Brinus had his vape pen in his mouth sitting on the kitchen counter with his bare ankles crossed. He had his morning coffee in his hands. He wore a pair of boxers and a white tee shirt. Simmie came into the kitchen wearing a pair of pajama bottoms.
Brinus slapped his ass and they both laughed as he brewed a cup of coffee in the coffee maker.
Simmie put his vaping device in his mouth and they both blew Os with each other laughing.
Tangent came into the room and rolled her eyes as she stepped on the step stool. “You two are killing yourselves! Don’t you have lung cancer Simmie?”
“Nope! Cancer-free as of yesterday. The nanite treatment worked,” Simmie laughed, smiling.
Tangent put her hands on her hips, and said with a scowl, “And what if you weren’t in the navy?”
Simmie crossed his arms and frowned. He said with a sneer, “What’s your point?”
She stepped off her footstool once her K cup was done brewing and then Simmie brewed his coffee.
“Brinus,” said Tangent with an annoyed tone, “you are a slave to nicotine. I thought you were a rebel and rebels aren’t slaves to anything.”
Brinus took another draw and then sneered, “Don’t you got a budget meetin’ today?”
She said in a frustrated voice, “Don’t change the subject. You two are supposed to be smart. Simmie, you’re the youngest commissioned officer in the entire navy. Brinus, last semester you made the commandant’s list after you contested that bad grade. Why do you two smoke?!”
There was a few seconds of silence.
“I thought so. You guys don’t even have a valid reason for it. I am going to my Rommba Meeting with the admiralty.”
She swished her bunny tail as she turned on her mechanical legs, hopping out of the kitchen.
Brinus drew another hit as she left the kitchen. “Someone pissed in her cereal.”
“She’s kind of right though. You’re a rebel. In staff meetings, we discuss ways of dealing with troublemakers and your name comes up every week. We call it the smokestack problem. Don’t be like me. I am too far gone to quit smoking. You can quit. Be the rebel I know you are.” Simmie kissed Brinus on the lips. He said, stroking his face, “I have to get ready, love. I have a budget meeting at 0700 hours.”
Simmie left the kitchen leaving Brinus alone. Suddenly his TriQuarter rang. It was his lieutenant. “Hey, could you fill in Master Chief Bonzo today?”
“When does his shift start?”
“In ten minutes.”
Brinus looked at the clock over the replicator. He cussed and then said, “Shit! I won’t have time for grooming! Is this an order sir?”
“I know you’re reliable and a hard worker. We can give you double time pay and the midshipman's share of the prize money for a project being done today.”
“It’s my day off sir! Come on! Is there anyone else who can fill in?”
“I mean there are but they aren’t as efficient as you. Think of the money you will make.”
Brinus groaned. “Alright, sir. Give me 20 minutes. I need to brush my teeth at least and put on my clothes.”
“Okay sure, you’ve got twenty minutes.”
Brinus jumped down off of the counter and took a last hit off of his pen. He then put it on the counter and forgot it as he ran for the bathroom.
----------------------------------------
20 minutes later, Brinus was at his post clocking in. He reached into his pants pocket and realized he had forgotten his vape. Today would be a hell of a day. Figuring he could go without for a few hours he didn’t run back home.
He pulled up the work orders on his computer terminal and began writing up the reports for completed work orders.
He noticed someone wanted to go on a cigarette break which annoyed him. He went to take over their workstation. They were building servo motors for the robotics stations under Simmie. He began assembling them but the gnawing need for nicotine kept him from fully focusing. He made a mistake and stripped a screw by over-tightening it. On the third servo motor, he almost broke the tension spring tightening it too much--a rookie mistake. The fourth one he forgot the fireproof rubber seal and his hands began shaking. The only thing he could think was how long this crewwoman was taking on her smoke break. He looked at his triquarter and realized she went on a smoke break and a bathroom break. A total of thirty minutes. He cussed and slammed the half-built motor on the workbench, denting the motor joints.
Several people looked at him nearby and whispered amongst themselves. Was he okay? Should someone check on him?
A third crewwoman came up to the other two crewmen. She said in a hushed tone, “Is he okay?”
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
The first crewman shrugged his shoulders. He then looked at the young woman and whispered, “Don’t bother him, he is having issues.”
The second crewman shook his head and sent a warning glance to the young lady.
A petty officer walked up to the chief petty officer under Brinus, "Sir, is Midshipman Helios okay?"
"I think he needs to smoke but he won't for some reason."
