Hunting

[Hunter Matheson 0]

“Hunting”

 

It wasn’t until after he spit it out that Kal realized he may have just insulted his boss. When he asked Cptn Granger about women it was almost like saying she wasn’t a woman. Well, there was no doubt she was a woman, but there was also no mistaking she was first a Marine. She’d said time and again that there was no gender on the Marine deck, and especially none on mission, so maybe he wasn’t that far off. Anyway, she didn’t seem to take offense, but no matter how he spun it, the rationalization just didn’t seem to fly.

 

Don't' expect to understand women, she said, We don't understand you half the time either. Big help that was. So just a few minutes later he grabbed Hector Gonzales, Delta’s explosives expert and the acknowledged go-to for advice; he was known to have defused more than a few gender bombs in his day. He was older, he listened, and he actually made sense.

 

Keeping it on the down-low and pausing whenever someone came within earshot, he rushed to explain himself in the few minutes it took to get to wherever Hect was going.

 

“...she’s hot, man. Sooo… hot,” Kal gushed to Hector’s apparent indifference as they walked toward the lift from MARDET. “And she’s... intelligent, you know?” He couldn’t seem to get the words out - the right words, the ones that would really pin down his thoughts, mostly because he didn’t have a clue what he really thought. That’s what Hect was for, right? To help him think? He thought he had it all together until Reed’s comments on the bridge, then it all went south.

 

“... and she’s got this cute little turned up nose that kind of twitches when she's thinking.” A forefinger wagged the air. “And that accent… smooth... educated. .. it kind of puts her in a class by herself. And... man, those eyes….” He blew out a breath.

 

“Um hum,” said Hector, leaning his back against the wall as they waited for the lift.

 

“What.”

 

Hect shrugged, arms folded casually. “Couple things you might want to think about,” he said.

 

Kal waited.

 

The sergeant's expression didn’t change. Kal was definitely missing something.

 

“About…?”

 

“For starters, she’s a lieutenant.”

 

The lift doors opened. Kal stood there, staring.

 

The occupants grumbled. Hect gave Kal’s arm a jerk and Kal stumbled in.

 

“Uh… yeah. Kind of thought about that,” Kal muttered, now pressed against the back of the lift. “But she started it… like she wanted to…” he waved a come-hither, “...you know.”

 

Heads turned.

 

Kal’s hands went up. “Oh, wait… no. Not…. no, not that...” ended in a blush.

 

Gonz fought back a grin.

 

When the lift finally emptied, Kal had recovered and pressed on. "So what should I do?"

 

Another shrug. "Far as I can see you either stick to Swickie*...” he slapped Kal solidly on the back, “...or go for it."

 

Kal thought he heard a chuckle as Hector passed through the docking ring. Just before the doors closed, he craned his neck to shout, "What kind of help is that?"

________________________

*Swickie - Special Warfare Craft Crewman (SWCC), Kal’s Military Occupational Specialty (MOS)