phaser shot had barely missed him, Mason had clicked Paris’ helmet into place and flushed his suit with clean air. Now kneeling up again and with his target dropped, he had the phaser pointed at where he knew Paris and the third man were but in the smoke he couldn’t get a clean shot at a clear target. “Paris,” he said through his comm calmy, his voice sounding on her helmet as if he was right beside her, “you got this?”

Cmdr Black, XO

Suddenly the room’s emergency venting kicked in and all the white-gray mist obscuring their vision was sucked out in under three seconds. What was left was a man dropped on the floor where Paris had been standing. He was the perfect matched set to the man Mason took down on his side of the room. “Yeah what took you so long,” Paris said pulling her helmet off now that the room has been ventilated.

“I thought I saw a dime behind the couch,” he replied casually as he tucked away his Phaser. “Room service in this place is terrible, we should complain about the bugs.”

“See. See. I told you so,” she gestured about the room as if Mason had accused her of lying about the whole situation. “I told you this place wasn’t on the up and up but it took a gas attack and an armed assault for you to believe me. Who is the Chief of Security? This girl,” she hooked her thumbs at her chest and winked at him “Now we use the time that whoever sent them here thinks they have and go check out those security ducts,” Paris said leaning down and starting to undress the one man lying on the floor. “We need to be quick though,” she said as the belt to the guys pants made a hissing-snap sound as she pulled it free from the clothing.

Lt. Commander Paris Carisi COS

“Yes, we do.” Mason said with a raised eyebrow, “so why are you trying to undress the hired help? You know we can just replicate restraints right, but if you are going to insist on hog tying them let me do it, your knots are easy to slip.”

“Babe I am the security chief you are the XO. How bad would it look if I hogtied you to say the bed and then took off leaving you there for someone to find you? That happened to a friend of mine. Devon Rand. Great guy but dating some psycho chick. I have to make sure you can always get out…unless you don’t want me to,” Paris winked at Mason. “Now less talking more working. Drag him over there and get to work.”

As he spoke Mason came around the sofa and picked up one of the mans legs who was draped over the coffee table, then unceremoniously dragged him off of it and across the floor to the door where the first downed man lay and picked up his leg too. Then, he began to drag them towards the bedroom.

“The reason for the hog tying is simple,” she said getting back on topic, “we want to prove a point. They hit us and we hit them. I want something creative to show them you dont mess with Team Carisi Black. So if you have something more interesting I am all over it.”

“We tie the three of them together, remove the comms and take them with us before ditching them, bind them so they can’t talk and stick them all in the shower. By the time anyone works out what happened we will be long gone.”

Cmdr Black, XO
Stepping over the body of the man Mason was dragging, Paris wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a long deep kiss. Yes time was of the essence here but she had to let him know something. “God I love how your mind works. I mean you are so put together on the outside. A perfect gentleman but in your heart lies a man with a revenge streak darker than any Klingon. You have no idea how attractive I find that,” she gave him a playful squeeze.

Lt. Commander Paris Carisi COS

Mason returned the kiss and grinned, “We all have our dark side, it just so happens people shooting at me and people I love don’t rank highly on my ‘give a damn’ list. Did I mention we should pull the pin on one of those extra canisters they have strapped to their legs, and stick it between the door and wall? If one of them opens that door before they get out of the binds, and they won’t be able to in the shower, the handle will be released and the gas will fill the room again. I like going for that extra little touch. Bring that one with you.” He motioned to the third thug with his head.

“You know,” Paris grunted as she yanked at the body Mason told her to drag, “I am…a gurrrrrrrl,” she moved the man but with a lot of effort. “Aren’t the…guys....supposed to” she stopped talking as she looked down at the man’s feet she was pulling across the floor. He had come to from the depths of unconsciousness and while the hog-tie was extremely efficient to stop the man from getting away, the man had hooked his legs around the legs of a chair preventing Paris from moving him without also moving the fifty pound chair too.

“Seriously,” she looked at the man. “You are making me look bad in front of my boss and break a sweat. Why can’t you just cooperate,” she put her hands on her hips as she looked down at the guy. Even if his mouth could not speak his eyes rambled entire conversations about what he would do to her if he was free. Not wanting to waste time Paris raised her foot and kicked him in the jaw knocking the guy out cold. “You know…we…so…coulda done....this with…your..teeth…intact,” she yanked the man the rest of the way to the bedroom so Mason could finish the job.

