Vacation: Meeting

                            By:

                         Fox Cutter

02/28/96:

I'll say one thing about being between solar systems; the
stars were perfectly beautiful. There was no reflected light
from anything to mar their perfection. Even the twinkling
caused by the glass was so subtle it was nearly gone.

All this I saw, slowly moving towards me, as I sat on the
first deck observation lounge, alone in the dark, a few
minutes before the turning of the day.

I had found my way there a few hours before, while I was
looking for a nice quite place to relax and work. My first
choice had been one of the pools, but it seemed Steven
wasn't the only one who knew of me.

Leaning back in my chair, I threw my PADD aside, and just
watched the stars.

"Amazing aren't they?" a feminine voice asked from a few
seats behind me.

I nodded some. "Yes," I whispered, drawing it out a bit. I
didn't even look back to see who it was.

"It always seems so strange," the voice continued, "being
here, in the middle of them all." The voice paused a bit.

"The stars seem so _majestic_ from on planet, but here they
seem even grander, making us look like ants. Ants walking
across the homes of giants."

I digested this a bit, "That is very well said. Maybe you
should get that in an official quote book."

She giggled, "Well, it already is. My brother used it as the
opening for his first novel."

I chuckled, "Maybe I could steal the quote as well, if I
ever finish one."

"Ah," she said, her voice moving a bit closer, "Working on
the 'Great Sapient Novel' are you?"

"Well... two or twenty of them. I'm kind of a writer by
trade."

She giggled in my ear, "Interesting. So, what are you doing
up here?"

I waved to my PADD, "Just getting some work done."

"Why not do it in one of the other rooms?"

I shrugged, "Too many people. I appear to be semi-famous in
this part of space."

"Oh," she sounded slightly disappointed.

I finally turned and looked at her. She was leaning over the
seat next to mine. I saw the masked face of a raccoon,
directing a wide smile in my direction. She was rather
pretty, and had a look of experience about her. If I had to
guess, I would say she was in her mid thirties. She was
casually dressed in a blouse, and perched on her muzzle was
a pair of small glasses.

"Yep," I said, "I'm Fox Cutter."

She blinked, "Vaguely remember the name, but can't place
it."

I smirked, "Good!"

She raised her eyebrows, and cocked her ears to the side,
"Oh, why?"

"'Cause I don't need it!"

She laughed, "I suppose I should introduce myself as well.
Samantha Banks, though everyone around here calls me Sam."

I nodded, "Nice to meet you, Sam."

"Same here. Now how did you get up here? You need a key on
the Elevator."

I grinned, "I took the stairs."

She blinked, "The stairs? Why would anyone take the stairs?"

"I don't like elevators very much," I said in way of
explanation.

She nodded slowly, "Then it makes sense. You do know that
this is the officers' lounge, and is off limits to non-
crew?"

It was my turn to blink. "No, I didn't know that. You might
want to post it."

Moving around the chairs, she sat down next to me. "It's
O.K., it's not like I'm going to throw you in the brig or
anything."

I laughed, "That's a good thing. Pity though, it's a great
view."

"I'll give you a key to the stairs and the elevator, and the
stairs will be locked from now on. Just don't bring anyone
else up with you."

I looked at her, "Really, you must be pretty high up in the
crew to pull that off."

She gave me a sly grin, "You could say that."

I grinned, and checked my watch, finding it was ten minutes
after midnight, "I've got to go and get some sleep. Oria
wants me to check out some panel or something in the
morning."

She nodded, her ears dropping slightly. "Your girlfriend?"

I shook my head, "Nope, we're just friends. I think we both
want to keep it that way."

"Ah," she said with a slight smile. "Listen, I have some
free space at the Captain's Table tonight. Care to come
along?"

I raised an eyebrow, "Are you asking me on a date?"

She stood, "Not officially. The Captain can't have a date at
her own table, but perhaps afterwards. Bring your friend
too, if she wants to come." With that she turned and headed
out.

It took a second for me to catch on. "You're the Captain?" I
asked, dashing after her.

"Yes," she replied with a smile, stepping into the elevator.
"See you then, seven PM, sharp. Also, it is formal dress."
Then the doors closed on her.

Going back to pick up my PADD, I rubbed my head, "Well, this
is getting interesting," I muttered to myself.

It was only after I had started heading down the stairs that
I realized that she actually had asked me on a date.


* * *

A short time later, I was walking down the hallway towards
the room, and whistling half to myself. I was trying to work
out where I could go on this ship to get some kind of formal
dress for dinner.

Stopping in front of the door, I started to fish through my
pockets for the key when I heard a voice from inside. It was
muffled, but I could hear enough to tell it was male. And to
make out the words "Thanks, it's been interesting. I'll see
you again later."

'Damn!' I thought, 'She's got herself a client.'

Standing there, dumbfounded, I was shaken out of it as the
door started to open. I dove out of the way, and around a
nearby corner.

There was a short exchange of conversation that I was unable
to hear, then the door closed.

Looking back around the corner, I saw a panther walking down
the hall in the other direction, and Oriana's back as she
returned into the room. 'What is she doing with a panther?'
I thought to myself.

One thing was for sure, this trip was turning out to be VERY
interesting.

-----

This story is copyright 1996-2003 by Fox Cutter. Hardcopy
reprints limited to one per person, all other rights
reserved. This story may not be distributed for a fee except
by permission of the author, and this copyright notice may
not be removed.