Home again

Posted on 11 Apr 2016 @ 8:31pm by Lieutenant JG Randolf Eklund

7,337 words; about a 37 minute read

Mission: Episode 11 - Divinum Mundi
Location: USS Galileo - Shuttle Bay
Timeline: Ep10, MD91

[ON]


Randy wandered into the shuttle bay. He wished he had were rated to more than fly an escape pod, but he just wasn't. He wanted to try and get back home once more before things started getting busy around here, and he feared things would be getting busy sooner rather than later. If he'd learned one thing in security, it was don't take quiet times for granted.

Most of the shuttles were gone already, but he saw one still in the bay. He walked over and heard someone moving around inside. Randy poked his head in and saw a young man on his back under an open panel. Looking at the uniform he said, "Pardon me, Cadet. I was wondering if you had time for a quick trip to Earth?"

"Lieutenant," Wintrow greeted pleasantly, shifting to see who had addressed him. "Yes sir I sure do if you give me a moment to close up?"

The cadet looked so young. Randy wondered if he was just getting old though he never remembered being that young himself. "I'm not in that big a hurry," Randy smiled. "I'd rather you take your time finishing whatever you need to. I'd hate for the inertial dampers to cut out mid flight just because I was hurrying you along." He thought for a moment, "I'm no engineer, but if there's anything I can do to help, I'd be happy to."

"Nah, I'm almost done sir. I was only checking up on things, and learning where everything goes. I like to be able to take it apart and put it back together in case of emergency." He put the access panel back in place and shimmied out from under the craft. The youth's face was a little smudged here and there but he didn't seem to notice. "Where on Earth would you like to go sir?"

"North American continent," Randy picked up the small, brightly wrapped package he had brought with him. "Minnesota more precisely. My nephew is turning six, and I wanted to make sure he got this. He is perhaps too much like me at that age, and his parents don't let him have too many extravagant toys, but...it's an uncle's right to spoil his nieces and nephews, yes?"

"I suppose," Wintrow agreed, as he studied the bright wrapping, "I wouldn't know because I don't have any. My only family is a grandfather I barely know, and a half sister who is safely hidden from her mother. I do have a lot of...surrogate family? I have a sort of ah...big brother I love very much. He treats me like a younger brother anyway, he's on another starship. Officially speaking, he's my guardian, or was anyway when I was a little younger."

"Well," Randy reached into the small duffel of personal things he'd brought with him, "then consider me a surrogate uncle. A very young surrogate uncle, but still." He brought out a box of chocolates he'd found on Jupiter Station. Each one was filled with something from a different member planet of the UFP. "I have another one of these in here for my sister, but I picked up an extra one...if you'd care to share some. Call it an early or late birthday present, depending on when your birthday is."

Chocolate...a magic word to Betazoids for sure, and Wintrow smiled almost shyly. "I can't accept that sir, but I do appreciate the gesture." He didn't accept the box but couldn't avert his gaze from it. "my birthday was a few weeks ago."

"I'm going to have some, myself. You may as well share in the bounty." Randy broke the seal and opened the box. There were dark chocolates and milk chocolates, creams and jellies, nuts and grains and berries. "It actually looks better than it did in the shop." He looked up and the young, smudged face. "And I'm Lt. Eklund, by the way, but you may as well call me Randy if we're going to be gorging on chocolates together."

"Wintrow Paragon, Cadet Sophomore," the youth replied as he carefully fished for a dark chocolate, "but most call me Win." He gestured inside. "If you get settled sir, I'll get the preflight check done and get permission to depart."

"Great! Thanks, Win," Randy headed into the shuttle. He walked to the front, up near the controls. "Do you mind if I sit up here with you? I hate that I'm having to impose upon you for this to begin with, but I'd hate it even more just sitting back and treating you like a chauffeur. And besides, I didn't think to bring anything to do, so I'd just be staring at the bulkheads."

"Technically, I am a chauffeur," Win replied brightly as he went through the pre-flight sequence and called the bridge for permission to depart, "but by all means sit up front. It's no fun being out front on my lonesome either sir, and I'd hate to have to keep calling over my shoulder to keep a conversation going."

