Scout Force by Rodney Smith Page A

survive such festivities.   The bar itself was heavy plasteel.   All the alcohol was stored in cabinets under the bar.   The fixtures around the room were heavy and washable.   The tables were fixed to the floor and the chairs were heavy and hard to lift.   Even the gators couldn’t harm this place, designed so officers back from long patrols would have a place to cut loose far away from senior officers’ eyes.
           The two large gators that had just done the heavy lifting exhibition saw Kelly and Tammy sitting by themselves and came over.
           “Well, look at this.   This fellow is hogging the prettiest woman in here.”
           Kelly looked up at the two of them and asked, “What can I do for you fellows?”   It looked like it was about to get ugly.   Kelly figured he might get lucky and take out one of this pair, but not both.
           Other gators came over to watch the show.   One of them, a Lieutenant JG, seeing the fighter wings on Kelly’s windbreaker shouted out, “Hey Mahoney, Drew, leave this guy alone.   I remember him from the Bolivar.   He’s like me.   He pissed off Old Bugger Off and wound up here.”
           The bigger of the two, Drew, asked, “Is what he said true?”
           “Yeah, it’s true.”
           Drew slapped him on the back, nearly knocking him out of his chair, and said, “Well, let me buy you a beer.   Anybody that Old Bugger Off hates is a friend of mine.”   A round of further back-slapping ensued.
           As the crowd fell away, Tammy asked, “What was that all about?”
           Kelly took a sip of his beer and said, “General Bugarov is a senior officer in Fighter Force.   She has a penchant for discarding officers.   It seems I’m in a rather large and storied group of officers.”
           “So tell me.   What did you do to get a general pissed off at you?”
           “It’s a short story.   The general thought she was Napoleon re-born, and I was impolitic to show that she wasn’t.”
           “Short story, huh?   I bet that’s quite a short story.”
           “Yeah, but that’s all I’m saying.   I’m tired of telling the story.”
           “So tell me something else about yourself.   I’m all ears.”   She reached up and pulled her blonde hair behind her ears.
           “Not much to tell, I grew up on Earth in North America near the Great Lakes, I went to a good school, followed in my parents’ footsteps, and got an Electronic Engineering degree.   EE bored me, so I applied for the Academy, went into the Fighter Force, and now I’m here.”
           “I get the feeling there is more to tell than just that.   I saw your ribbons when you got on my shuttle.   You did an awful lot in just a short time in Fighter Force.   I’ve seen senior officers without your ribbons.”
           “I know.   That’s one of the things that so endeared me to the general.”
           Tammy laughed an honest laugh.   Kelly enjoyed that about her.   She was easy to be around.
           A shadow fell over the table.   Kelly looked up and saw LT Casimirski standing in the light.
           He swayed a little bit as he stood and said, “Tammy, who’s your friend?   Oh, I know you.   You’re the ensign that’s hard of hearing.”
           Tammy said, “Stop it Cas.   Kelly is my friend.”
           “It’s all right Tammy, the ensign and I have met.”
           “Yes, we’ve met.   What can I do for you, Lieutenant?
           “You can leave.”
           “Why would I want to do that, Lieutenant?”
           “Because you are messing around with something I have a prior claim on.”
           Tammy flew out of her chair.   “A prior claim!   What are you talking about, Cas?   I have never given you the slightest bit of encouragement.   If you keep this up, I am going to the Detachment