A Long, Long Time Ago

The St. Eligius

Aah ... I said Jenny Diver ... whoa ... Sukey Tawdry

Look out to Miss Lotte Lenya and old Lucy Brown

Yes, that line forms on the right, babe

Now that Macky's back in town ...

Look out, old Macky is back!!

– Bobby Darin (Mack the Knife)

=/\=

Carmen put on a full-dress uniform. She did not love such tasks as the one she had ahead of her. In particular, she couldn't honestly say that Helen Walker had died particularly heroically. A shuttle crash – and then the body had been incinerated on Berren One. It seemed an ignominious end.

Under such circumstances, she normally sought spiritual phraseology. Even irreligious people usually responded to something like the Twenty-Third Psalm or at least to the music or lyrics of Taps. But that wouldn't do, as Milton Walker was a man of God himself. He'd be quoting scriptures to her, and not the other way around.

She engaged her communicator, "Boris, get into full-dress and we'll walk together to Transporter Room Five in, um, ten minutes."

Boris acknowledged and ended the connection. Alone in his office, with the door securely shut, he stripped down to briefs. He smiled to himself and called a certain someone, "Ah," she said, "You took a while to call back."

"Sorry, uh, it was a medical emergency."

"Boris, you haven't had a medical emergency in years."

"Uh, well, in any event, tell me about what you are wearing," he said, beginning to touch himself.

"You said the zebra-striped outfit," she said, "And you?"

"Almost nothing," he replied, which was true, "I am very, very hot for you right now."

"Ooh," she replied, more like a moan than a word, "Don't you wanna save it for tonight? You know what I can do with my mouth."

"Ah, yes," he breathed, more aroused, "You are such a tease. Talented, yes, but a tease, nonetheless."

"You like it," she said, "I kinda like that it's sound only. Not that I don't like to see you aroused. It's just, good to leave a little something to the imagination," she cooed.

"Not to mention, this way is perfectly untraceable. Now, tell me what you would do with your luscious mouth."

"Things your wife will never do."

His door chimed, "A, a moment!" he called out, "So sorry, my love. I will be there as soon as possible. One order of boring business to attend to, and then I will be at your side in a flash."

"Don't be too long. You know how impatient I get."

The connection closed, and he raced to put on a full-dress uniform as his door chimed a second, and then a third, time.

=/\=

Boris and Carmen transported to the provided coordinates – a ship called the USS Saint Eligius.

There was a sound of medieval-style chanting. The ship's interior was Spartan and devoid of any decoration or superfluity. A monk came to greet them, dressed in long red robes, with a cowl hood he had taken down so that his face could be seen, "I am Brother Simon. We spoke earlier. It is a most unfortunate bit of news that you carry," he only shook Boris's hand and Carmen remembered – there was something in this order about not touching women.