ETA: Revised Chapter One. There are a few name changes and the addition of another character, who you'll see a great deal of in the coming chapters. I hope this is better than the crap I put y'all through before.
DEEP COVER THREAT
by Kieli
As Lt. “Tuck” Tuckwell dodged another roundhouse kick aimed at her head, she decided that today could definitely be classified under the heading “cluster fuck”. She only just managed to duck behind a far-too-small couch before a plaz chair came flying her way.
“Haden, whoa, wait a minute! I’m telling you the truth! She yelped in surprise as a shoe bounced off her head when she tried to peek over the back of the couch. “ICSF sent me here to search your place. I have my orders!” Sudden silence filled the spacious living room and she hoped like hell that her attacker hadn’t started a casting protocol yet. Throwing caution to the wind, she hazarded another glance over her makeshift shield. Her frightened eyes were caught in the very frosty, lasered regard of one seriously brassed-off woman who was glaring at the young lieutenant from across the room and breathing heavily from the effort of her attacks.
ICorps Agent Haden Melor didn’t look very imposing. However, her temper was legendary in the ICSF (Interstellar Confederation Security Force) Intelligence Corps and very few were brave enough to cross her. I wonder which deity I managed to piss off today, Tuck thought helplessly as she crawled from her hiding place, her hand on the lightweight SG-30 plasma pistol belted to her hip.
“I’ll bet it’s the truth, Lieutenant. Your version of the truth in the world according to Milena Tuckwell,” the woman growled. “What was the excuse last time when I caught you in my quarters when I wasn’t home? You were half naked, too, if memory serves.”
The young officer winced at the memory. It was a rather idiotic attempt at attracting the pretty agent’s attention when they were still attending the Academy on Theta Epsilon 3. The only things she really remembered from that night were having drunk a half bottle of Darkalian Silk Liquor, greeting Haden in just a pair of standard issue Academy briefs and spending the night in a rather drafty cell of the brig. It was one of the few situations she couldn’t charm, con or fight her way out of.
“Yeah well, don’t remind me. It’s not one of my better moments, to be sure,” she snorted.
Haden stood ramrod straight, arms folded across her chest, her eyes narrowed dangerously. “I’m waiting. Don’t make me throw the psi-cuffs on your ass.”
Tuck took a deep breath and rolled her eyes in a “Why me?” gesture. “Ok but I don’t think you’re going to like it.” She put out a placating hand before the agent could protest again. “Not that either of us have any choice in the matter, mind you but…you know, matter of Confederation security and all that.”
“Oh please, Tuck,” Haden’s voice dripped with sarcasm. “Can we dispense with the windiness and get on with it.”
The ICSF officer clenched and unclenched her jaw, the only hint of the misgivings she showed regarding the task at hand. “I guess it all started when your boss walked into my office a couple of days ago,” she began hesitantly, hoping against all hope that she wouldn’t get killed just yet.
Early morning sunlight shone off the wet-steel architecture of the Interstellar Confederation Security Force main complex, winking like bits of broken glass. There were several short, thin buildings that seemed to be comprised of tessellated, multicoloured metals; the main building itself was a giant helical crystal/wet-steel spire that was approximately 430 meters tall. Interlinking Mag-Lev monorails and aircar chutes crisscrossed the campus like massive cabled armbands. Ensign Milena Tuckwell rode in silence as the monorail car glided softly toward it. She looked every inch the newbie officer, her 5’ 6” frame smartly dressed in the dark blue and red uniform of the ICSF Home Guard unit; neat curls of short, black hair peeked out from underneath her flight cap and toned muscles (courtesy of the grueling Academy PT regimen) helped to fill out the uniform in all of the right places. Her pale blue eyes scanned her surroundings in sweeping, practiced motions, taking in all of the details as she had been trained to do. Many of the riders, male as well as female, glanced at her appreciatively as she had passed them to find a seat. She never even noticed. Tuck had other things on her mind. Getting assigned to ICSF in any capacity was considered a big deal; even receiving high honours at the Academy wasn’t a guarantee that one would get posted there upon graduation. Although she did well enough in her studies, she wasn’t a shining star by any means. Granted, Tuck always had total confidence in her ability to do anything anyone else can do (and do it better) but specters of doubt slid into her thoughts when she least expected. She’d been a class A fuck-up most of her life, often using her looks and powers of persuasion to get herself out of some dodgy situations. The day she received her acceptance letter to the United Earth Military Academy, her parents shook their heads in disbelief.