Minutes later and the three henchmen were tied together, gagged and blindfolded and stuck in the shower with very little leg room. A gas grenade wedged in the door ready to fall loose at the slightest touch. Mason stood in the living room, helmet on the table beside him as he holstered his phaser and tricorder and found room for three gas canisters in his suit. Paris would carry the other two they had found on the men. “Whatever they are hiding, they went to a lot of trouble to keep us away from it,” he said to her while he patted the grenades into place and picked up the three comm badges they had carried. “You better show me where this vent was.”

Paris bit her lip and pulled Mason towards her by the waistband of his pants. This was not the time or the place but when was the time or place when you were sleeping with the XO. Dating the XO was like perpetually living with your parents. No matter what you were doing there was always the chance you would get interrupted. Right now, however, Paris was willing to take the chance. Backing up towards the bed, Paris said nothing. Instead, she pulled out his shirt enough to make sure he knew the agenda. Feeling the bed stop Paris’ backward motion she looked up at Mason and took a moment to finger-comb his hair softly.

“I love you, Mason,” Paris said pressing her lips to his. It was then the romance ended. Paris had one thing on her mind as the adrenaline coursed through her body. It was a need to be with him. A need to let Mason know she would follow him anywhere. Her hands drifted down to help him with his shirt as his hands moved around her waist. All else faded into white noise as Paris devoted all her attention to the man she was going to marry.

====================
Fifteen minutes later......

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 there 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

“Why do you sound so disappointed by that,” Paris asked wrinkling her nose a bit. It might be the topic that made her or the fact Mason seemed hell bent of doubting her that this place needed a good Orkin team. To his defense there wasn’t even a butterfly in the gardens.

“Likely because, I am crawling through a duct in a hazmat suit shortly after performing a series of sprint events worthy of the Galactic Book of Records, would rather be curled up in my bed with the woman I love but instead have three men tied up and gagged in my shower, and I have an itchy nose.” The sound of his voice came back to her through their helmet comms. “And I was promised bugs, woman, bugs. Not the Klingon Herpes type but, something dodgy.”

“Mason I promise you baby. Something is,” she stopped crawling immediately and without warning in front of Mason. While not unexpected for her abrupt stop, Paris realized Mason must have been looking down as they ventured through the tunnels and not up.

Mason looked up when Paris’ feet stopped moving, but not in time to prevent the sight of her firm rear end, even in the bulky hazmat suit, from filling his visor like a crashing shuttle pod hitting a moon.

The resulting force of the collision sent Paris head first into the hatchway door that was now blocking their path. A low thud echoed through the tunnel followed by Paris letting out a small whimpering laugh. “I think I just lost five points off my IQ.”

“Honey if that was all it took to lose IQ, the bed post in your quarters would have been the cause of us having a Security Chief that needs her fingers to count to one.” He patted her rear end and tried to look past her. “What we got Betsy?”

“You know I am going to make you kiss it and make it better later,” she teased. “For now however we got a problem. The tunnel is sealed off.” Reaching out she saw her fingers disappearing through a holographic shimmer that cloaked the tunnel that had immediately ended.

“Do you have to try and touch everything?” Mason teased her back. “You are allowed to just look, you know.”

“There is some sort of holographic projection that seems to be,” she held her breath for a second as she let her fingers feel the hard surface behind the shimmering field. “There is a....water tight door,” she said a bit in disbelief. “You know like those round circle things from ancient sea faring times. Don’t ask me why or if I am even right but that’s what if feels like.” After a long pause Paris wedged her body to the side and looked back at mason.

“Like one of those submarine doors we had on that old Submarine Holo-program? 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea or something? Why would they need that?”

“Lift up,” she said dropping from her crawling position to one on her left side. Her feet were shoved back and under Mason so she could lay down. It was tight but he would give her leverage to try and open the hatch. Several grunts later Paris realized she was going to need some help.

“Mason,” she said looking back and down the tunnel at the XO. “Can you shimmy up here beside me and we can try to two man this? The angle we are at is going to make it harder to get leverage.”

Lt commander. Paris Carisi

He twisted onto his side and squeezed up beside her. The tight confine of the tunnel and the suits meant that it was a very tight fit and the two of them were tightly packed together. “Maybe we should have lubed up before we went in?” He joked and adjusted his position so his arms were free to check the door.

