1stLt Samuel Woolheater – Weights & Memories
Radamio
1stLt Samuel Woolheater – Weights & Memories
(( Jim’s Gym – Lower Promenade – Deep Space 14 ))
It was early morning. 0530 or thereabouts. The artificial light panels hummed overhead. The air smelled like rubber mats, cold steel, cold iron, and faint disinfectant delivered courtesy a cleaning drone that hovered and flitted about like a robotic hummingbird. Sam had his earbuds in and didn’t mind. A cable machine clicked rhythmically somewhere behind him. Plates slid onto a bar with that hollow iron scrape that always sounded heavier than it was. Sam moved through his warmup without drama.
Five minutes on the seated rower. A steady pace. Breathing through his nose. In and out for breath control. This was important and no open-mouth breathing. His shoulders were loose. He finished that set. The gym isn’t too busy at this hour.
He stood up from the rower and wiped it down for the next person. He wore a dark green, faded lettered T-shirt: USS Rook – NCC-84211 “First to Fortify”. He wore knee length shorts and lifting shoes with a flat sole for the floor mats.
He stepped off, rolled his neck once, then hooked a light resistance band
around a rack. Band pull-aparts. He did twenty reps. Slow and felt the burn. Scapulae
drawing back and down. Again…and again. No mirror flexing. Just checking
alignment. Spine neutral. Hips square. He rotated his shoulders through
controlled arcs, testing his range. Nothing popped. Nothing protested. He wiped
down the resistance band and nodded his head to the music in his earbuds as he
continued his workout.
He walked to the pull-up bar. Scapular pulls first. Hang. Depress. Engage. Release. Twenty-five of these and at the end, he can feel the muscles protest. He wasn’t chasing fatigue yet. He’s just waking things up. Then he approached the platform. The bar was already there. He loaded it methodically. Forty-fives on each side. Then more.
Chalk dusted his palms. He rubbed it in slowly, like ritual. This is where the real work starts. He gripped the bar. Set his back. Pulled the slack out. Deadlift. Up. Controlled. Down. Again. Every rep resets. No bouncing. No hitching. No…shaking…just tension.
Somewhere between rep four and five…he flashed back to a memory.
oO But I hate your sisters. Oo
The memory surfaced clean and bright. He wasn’t expecting that. This memory of Emily. Now? He exhaled through his nose and pulled again. The bar rose smoother this time.
(( Memory – 5 years ago - Emily’s Apartment – Rural Georgia ))
The cicadas outside were loud. This was one of those “apocalypse”
years where these dang-o’s were all in everybody’s business. Faded couch.
Half-wrapped presents. It was the Christmas holiday and he was on leave.
Sam stood near the doorway in Emily’s apartment. Broad and still, arms folded. Sam didn’t move. He just stood there, arms folded across his chest, one brow slightly raised.
Woolheater: But I hate your sisters.
Emily didn’t even look up.
Emily: You don’t hate my sisters.
Woolheater: I absolutely do. Remember that time I was telling you what I’m gonna do when I get out of the SFMC?
(( Flashback ))
Sam is seated next to Emily on the couch. He is talking to her about life
after the SFMC. As he speaks, both Bonnie and Rachel are listening in from the
couch.
Woolheater: I promise you Em, if we have kids, the first thing those kids are going to see when they come out of you is a man with a good job.
From the couch Bonnie says so everyone can hear:
Bonnie: Yeah, the doctor!
(( End Flashback ))
Emily smiled to herself as she taped a gift box shut and remembered how irritated he looked.
Emily: You get along with Rachel.
Woolheater: She tolerates me.
Emily: That’s because you stare at her like you’re evaluating a perimeter breach.
Woolheater: She is a perimeter breach.
Now she looked up.
Emily: You survived both of them.
Woolheater: I endured them. Besides, they don’t like me either. The feeling’s mutual y’know?
She smirks.
Emily: Woolheater…you are the living end some days. Where do you get these ideas?
He exhales through his nose.
Woolheater: First contact.
(( Flashback ))
The Hope family is waiting for Sam to arrive and pick up Emily for a date. Sam
rolls up on a repulsorlift motorbike. As soon as Emily hears the repulse motor,
she hops off the couch and heads for the door with excitement.
Emily: It’s Sam!
From the couch Rachel says:
Rachel: I don’t know what you see in that dumb jock boyfriend of yours.
Bonnie:::leans forward:: Uh-huh! If you wanted to hold something warm and
furry; we could get a cat!
Mama Emily: It would leave less hair on the couch too!
(( End Flashback ))
He was ridiculous. And stunning. Muscles sitting heavy under cotton. Thighs thick. Calm confidence like he didn’t need to impress anybody in the room. She thought that, frankly, he didn’t. But she wished that they would all just get along.
Emily: My sisters are not hostile combatants.
