Ekos 6 - Ein mit Zwei

Posted on Saturday, 17 April 2021 - 2:56pm by Crewman Leopold Eberhardt & Lieutenant JG Adrianna Eberhardt
Edited on on Saturday, 17 April 2021 - 2:58pm

Mission: Operation: Neu Reich

It was early morning and Adrianna was dressed to hike. At present she was nursing a coffee, mentally going over what they'd packed. The Italian looked like she was in a trance, staring at the bags, her one fingernail, tapping the ceramic mug to every syllable that her inner dialogue listed.

In total, they'd packed camping gear, a basic first aid kid, changes of clothes for both Leopold's parents and for themselves, food and, on Ade's request, anything that was of value to both the family (like pictures) and anything considered contraband (mostly anti-Ekos stuff including the map of the prison). It was a lot to take, but both Leopold and Adrianna were strong.

Adrianna didn't even notice Leopold walked in, she was still going over everything they'd packed. She only heard a murmur of what may have been him trying to talk to her. She suddenly looked up hearing him speak, and spoke in Italian, still mot quite awake, "sorry, what did you say?"

"I said that my ass was not made for this," Leopold replied speaking up. "I haven't been camping since I was a boy, and I have more of a beer gut starting to form than washboard abs. I honestly do not know if I can do the hike, but I know it needs to be done, and that my family is counting on me." By family, he meant more than his parents and his sister; Adrianna was as much a part of his family as anyone related to him by blood. He did not want to disappoint her, and if anything happened to her, he would not be able to forgive himself.

Adrianna looked him over, trying to gauge if he was trying to back out. She took one final sip and put the mug on the counter. "Our trip to Ba'Ku involved camping and your beer gut is because of eating good food, not drinking. I take pride in that," she shrugged then stepped over and put her arms around his neck, as if to kiss him and asked with flirtation in her eyes, "would you prefer an actual motivation thing, or do you want me to go full on drill sergeant and kick your ass verbally?"

"If you go full on drill sergeant..." Leopold awkwardly chuckled and blushed at the thought of that. Needless to say, Adrianna berating him in such a manner was more than appealing to him. "Ba'ku seems so long ago, Ade, so long ago, and aside from you nearly dying...it was peaceful. We did not have a whole alien Nazi-inspired regime holding anyone captive or have to mount a prison break." He had some points, valid as they may have been, he knew she could shoot holes through them.

She chuckled at his drill sergeant comment. She knew where his brain was. Regardless, she heard his concerns loud and clear. She stepped closer to him so she was flush to him, "you are thinking about too much. No person can eat eat a whole horse in one sitting. You eat it one bite at a time."

She smiled, sweetly, "Si, Ba'ku was a long time ago, but we did it. We are going for a hike today. Yes there is motive, but also, consider it a mini vacation." She then looked to his lips and switched to Italian just in case his sister was near, "Your sister is staying behind. It's just us. When we get there, we can make the most of being alone for a little while and not have your sister next door or only a thin wall between us. Alone. Relieve some stress, hm?"

"The perfect vacation," Leopold fired back with some sarcasm, but not sharply. It was simply his personality, and something he knew Ade was able to handle well. She was known to fire back some of her own. "The hills are alive with the sound of Nazi gunfire" he added shaking his head. "If Starfleet does not work out, I'll consider moving back home to Ekos and work for the Ekosian government. I have a knack for travel brochures."

Adrianna bit her lips trying not to laugh. She kissed him softly and whispered, "we've got this. I promise." She then gestured to the kettle, "have some breakfast then we'll go."

"I had a cereal bar," he replied. "Sorry, I was not really feeling a big breakfast. My mind has still been trying to wrap itself around all of this. My parents have been keeping so much from me all these years. It is like I don't even recognize who they are anymore?"

He sighed. "We had better get a move on. I packed a backpack with everything I'll need. I was up late last night tinkering around with what technology I could find in the house. I managed to make some crudely improvised explosive devices."

Adrianna nodded, she understood his focus, or lack thereof. "You've done amazing so far. Keep it up ok? I'm here."

The pair said goodbye to Emilia and headed out the door with everything they needed, for everyone. Adrianna was quite impressed with how beautiful Ekos actually was. She stopped at the top of a hill, "say what you will, but this big of Ekos is beautiful."

"That's what makes Ekos so sad," he quipped. "You walk out here and see all this nature, the rolling green hills, the countryside, the mountain ranges, and for a moment you get lost. You become taken by the scenery, and forget that an alien ideology has swept through and taken foothold."

He shook his head. "Then the gun fire happens, the executions, the raiding of establishments to find 'Zeon pigs,' and you are rattled back to reality. Ekos is a nightmare built atop a dreamscape."

Adrianna took his hand, "right here, in this second, I'm happy to be lost to it all with you." She looked around and pointed to a mountain, "that looks like it may have some caves. We could camp in there? Would it be far enough away?"

"It would be," he replied. "Though the biggest thing will be how many entrances and exits does it have? We will need something with more than one, ideally a back or side exit. I don't want to be chased by Ekosian Nazis into a cave with no other exit. We would be slaughtered."

"Good point," Adrianna nodded, "we may be better in the open then?" The woman pointed to somewhere just north of it.

"Sure," agreed Leopold. "But the cave may also be good. If not as a diversion. They will check it...so maybe we set ourselves a little trap up?" This was not Leopold's normal thinking. Ekos was getting to him.

Adrianna raised a brow and looked to him, "yes, sir." She was impressed with his more tactical thinking, "rig up some explosives to all entrances. Buy us time at least."

"Time and an early albeit brief alert," he said. "Ma'am," he added respectfully. They were a couple, but they were also Starfleet, be this an unofficial non-mission or not, he knew he had overstepped the chain of command. "If they enter the cave, the explosion will alert us of their presence."

"Need to ensure that a bird or something won't set it off though," she noted then smirked, "also, don't call me ma'am. It makes me feel old. Plus, here, you're in charge."

"I could get used to that, Petty Officer," he said teasingly, and pulled her close to gently kiss her lips. "But you are right. I don't want to blow up an elk let alone a bird. Rummaging around, I found some old parts to some tricorder in the basement. I brought them along...I may be able to program the devices to explode when it scans an Ekosian life sign."

"Just make sure you don't blow off a toe or worse," she smiled and kissed him, "come on. Before my rucksack makes me tipple... Topple?"

"I will make sure that I have it all. Ten fingers, ten toes, one .... with two, and my ears and nose."

Adrianna hit his arm playfully and giggled, "I'll help you count."

Leopold chuckled. "Come on, let's see if that cave is vacant for some...privacy before I rig it to blow up."

"Crewman Eberhardt," Adrianna teased, "I hope you mean what I think you mean."

Leopold nodded. "I cannot help it. We are out here in nature with the birds and the bees...we may as well," he explained, kissing her neck.

"Gawd, yes!"