The Thief and the Commander : 04
Jan. 6th, 2001 12:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
manicdakChapter 04: A Plan, A Routine, A Disaster
I think we can come to an agreement," Ganix Viernes said. "This is a tenuous peace here in this galaxy Dysprosians are a proud people and the Utopians are arrogant bastards."
"We should know!" Izar replied with a chuckle.
Ganix narrowed his gaze and leaned forward across the table. "You're going to have to put something on the table if I'm going to risk helping you out here."
"Helping me out is helping yourself." Izar leaned back in his chair with a flippant shrug.
It was Ganix's turn to chuckle as he stood from his chair and began to pace around the room. Izar kept one suspicious eye on him while trying his best to maintain a cool exterior. Being on the pirate ship, Darkness, was not without it's dangers, the biggest of which being Ganix Viernes himself.
"In case it has escaped your notice, Izar..." He stopped pacing and stood facing the arms dealer and opened his arms wide. "I do own a time ship. There are galaxies beyond this one that could use some plundering."
" 'Own' is a bit of a strong term." Izar arched an eyebrow. "Besides, you will be paid handsomely should we enter into an agreement."
Ganix grinned at him. "I do have other means of making a living when the supply routes run dry."
"Look." Izar scowled at him. "It's a big pay-day for you and we need each other. Peace isn't a lasting prospect. It never is. This is the most opulent, the most spectacular, the most lucrative galaxy to plunder out of all the galaxies, and still you barely scrape by!"
"And how do you know that?" Ganix frowned.
"I have my ways," Izar said. "You're out here on this piece of space junk for one. War is money, Ganix. Just imagine the possibilities of a Zharan Galaxy at war!"
Ganix paused to consider it for a moment. It was delicious to think of his home planet at war. Aside from the riches he could accumulate by dealing in illegal armament, the Utopian capital in rubble was almost too good of an opportunity to pass up.
"I assume you have some sort of plan?" Ganix finally spoke. "The peace talks have been fruitful..."
"Oh, Utopian's can be swayed," Izar said.
"How?" Ganix said.
"You'll find a way," Izar replied. "I have faith. For now I have to get back to the city."
"Fine," Ganix grumbled.
"One more thing before I go," Izar said as he made his way to the door.
"What's that?"
"If we are to enter into agreement, your son must be out of the picture."
"Why?" Ganix glanced curiously at him. "This is no concern of his."
"Really?" Izar's mouth parted in a malicious grin. "It is a concern of mine and my brethren. That boy has a streak of good in him a mile wide, you know. It's a wonder he came from your stock at all."
Ganix rolled his eyes, well aware of Feliu and his weaknesses.
"Fine. This mission shall not involve him."
"No it won't," Izar agreed. "Because you'll be getting rid of him, or we'll find someone else. He'll be your downfall, but he's not going to be mine."
"Are you suggesting I murder my own son?" Ganix stood up, rage filling his features as he stalked up to Izar and faced him down. "He is no threat to this operation. How dare you suggest other..."
Izar laughed in his face, hot breath curling around in the air making Ganix flinch away.
"He was caught again, you know," Izar said. "I have it on good authority from my contact inside I-GAS. He was brought into headquarters recently and barely managed to escape. I will not have a liability hanging around, and as long as he's fucking that commander then that is what he is. You know damn well, he'll move heaven and hell before he gives up on that halfbreed freak. Look...you don't have to kill him, Ganix, but I want your assurance that he'll be gone. He is a liability to me and your own operation and has been for years. It's about time you did a little housecleaning."
Ganix reluctantly backed down. He considered the arms dealer's words and knew that he was right. Feliu had been an irresponsible thorn in his side for far too long, and it was high time that something was done about it.
"If only he'd never met that council member's son," Ganix said out loud, earning nods of approval from Izar.
"That's more like it!" He said. "He could be working for I-GAS right now for all we know. If that's the case then I may just have to end the child myself. He has more knowledge of our...ehm...alliance than anybody on this ship. If it were to be known..."
