Interlude – Part 9. Holiday at Last
by Commander Chelsea Dunham & Commander Richard Dunham
Post Details
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After much kafuffle, of bags and goodbyes to Rick's Mother, Chelsea Rick and Kim were finally aboard the shuttlecraft on their way to the planet where they were scheduled to take their holiday.
"We should have transported down, any minute you'll be insisting of flying this shuttlecraft yourself" Chelsea whispered, noticing the way Rick was intensely watching the pilot and his controls.
Rick showed his hands to Chelsea, then made a point of placing them on his seat then sitting on them. “I’m on holiday” he said with a smile.
Chelsea grinned from ear to ear. "Indeed you are, Lieutenant!" she took a formal tone but her chuckle denied the severity of it.
"So, what shall we do first? Apart from explore our rooms and the hotel, take in the local eating houses and suss out the talent?" she asked, winking at Kim.
Kim giggled into her hand, that she was using to cover up her slightly shy expression. Dunham frowned. “Ur No.” He said pointing at Kim “You're too young for boys” he then pointed at Chelsea “and you have a boyfriend”.
Chelsea's grin was pure mischief. "bah! I'm sure he wouldn't mind! In fact he probably wouldn't notice, he's such a workaholic (when he's not sitting on his hands....) " she winked at Kim again but turned her best innocent look towards Rick. If only she could have hidden that adoration in her eyes, she might have carried it off.
Dunham shrugged; he could play that game to. “I guess I’m not needed on this holiday then?” He said getting up and nodding towards the ensign at the helm of the shuttlecraft, “I’ll go and relieve the pilot , keep myself busy while you to gallivant around on the planet.”
"SIT DOWN, Lieutenant Dunham" Chelsea used her best *don't you DARE* tone that she normally reserved to stop erring Interns from doing something fatal like accidentally cutting into the main brain stem of a patient or worse. It was a seriously different tone from any that Rick or Kim would ever have heard her use before (or perhaps again, for that matter?).
Kim looked startled, as most erring Interns usually did, sufficiently stopped in their tracks to save a life.
"...please" Chelsea added gently, a small smirk playing about the corners of her lips.
Dunham leaned close to Kim conspiratorially, he placed a hand to his mouth to better channel his whisper. “Word to the wise kid, never date a superior officer.”
“Yes Ma’am” said Dunham to Chelsea sitting down after straightening his uniform. When he sat down he folded his arms across his chest.
Chelsea grinned at Kim. "Men are out of their depth even if they're the ones of superior rank. We women have them out gunned anyway."
Dunham smiled and looked at Kim, “and Men that date Lieutenant Commander Chelsea Adams need the patience and understanding of a saint.”
Chelsea looked hurt but wasn't of course. They all knew that. "That explains a lot" she said, pretending to be thoughtful. "It explains why there have been so few of them and why all of them found someone else to go off with in the end.... " she joked, an element of truth at the bottom of that comment because the last two, the most serious relationships she'd been in, had actually ended that way.
"I guess it's just lucky your Uncle is a saint" she told Kim, as if it were something that went without being said.
“You have no idea” said Dunham matter of fact tone, while methodically taking out a piece of chewing gum and chewing on it rapaciously.
"Yeah I do" she muttered, nudging him gently. "Anyway, mister perfect. Have you taken map references of where we're staying yet? Like how to fly out in an emergency? That'd be the kind of thing a saintly pilot would think of..." she smiled.
“I prefer to just wing it,” he whispered into her ear, then kissed her lightly on the cheek.
Chelsea grinned and nestled close to him, snuggling against him happily and linking her fingers with his affectionately. "Ha.... 'wing it'" she chortled. "Pretty good, Wing Leader. You'll get your reward in Heaven, sweetness" she said, deliberately not referring to the Prophets but instead calling upon the Terran religions instead to keep in with the idealism of his Canonisation.
They arrived at the holiday resort shuttle pad and were escorted to their adjoining cabins. The holiday village was a whole settlement of mock log cabins with verandas and outdoor hot tubs with walking access to the 'shopping and activities centre' at the foot of the hillside the cabins were dotted around, separated in twos and threes nestled between little copses or hedgerows.
Theirs were two amongst a group of four, set in a clearing quite high up the hillside and had stunning views over the valley below out to the estuary and the sea. The hillside where they were was steeper than the lower slopes and offered paths straight out onto the top of the hill which was a foothill to a range of moors that stretched back inland.
