'No, I don't. And even if I did, there'd only be one Jen.' He raised his glass to hide his face behind the drink, trying to cover a sudden flush of embarrassment.
'Ah, what a sweet thing to say. Want to go for a walk?'
'Jen, your party-'
'Is over. I've talked to everybody. I saved you for last. Come on.'
Paul followed, out of the bar and along the wide corridor lined with similar bars. Not speaking, Jen led the way in the general direction of the ship, then veered off into another area. After several minutes, she stopped near a doorway with a credit card slot affixed next to the lock. Similar doorways occurred at regular intervals for some ways down the length of the bulkhead. 'Got me a rent-a-shack tonight, Paul. I didn't want to sleep onboard. Just a way of marking the fact I'll be leaving soon.'
'Oh.' Paul eyed the door curiously. He'd never actually been in a rent-a-shack on Franklin, though he was familiar with their counterparts elsewhere. A small room with barely enough space for a bed, a tiny lavatory and an entertainment console, rent-a-shacks were found everywhere people needed a few hours of privacy.
'You don't have to sound so impressed.'
'Sorry. That's nice, Jen. I bet you'll be real comfortable.'
'Maybe.'
He glanced at her curiously, but Jen stood silent nearby for a little while. Paul waited, guessing she wanted the time with her own thoughts.
Finally, Jen looked over at him, a small smile on her lips. 'So, you're going to miss me, huh?'
'Yeah. I already told you that.'
'Are you going to miss me a little or a lot?'
'A lot, I guess.'
'You guess?'
'Okay, I know. I will miss you a lot. Okay? I like you.'
'A lot?'
'Yes, I like you a lot.'
'I like you, too, Mr. Sinclair. I like you a lot, too.'
'You do?'
'Why do you think we talk so much?'
'I never really thought about it, I guess. And since I found out you were leaving and we wouldn't get to talk anymore I haven't wanted to think about it. I don't want to say goodbye, Jen.'
'I don't want to say goodbye, either. Matter of fact, it's a shame to say goodnight, isn't it?'
'Yeah, but I need to get back to the ship-'
'No, you don't.' Jen hooked a thumb toward the door of the rent-a-shack. 'There's a bed in there. It's no king size, but it's big enough for two.'
Paul's next words froze in his throat. He stared at her for a long moment. 'What?'
Jen pulled herself close to him, her smile growing. 'Hey, sailor. New in town?'
'Jen, I, I…'
'Oh, he's shocked. He's stunned. Paul, you can be such an idiot. Kiss me.'
'Uh, Jen, I, uh…'
'Relax, almost-a-JAG. We're not going to violate any regulations. Neither of us is in the other's chain of command, and in less than two weeks we won't even be on the same ship.'
'Yeah, but regulations say people still assigned to the same command-'
'Shut up, Paul.' Then Jen's mouth was on his, and her hands were touching him, and Paul suddenly realized that particular regulation probably wasn't all that important in this case anyway.
Paul awoke with a mild headache at odds with an overall sense of well-being. He turned his head, seeing Jen's eyes fixed on him. 'Good morning.'
She smiled. 'I think so. How about you?'
'Oh, yeah.'
'Good. Listen, Paul, I don't do one-night stands. We already know we like each other. I'd like a relationship now. A serious one. See how well we go together. Interested?'
'Very interested. And very surprised. I never thought you'd want to get serious with me.'
'Yeah, well, you grew on me. I've been thinking about it for a while, but I wasn't going to do anything about it while we were living and working a few meters away from each other. When my orders came through I realized it was time to decide whether to walk away from you or not.'
'You'd already decided when you told me about your orders, hadn't you? And told Kris to make sure I was at your farewell?'
'Yup. Planned the whole thing. Right up until we got in here, anyway. From that point on I improvised, but you didn't seem to mind.'
'Darn right I didn't. But I've spent the last few days feeling so bad, thinking you'd be gone from my life!'
'That was obvious. It was so funny watching you slouch around all depressed.'
'You are such a bitch.'
'I know.'
'I'm still glad you decided not to walk away. But, like you said, you're leaving the ship. We won't see nearly as much of each other.'
'That's the reason I made my move. I want our personal stuff to stay personal, and off the ship or any other job. In a couple of weeks I'll be assigned to the Maury, and we can see each other openly and not break any regulations.'
'So why didn't you wait until you'd actually transferred? I seem to recall a certain Jen Shen once advising me not to mess around with anybody else in the crew until I was walking off the ship for the last time.'
She grinned. 'And I meant it. But we're not in each other's chain of command, and I'm on my way gone. Close enough.'
'Not that I'm complaining, but we wouldn't have to hide it at all if you'd waited a few more weeks.'
'Okay, the truth is I figured you could really use something positive going on in your life right now.'
'I sure could.'
'That seemed really important. So I evaluated my options, weighed the risks and acted appropriately, like a good officer should. Happy?'
'Very. So you did it because you thought I needed it? You're really a very sweet person, Jen.'
'I am not. You take that back.' Jen glanced away. 'To be perfectly honest, there was another reason. There's no telling when I could have gotten together with you again after I left the Michaelson. What orders our ships might have gotten right after I left. Where you might have gone, for how long, who you might have met. I might have lost my chance to do anything, and maybe lost you. I didn't want to risk that.'
'Thanks. I'm glad you didn't.'
'Now we just have to keep a lid on it until I leave the Michaelson. God help us if somebody like Herdez finds out. So don't go making goopy-eyes at me when we get back to the Michaelson or I'll deck you.'
'Yes, ma'am, Ensign Shen.'
'Good. Now, I've got another question.' She sat up, turning toward him and leaning forward. 'This testimony you're supposed to give today. Do you know what you're planning on saying, yet?'
'Huh? What?' Distracted by the sight of her breasts hanging not far from his face, Paul had totally missed the question.
Jen saw where his eyes were focused and grinned. 'Oh, you like these, huh?'
'Well, yeah.'
'Then never mind about the question. I'll ask it again later. Come here.'
Paul didn't get a chance to find out what her question had been before they had to hastily leave to take separate paths back to the ship, but that didn't bother him a great deal.
If there'd actually been windows in Franklin Station, and if any of those windows had illuminated the route from the Michaelson to the court room, Paul would have said the sun was shining on his walk. Funny. I'm still
