Posts: 8,135
Threads: 731
Joined: Aug 2008
Staff roles: Moderator
Her "good morning" made him turn his head and smile at her.
"Mornin', Dahlin'" he said to her with his accent as he took his left arm, put it around her and held her close to him as his right hand had a mug of coffee in it, "I do hope you had a chance to eat something. If not, I'll re-heat some for you."
They stood, her pulled to him, as the sun rose and the day's light breeze began. Doc looked into it, pulling her tighter to him as he did, his smile one of approval.
"I've watched so many of these here," he explained, "I do this each morning and each night, I like to watch the sun set. It never grows old."
They stood and watched as it rose, the reflection over the water so soothing. Doc sipped his coffee as he watched, enjoying the morning air on his skin.
"I had a similar cabin on Canaria," he explained softly, "I loved it. So long as I have this place, I'll return here often." He then looked over to Ashlea, "I hope you will too."
As he pulled her close, she wrapped her arms around him, cuddling in to him. He was warm, a nice contrast to the cool breeze. This put her mind at ease as she decided he mustn't have regretted last night. Shaking her head she looked up at him "I haven't yet. If it's no trouble, I think I would like to though."
She looked out over the water and listened to him explain that this was something he did often. She couldn't help but smile, given the chance, she would do the same thing. Keeping her arms around him as she watched the sunrise, she still couldn't believe how peaceful it was. "As long as I am welcome, I think you will find I'll spend a fair amount of time here."
She was beginning to feel more awake now, looking forward to what the day would bring. This was yet another strange feeling, something she was not use to. Frowning slightly as she remembered, she looked up and moved one of her arms. Gently running a finger down the faint scar on his chest. She didn't say anything about it, unsure as to whether he would appreciate her asking questions or not.
Posts: 8,135
Threads: 731
Joined: Aug 2008
Staff roles: Moderator
He jokingly commented as she ran her finger down the faint scar, "Take advantage of me last night did you?" He smirked a moment but continued, a light smile on his face as he watched her explore it, "Surgery scar from a double lung transplant long ago. Usually, only the trained eye of a surgeon would notice it as it was done with a laser scalpel."
He let her examine it a bit, waiting for her to draw close again. By then, the sun had risen. Together, they turned toward the house, "Let us eat. I could use a re-fill."
It took but a minute to re-heat his work. He made her up a plate of food and poured a cup of coffee for her. The sugar and cream were on the table as was juice and milk. He took a seat next to her with his own plate. Over breakfast, they made small talk and shared a laugh or two.
Once finished, he stated his intentions of the day. "George and Gracie await for some riding but first, I combine a morning dip as a quick bath and I should have a video conference call at the shuttle with the crew on Foster."
He turned to her with a grin on the conference call, speaking playfully "Of course, you're invited for that after all, you ARE my boss on that one!!"
She smiled, looking up at him as she put on an innocent face, "It took me a while to get to sleep...." She shook her head, the innocence was replaced with concern when he told her about the transplant, she figured for it to have been at that point it was a life or death situation. "Are you ok?"
Once they were inside, she took a seat and made herself comfortable. She thanked him and went about putting two sugars and a splash of milk into her coffee before taking a sip of the drink. She enjoyed the small talk.
The swim sounded good, as did the riding. She bit her lip, him calling her his boss sounded strange "I wonder how they are doing over there on Foster...." She shook her head "I'm sorry we caused it to be in that state, it's not a great start for you."
Posts: 8,135
Threads: 731
Joined: Aug 2008
Staff roles: Moderator
"Don't be sorry," Doc replied, "I stumbled upon that base by chance. How was I to know? I'd say we got off to a pretty good start considering I could easily have been blown to bits when I met three of your ships. Rather, they listened, they chose a different route and well, here we are."
As he took a sip of coffee, he noticed her concern over his scar. He was still impressed that she noticed it. Usually, only trained medical professionals noticed them.
"That scar saved my life," he explained, "I was all but dead, tuberculosis had claimed much of my lungs. I was lucky. I received another chance. Once I recovered, I also never touched tobacco again and I often try to get people to stop the habit."
He patted her shoulder, "All is good, Dahlin', all is good."
Breakfast was good, the coffee hot and the company even better. It was going to be a fine day. Once finished, he offered her an arm, "Shall we venture to the shuttle to get that video conference taken care of or would you rather swim first?"
