10:15 Biltmore Resort - Room 814

John woke up, rolled over, and began staring at the ceiling. He cursed at himself for passing out. He presumed Alice was moderately annoyed since she didn’t cover him with any covers. John smiled and gently got off the bed. He wrote a note that said, ‘Sorry about that and I love you. In the gym.’

He leaned over and kissed her forehead. John switched into some athletic leisure wear and quietly crept out of the room. The one very nice thing about the hotel they were staying in was the facilities. There were two incredibly nice restaurants, a nightclub, and a bar. There was also a waterpark, several pools, saunas, hot tubs, and various other water-based entertainment activities.

The one John was most interested in though was their gymnasium. It was about a third of the size of what he was used to at the academy, but it was far better than any other station or ship they’ve seen. And given the need for physical therapy, this was high on the list of things he was looking forward to.

10:25 Biltmore Resort – Gymnasium

John felt like he had walked through a labyrinth of walls and corridors to get to the gym. He smiled when he walked into the room. There were only three other people there, but it was everything he expected it to be.

John looked at his tablet and reviewed the therapy plan the doctors wanted him to follow. He wasn’t one to follow all of these things to a letter, but at least for the first few days he would since he needed to see how his body was reacting to the added stress. The last thing John wanted to do was set himself back and keep on reduced duty.

He began to stretch out after walking over to a machine. John felt the excitement building for a proper workout again. After he felt that he stretched enough he began with the workout plan.

Forty-five minutes later John was working on some free weights. He was doing reps of only three hundred pounds at the squat station. This was far under what he could have done a month ago, but it was right at his limits, given the other lifting he had already done that day.

“So, I get ready last night, come out thinking we were finally going to spend some one-on-one time only to find…” Alice said with a hint of annoyance in her tone.

“Her dumbass husband passed out and dead to the world on the bed,” John turned and looked at her, “Good lord woman.”

Alice smirked. She was wearing a grey sports bra and black biker shorts. She looked stunning.

“You even missed out on what I was wearing last night too,” she winked and smirked as she was stretching in front of John.

“You’re doing this on purpose aren’t you?”

“Yes. Yes, I am.”

John chuckled, wiped the sweat off his brow, and got back to work. He didn’t have much left in his plan. While he didn’t want to follow it to the letter, he ultimately did. Twenty minutes later he was done.

John was on the ground stretching and winding down, “Did you see where they recommended lunch?”

“Yup, I’ll do a proper workout with you here tomorrow. But I want to get a few more sets here before we go to clean up.”

“Sooo, am I going to see what I missed out on last night? Because technically, that wasn’t entirely my fault. I’m still injured.”

Alice stopped her workout and started to laugh, “John, dear, I love you. But my god that was pathetic.”

John shrugged, “Well, that all is very true, but you didn’t answer the question.”

Alice continued to laugh, “Honey, please let me get my workout in. The answer is maybe.”

John tried to give Alice a puppy dog look. She shot that down. He smiled and continued with his cool-down stretches. Eventually, the couple went back to their room to clean up. They were able to spend some intimate time together, far later than either had expected, but it scratched an itch the couple both desperately needed and wanted.

12:30 Frankie’s North Carolina Style BBQ

Much to the chagrin of the girls, a BBQ place was selected for their first meal together. The boys ordered the five-meat plate with three sides. The meats and sides varied, but every last one of them ordered the same special.

“So, psychic shit totally and fully dead with you?” Andern asked as he was eating a rib.

“For Christ’s sake Jacob. Eat or talk, not both,” Kristin slapped his shoulder.

“Yeah. If there was a chance of recovery it would’ve already happened. Play dumb games, win stupid prizes.”

“That was a grand prize of some sort,” Thomas said dryly.

“Hey, on the plus side, I’m still fertile. So at least the radiation didn’t neuter me.”

“I love both of you, but the thought of mini-John’s is moderately terrifying,” Nathan said laughing.

“I’d prefer to wait on kids until we’re at least first or second lieutenants,” Alice said, “That being said we’ve never actually talked about kids yet have we?”

John shook his head, “Beyond we’d like them in the future no. Having them while still in the academy would be stupid though.”

