Orb

[Scribe]

RAVENOR – PLANETESIMAL ORBITING BAJOR 5
STARDATE: 12.4.2168

When she was younger, Cori remembered, she and her best friend Mack had a serious-as-ten-year-olds-could-get discussion about boys and what they would do if they found themselves stranded, with the last boy on Acheron. They'd pictured all kinds of scenarios, with clothing torn in scandalous places, stuck on some beautiful, deserted planet with nothing but a pack of smokes, a bottle of rum and maybe some carrots (for nutrition). Of course, they would find a way to rescue themselves and the boy and he would fall in love with her forever and ever and ever.

The boy would, of course, read her mind and know exactly what she was thinking. He wouldn't complain when he had to take the trash to the compactor and he would earn lots of money and have his own ship. For Cori, that boy had been Kiernan Taggart. He was very cool, very cute and wore his collars up at school and owned four hover boards. He was the first boy she'd kissed when she was eleven. Shortly afterward, his parents had forbid him to see her because she was a Boomer. And he'd listened.

Pussy.

Mack, she'd argued, wasn't a Boomer and her parents let them hang out. No, Kiernan had said. His parents didn't want him to see her. They wanted him to go out with Daisy Vandenburg, who played the flute and the piano and always wore the latest clothes. Why, she'd asked. Because his IQ tests put him at 147 and they didn't want him around anyone who would 'dumb him down'. Daisy's IQ was over 145. Boomers, according to Kiernan, just wouldn't have high IQ's like him.

Humph. Cori had promptly put the IQ vs. Boomer debate to rest when she soundly walloped Daisy's butt at school the next day. Mack, god love her, had stood lookout.

Almost eight years later, Daisy had oh-so-cutely remarked that if she'd been smart enough, Cori wouldn't have gotten herself knocked up by Josh Dillon, another Boomer. Which meant her baby was going to be a rock. And a whore, just like her mother. Those last two things - if Daisy had left it at 'smart enough', Cori might have walked away. But that was a breach in the hull of an already stressed Corine Sarah Hartwood and she'd imploded on Daisy. Six months pregnant, belly going Buddha round, she'd beat the shit out of Daisy. Mack of all people had pulled her off.

So what, Cori mused as she studied a wall of piled up rubble and rock, did Kiernan Taggert have to do with her current situation? She glanced behind her. Well, she was stranded on some deserted planet, with a hot guy whose IQ was well over 150, probably closing in on 170 and one that she would deny until the world ended that she was crushing on.

However, there were several problems with this scenario.

1. The deserted planet wasn't a tropical paradise and this wasn't a beautiful beach. This was Ravenor, seventh of Bajor. Deserted, yes... a deserted, abandoned popsicle and she and Brainiac were God only knew how many miles under the surface, trapped in the ruins of a long gone civilization after they'd set off some kind of ancient booby trap.

2. There was no rum. This was fine by Cori, who at fifteen discovered she didn’t like the crap and opted for whiskey. None of that either but damn, she wanted a drink.

3. There were no carrots. They had emergency rations, which wouldn't last long but it was better than no food at all.

4. If they didn't get out of here, the world might come to an end much sooner than she wanted.

And 5. The Guy.

As the Sarge would say, it was always the guy. Luke Randolph, a fellow Shark, who Cori had been drawn to like a bee to pollen, even though they argued like old women at times. The eyes, he looked at her and those glacier blue eyes set off fireworks all over. His smile, awfully cute and he laughed at her jokes. That mouth, which was probably as good as he boasted but could easily meet her temper and wasn't afraid to push back. And last but not least, that brain. Always, Cori had been attracted to smart, capable guys who were good with their hands.

Luke was smart, capable, good with his hands (in more ways than one, he claimed) and hot. He was like Mecca. He was fast-tracking his way to Corporal and he liked to talk to her, he'd told her once, drunk. He talked about everything to her, when he got laid, his conquests, which stung…but in the end, Cori had accepted that she just wasn't in his league and settled on being the one girl he was friends with than one of the many he slept with.

Now, as she squatted down beside him, Cori looked at the communicator he was fiddling with. "Anything yet?" she said, rubbing her hands together against the chill. "I'm thinking chow is when they'll notice we're gone." Cori sat beside Luke, pulling her knees up to her chest. "That's three hours away."

“Nah,” Luke Randolph had to fight from snapping back because he hated it when he couldn’t figure something out and he was very accustomed to figuring things out. With an IQ of 170 plus, he had made Starfleet recruiters weep when he turned them down. Running a Starship? Not for him. He wanted two things in life, to have a good time and to answer to as few people about it as possible.

Which was probably why they were here.

After a bit of disagreement with the Lieutenant, okay, it was more than disagreement. He and Private Dolan had been fucking around (literally) behind some crate and the Lieutenant had balled him out in front of everyone, calling him an irresponsible fucking jerk that was going to get people killed. That stung. So Luke had set out on his own, determined to put some distance between him and the flock, hoping that the patrol would assuage his wounded pride. He was smarter than most but it bit when he was reminded that youth made him less. The Lieutenant, the Sarge, hell even the Colonel. Like they even remembered what it was to be young. They were probably so used to their bars that it no longer registered what it was like to relax. If they ever did.

Of course Cori had tagged along and though he would have preferred to be alone and even Sean was smart enough to give him that space; she stayed at his heels nonetheless. Sometimes he didn’t know whether or not he ought to be grateful for this.

Now they were trapped in this cave, he just had to explore, without the component to boost the communicator’s gain so that he could get them out of here and it was as cold as a witch’s titty and the light was crap. Worst yet, if the signal didn’t penetrate, then they were going to be trapped between several miles of rock.

Not a good thing.

He dropped the communicator on the ground and sat up, looking at the ceiling. “We need a fucking tricorder reading of this damn ceiling.” He grumbled. “I’ll bet there’s something in it other than rock. Its transmitting but something is interfering with it.”

