What happened to my Asteroid? Section 9:

Captain Gwendolyn Stewart was very tall at a full 2 meters in height while slender weighing in at barely 80 kilos but nonetheless was a formidable site in her full dress blues and her longer than regulation blaze red hair in a braided pony tail.  She released herself from her seat, straightened her uniform and floated toward the airlock.

“Ma’am, it is advisable to remain secured in your seat until all docking procedures are complete.”  The transport attendant tried to be as polite as possible.

“Secure this.” The captain mumbled “I have work to do.  Just get this thing docked and get this airlock pressurized.  And make sure my bags are taken to my quarters ASAP.” She barked.

“Yes Ma’am!”

The connecting tube locked in to place.  A distinct hiss of the airlock pressurizing echoed through the transport.  The airlock safety light changed from red to green.  Captain Stewart opened the door, swung inside and closed the door quickly behind her.  She then punched the outer door release and opened it, swung through it before it was completely open and slammed it shut.  She had the courtesy to press the re-lock for the door.  She straightened up her uniform and gently opened the inner station door, waited for it to fully open, and then slowly floated through it.

Tim and Sam were waiting in the middle of the reception area, nobody else was there.  They snapped a salute as the captain floated through the door.  Both were very surprised by who it was.

“Hello sweet cheeks,” Captain Stewart winked at Sam as she returned the salute “And stud muffin.”  She had a wicked grin.

Sam and Tim looked at each other in astonishment.  “You know HER?” they both said in unison.

“I’m glad to see your respect for military honors hasn’t changed.”

“We were told this was a highly important operation so we didn’t want to waste time changing in and out of dress uniforms.” Sam responded.

“Well then let’s see what you have set up so far.  Take me to the lab, and tell Commander Dickerson to meet us there.”

“Sam. I’ll take the Captain to the lab, you let the commander know and you can catch up.” Tim smiled at
Sam.

“Done.”

Sam drifted over to a communications panel as Tim led the Captain through the door.  “This way.” He gestured with a half-hearted, no make that a quarter-hearted, smile.

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