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A Long Night

Lieutenant Amanda Murray, it is the request of the High council that at the next full moon you report to Base One for a temporary assignment to last not longer than one month. During this time we request that you and another member of your Sat Strike command team install and test a secondary command center for the Satellite Strike system. Please notify the Council of your choice of staff ASAP, that they may arrange schedules accordingly.

Kindest Regards,

Capt. Jonathon Ford

Amanda looked at the message on her computer screen and sighed, it had only been three weeks since Wayne had given her the gift that had seemed like such a curse to him at the start. Now she was being summoned to the ASL's Base One on the moon for the next month. Amanda sat back in her chair and tried to decide who would be the best person to take with her. She would have liked to take Wayne, but she'd need him here at Headquarters to help get the two systems synced up. She thought some more taking a long pull at her coffee cup. "Erin." She said to herself. Erin was the perfect choice she knew the system as well as anyone and besides it would be good to have another lady werewolf around to talk to off duty.

Amanda clicked on the link to the base video comm. system and dialed Erin's quarters. Jeffery answered the call, "Hey Amanda, what can I do for you?" he said, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Sorry to wake you Commander, but I was hoping to get Erin. Is she around by any chance?"

"Yeah, she is hold on one second and I'll get her." Jeffery reached over across the view of the camera and pressed the Hold key. "Hey Erin, Amanda is on the video comm. for you."

Erin walked from the bathroom wearing her robe and sat down at the computer screen, her hair still wrapped in a towel. She deselected Hold and Amanda's face returned to the screen. "Hey Lieutenant what's up?" She said casually rubbing her hair at the same time.

"Hey Erin. Listen what did you have planned for the next four weeks?"

"Oh, not much. Just staying around here and working. Why?"

"Well I've been asked to go up to Base One and get a secondary Sat Strike command center up and running."

"That's great, you'll love it up there. The view's are just excellent."

"So I've heard. But the reason I ask is I need someone to go with and help me set things up, and I was hoping you'd want to go."

"I'd love to. I've wanted to get back up there since Jeffery and I got back. We can stay at my quarters there and save you getting sorted out. So when do we leave?"

"Next week, the first night of the full moon."

"Great see you then." Erin said before disconnecting the video comm.

Amanda smiled, "well that was easy," she thought to herself. She opened a message box and started typing. She wrote out the notification of whom she was taking and sent the message back to Jonathon for the High Council. "This should be interesting." She thought as she finished the last of her coffee.

The first day of the full moon both Amanda and Erin had the day off to get ready for the trip up to Base One. It was just after five in the afternoon and Amanda was sitting in her quarters facing her computer, a cup of coffee growing steadily cooler as it rested on the desk nearby. She sat staring at the blueprint of the room that she would be working in for the next month. She lifted the coffee and took a sip before replacing it without her eyes ever leaving the monitor. Wayne walked up behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders giving her a gentle massage. Amanda blinked for a second, "Hi hon." She said still fixated on the screen. Wayne leaned down kissing her on the cheek, "So what are you doing?" he asked as he continued rubbing her shoulders.

"Just looking over the plans for the new command center and trying to work out where to put things." She said leaning back into Wayne's hands. "So what's with the message?"

Wayne chuckled to himself, "Well after tonight I'm not going to be able to hold that soft brown fur of yours for a month so I thought I'd get as much of a feel for you as I could before you leave. So got your bags packed yet?"

"They're over by the bed." Amanda said stretching her arms wide and standing up.

"Attention all staff, ten minutes to moon rise." The base comm. system chimed.