"It can't be known," Ganix agreed. His indignation at the thought of doing away with his own son was melting away. The emotion was gone from his voice and his cold, hardened stare landed on Izar. The corner of his lip twitched upward in a smile.
"Such a disappointment, that boy," Ganix said. "He's been nothing but trouble since he decided he wanted to be a Utopian instead of a real pirate. I won't kill him though."
"No," Izar agreed. "No need for that. Dump him off on some remote planet. Mmmm, Maybe the Royal Chromian outpost. Losing their civil war has made them quite bloodthirsty..."
"No, no," Ganix replied. "He isn't stupid. He has resources. I have a better idea. It won't kill him, but it will make him wish he were dead and get that bumbling fool of a commander out of the picture..."
He slung his arm around Izar and led him back to the seat he had vacated at the table.
"What are you doing," Izar said. "I truly must get back to the city. I have a meeting."
"The meeting can wait," Ganix replied. "I think I can kill three birds with one stone. You say you want to start a war?"
*******
Ehren was startled by a steaming cup of coffee was that was thumped down in front of him. He hadn't been aware he had been sleeping there at the table in the officer's mess hall until the unexpected beverage made its unwelcome appearance. He nearly fell out of his chair and looked up to see his commander standing above him.
"So, I see training isn't agreeing with you," Robin spoke with amusement as he grabbed a chair, flipped it around and straddled it facing Ehren.
"Sleep isn't agreeing with me." Ehren yawned and poked at the coffee cup. "What's this?"
"It's a coffee." Robin eyed him then laughed. "I thought you could use one."
"You do know the restorative properties of caffeine are greatly exaggerated. Don't you have any of that tea left that you gave me that one time?" Ehren said. "It's made out of the tears of baby space whales, right?"
"No, it's made out of tea," Robin replied. "That's why it's called tea."
"There are lots of things called tea that aren't made out of tea." Ehren pointed out, but Robin just shook his head and shrugged then pulled two small packets out of his front uniform pocket and threw them on the table next to the coffee.
"Stop trying to argue with me for the sake of it, Recruit. You know very well that you drink coffee," he said. "There's some sweetener."
"I'm an ensign now," Ehren said as he scooped up one of the packets. He knew it was practically no use trying to correct Robin, but it had become second nature.
"Yes, yes." Robin nodded in agreement. "Ensign, recruit...you still have to do what I say."
Ehren ignored his comment in favor of thrusting the sweetener out in front of him suddenly and demanding to know what it was.
"Plear nectar," Robin replied. "I thought you would like it. That's practically the only thing you eat. I'm surprised that you aren't the size of a baby space whale yourself. Those things are loaded with sweet."
"Hey!" Ehren shook the packet to recapture Robin's attention."I know what it is, but where did you get it, and why are you giving it to me?"
Ehren was well aware of that the commissary stocked no such exotic sweeteners. They imported only the bare essentials, of which native Earthian fruits were certainly not included.
"They're mine," Robin said. "I thought you would like it. That is how you take your coffee? No creams? Two sweets?"
Ehren frowned. He didn't answer. Instead he deposited one of the packets into the beverage.
"Why are you being so nice to me?" He said after he had sipped the coffee down to bottom of the cup with Robin seated across from him in silence with seemingly no intentions of leaving.
"You were nice to me." He shrugged and glanced down at his hands. "I thought I might repay the favor."
Ehren thought it was strange that Robin was continually trying to make up for what had happened. He would have preferred to forget the events that had led up to his eventual promotion. It seemed like ages had passed since the fateful day of his first mission when it had been only weeks. Not much had changed. Robin and his troops were still under the watchful eye of the Internal Disciplinary Squadron, and Ehren had yet to adjust to his new schedule and his new life.
He had been promoted and was on a faster track than he had ever imagined, but there was something disconcerting in the way it had happened that didn't sit well with Ehren. He thought hard work would be the best way to reach his goals, but instead it had been fucking up in the worst way possible that had set him on the path to career advancement.