“Ensign to third lieutenant is a year generally. Third to second is a year and a half, right?” Jessica asked.

“I think you can get to third in twelve months, but the average is eighteen months. Then another eighteen to twenty-four for second lieutenant,” Brian said.

“There’s a twelve-month minimum period for observation and grading. On the thirteenth month of being a third or second lieutenant, you can be promoted. Takes fifteen months to get too first lieutenant,” John picked up a bowl with potato salad in it.

“We graduate when we’re twenty-two. So that means kids for you two will be in like five or so years?” Theresa said, “Good lord that doesn’t seem that far away.”

“How the hell did we get on when we were going to have kids?” John interrupted and pointed between Alice and himself.

“Well, we didn’t start talking about their names though, did we?” Kristin laughed.

“Oh, I got that covered,” Alice smiled.

“Cool. So anyway, what was the end fallout of that attack?” Andern asked, he attacked a buttered-up biscuit after he spoke.

“I submitted a recommendation for reprimand against myself to the First Fleet along with commendation requests for the crew’s performance,” John smiled and leaned back in his chair, “The god’s honest truth, despite my fuckup, was that it was a great success. The attack was thwarted twice, we had hard evidence of this group mind wiping citizens of the Confederacy and we killed one of their top agents.”

“Except you ran off by yourself and almost cooked yourself to death,” Brian said.

“Hence the reprimand,” John grinned, “I’d be curious to know what kind of shape, physical and mental, the other one is in.”

“Surely you have an educated guess about that. Don’t you?” Jessica asked.

“Well, the arm they can fix. Mentally though…” John let the sentence hand but was interrupted.

“I’ve seen studies where the mental damage is permanent. It has seriously scarred people for life,” Theresa interjected.

“That’s where it gets interesting. Psychic bonds have only been observed in twins or triplets. With the latter being exceptionally minor. I don’t know how strong the bond is, but let’s assume it’s middle of the road,” John grabbed his beer and took a drink, “There’d be a reduction in her cryokinetic abilities, and then there’s also the damage to her physical capabilities too.”

“But could they put in some tech to bring her back?” Kevin asked, “We kind of proved that to be possible.”

“I would say she should be less dangerous overall. That being said it’s still the difference between getting into a room with a hungry lion or tiger.”

“Especially since you are now depowered,” Andern said.

Everyone at the table looked at him. Most shook their heads. A couple of ‘dumbass’ comments were whispered under their breath.

“What?”

“Thank you Captain Obvious,” John smirked and took a bite of some brisket.

“Have you heard about the other ships and how they are doing?” Kristin asked.

“Patrice and company are docking tomorrow or the day after if they are on time. Heard about early struggles, but admittedly news on their ships has been hard to come by,” John laughed, “I had a couple of enlisted guys reach out to buddies on their ships though to get some unvarnished opinions since the lieutenant got tight-lipped.”

“Of course, you did, because you always have to know,” Alice shook her head.

“Well, turns out Patrice is running the ship well, but they aren’t on an eighteen-hour day.”

Brian took a sip of wine, “The enlisted aren’t liking that I bet.”

“Beyond that little nugget, the crew seems to be working well enough.”

“What about Terry?” Kevin asked.

“He’s being every bit as OCD as I assumed him to be. Now the rumor is their Academy liaison laid down the law and told him if he doesn’t drop his schtick he won’t be in command anymore.”

“I don’t get that guy. Like he’s smart as hell but is just crazy controlling,” Thomas said.

“He’s a pompous ass. He wanted to be our CO at the last wargame. His justification for it was he had the better wins in the wargames.”

“He claims he ‘didn’t resort to cheating,’” John used air quotes, “He overlooked how most of their ‘wins’ resulted in near wipes of his platoon each wargame. Ah well, we control what we can and adapt to the challenge that comes at us.”

“I dunno about you, but I’m ready for some cornhole and other games to play,” Kevin said.

“Here here,” John said as he finished the last thing on his plate.