"Next time I tag along to keep you out of trouble, I'll bring one," Cori said, looking up to the ceiling as well. Not that she was blaming him but -someone- had to go when he'd announced he was hiking out to the cave entrance found on an earlier fly-over for a better look. And since she'd never really seen a cavern system up close and personal, Cori had volunteered.

Ever since Kilshara, the MACO's had been dispatched to many of the mining colonies in order to protect them from such a thing happening again. They were busy and any downtime like this was nearly cherished. As it was, she wasn't due for her shift on the camp perimeter til morning anyway. "What do you think it is? Dilithium blocks signals and so does iron."

He didn't make fun of her but he did smirk a little. "Its dilithium," Luke corrected her gently. "They worked out the calibration of sensor signals on iron a long time ago. I'll say its dilithium. It’s notorious for throwing off sensors." Straightening up, he regarded her and the ruins again. "Come on; let's go take a look around the place. Might be something interesting we can use."

Catching that smirk, Cori rolled her eyes at him as she stood up and dug her gloves out of a pocket. "Maybe it's not dilithium," she said, just to be obnoxious. "Maybe it's something we haven't come across yet. We can name it after you. Egolithium, shagalite," she teased, pulling her gloves on. Cori's face lit up and she snapped her fingers, laughing. "I got it. Picklitus Foreskinaride."

"Whatever," he said shrugging, aware that it would piss her off even more if he didn't react to it. "Maybe we can call it Pre-menstrualium." He snorted, before heading off towards the ruins. "You coming or you just gonna bitch?" He knew she'd hate that but Luke enjoyed pushing all her buttons, since she was under the impression she was able to do the same to him. Never happen baby.

Making a face, mimicking him, she muttered, "I'm just gonna bitch...jarhead," Cori grumbled, hoping he didn't see that she had to run to catch up with him. Cute jarhead. With a nice ass. "So," she said, falling into step with him. "Do you think we've found the prophets last hiding place?" Whoever it was, they were able to do wonders with rock. "I mean, it looks Bajoran. I can see wrinkle-nose cavemen here."

"She does as she is," he remarked as they entered the partial remains of an old temple. Leaving her behind, she'd follow anyway because pain always did. Unless of course you got a shot or pulled out the heel from your back because you were drunk and she forgot to take off her shoes...never mind. Surrounded by large blocks that looked like sandstone, the inside of the place was mostly dark and Luke had to produce a torch to light the way when something got his attention. "Hey, I found something..." he called after her.

If he didn't know better, he would have called it a carved box. The design was definitely Bajoran, standing a foot high, and the same across. Leaning down, he opened it and what was inside it immediately bathed the entire cavern in a bright white glow. It looked like a crystal vase with light pouring out of every cut facet. It was beautiful.

"Woah."

Luke thought to himself and then with a smug smile, thought about the Lieutenant and his superiors. Wait til they see this, too young my ass. Like to see you guys do the same when you were my age.

"Okay, but we shouldn't touch anything...." Cori stopped in her tracks as she entered the room, eyes wide. "Else…Wow...." She stumbled slightly, not paying attention to the floor as she joined him. Dropping her gaze to the contents, Cori knelt beside it. "That's gorgeous," she said, blue eyes literally sparkling with the reflection.

However, Luke was already reaching for it.

A flash of brilliance and the walls of the temple disappeared around them.

Instead, the familiar setting of the Beasts appeared impossibly around them. There was music and riotous laughter surrounding. It was the Slain Beasts tavern back in Gaia, Luke thought when the disorientation left him but it was also different. There was no mistaking it. They’d spent enough time in the place to know. The changes were subtle but still...

"SKULL, SKULL, SKULL, SKULL!"

The chanting made Luke turned towards the source and it took a second to register that Colonel Tom Merrick was chugging down what had to be the biggest pint of beer in creation, drinking it without any problems at the bar, surrounded by a whole lot of Sharks, in the midst of what was one hell of party.

On the other side of it, slamming her palms down on the counter, egging him on was a familiar red haired vixen who couldn't be any older than Cori was right now. "Go Captain! Go!"

Next to them, was Derick Rickman, younger like the rest, balancing an empty pint of the same size on his head, eyes glazed over and some girl hanging on him.

"Oh my god," Cori breathed, eyes as large as saucers as she stared at the scene, unaware that she'd grabbed Luke's arm with both hands. "Luke, it's the Beast's," she said in an awed voice, looking up at him but only for a second as her gaze shifted behind them. Yes, it was the Shark hangout but something was off and Cori couldn't quite pinpoint it. "Are…are we on Gaia? What did you do?"

"I don't know," Luke stated, mystified. "I didn't even get to touch it...' He replied, surveying the scene with growing amusement now that his astonishment was waning slightly. Fascinated, he stepped forward, gesturing Cori to stick close as he approached the bar to try and figure out what the hell was going on here.

"Winner gets head from Ren!" Someone shouted from the crowd.

"Hey bite me Devereaux!" Ren Richards hollered, flipping the man the finger.

"That's what he's hoping for luv," Tom winked. "Awlright then, brings us another Fabien!"

"I gotta to get in that contest," Luke smirked at her, unable to resist letting that pass. "Come on, we have got to check this out."

"What…Luke!" Cori let out a sigh of long-suffering frustration. "What are you doing...?" she said, hurrying after him. "If this is Gaia, we need…"

"I want head from her!"

Cori stopped, conditioned to respond to that voice. Looking from Luke, she found herself at the end of Derick's finger. "Lieutenant?"

"Lieutenant... he's the fuckin' cap'n. I work for a fuckin' living, Blue. Jus' made fuckin' sergeant. Gaddamn, you're cute... "

Glancing at Luke, Cori's face clearly said 'what the fuck?' The lieutenant was hot, she could see that and in all the sighs and looks that followed him out of the barracks although she'd never been all that interested. Even with his charm and Marsi accent on full power. Call it situational discrimination or simply call it ' ewww'.