"Right!" Randy plopped down in the co-pilot's chair and rubbed his hands together gleefully. "And you're not MY chauffeur. I prefer to think of you as...my new friend who has a shuttle. Now, which one of these is the self-destruct." He started inspecting the controls, then turned to wink at Win and laughed.

"Technically..." Wintrow smirked, feeling oddly comfortable and at ease, which for him was very unusual, "I don't have a shuttle. I do have a boat though... I mean, if my stepmom hasn't somehow gotten hold of it though as far as I know, she doesn't know I have one."

"I haven't been out on a boat in quite a while," Randy sighed, remembering years past with his siblings. "Minnesota has a LOT of lakes, so we were always out in or on the water. Even in the winter when it was frozen over. Ice fishing, hockey...have you ever gone ice skating? It's a lot of fun, once you get past the falling over on your backside part. I know I've got a holoprogram with some good ice in it. You're welcome to borrow it sometime."

"No sadly I've never gone ice skating, but I've gone sailing plenty of times. I've a program available on that if you want." There was a minute shift in gravity as the shuttle lifted off and drifted towards the forcefield that separated them from the void of space. "I grew up in Scotland."

"I hear it's beautiful there," Randy mused. "Minnesota is beautiful in the spring, hot in the summer, colorful in the fall, and cold as a witch's nipple in the winter." He laughed, surprised he'd said that. "Sorry. It's just something my family always said. I didn't mean to offend."

"I'm not offended. Scotland was mostly....wet. But plenty of wind to go sailing in the bay." The shuttle cleared the ship and swooped down towards the blue ball below them. "I've no intention of going back there though." He shuddered. "I mean it's my home but...I can't." He shook his head. "I don't want to spoil your good mood sir..." He pointed out the window. "We should be there in about twenty minutes or so.."

Randy nodded, "We can never really ever go home again. Even when there aren't other issues, we are very different people now than we were. That makes it so much harder. I don't know your reasons, but I know I have reasons of my own, too. Don't get me wrong, I love my family, and they love me. They honestly want what they think is best for me, but...it isn't what I think is best for me. It often makes things...uncomfortable."

He looked over to Win and chuckled, "Which is why I won't be staying for very long. I would appreciate it if you could wait for me. If nothing else, it will give me a good reason to not linger." He thought for a minute, "And if I haven't scared you too badly, you're welcome to join me. You're not the little boy they caught stealing cookies, so you're safe from their meddling, and my sister's cake is not to be missed," he smiled broadly thinking about what little he knew of Win, "it's chocolate, with chocolate frosting."

"How can I refuse," Wintrow laughed, "and I don't mind waiting sir. You outrank me, if anything you could make it an order." He smiled, dark eyes sparkling in amusement. "Did you steal cookies as a child sir?"

"And I would never abuse that rank to do something like order around a cadet with responsibilities of his own," Randy assured him. "Though I would totally use you as an excuse to not linger at this birthday party, so...perhaps I'm no devil, but I'm certainly no saint." He then looked over at the younger man and winked, "and of course I stole cookies. First, they were very good cookies; they'll have them there today. They always do when they know I'm coming. It's a bit of a family joke. And second, even then I was fated to either become a thief or work security. The two professions really aren't that different."

"They aren't? How are being a thief and a cop not so different?" Wintrow openly stared at the man. "I've never stolen anything in my life, I never dared to....My dad was never really around as he was always off world on assignments, but my stepmom....I swear if I had tried the attempt allone she'd have killed me..."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Randy really was, too. Maybe his own childhood had been a bit stifling, but he had to remember that there was always someone who had it worse. "We will have to change that while we're here. My mother always makes a batch of her cookies and puts them in our cookie jar before I get home, just to taunt me. I haven't taken the bait in years, but we can change that today. I can distract her while you clean her out. See? Security has to think like criminals, and criminals have to get inside our heads to try and outsmart us. We are two sides of the same coin." Randy's grin turned gleeful thinking about the cookies. "So...are you with me?"

"Uhm...how about I distract and you go for them?" Wintrow shook his head. "I don't want to steal anything," he admitted, "now, or ever. I don't mind not having done any boys stuff when I was younger, I don't feel I missed out."

"Fine," Randy sighed but kept smiling. "They tend to watch me more closely around the cookie jar, but I'm pretty sure I can do it. And even if I get caught the worst they'll do is tease me. But if you distract them, you'll earn your share of the cookies. And once you taste them, you probably won't have a problem with stealing them in the future. They are that good."