"The Dunham Party" as their host addressed them and labelled their luggage as he loaded it onto a small powered hover-caddy which accompanied them all on the trudge up to the clearing that would become familiar to them over the next few days. He was an Andorian with much to say for himself, his antennae waving jauntily in all directions as he talked animatedly about all the local attractions and benefits his "adventure holidays" had to offer. Little did his indulgent guests know as they just allowed him to go on and on, that actually this would indeed be an *adventure* despite their plans to just relax quietly.
Chelsea smiled politely as the host, Arlaw, kept nodding towards her and grinning with anticipation of her amazement - which he felt sure she must be feeling - at all the wonders on offer. When he looked away to greet a passer-by she raised an eyebrow towards Rick and grimaced at Kim who stiffled a giggle and pretended to have a cough.
Arlaw expressed concern about Kim's health and promised great recovery rates from the fresh air and good water here clucking on again about how many of his guests were *thrilled* with their stays.
Eventually they reached the clearing and were taking in their cases when they heard a scream from the cabin opposite. A woman ran out clutching her hair in distress, rattling on in an alien language and collapsed against the balcony balustrades sobbing.
Instinctively Chelsea dropped her bags, snatched up the Med-kit that was never far from her and ran towards her over the sloping ground. Reaching her side she put her arm around her and tried to get her to speak slowly but she was clearly in too much distress. She kept repeating about *Grath* and pointed inside.
By this time Rick was at Chelsea's side. "I'll administer a sedative, had you better see what *Grath* is, inside?" she asked him.
Dunham with Kim in tow, passed through the shadowed doorway from where the distressed women had emerged. Only a matter of seconds later another scream could be heard from Kim, Dunham appeared in the doorway, holding himself up by its frame, he looked deathly white, a gagging sound emerged from his throat, and he promptly throw up on the porch. He wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve, straightened himself and re-entered the room to recover his erstwhile niece.
TBC.....
A JP Between:
Lt. Cmdr. Chelsea Adams
CMO - DS5
&
Lt Rick Dunham
Squadron Leader
by Commander Chelsea Dunham & Commander Richard Dunham
Post Details
| Title | Part 9. Holiday at Last | |
| Mission | Interlude | |
| Author(s) | Commander Chelsea Dunham & Commander Richard Dunham | |
| Posted | Mon May 24, 2010 @ 7:40am | |
| Location | Gravon IV |
After much kafuffle, of bags and goodbyes to Rick's Mother, Chelsea Rick and Kim were finally aboard the shuttlecraft on their way to the planet where they were scheduled to take their holiday.
"We should have transported down, any minute you'll be insisting of flying this shuttlecraft yourself" Chelsea whispered, noticing the way Rick was intensely watching the pilot and his controls.
Rick showed his hands to Chelsea, then made a point of placing them on his seat then sitting on them. “I’m on holiday” he said with a smile.
Chelsea grinned from ear to ear. "Indeed you are, Lieutenant!" she took a formal tone but her chuckle denied the severity of it.
"So, what shall we do first? Apart from explore our rooms and the hotel, take in the local eating houses and suss out the talent?" she asked, winking at Kim.
Kim giggled into her hand, that she was using to cover up her slightly shy expression. Dunham frowned. “Ur No.” He said pointing at Kim “You're too young for boys” he then pointed at Chelsea “and you have a boyfriend”.
Chelsea's grin was pure mischief. "bah! I'm sure he wouldn't mind! In fact he probably wouldn't notice, he's such a workaholic (when he's not sitting on his hands....) " she winked at Kim again but turned her best innocent look towards Rick. If only she could have hidden that adoration in her eyes, she might have carried it off.
Dunham shrugged; he could play that game to. “I guess I’m not needed on this holiday then?” He said getting up and nodding towards the ensign at the helm of the shuttlecraft, “I’ll go and relieve the pilot , keep myself busy while you to gallivant around on the planet.”
"SIT DOWN, Lieutenant Dunham" Chelsea used her best *don't you DARE* tone that she normally reserved to stop erring Interns from doing something fatal like accidentally cutting into the main brain stem of a patient or worse. It was a seriously different tone from any that Rick or Kim would ever have heard her use before (or perhaps again, for that matter?).
Kim looked startled, as most erring Interns usually did, sufficiently stopped in their tracks to save a life.