"I have a boyfriend!" she said, ducking away from that paw grabbing for her and retreating closer to Luke.

"Awww Sarge," Ren laughed out loud. "Candi and Brandi not out of the playpen yet?"

"Old enough to bleed, old enough to butcher luv," Tom smirked and checked out the two new arrivals. "Oh fuck, we've got spacers on the floor lads. Better behave or else the Iron Bastard will have our sacs in a sling. Or tits in a tangle. Oy Sgt." the Captain came over to Rickman, "let's go break into McRae's house, you can sniff her drawers."

Luke burst out laughing, giving into the absurdity of what they were seeing. Already his brain was hashing out the possibilities of what had happened to them and if he wasn’t even half right then this was real.

"Jesus Christ I think he means Colonel Hayes and Lt. Colonel McRae. Come on girlfriend," He pulled Cori closer, unable to avoid getting into the spirit of things "You better stay close before you get hit on by the Cap.. I mean sergeant. He's big enough to put you over his shoulder and drag you back to his cave."

"He already did hit on me," Cori hissed, eyeing Tom Merrick as she absorbed what Luke had said. The Colonel didn't drink. Anymore. "Do you…we went back in time?? What the fuck was that thing?" she asked, leaning against him because Rickman hadn't yet moved his gaze as she followed Luke to the bar. Whiskey, the thought hit her like a brick and she quickly ordered a shot before she changed her mind. She needed that damn shot but if carrots showed up, she was going to scream.

"Boyfriend, huh?" Derick eyed Luke with something akin to rotten mischief. "Bet he ain't got a tongue like mine," he told her, waggling said appendage at her.

"According to him, he does," Cori retorted under her breath as the shot glass was placed in front of her. "Thank god..." Downing the shot like a pro, the bite of Jack helped clear the fuzz still in her head.

"Really baby," Ren pushed past Derick. "This I gotta see." She made her way to Luke and wrapped her arms around him. "Hey good looking, haven't seen you around before. Want to come upstairs with me and let me take you around the world."

"Hey how you doing," Luke smiled thinking to himself that this was the governor's wife. She had been hot when she was Sergeant but now, now... she was fucking nova and she wanted him upstairs. Round the world. She apparently gave great head. Looking at those green eyes, he felt himself weakening and tossed Cori a look that said plainly.

Hell yeah.

Hell NO.

Cori's look was quite plain. Don't leave her down here alone! Torn between the friend who was a girl status and…a flare of jealously because that was the Sarge and she was married and beautiful and ... Wait just a damn minute. Cori's eyes narrowed at both Luke and Richards. "I do think not, Boyfriend," she said pointedly.

"HEY!"

Cori winced at the loud voice in ear and glared at Rickman.

"Orphan Annie, leave 'im alone. Young thing like that, his head would explode."

“Young’s how I like them,” Ren who was half tanked smirked and then stumbled forward, arms wrapping around the Sarge. “Come on then Sarge,” she said giggling, “let’s celebrate that promotion. Give you an Orphan Annie tongue surprise.”

Luke stared at Cori with an expression of ‘but, but, but,’ before he realised that she was probably right and that the Lieutenant…damnit the Sarge would probably haul her ass away. Luke was still coming to grips with the fact that their commanding officers were behaving worse than he and Sean on a Saturday night.

“You’re killing me,” he glared at Cori disappointed even if he knew she was right for dragging him away, “you know that right?”

"You'll live," Cori answered back and held up her shot glass for another one. "I can't believe that's the sergeant," she whispered to him, eyeing the red head. "She's…giggling," Cori told him, half in disgust because that was so not the bad ass image the woman projected.

"Orphan Annie Tongue Surprise," the look that Derick shot Tom said it all but after a second, he relented and peeled her hands off him. "Like fuckin' my sister and I don't think Blue would join us. Blue Plate Special," he said, laughing to himself, one hand pounding the bar so hard all the adjacent glasses and dishes tinkered against it.

“Your sister don’t do what I do Sarge,” Ren winked and moved off, sliding her arm around Tom instead. “Come Captain, let’s go two for two.”

Cori had just tilted up the second shot when a hand on her thigh made her choke. The whiskey burned when it hit the wrong pipe and with watering eyes, she followed the hand up to... Colonel Merrick?? He was old enough to be her father?!

“Don’t knock it honey,” Ren winked at her, still wrapped around Tom Merrick. “He goes like a fucking stallion.”

Only the fact that his fingers were close to the promise land brought her out of her shock. Coughing, she pushed his hand away. "Sorry. Got enough man right here," she told him, tugging on Luke's sleeve to get his attention from whatever piece of ass it had wandered too.

“I can’t believe these people,” Luke declared with clear triumph. “They are so never ragging on us again after this. Come on girlfriend,” he started to haul her away from the trio before somebody got laid and he’d have to deal with the fact that it wasn’t him.

"I know!" Cori followed him readily, gratefully. "I mean, just last week Sarge was getting on me for being the only girl drinking with you guys. Said it gave y'all ideas. That if I wanted to be taken seriously, I was going to have act like a grown woman and I'm not acting any worse than she is!" she finished indignantly, voice low as she caught up to him. "Luke, what's going on…why are we here?"

Finding themselves a booth, Luke slipped into it, making sure Cori took the seat next to him and not across, so as it would appear as that they were making out or were a couple. Looking at the debauch taking place, he considered her question. “I think…we came into contact with Bajoran Orb.”

"A what?" As much as she liked the fact Luke was pretty damn smart, even that was hard to swallow. "They don't exist, it's urban legend," she told him, even though the light, the sparkles, everything fit the stories she'd heard. Trying to accept it because as much as she didn't want to admit it, Luke was probably right, she started talking. "So what do we do? We can't stay here, it will screw up the timeline, IF this is Gaia and why Gaia? Why not Bajor or Ravenor for that matter. And how do we get back?"