Aside from all that, Ehren found that his new training regime was much more difficult in ways he hadn't anticipated. He had risen in ranks, but he was still at the bottom of the barrel. He had just been shifted from the enlisted barrel to the officer's barrel, and it was almost like starting over. Even having a room to himself in the officer's quarters wasn't all it was cracked up to be. He missed sharing space with Axel despite still seeing him on a daily basis.
"I really don't need any more favors," Ehren said. "Let's call us even, okay?"
Robin bowed his head for a moment then looked up at Ehren and nodded.
"Okay."
Robin made no move to leave, which prompted Ehren to yawn in an exaggerated manner and stretch his arms out above him.
"I really think I should just go back to sleep now," he said. "I don't get much down time."
"So..." Robin said, completely ignoring Ehren's attempts to extricate himself from the encounter. "I'm gong to hit the gym. Care to join me?"
Eheren laughed out loud as he eyed Robin's broad chest. "Of course you spend your free time at the gym."
"Yes, Yes." Robin rolled his eyes. "I lift things and you spend your time learning how to annoy me."
"I don't learn it. It's a natural talent. Besides. You came to me!" Ehren reminded him with a short tap against the coffee cup.
Robin chuckled at him. "Come on. It'll be good for you."
"But I thought..."
"That concentrating on communications would get you out of conditioning?" Robin arched an eyebrow at him. "We can't have an entire squadron waiting to for you because you can't keep up in the field."
"But..."
"I know you'd rather stick your nose in a book, but in all honesty..." He glanced quickly away so that Ehren couldn't see his eyes.
"I would really hate it if you died out there."
"Oh, geez," Ehren said, letting out a soft but audible breath. "If you put it that way, Commander Doom..." Ehren consented with the corner of his mouth quirked slightly upwards. He found it impossible to resist Robin in one of his unguarded moments.
***
So Ehren found himself in the last place he'd ever imagined he would be when he woke up that morning with a rare and precious day off. Working out certainly wasn't the most exciting think he could think of to do with his spare time. He found running around a virtual track to be a thousand times more boring than reading a good book or learning a new language.
He also knew that Robin was correct when he said that Ehren was at a disadvantage out in the field. He certainly wasn't the biggest or strongest of the examples of perfect physical specimens that walked the hallways of I-GAS headquarters.
He departed the mess hall with an excuse to gather his work-out clothes from his room; an excuse which only garnered an eyebrow raise from his commander but went without further questioning. When he returned to the locker room, he found Robin there waiting for him beside his locker wearing only his sweatpants, holding his t-shirt in his hand.
There was only one thing that that managed to distract Ehren from staring at Robin's bare chest in that moment, and it was the sparkling gold ring that he was wearing on a chain around his neck.
It also gave him the perfect excuse.
"You're wearing it?" Ehren sauntered up to him and stuck his pinky finger through the band and lifted it from where it lay.
"It was a gift," Robin muttered as he snatched it away and quickly pulled on his shirt. "As far as I can tell it's none of your business."
"Of course not." Ehren rolled his eyes. "I only just risked my career to keep the stupid thing a secret for you. I thought you'd hide it for a while at least."
"Give it a rest, Ehren," Robin said. "I get it it. I am forever indebted to you. No need to rub it in. Now, put on your pants and quit stalling."
"Forever? Does this mean free coffee for life?"
"If you don't hurry up, that might not be for very much longer," Robin muttered. "Let's go, recruit!"
"Ensign." Ehren corrected him even though he was smiling through his annoyance.
Later, after following several meters behind Robin on the track, being unable to keep up the pace and Robin being unwilling to slow it down, Ehren found himself sitting inertly upon a rowing machine not even pretending to be exercising any further. He watched as Robin met with his trainer and across the room. They conversed for a moment before getting started, and Ehren noticed Robin pointing him out.
