Post by do on Aug 9, 2009 23:51:07 GMT -5
NX-01 Enterprise
Stardate 28.08.2165
Keying the door open, Sloane nearly jumped out of her skin when her eyes fell on Gabriel sitting at his desk. "Sir." She glanced down at the PADD in her hand then looked up again. "I'm sorry, Colonel. I didn't expect you to be up this late."
So soon after being released from sickbay, she thought he would be in his quarters resting. Not that it was Hayes' style to follow doctors' orders, but then, he never used to ask to be sedated either.
She heard the door slid shut behind her. "I can come back later... I was just going to update our database and prepare a report."
The tightness of his jaw, his hard look, a fury in them? Eyeing him more carefully, Sloane got the distinct impression the man was pissed off beyond control. "Gabe, what's up?"
He was tired and didn't expect anyone to invade his privacy or office, especially at this hour. "Doesn't anyone knock or hail anymore?" Gabriel's voice was annoyed and it took him a bit to try and control the anger from the memo. Part of that damned letter from Langley had his mind on the very woman who now entered his domain. No. He couldn't think like that. "What do you need to do in here, Sloane?"
"I didn't think there'd be anyone to hail," she apologised. "I... I can get this done from my quarters. I'll leave you to it." She gave her CO another look and turned to leave.
"Sloane," He sighed, realizing he was barking at the wrong person. "It's not you. Read this." Although the notice said senior staff, unless it was top secret information, Gabriel always shared his high importance memos with his right hand man. Long ago he decided they could discharge him if they didn't like how he did his job. To date, it was obvious the Colonel knew a thing or two.
"What is it?" Sloane eyed the PADD warily. If Gabriel reacted this way, it couldn't be good news. She placed her own device on his desk and picked up the one he presented her. Her breath caught after a couple of paragraphs. Arched eyebrow, she gave him an enquiring look.
Allowing her to read it before he commented, Colonel Hayes shook his head. "It's a bunch of bull shit, is what it is. Some asshole Governor deciding the fate of the future for the human race." Sloane read him right upon her entry. The MACO commander was pissed.
She carried on reading, and re-reading some passages, throwing Hayes glances along the way, to finish with a look of disbelief and disdain on her face. "They can't be serious. Gabe, this has got to be a joke."
"They are serious, Sloane. Keep reading. Get to the bottom." The Colonel growled, "Near thirty years doing my job, and not only do they want me whacking off into a jar, they are more or less going to make me look like an asshole with their god damn re-evaluation!" He grumbled something about giving new meaning to the term 'jar head'.
Oh, she got to the bottom of the communication alright, vivid images entering her brain as Hayes vented in front of her. Her mouth shaped in an 'o', quite an inappropriate look for a MACO major, Sloane looked up. Meeting the stormy hazel eyes of her CO, she flinched as the meaning of the re-evaluation of the frat rules hit home.
"It would seem you and the female MACOs won't be affected, but I don't buy into this shit stink of forcing my men. I'm not going to do this, you can be damn rest assured I'm not forcing my men to!" Smartly, he said nothing further on the memo, but continued his rant. He was tired and reading this memo this late wasn't doing him any good.
And still those images of her having to order the men to do this assailed her mind... as eloquent as Hayes was putting it to her, she cringed. She could order them to their deaths but to jack off in a cup? To father children they didn't want, or might but wouldn't know? What the hell kind of circus was Langley running down there?!
"This is just the beginning... I mean, they'll start with this and next... Gabe, what if we... the women... what if we're all forced into baby... baby farms? Shit, Gabe... I'm not gonna do this. I'm with you, you won't see me force anyone." The brief notion that Hayes and she should set the example - well, that Hayes should set the example - did pop up in her mind, but she crushed it with her booted foot swiftly. Like hell. "What about men already married, de facto, involved? This is crazy talk."
"Married? Not married. Gay. Straight. Indifferent. They might as well lift the clone rule and start manufacturing humans." He didn't look at her, but said in a dead sort of way. Glancing at her, he added, "I'm being sarcastic, but illustrating a point. They might as well take that final step if they want to do this, because they are crushing the very human spirit with this bull shit. I have to repeat it. It's fucking bullshit."
