"Kindness Speaks Volumes"

[OdileCondacin 0]

Odile sauntered into Medusa's office, a sly, easy, happy smile on her face, an empty holster at her side, and golden eyes twinkling as she carried a moderate-sized parcel. "Ooh... wait... I forgot to chime again. Do you want me to go out and try again?"

 

Harper looked across the desk at the Xenexian, exasperated. "I'm going to start locking that thing."

 

"Well, that's fair enough. Then if you're otherwise occupied, I'll know better." She presented the parcel with a large smile. "For my one and only Medusa. And I make deep amends for ever calling you a jellyfish. You deserve so much better."

 

"Does it explode?" Charlie asked, eyeing the box suspiciously.

 

"Hardly! Why would I do that to the only person on this ship who doesn't think I'm a threat to all Federation-kind?"

 

That got a raised brow. "You are? O'd'yl, what have you been into this time?"

 

"Making my superior officer happy. Rumor from other dimensions claims that it makes the lives of the hapless minions... happier."

 

"I don't trust you further than I can throw you, you know that?" Nevertheless, she cautiously opened the parcel.

 

It revealed a warm, heat-wrapped bowl of jambalaya and a tissue-paper-wrapped pink, knitted garment. "I thought the color would complement your eyes," Odile admitted, sheepishly. "And I figured you must be hungry -- all those hours in command must take their toll."

 

Harper's jaw dropped. "That's... that's actually thoughtful of you, O'd'yl. Thank you." Then she paused, a suspicion entering her mind. "Is this a bribe?"

 

"I would never participate in such illicit activity." She moved from the chair across from Charlie to her desk, draping herself comfortably as she opened the jambalaya, placing a spoon within it. "There you go! First rate service for a first rate colonel."

 

Tentatively, she picked up the spoon. "You're starting to worry me."

 

"Me? Never. It's not like I'd poison you."

 

Harper paused with the bowl of the spoon just touching the stew. "Somehow I find that less than reassuring."

 

"I'm quite a good cook. My academy roommate thought so... my department head on my cadet voyage..." She smiled her most innocent smile.

 

Tentatively, she tasted the liquid. "I seem to remember you starting a small fire in the mess hall." Not bad. A little salty, maybe. She took a larger, but still cautious, spoonful.

 

"Faulty equipment," the Xenexian dismissed. "Like? I can cook for my poor little Charlie more often."

 

"Your poor little Charlie?" Harper's voice hardened, taking on a note of command tones. "Condacin, what have you been up to?"

 

The accused started, jumping a little. "Nothing! I swear!"

 

"Uh-huh. Right." She set the spoon down. "Would you like to fess up now, or wait until I find out?"

 

"There's nothing to know! The repair teams should be done! It's not permanent!" Instantly, she bit her tongue. Gods help her the day that Harper should become an evil interrogator -- that tone of voice scared her more than any agony stall could.

 

"Repair teams," Harper said flatly. She sighed and swivelled her chair around to face her computer terminal. A touch woke it, and she started typing a request for maintenance reports.

 

"No! Don't!"

 

She glanced over at Odile. "You could tell me, and save me the trouble."

 

"Erm..." Odile considered the better of the worse options. "I sort of scratched your yacht, Charlie..."

 

"Define 'scratched'," Harper said, folding her arms.

 

"You know... scratched." She reached to her hip for a moment, about to make a demonstration with her trusty knife, but her eyes flickered worriedly. "Oh gods... I left it in there..."

 

Charlie's eyes flicked to the empty sheath. "If you left it impaled in the circuitry, Condacin, so help me..."

 

"Erm... not exactly..."

 

"Then what, exactly?"

 

"Ummm..." She struggled for words. "There's no need for worry, as I said. The insect's in the Lab now. No need for alarm. I'll just..." Odile scooched off the desk. "... be going now."

 

Harper shrugged and let her go. There would be plenty of time for pursuing her wayward science officer... after lunch.