“Nah it would stop us from getting any traction when we get huffing and grunting,” Paris said with a deadpan expression. This is why she loved Mason. She took great pleasure teasing him this way as he did her. On duty, it was the most fun. Sexy messages to each other which forced Paris or Mason to act as if the vivid things said were reading were only requisitions for toilet paper and not detailed instructions to adult twister. Emergency comms to each other requesting a meeting that ended up occurring in maintenance closets or backs of a shuttle. Verbal messages that made one of them yell like a crazy person to the comms officer requesting the feed be silenced. This was to prevent the room hearing things that Paris sent to Mason or vice versa that would give a nun a heart attack.

Wiggling to get in the right position, Paris made sure she to also confuse Black. “So how do you want me? Legs open or close,” she said not sure if he wanted her to push off the wall in a pike position or use their bodies as a single cantilever by intertwining their legs.

“Use your legs on the wall opposite me, I’ll do the same on your wall,” he suggested, “we can twist our bodies like this to turn the handle, it should give us enough leverage.” He stretched out his legs, knees really, so that he was wedged against both the wall to his back and the wall behind Paris, with her legs intertwined with his but the opposite way round. When they were ready, he looked down at them, then up and grinned. “Well this is familiar.” He said, and gave her a slow wink.

“And I said let’s not get out of bed today. I think I said don’t pick up that comm call but nooooo,” she drew out the word. “Or wait…was that you,” she gave him a sly smile. All Mason had wanted to do was kiss a few babies and eat one official meal at this thing. Paris was the one who went out on some adventure resulting in three hostiles tied up in his bedroom and both of them looking for space cockroaches.

“You know, if we open this we can’t move, right. If we open this to the Lost World and a dinosaur walks past, we are lunch, right?”

“Dude stop worrying about the details. Embrace life,” she let out a giggle. Since Paris was entirely at fault for being in this tube she would take turn the situation around as a positive thing. That is what she always did. Well, when things were her fault. When it was something Mason did wrong, Paris tended to make sure she pointed out ten times that they were up the creek without a paddle. That was the joys of being engaged. Men put up with their fiancee’s crazy. “If there is a meatasaurus on the other side to this door,” she rapped her knuckles on it creating a dull clang, clang, clang, “we just close it real fast.” Flashing him a smile she took one long look at this face. The smile said volumes but most importantly it said she would never leave his side no matter what was on the other side of a door.

“So are we going to do this or sit here all night,” she teased him.

He readied his hands on the handle and tensed. “So, I love you. Okay. Ready? Three,”

“No no no wait,” she called out and then pressed her lips to his. Paris closed her eyes and savored the feel of Mason’s lips on hers. So much could be expressed in a kiss. Feelings and arousal were only one part of it. A kiss could mean something deeper and more profound than pure lust. This kiss wasn’t the type that led to clothes flying in all directions. It wasn’t the hasty peck signaling they hoped each other had a good day at work. It was the type that said she was in it with him through thick and thin, better or worse until time separated them after a long life of love, fights, children, and memories. Paris breathed in enjoying Mason’s hand on her hip edging its way up her body. She moved her lips softly against his sparking a moan from him and whimper from her. She allowed the kiss to continue until she felt his fingers run through herr hair and Mason attempting to deepen the kiss.

“Uh no,” she said moving her head back. “That was a sweet and loving kiss. You know like in that holovid where the USS Gigantic struck that meteor and all the airlocks blew. It was not like the kiss in the shuttle bay where the security guard was chasing them. I just wanted to make sure you love me before we are eaten or shot or something,” she shrugged. “I can’t let you go to your death not knowing that I love you right so let’s do this thing.”

”.. TwoOneNow,” he said the last part quickly and heaved.

The handle stuck, and then shifted around the way the two were twisting it and with a clang, the door seemed to fall inwards slightly, and then rolled off to one side. “Are we lunch yet?” Mason asked, putting his arm around Paris’ shoulders and looking out into what lay beyond.

Cmdr Black, XO

Lt Commander Parisi Carisi COS

What lay beyond the door didn’t surprise either of them. It was a cavern with stalactites and stalagmites peppering the floor and ceiling. While the surface could fry an egg a 0600 am on any surface, this area was cold and damp. The rhythmic plop the echoed in the air indicated that there was water somewhere. This was very different than what was on the surface which was bone dry. It was so arid in fact the Corporation running the settlement was getting emergency assistance for hydration. The cavern was pitch dark from where they were except for the lights shining from suits Paris and Mason were wearing.

Seeing the area looked clear, Paris grabbed the lip of the tunnel and began to slide out into the room. “Sit still so I don’t kick you,” she said to Mason.

