Devereux found herself mildly startled by the sound of Elizabeth's voice behind her. She turned slightly to face the young officer, clearing any indication of surprise from her expression. "Yes, Lieutenant?"
A slight frown played along Elizabeth's face. "Is something wrong, Captain?"
It took Devereux a moment to process the question; it was not at all what she had expected the young woman to ask. She gave Elizabeth a small smile before answering.
"Not in particular," she answered lightly. "Ferrying a bunch of touchy diplomats was not how I had originally planned to spend my leave."
Elizabeth smiled, almost laughing. "Me either." Her eyes turned toward the collection of alien delegates. "Still," she continued, "it is kind of interesting." She looked over those gathered in the room for a moment. "There's not many places where you can meet these many aliens at one time in one place."
Devereux found herself chuckling softly at that remark. She had been so occupied with preparing for the assignment, and then carrying it out, that she had not considered that aspect of it before. "And some of them you'll probably never find together in the same room together again, either."
Elizabeth took her remark lightly, but the situation had remained on Devereux's mind ever since she had accepted the assignment. It was only for a few days, she kept telling herself. After that, her ship would hers again.
She studied Elizabeth a brief moment. The young officer looked sharp in her dress uniform. It was evident that it had not been worn much. Devereux fought back a smile, recalling that at that age, the only times she seemed to be in dress was for long, boring official functions or funeral services. The latter, fortunately, had been rare occasions.
"Was there something you needed, Lieutenant?" Devereux asked, suddenly remembering that Elizabeth had originally approached her.
"Nothing urgent, Captain," Elizabeth answered quickly. "Just to tell you that the Aerian delegation is about three hours out."
Devereux nodded slowly, glad that the last contingent was finally arriving. After that, they could get underway again and get this unexpected detour over with.
A quick smile darted across the lieutenant's lips. "They should arrive just in time for your tour."
Devereux gave Elizabeth a light glare. The young woman seemed only mildly deterred.
"Have you told Hope?"
Elizabeth's smile faded to an embarrassed scowl. "I didn't go out of my way to find her." She looked at Devereux with a mildly puzzled expression. "You'd think she'd be happy to see some of her people again."
Devereux found herself staring out of the viewport again. "You never know with Hope." She took a long, slow breath. "If you'll excuse me, Lieutenant," she said evenly. "I'd better go keep an eye on our guests."
#
[earlier that day]
Devereux pulled on her uniform jacket and began fastening the clasps that held it closed. She straightened as she closed the final one, feeling it fit a bit more snugly than she would have liked. It hasn't been that long since I've worn it, has it? she wondered. After a moment of silent reflection, she realized that it had. Not enough time down in the gym either, she decided. Not that I'll get much chance for the next few days. She stopped and laughed silently at herself. And stop finding excuses.
Studying herself in the mirror, she brushed at a stray lock of hair that had fallen across her forehead. It would do, she decided, although still overly conscious of how tightly she believed the dress uniform fitted her. She checked her body in profile for a quick moment and then turned away, relieved that the jacket still seemed to somewhat reduce the profile of her ample breasts somewhat. It was simply a matter of genetics, she reminded herself, and hoped that her alien guests would pay less (even if covert) attention to them than did most of their human male counterparts.
She gave her uniform one final inspection, and then headed through the hatchway.
0 comments:
Post a Comment