He scowled and Robin waved, prompting the trainer to wave as well. Ehren made a dismissive gesture and turned his attention to the holographic output display on the machine he was working with. He sat there exerting the least amount of energy as possible so as not to arouse the ire of the fellow officers milling about in hopes of taking over the machine as soon as he was finished with it. They were like muscular vultures circling him, so he tried to put their anticipatory glances out of his mind. He met back up with Robin as soon as his weight lifting was over.
"So what now?" Ehren asked.
"I have to go back to the squad room this afternoon after the crew is back from their specialized exercises. You in this afternoon?"
"You should know. You have the schedule," Ehren said.
Robin shrugged. "You think I actually look at that thing?"
"You probably should. Y'know, since you're the commander and everything."
Robin sighed. "Of course you're right."
"Of course, I'm right. I'm always right," Ehren said.
Robin chuckled.
"So, I'll see you later then," he said. "The Yarzfeld database needs cleaning up."
Ehren stopped in his tracks.
"You've got to be kidding me. Are you punishing me or something?" He tried his best to sound annoyed, but he was more amused than anything.
"Yes, well." Robin shrugged. "It's about time I taught you most important lesson in being an officer."
"Oh, yeah, what's that?"
"Delegation," Robin replied.
"Yes, a valuable lesson," Ehren agreed. "Too bad it's my day off. Are you really going to order me in to work on that?"
"Nah." Robin clapped him on the back. "Go on back to your room and read about the mating habits of Umerian Flies or something."
"Hey, I'm a etymologist, not an entomologist," Ehren said.
"Fine," Robin conceded, "learn about how they talk to each other. Just get out of here before I change my mind."
Ehren snapped off a quick and sloppy salute before springing away as fast as his legs could carry him.
They settled into a routine after that. Ehren attended to his officer training and then reported to Robin later in the day. On his days off Robin always had his coffee and one of the plears he kept in the icebox waiting for him in the mess hall. Every time Ehren would complain, Robin would remind him that he had earned free coffee for life then would drag him off to the gym amid mild protestation.
It didn't matter that the coffee was already free.
That routine was shattered one day as Ehren sat idly at his station in the communications room. He wasn't on duty so much as he was taking his time there to study a new phoneme and expand his vocabulary. He was pretty much stumped at how to create the sounds that were coming out of the instructional video with his Earthian vocal chords, when an inter-galactic distress call rang out, disrupting the regimented hum of the communication team's daily chores. There was a mad dash as the on-duty staff scrambled to attention, intercepting signals left and right. Ehren had not been trained enough to even know what the screaming siren really meant.
He latched on to the first passing starman and asked what was going on.
"The Golden Utopia's been attacked, Sir," he said. "We're gathering intelligence from the intergalactic common database. An action squad has already been deployed."
"Okay, thanks," Ehren murmured and turned back towards his lesson momentarily. He glanced back up at the main display in the center of the room and watched his superior officers milling around observing the steady stream of data that had been culled from the Common Database; the real time storage center for all government security systems in the Alliance of Multiple Galaxies. He was about to ask if he could help any way, though he had no experience with decoding time signatures or corrupted security images, nor did he have any experience with the helper software. He didn't want to sit idly by while a planet was under attack.
The image of Robin Grey standing in the doorway to the communications office stopped him in his tracks though. He took a glance around and spotted Ehren. His usually warm eyes were filled with an expression of cold terror as he marched up to his subordinate.
"What's going on?" He asked.
"Apparently there's been an attack on the GU, Sir," Ehren replied.
"What else?" Robin prompted.
"I don't actually know. Y'see, I was just studying the Wonev phoneme and the sirens went off."
"Didn't you read the action report?"
"No," Ehren growled and stood up. "I'm not exactly the highest ranking person in this room."
Robin grabbed his shoulder and shoved him back down into his chair.
"What good are you?" He muttered and stalked off towards the officers in the middle of the room.
Before Ehren could gather his wits and go after Robin, he was accosted by the captain in charge, sat in front of a computer display, and told to scan for rogue time signals with a program he was barely qualified to use. He took one last glance back at Robin and his ire was replaced with worry as he spied the look on the Commander's face while he talked with others. Something was definitely very wrong.