"...please" Chelsea added gently, a small smirk playing about the corners of her lips.
Dunham leaned close to Kim conspiratorially, he placed a hand to his mouth to better channel his whisper. “Word to the wise kid, never date a superior officer.”
“Yes Ma’am” said Dunham to Chelsea sitting down after straightening his uniform. When he sat down he folded his arms across his chest.
Chelsea grinned at Kim. "Men are out of their depth even if they're the ones of superior rank. We women have them out gunned anyway."
Dunham smiled and looked at Kim, “and Men that date Lieutenant Commander Chelsea Adams need the patience and understanding of a saint.”
Chelsea looked hurt but wasn't of course. They all knew that. "That explains a lot" she said, pretending to be thoughtful. "It explains why there have been so few of them and why all of them found someone else to go off with in the end.... " she joked, an element of truth at the bottom of that comment because the last two, the most serious relationships she'd been in, had actually ended that way.
"I guess it's just lucky your Uncle is a saint" she told Kim, as if it were something that went without being said.
“You have no idea” said Dunham matter of fact tone, while methodically taking out a piece of chewing gum and chewing on it rapaciously.
"Yeah I do" she muttered, nudging him gently. "Anyway, mister perfect. Have you taken map references of where we're staying yet? Like how to fly out in an emergency? That'd be the kind of thing a saintly pilot would think of..." she smiled.
“I prefer to just wing it,” he whispered into her ear, then kissed her lightly on the cheek.
Chelsea grinned and nestled close to him, snuggling against him happily and linking her fingers with his affectionately. "Ha.... 'wing it'" she chortled. "Pretty good, Wing Leader. You'll get your reward in Heaven, sweetness" she said, deliberately not referring to the Prophets but instead calling upon the Terran religions instead to keep in with the idealism of his Canonisation.
They arrived at the holiday resort shuttle pad and were escorted to their adjoining cabins. The holiday village was a whole settlement of mock log cabins with verandas and outdoor hot tubs with walking access to the 'shopping and activities centre' at the foot of the hillside the cabins were dotted around, separated in twos and threes nestled between little copses or hedgerows.
Theirs were two amongst a group of four, set in a clearing quite high up the hillside and had stunning views over the valley below out to the estuary and the sea. The hillside where they were was steeper than the lower slopes and offered paths straight out onto the top of the hill which was a foothill to a range of moors that stretched back inland.
"The Dunham Party" as their host addressed them and labelled their luggage as he loaded it onto a small powered hover-caddy which accompanied them all on the trudge up to the clearing that would become familiar to them over the next few days. He was an Andorian with much to say for himself, his antennae waving jauntily in all directions as he talked animatedly about all the local attractions and benefits his "adventure holidays" had to offer. Little did his indulgent guests know as they just allowed him to go on and on, that actually this would indeed be an *adventure* despite their plans to just relax quietly.
Chelsea smiled politely as the host, Arlaw, kept nodding towards her and grinning with anticipation of her amazement - which he felt sure she must be feeling - at all the wonders on offer. When he looked away to greet a passer-by she raised an eyebrow towards Rick and grimaced at Kim who stiffled a giggle and pretended to have a cough.
Arlaw expressed concern about Kim's health and promised great recovery rates from the fresh air and good water here clucking on again about how many of his guests were *thrilled* with their stays.
Eventually they reached the clearing and were taking in their cases when they heard a scream from the cabin opposite. A woman ran out clutching her hair in distress, rattling on in an alien language and collapsed against the balcony balustrades sobbing.
Instinctively Chelsea dropped her bags, snatched up the Med-kit that was never far from her and ran towards her over the sloping ground. Reaching her side she put her arm around her and tried to get her to speak slowly but she was clearly in too much distress. She kept repeating about *Grath* and pointed inside.
By this time Rick was at Chelsea's side. "I'll administer a sedative, had you better see what *Grath* is, inside?" she asked him.
Dunham with Kim in tow, passed through the shadowed doorway from where the distressed women had emerged. Only a matter of seconds later another scream could be heard from Kim, Dunham appeared in the doorway, holding himself up by its frame, he looked deathly white, a gagging sound emerged from his throat, and he promptly throw up on the porch. He wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve, straightened himself and re-entered the room to recover his erstwhile niece.
TBC.....
A JP Between:
Lt. Cmdr. Chelsea Adams
CMO - DS5
&
Lt Rick Dunham
Squadron Leader