Lt Commander Parisi Carisi COS

“You’re going to kick me anyway, I know it.” Mason said through the suits comm, but let Paris crawl out before reaching up to the ledge and pulling himself out. Dropping to the ground beside her, he landed in something squishy. “Well, we found the bug poop,” he told her without humor.
“Oh god I hope not ,” Paris said wrinkling up her nose in disgust at the gray-green pile of muck immediately outside the hatch. Her look of revulsion slowly started to tune into one of curiosity. Around the hatch was not only the bug excrement but shells, carapaces, and what looked like appendages. Moving around the muck Paris ran her fingers along the hatch.

“Mason it looks like something tried to open the hatch,” she said gingerly running her fingers over the scratches and gouges on the hatch door and frame. “A lot of somethings based on the ground litter but didn’t the corporation say this planet was devoid of life? Unless it’s all underground,” Paris missed inspecting the hatch for any more clues.

Taking out his tricorder, Mason held it up and began to scan. “This area is huge,” he said as he kept scanning, and it isn’t far from the surface. Aren’t we pretty much under the colony?” Mason took a few steps forward and switched on his helmet light to maximum, it wasn’t enough to illuminate the whole area but it did show more than a few bugs scattering from his light. They looked like they grew from finger size to the size of a small cat, the noise a tapping scuttle as they moved away from him posing no threat.
“Ugh,” Paris moaned and did a little shake dance as if they were crawling on her. “You know growing up on Mars we didn’t have an indigenous life i e no bugs,” she shuddered again.

Realizing Mason had asked her a question, Paris answered it all while trying to tip toe past the stuff on the floor. “Yeah the compound is directly above us,” she said checking their location. “Why?”

“They should have some kind of support down here, The rock of this cavern isn’t strong enough to build a city on, they can’t have missed this, we have caverns like this on Deneva, Paris. My family has mines in them for mining gemstones. Look, the tricorder is picking up fractures in the rock below us, it’s volcanic.”

Cmdr Black, XO
“Volcanic,” she said slowly as if Mason has said something preposterous. “You mean like lava and explosions volcano?”

Looking over at her and shining the light in her direction, Mason nodded. “As in, Boom, Big Badaboom.”

As if to answer her question a slight vibration began to shake the floor. It wasn’t violent or even that noticeable at first. It was as if you were standing in a train platform and the train was approaching. “Mason,” Paris asked with a hint of concern before sprinting back to the hatch. The cavern might not be reinforced but the tunnel that brought them here was rated to withstand immense pressure and strain.

Paris pulled at the hatch but it didn’t move. Looking at the console the lights had changed from green to red indicating it had emergency sealed shut. “Mason I can’t get this open,” she tapped in the safety code to bypass the locks.

Slowly the vibrations became more of a tremor and small bits or rock began falling from the ceiling and the walls of the cavern creating a soft rain fall like sound. “Mason what do we do,” she asked him

Lt commander Paris Carisi. COS

“Stand back Paris,” Mason said, his voice sounding calm through the comm as he pulled a Phaser from his belt and aimed it at the door. With a flick of his thumb, he turned the setting to maximum. “If it won’t unlock, we just burn through it.”

He waited just a moment until Paris has stepped back, and then fired. The stream of energy reached out and struck the door, and Mason held it in place before starting to run the Phaser across the hatch.

After several seconds he stopped, and took a few steps forwards to the hatch. Where the Phaser had struck it, it glowed red hot, but was otherwise unharmed. “Um, drats.” he said, and looked around at Paris as the ground continued to shake and little bits of rock fell from the ceiling.

“Drats? Drats,” Paris yelled with her voice getting more high pitched. “That is your response Not you lousy son of,” Paris began her more colorful rant as the area around them began to react violently.

A large lurching shake rumbled from deep below them at that moment, and a larger piece of the ceiling broke away, Mason and Paris watched it seem to float to the ground before smashing into the cavern floor. It didn’t just stop and smash however, it seemed to break through the cavern floor and the red orange glow of something very, very hot appeared with a few streaks of liquid fire splashing up and out from the crater, landing on numerous bugs and sizzling. Mason was glad he had on a sealed Hazmat suit at that point, the gases were likely very dangerous for Humans.