Previous || Next
I think we can come to an agreement," Ganix Viernes said. "This is a tenuous peace here in this galaxy Dysprosians are a proud people and the Utopians are arrogant bastards."
"We should know!" Izar replied with a chuckle.
Ganix narrowed his gaze and leaned forward across the table. "You're going to have to put something on the table if I'm going to risk helping you out here."
"Helping me out is helping yourself." Izar leaned back in his chair with a flippant shrug.
It was Ganix's turn to chuckle as he stood from his chair and began to pace around the room. Izar kept one suspicious eye on him while trying his best to maintain a cool exterior. Being on the pirate ship, Darkness, was not without it's dangers, the biggest of which being Ganix Viernes himself.
"In case it has escaped your notice, Izar..." He stopped pacing and stood facing the arms dealer and opened his arms wide. "I do own a time ship. There are galaxies beyond this one that could use some plundering."
" 'Own' is a bit of a strong term." Izar arched an eyebrow. "Besides, you will be paid handsomely should we enter into an agreement."
Ganix grinned at him. "I do have other means of making a living when the supply routes run dry."
"Look." Izar scowled at him. "It's a big pay-day for you and we need each other. Peace isn't a lasting prospect. It never is. This is the most opulent, the most spectacular, the most lucrative galaxy to plunder out of all the galaxies, and still you barely scrape by!"
"And how do you know that?" Ganix frowned.
"I have my ways," Izar said. "You're out here on this piece of space junk for one. War is money, Ganix. Just imagine the possibilities of a Zharan Galaxy at war!"
Ganix paused to consider it for a moment. It was delicious to think of his home planet at war. Aside from the riches he could accumulate by dealing in illegal armament, the Utopian capital in rubble was almost too good of an opportunity to pass up.
"I assume you have some sort of plan?" Ganix finally spoke. "The peace talks have been fruitful..."
"Oh, Utopian's can be swayed," Izar said.
"How?" Ganix said.
"You'll find a way," Izar replied. "I have faith. For now I have to get back to the city."
"Fine," Ganix grumbled.
"One more thing before I go," Izar said as he made his way to the door.
"What's that?"
"If we are to enter into agreement, your son must be out of the picture."
"Why?" Ganix glanced curiously at him. "This is no concern of his."
"Really?" Izar's mouth parted in a malicious grin. "It is a concern of mine and my brethren. That boy has a streak of good in him a mile wide, you know. It's a wonder he came from your stock at all."
Ganix rolled his eyes, well aware of Feliu and his weaknesses.
"Fine. This mission shall not involve him."
"No it won't," Izar agreed. "Because you'll be getting rid of him, or we'll find someone else. He'll be your downfall, but he's not going to be mine."
"Are you suggesting I murder my own son?" Ganix stood up, rage filling his features as he stalked up to Izar and faced him down. "He is no threat to this operation. How dare you suggest other..."
Izar laughed in his face, hot breath curling around in the air making Ganix flinch away.
"He was caught again, you know," Izar said. "I have it on good authority from my contact inside I-GAS. He was brought into headquarters recently and barely managed to escape. I will not have a liability hanging around, and as long as he's fucking that commander then that is what he is. You know damn well, he'll move heaven and hell before he gives up on that halfbreed freak. Look...you don't have to kill him, Ganix, but I want your assurance that he'll be gone. He is a liability to me and your own operation and has been for years. It's about time you did a little housecleaning."
Ganix reluctantly backed down. He considered the arms dealer's words and knew that he was right. Feliu had been an irresponsible thorn in his side for far too long, and it was high time that something was done about it.
"If only he'd never met that council member's son," Ganix said out loud, earning nods of approval from Izar.
"That's more like it!" He said. "He could be working for I-GAS right now for all we know. If that's the case then I may just have to end the child myself. He has more knowledge of our...ehm...alliance than anybody on this ship. If it were to be known..."