"Is the jar in the kitchen, where the pie will be?" Wintrow asked curiously, "I mean I love chocolate pie, or anything chocolate and I could uhm...ask your mom about how she makes it? I've never made a pie before to begin with so it's all good."

"She usually keeps the cookie jar in the kitchen," Randy started scheming in his head. How great would it be to totally clean out the jar and escape before his family even noticed. Crime of the century territory, in his opinion. "But she usually puts it out somewhere obvious when there's a party. You've got a good idea, though. Distract mom with talk of her cooking. That would work beautifully."

"Aks your mother about pie it is," Wintrow agreed, though he was quite nervous about it. Still, it was trying something new and extending his boundaries of being bold. It was something he wanted to try, at least once. After all, didn't all boys try to steal something at least once in their life? And he never had been able to be just a child, and here was this grand opportunity to just be a child for once... "I'm game."

"Good man!" Randy clapped Win on the shoulder. "We'll tempt you away from flying and into either a life of crime or security before you know it!" He laughed, clearly teasing. "Cake, pie, and cookies...all the food groups are covered in my opinion."

The youth flinched at the touch. "I'm not suitable for security," he whispered, seeming to withdraw a little. "I'm...not suitable for phase weapons, I'm a bad shot."

Randy did notice Win withdrawing a bit. He wasn't exactly sure what the problem was, but he was sorry to have spooked the young man. He decided that calling attention to it would just make things worse, though. He sat back in his chair, giving Win a bit more space.

"Not to worry. We'll limit your involvement to a bit of distraction and then piloting the get away vehicle," Randy gestured to the shuttle. "And honestly, it's not all that heinous a crime. My family put the cookies out there as a joke. They do it to taunt me, and to tease me if I get caught again. I truly believe that if I can pull this off it will delight them far more than it will bother them. I think they're a little disappointed I haven't tried for the prize in the last few years."

Nodding, Wintrow adjusted their course after their entry through the atmosphere. "And when you succeed what then? WIll they put it out again next year or will the joke finally wear off?"

"Next year, they will up their game." Randy remembered the back and forth they'd gone through when he was growing up. "They look forward to trying to deny me my prize. They will increase their security measures. And I will have to try harder as well. It's something we've always done with each other. It's a sign of respect and love between us." He wiggled his eyebrows, "and...I really want some cookies."

"Well...then let's see about you getting some this year," Wintrow smiled. "Would you like to fly the last leg?"

Randy laughed. "Only if you're interested in seeing if you can walk away from the wreck I'd have." He sobered a bit. "Seriously, though, I can pilot in an emergency, but I'm sure it will be much prettier if I leave it to a professional."

"Professional in training," Wintrow corrected with a smile, while setting the final course correction. "Though I assure you I know what I'm doing. I know this shuttle inside and out."

"As I know phased weapons," Randy countered. "So I'm eternally grateful that you are in my life to handle this, just as I am happy to be in your life to handle the weapons. Now," he joked again, "if the family goats start firing on the shuttle, I'll be happy to stun them into oblivion. Don't worry."

The youthful hybrid smiled brightly. "Ah but I do know how to operate shuttle phasers or fighter weapons," he elaborated, "though...firing controls are over there." He pointed to a section on the copilot's console. "Just in case, right?"

"I'm on it," Randy pretended to call up the controls. "Those goats have been asking for it for years now. They shall learn to fear our wrath!"

"Your family has goats? I mean seriously, they have goats?" He had never seen a live goat before, even though he grew up on a sort of farm. He did know sheep, but goats, no. "Can we see them?"

"Sure!" Randy said with a little enthusiasm. "They've got goats and sheep and cows, and they even have some horses. Then there are the chickens and geese. Geese are mean; avoid them. And the goats are just troublemakers. My family will make a farm boy out of you if you give them half a chance."

"I grew up on a farm...well sort of. I remember we had chickens and a few sheep, and we had a large barn." A place he hid out in a lot to get away from his brother.

"Well then," Randy smiled at him, "you're practically adopted. Welcome to the family." He thought back to earlier in their conversation. "Maybe I really am your uncle, or I will be after they adopt you at least."