“Is that lava,” Paris said gazing at the red, bubbling viscous liquid now seeping up from the crack. It was thick and slow-moving but definitely was going to be a problem in the long term. “Are we safe,” she kicked a rock into the molten mass from the edge of the crack on the cavern floor. The loose stone seemed to bob like a black ice cube for a moment on the surface until is slowly sunk down in the bubbling folds and disappeared.

“Mason,” Paris said nervously. “You do have a plan for getting out of here right?”

As if on a single queue, all the bugs in the cavern began to stampede away from the lava towards the opposite end of the cavern. Pointing at them and grabbing hold of Paris’ hand, he pulled her towards him. “When in Rome,” he said, “follow the bugs. They live here, they should know how to get out.” Moving as one with her, he began to run alongside the bugs. Looking sideways, he realized that some of the bugs were not just the size of small cats, there were a number of goat and horse sized bugs as well. Luckily for them, he thought, none of them were taking any notice of the humans as a fiery well of burning death bubbled away behind them while more and more rocks began to fall from the ceiling.

Cmdr Black, XO
“I don’t think this is a good idea. Mason, I hate bugs,” Paris yelled trying to keep up with Mason’s strides. They seemed twice the length of Paris’ which meant Mason was pulling her along to the point of dragging her. Three times she had stumbled over something running between her feet but Mason’s firm grip kept her from falling down. The pair seemed to be running faster yet so many creatures slithered and buzzed over her head that Paris let out involuntary yelps from time to time. The forward progression abruptly stopped when the cavern they had been running in ended in a meter high hole in the rock. The space was large enough for the insects to pour through. It was large enough for Paris and Mason to pass on their hands and knees but the horde of insects that would be accompanying them trying to escape the lava presented a tunnel Paris was not willing to enter.

“There’s our escape chute,” Mason said, pausing and bending down to look inside and placing his hands on his waist as he caught his breath. “We’re going to have some company but they know it goes out, or at least somewhere other than here.” He stood up again and looked back the way they had come, the orange glow of lava growing behind them as the tremors continued to get stronger.

“Mason I can’t go in there,” Paris said and shuddered as a three-meter long centipede scurried down the cavern wall and into the top of the exit point. “Oh god,” she bent over putting her hands on her knees as she got a good look at the insect stampede Spiders, centipedes, and a host of flying creatures crawled over each other trying to get in the hole at the same time. The mental image of the insects crawling over her body because she was too slow almost made her ready to puke. “You go. Contact the city engineers and just come back for me.” Her tone was sincere in this request and her eyes said there was no way she could follow the bugs out.

Lt. Commander Paris Carisi COS

As Mason looked back, a fountain of lava seemed to erupt in the distance back where they had entered the underground cavern, and more sprouted even before the globs of molten rock from the first landed amongst the still escaping insects. A large indistinct black shape began to form between them and the lava, and as more fountains erupted closer the glow of the lava revealed a huge, horse sized spider crawling towards the exit they stood in front of. Deciding not to draw attention to it, Mason turned back to Paris.

“Yeah we’re not staying here, somebody has to save our skins. Into the chute Princess.” Before giving her time to respond, Mason lifted his boot and placed it squarely on Paris’ rear end. ‘Placed’ was a subjective term really, it was a firm ‘place’ that could easily be mistaken for a strong, sudden shove that propelled Paris headfirst into the chute far enough that she wasn’t going to back out quickly, and right behind her Mason crawled in as well.

As Paris got her bearing from falling face-first into the chutes dirt and rock floor, she also got her voice back. “Mason, when we get out of here I’m going to kill you. I have ways of taking down man bigger than you and it does not involve happy happy fun time,” her voice echoed with a tinny quality. The helmet and hazmat suit protected her when Mason indicated where they should go; however, it also prevented her from clearly expressing her displeasure. It toned down the shrillness in her voice making at least Paris think Mason was not understanding how grumpy she was with him right now.

Paris she knew she had to go down the shoot. It was just the method Mason had used to get her to proceed where city girls fear to tread. Also that he didn’t want to discuss it in committee for an hour but she would have to admit time was of the essence. Since she couldn’t sound as grumpy as she was, Paris decided to make her words more clear to impart how unhappy she was at the current turn of events. “”Mason no nookie for you tonight. None. You are going to owe me a massage and spa day and ugghhhhh,” her expletive was more out of teen scream drama queen that anything else. ” What is that what? What s that? What is that,” she squealed stopping dead in her tracks as her body felt the sensation of a million feet all over her. It was only a second later that she realized it was not her imagination as several centipedes and spider-like cave denizens scuttled over her face mask trying to out crawl her and using her body as if it were a mountain range.