"It can't be known," Ganix agreed. His indignation at the thought of doing away with his own son was melting away. The emotion was gone from his voice and his cold, hardened stare landed on Izar. The corner of his lip twitched upward in a smile.
"Such a disappointment, that boy," Ganix said. "He's been nothing but trouble since he decided he wanted to be a Utopian instead of a real pirate. I won't kill him though."
"No," Izar agreed. "No need for that. Dump him off on some remote planet. Mmmm, Maybe the Royal Chromian outpost. Losing their civil war has made them quite bloodthirsty..."
"No, no," Ganix replied. "He isn't stupid. He has resources. I have a better idea. It won't kill him, but it will make him wish he were dead and get that bumbling fool of a commander out of the picture..."
He slung his arm around Izar and led him back to the seat he had vacated at the table.
"What are you doing," Izar said. "I truly must get back to the city. I have a meeting."
"The meeting can wait," Ganix replied. "I think I can kill three birds with one stone. You say you want to start a war?"
*******
Ehren was startled by a steaming cup of coffee was that was thumped down in front of him. He hadn't been aware he had been sleeping there at the table in the officer's mess hall until the unexpected beverage made its unwelcome appearance. He nearly fell out of his chair and looked up to see his commander standing above him.
"So, I see training isn't agreeing with you," Robin spoke with amusement as he grabbed a chair, flipped it around and straddled it facing Ehren.
"Sleep isn't agreeing with me." Ehren yawned and poked at the coffee cup. "What's this?"
"It's a coffee." Robin eyed him then laughed. "I thought you could use one."
"You do know the restorative properties of caffeine are greatly exaggerated. Don't you have any of that tea left that you gave me that one time?" Ehren said. "It's made out of the tears of baby space whales, right?"
"No, it's made out of tea," Robin replied. "That's why it's called tea."
"There are lots of things called tea that aren't made out of tea." Ehren pointed out, but Robin just shook his head and shrugged then pulled two small packets out of his front uniform pocket and threw them on the table next to the coffee.
"Stop trying to argue with me for the sake of it, Recruit. You know very well that you drink coffee," he said. "There's some sweetener."
"I'm an ensign now," Ehren said as he scooped up one of the packets. He knew it was practically no use trying to correct Robin, but it had become second nature.
"Yes, yes." Robin nodded in agreement. "Ensign, recruit...you still have to do what I say."
Ehren ignored his comment in favor of thrusting the sweetener out in front of him suddenly and demanding to know what it was.
"Plear nectar," Robin replied. "I thought you would like it. That's practically the only thing you eat. I'm surprised that you aren't the size of a baby space whale yourself. Those things are loaded with sweet."
"Hey!" Ehren shook the packet to recapture Robin's attention."I know what it is, but where did you get it, and why are you giving it to me?"
Ehren was well aware of that the commissary stocked no such exotic sweeteners. They imported only the bare essentials, of which native Earthian fruits were certainly not included.
"They're mine," Robin said. "I thought you would like it. That is how you take your coffee? No creams? Two sweets?"
Ehren frowned. He didn't answer. Instead he deposited one of the packets into the beverage.
"Why are you being so nice to me?" He said after he had sipped the coffee down to bottom of the cup with Robin seated across from him in silence with seemingly no intentions of leaving.
"You were nice to me." He shrugged and glanced down at his hands. "I thought I might repay the favor."
Ehren thought it was strange that Robin was continually trying to make up for what had happened. He would have preferred to forget the events that had led up to his eventual promotion. It seemed like ages had passed since the fateful day of his first mission when it had been only weeks. Not much had changed. Robin and his troops were still under the watchful eye of the Internal Disciplinary Squadron, and Ehren had yet to adjust to his new schedule and his new life.
He had been promoted and was on a faster track than he had ever imagined, but there was something disconcerting in the way it had happened that didn't sit well with Ehren. He thought hard work would be the best way to reach his goals, but instead it had been fucking up in the worst way possible that had set him on the path to career advancement.
