A Classified Visit (part 3)

Posted on Wed Jul 31st, 2013 @ 11:32am by Admiral Kathryn Burke & Admiral Maximilian 'Max' Hunter
Edited on on Wed Jul 31st, 2013 @ 11:40am

1,078 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: What Dreams May Come?
Location: VIP Quarters
Timeline: En route back to Athena Shipyards

[CONTINUED]

[OLD]

"Work generally doesn't stress me out," she countered. "Incompetence in the Command Staff does. This whole trial business." She sighed and watched the stars flash by for a moment. "It's going to take time to find out how deep the corruption went."

[NEW]

"Corruption?" Max raised a brow with a smirk and stopped rubbing the sides of her neck for a moment. "Sounds like you need the help of an experienced, and devilishly handsome, Intelligence Officer who deals in uncovering that kind of thing." He looked at her reflection in the glass and winked, continuing her neck massage. "I may know someone a guy who knows a guy." He let out a soft laugh and then continued quietly, hitting a very tense part.

"Do you know one?" she asked jokingly. "A devilishly handsome Intelligence officer?"

Max smirked and then added. "I only recruit that type." He paused, with an odd look on his face. "Wait.. That sounded much better in my head then out loud." He looked at her reflection and then laughed, listening to the sound of her laughter as he slowly ended his own with a smile. "I knew I can get you to smile, or at least laugh anyway."

"That explains a lot, Max." The atmosphere was becoming a little too intimate and she had a strong urge to run. Although she really couldn't run from her own feelings. So she chose a more discrete retreat. There was still a glass or two left in the bottle. "You can finish the brandy. It's late and you probably need to relax, so I'll say goodnight."

"You don't have to, Kathryn." Max said as he put his hands at his side with a sigh. "I could use the company and have gotten used to staying up at odd hours." He paused and then smirked. "Besides, I can't think of anyone else I would rather be with, then you."

"There's a list as long as my arm of young officers who would line up for the privilege, Max." That fact bothered her. She was hesitant to get involved with a man who had a reputation as a "Ladies' Man."

Max let out a soft laugh and put his head down. "That's a rumor." He looked back up to her and smiled again. "I know, I started it."

"You may have started it, but it's being perpetuated by a long list of women who want to find out why." Kathryn shook her head. "The only phrase that comes to mind is serves you right."

Max nodded slightly and crossed his arms over his chest. "I know, but it's true and something tells me that you know it. We have been dancing around this for a long time now, Kathryn. I don't want to dance around it anymore."

He was right. She turned to face him. "What DO you want to do, Max?" A dangerous question, she knew, but it was past time to bring things into the open. Although she still had a strong urge to turn and walk out the door.

"To know if its just a feeling or a childish dream." Max replied softly.

She wanted to ask why he considered it childish, but chose a more generic question. "What is?"

"To see if its possible to be with a woman I have been swooning over since we met." Max replied again as he walked over to her. "I thought that would have been obvious by now, Kathryn."

"You don't swoon over anyone, Max. And if we're being honest, your reputation with women is ... extensive. I'm old-fashioned. I was married to one man for 25 years and I've been with no one since he died three years ago." And opening up to Max scared her.

Max stopped and let out a sigh. "I told you already. It's not real, Kathryn. It's made up for appearances."

"Okay, it's made up for appearances. So, where does that leave us?"

"Where does it?" Max added softly with a sigh and then sat down on the couch. "Kathryn. My entire career I have been the best. Rose to the top and made my fair share of friends and enemies. But, through all my accomplishments and failures, there has been no one to share them with. No one to look me in the eye and encourage me to keep fighting. Just a inner voice repeating over and over again. This is your Job. Don't turn back. It will all be worth it." He looked over to her, leaning back against the cushion of the couch. "The only thing I have to look forward to, is meeting with you. Spending our time together. Slowly, I started to realize. That inner voice changed. It now sounds like you."

Kathryn sat down on the couch next to Max. "You scare me, Max," she admitted. "And yet I came here to see you, to share my brandy and tell you about the trial."

"I scare you?" Max looked over to her and then shrugged slightly. "Well, I guess I have been known to invoke that reaction in some people, but you can trust me when I say. I never meant to get you to react that way." He said softly and then smiled.

"Wrong kind of scared, Max," she said softly. "I'm afraid of getting involved again."

"I feel the same way, Kathryn." He replied softly. "Associating with someone like me, especially like that, may not look good."

"You talk like an Intel officer," Kathryn said, half teasing. She looked out the viewport, not sure what to say next. "Where do we go from here?"

Max looked at her with a smile and ran his hand through her hair slowly. "Well.. You're technically my boss. You tell me." He said softly with a smirk.

"No, Max. I don't work that way and you know it. I'm only your boss when it comes to the Fleet. Here, I'm just Kathryn and so I pass the responsibility back to you."

"Somehow, I knew you would say that." Max replied with a bit of a laugh and ended it with his own relaxed smile. "I am afraid for your image, to be honest. As much as I would like to, I don't want to be the one who single handedly brought down Theta Fleet by just... being with you."

(To be continued...)

Admiral Max Hunter
Admiral Kathryn Burke

 

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