They’re all over me. Mason I can’t do this,” her shrill angry girlfriend voice instantly went to deep and grumbling. Being from Mars, Paris had not grown up with a large variety of animals that were not neatly contained in specific areas. The domes and engineering habitats made Mars a thriving colony with it’s main city as advanced as anu city yet Mars did not have oceans teeming with life or jungles echoing with the sounds of a million creatures. Maybe that’s why Paris was so off-balance trapped in this cave surrounded by creepy Crawley‘s. The cave was like home. Everything was rock, sand, and dust but the insectoid army descending upon her what a new twist

Lt. Paris Carisi COS

“Move it, the only way out is forward unless you want a whole cavern of crawlies behind us to get grumpy that the Humans think burning alive is more preferable to living.” A sudden and large jolt and cracking sound behind them lent weight to Mason’s urging to move. Seeing that she wasn’t yet moving, Mason let out a breathe and raised his hand, bringing it down hard on Paris’ rump. “Mush! Woman! Git moving!”

Cmdr Black, XO

The sharp crack which was amplified by her suit design more than anything else echoed in the chute. Paris turned around to face Mason as one large millipede ventured down her faceplate.

“Ah, Honey, I think you got a little…” Mason muttered via the suits radio while dragging a finger down his face visor where the bug was on Paris’ face, then reaching forward, he flicked it via thumb and forefinger so that in flew off and hit the wall, dropping down beside them.

“Mason I told you that is only used for special occasions,” she said snapped and then winked. “I am not happy though. Not one bit and you are going to pay dearly for this,” she promised as her knee came down on something. Paris couldn’t tell except for the brief second her knee dug into something soft. “Ewww,” she moaned knowing it had to be the once body of some bug or was it. Instantly the ground began to slope down and become extremely slippery. Paris slid her knees out which stopped her from moving forward. “Mason,” she said stopping before slipping down what had now turned into a mucous lined slide into the unknown, “uh…we have a problem.” This escape route was becoming more and more difficult. She had no idea where they were going but down the chute was not an option.

Lt.Commander Paris Carisi

Looking past her, Mason noted the tunnel wall slope sharply downward although it wasn’t stopping the multitude of bugs going past them from taking the chute. The pause meant that something at least as big as him seemed to bump into his rear end and come to a stop, and Mason had to swallow and stop himself from turning around. “Baby we can’t stop here. Wherever this goes the bugs are taking it, so it has to be safe even if it’s going towards the lava. We can’t go back…” Something seemed to bump into him again from behind, more forcefully and in his mind flashed the thought that most creepy crawlies had fangs… “uh, we have to move forward.”

“Towards the lava! Mason, I can’t do this,” her voice had a pleading quality to it. “You are right. We should go back to the room. Curiosity killed the cat and you know how a despise cats so back up and we can go back to the room,” she started to ramble as she began to back up straight into Mason’s face. She didn’t get far with her backward crawl. Mason’s hand immediately stopped her rump in place.

“Baby, head down and ass up okay, I’m right here and I got you but I am telling you, we aren’t stopping now!” Mason said a bit more forcefully as a third bump told him they were holding up proceedings. “Just take a deep breath, close your eyes and we’ll take it slow and easy, okay. Trust me, you can take my hand and squeeze when you need to, just trust me love.”

Mason reached forwards, past her rear end and placed his hand on her shoulder, “Just take my hand okay, I’ll hold your ankle and we’ll slide right into it together.”

At that moment, whatever was behind Mason got tired of waiting for the Humans to move and pushed, hard, into him. It was hard enough that in the chute with the slimy footholds, Mason was never going to resist the push and was propelled headfirst into Paris, sending them both hard and fast into the dark and slimy hole before them. Mason could only grip her hand hard and hold onto her ankle like he said, wherever they were going, they were going there fast now and gaining momentum with every second.

Cmdr Black, XO

“May son,” Paris gripped his hand tightly as the slimy chute turned to four-inch mucous that literally was slicker than snot. Her Uncle Ben said that all the time and as Paris careened down the slide, she pondered if this was the origin of such a saying. Her hand never let go of his. True to his word Mason held on to her ankle until he couldn’t. It really wasn’t his fault though. The water park esque launch of them from the chute surprised even Paris. With her arms pinwheeling she flew through the air about three feet before landing in a shallow pool of mucous. It reacted like water splashing around her. Paris froze in her seated position on her butt with her knees bent and slightly spread apart. She looked around as if stunned and raised her arms slowly. Nothing was actually touching her. The sensation she was covered in cold, slimy goo, was only in her mind but the mind was powerful at times. “Mason,” she yelled out not seeing him.