Luke didn’t speak for a few seconds, ignoring her urban legend comment because that was just bullshit. No way was it just a legend, not with the literature he had been reading. “I haven’t figured that out yet but the Orbs, they do exist – they’ve been a part of Bajoran spirituality for thousands of years. They’re connected to some Celestial Temple the Bajorans believe in. There’s supposed to be like nine of them scattered throughout Bajor.” He thought about what he had been thinking when he opened that chest. Shit.

“You know what I was thinking when I saw that thing?”

"What?" Cori looked at him expectantly, thinking she needed to start reading more. "Isn't the Temple like their version of like…the Shroud of Turin?" she asked, remembering that at least.

“I was thinking that Sarge and the Lieutenant thought they were the only ones who knew shit about anything, that we’re just as smart as they were with finding that orb.”

Falling silent for a moment, Cori looked over to where the Lieutenant…Sergeant now and Sergeant…Private maybe or lance corporal now were engaged with Colonel…now Captain Merrick - that was going to give her a headache. "So..." she began, wheels turning, "You were thinking about them when you saw the orb?" Out of loyalty, she was going with that. "Before we saw this?" One hand indicated the Beasts.

“Yeah,” Luke nodded. “It was like it saw what was in my head and put us in a place that showed us that they weren’t any different than we are now. I mean look at them…” he stared at Ren in particular. “I mean she’s hot…she’s fucking hot.”

Of course she was. She was the Sarge. Cori fought the stab of jealously that again hit her and swallowed it down. Didn't taste good but she did it anyway. "Well, she is the Sarge," she said lamely, recalling her mantra. She'd rather be Luke's friend than someone he slept with because those girls usually got treated like crap. "I mean, so is the Lieutenant and the Colonel, for older guys. You oughta see the women's barracks after those two leave." Looking back at them again, where Rickman was now sticking credits in Ren's bra strap…with his teeth... she frowned. "I'd ask who's telling them to be responsible but he's right there with them," she said, pointing to Merrick.

“Man I didn’t even know he could drink like that,” Luke stared, watching Tom Merrick doing shots now, lining up a nice little pyramid of shot glasses, with the Sarge uh…Ren draped over his shoulder, trapped between him and the Lieutenant. Fuck, they got any closer and they’d be doing a threesome. The thought made his mouth go dry. “Well I can’t believe that it’s stuck us here permanently. I mean people always say they’ve had encounters with the Orbs but nothing that makes them disappear forever.”

"Oh my god, that's Brandi!" Cori laughed as she spied one of Luke's 'regulars' cozying up to Rickman, bosom first of course. "Looks like you aren't the only favorite," she nudged Luke with an elbow, gaze switching over to Merrick like she was watching a three-ring circus. "I heard he used to be the real lushie," she said, the Boomer term automatic to her still. "Just people talking you know but they said he's been dry since before he met his wife, Captain Merrick. So that means this is at least…four years ago? Five maybe?"

“Longer,” Luke replied, “maybe seven.” He winced looking at Candi, Brandi, the Sarge, the Lieutenant and the Colonel, cavorting like they were about to move upstairs and have a fucking orgy. It was surreal. “Looks like the Lieutenant just made Gunny. Jesus, I knew Candi and Brandi got around but this is fucking ridiculous…I’m going to have to go get shots to make sure my dick doesn’t fall off from any diseases.”

"HHhI."

Someone was standing in their way. Looking up into the human wall, Cori swore. "Uh.. hi.. Co.. Lorio."

"You know my name... she knows my name..." Lorio said to the guy accompanying him, which was Anderson. Glazed over eyes swung back to Cori and then to Luke, who he peered at unsteadily. ".. don't know you.. fuckin' spacers, man..jus' comin' from e'rywhere. He botherin' you, cutie?" he said, pointing to Luke with a finger that had trouble finding it's target.

Oh boy...Cori dropped back against Luke immediately, one hand sliding along his thigh rather intimately. "No, he's not," she answered.

Luke glanced down at her hand and immediately felt that familiar alarm going off in his head, the one that screamed, “target acquired and sighted, moving in for possible penetration’. This was quickly followed by the weight of a 170 IQ telling him to pull his head out of his ass because the girl was doing this to play a part. If it was any girl, Luke would have been disappointed but this was Cori who liked to give him shit and most days, reminded him why a love ‘em and leave em kind of guy was just the way to be. Sticking around for the noise was too much damn trouble. Still, she did always give him shit and this was the opportunity to get back at her a bit and maybe ruffle those damn feathers of us that always seemed to get into his business.

“That’s right,” Luke replied scooting right next to Cori where he slid an arm around her shoulders while one hand brushed aside the dark strands and began planting soft kisses on her neck. “Girl’s right where she wants to be.”

Yeah he was a bastard.

Heat streaked right through Cori before her brain could react, pushing two thoughts to the forefront the moment Luke's lips settled on her skin. The first thought was…holy shit. The second, riding on the fluttering of her eyelids and her fingers flexing into the solid quad under them, was that Luke's boasts of screams and repetition might not be all lies. Not with lips like that. Or that voice? Jesus Christ, maybe she should rethink this friend thing.
No, no.. NO. A voice rang clear in her head. Just a part. And…well, she was hypersensitive. That was it. Hypersensitive because she was in a dry spell. Josh had been the last guy she was with and that was well over a year ago.

"Aw man.. get a fuckin' room," Lorio grumbled, head sort of rolling until his eyes fell on Cori. "You get tired a'him, baby, you come fin' me, 'kay?" With that, he dropped a wink on her that was sort of... charming. Eww.

As he stumbled off, supported by Anderson…or was he supporting Anderson? The chicken or the egg...Cori gritted her teeth. Somewhere, there was a bitch inside her and she had to find it or totally lose respect in not just her friend's eyes but in the entire team when it got out. "Okay, youcanstopnow," she said quickly, straightening up and bringing her hands back to herself. Whether she realized it or not, or whatever state of denial she was in, her feathers...could be considered ruffled. Randolph 1, Hartwood, ZILCH.

