Lessons

“Hey.” At the gruff voice, Laura glanced up, a slight smile touching her lips.

“Hey yourself.” Pushing her glasses back up her nose, she leaned back in her chair.

“So imagine,” Bill sank down in one of the cushioned seats in front of her desk. “My surprise when I arrive home late, and find no one in my quarters.”

”And were you expecting someone in your quarters?” Laura’s eyes flashed to the clock before returning to meet his.

“Surprisingly, yes.” One eyebrow lifted. “Any ideas?”

”Ah.” Leaning back in her chair, Laura toyed with the pen in her hand, still gazing at him. “Perhaps whomever you were planning on meeting was distracted…so their work took a bit longer than expected.”

“Perhaps.” He conceded with a tilt of his head. “However, one would think that that person might contact me to let me know that they were running late…and not make me wonder where they’d disappeared to.”

“Or,” she countered, her lips twitching in amusement, “you could have just called to see if they’d left yet, or had gotten caught up and hadn’t noticed the time.” He remained silent but let his eyes drift to a message slip on the edge of her desk, hers following along as a blush ran up her neck. “Oh.”

“I believe Miss Foster might have left it for you some time ago?” He watched as she dropped her pen on the folder and reached for the message slip, reading it quickly.

Laura gestured vaguely with her free hand, “I believe she might have.” Finishing reading the note, she looked back up at him, an apologetic look on her face. “So, I was to call you and let you know when I might be free for dinner?”

“That was the message.” Crossing his legs, he inclined his head. “Well?”

“For dinner,” she leaned forward, crossing her arms on the desk as she leaned over it. “Or to be dinner?”

He chuckled, “Why Madame President, whatever could you mean?”

Her eyebrow raised. “Come now Admiral, you’re an intelligent man. Or so I’ve been led to believe.”

“I believe we do have some unfinished…business,” Bill nodded slowly. “My dinner invitation still stands.”

Laura laughed softly. “Can you give me ten more minutes just to finish these last three reports? Then we can go?”

“You’ll need fifteen.” Standing, he nodded toward the curtain to her living quarters. “May I?”

“Help yourself.” Picking up the pen, she focused on the report in front of her again until she felt his hands resting on her shoulders. “Fifteen already?”

“Twenty.” Chuckling, he began to gently massage her shoulders. “Ready?”

“One more…” she scrawled a note and her signature on the bottom of a page and dropped it on the pile in front of her as he continued to rub her shoulders. “And…done.”

“About time.” Continuing his massage, he eyed the piles of folders on her desk. “Ready for dinner?”

Laura stood and moved around her chair to face him, her hands sliding up his chest as his dropped to her waist. “Mmm hmm.” Leaning forward she kissed him gently. “Hi.”

“Hi.” His voice was gruff, his thumbs gently caressing her back, their eyes locked. “Dinner?”

“Yeah.” Leaning in for one more brief kiss, Laura hmm’d softly before stepping back. “Did you want to eat here, or back at Galactica?”

“I’ve arranged for dinner, it’s being held for us.” Bill raised an eyebrow, “here, we’d have to scavenge, if I remember correctly?”

“It’s not that bad…” She giggled, “really.”

“Yes,” he tapped her nose with his finger, “it really is.”

“Well then,” Sliding her arm through his, she tugged toward the door. “Galactica it is. Who flew you over?”

“Madame President, you forget. I am a fully competent pilot.” He smiled at her. “I flew myself over, needed the flight hours.”

”Does that mean I get another lesson on the way back?” Laura glanced at him, her eyes lighting up.

“Except for landing.” He couldn’t suppress the shudder than ran through him.

“It wasn’t that bad.” She muttered, jabbing her elbow into his ribs before letting go of his arm so she could go through the hatch to the landing bay.

“It wasn’t that good either.” Bill muttered back, his lips twitching slightly at her glare. “Be honest about it Laura.”

”Fine.” With a sniff, she led the way to the waiting raptor then took his hand as she stepped up on the wing. “But, I get to do the pre-flight checks.”

“Expected you to want to.” He gestured toward the second seat. “Manual is ready for you.”

“Thank you.” Sliding into the seat, she opened the manual and thumbed through to the section she needed as he shut and fastened the hatch before joining her. Together, they ran through the checks, Bill occasionally prompting her movements until they were done.

