As Dr. Randal spoke Scott calmed himself and felt vindicated with her seemingly on his side for a change. But then a dread came over him as Dr. Heath seemed to grow angrier; this was not what he had been hoping for. He had been happy to be away from the politics back on earth but now in just a few short days they were bringing the same politics and petty arguments here into the middle of nowhere.<br/><br/>Still; to have a civilian, especially that one, on his side sure felt good. He watched her as she continued even against the cold stare of Dr. Heath. The movement of her lips and the conviction with which she spoke gave him a fresh look at the beautiful woman beside him. So much so that he began to lose himself in the thought of kissing her, his hands on her hips, her hands touching his face… He nodded in agreement with the group when Dr. Randall asked for it. But then she turned to address him and he immediately became defensive, his wonderful daydream broken.<br/><br/>Listening carefully to her message instead of focusing on the feeling of being attacked he quickly became aware that he had been misunderstood. He had never meant to say that the military would follow his orders and no one else’s and he definitely didn’t mean that every request had to go through him. However he did disagree with her remark about the chain of command not working on the ship. It can and would work just fine. But as much as he wanted to argue with her on that point or even to clarify what he meant he couldn’t. He saw something in her eyes, she was sure of herself but she seemed rightfully, but only slightly, fearful of what she had just said to the two ‘leaders’ of the mission.<br/><br/>He looked from her eyes to her lips and the tight frown on his face was replaced by a soft and sincere smile as he nodded his head. “I do, Dr. Randall.” He wanted to look away from her lest she see the lust in his eyes or even worse have the rest of the group see it. But he couldn’t stop looking at her, “I agree with you Dr. Randall.” And finally he forced himself to turn from her and look around the room. “I think that is a very logical and reasonable request that all of us can get behind.” He slowly turned toward Dr. Heath as he continued. He did not like her, not one bit. And he may not like politics but he could play at them. “Dr. Heath I apologize for my tone earlier, I meant no disrespect to you or anyone here. I only brought up my complaint as a matter of respect for my troops but it’s obvious that there has been a lack of respect FROM them as well and it will be corrected.”<br/>