18:00 The Dirty Mutt Sports Bar and More

The sports bar was a ten-minute walk to a different section of the retail wing. The cadets felt at home, the guys more so than the girls at least. Pool tables, ax throwing cages, dart boards, hundreds of televisions, video games, pinball machines, and of course cornhole boards.

John, Andern, and Kevin did ax throwing. The results were predictable, despite Andern and Kevin significantly improving their form and abilities. Despite being injured and recovering still, John’s accuracy was still uncanny. That was enough to confirm for the two that John wouldn’t and hasn’t lost any of his physical gifts.

The girls played cornhole first. They all agreed that this was the boy's fault that they enjoyed this silly game as much as they did. Theresa told the others that she and one of the enlisted nurses play cornhole before chow every day. Kevin yelled that he had heard that.

Nathan, Thomas, and Brian got into a racing game. It wasn’t as slick as the sims they had a chance to drive, or more accurately play with, at the McLaren headquarters, but it was still fun. And there were three more simulators all linked together.

Naturally, this means that the moment John and company left the ax-throwing cages they had to have their own little race. The results, which shocked no one, in particular, were as expected. John won. He won three straight races before he tapped Kristin in so he could play cornhole.

The mood was light, and everyone was having a good time. Everyone enjoyed spending time together, something they had none of while they were on the ship. That was to be expected as everyone knew that they had to pull their weight during their shifts, and they couldn’t all be on the same shift.

After spending nearly six hours at the sports bar the tab was paid. Then everyone split their separate ways. Kristin and Andern were going to go shopping before going to dinner. Kevin and Theresa had reservations at one of the several restaurants at the MGM Resort. Brian and Thomas were going to a dinner and theatre show. Jessica and Nathan decided to go to dinner and shopping since the couples were abandoning them.

19:45 Biltmore – Le Jules Verne

John and Alice were sitting at a table along the back wall of the seating area of the restaurant. Alice was wearing a black cocktail dress. John was wearing dress pants, a grey shirt, and a red tie. They were enjoying a vintage red wine.

“You know, you really should dress up more often. You are really handsome when you clean up,” Alice said smiling, “And I am very thankful you are on the mend.”

“Well, I’m sorry again for causing you all that trouble. You know I hate dressing up. And you look positively stunning.”

Alice blushed, “This is what our life is going to be like for some time isn’t it?”

“Brief but intense time spent together separated by extended periods of time alone,” John leaned back in his seat, “I’d be lying to you if I was content with that aspect of our lives.”

“It’s our price of admission to being officers.”

“That it is.”

“Is there any chance you’d get assigned to a station?”

John paused and thought about that, “You know I never even thought about that. Probably not but who knows. Stranger things have happened.”

“Is there anything I can say to convince you to be on a big ship?”

John smiled, leaned in closer, and took her hand, “I understand why you want this. My preference still is getting a command as early as possible. Being able to command a ship means I can dictate when my crew and I are exposed to danger more easily than if I’m a cog in a larger machine.”

“I know it’s irrational, but I still worry.”

“Honey, it’s not irrational, you don’t want me to be gone. The reverse is true for me obviously.”

“I can’t promise you this won’t be the last time we have this conversation,” Alice smirked.

John looked up and saw their waiter arriving, “Yes, I don’t doubt that. But with that arriving, I think that ends this conversation tonight.”

The couple began their meal. The focus of the conversation was each course and how good it was. John thought it was a bit overpriced for what it was. But it was fantastic, and there was something about the experience of having a contemporary French dish on the plate in front of them and seeing the surface of Pluto outside the window behind them.

An hour later their bill was paid, and they were returning to their room. It was time to recreate Alice’s plan for the previous night. John got very excited overseeing what her plan was. In the end, John wasn’t let down. He was left speechless when he saw her walk into their bedroom in the negligée.

05:00 Biltmore – Room 814

John woke up violently. Despite nearly jumping off the bed, Alice remained sound asleep. John rolled off the bed and walked into the bathroom. He flicked the light on and put his hands on the countertop and took several deep breaths.

“Fuck me, what the hell was that?” John said under his breath.