Aside from all that, Ehren found that his new training regime was much more difficult in ways he hadn't anticipated. He had risen in ranks, but he was still at the bottom of the barrel. He had just been shifted from the enlisted barrel to the officer's barrel, and it was almost like starting over. Even having a room to himself in the officer's quarters wasn't all it was cracked up to be. He missed sharing space with Axel despite still seeing him on a daily basis.
"I really don't need any more favors," Ehren said. "Let's call us even, okay?"
Robin bowed his head for a moment then looked up at Ehren and nodded.
"Okay."
Robin made no move to leave, which prompted Ehren to yawn in an exaggerated manner and stretch his arms out above him.
"I really think I should just go back to sleep now," he said. "I don't get much down time."
"So..." Robin said, completely ignoring Ehren's attempts to extricate himself from the encounter. "I'm gong to hit the gym. Care to join me?"
Eheren laughed out loud as he eyed Robin's broad chest. "Of course you spend your free time at the gym."
"Yes, Yes." Robin rolled his eyes. "I lift things and you spend your time learning how to annoy me."
"I don't learn it. It's a natural talent. Besides. You came to me!" Ehren reminded him with a short tap against the coffee cup.
Robin chuckled at him. "Come on. It'll be good for you."
"But I thought..."
"That concentrating on communications would get you out of conditioning?" Robin arched an eyebrow at him. "We can't have an entire squadron waiting to for you because you can't keep up in the field."
"But..."
"I know you'd rather stick your nose in a book, but in all honesty..." He glanced quickly away so that Ehren couldn't see his eyes.
"I would really hate it if you died out there."
"Oh, geez," Ehren said, letting out a soft but audible breath. "If you put it that way, Commander Doom..." Ehren consented with the corner of his mouth quirked slightly upwards. He found it impossible to resist Robin in one of his unguarded moments.
***
So Ehren found himself in the last place he'd ever imagined he would be when he woke up that morning with a rare and precious day off. Working out certainly wasn't the most exciting think he could think of to do with his spare time. He found running around a virtual track to be a thousand times more boring than reading a good book or learning a new language.
He also knew that Robin was correct when he said that Ehren was at a disadvantage out in the field. He certainly wasn't the biggest or strongest of the examples of perfect physical specimens that walked the hallways of I-GAS headquarters.
He departed the mess hall with an excuse to gather his work-out clothes from his room; an excuse which only garnered an eyebrow raise from his commander but went without further questioning. When he returned to the locker room, he found Robin there waiting for him beside his locker wearing only his sweatpants, holding his t-shirt in his hand.
There was only one thing that that managed to distract Ehren from staring at Robin's bare chest in that moment, and it was the sparkling gold ring that he was wearing on a chain around his neck.
It also gave him the perfect excuse.
"You're wearing it?" Ehren sauntered up to him and stuck his pinky finger through the band and lifted it from where it lay.
"It was a gift," Robin muttered as he snatched it away and quickly pulled on his shirt. "As far as I can tell it's none of your business."
"Of course not." Ehren rolled his eyes. "I only just risked my career to keep the stupid thing a secret for you. I thought you'd hide it for a while at least."
"Give it a rest, Ehren," Robin said. "I get it it. I am forever indebted to you. No need to rub it in. Now, put on your pants and quit stalling."
"Forever? Does this mean free coffee for life?"
"If you don't hurry up, that might not be for very much longer," Robin muttered. "Let's go, recruit!"
"Ensign." Ehren corrected him even though he was smiling through his annoyance.
Later, after following several meters behind Robin on the track, being unable to keep up the pace and Robin being unwilling to slow it down, Ehren found himself sitting inertly upon a rowing machine not even pretending to be exercising any further. He watched as Robin met with his trainer and across the room. They conversed for a moment before getting started, and Ehren noticed Robin pointing him out.
He scowled and Robin waved, prompting the trainer to wave as well. Ehren made a dismissive gesture and turned his attention to the holographic output display on the machine he was working with. He sat there exerting the least amount of energy as possible so as not to arouse the ire of the fellow officers milling about in hopes of taking over the machine as soon as he was finished with it. They were like muscular vultures circling him, so he tried to put their anticipatory glances out of his mind. He met back up with Robin as soon as his weight lifting was over.
