Posted by Civilian Ragna Idun McKenzie (Future Citizen) in Earth - I’ll Make ‘Em An Offer They Can’t Refuse

Posted by Civilian Seamus McKenzie (Future Citizen) in Earth - I’ll Make ‘Em An Offer They Can’t Refuse

Posted by Civilian Ragna Idun McKenzie (Future Citizen) in Earth - I’ll Make ‘Em An Offer They Can’t Refuse
Posted by… suppressed (3) by the Post Ghost! 👻

The Shi-Tan made great time from the Event Horizon Station to the rendezvous with Revna’s waiting ship. In fact they were a full two days early. The trip had been mostly pleasant. The only real hiccup was when a Brownex Ranger patrol tried to stop them from cutting through their territorial space, but a few tense minutes at maximum warp and the patrol was far behind.

Twenty-six days later, and they were just outside the Sol system in an asteroid field. The Shi-Tan was a wanted ship here, so they kept as low a profile as possible. Soon, a hail directed to Revna was received…

Home At Last… Almost

At Captain Lestrella’s invitation Revna and Mike joined her on the bridge. The message was a repeated text recording. Shuttle Rapidnova to Teacup. Input authorization required. The message repeated every 2 minutes. With Lestrella’s permission Revna interlinked with the shuttles onboard computer and input an access code. An audio message was then received, “Voice authorization 5 required, Teacup.” Lestrella’s bridge crew just looked at Revna but she didn’t say a word about it. She pressed the button for the comm, “Mama, there’s a girl in the castle!”

Computer: Now Chip, I’ll not have you making up such wild stories.
Revna: Really, Mama, I saw her!
Computer: Not another word, into the tub.
Revna: But. What?
Computer : A girl! I saw a girl in the castle!
Revna: See? I told ya.”

There was a moment’s pause, “Permission to board granted.” Revna pulled information from the shuttles computers and displayed it on the screen in front of her. Revna turned to Lestrella, “If you could captain, a short transport over and you can get out of here.” She nodded to the screen, “The last two days of patrol schedules. They don’t come out this far, but just in case.”

Minutes later she and Mike were onboard the Rapidnova. “Oh Gamitv you really outdid yourself.” Revna ran her hands over the console. It was best described as a 2 person version of the Delta flyer. “Oh this is a beauty.” Revna slid into the pilot’s seat, her fingers moving unerringly over the controls. She glanced back at Mike, a huge grin on her face, “Ready to get going?”

Revna ‘About to Show Off’ McKenzie

Mike sat down and looked around. “What? Star Fleet went cheap and didnt put in seat belts?” He looked at Revna and grinned. “See, I know how you can fly me. That look on your face is the same look you had when you did that thing with thing and I almost passed out.”

Mike ‘Why Are There No Seatbelts’ McKenzie

Revna turned her seat and looked at him, her eyes were positively dancing. “Mike, my love, you almost passed out, but you were fine. I had you then, and I’ve got you know. Now, enjoy the ride, and just to ease your nerves,” she reached over, tapped a button on the arm of his chair, and a full chest restraint lifted from the back of the chair and up over his head and locked in place. She kissed him before sitting back and activating her own seat belt. “Feel better now?”

“You know, not really.” Mike said with a grin. He trusted his wife more than anything or anyone…

He just didn’t trust starships. And the smaller they were, the less he liked them.

With quick, deft movements she started the engines and looked down at the controls and began to laugh, “Manual controls, at impulse, of course.” There would be no preprogramming the flight path. The shuttle responded to the lightest touch. After gliding around a couple of asteroids to get a feel for it, Revna punched it into full impulse and couldn’t resist showing off, just a little. The shuttle moved in graceful arcs and tilts around the asteroids until they were out the field, and out of the main system. She keyed up the comms, “Cuyler Edman, Clan Edman, Bømlo, Norway, Earth. From Revna McKenzie. Da! Clear the field, we’ll be there in....” she checked the readouts, “3 hours” and she cut the comms. Another few taps and the warp engine began to hum to life. Warp was strictly restricted inside the system, so now on the edge, running the line she input the flight path and engaged at warp 1. Then she sat back and looked at Mike. “We’ve got a couple hours to kill.”