Amanda gave Wayne a hug before she laid out her uniform for the night. Amanda could feel her skin beginning to itch as she made one last check of her bags, making sure she hadn't forgotten anything. Her skin felt as if where aflame as she straightened up from leaning over her bag. She moved a little to fast and the sudden movement together with the progressing change made her light headed. She stumbled and lost her footing, landing on the carpet with a soft thud. Her layer of thick brown fur help to soften the impact but she just lay on the floor waiting for the change to run its course before she got up. She stood up slowly placing one paw hand on the bed for support. Amanda let out a soft moan, almost a whimper, as she rubbed the back of her head. She rolled her head around in a big circle. She could feel the bones realigning themselves slightly as she moved. Amanda dusted herself off and put on her uniform, her fall would see her having a headache for a few hours but other than that she was fine. She hoisted her two bags with ease. Bags that she had struggled to move off the bed just an hour before.

She walked down to the Transport center and found Erin standing by the door waiting for her. "Been here long?" Amanda asked strolling up to the door.

"Only about five minutes." Erin said pressing the button to open the door. Erin's bags where much smaller than Amanda's because she had some things already at Base One. The two ladies entered the Transport center and the operator greeted them. "Well two beautiful lady werewolves," he said, "I must have done something right. So how can I help you ladies today?"

Amanda and Erin giggled to themselves as they placed their bags on the transport pad and stepped up themselves. "Well with talk, like that Carman you won't be human very long." Amanda said joking.

"Oh Lieutenant, don't make promises that you can't keep," Carman said without missing a beat, "So where to this evening?"

"Just to Base One thanks, Carman." Erin said smiling.

He started punching in the co-ordinates, "So coming back this cycle girls?" he asked looking up briefly.

"No, but we'll see you in a month." Amanda said.

"Well unless your coming back via the Tiberian, no you won't. I go back to shipboard duties next week." Carman said plugging in the last set of numbers.

Erin frowned slightly, "Well we'll miss having you around Carman." She said.

Carman smiled as he looked up from his control panel, "Thanks Erin," he said, "That means a lot to me. Ok here we go." Carman pressed the engage button and sent them on their way. After they had gone he reset the controls for the next person, whom ever that might be.

After arriving at Base One Erin showed Amanda to their quarters and then around most of the base. Erin and Amanda where unpacking when Amanda spoke up, "You know back home I could hear everything that went on out in the corridor from my quarters, but here I don't hear anything. What's with that?" She asked.

Erin laughed, "Well when I was here last I could hardly sleep because of all the activity in the halls here, so I had the tech's put in extra sound proofing. So now someone would have to set off a grenade outside before even we'd hear it in here."

Amanda nodded her head, "That makes sense." She said. The two finished unpacking and had a hot shower before getting some sleep. It was going to be a big day in the morning, even if morning and evening alternated about every ninety minutes up here.

About six hours had passed when the girls' alarm clock sounded to wake them. Amanda reached over to silence the thing and look at the time. She sat up with a large stretch and a yawn, which managed to wake Erin who was still asleep next to her. Erin rubbed her eyes and yawned, "Time to get up is it?" she asked halfway through the yawn.

"I guess so." Amanda said, running her hands through her head fur. Amanda threw back the covers and swung her feet from the bed. Getting up she arched her back in a graceful stretch before heading over to the closet for her uniform. Erin meanwhile was over at the computer checking up on the day's schedule. Amanda pulled her uniform from the rack and headed for the bathroom. Erin satisfied that the schedule was in order got her uniform out and changed in the bedroom. She was just tucking in her shirt when the bathroom door opened Amanda emerged cap under one arm. Erin had never really had a chance to look at Amanda in uniform as a werewolf. She nodded her approval and smiled, "You look really good as a werewolf you know."

Amanda smiled back, "Wayne said basically the same thing." They both giggled. "Well I suppose we should get some breakfast and then get to work." Amanda said as she headed for the door. Erin grabbed a data pad from the desk next to the computer, which contained the plans for the new command center and headed out with Amanda.

As they ate Erin handed Amanda the data pad with the blue prints already on the screen. "So what do you think?" Erin asked taking a bite out of the ham on her plate. Should we just have a carbon copy of the center at HQ or do we change it around?" she continued.

Amanda looked over the plans for a second before responding, "Well after I set up the one back home I found a few things that where a bit awkward. So I think if we change those from the start here it will be that much easier in the long run."