Taking in her surroundings, Paris felt like she was going to be sick. The pool of goo was not in the cavern anymore. It was outside of it and tucked into what could only have been the side of an ancient volcano. The color blended in with the rock and dust so it would have been next to impossible to see from an aerial view. Paris’ survey of her surroundings was cut short though as another figure emerged from the chute. He was not spinning madly like she was but had somehow turned around and was riding the flow in almost a superman pose, on his stomach, with his hands stretched out in front of him. He was also sailing like a speeding bullet directly at her. There was no time to react as Mason dropped about six inches from her lap facing her. The goop burbled up around him splattering Paris’ face mask blinding her.

Mason was thankful that the landing had been soft, that he had found Paris and that he was wearing a fully enclosed Hazmat suit with visor, especially as his landing had placed him face first in the goop with his head between Pari’s thighs. Lifting his head and looking upwards, he could see only glimpses of Paris as the goo slid awkwardly off his visor and he had to raise a goo covered hand to try and wipe away more. “Yee haa!” he exclaimed with adrenalin in his system. “Now wasn’t that fun?”

“Fun,” she looked at his concerned. “Your mother warned me that there was a whole other side to you I would only find out about once we were married. Tell me baby,” she paused adding drama to her words. “You aren’t secretly trying to perfect the longest jump from a water luge,” she teased him. The moment was shattered as a plethora of bugs began to reign down around them like fat, black raindrops with feet. At least two dozen insectoids had followed Mason and Paris’ method of leaving the cave system only they were not sitting around. As soon as their spindly legs hit the goo, they were off. Instead of a thick cloud of dust from the insect stampede, large globules of slime were kicked up and flew in all directions.

Good God Benny. Those two legged white slug things almost killed me, one of the evacuating insects said to his buddy.

Well they killed Sam, Benny chittered in response. She crushed him like he wasn’t even there, he waved an antenna over at Paris depositing a large glop of muscus on her head. Slowly it rolled down her head until it reached her face. I mean the guy was little but he survived two attacks by a Bore worm and that assault last year by the Aquila chrysaetos Saato where he lost a leg. Do you know how much therapy he needed to learn to walk on five legs? Throws off your entire rhythm, Benny grumbled.Well they killed Sam, Benny chittered in response. She crushed him like he wasn’t even there, he waved an antenna over at Paris depositing a large glop of mucus on her head. Slowly it rolled down her head until it reached her face. I mean the guy was little but he survived two attacks by a Bore worm and that assault last year by the Aquila chrysaetos Saato where he lost a leg. Do you know how much therapy he needed to learn to walk on five legs? Throws off your entire rhythm, Benny grumbled flcking another glop of mucus at the smaller of the two yellow slugs sitting the pool.

Its a damn shame. I saw him at the entrance. He said he wasn’t going to make it. I told him run little buddy. You’re short go under them. Guess that was a bad idea in retrospect, he mused glaring at the two beings just sitting in the goop

Ya’ think, Benny cocked an eyebrow at him. The loud small yellow slug has to weigh a ton or more. She could barely hold up her own weight under that mass. Sam should have at least pinchered her.

Anyone seen Oecobiidae Oecobius, a frantic voice called out from overhead. In the confusion, Mildred had lost her roommate and there had been no sign of him yet the walls of the escaped tunnel was littered with the bodies of so many evacuees due to the yellow slug creatures plowing through.

“Ewww Mason. You got it all over my face,” she moaned wiping the eye shield with her fingers. The mucous clung to her hands like a glue and smeared the faceplate obscuring a large part of her vision. “I hate it when I can’t see,” she groaned using the cleanish spot on the back of her wrist to wipe away as much of the sticky mess as possible. Finally clearing a section of the mask she looked between her legs at the head rising up to meet her gaze.

“I am glad you finally came but what do we do now,” she asked looking down at him.

Lt. Commander Paris Carisi COS

“Wanna snuggle?” Mason asked her, his face a clear grin even through the slightly cloudy faceplate of the visor.

