Pondering Politics

[Owen Matthews 0]

A Caine & Matthews Production

 

Owen had just finished his workout and walked into the locker room. When he spotted Caine sitting on one of the benches he walked over to her and slumped down next to her. "Nothing like a good workout, eh Junior?"

 

"Nothing like," Caine agreed. She was sitting with her back up against the wall, letting her heart rate spin down from a run and an encounter with the punching bags. It had been a good stress release, expelling whatever pent-up energy had remained after the adrenaline-fueled front-lines battle. She had wanted to wear herself out as much as possible, in order to take advantage of the short rest-and-refuel period which the Agincourt had before heading off towards a new assignment. She glanced at Buddha as he slid into a seat next to her. "I see Commander JoNs is letting you roam free again?"

 

He nodded. "Yeah, it seems she figured I was of some use fighting Soltans." Buddha was glad not to be locked up in his quarters anymore. The few days he had been grounded had seemed way too long especially since he hadn't slept much during that time. To be honest he had almost welcomed their encounter with the Soltans...or he would have hadn't they wreaked so much havoc. "How did things go for you," he asked, assuming Caine would know he was inquiring about the battle.

 

"About as well as could be expected," Caine said with a faint shrug. "Ended up flying the ship from Gamma bridge with a couple of your boys -- Hefner and Petros. Not something I'd care to do again, not with the nacelle thrown all to hell, but we did some good damage. Pulled out rather than go to MVAM..." She paused, pondering whether to discuss the disagreement she had felt for that decision at the time, but it was illogical to dwell on it; Condacin -- a scientist, by trade -- had been in a difficult situation and the point was moot anyway. "So all in all...we kept our rears in one piece, which is all we can really ask."

 

"Thanks, I guess. I had some fun with our blue friends down in the NNC. Man, that was a mess, I tell ya. I'm glad noone's turned blue yet. Though there are some of our people in quarantine." The thought was actually depressing but right now there was nothing anyone could do about it.

 

"Yeah...I know. We were running the scans from the bridge." Caine pursed her lips and shook her head slightly, then stood up, moving to her locker and pulling her uniform from it. "So far no major word on that, at least none that I've heard. Maybe we dodged the blow."

 

"Let's hope so," Owen said, pulling off his shirt and tossing it on the floor. "I'm not sure about some but I definitely don't look good in blue." He opened his locker and dug out a towel which he placed next to him.

 

"I'm sure it'd bring out your eyes," Caine deadpanned as she disappeared into the showers, her own towel over her shoulder. "At any rate," she added, raising her voice slightly over the sound of the sonics so Owen could still hear her, "word is we're moving on now, maybe getting back in the action."

 

"Yeah, I heard about that, too," Owen replied, his own voice raised. "Rumour has it we're moving somewhere near Romulan space. Hear anything about that?

 

"Yeah, but that's all I heard...Colonel's eyes only and all that," Caine replied, reflecting on the speed with which news traveled on this ship as she quickly stripped and hopped in the shower, letting the sonics start to vibrate the sweat out of her hair. She was suddenly feeling very tired; between the battle and the workout, the day was starting to catch up with her. "Apparently it's not just border patrol, though."

 

"Right, Colonel's eyes only but we'll get our butts kicked just the same if something goes wrong. Though I wonder what the Romulans have to do with this whole business. Do they want to help or are they in league with the Soltans, what do you think?" Actually, this was a question that had kept him wondering ever since he'd heard about their new destination. Kicking off his shoes, he wriggled his toes, lost in thought.

 

Caine cocked her head slightly, thinking as she leaned gently against the wall of the shower. She had not really been in the vicinity of the Romulan Empire since she had fought at ch'Revellion and ch'Rihan during the Rihan Civil War; she had not followed their development from there with great attention, except as regarded their effect on tactical decisions. "Depends if you think they're willing to risk their current stability by violating Versailles," she said after a short pause, switching off the low-pitched whine of the shower with a snap. "They'd have a hell of a lot to answer for, in that case."

 

Owen nodded slowly to himself. "Yeah but Versailles or not, I’m not sure we can trust the Romulans. Maybe they think the Soltans are a powerful enough ally to help them screw us. Maybe they have some kind of agreement. They help the Soltans defeat us and in return they get our territory or whatever."

 

Caine stepped out of the shower and began pulling on her uniform pants, grinning to herself as Owen began to spin out a potential scenario. "Don't get paranoid on me, Buddha...you know better than that. We'll keep our heads up and have a look around; no need to buy gifts for a party that's not happening."

 

"It's my job to be prepared for any party, Junior. And it's better to have a gift and not need it than getting the invitation and not being prepared...if you know what I mean." Owen thought for a second about what he'd just said. It made sense, at least to him.

 

Caine laughed. "Fair enough. And we will be ready -- if necessary. It's what we do. But I'm perfectly willing to thump you one if you start jumping at shadows too much."

 

Owen grinned. "Good 'nuff. That'll keep me sane and on my toes. I'm glad I don't have to worry about politics too much."

 

Caine smiled, pulling on her uniform jacket and stepping back out into the locker area. "I'm glad you don't too -- probably saves us all a lot of headache."

"Ouch," Owen said pretending to be insulted.

 

"Yes, knife to the heart, I'm sure," Caine said blithely, tossing her workout clothes in the direction of the laundry and grinning at him. "I'm going to get some rest -- you should too."

"I'll take a shower first, if you don't mind. And then I'm going to enjoy a well earned nap before we get too close to the Romulans." With that he picked up his towel and walked off in the direction of the showers.