“So, Nugget Roslin, are we ready to depart?” Leaning back in his seat, he watched her close and stow the manual.

“Yes sir…Admiral sir.” With a final adjustment to her harness, she glanced at him. “Are you sure…”

“I’ll handle the takeoff and departures, you can do some of the maneuvering.” He powered up the engines and took the controls, lifting the raptor from the floor. “And no, you can’t call for clearance either.”

“Fine.” Crossing her arms, Laura sighed. “One bounced landing…”

“Don’t start. And you know very well it’s a security issue. Your voice is too easily recognized. You had a valid point in that in case of emergency, it would be good for you to have some basic knowledge, but still…” With a warning look, he keyed the radio. “Raptor five three nine requesting departure clearance from Colonial One.” When the clearance was received, he acknowledged it before closing the transmission. “Now, go ahead and put your hands on the controls, you won’t have control, but I want you to get the feel for them.”

“Here?” Reaching out, she gingerly grasped the control handle.

“Tighter, you won’t change what I’m doing, I want you to feel the slight adjustments.” Falling silent, he guided the raptor through the hangar doors and out of the ship. “See?”

“Mmm.” Laura nodded slightly. “Minor adjustments.”

“Right.” As they cleared the ship, he reached out and flipped a control. “Ready to take over?”

She nodded then remembered a previous lesson. “Um, confirming ready to take over.”

“Very well,” he flipped a switch. “You have the control.”

“I have control.” She whispered, eyes glued to the viewscreen. “Are we going into the port or starboard bay?”

“Port of course, which means…” Bill looked at her as she concentrated, her eyes occasionally flickering down to the control panel.

“Which means, I need you to call and get a plan to route me around so I won’t interfere with any viper traffic,” Laura made an adjustment, winced as the raptor rocked, and corrected the movement carefully, “and to find out if we’re in a pattern.”

“Excellent.” He nodded, “as it happens, I’ve already checked, we are cleared for a flight pattern under the stern, approaching from the rear, with no other traffic conflicting. And good job on the correction.”

“Thank you.” The tip of her tongue protruding between her teeth as she concentrated, Laura cautiously made another adjustment to the controls before easing the stick forward, smiling as the vessel reacted.

“What’s your fuel level?” Bill asked casually, leaning back in the seat as he watched her.

“Hmm?” She blinked, her eyes scanning the panel. “Oh, we are at…three quarters of a tank full, no refueling needed for the trip.”

“Good. And how many other vessels are showing on your dradis?” As she scanned, he grinned, “Laura, look up.”

“What?” Her head jerked up as she automatically tensed, “Gods…”

“Remember you feel closer than you actually are.” When her initial reaction changed from almost jerking the ship away from Galactica to a minor adjustment, he smiled. “Good job. How many ships?”

“Oh. Um…” Laura frowned, “Uh…in addition to the fleet ships nearby, there are three other raptors and five vipers in our general quadrant. None within close proximity to our bearing.”

“Good.” Bill fell silent until they approached the port bay. “Go ahead and line up for the landing,” he glanced at her, “line up only.”

“Spoilsport.” She grumbled as he keyed his radio, requesting clearance.

“Hey, my ship.” With a grin, he leaned forward again. “I’m taking control. But, same as takeoff, I want you to feel the adjustment.”

“You have control.” Laura sighed but left her hands on the control until she felt them settle gently onto the deck. “So, how many landings did you bounce?”

“Don’t remember,” Bill chuckled, “too long ago. Go ahead and begin shut down procedures.”

“You do too remember.” Twisting, she began to shut the raptor down, pulling out the log book and notating the readings in it. “So, confess…Husker.”

“I’ll never tell.” He unfastened his harness and stood, waiting as she joined him.

“Really?” With a glance to make sure they’d stepped away from the viewscreen and the hatch hadn’t opened yet, she ran her hands up his chest and leaned into him. “Are you sure about that, Husker?” Her mouth was next to his ear as she nipped at the lobe.

“Nice try.” Pulling her against him, he grinned. “Perhaps I’ll let you try again later, nugget.”

“We’ll see.” With a final rub of her cheek against his, Laura leaned back. “We’ll see.”