Erin nodded as she finished off her plate and licked her lips. "Ok then. So we'll give the amended plans to the techs and they can get started on installing things this morning while we work on getting the files transferred over."

"Sounds like a plan." Amanda said finishing off her plate as well. The pair got up and started walking down to their work area for the next four weeks. On the way they passed on of the clear sections of corridor that overlooked the base landing pads. They stopped and watched as one of the Bravo training squadron touched down off a vertical landing approach. The pilot began taxing to the hangar and Erin and Amanda continued their journey to the new command center. They arrived to find the technical crew already waiting for them. Amanda and Erin greeted each of the crew that they would be working closely with for the next few days as they set up the various workstations and consoles. Amanda and Erin started to review the plans for where things should and how they wanted everything to work. One of the first things that Amanda got on to was the security system for the command center and what she wanted to see. The technicians nodded and made a few suggestions as to how things should be wired and what screens should be where. Amanda yielded on some of the wiring ideas, but she knew what she wanted when it came to the layout of the center and the arrangement of the displays throughout the center. Amanda and Erin made sure the crew had very thing laid out right before they left for the base communication center to start the various files and programs transferring, just that task would take up most of the day.

It was nearly lunch by the time Amanda and Erin had gotten all the file transfers started. They had set them up to one server, so retrieving them for installation and set up would be rather simple. The pair dropped in on the tech crew working on the hardware construction on their way to lunch. Amanda was pleased to find that the new security system that she had requested was already up and running. Erin dismissed the crew for lunch and they headed off leaving Erin and Amanda to have a look at the progress they had made over the morning. The crew had made good time setting things up and most of the groundwork such as wiring and frames where set up. Amanda and Erin headed for their quarters for a quiet lunch. They where just finishing lunch when the computer in Erin's quarters gave a low double beep. Both of the girls looked at the screen at the flashing message notifying them of an incoming video call. Erin and Amanda moved over to the desk and Erin clicked the accept icon connecting the call. The screen blacked for a second before a video image filled the screen. The girl's eyes brightened when they saw who had placed the call, they found themselves looking at the boy's they cared for. Wayne and Jeffery had gotten together on their time off to see how the one's they loved where doing. "So how are you two beautiful ladies getting on up there?" Jeffery asked.

"Not too bad." Amanda said smiling

They talked for a time mostly about work, but also the view and what was happening around the island.

"Now I want you to promise me, Amanda, no pulling twenty-four hour shifts like you do down here. It's easy to lose track of time up there and you have a month to get everything finished. So take a break every now and then." Wayne said almost in a mock scolding way.

"We promise." The girls said in unison.

Time was wearing on so they each said their good byes and Jeffery reminded them that they could call anytime. The girls disconnected the call and headed back to finish transferring those files. It took the rest of the day to get the files transferred up the base computer. With the Tiberian sitting in the orbit that she was a direct link with the headquarters computer wasn't possible and they had to break every hour or so to change the satellite routing. But the files eventually made it and Amanda ran a confirmation program just to make sure that every file was accounted for.

As the technicians finished putting everything in place in the command center over the remainder of the week Amanda and Erin where busy changing the main codes for the different programs that would enable the system to run parallel to the system at headquarters without over riding it. By the end of the first week the command center equipment was pretty much up and running, allowing the girls to start bringing the programs across to their own independent system and fine-tune each one. The next two and half weeks passed in a flurry of activity as the need for constant fiddling with consoles to get them just right kept popping up and forcing Amanda and Erin to call in the techs for support. Together with that Erin had to take on the task of training the selected staff to run and use the system. She ended up eventually getting two of the best technicians assigned to permanently be responsible for maintaining the systems and the hardware that went with them. Erin and Amanda did keep their promise not to work any twenty-four hour shifts although they did work a few twenty-three and a half hours duty shifts.