That caused another silence and Wintrow shook his head. "No I don't think that's a good idea. I'm sorry but I've had too many promises on that, and it never went through. I'm quite content with my guardian who I consider to be a surrogate brother. But I appreciate the offer."

"I'm sorry about that," Randy grew more serious. "And you're right that they won't actually adopt you. But they will love that you have some knowledge of a farm," he wanted to make sure that he hadn't really stepped in it here, "and I promise to at least be a friend, if you'd like. Something like an uncle would take quite a bit more familiarity than a shuttle ride to Earth, after all. Yes?"

"Yes," Wintrow agreed, relaxing again. "We're almost there, get ready for landing procedures sir. I'll try to keep the bumps out of the landing, but no promise."

"Coming home again is always a bit bumpy," Randy sighed. "It doesn't matter if it's in a shuttle or not. You've done a great job. No complaints from me. Now...let's go get some cookies!"

Powering down the shuttle, Wintrow smiled. "Lead the way sir," he said as he grabbed his tricorder from one of the shelves. "I'm just going to have to give the shuttle a quick inspection so we can leave fast if we have to."

"Smart!" Randy smiled crookedly. He was really enjoying this playacting of criminal genius. "We might need a quick getaway. If only my family didn't know me, we could totally go in disguise, too! See?" He nodded toward Win, "another crossover skill. A criminal disguising himself to avoid detection or identification, and a security officer working undercover."

"Ahh but who's who in this scenario?" Wintrow smiled, actually starting to enjoy this too. It was so different from what he was used to, and lately he was starting to learn how to properly relax and be at ease around people, which did work well for him too. Better late, than never, right?

"Well," Randy wondered out loud, "that's an excellent question. We are planning a theft, and preparing a getaway vehicle. That clearly sounds like criminal territory. BUT, my family is trying to keep cookies away from me. That's patently cruel and unusual treatment; I could probably charge them with abuse. When you add to that the fact that we plan to give our ill-gotten gains to those who truly NEED those cookies, namely ourselves, that almost makes us heroes...like Robin Hood and his Merry Men, yes? Quit a puzzler."

"Steal from the rich to give poor us," the younger man chuckled as he quickly inspected the shuttle. "Alright sir, I'm ready to go now. Shuttle's safely locked and ready to go when we need to."

"Too bad we can't justify an emergency beam out," Randy sighed as he stepped down from the shuttle's hatch and started leading the way to his parents' home. "I'd love to see my family's faces as we triumphantly disappeared with our treasure."

"Perhaps....we can create such a scene sometime," Wintrow suggested, "with the proper approvals of course. Anyway...are you sure I should come along?"

"Absolutely!" Randy just smiled. "There are usually more people at these things than you can count. You certainly won't be intruding on a private family thing. And...cake...pie...cookies, remember?"

"But I don't have to go around to hug and shake hands right?" Not being a touchy feely person, Wintrow was a little anxious at the very idea. "I mean....so many people I don't know..."

"Well," Randy thought about it, knitting his brow, "I suppose they'd probably want to shake your hand, my parents at least, but if that is something you're uncomfortable with, just stick with me here at the beginning." He imagined the scenarios running through the young man's mind, each more embarrassing than the last. "If it looks like someone is about to shake of hug, just give them a small bow. It's respectful, but definitely puts hugging you off the table. I'll make sure it doesn't get awkward."

"I'm okay with just offering a hand but I really don't want any excessive touching..." Wintrow bit his lower lip anxiously. "I just don't like to be touched..."

"Then..." Randy considered, "I can run interference on that, if you'd like. I'll keep an eye out there at the beginning. If it looks like someone is about to swoop in on you, I'll cut them off. Would it be alright if I perhaps touched you, just a bit, doing that? The lesser of two evils," he grinned and winked to show he was joking, "I'd make sure it was as little as possible, and that contact would be from someone who...well, isn't a friend yet, but at least isn't a stranger, and who knows that you want it to be as little as possible. Would that work for you? If not, again, you are not being ordered to accompany me. You're not even being ordered to wait for me. I just thought you might enjoy some home cooking before we set off to explore the galaxy."

"Accidental is alright, it's just the conscious grabbing and touching that makes me really uncomfortable. Maybe..I'll explain sometime but I don't really want to at the moment. You're in a good mood, I can tell that much and I don't want to ruin any possible fun for you."