Ashlea smiled slightly "We aren't all that bad. Had you come in hostile, it would be a different story all together, but you didn't, so we didn't need to protect our homes." She shook her head as he explained what happened, his assurance everything was fine set her mind at ease. she spoke quietly "I'm glad you were given a second chance."
She finished her plate of food and was sipping at the coffee as he asked what they should do first. She thought for a moment, she eventually decided on what she thought was the good idea "Get the conference done first. That way, we have the rest of the day to do as we please." She placed the coffee mug down and took his arm, stealing a quick kiss as she thanked him for breakfast.
Posts: 8,135
Threads: 731
Joined: Aug 2008
Staff roles: Moderator
Doc took her hand as they made a slow walk to the shuttle craft as it was the only means to send and receive transmissions. Along the way, Doc was cracking jokes with Bretonians and Gallic Royals being the butt of them as he disliked them both a great deal.
"How many Gallic Royals does it take to change a light bulb?" he asked. When she didn't know he answered, "No one knows. They're too proud to do it themselves."
"Did you hear about the birds that fly in the skies of planet New London? They fly upside down since there's nothing where taking a crap on," he added.
After a couple more quick jokes, he stopped as they arrived at the shuttle.
He powered up systems and locked in his private channel to Foster base where his chief engineer was waiting.
"It's nice to hear from you, Doc, I hope all is well," he answered.
"Yes, good morning, Mr. Sloan," Doc replied as he motioned to Ashlea sitting next to him, "could you tell us where things stand?"
"Well, you made a good choice in a short trip," he explained, "we had to shut down power to that area of the station to work. A lot of wires and conduits are in need of replacement. I'm guessing that alone will take about five days and all of the station's data banks will need replacement. Some are just old while most are beyond repair."
"Very good, very good," Doc nodded, "how about the structure itself?"
Sloan continued, "We were able to retrieve some of the debris floating around the station and cut pieces to make repairs where needed but to build as you want, we'll need a large supply of panels. The scrap is good for smaller stuff but it's not suitable for large scale building."
"So you sound like you're making good progress thus far," commented Doc.
"Yes, Sir, we are," Sloan replied, "the main reactor is stable and well protected. With the repairs we'll be making, the station will be fully functional as we got a second docking bay working again too."
Sloan then nodded to Ashlea and addressed her, "Miss, do you have any requests of me? I know what Doc wants but you're the one in charge of this."
She laughed at his jokes, she shook her head with a smile "sounds like you don't particularly like a few people." It almost suprised her and she couldn't help but wonder why. He didn't seem the type to dislike people without a reason.
She sat quietly and listened to the two men talk, from what she understood it sounded like progress had been made but it still wasn't in a good state. She hadn't really expected to be involved in the conversation, it had been a long time since she was invited to have a say in anything so his question wasnt expected. She thought for a moment and smiled. "I.... No, no requests. I trust Doc, he knows what needs to be done."
Posts: 8,135
Threads: 731
Joined: Aug 2008
Staff roles: Moderator
Satisfied, Doc closed the channel, shut down the shuttle and again took her hand for the walk back again cracking jokes about Bretonian and Gallic Royals.
"Some of the most arrogant peoples you will ever have to deal with," he told her shaking his head with a grin and snicker, "Queen Carina once told me that I didn't have enough education to understand their etiquette. I could only think to myself, I hold degrees in dentistry and internal medicine and have build Med Force Enterprises yet I'm not educated enough. Go figure!"
He snickered again, "I'll get into Gallics later on as I tend to fume about them."
They arrived between the house and waterfront. He put an arm around her and took her close as he looked over the water. He sighed, "time for a morning bath and swim."
"You are kidding.... Not educated enough?" She shook her head, now she understood the jokes. "I will have to take your word on their arrogance.... I have never left Liberty so I wouldnt know first hand." She shook her head, realizing that he was well traveled, the thought that she would never get the change to see space outside of Liberty was upsetting.
As he pulled her close, she smiled, still not understanding how he could take all of her worries away without saying a word. "Would you believe I am scared of water... Well, I thought I was...." shaking her head she continued "But then again, I am wondering if it was who I was swimming with that was the problem..." She shrugged slightly, realizing she was thinking out loud before smiling apologetically and cuddled in to him