He began analyzing the dream. It was one of many life-or-death experiences he had been through. This one was when he got shot multiple times in the Wolf system. But why did he remember that? John was struggling with why that memory came up in a dream. Nothing recently had occurred that could tie the events together.

John shrugged it off and began to take a piss. He washed his hands and shut the lights off as he left the bathroom. On his way back to the bedroom he saw his tablet on the table. It was blinking, he had received at least one message.

He grabbed it and sat down at the chair next to the countertop. John leaned back in the chair and unlocked the tablet. Six new messages were received. Two appeared to be spam, one was from Lieutenant Page for a quick debrief in the morning. The last three were from Station Security. John groaned inwardly and walked back into the bathroom and closed the door.

John opened the coms on his tablet, “Security, this is Cadet Lief, acting Captain of the CNS Marcinko. Apologies for not contacting you sooner but I was sleeping.”

A gruff voice responded, “Our records had you staying at another hotel, hence the lack of any calls. Apologies for that. I have eight enlisted men assigned to the Marcinko in my brig. I’d appreciate you telling me where to send them.”

“Let me get dressed and I’ll head down there.”

John ended the call. He walked back into the room and grabbed a pair of sweatpants and a hoody from his bag. He then quietly left the room. Since he had to go someplace, he may as well turn it into a cardio workout. John began jogging toward the Naval wing of the station.

05:45 Station Security

John’s lungs were burning as he sat down in the chair. Despite that, he sighed as he watched the video. While he was jogging over, he was hoping there would be some extenuating circumstances for whatever his crew did. Sadly, the video proved they got liquored up and acted like dumb and out-of-control animals.

“What do you want to do with them?” the deputy asked.

“Airlock them would be a start,” John said which horrified the report writer, “But I suppose the punishment doesn’t meet the crime. Let me go talk to these idiots.”

“Follow me,” the deputy said chuckling.

After a couple of minutes of walking through corridors and getting buzzed through different secure doors, the three arrived in front of the holding cell. The soberest of the group of enlisted crewmembers tried to stand at attention and salute. The others followed suit to varying degrees of success.

“At ease. So, who wants to explain what happened?”

Seaman Anderson stepped forward, “We drank too much and got too rowdy.”

The others agreed with Anderson’s assessment. A couple of them added additional details to what they remember. Though given how drunk they were when they were picked it up it was doubtful their memories were all that useful.

“Deputy, what’re their charges?”

“Drunk and Disorderly and destruction of personal property. Two chairs and a table were destroyed.”

“Get the price of the destroyed items. Split it eight ways. Add it to the fine you’d charge.”

“One step ahead of you sir. The replacement items plus the fine comes to eight hundred fifty credits.”

“Pay the fine. I’ll get one of the empty barracks assigned to the ship. Your leave is over. You are confined to the barracks. You’ll be able to get out for an hour for each meal. And another two hours for exercise. You’re not permitted anywhere else. Station radio will be available to you. Movies and television are not though. I recommend reading for the next three days.”

“Apologies sir, it won’t happen again.”

“No, it won’t. Y’all are in the doghouse. Don’t make me Old Yeller your dumbasses if you pull another dumb stunt.”

“Deputy, make sure these idiots pay their fine, when they do pay, please have your people escort them to the barracks.”

“Will do.”

John shook his head and was escorted back to the lobby. He sat down at an empty terminal and logged into it. He began typing a message, one that he didn’t feel he had to write but given what he just saw that assumption clearly was incorrect.

Good morning,

Last night eight of your fellow crewmembers got blackout drunk, started a fight with one another, and destroyed a couple of chairs and a table. They spent several hours sobering up a bit in the brig here. After they pay a fine of near a thousand credits for their rampant idiocy, they will spend the next three days locked down in the military barracks without extra-net access.

Leave is a privilege. Do not abuse it. I would prefer if I don’t have to get called to Station Security again. Enjoy your time off intelligent. Do not overindulge.

Acting Captain Lief

John left the building grumbling under his voice. He did see a golf cart-like device which was exactly what he wanted to use. He hopped on it and headed back to the hotel. There were still three more days of fun and excitement to be had. More than that he wanted to spend time with his beautiful wife, and stuff like this cut into that time.