"I think my good mood is as much thanks to you as anything else," Randy mused. "Well, thanks to the prospect of stealing a ridiculous number of cookies, at least. Honestly, I was kind of dreading this. Family can be...well, I'm sure you know. Even the best family. Someone once said 'no one can push your buttons like your family. After all, they installed the buttons.' And that's true. We love each other, but we can really get on each other's nerves."

Randy blushed a little, "I'm actually embarrassed to admit this. I'm really glad you agreed to come with me, and I completely want you to have some fun, but a little part of me was glad you said yes because it meant they'd be a little less into pestering me and...I could have a built in reason for having to leave earlier than everyone else if I wanted to get the shuttle back to the ship." He looked at Win a little sheepishly. "Does that make me a horrible person?"

"No, it makes you Human," Wintrow mused with a slight smile, "something, I'm not. Not wholly anyways....perhaps..." He smiled. "We may be able to pull this off well enough...my senses and your stealth.."

"Oh, no question we're going to pull this off," Randy grinned. "With your face? You look innocent as they come. No one is going to suspect a thing for days until they go looking for a cookie." They reached the large farmhouse Randy had grown up in. "Well, here we go. No cookies, no glory!" He pushed open the door and walked into the house.

Wintrow followed at a more sedate pace, while tucking his tricorder away. He stole a final glance over his shoulder at the parked shuttle, then steeled himself and followed Randy inside.

There was noise, the smell of various good things cooking, and a number of people milling about. Some of those people were little children, a few others were adults chasing those children. 'Home,' thought Randy. He turned to Win to make sure he was not uncomfortable yet. "Come on, we'll head into the kitchen. My mom and sister will be there, and only the littlest of the little ones. That should be a bit less crazy."

"I don't mind children," Wintrow confessed, "at least not very young ones, they can be excused in behaviour. I'm quite comfortable around really small children." He smiled encouragingly. "Please, I'd like to meet your mother. It's only proper to meet the lady of the house first."

"Wow!" Randy laughed, "You are quickly going to become her favorite talking like that!" He led Win around the long way so they wouldn't have to walk through the largest mass of people. "Honestly, you seem like a really sweet guy. And please don't take that in the worst possible way. I mean it. You're sweet, and she's going to love that about you." He leaned in conspiratorially, "all her kids are mouthy brats, like me, so you'll be a dream come true for her. Of course, that will just make it easier for me to steal the cookies." He started laughing again.

"Isn't that the whole point?" Wintrow smiled, though a little nervously, "to create a diversion so you can steal her cookies?" He chose to ignore the 'sweet' comment since he didn't really know how to respond to it.

"Exactly!" Randy smiled with wicked glee. "That's the kind of focus we need. I may get distracted too easily focusing on family drama and such, lose sight of the big picture: cookies." He pushed open a swinging door into the kitchen. "Showtime!" he murmured to Win.

They entered the kitchen to a small scene of controlled chaos. There were a couple of adults there and about eight kids under the age of ten. "Moder!" Randy swept in to all but lift a slightly heavy-set blonde woman in her fifties off her feet with a powerful bear hug.

In turn, the woman flung flour-coated hands around Randy's neck and pulled him down to kiss his cheek. "Randolf! You made it! And you look so good." She pinched his cheeks almost stereotypically. Looking around him, she spotted Win. "And who have you brought to suffer through this madness with you, eh?"

Randy turned and smiled warmly, motioning Win forward. "This is Win, he's a cadet serving on my new ship. He was nice enough to fly me here. In return, I promised him chocolate...pie, cake, anything else you'd like to stuff him with. He's earned it." He turned, "And this," he said to Win, "is my mother, Astrid."

"Ma'am," Wintrow greeted politely, offering his hand in greeting. "I'm Wintrow Paragon ma'am, cadet sophomore and a shuttlecraft pilot." His voice was soft, trembling a little as he fought his anxiety and his urge to just turn on his heels and flee the kitchen. "Pleasure to meet you ma'am."

"Ma'am?" Astrid smiled as she took him in. "Please. It's Astrid, or mother Eklund. there'll be no 'ma'am's between me and one f my children's friends." She pulled out a stool at the kitchen island and patted it. "You sit yourself down and we'll see what we can do to fatten you up. I swear they don't feed you boys enough on these ships of yours."