Sloane nodded. Sarcastic maybe, but she didn't think he was that far off the mark. She scanned the text once more. No. There was no mention of restrictions if a man was married. From what she could see, they wanted a sample from *all* men. If they believed this was the only way to save the race, then if a good genetic match came from a married man it wouldn't stop them, would it? She chose not to push the point. No need to add fuel to the fire she saw raging in Gabriel. "So we just ignore this? What happens when we get back to Gaia?" Out here, it was easy to brush this new procedure aside, but once back home... they would have to face the music some time.
Giving Sloane a sly look, Gabriel lifted his hands, fingers spread. "Hey. I was under high-stress Vulcan drugs when they sent this to me. I can't help it if I go planetside and don't know a god damn thing about it."
The corner of her mouth quirked up. "Understood." She would back him up, of course. "Don't let Archer approach you about this, 'cause if he does, you won't be able to use that excuse..." She mentioned this even if she knew this was something Hayes would have thought about already.
"If Archer bring it up, I'll tell him I have no fucking idea what he's talking about and walk away. He'll get the hint, and hopefully, respect my choice in view." If Archer ordered Hayes, that was a whole new story. "I'll worry about that bridge when I cross it however. Personally, as a man, this isn't the sort of thing I would bring up in passing. 'Oh hey Jon. How about that jerking off memo. Pretty great, don't you think?' "
The man could be damn funny when he allowed it and this report had him far over the edge.
She gave him a smirk in reply. Yeah, thanks for another image she could store away. "Think of Phlox when all 'Fleet personnel starts... getting busy." She winced at the very idea. The poor doctors Phlox and Brodie having to handle this circus. The craziness of the whole... endeavour... was almost funny.
"I'd rather not, if it's all the same to you." Hayes shook his head, smiling now a bit. "Well, it goes under my dead file, to be stored away and never seen again."
"I'll drink to that..." She handed him the PADD back, the very thing sickening to her sensibilities. How the civilian population was going to take it was another alarming thought. What a cesspit.
"What is it you wanted to work on?" He stood, ready to relinquish his office if need be.
"Oh, no... Gabe, it's okay." Embarrassed, Sloane indicated with her hands that he should sit back down. "I thought the office was empty, that's all. You know how fidgety I can get." She gave him another smirk all her own. Her nocturnal wanderings were legendary, and her need to escape her quarters when she was under pressure well known to Hayes. Years ago, when he had caught her red-handed, he had offered her to drop by his office whenever the confines of her four walls threatened to get the best of her. These recent years, it had become a habit of hers, whether Gabriel was in or not. "I can work on this somewhere else."
"Sloane," Gabriel began, "It's really alright. I should probably get to bed anyway at this hour." Not really realizing, he let it slip, "I'm not feeling all that great anyhow."
"You're okay?" She immediately became concerned and decided not to broach the subject of Cpl. Donne. It could wait.
A brief nod, he stretched, and placed his hands on his lower back. Trying to stretch and crack it at the same time. "I'll be fine. After effects, I suppose." Referencing Vulcan, Hayes didn't like to even say the planet or race's name. A large grudge would be held for a long time.
"Okay," Sloane returned simply, watching him move. He looked dead tired. He was right; he should be in bed.
Moving over to grab a few things out of a cabinet, Gabriel muttered, "Enjoy the office, Sloane. Take all the time you need."
Right. Sloane stood rooted where she was, awkward at the distinct feeling she was chasing him out.
Tucking his padd under his arm, gather a few small boxes, he stopped and looked at her a moment, and then nodded his head. "See you tomorrow, McRae." His hesitation moved his boots faster towards the exit.
"Gabe?"
He stopped almost immediately and looked at her. "Yes?"
Are we okay, she wanted to ask him. What did you mean the other night in the cargo bay? But she remembered the promise she had made herself that night, when it became apparent she had heard and seen things she shouldn't have, things Gabriel had no wish to share yet couldn't stop himself from showing. She hesitated and blurted out most likely the lamest line of all. Considering.
"Sweet dreams."
For the briefest of seconds Gabriel dared again to hope. To dream. Going against everything he had trained himself on doing since the tenth grade. His eager, single word was filled with the willingness to talk to her, but her hesitation made him once more feel like a fool. The departure greeting only aided to drive the point home. Brilliant eyes dulled and retreating back into closure once more, Colonel Hayes gave a simple nod and left the office.
