Amongst The Stars

Chapter 5: Consequences

"Sir? Pod 14-A3 has left the hangar under Lieutenant Vrek's authorization, except – Lieutenant Vrek is currently on a mission in the Quadra B system. I thought it odd and felt you should be informed."

Krolia groaned but held her tongue as she waited for Kolivan to speak. "Thank you, Tebbit. Dismissed." The Blade gave a firm nod and solute as he left the office, leaving them in silence. She watched the deep lines on their Leader's face as he furrowed his brow, the stress of his responsibilities taking their toll.

"100 GAC says that kit of yours has something to do with this."

"I don't take bets I won't win." She quipped back and his stoic facade broke, the cracks showing the younger man she knew so well.

"He's you, you know that right?"

"Pfft. He reminds me more of my brother. Thace was always pulling stunts like this." Kolivan sputtered a laugh, his mouthful of nunvil spraying across the desk.

"So were you, he just got caught more often." There was a twinkle in his eye, most likely remembering some wacky shenanigan the siblings had pulled back in their youth. Having joined the Blades with her older brother at the ripe old ages of 21 and 18, Thace and Krolia were legendary on base for the trouble they caused. A legacy Keith was more than happy to continue. "100 GAC on Keith having dragged Regris into this."

Krolia rolled her eyes. "Those two are like 'pillys in a burrow' – where there's one, there's bound to be the other."

Kolivan smirked, nodding his head in agreement. They each took several more sips of their drinks, his thoughts displaying much more clearly amidst the drunken glow on his face. "Think Marra's involved?"

"Oh definitely." Krolia smirked, downing the rest of her glass in one gulp then immediately refilling it. "Poor girl's so hopelessly enamored by Keith I'm sure she'd jump face first into a vat of geryk if he asked." Kolivan sputtered, once again spraying nunvil on his desk.

"Stop saying shit like that right after I take a sip Krolia!" She grinned at him, her devilish smirk still lingering. "You're as troublesome as your kit."

The two laughed a while, enjoying the rest of their bottle of nunvil before leaving Kolivan's office. They walked the halls of the base, headed for the hangar where Keith would need to land, all the while discussing their wager. She could feel the effects of the liquor in her system, finding her footfalls less steady than a respectable agent of her standing should allow. Giggling far too easily at his terrible jokes, she kept pace with the equally intoxicated Kolivan, and as they entered the hangar she slapped 100 GAC into his hand for the lack of Marra's presence.

He couldn't believe they'd managed to actually take a pod out of the hangar. Sure, Regris had bypassed the security access and faked the permission codes and blah blah, but the fact that he had actually managed to successfully take one of the pods was still processing in his mind. His dad had been right; he was born wearing horseshoes.

Behind him Marra was nervously rattling off all the rules they had just broken and he rolled his eyes. It's not like she had to come along, he'd asked her to join strictly out of courtesy after she'd busted them breaking into the hangar. He hadn't really expected she'd say yes. Reg must have, he was grinning like an idiot; Keith didn't understand why. Maybe he had a thing for her? Actually, now that he thought about it, that seemed pretty likely. Regris was always inviting Marra to hangout with them. It didn't bother him too much, she was fun and they all got along just fine, but sometimes it was annoying having her around. She stared too much and she stood too close, to the point where they were usually almost touching, it was like she had no concept of personal space. He just didn't understand her.