Redemption(28)

After fifteen minutes in the bathroom with a set of clippers and a "razor" that actually used lasers to take out the hair all the way inside the follicle he began to feel like his old self. Now clean shaven and with his hair buzzed up the sides in a sort of "high and tight" style he walked into his room and stripped down before pulling a squat crate from the back of the walk-in closet.

Inside was the familiar gray uniform he'd been wearing when his crew had split up. He pulled out the loose cargo pants and top and set them on the bed before pulling out the soft black boots and a belt that still had a holster with a powerful plasma sidearm secured in it. Omega Force had always tried hard to stay anonymous so there were no insignias or name on the uniform, but Jason had a definite change in attitude as he put his old clothes on nonetheless.

Noise from inside the house broke him out of his reverie and he shook his head with a rueful chuckle, feeling a bit foolish at the introspection. They were just clothes, after all. He shut the lid to the crate after inventorying the rest of the contents, slipped his boots on, and walked out to see who had arrived back first.

Kalette gave a startled yelp when she saw him walk out of the hallway from the bedroom. "Jason?"

"Yep," he confirmed. "I figured I'd better get myself cleaned up if we're going to be going out in public. If you're going to try and stop an interstellar war there's no point in looking shabby while you do it."

"You look ... striking," she said.

"Certainly not the worst thing I've been called," Jason quipped. "How was shopping?"

"We were able to find everything Kalette needed and some things she simply wanted," Lucky reported. "I will admit to not understanding some of her choices, but she insisted that she knew what she was doing. She routinely asked my advice, and then promptly ignored all my suggestions."

"Is this your first time going shopping with a woman for clothes?" Jason asked, feeling a certain amount of pride at being able to keep a straight face.

"Yes," Lucky said. "Are you suggesting that this is normal behavior?"

"Well—" Jason started, but one look at Kalette's face and he changed course immediately. "I wouldn't know," he continued lamely. "Each species and culture is unique and what not."

"I see," Lucky said, still not any close to understanding. "Were you able to secure services for the ship?"

"Already taken care of," Jason said. "It'll be fueled and waiting for us."

"Where will we be going first?" Kalette asked as she organized her new wardrobe on the kitchen table.

"We'll need to pick up one more person," Jason said, looking at Lucky. "I'm going to need Twingo if we're going to try and push that pile of crap any real distance."

"I will send him a message," Lucky said.

"No messages," Jason said. "I can't chance that Crisstof isn't monitoring our com node. Or Twingo's. He seems to have contacts everywhere and it wouldn't be unheard of for him to get our slip-com addresses tapped."

"Very well," Lucky said. "I know where he is currently living."

"Now all we have to do is wait for Doc to show back up and make sure his end of things went smoothly," Jason said.

It ended up being about another thirty minutes before he showed up.

"I think they bought it," Doc said, handing Jason a tablet computer. "That has the Defiant's orbital data on it. I transcribed it manually off a general navigation tab in case the shuttle's computer is being monitored."

"Good thinking," Jason said with a nod. "How did you convince him that you're making progress?"

"The usual way; a little truth mixed in sells any deception," Doc smiled. "I told him you were being unreasonable and that it was difficult to talk with Kalette with you being such a distraction."

"He should buy that," Jason agreed as he flipped through the data Doc had taken from the shuttle. "It looks like our best launch window is right before midnight. The Defiant will be on the other side of S'tora. We can head to the ship a few hours before since they'll be well past line of sight by then."

"Where are we heading?" Doc asked.

"Gotta pick up Twingo," Jason said.

"That's good news!" Doc said enthusiastically. "In the meantime ... Lucky, do you think we could impose on you for a midday meal?"

****

It was just after 2100 hours local time (out of a twenty-seven hour S'tora day) when Jason made a final sweep of his house to ensure it was locked up and everything was secured before walking out to join the others by the vehicle they'd called from town to take them to the spaceport.