It was midway through the fourth and final week at Base one, Amanda had finally stopped whacking her tail on the desk every time she got up. Both girls where looking forward to going home and being able to hold their boys again. The new command center was fully operational with a full complement of staff. Amanda and Erin had just arrived back at their quarters and where changing into just casual sweatshirts and pants when a video call came in on the computer, which gave its normal double beep to signal the call waiting. Amanda answered the call and was greeted by Wayne on the other end. "Hey there beautiful." He said in greeting.

"Hello there hon, what are you up to this morning?" Amanda replied smiling.

"Well Jeffery and I have a little surprise for you and Erin." Wayne moved out of the way of the camera to reveal Jeffery's back as he sat looking over the console of a star fighter and the rapidly darkening sky beyond. "We are coming up there to pay the two of you a little visit." He said moving back into view of the camera.

Amanda's smile widened noticeably and Erin poked her head around the corner from the bathroom, "Did he they where coming up here?" She said drying her still wet fur from the shower. Amanda nodded her head rapidly. Then her face lost its smile and happy look, "But how come you're coming up here in a star fighter during the day and not at the full moon. What about the change effecting you mid flight or on approach and all that?" She said worriedly.

Wayne smiled, "Well we are trailing a new serum the med guys have come up with. It hold off the change for about twelve hours, so we thought in that twelve hours we'd come up and see you two."

Amanda took on a disapproving look, "Isn't that just a tad bit risky? I mean what if something happened and the serum didn't work."

Wayne frowned slightly, "Oh everything will be alright you'll see. Anyway we'll be there in about thirty minutes, so see you soon." He reached over and ended the call. Amanda's computer screen went back to showing Dark Knight's logo as a watermark and she switched it off completely. Thirty minutes would be just enough time to get over to one of the observation towers and watch them land.

Amanda and Erin arrived in observation tower three just in time to hear Jeffery report that he was on final approach for pad five. Erin raised the blast shields from over the windows. They could just make out the ship as it approached, silhouetted by the blue glow from its engines, the bright landing lights shining like distant stars. The girls leaned on the windowsill as the ship grew closer, Amanda made so comments about Jeffery's piloting skill and Erin nodded in agreement. As the fighter came down the runway, still airborne, there was a brief flash from the attitude control thrusters as Jeffery raised the nose of the ship. Four bright blue jets fired from the belly of the ship, slowing its pace. The girls smiled in anticipation. Soon their boys would be with them. A brilliant orange flash reflected in Amanda's eyes, causing her pupils to contract. She slammed herself against the window hard enough to break it had it been ordinary glass. A fireball just above the runway marked where the ship had been only moments ago. Tears welled up in the girls' eyes as the energy form the blast shook the tower. "NO." cried Amanda as she buried her face in her arms. The shaking of the tower continued after the shockwave had passed. Amanda didn't even notice. Then a familiar voice called her name, "Amanda" it said. It was Wayne's voice and she looked up in surprise, but he was nowhere in sight. Then it came again, "Amanda, Amanda wake up!"

Amanda's eyes snapped open. A slightly blurred image filled her vision. After a moment her vision cleared and Wayne's loving eyes looked down at her. "Are you ok?" he said softly.

Amanda reached up and grabbed him tightly in a hug, almost pulling him off his feet. She was crying, happy that he was alive. He wrapped his arms around her and rocked her slowly. "It was just a dream, sweetheart, that's all. Just a dream." He said trying to sooth her.

Amanda wiped the tears from her eyes, "I know, but it was just so real."

She got up from the bed and walked a little shakily over to the bathroom to wash her face. She checked her watch. She had been asleep for nearly twelve hours, not uncommon after she pulled a double shift like she had just done. She reappeared from the bathroom to find Wayne sitting at the desk looking at the computer screen. It had only been a week since Wayne had changed her into a werewolf and she was looking forward to the next full moon. Wayne turned his head around, "You've got a message here love." He said pointing at the screen.

Amanda moved in and sat on his lap before clicking the message open.

Lieutenant Amanda Murray, it is the request of the High Council that...

The End...or so it would seem.