Outpost 2: Snowed In - Bisexual

Once clear, she gained some altitude, then pitched forward and slowly hovered in the direction of the outpost. She probably wanted to set it down a lot closer so that when they unloaded the crates they didn't have to carry them quite so far. She was as good pilot, Schaffer realized. He hadn't assumed that her crash landing had been her own fault of course, nobody could have made a perfect landing in that blizzard, but he had seen far worse flying in the Pinwheel's hangar bay during his time working there.

She lowered the vessel gently, ensuring that the thrusters on her belly melted the snow beneath her evenly, setting down with a gentle bounce as the landing gear absorbed the impact. Schaffer hurried over to her, followed closely by the Polars, and he heard the hydraulic hiss of the ramp descending as she stepped out from behind the dropship to greet them.

"And 'that' is how you land a dropship on snow," she laughed, "can't have these Polars thinking women can't fly."

"All systems green then?"

"Yeah, I'm all set, you want to tell your buddies to help us with the supply crates?"

"Sure, we'll have everything unloaded in no time. Might be a good idea to get on the horn to your CO now that the storm has cleared and explain why you've been dark for the past twenty four hours, before they decide to send a search and rescue team after you."

"Er...yeah," Riya replied, "I've been so distracted while I've been here that I didn't even think of that."

She hurried back up the ramp and into the cockpit as Schaffer waved his pack forward and directed them towards the crates. The vessel's AG field complicated things a little, the gravity on Borealis was thirty percent higher than the Earth normal that the field was calibrated for, which meant that everyone stumbled on their way down the ramp as they left the field and whatever they were carrying increased in weight. Still, the aliens had no trouble carrying crates that must have required a forklift to load onto the dropship, and they formed an orderly line as they took the cargo into the outpost's store room.

As usual there was enough here to feed the pack for a month or more, even considering the absurd calorie requirements that the aliens had. The UNN really wanted him happy, if he was happy then he wouldn't try to make his way offworld and reveal the scandal that had stranded him at the base in the first place.

When they were done unloading, Riya reappeared at the bottom of the ramp, leaning against the hull of her ship as she entered the high gravity.

"They seemed more worried about me talking to you than me wrecking navy property," she chuckled, "just what the hell are you doing down here that makes them so antsy? Scratch that, if you told me you'd have to kill me, right?"

"Something like that," he replied with a grin. "You know Riya, I've kind of enjoyed having you around. I've been down here on my own, well at least without human company, for longer than is probably psychologically healthy. It's been nice to get a refresh on the whole 'human interaction' thing, even if it was at your expense."

"Hey, I had a good time too," she stated. She planted her hands on her hips as she watched the aliens carry off the last of the crates, looking suddenly whimsical through her helmet visor. "This has been kind of a mini-vacation for me, I made some new friends, got a break from the daily grind..." Her gaze lingered on Zagza as he closed the base's door from the outside, presumably to stop the heat escaping. "If I was going to crash my ride again, I'd want to do it here."

"You know," Schaffer started as she turned her attention back to him, "we get supply runs like yours about once a month. The weather here is unpredictable and hard to monitor, so if you happened to be assigned cargo duty again, any problems that might prevent you from taking off for a day or two might he hard to verify."

Now it was her turn to grin.

"Schaffer, are you inviting me back to visit again?"

"I'm just saying, if unforeseen circumstances were to strand you on the planet a second time, I don't think your commanding officers would think it unusual."

Riya reached out a gloved hand, and Schaffer shook it, the two of them taking a moment as Zagza lumbered up beside them.

"I might take you up on that offer, lord knows people aren't exactly climbing over eachother to sign up for cargo runs, should be easy to take the next shift. Hell, I'd probably be able to trade the privelage for some extra rations, Briggs once gave me his vending machine coupons for an entire month because I volunteered to take his place on a personnel transport assignment. I just love flying, y'know?"

Schaffer nodded, peering up at Zagza.

"I think the big guy has taken a liking to you as well, I'll work out a way to tell him that you're coming back."

Riya nodded, hesitating for a moment before wrapping her arms around Zagza's belly and giving him a goodbye hug, the giant Polar returning it as he patted her back. Schaffer smiled, he wasn't dumb and he knew the aliens far better than she did, he had probably figured out what she had been doing with the alien in private. Oh well, she felt like she could trust him, and it wasn't as if he could tell anyone about it. Based on what he had told her it seemed like the UNN wanted to keep him here for the very purpose of keeping him quiet.

They waved to her as she mounted the ramp and returned to the cockpit of her ship, removing the helmet of her envirnment suit and replacing it with her flight headset as she gunned the engines. The craft rose from the snow, angling its nose towards the sky once it was clear of the base, heading off back to the orbiting carrier as the outpost became a tiny speck in her viewfinder. Riya relaxed into her chair, mulling over the events of her accidental visit to the remote outpost, her heart skipping at the prospect of spending more time with Zagza upon her return.

Perhaps cargo duty wasn't such a drag after all.

THE END