Chuckling, he released her as she moved toward the hatch, which was now opening. “I believe I promised you dinner?”

“Yes sir, you did.” Laughing as he assisted her down from the wing, she glanced at the maintenance crew member who stepped up to take her hand for the final step. “Thank you.”

“No problem, Madame President.” The girl grinned. “Admiral, you want it refueled?”

”Just regular serviced, the flight time was logged.” He nodded at the crew. “I’ll notify the CAG that it’s back.” With a final nod, he led Laura across the bay, his hand absently on her back. “Long day?”

“Normal day.” She sighed as they entered the corridor, two Marines automatically falling into step behind them. “Petitions, Quorum meeting, visit from the Vice President…”

“Zarek?” He looked at her sharply.

“I have another Vice President you know about?” Laura raised an eyebrow at him.

“No.” Bill frowned. “Just…”

“I had aides in the office and the curtain was never closed.” She wrinkled her nose. “And, all he wanted was to follow up on some topics from the meeting. So, after that, more reports.”

“So, long normal day.” As they neared his quarters, he shook his head. “At least there were no…” he found his next statement cut off by a finger placed on his lips.

“Don’t say it.” She faced him, eyes wide. “Don’t even think it. I want dinner, and as soon as you say anything about no…well, you know, it will happen. Got it?” When he nodded, she lowered her hand. “Good.”

“May we continue now? Madame President?” Amused, he glanced at the marines, who seemed to be fighting smiles of their own.

“Yes sir, Admiral sir. Please. Food.” Slipping her arm through his, she fell in step with him again, both remaining silent until the hatch to his quarters closed behind them.

“Make yourself…” Bill broke off as Laura turned and slid her arms around his neck, her mouth finding his blindly. When she finally leaned back with a satisfied sigh, he chuckled. “Better?”

“Mmm hmm.” She toyed with his hair, “I like flying.”

”So it seems.” Amused by this side of her, Bill leaned into her touch.

“Thank you for teaching me.” Laura smiled at him and leaned in for one more kiss before stepping back. “Dinner?”

“Dinner.” Following her, he stepped to the side as she kicked off her shoes before settling into a chair at the table. Shaking his head, Bill continued to the wall and picked up the handset to order dinner. Hanging up, he glanced at the drink cart. “Water or…”

“The or.” She called back over her shoulder. “Is this the updated fuel allotment numbers?”

“Probably.” Pouring the drinks, he carried them over to the table, leaning over her shoulder as he placed the glass in her hand. “Yeah. You see what I saw?”

“Mmm hmm.” She sipped at the drink. “The Prometheus, it’s using more fuel than it should be. Not enough to be noticed on its own, but when looked at over a period of time…”

“Exactly. Either there’s a mechanical need or someone’s stashing fuel.” Bill slid set his glass down and moved toward the hatch as it swung open. Taking the two plates, he nodded at the guard to close the hatch behind him. “Thank you.”

“And what delightful form of algae do we have today?” Closing the report, Laura tossed it to the side, making a mental note to follow up on it later.

“Not sure,” he removed the lid from one of the plates. “Looks promising…”

“Right.” With a sigh, she removed the lid from the other plate. “Actually, it does. Some sort of stew thing?”

“Here.” Refilling her glass, he set the bottle on the table. “Just in case.”

“Hmm.” Taking a small spoonful, she swallowed it hesitantly then smiled. “Hey, it’s actually not bad.” Waiting until he’d tried it, she lifted an eyebrow. “So, how many times did you bounce your landings?”

“Not telling.” Bill grinned at her.

”So you do remember!” Her eyes lit up in amusement as she took another spoonful of the stew.

“Didn’t say that either.” He chuckled. “When you get more comfortable, I promise you we’ll work on landings. For now, let’s just work on the flying part, all right?”

“I suppose.” She sighed. “But, what if there’s an emergency, and I need to land…”

“Laura.” One eyebrow raised. “No one’s even to know you’ve been learning the basics of how to fly a raptor. Part of the agreement, remember?”

“But,” she sighed again, this time with her lower lip starting to tremble. “Fine.”

Relenting, he reached out and took her hand. “I promise.”

“Thank you.” Her pout disappearing, she smiled, leaving him with the feeling that he’d just been played. Somehow.