Stardate 28.08.2165
Keying the door open, Sloane nearly jumped out of her skin when her eyes fell on Gabriel sitting at his desk. "Sir." She glanced down at the PADD in her hand then looked up again. "I'm sorry, Colonel. I didn't expect you to be up this late."
So soon after being released from sickbay, she thought he would be in his quarters resting. Not that it was Hayes' style to follow doctors' orders, but then, he never used to ask to be sedated either.
She heard the door slid shut behind her. "I can come back later... I was just going to update our database and prepare a report."
The tightness of his jaw, his hard look, a fury in them? Eyeing him more carefully, Sloane got the distinct impression the man was pissed off beyond control. "Gabe, what's up?"
He was tired and didn't expect anyone to invade his privacy or office, especially at this hour. "Doesn't anyone knock or hail anymore?" Gabriel's voice was annoyed and it took him a bit to try and control the anger from the memo. Part of that damned letter from Langley had his mind on the very woman who now entered his domain. No. He couldn't think like that. "What do you need to do in here, Sloane?"
"I didn't think there'd be anyone to hail," she apologised. "I... I can get this done from my quarters. I'll leave you to it." She gave her CO another look and turned to leave.
"Sloane," He sighed, realizing he was barking at the wrong person. "It's not you. Read this." Although the notice said senior staff, unless it was top secret information, Gabriel always shared his high importance memos with his right hand man. Long ago he decided they could discharge him if they didn't like how he did his job. To date, it was obvious the Colonel knew a thing or two.
"What is it?" Sloane eyed the PADD warily. If Gabriel reacted this way, it couldn't be good news. She placed her own device on his desk and picked up the one he presented her. Her breath caught after a couple of paragraphs. Arched eyebrow, she gave him an enquiring look.
Allowing her to read it before he commented, Colonel Hayes shook his head. "It's a bunch of bull shit, is what it is. Some asshole Governor deciding the fate of the future for the human race." Sloane read him right upon her entry. The MACO commander was pissed.
She carried on reading, and re-reading some passages, throwing Hayes glances along the way, to finish with a look of disbelief and disdain on her face. "They can't be serious. Gabe, this has got to be a joke."
"They are serious, Sloane. Keep reading. Get to the bottom." The Colonel growled, "Near thirty years doing my job, and not only do they want me whacking off into a jar, they are more or less going to make me look like an asshole with their god damn re-evaluation!" He grumbled something about giving new meaning to the term 'jar head'.
Oh, she got to the bottom of the communication alright, vivid images entering her brain as Hayes vented in front of her. Her mouth shaped in an 'o', quite an inappropriate look for a MACO major, Sloane looked up. Meeting the stormy hazel eyes of her CO, she flinched as the meaning of the re-evaluation of the frat rules hit home.
"It would seem you and the female MACOs won't be affected, but I don't buy into this shit stink of forcing my men. I'm not going to do this, you can be damn rest assured I'm not forcing my men to!" Smartly, he said nothing further on the memo, but continued his rant. He was tired and reading this memo this late wasn't doing him any good.
And still those images of her having to order the men to do this assailed her mind... as eloquent as Hayes was putting it to her, she cringed. She could order them to their deaths but to jack off in a cup? To father children they didn't want, or might but wouldn't know? What the hell kind of circus was Langley running down there?!
"This is just the beginning... I mean, they'll start with this and next... Gabe, what if we... the women... what if we're all forced into baby... baby farms? Shit, Gabe... I'm not gonna do this. I'm with you, you won't see me force anyone." The brief notion that Hayes and she should set the example - well, that Hayes should set the example - did pop up in her mind, but she crushed it with her booted foot swiftly. Like hell. "What about men already married, de facto, involved? This is crazy talk."
"Married? Not married. Gay. Straight. Indifferent. They might as well lift the clone rule and start manufacturing humans." He didn't look at her, but said in a dead sort of way. Glancing at her, he added, "I'm being sarcastic, but illustrating a point. They might as well take that final step if they want to do this, because they are crushing the very human spirit with this bull shit. I have to repeat it. It's fucking bullshit."