Woolheater: They are. ::gestures:: They ask about my income situation since they think I can’t make it in the Federation utopia. They ask about my long-term intentions. Careerwise and with you. They asked if I was ‘done playing soldier.’
Emily bit back a grin.
Emily: You told them you were a sniper.
Woolheater: They asked if that meant I ‘missed a lot.’
She lost it. Full laugh.
Sam did not laugh.
He watched her. Quiet. Heat building just under the surface.
(( Flashback ))
It’s Emily’s birthday party. The door chimes and Sam went to answer the
door and greet the guests. The doors opened and there were Emily’s sisters, Bonnie
and Rachel. They look him over from head to toe in two seconds and then Bonnie
says to Rachel:
Bonnie: Well, whaddaya know…he’s wearing pants!
To which Rachel replies as they step through the door past him.
Rachel: I owe you a lunch!
(( End Flashback ))
Sam’s not too keen on Emily laughing.
Woolheater: I’m so glad you’re enjoying this.
Emily: I am. Babe…can you hold this while I tape it shut?
He took two steps forward. Slow. She met his eyes and he held the present as she wrapped it.
Woolheater: Your sisters, ::he said carefully:: look at me like I’m a novelty item from a catalog.
Emily’s eyes flicked down before she could stop them.
Emily: …They’re not the only ones.
He noticed. Of course he noticed.
Woolheater: Emily. Let’s just…stay here…find something to do here? I’ve got some ideas.
She rolled her eyes and cleared her throat.
(( Flashback ))
Emily: It’s the miracle we’ve been waiting for!
Emily is responding to the news about Frontier Day and the near takeover by the
Borg of Starfleet. Sam’s Platoon is listed and coming home back to Earth.
Mama Emily: Does this mean that he’s coming home with a paycheck too?
Rachel: ::shakes her head ‘No’:: Sam’s probably out there buying magic
beans with any credits he got.
(( End Flashback ))
Emily: They just don’t know you.
Woolheater: Good. The less the better. The more they know gives them more ammo. They don’t need to know me.
Emily: They do if you’re coming for Christmas.
Silence. He looked away for a second. Jaw tight.
Woolheater: Christmas is supposed to be peaceful.
Emily: ::nods:: It is.
Woolheater: It’s not for me, ::he said flatly.:: It’s interrogation with casseroles.
She laughed again.
He didn’t.
(( Flashback ))
Emily, four of her girlfriends and her sisters Bonnie and Rachel are going
out for a ‘girls night out’. Sam is staying at her apartment and watching two
dogs and one of the girlfriend’s little babies.
Emily: You sure that you don’t mind this Sam?
Woolheater: Nah. I’m good. Have a good time. Don’t worry.
To which Bonnie says:
Bonnie: ::to the group of ladies::
Are you sure leaving him with two dogs and a baby is wise?
Rachel: Uh-huh…he’ll probably trade the baby for a beer and a nudie hologram!
(( End Flashback ))
She finished with the present and while he held it, she kissed him.
Woolheater: You want me there?
She swallowed.
Emily: ::soft now.:: Yes.
::Beat.::
Woolheater: Even if they’re awful?
She kissed him again as he held the present.
Emily: Yes.
Woolheater: Even if I glare at them?
Emily: I like it when you glare. You’re so…teach me how to glare like you do sometime OK?
He leaned down slightly.
Woolheater: You’re going to stand there and tell me, that you don’t enjoy watching your sisters realize exactly who you brought home.
Her breath hitched just a little.
Emily: I don’t know what you’re implying.
Woolheater: Yes you do.
She put her arms around his neck and looked at him.
Now they were close. Real close.
Emily: Woolheater ::trying for composure and failing:: you’re coming. Just ignore them OK? They’re trying to get under your armor. Maybe don’t talk about ballistic wind drift at the dinner table? It’s just a thought?
Woolheater: They asked.
Emily: You will not mention confirmed kills. That scares them. And I know when you do that, you’re trying to scare them.
Taking the present from him and setting it under the Christmas tree.
Woolheater: They asked.
Emily: ::nods incredulously:: Oh, I’m sure. I can hear my sister Bonnie asking you for the kill count as she hand sews Christmas stockings. And you will not stand in doorways looking intimidating with your arms crossed. If you must cross your arms – then wrap them around me.
He leaned down to her ear.
Woolheater: I don’t try.
Silence. Then she whispered:
Emily: …That’s the problem.
(( End of Memory – The Present ))
He was back in Jim’s Gym on DS14. He had never left. But he missed having someone to talk to. He finished his reps. He finished up his sets. After he wiped down the equipment and drank his water jug dry, he put a towel over his shoulder and left for the showers.
--
Scout Sniper / Infantry Officer
MARDET, Starfleet Marine Corps
USS Octavia E. Butler NCC-82850