Weapon of Mass seduction deployed? Check
.
Target acquired and aroused – check.

Luke stopped kissing her neck but he was very close and replied in her ear in that same, husky voice. “I think that did the trick.” He took a sniff of her skin, just to let the scent coalesce in his brain and imprint. “Nice scent Harwood, Chloe isn’t it? Who would have thought that you were girl under all the PMS.”

Elbow. Check. In the gut.

Check! Score!

What other choice did she have? He knew what perfume she wore?? Yeah and it was Luke Randolph, the unit's Lotharomeo. Cori would have to record that one next to Pickled Foreskin. "Yes, it is. Why does it always have to be PMS with you? Why can't I just be angry, which has nothing to do with hormones, thank you and while you're having fun, did you consider our situation?" she whispered back to him, giving his shoulder a slight shove.

“Yeah I have,” he said moving to minimum safe distance. “So what do you want to do? Hop a freighter, go back to Bajor and find out that orb, see if it can get us back?” He asked, already formulating the plan in his head. “Or do we ride this out for an hour or so and see if the encounter ends because it might be just that simple. People on Bajor have had experiences that don’t last all that long. What’s the point of giving us a look through the looking glass, if they weren’t going to pop us back.?” Glancing at the debauch going on, fucking hell, could you stick a tongue down a Captain’s mouth that far….?

She hated when he did that. Look like he totally wasn't paying attention and actually WAS. It had been funny in boot and in other classes when instructors called him on something and he repeated things back word for word but actually done to her, Cori found it damned irritating. She sighed, frowning. She was going to have to admit he was right. To his face. "That makes sense."

Following his gaze, Cori's eyes went wide and she tilted her head, needing to lean over for her brain to comprehend what was going on. "She's awfully limber..."

“I may never forgive you for not letting me go up stairs with her,” Luke sighed, tilting his head in the same direction as Cori. “No wonder she landed the governor. One of those kisses and that long legs riding my groin, I’d propose too…” he sighed. “So,” he pulled his eyes away from Renee Richards and what her hand was doing to Colonel Merrick (that was just so wrong), “we sit here, drink beers and see if this thing fades. If it doesn’t than we’ll have to figure out a way to get back to the orb. It started there I say it will end there too. Think of it this way, I could have been thinking about having you and an Orion slave girl harem.” He winked.


"Oh god," Cori laughed, rolling her eyes as she smiled at him, transgressions forgotten. "If you think that will work, then…okay. That still leaves us with our original problem though. The cave in," she said, laughing suddenly. "Not this past Halloween but last, I went as an Orion slave girl to this huge party," she chuckled, purposely not remembering what else had happened that night. Dracula AKA Josh had her seven ways from Sunday out past the goal posts, in the dark and well…almost ten months later, Bethany had arrived.

Oh but Josh had been good. Ducking her head, mostly because Cori could almost hear Mack telling her about that dork smile on her face, she looked back out at the crowd where…"OH my god, is that Sergeant Kemper???" Her mouth dropped in horror as she looked back at Luke.

"Hell," Luke shook his head, watching what was happening now. Ren was on the table dancing to the crowd, chugging a bottle of Red Eye. "We need to record this..." he laughed. "About the cave in - maybe we could leave them a message, something that they won't know to throw away. I got it..." He said getting to his feet. "You coming or do you want to check out how good Lieutenant Rickman's tongue really is...?"

“I'm coming...NOT a word!" she threw Luke a look that said not if you want to live. "Seriously, what about a note? That might work. We'd have to be careful with it though, right?"

"Yeah, yeah," Luke nodded already walking out. "Come along Blue Plate Special, we're going to the data storage centre." Data storage was where most off world messages for civilians were distributed from Starfleet comms to individual terminals. Her idea was a good one although Luke planned on embellishing a little.

"Hey!" The withering look she sent his backside would have melted most men but as he didn't see it, Luke Randolph was spared. This was probably a good thing. Cori didn't want to piss off Sean. There was a guy whose lack of temper clearly said no one wants to see me angry. "Alright, alright!" she called, hurrying after him less Lorio or someone else get ideas.

Once out of the bar, in the cool night air, she shoved her hands back in her pockets and fell into step beside him. "You know if that Orb really wanted to help us, it would have put us some place warm."

Seeing her shiver, Luke replied. "I'd offer you my jacket but you'd just be snarky so suffer," he replied continuing to walk. "So I'm thinking we go to Data Storage and send a message with a time stamp delay for the week this happens to us, so like you said, a note."

"I'd only be snarky if you were smug about it," Cori retorted. "Besides, I'm not that cold. The Beasts was warm." And it hadn't been the only thing warm for a moment there. Heaving a sigh, she relented. "That…that's a good idea, you know. About the time stamp delay?" Casting a look at him sideways, she smiled. "Brainiac."

"Sure, Blue Plate." He smirked, tossing her a little look that wasn't designed to magically extract underwear at a single glance. Walking down the street, he looked around the place. "Man, so much has changed in seven years. I never even noticed."

"That's right, you grew up here," Cori said, searching for landmarks. They were here, but like Luke had said, different. Like that stupid statue of the Indian on the third porch from the left still had two arms (only one as she knew it) and the paint looked a little brighter. "For me, this is the difference. See, that house has a garden and flowers. It doesn't on our Gaia." No in fact, the happy little house was now rather sad and desolate.

"Well a lot of stuff got blasted to hell when the Klingons attacked," Luke remembered. He was in his teens at the time but things had gotten bad. He remembered being evacuated to Serenity Gorge and then to the Andorian Listening Post... man what a time that had been.

"I read about that," she said, glancing back at that house before returning her attention to Luke. "We didn't have much like that. There was…these things called tribbles but that wasn't so much an attack as an infestation." Chuckling, Cori continued. "And then the runaway vines...but I was on tour when they blossomed. Got back at the tail end of it. It was pretty funny, the station overgrown with these really thick vines." She held out her hands, showing the circumference. "Some got up to 10 inches across."