Revna ‘I’ve Got You, Babe’ McKenzie

Revna glanced over at him took in the grip on the chair and the look on his face and dialed it way back. It had been so long since she’d sailed anything, she’d been a little over exuberant. She had no idea and that bothered her.

Mike held onto the arms of the chair as Revna piloted around. As the ship entered warp and she spoke, Mike looked at her and said “Well, I can think of a way to keep us occupied. But it would only work if that chair swivels, you keep that harness on, and you don’t accidently hit the comms so your family gets a message of what you are yelling.” with a mischievous grin.

Mike ‘I’ve Got You Right Back’ McKenzie

Once the ship was set to its course she set the piloting controls to stand by and reached over and squeezed his hand. “I’ll stop showing off.” She nodded as she spoke and then tapped the companel, “Computer lock out com access, set pass code to…” she glanced over at Mike, “Apron Strings and Heart Aches,” and she winked at him. The computer trilled acknowledgement of the command. Then Revna looked over at him, “Oh these chairs. Yeah they swivel and if you hit that button on the front of the right arm rest, it will release from the floor and hover over the grav plating and go anywhere in the shuttle you want.” She put the controls on standby and then spun her chair around to face the back of the shuttle, and tugged on the harness. “That work for you, Love of my Life?”

Revna ‘Granting Requests’ McKenzie

Mike tapped the release of the harness and stood and smiled as he walked in front of her. “Oh, that works just fine for me. I bet the recline, too, if I press…” and he looked at the controls on her arm rest, “… this one.” and the seat’s back leaned back, leaving her locked in the harness. Mike knelt down in front of the chair and grinned. “So you know that thing I did when we were at home? The one that had you clawing at the headboard and yelling so loud you thought Security was gonna show up thinking you were being murdered? Yeah… thats how we’re gonna pass the next few hours. Computer, lights to twenty percent.” and the cabin lights dimmed low as Mike put his hands on her arms on the chair…

Mike ‘Making The Most Of A Long Flight’ McKenzie

Revna stared back at him, her breath moving deeper, heat flushing her skin, “Yeah I remember....” and eyes widening as he came closer. She turned her hands up gripping his arms, and closed her eyes as the lights dimmed. “Computer, stop all security recordings. Teacup zeta 5-9,” and there was a soft trilling confirmation.

---

6 days after Victoria’s ‘visit’ Ragna couldn’t stand it any longer. Oddvar was still camped out near by along with Devlin, Kirsten, and Ada. That morning Ragna slipped out of bed early, dressed in a loose blouse, with long tight laced cuffs on her forearms, soft deerskin fitted pants, and knee high black leather boots. She took her sword, the one Seamus gave her, and went outside. Angus was by her side before the door closed. “Come on then, Aurora too.” The fox and ram weren’t quite sure what to make of each other. Ragna walked along the path towards the tree line, quiet, observant, taking note of the sounds present and absent. She could smell the faint odor of a banked fire coming from the south east on the breeze where Oddvar was camped out. She found a dead tree, that hadn’t rotted out yet, drew the sword and began to move around it. Poetry and grace. But her muscles tired quickly that first day. The sword was heavier than her old one, and her injuries had taken some of her tone and core strength.