“Well someone must be looking out for your sorry ass,” her father had muttered, his thick Croatian accent more pronounced in jealous anger. “You’d better keep your nose clean when you’re there because you sure as hell can’t come back here if they toss you out.” That was her father; ever the positive one. Her mother often told her that she was so much like him when he was her age, so stubborn and moody, which drew heated denials from both father and daughter whenever she brought it up.
Recalling that day’s conversation brought a heated flush to her pale cheeks. Tuck and her father, Luka Trkovic, had also quarreled about her choice to change her name before entering the Academy. She argued that it was too unpronounceable and she wouldn’t fit in if people thought her name was weird. Luka, however, had been livid with rage. “How dare you be ashamed of your heritage, of your family? Who worked to give you clothes, a roof over your head? How dare you be so ungrateful?” She shook her head to dissipate the haze of unwanted memories filtering through her mind. This is a chance for a new start, she mused. No more screw-ups. No more fooling around. How can I make my parents proud of me if I can’t even be proud of myself? The minutes passed quickly and, before long, a disembodied voice filled the compartment with instructions for disembarking passengers.
Her jaw dropped in awe at the sight that greeted her as she stepped from the railcar. She had heard that ICSF was huge but the sheer enormity of its administrative campus left her stunned and apprehensive. She turned round and round, gazing upward in wonder at the intricate architecture. “Damn,” she breathed. “This is the big time, Tuck. No backwater police station for you.” She turned her attention to the main entrance; it’s dark, gleaming doors beckoned her like a siren. Threads of excitement tingled throughout her body but her feet seemed to betray her. They remained firmly on the platform as if she’d taken root.
Tuck stared at the flight cap in her hand, admiring the dull gleam of the new pips in the shadow of the rail stop overhang. Her introspection was so deep that she didn’t even hear light footsteps approaching from her left side.
“Oy! What’s your problem, dearie? Gonna stand there staring all day?”
The young officer almost jumped out of her skin in surprise. She placed a shaky hand over the pounding in her chest. “For chrissake’s, Miggs, don’t you knock or something?” she growled.
“Why? And ruin the fun of watching you jump? Not on your life, babe.”
Ensign Miggin Kinley’s perky, round face popped into her line of sight. Her bright blue eyes shone with mischief and mirth. Though she was a few inches shorter than Tuck, their features were so similar, they were often thought to be sisters. Miggin often found that observation a bit annoying as she made no secret about her enduring crush on the intrepid Tuckwell.
“Have you made it your mission in life to give me grey hair at an early age?”
Her friend pretended to consider the question for a moment. “Hmph, if you knew what my mission really was, you might rethink that question,” she replied with an arch little smile.
“All right, Ms. Kinley, no reason to let your inner demon out to frolic with wild abandon.”
Miggs gave her faux-innocent look. “My dear Tuck, whatever do you mean? I have only the best of intentions when it comes to you.”
The brunette snorted derision. “Not bloody likely.” She went back to fingering her cap; her somber mood had returned despite the moment’s levity. “Are you as scared as I am?”
“Not really,” Miggs replied with a shrug. “Then again, I’m a Fed Rat so this is all second nature to me.”
“Right, right. I keep forgetting that you’re the responsible one,” A wistful smile crossed her face. “Ready?”
“As I’ll ever be. Lead the way, mon frere.”
A brief frisson of nervousness rippled throughout her body. Well, I’ve never been one to think before I leap so…Tuck gave a mental shrug. Taking a deep, steadying breath, she gave her uniform the once over and put on her resolve face. It’s show time
Time flies by when the Devil drives.
It's not the pace of life that concerns me, it's the sudden stop at the end.
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You're always gracious and open to suggestions. I just issue preemptive statements like that as a matter of habit. Nothing personal at all.
So...overall, I've read your comments with a great deal of interest and have made a few changes (well actually almost rewrote the whole thing with some additions to make an actual Chapter 1). I've been running some ideas past my beta (poor soul, the man has no idea what he's in for 
) so as soon as we can hammer out a few things, I'll post it. Thanks you all for some excellent points and ways to get this puppy started. Now if I could only finish my W/T fics before I start the Original fics 
I'm trying to do eight things at once and well, yanno, some days I motor right along and others? Not so much 