She started muttering as she bustled off to start putting some plates together. Randy just looked as Win, smiling while he rolled his eyes. "See?" he said quietly. "I told you she'd love you."

Not used to being mothered at all, Wintrow looked utterly flustered. "I don't need fattening up," he protested feebly, even though he knew he was considered to be thin, "I'm a pilot...I'm supposed to be uhm...lean."

"Nonsense," Astrid said as she brought him biscuits with ham and fresh cheese and some of her chocolate pie, complete with whipped cream and shaved chocolate. "Space is cold, yes? You need the insulation! Try at least a bite of everything. Then, if you leave anything on the plate we'll see about finding you something you like more." She nodded her head as though the matter were settled, then bent to pick up a little one who had been tugging at her skirt.

Randy leaned in and snagged one of the biscuits for himself, narrowly missing getting his hand smacked by his mother. "What? I work in space, too. It's just as cold for me, isn't it."

Astrid rolled her eyes. "Get your own plate you great lump. Leave this boy his food." To Win she said, "I swear sometimes that one would starve to death in a pie factory if I weren't there to slice it and hand it to him." She settled her grandchild on her hip and leaned in to pinch Randy's face again, making him blush, "but he's a good boy when you crack the whip, otherwise he just tries to see how much he can get away with."

Astrid's face brightened, "Has anyone shared with you the story of this great thief you've been carting about? As a child he thought himself too clever by half, but we finally broke him of the habit of letting his sticky fingers stray too close to my cookie jar."

Randy just groaned, "Ma! Don't start telling stories about me." He turned to go make a plate. "Or at least wait until I'm not standing here. I'll take a plate and go find Da." Over her shoulder he gave Win a big thumbs up and signed for him to keep her talking. Things were going swimmingly for his great comeback caper.

Feeling this was a great opening towards their covert endeavour, Wintrow smiled as he picked up one of the biscuits. "I would love to hear the story of him and the cookie jar," he offered, casting Randy a sideways glance. "And this chocolate pie..." He closed his eyes as he savoured the taste. "It's marvelous...I've never ever had anything as good as this. Not even Betazoid pie cuts it to this one ma'am."

Astrid beamed as she took a seat across from Win. The only thing she loved more than people complimenting her cooking was getting to tell tales of her children, preferably ones which mortified said children. Randy groaned while he slipped out to case the cookie jar and make sure there was no new security measure for him to have to overcome.

"Well, you're welcome to as much pie as you'd like, young man," Astrid said as she began to relate the tale of Randy getting caught sitting on the floor with the cookie jar beside him, chocolate smeared across his face, and swearing he had no idea how it had happened.

"To this day we have to watch him around that cookie jar," she laughed. "Not that there's anything wrong with him having the cookies, but I think it's become something of a game of keep-away to him. He tries to get the cookies; we try to stop him. Speaking of that, where has he gotten to?" She turned to start looking for him just a few moments after he had slipped back into the kitchen.

"I'm telling you, ma, it must have been Ebsen or Gunnar who left the cookie jar there on the floor. I knew the dogs couldn't eat the chocolate, so I was just doing my best to protect them."

Wintrow managed to smile innocently as he focused on the chocolate pie. He hadn't been lying, it really was delicious. "I would love more pie ma'am," he stated carefully, "is it home made, or replicated? Because if the latter I'd love the program for the one in my quarters."

"Replicated?" Astrid clucked her tongue.

Before she launched into her spiel about the horrors of replicated food, Randy stepped in. "No. Nothing here is replicated. The flour for the crusts is grown here locally. The milk, eggs, butter...they're all from this farm. Some of the staples like the chocolate itself and the sugar are from the general store, but those are organically grown, too. My family doesn't believe in replicated food," he leaned in speaking in a stage whisper he was sure his mother could hear, "but I've got all my favorites digitized and uploaded. I'll shoot you a copy when we get back on board."

"Bah!" she swung the towel from her apron pocket at him teasingly. "No computerized thingamajig is going to put love into your pie the way I do. There's no way you can digitize that, mister Starfleet."