“Seriously,” she gave him an expression of disbelief followed but a large groan. “You know I do when the occasion calls for it but that ocassion…it ain’t rght now.” That was the hardest thing to deal with concerning her fiance. Mason could make her laugh almost at will. Mason Black was all officer before she got to know him. He walked with a purpose, typically replied with succinct direct answers to any question, and wore a neutral expression hiding whatever was going on in his mind. The private Mason, however, was so different. He had all those assets which he used to his advantage on and off the bridge with her. Secretly she loved it when he used her name. On duty, it was always her rank, her last name, or the combination of both. When he called her Paris, it worked as some weird aphrodisiac to her. Probably because in Starfleet one rarely used personal names unless you were intimately associated. After all the things Paris and Mason did, the only relationship they had was intimate. The more she thought about all the things she loved about Mason the more she wanted to get to the part before snuggling occurred.

“Are you going to think differently of me if I tell you you are kinda turning me on even though we are in a place where we can’t do anything right now,” Paris asked sincerely.

No, Benny said in a low tone feeling a wave of sadness fill his body. First Sam and now Obie. He was not an aggressive man but these Who Man’s as they were called were destroying thier home. Someone was going to have to put a stop to it.

Wait..there, Benny’s buddy pointed to the single tentacle-like arm rising from behind the larger yellow slug Who Man. Obie. I think he made it A loud cacophony of chrips, clicks, and buzzing cheered that Obie had somehow survived the tunnel.

Obie…are you alright, Mildred zoomed down close to the slowly rising creature.

As his mouth cleared the goop he spoke. * The small one sat on me like I was a rubber mat at a water park. You know I ink when I get nervous and she somehow fell on me and the next thing I knew she and I were careening out of control through the tunnels. It was awful. I think I got cave burn,* Obie lifted a tentacle up.

Mason opened his mouth to reply but a noise from the tunnel behind them made him look around. It was a loud sucking, slurping sound and it made Mason curse. “Move it Princess, now!” He all but ordered but he didn’t get up, it would have taken too long. Instead he grabbed Paris’s legs, his arms tight around her thighs and hugging to his chest, his visor all but in her pelvis once more and he rolled to one side, rolling Paris with him in the goop.

Rolling several times despite Paris’ protests, Mason finally came to a stop with the both of them facing the middle of the goop pond as a large figure shot out of the tunnel they had existed from and landed plop right where the two of them had been, splashing them with goo once more. Mostly submerged when it landed, the figure rose out of the goo before them, horn first. It resembled something like a Giant Atlas Beetle from Earth, except this one was actually Giant Sized and Mason thought that if he had a saddle, he could have happily ridden it as it stood tall. How it folded itself into that tunnel he couldn’t imagine, but he could imagine that horn butting him in the rear end only moments earlier in an attempt to escape the lava, and what might have happened if Paris hadn’t of slipped down the tunnel. “My god that’s big,” Mason said as he watched the large horn swaying back and forth.

The giant beetle wandered off on the opposite direction from where they stood, and Mason let go of Paris’ legs and stood, pulling her to her feet beside him. “Okay we are out, now we just have to figure out where we are. We can’t be too far from the colony.” He had barely finished talking when a loud explosion sounded above and behind them, loud enough that the two of them could feel it as they stood and the goo they were in rippled violently. Turning around, Mason noticed now the thick black plume of smoke coming from the top of the ancient volcano, and the large flaming rocks that were now falling from the top and landing on the slopes above them with a spatter. The rumbling in the ground had grown now, and began to shake violently as sharp Earthquakes began to make it hard for the two of them to stand. “Paris!” Mason called out, grabbing her hand.

“We need to move, again. I don’t think this place likes us!” Wading through the goop, he pulled Paris with him. “This planet is supposed to be stable!” He almost yelled angrily. “The Terraforming is supposed to be a success, and there are supposed to be no active faults in this section of the crust, what the hell is going on?”

Cmdr Black, XO

Paris had a hard time keeping up with Mason for many reasons. The main one was his stride. One a normal day it was just past comfortable for her to keep up with him. With the threat of bodily harm imminent and Mason really jacked off over the failed colony cover-up, Mason’s stride was strained for him to cover more ground making Paris essentially be dragged behind him. If he hadn’t been holding her hand, he would have left her behind within a few steps. Yet Mason’s grip never lessened. Closing her fingers around his hand even tighter, Paris fought to keep up with his pace. “Mason I can’t keep up. We need to get out of this goop,” she stated the obvious.

Since she could not give up Paris did keep up until the goop thinned enough for the couple to exit to dry land.

Lt. Commander Paris Carisi.