<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/f/fa/Mars_test.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td>Lt Colonel Louise Cotter</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td>Dining hall</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td>Laura the insane, Zara and Daniel.</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td>Getting some food.</td></tr></tbody></table><br/><hr/><br/>Once again my lover reminded me of her special forces background. As an airforce pilot I took a very dim view of parachutes. "You're mad!" I told her with a grin. "Jumping out of a damaged aeroplane strapped to a giant pair of bloomers is bloody stupid, but that? That is sheer insanity! I have never, ever been able to understand why anyone would actually do it for pleasure..."<br/><br/>Just then one of the cooks arrived and I smiled at her and ran my face recognition program. There was a time when knowing everyone under your command by name was actually impressive. But then, I'd served under officers who never bothered to use the easy software method of learning them. "Good evening, Ms Karlsson. Soup will do just fine and if I'm not mistaken I smell flatbread? I hope we can get some yeast cultures going for you in the next few days. You're the miller as well, yes? Well, by the smell of it, you and Mr Storm have done a bonza job on the soup, and given how short a time you've had to get organised I think you're doing great."<br/><br/>To be honest, I was hungry enough to eat a horse, and I would eat the soup even if it was foul, and I would tell her it was the finest I'd tasted, simply because right now everyone was in a strange place, nervous as hell, trying to adjust to not being able to see the sky, and some may even be regretting taking this, the biggest step they would ever take. I was about to nudge the crazy sky-diver beside me but she accepted a bowl of soup and flatbread too, before I needed to.<br/><br/>"Thank you", I grinned at Karlsson. This was what I had smelled cooking on my way up to the dome. It had made me hungry then and after the exercise I was famished. And it smelled heavenly. I collected a spoon, a knife and a small pat of butter and headed for a table, then glanced up at the huge screen Laura had mentioned. "Hmm. Let's see..." I accessed the screen's node, opened it's menu and chuckled. "You're in luck!" I grinned. "Not the Army Navy game, but Superbowl one five five!" I giggled, "Or Cee Ell Vee, to give it its proper title." I fast-wound through the opening credits and pre-match build-up and started the play on the opening kick. Tampa Bay were playing Seattle, apparently, and I watched the first few minutes of the game, then shrugged. "The Wallabies would make mincemeat of them! Give me Rugby Union any day!"<br/><br/>I giggled, holding Laura's free hand as I ate one handed. Suddenly I noticed a little red dot in the corner of my vision. I'd been blinking at it for a while to try and clear it without realising wI was doing so, but seeing it superimposed on the flat screen made me realise what it was. I pulled up the message:<br/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote"><a href="https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=148833.msg6786791#msg6786791">Quote from: Dashenka on 20-08-2012, 19:39:06</a></div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote"><em><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: courier;">Commander I have a request I would like to talk to you about. Whenever you have time. LH </span></em><br/></blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/>LH? Someone was being mysterious! I smiled and simply traced the message back to it's sender, then sent a reply:<br/><br/><tt class="bbc_tt">Lt. Holtzmann, I am currently in the dining hall enjoying a well needed bowl of soup with Major Hicks. You are welcome to join us, or you may see me in my office in twenty minutes, which ever suits you best? LtC LC</tt>