Randy leaned in and kissed her forehead. "No, moder. No computer could ever make me feel your love, but at least my taste buds will be happy in my lonely misery." He looked over to Win but kept talking to her. "Think I should introduce him around, or maybe out to the paddocks? The sheep are down from the high pasture, yeah?"

"They are," she said, forgiving him about the replicator. "And your da and broders are probably out there with him. You know how they hate crowds."

Randy looked over, "Willing to meet more of the lunatics in the asylum? I bet she'll even let you take some more pie with you..."

"Hard workers need pie," Wintrow smiled, "and we should go get them some." He slid off the stool and smiled warmly at the woman who made him feel so much at home. "Thank you ma'am, I really do love the pie...especially the chocolate." He was unaware of some of the chocolate still stuck to the corners of his mouth.

Randy smiled seeing the chocolate smears. If he were ten years younger, or Win ten years older, he'd be tempted to do more about it than just smile, but that wasn't the way things were. And beside, the chocolate made Win look even more young and innocent. It was the perfect distraction for his family. They would all be so enchanted by Win's sweetness that they wouldn't even notice he'd already emptied the cookie jar. The world's best cookies were now wrapped in a kitchen towel inside his old school satchel sitting on the bench by the door. He would sling it over his shoulder right in front of his family as they left. Boldly was usually the most subtle way to commit a crime.

"Yes," he said, "pie for the hard workers. And, if I remember correctly, you were working quite hard before I commandeered you for even more work flying me down here. I think that calls for an extra slice for you, as well."

His mother ended up giving them one of the pies she had in reserve in the refrigerator to share with his father and brothers. As he and Win walked toward the outbuildings, Randy pointed out where his mother kept chickens, the path down to the pond where he'd learned to swim, and the various barns and their uses. They reached the paddock where the sheep had been brought in just as three men, one an older version of Randy and two near identical copies of him, were putting out the last of their water.

"Da! Ebbie! Gun!" Randy called out and waved. "Moder sent pie; come get it before I eat it all." He laughed as the men seemed to finish a bit more quickly than they'd been moving before. The older man reached them first and hugged Randy. "Da, this is one of my crewmates, Win. He was good enough to ferry me about so I could see you all before we leave the system. Win, this is my father, Magnus. And these are my brothers, Ebsen and Gunnar." He pointed each out in turn.

Obediently following his host, while looking left and right to take in the scenery and commit it to memory, Wintrow increased his pace to keep up. "It's just lovely here," he commented, before being promptly introduced to more family members. "it was no trouble sir," he added, feeling shy all of a sudden, "I was happy to do it as I was the only one available in the hangar at the time."

Randy's father, Magnus, stepped up to offer a a handshake and taking the pie with the other. He turned to Gunnar, "Take the pie for the boy," he handed off the pie. "Good to meet you, son. Any friend of Randolf's is welcome here anytime. You just remember that."

Randy stepped in to help shield Win from too much contact. His family was very touchy-feely, and he didn't want Win to feel pressured to accept any more than he was willing to. "He could have kept doing what he was doing and made me depend on the regular transports, but he had mercy on me. Then I promised him some of mom's pie. He'd already agreed before the mention of pie, though, so I know he's a good man. He's studying to be a pilot still, but he did a damn fine job getting me here."

Ebsen and Gunnar nodded their own greetings. Gunnar had mischief in his eyes. "Seen Vivi, yet?" He asked. He went on without waiting for a response. "As you've still got skin, I'm guessing not. She finally heard the whole story about you and Garrett, and she's on the warpath. Watch your back, little brother." He was clearly trying to not laugh.

Randy groaned and turned to Win. "Um, so Vivi is my sister, Vivianne. She's the baby in the family, and...well, a baby girl needs brothers to protect her, right? So...we would, um, pre-screen the boys that wanted to date her. Personally, I never thought any of them were good enough for Vivi, but she didn't exactly know about any of this. One in particular I thought was all wrong for her. Garrett. He was trouble, a bad boy, and she was crushing hard on him. So when he started sniffing around after her, I made sure I was there instead. To warn him off, you understand? But, well, one thing led to another and..."

Ebsen broke in. "This dog," he pointed a thumb toward Randy, "ended up dating Garrett for almost three years. No one ever told Vivi he'd originally been after her."