"So what now?" Ehren asked.
"I have to go back to the squad room this afternoon after the crew is back from their specialized exercises. You in this afternoon?"
"You should know. You have the schedule," Ehren said.
Robin shrugged. "You think I actually look at that thing?"
"You probably should. Y'know, since you're the commander and everything."
Robin sighed. "Of course you're right."
"Of course, I'm right. I'm always right," Ehren said.
Robin chuckled.
"So, I'll see you later then," he said. "The Yarzfeld database needs cleaning up."
Ehren stopped in his tracks.
"You've got to be kidding me. Are you punishing me or something?" He tried his best to sound annoyed, but he was more amused than anything.
"Yes, well." Robin shrugged. "It's about time I taught you most important lesson in being an officer."
"Oh, yeah, what's that?"
"Delegation," Robin replied.
"Yes, a valuable lesson," Ehren agreed. "Too bad it's my day off. Are you really going to order me in to work on that?"
"Nah." Robin clapped him on the back. "Go on back to your room and read about the mating habits of Umerian Flies or something."
"Hey, I'm a etymologist, not an entomologist," Ehren said.
"Fine," Robin conceded, "learn about how they talk to each other. Just get out of here before I change my mind."
Ehren snapped off a quick and sloppy salute before springing away as fast as his legs could carry him.
They settled into a routine after that. Ehren attended to his officer training and then reported to Robin later in the day. On his days off Robin always had his coffee and one of the plears he kept in the icebox waiting for him in the mess hall. Every time Ehren would complain, Robin would remind him that he had earned free coffee for life then would drag him off to the gym amid mild protestation.
It didn't matter that the coffee was already free.
That routine was shattered one day as Ehren sat idly at his station in the communications room. He wasn't on duty so much as he was taking his time there to study a new phoneme and expand his vocabulary. He was pretty much stumped at how to create the sounds that were coming out of the instructional video with his Earthian vocal chords, when an inter-galactic distress call rang out, disrupting the regimented hum of the communication team's daily chores. There was a mad dash as the on-duty staff scrambled to attention, intercepting signals left and right. Ehren had not been trained enough to even know what the screaming siren really meant.
He latched on to the first passing starman and asked what was going on.
"The Golden Utopia's been attacked, Sir," he said. "We're gathering intelligence from the intergalactic common database. An action squad has already been deployed."
"Okay, thanks," Ehren murmured and turned back towards his lesson momentarily. He glanced back up at the main display in the center of the room and watched his superior officers milling around observing the steady stream of data that had been culled from the Common Database; the real time storage center for all government security systems in the Alliance of Multiple Galaxies. He was about to ask if he could help any way, though he had no experience with decoding time signatures or corrupted security images, nor did he have any experience with the helper software. He didn't want to sit idly by while a planet was under attack.
The image of Robin Grey standing in the doorway to the communications office stopped him in his tracks though. He took a glance around and spotted Ehren. His usually warm eyes were filled with an expression of cold terror as he marched up to his subordinate.
"What's going on?" He asked.
"Apparently there's been an attack on the GU, Sir," Ehren replied.
"What else?" Robin prompted.
"I don't actually know. Y'see, I was just studying the Wonev phoneme and the sirens went off."
"Didn't you read the action report?"
"No," Ehren growled and stood up. "I'm not exactly the highest ranking person in this room."
Robin grabbed his shoulder and shoved him back down into his chair.
"What good are you?" He muttered and stalked off towards the officers in the middle of the room.
Before Ehren could gather his wits and go after Robin, he was accosted by the captain in charge, sat in front of a computer display, and told to scan for rogue time signals with a program he was barely qualified to use. He took one last glance back at Robin and his ire was replaced with worry as he spied the look on the Commander's face while he talked with others. Something was definitely very wrong.
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