"There's nothing wrong with ten inches," he winked, letting her stew on that or infer what he could. Yeah he was a bastard but an opening, he could never resist.

"Oh you so wish, Pick." Shaking her head, Cori continued her story anyway. "The problem though, vines that big, if they were allowed to grow, could crush pipes and they even had one of the station windows crack. They managed to get the room sealed and everyone evacuated in time though." Her and her mother had been on a freighter, headed for Antares and back.

"Ouch," Luke winced. "Sounds like fun." Not. They arrived at the data storage centre and thankfully it was open. Stepping through the doors, a rather bored looking young woman was behind the desk.

Celine Sylvester hated being an intern but perked up seeing the hot MACO that came into the place. Smiling brightly, she asked. "What can I do for you?"

"We need to send a message," Luke replied. She was cute. Jailbait but still cute.

"Is that a Troll doll!!?" Cori pointed out the wildly pink-haired doll on the desk. "I haven't seen one of those in ages, that's so cute!" she began. "Where did you get it?"

"Oh I had it from Earth," Celine said brightly.

Luke stared in disgust. "What is it with you women and ugly looking dolls? Focus Blue Plate?"

"It's because it's so ugly it's cute, like…Pickles," Cori deadpanned, giving him a look that said a little sugar wouldn't hurt. Still, he had a point. Dammit. "Like he said, we need to send a message. Mind if we grab a terminal?" she asked, indicating the one of the empties.

"Sure," she replied laconically. "You can use any of those."

Sugar indeed, Luke snorted. If he wanted to lay on the charm, he'd not only get a terminal but laid as well. But she was too young and even he had some scruples. "Thanks," he tossed the girl a smile and then followed Cori to the booths in question. "Okay this is your safari," he looked at his partner in misery as they sat down at the terminal. Come up with a message."

"Right." Frowning, Cori brought up the terminal and in the right block, typed in the Colonel's name and then deleted it. She'd put Colonel instead of Captain. "Not a word," she said, not looking at Luke as she typed. "Okay. So it should be something unique enough for him to realize it's not a joke, that you and your brother aren't just having him on." Her voice quiet, she glanced over her shoulder at the girl. Seeing that her attention was elsewhere, Cori turned back to Luke and the screen. "Okay. How about .. grid coordinates." Typing those in, Cori also gave Ravenor's name and designation code and started typing. "Oh wait..." She deleted something, chuckling. "He might think I'm trapped with Lieutenant Rickman. Okay. Here.. read this:

To: Colonel Merrick, T.I.
From: Private Hartwood, C.S.
(Date stamp: 01/22/2158;2347hrs)

Colonel,

It's your two favorite Sharks, Mouth and Thing One. We were exploring the cavern system found earlier on a flyover and somehow triggered a landslide and are trapped. Ravenor, BTR69A2, Grid 6, 32N, 177E. Approximately 1315 hrs, check seismic activity to verify.

Please help us - if we die down here, I'll have to sleep with him because I’m not gonna die not having had sex in almost two years. If that happens, I'll curse you and have Lexie marry a Fleeter.

Pvt. Cori Hartwood

Looking over her shoulder, Luke’s eyebrows disappeared into his hair when he read the last line of her message. Two years? That was like 104 weeks, 730 days…without sex. The concept was alien. “Two years?” He looked at her. “You’re shitting me right?”

If she could have rolled her eyes all the way up into her head, Cori would have. And it was too late now. She'd been in the spirit of things, typing away and hadn't realized it until he said something. "Shut up," she grumbled, feeling her cheeks warm up and that just pissed her off. Girl like her, blushing.. like she was some virginal bride on a slaver's block. Knowing that wouldn't be enough, she didn't look at him. "I said almost two years…closer to one, just.. is the message okay or not?"

“Yeah the message is fine,” Luke answered but was not about to dismiss that tasty morsel. “Right almost two years closer to one,” he snorted. “Sounds like two years to me.” A small smile stole across his lips. “So… you want me to slip you one, just to make sure everything’s working down there?” He took a step back, aware that he was going to get hit.

"In your dreams," Cori retorted in disgust, her palm mashing his face to shove him and that stupid grin away from her. Turning back to the console, she sent the message. "There. Done. Let's go," she growled and headed for the door, not looking back at him. "Thank you!" she called out cheerily, waving at Celine.

Grinning because he was now making it his mission to get Cori laid, after all, if she didn’t get all that sexual tension out, she could hurt something and he was just watching out for his comrade. “See you later,” he threw at Celine one of his smiles which had the girl blushing in seconds. Following Cori out he added, “Well you know, since you haven’t had sex in two years, maybe we could go back to Beasts and you and Lieutenant Rickman can go for it, Blue Plate.”

"Shut up!" Cori fired back, not looking back as she jammed her (cold) hands back into her pockets. "I set the message to ping the Colonel about twenty minutes after the landslide. That way, he can check the seismic graphs and know it's not B.S.," she said, hoping that, like a fly, if she ignored Luke's attention to her sex life, it would go away.

“And we need to let the landslide happen or else we’ll create a temporal paradox,” Luke pointed out, “since if he prevents us from getting trapped in the first place, we can’t send a message back for him to help us.” He added seriously and then replied. “Why two years?” It boggled the mind. “I mean don’t hit me or nothing but sure you’re defective for resisting my charms but there are other guys out there…”

Growling, Cori stopped short, turning to face him. "God! You're like a staph infection, you know that?" she shot at him. "And I am NOT defective, thank you. I just.. just…" Lifting her chin up, she turned back for the Beasts. "I don't want to talk about it."

There was something there but Luke wasn’t sure he wanted to push. He was used to Sean, all broody and quiet. He knew with his brother, you did not push and he was pretty sure that Cori was more or less the same. “Okay, but you said you’re not defective which means I got a shot of finding out what kind of panties you wear because sooner or later, I’m going in.”

