* * *
"John, can I speak with you for a minute?"
Lieutenant John Matheson turned at the sound of Doctor Sarah Chambers' voice. "Of course, Doctor," he answered smoothly.
"In private," Chambers added.
Matheson cocked his head in curiosity. "Of course, Doctor," he repeated. Chambers smiled and started walking down the corridor.
When they reached a quiet part of the corridor, Sarah stopped walking and turned to face Matheson. Without waiting for the first officer to ask what was going on, she asked, "Did Captain Gideon seem...different to you at any point during your shift?"
"'Different'?" Matheson considered his captain's actions over the past eight hours. "He did seem more eager to arrive at Babylon 5 than he has previously been in regards to diplomatic proceedings."
Sarah's smile widened almost to the point of a grin. "He did, did he," she murmured, more to herself than to the lieutenant.
"Is this relevant to our mission, Doctor?" Matheson asked, wondering why she was smiling like that.
She looked up. "Not really. Call it taking an interest in interpersonal affairs."
Matheson raised an eyebrow. "I see," was all he said. But the tone revealed much more. Sarah smiled conspiratorially.
"So, how much do you think we should start the betting pool at?"
He looked at her sharply, not even having to ask what it was about. "Betting? I doubt Captain Gideon would be pleased if--"
"John, Matthew *likes* to gamble. *If* he ever found out about it, I wouldn't be surprised if he joined in."
Matheson snorted softly. Strange as it sounded...Chambers was probably right. "Fifteen credits says nothing happens when we get to the station."
"John, you're cheap. And wrong. Thirty says something does." She started to walk away from him, stopping when he didn't follow. "Well, are you coming?" she called over her shoulder. "Let's see what Eilerson and Dureena have to say about this."
Shaking his head, Matheson followed her.
* * * * *
By the time Excalibur docked at Babylon 5, half the ship was in on the bet. They had kept it admirably quiet, but Matthew Gideon hadn't risen to the rank of Captain without figuring out how to know everything going on under his command. He didn't try to stop them, or even let them know he knew what was going on. In their position, he would have been doing the exact same thing, and he didn't want to spoil their fun.
"Docking process completed," announced Lieutenant Matheson.
Gideon nodded to his first officer, then said, "Everybody knows the leave schedule." He stood up and started to leave the bridge. "I'll be talking with Captain Lochley if anyone needs me," he said. He was impressed that not even a whisper escaped any of them. They were good. He nodded to the bridge crew and walked out.
* * * * *
A few days later, the Excalibur was on its way to Lorka 7. Contained inside its hull were some very unhappy crewmembers. Nobody knew what had--or hadn't--transpired between the two captains on B5. This annoyed Sarah Chambers to no end.
That didn't stop her from trying to turn the events in her favor, though. She wasn't going to loose fifty credits without a fight. "During the time Captain Gideon had communicator silence, Captain Lochley was also unreachable," she said. "Given what it looked like on Mars, I'd say that's pretty incriminating."
"Depending on how much you want to read into it," Max Eilerson spoke up. He was sitting between Dureena Nafeel and Matheson and across from Chambers and Galen at a table in a room at the aft end of the ship. He narrowed his eyes at the doctor.
"I have to agree," Matheson said, nodding.
"Only because you bet against it," Dureena said derisively. She herself had quite a few credits resting on the bet, and she had sided with Sarah.
"You can't prove anything," Chambers said.
"Neither can you," Eilerson and Matheson countered in unison.
Dureena sighed and held her hands in front of her. She glanced around the table, then said, "We'll leave the bets standing. Next time they come anywhere near each other, we'll get our asses together and figure out what, if anything, goes on. Does this work for everybody?"
"Does what work for everybody?" a new voice asked.
The four who had placed bets looked up to see Captain Gideon standing at the head of the table. Galen was staring off into space, a small smile on his lips.
Gideon was having some trouble keeping a straight face. He concentrated on it, though, and managed to keep his voice and expression neutral. He could have confessed his knowledge of what their expressions showed they thought was their well-kept secret, but it would be much more fun to see what kind of cover they tried to invent.
After a slight, but very noticeable pause, Sarah said, "A, um, new way to monitor--"
"--power consumption," Eilerson filled in. "Dureena's people devised a way to..." he trailed off, realizing at that moment that he had no idea where to go from there.
"Make sure its distributed to areas of the ship based on need rather than hierarchy," Matheson picked up, his voice markedly less controlled than usual.
Dureena added, "It was developed a long time ago, but only recently rediscovered." She finished with a large smile in Gideon's direction.
Gideon looked down at the four of them. They were all trying to act nonchalant, and failing miserably. He couldn't help himself. His lips twitched, and in the space of a moment, he was laughing out loud.
Chambers, Dureena, Eilerson and Matheson looked at each other. Their expressions were varying degrees of confusion, horror, and fear. "Matthew?" Sarah finally asked in a very small voice.
He choked down the remains of his laughter, though a smile remained on his face. "You're very good," he said, nodding once in respect, "but not good enough." Their faces fell. "I know all about your little pool. And I think you picked a very good topic to bet on." Their expressions showed surprise at the unexpected praise. "And given that it will be a one-time occurrence," he looked at them sharply, "I think we can put it behind us and move on."
The sighs of relief were almost audible.
Gideon smirked. "Is that all?"
Matheson, Dureena and Eilerson nodded quickly, but Sarah spoke up, "We weren't able to find out the outcome. In the...interest of closure, would you like to tell us who won?"
Gideon raised an eyebrow, the smirk returning. "That's for me to know...and for me to hurt you if you ever try to find out." He glanced at them one more time before turning and leaving the room.
The four groaned. Eilerson then noticed Galen, who was still smiling. He had been quiet through the entire encounter, given that he hadn't placed a bet and was completely innocent. "Well, what do you have to say about this?" he asked the 'mage.
Galen shrugged, his smile growing a bit. "Busted."