Randy grumbled, "I said he was wrong for Vivi, not that he was wrong for me." He turned back to Win, "though, I guess he was wrong for me. Turns out he had a hard time remembering which bed he was supposed to end up in at night. I found out he was sleeping with two other guys and a girl while he was telling me we were in love. Kicked his ass, then kicked him out." He turned back to his brothers, "so I still say I was right. He was all wrong for Vivi. If she honestly wants that kind of guy in her life, I'll give her his contact information. I'm sure he'd be glad to work her into the rotation."

"Well..." Wintrow hesitated as he listened to the story. "It is a big brother's job to protect his sister right? I'm doing all I can to protect mine and not even I know where she is right now because we made sure she's not allowed to tell anyone for her safety. I do frequently speak with her and we're actually closer than we've ever been before. We got closer after my brother's death, her twin actually."

He paused as he looked around at the young men surrounding them. "This seems like a very tight-knit family, and it's not something I've ever known. My first sense of family I got on my prior assignment and now I experience it again on my current one." He smiled shyly at them. "And from what I hear, Randy was right to keep that guy away from your sister, he would be no good to her. I feel, a man who isn't faithful to his partner, has no right to even having one."

"Thank you," Randy nodded to Win. To his brothers he said, "I took that bullet for her. If she's mad about that, well, I'll let her beat me up all she likes. You know that's our job, protecting her. It's up to you two now that I'm gone so much, so I'll take the heat for this."

Ebsen sighed and pulled Randy into a rough hug. "You're a good brother." He released Randy then smiled wickedly. "It's been good knowing you. We'll all show up for your funeral once she's done. And, being the good brothers we are, Gunnar and I will make it look like it was an accident instead of murder. No reason Vivi should go to prison, right?"

As they talked, Wintrow grew very very silent. The idea of one sibling killing another, that shot very close to home. Though as far as he knew, with him it had only come close a few times. He seemed to withdraw, wrenching his eyes shut as he tried to stop listening. Drawing in a few deep breaths in the hope of calming his raging nerves now, and quench the memories, he opened his eyes after a few seconds. "Stop..." he whispered, "don't... don't speak like that..."

Randy stopped immediately. He didn't want to draw more attention to Win, as he knew that was probably the last thing the guy wanted. "Oh, don't worry. Vivi's just going to be all upset at me for being over protective." He turned back to his brothers, hoping they would tone it down a bit. "She knows what Garrett was like, how he treated me. She's probably glad she didn't go through that. Heck, she probably thinks me going through it was punishment enough for treating her like she's all frail and delicate." He chuckled, so did his brothers, "Vivi...frail and delicate!"

"Aye," Magnus rumbled. "She could probably hog tie all three of you and leave you in the yard without breaking a sweat all while wearing lace and heels. And don't think you lot wouldn't get left there for a while by me and your ma. Might teach you all some manners acting like animals around company." He turned to Win, "Pay them no mind. When they're together I swear their IQs compete with their maturity levels to see which can go the lowest. Did Randolf shown you around before he devolved into this?" He nodded toward the three brothers who each looked much more serious now that their father had weighed in.

The young pilot nodded slowly, sensing a shift in emotions and he sighed in relief. "Yes sir, he did," he replied softly, "you have quite the place here. I've never been anywhere that had so much space. Even my father's farm wasn't this big. We had a few sheep but that was it, only a few."

Randy smiled, "We can buzz over the flock if you'd like as we leave." He turned a bit sadly to his father, "And we do need to leave soon. I wanted to see everyone and drop off a birthday present for the little one, but I'm scheduled for Beta shift, so I'm on duty in a few hours."

"Shuttle is ready to depart," Wintrow smiled, "and perhaps we should before they discover that empty jar..."

"Empty jar?" Magnus raised an eyebrow as Randy's brothers started to laugh.

Randy, turned and started backing away. "And that is our cue. Tell Vivi I love her, and she can beat me up about Garrett the next time." He turned back to Win, "Let's make like a baby and head out!"

Wintrow laughed openly and waved at the others before breaking into a sprint. "Race you to the shuttle," he called over his shuttle.




OFF:
Cadet SO Wintrow Paragon
Support Craft Pilot
USS Galileo
pnpc Tyrion


Lt.jg Randolf Eklund
Asst. Chief Sec/Tac
USS Galileo

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