"Whatever." Sooo not happening and then have to listen to that smug ego or worse. Cori glared at nothing in particular. "Come on, don't we have to be at the Beasts when this stupid thing goes?" she asked, looking over her shoulder at him. "Since that's where it dropped us off?"

“Yeah I’m interested in the next phase of the debauch.” Luke said filing away what he had learned for later. Two…years. Damn. He had been sexually active since he was fourteen. “I’m still trying to wrap my head around it. After we got balled out this morning about being responsible and keeping our head on the game…”

"Tell me about it. I guess though…everyone goes through a phase right? As long as we don't fuck up too badly," Cori winced even as she said that. "I just don't see us as being any different than that." She indicated the tavern coming into sight. "In fact, that is worse than anything we've done." On Gaia anyway. "And I'm sure as hell not giving the lieutenant OR the colonel a lap dance."

“Yeah, with any luck the Sarge is still good to go.” Luke smirked as they headed back into the tavern and saw that the partying was still in full swing. This time it was the Colonel, Lieutenant and the Sarge lining up drinks and slamming back shots.

“Oh Jesus,” he had to laugh.

One thing about Luke, Cori begrudgingly admitted, was that he had a funny laugh. Contagious, it was called (thankfully the only thing) and he always made her laugh. Even when she was in full Glower Mode or pissed off or whatever. Watching their senior officers to be, she shook her head. "I can't believe the Colonel is still upright," she told Luke.

“He definitely can pack them away that’s for sure,” Luke shook his head and went to the bar.

“Hey,” Ren slammed back her shot and waited for the next round when she caught sight of them. “It’s Newbie!” She sauntered over and practically fell into Luke’s arms. “Come on baby you’re not going to leave me alone again are you,” she leaned in and whispered in his ear, “I can suck your brains out all if you want.”

“Oh God,” Luke groaned out loud and tossed a pleading look at Cori. “God hates me…”
"You and me both," Cori muttered, frowning at the Sarge. Here she was, a married woman (well in the future) and hanging all over some guy that was spoken for. Falsely spoken for, but spoken for... had this been any other woman, Cori might just have done something about it. Like decked her. Started a fight. Hell, even her and Mack, drunk, weren't claim jumpers.

A thought occurred to her and Cori smiled sweetly. "Sorry...he doesn't have a lot of brains to begin with and what he did have…well..." Her tongue flicked across her lips. "Have been sucked out already."

“Aw too bad Newbie,” she said pulling away and going back to Gunny, “I would have ridden you at a gallop until you popped. Better treat him Blue, cos he looks mighty tasty.”

Luke looked at Cori helplessly, “I so need a drink.”

Swiping two of the shots in front of the Lieutenant, Cori handed one to Luke as she ignored Rickman's belated 'hey'. "Bottoms up and besides," she told him quietly. "If you got the clap from her that would be one really fucked up self-fulfilling prophecy."

“Nah,” Luke shook his head, “I spoke to the Lieutenant one time at Beasts, and she was the smokingest chick they had there but didn’t nail everything in sight. She talks a good game but only picks a few.”

He watched as Ren going back to Colonel uh…Captain Merrick’s side, who promptly slid an arm around her waist and pashed her hard on the lips.

"Oh." Couldn't tell it from the way she was behaving. "So she's a tease?" Cori raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "And here she was giving me a lecture about teasing guys," she grumped.

Suddenly, there was a sound at the door and the next thing they knew, Starfleet Security was making an appearance. “Oh fuck…”

"Oh shit..." Grabbing Luke by the jacket, Cori hauled him to the nearest booth. "We do not need to be found by them," she hissed, glancing back. "Oh fuck…it's Captain Merrick!" she said, recognizing the brunette walking through the door. Shoving Luke into the seat, Cori slid in next to him.

“Oh this I gotta see,” Luke snorted.

Goddamn jarheads, Lt. Alex Styles walked into the room and saw in the middle of it, Captain Merrick. Oh for crying out loud, she thought to herself, some role model.

“Alright whose in charge here!”

“Hullo luv,” Tom Merrick looked at his future wife. “Nice uniform,” he poked a finger at the Starfleet insignia. “Nice uhm… badge.”

"Oh my god," Cori laughed in disbelief, slapping a hand over her mouth as Luke's intention to watch put him in her space. She shifted back from him, scooting to the edge of the booth seat. "She looks really uptight..." she told Luke.

Alex swatted the Captain’s hand away from her boob. “Hey watch it… uhm Captain. We’ve had complaints from your neighbors to keep it down in here, otherwise, we’ll shut this place down fro the night.”
“Bloody hell luv,” Tom rolled his eyes. “You need a stiff one to shake off all that Fleet rust. Come on up with me and I’ll give you a tumble. Call it a pity fuck.”

Alex’s jaw dropped. “Just keep it down!” She was almost tempted to slug him except he was a CAPTAIN.

“Oh man,” Luke was doubled over laughing.

Laughing herself, because Cori couldn't believe, even of the Colonel, that he'd just said something like that, she glanced at Luke. "Looks like the start of a beautiful friendship," she joked. "She looks like she wants to stun him."

“I wonder if he even remembers?” Luke asked when suddenly, the orb reappeared before their eyes, filling the whole room with its bright light. “Shit,” he exclaimed and immediately grabbed Cori, pulling her to him so that they would go together wherever they were sent next which was hopefully back to their own time.

As the Beasts disappeared around them, Luke replied. “Click your heels Dorothy and pray we get back to Kansas.”

"Hey!" Cori began in protest, her voice dying down as she realized what was happening and on instinct, threw her arms around Luke for safe measure. Her eyes shut against the light, Cori only opened one a few seconds later. The Orb had dimmed considerably and was now aided by the flashlight Luke must have dropped earlier. "It's the cave...right?" she asked, not moving for a moment.