The weeks proceeded routinely enough, except for the increasing numbers of Edmans that were camped out in the woods, ravine, and on the beach. Oddvar had brought nets in to contain the fish they were mostly eating along with dried meat brought from home. Seamus was game warden but Cuyler and Ragna were acutely aware of how much having the clan here for an extended time could damage the wild life. Meat and other provisions were brought with each shuttle. The clan was also extremely good at limiting their foot print. There had been several more storms and they were becoming more frequent and stronger, leaving Ragna ill tempered and edgy. 26 days after Cuyler called Revna, Ragna’s personal comm went off. She went inside to answer, tossing over her shoulder at her mother and the other ladies, “I’m already married, and this will be over before this wedding is happening. I don’t understand why I can’t wear the dress I wore the day we really got married.” She huffed, “Just pick something and I’ll wear it.” She came out, sword on her back and nodded to Kirsten. Ragna never left the house without it now. The cousins had made other attempts to come here and with the storms she wouldn’t leave it to chance. She moved up the path, knowing Seamus would be back soon. She found the signs of his passing and followed the trail, knowing he’d come home along the same path.

Ragna, flustered bride-to-be-again

Seamus came up the path and smiled at her. “Ragna, my love. You could have stayed at the house! With all your clansmen traipsing about, I don’t think we have enough privacy for me to have my way with you out here under Mother Nature’s watchful eye… pervert that she is.” and he laughed. He scooped her up in his arms and hugged her to him. “I do so love you, wife of mine… and I’d marry you every day for the rest a’ my life if I could.” and he kissed her.

Seamus

Seamus was excited about it, and that was the only reason she was going through with it. She kissed him for a long time, forgetting why she had gone looking for him at the moment. She pulled her head back slightly with a contented sigh, still held in his arms. “I could not wait at the house. I needed to see you.” She did too for self and for the other thing, that could wait till she was done kissing him. “They are all twittering about my dress…again…and Runa is jabbering on about it over Mum’s comm, making an annoyance of herself and she’s not even over here. And you know where’s private? The hot spring and my house on Bømlo. We should go to one of those places.” She kissed him again, hands in his hair, melting in to it. “I love you Seamus, and I would only go through with this for you. But I will always say yes every time you marry me.” She pulled back to look at him with a smile, her original errand remembered. “So that comm we thought was coming in 2 days, I just got it. 2 and a half hours from now your new brother and my sister will be here. We should get going.”
Ragna

“You mean your new brother and my new sister, right?” and he kissed her and then cradled her against him. “Two and a half hours… ok. The hot spring is a fifteen minute walk one way. That makes thirty minutes.” and he began a brisk walk away from the house and encamped Edmans. “That means we have an hour an’ forty-five minutes to make each other completely useless for the festivities for tonight.” and he giggled mischievously and kissed her. “Besides… you need a healthy glow to ya when your sister arrives. Make sure she knows I’m taking good care of ya.” and he laughed again.

Seamus

Ragna laughed softly, “Nope he’s your new brother too, in-law, removed or something.” At that moment she didn’t really care what the official record was supposed to say, she’d figure it out later. Right then she was too busy kissing him, and he was carrying her off, again. “You have no idea what is in store tonight do you? They” she waves back toward the house and the encampment and across the sea, “have instore for us do you? And Runa already made sure you’re taking good care of me. She’d have razed our home already.” She kissed him slowly and then pulled back. “Seamus you know I can walk now right? It’s been almost a month…”

“RAGNA!” That was Ada, somewhere close but out of sight. “Ada, she’s gone to go find Seamus, leave her be.” That was Kirsten.

“But Helka said that Re..”

“Hush! Leave her be, I’m sure Ragna already knows.”

Ragna looked at Seamus, “Run…before they find us.” And then laughed.
Ragna

Seamus grinned and took off at a sprint… an impressive feat with her in his arms. He ran flat out for several minutes before slowing and saying “There. That shoulda lost ‘em. And there-” and he jerked his chin to a large overhang of rock, “- thats the hot spring.” He set her down gently and took her hand, walking her over to the edge of a small pool of water with wisps of steam coming off of it. He looked at Ragna and said “Its hot, but not too hot. Care to join me?” He grinned as he pulled off his shirt and then unclasped the buckles on the side of his kilt and let it fall.

Seamus