Sloane nodded. Sarcastic maybe, but she didn't think he was that far off the mark. She scanned the text once more. No. There was no mention of restrictions if a man was married. From what she could see, they wanted a sample from *all* men. If they believed this was the only way to save the race, then if a good genetic match came from a married man it wouldn't stop them, would it? She chose not to push the point. No need to add fuel to the fire she saw raging in Gabriel. "So we just ignore this? What happens when we get back to Gaia?" Out here, it was easy to brush this new procedure aside, but once back home... they would have to face the music some time.
Giving Sloane a sly look, Gabriel lifted his hands, fingers spread. "Hey. I was under high-stress Vulcan drugs when they sent this to me. I can't help it if I go planetside and don't know a god damn thing about it."
The corner of her mouth quirked up. "Understood." She would back him up, of course. "Don't let Archer approach you about this, 'cause if he does, you won't be able to use that excuse..." She mentioned this even if she knew this was something Hayes would have thought about already.
"If Archer bring it up, I'll tell him I have no fucking idea what he's talking about and walk away. He'll get the hint, and hopefully, respect my choice in view." If Archer ordered Hayes, that was a whole new story. "I'll worry about that bridge when I cross it however. Personally, as a man, this isn't the sort of thing I would bring up in passing. 'Oh hey Jon. How about that jerking off memo. Pretty great, don't you think?' "
The man could be damn funny when he allowed it and this report had him far over the edge.
She gave him a smirk in reply. Yeah, thanks for another image she could store away. "Think of Phlox when all 'Fleet personnel starts... getting busy." She winced at the very idea. The poor doctors Phlox and Brodie having to handle this circus. The craziness of the whole... endeavour... was almost funny.
"I'd rather not, if it's all the same to you." Hayes shook his head, smiling now a bit. "Well, it goes under my dead file, to be stored away and never seen again."
"I'll drink to that..." She handed him the PADD back, the very thing sickening to her sensibilities. How the civilian population was going to take it was another alarming thought. What a cesspit.
"What is it you wanted to work on?" He stood, ready to relinquish his office if need be.
"Oh, no... Gabe, it's okay." Embarrassed, Sloane indicated with her hands that he should sit back down. "I thought the office was empty, that's all. You know how fidgety I can get." She gave him another smirk all her own. Her nocturnal wanderings were legendary, and her need to escape her quarters when she was under pressure well known to Hayes. Years ago, when he had caught her red-handed, he had offered her to drop by his office whenever the confines of her four walls threatened to get the best of her. These recent years, it had become a habit of hers, whether Gabriel was in or not. "I can work on this somewhere else."
"Sloane," Gabriel began, "It's really alright. I should probably get to bed anyway at this hour." Not really realizing, he let it slip, "I'm not feeling all that great anyhow."
"You're okay?" She immediately became concerned and decided not to broach the subject of Cpl. Donne. It could wait.
A brief nod, he stretched, and placed his hands on his lower back. Trying to stretch and crack it at the same time. "I'll be fine. After effects, I suppose." Referencing Vulcan, Hayes didn't like to even say the planet or race's name. A large grudge would be held for a long time.
"Okay," Sloane returned simply, watching him move. He looked dead tired. He was right; he should be in bed.
Moving over to grab a few things out of a cabinet, Gabriel muttered, "Enjoy the office, Sloane. Take all the time you need."
Right. Sloane stood rooted where she was, awkward at the distinct feeling she was chasing him out.
Tucking his padd under his arm, gather a few small boxes, he stopped and looked at her a moment, and then nodded his head. "See you tomorrow, McRae." His hesitation moved his boots faster towards the exit.
"Gabe?"
He stopped almost immediately and looked at her. "Yes?"
Are we okay, she wanted to ask him. What did you mean the other night in the cargo bay? But she remembered the promise she had made herself that night, when it became apparent she had heard and seen things she shouldn't have, things Gabriel had no wish to share yet couldn't stop himself from showing. She hesitated and blurted out most likely the lamest line of all. Considering.
"Sweet dreams."
For the briefest of seconds Gabriel dared again to hope. To dream. Going against everything he had trained himself on doing since the tenth grade. His eager, single word was filled with the willingness to talk to her, but her hesitation made him once more feel like a fool. The departure greeting only aided to drive the point home. Brilliant eyes dulled and retreating back into closure once more, Colonel Hayes gave a simple nod and left the office.