"Awesome," Cori grinned up at Luke, smile faltering slightly as she met those gorgeous blue eyes. Staring at her. Like…as if... Nahh.. Still, dammit if her face didn't heat right up. Those stupid kisses on the back of her neck... Looking away from him, Cori detangled herself and stepped back, out of his personal space. Although, she thought, leaning over to scoop up the flashlight he'd dropped, it was pretty cold down here. "Here." Was it her or had the atmosphere just gone. heavy.

Luke stared at her for a few seconds, a lot of thoughts running through his mind, the first being how good she felt in his arms like that. "Uh...yeah." He said when she pulled away and handed him the torch. "Thanks."

Add awkward to the atmosphere. Great. "Now we wait." God, it was so odd, this quiet. Moving across the room, she sat down on a bench carved from the wall. "Don't suppose you have a deck of cards, do you? Or was can play guess the hieroglyph?"

"Sure," he looked at her and shook whatever lingering thoughts was in his head away. It was something he would take out and deal with later, in private.

"Good, then sit and we can start with this one," she said, putting a finger on the carving depiction. "Two headed stork."

"Uh the God Salut," he said quickly, focusing.

Smiling at him, Cori was once again privately glad he had the memory that he did. "This one is a.. three.. legged crab looking thing."

"Marshak, the god of fertility." Luke's eyes widened and then shook of the smarmy remark that wanted to come. He so needed to get the fuck out of here.

"Hmm.. that's weird," Cori remarked, staring at the drawing. "Usually it's a goddess of fertility, right?" (he's going to get out and go shag everything in sight)

"Bajoran deities are usually patriarchal," Luke replied, taking a sudden interest in an alfresco on the wall. "The woman hold such power as Kai, they decided to give a little to the men."

While Luke was grateful to be back where they started and the trip back certainly…educational. that did change the fact however, they were still trapped.

With no idea if their plan worked or not. Celebrating their return could end up being premature.

********

Derick waited next to Tom in the Saratoga's transporter room, arms crossed over his chest. In front of them, the two pads lit up and the air shimmered for a second before revealing his two errant team members. Disheveled, lips almost blue with cold, both of them were dusty and dirty.

Having rematerialized still sitting, Cori's eyes landed on the Colonel in relief. "Oh thank god!": she said, scrambling to her feet.

Luke got to his feet, feeling almost as frost bitten and miserable as Cori. He was pretty sure that his stones had turn to ice and may need to find a ...hello hot transporter tech at 5.00 o'clock. He winked at the girl in her cute Starfleet uniform before looking at the Lieutenant and the Colonel. "Hey, how you doing?"

So she'd been right down in that cave. Rolling her eyes in disgust, mostly at Luke, some at herself, Cori stepped down off the pad where the Lieutenant had had the foresight to put a medic with warmed blankets. "Thanks..." she almost chattered, tucking the blanket around her shoulders tightly as she stared at the Lieutenant and then the Colonel, as if looking for something.

"Hold it Private," Tom stopped the young woman, having entered the transporter room shortly after the duo had emerged. "I got a message from you today, time stamped about seven years ago. What the bloody hell is that about...?"

"Uh Colonel," Luke immediately spoke up. "I think you might need to inform the Bajoran government that we might have located one of their celestial orbs in that cave." Luke stared at Tom Merrick, still having trouble believing that this man was the drunken lout they had seen at Beasts.

"An orb?" Derick almost asked in disbelief, glancing at Tom and back to the two sharks.

"Yes, sir," Cori answered, nodding, not able to really look in the eye the man that wanted head from her, seven years ago. "And the note, Colonel Sk.. Merrick, that's a long story..." she began, glancing at look when she slipped.

“It’s an Orb of Time Sir,” Luke continued to explain. “It actually put us back on Gaia, seven years ago for a short time.”

“You’re shitting me?” Tom explained but then the evidence was in the message. When he received it, he thought someone was playing a trick but then he contacted Derick who hadn’t been able to find two of his people on Ravenor and playing an insane hunch, followed the coordinates set out in the message. “Seven years?” Tom exclaimed looking at Derick. “You better put this in a report.”

“Yes Sir,” Luke smiled, giving Cori a look and wondering just how much detail they should go into.

At that moment, Ren Richards Hayes walked into the transporter room, having come to see if her protégé was in one piece after her ordeal. Poor thing, trapped with Luke for so long. Girl was probably climbing the walls. "Hey Cori, you okay?" She asked.

Luke started grinning at her.

"What?" Ren looked at Derick and Tom with puzzlement.

"Beats the fuck out of me," Derick shrugged.

"I'm okay, uh…Sarge. How's married life?" Cori said and clamped her mouth shut. Fuck and Luke, Christ, could that grin be any MORE shit-eating?

"Married life?" Ren asked, looking at the duo. "Are you two high or something?"

"Nah," Luke said with a smug smile. "Just cold. Not like we were doing shots where the winner gets blow jobs."

"Or head," Cori sniggered, elbowing Luke.

Tom suddenly had a bad feeling what this was about but decided not to stick around for the fallout. "Get your asses to medical," he said trying to wrap his brain around these two. "Bloody hell, the younger they get the stupider they get," he muttered walking out.

"Richards, escort them," Derick added to the end of Tom's order. "Please. Make sure they don't stray any more than they have."

"Come on you two," Ren said marching the duo into the hall. "I'm glad you're okay but you're both acting a little loopy."

"We are?!!" Cori nearly choked. "Better than a shark sandwich," she said.

"Shark sandwich?" Ren looked at them, "what's that supposed to mean?" She was definitely getting these two to medical.

"So Sarge, when you were a private, did you ever get up to any trouble?" Luke asked with a smug smile, almost calling her Orphan Annie and asking about the Tongue Surprise.

"Up being the operative word," Cori retorted.

"I had a good time," Ren was starting to get uncomfortable since she recalled her earlier years and some of it was damn near pornographic.

"Apparently so did others," Cori chuckled, nudging Luke with her elbow again.

Ren looked over her shoulder and decided she didn’t want to know. "Kids.”