A/N: I'd intended to finish this earlier. Ah well, it's done now and the war is only
mostly over.
Space is Wide III (Even Good Change is Hard [Liquor])
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When your life consists of going from one place to another, being stuck in one spot long enough to have a regular seat at the bar was a bad sign. That said, it did have a good view of the entrance and sounds were kept low enough that a conversation could actually be held and so Sam Jones and Han Seung had ended up sharing a table, and some drinks, and more than a few games of
Tak as the, well, there didn't seem to be a better term for it than
situation unfolded across this part of settled space.
"Well, this isn't going to make getting work easier," said Seung as he moved his stack of captured pieces across the board.
"You can at least out run most of the problems," said Sam as his path across the board was not just stopped but repaved with Seung's pieces, "Once things settle down anyway."
"I still say I can get another twenty percent out of your engines if you'll let me take a swing at adjusting their tuning."
Sam shook his head. "Nothing I can't maintain myself," he said, "And I'm not going to be able to pull the maintenance cycles that sort of tuning will need once I'm back on regular long hauls. Leave it be."
"Any word on what things are going to shake out as yet?"
Sam made a face as he picked up a different stack and got ready to try and hold back Seung's progress. "To early to say yet. It looks like everyone is forting up and getting ready to throw the next punch. It's all incredibly twitchy."
"This isn't twitchy, the biophage stuff was twitchy," countered Seung, "And that's the game. I win again?"
"You win again," confirmed Sam, "And at least with this, the worst that happens in you die. I might actually head towards the Klingon border next. There's no way I can off load the Apiatan flutes I've ended up with here with all the Tellerite dominated colonies anyway. The finger counts are wrong."
"Not going back to the core systems?"
"Nah. Not anytime soon anyway, unless a special deal comes up. More opportunities on the edge I figure. You?"
"I don't know," said Seung as he fidgeted with his trapezoidal Tak piece, "I've got a girlfriend with Starfleet, you know? She's great, really into ship design work..."
"Sounds nice."
"She is. I just wonder if I'm holding her back, or myself, or..." the hand that had come up as if trying to pull answer of of thin, recycled station air dropped to the table top.
"I'mma get us some more drinks," said Sam, "No way I'm doing this without chemical assistance."
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Since neither of the freighter Captains had any empire's cash in excess, they stuck with the more basic drinks. Luckily, that meant the alcohol had been synthesized in a lab on the station and was compensating for poor flavoring with higher proof ingredients.
"Anne is, she's so bright she's hard to actually look at sometimes," said Seung, "She loves to explain things, talk them out. She keeps taking food during meals to use a props."
Sam made a mental note that this explained every bit of Seung's twitching around his plate of nachos.
"Anne even got offered a berth on an Explorer ship during the biophage crisis, and she turned it down. It feels like I'm keeping her from reaching the peak of her ability."
"Or maybe she didn't want to dive into a biophage sort of situation every single week," countered Sam, "Space knows I wouldn't be eager to take them up on the offer with that sort of introduction."
"Point. But, is there anyone who didn't dream a little about being on the bridge of a Constitution when they were little? Seeking out strange new worlds and meeting new people?"
"And swapping drinks with them," finished Sam making a saluting motion with his glass.
Seung matched it with his own glass, "And swapping drinks. Still, the Federation is growing by leaps and bounds, we've what, doubled our volume?"
Sam waggled his free hand, "Something like that I think. Three cheers for exploration, yeah?"
"Huzzah." Seung to a deep drink from his glass. "I just wish I knew what the hell was going on now. We're at peace with the Klingons and the Romulans. At the same time even. New members in the Federation. New space lanes for trade opening up all over..."
"And no idea what comes next."
"And no idea what comes next."
"Well, that I can help you with," announced Sam and then he drained the glass, "Waiter? Two more
Cosmonauts here."
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Han Seung woke to a blinding headache and the sound of his personal com channel trying to connect. Since there was only one person who had the combination to sound that alarm and not break through automatically within entire sector he felt pretty confident about the greeting he delivered as soon as he rolled over and punched the acknowledgment key.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't try and kill you over the comlink," said Seung to the blank vidscreen.
At least he hoped it was blank, he couldn't quite manage to open his eyes yet.
"There was some sort of battle around Thon-Shalud," said Sam who'd remembered to drink more than one glass of water before he'd fallen into bed. He hadn't managed to take his boots off, but that had been a problem well within the range of future him to solve.
"So?"
"So now everyone on both sides is forting up, and well away from us. If we were quick about it we should be able to get away from all the people who don't realize that space is more than deadly enough on it's own without adding torpedoes to the situation."
Seung dragged a hand down across his face. "You start getting clearances and I'll start working on the last minute supplies?" he offered.
"Best plan there is, I guess," said Sam, "
Prince of Thebes out."