----------------------------------------
By midday, Brinus was in full withdrawals. Every sound pierced his skull like an arrow during a castle siege. Every time he looked into a welding arc it burned his eyes even with proper protection. He was having hot flashes and was covered in cold sweat. With his heart racing and hands shaking he couldn’t hold the welding torch properly and welding with magic was a clusterfuck. His mind felt like walking through a field of mud.
An acting lieutenant submitted a 200-page work request from the science lab. It had detailed instructions that would cause a massive structural failure. This flaw in the plan wasn’t unusual and he would make changes as needed without authorization. Commander Theodore was aware he would do this. However, no one complained because they didn’t notice the changes. Commander Theodore didn’t enforce orders because the system worked the way it was.
Brinus cussed and slammed his fists on the keyboard, cracking it in two. He then threw the two halves against the wall cracking the glass walls. It was yet another order he would have to modify. Another fucking hour was spent fucking modifying another fucking order. He copied the order into his cloud drive and made the modifications. He replicated another keyboard.
The shakes and the migraine made it impossible to properly concentrate on his privately edited instructions. What came out was gibberish. After thirty minutes of attempting to type he cussed and slammed his hands on the desk. He looked outside of his office and saw the cigarette vending machine in the front lobby. They looked delicious. His mouth watered as he savored the flavors of the tarken tea cigarettes. He fantasized about putting a cigarette to his lips and….
There was a knock on his head and his chief petty officer entered. He saluted and said, “Sir, the men are wondering when the smoke break will be called.”
“What?”
“Well, it’s obvious you need a smoke sir and most of the men and women are getting restless. Just because you’re quitting sir doesn’t mean the rest of us are.”
“GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY GOD DAMN FACE NOW YOU FUCKING IDIOT!!!!” screamed Brinus as loud as he possibly could, jamming his finger into the chief petty officer’s shoulder.
He then walked out of the workshop to the lieutenant. He knocked on his door.
“Come in.”
The chief petty officer came into the Lieutenant’s office and saluted her.
She saluted him back. “What has Brinus done now?”
“Ma’am, he has gone off the rails. I think he is unfit for duties until he smokes or decides to quit.”
“Explain yourself chief. I suggest you choose your words carefully.”
“Very well. Watch the security footage from the last six hours. That will tell you everything.”
----------------------------------------
Captain Plato was in his drawing room with a Vendalfi in a black suit and tie. The drawing room was small at 400x400 square feet. It had white marble floors, and gold electroplated, neo-imperial furniture. The room had policed eight-block paneling and a coal fireplace. The mantle was black marble with a grand vase carved in it with climbing roses carved around the vase. The ginger catperson and the Vendalfi were sitting in front of the fireplace.
“I understand Brinus and Simmie are a married couple. Are you aware of the recent change in naval policy towards same-sex relationships?”
“I believe the exact wording is if the relationship interferes with combat duties, military operations, or elicits some form of special privileges then it is treated as fraternization under section 10.”
“I want them discharged. Their relationship is offensive to people around them.”
Captain Plato closed his eyes and flexed his claws as he said a prayer to the temple spirits to not lose his temper. He opened them again and hissed in a cat hiss, “If their relationship is offensive then close your eyes when they’re around. If you don’t have useful feedback about how I run my ship, then I have a situation in the workshop to attend to.”
Captain Plato waved his paw to say shoo as he rose from his seat.
“There is also the lesbian couple…”
The captain howled and then screeched, “I am too busy for bullshit!! send someone who can actually do their job!! NOW LEAVE OR I WILL HAVE THE POLICE ARREST YOU FOR TRESPASSING ON MILITARY PROPERTY!!”
Captain Plato came and slammed the door behind him. Brinus disrupted workshop operations and he needed to find out why. Normally this would be Commander Theodore’s job. However, Admiral Nelson wanted him to check on it because the fleet was having a project done in the workshop today. Captain Plato was pissed. Not only having to deal with an incompetent naval auditor but also whatever the fuck was going on in the workshop.
Captain Plato was confused because Brinus was normally reliable and hard-working. He was the go-to man for filling shifts. Why is acting so out of character? Did he forget his vape pen? Was there some kind of home drama between him and his new house guest? She did get the budget approved for the development of her rifle. It sounded promising. It would solve a lot of issues with clogging during special operations. She requested nonsmokers on her team which was odd but whatever, her project, her rules.
He was walking down the hall to the workshop. The closer he got to the workshop the more confused he became. He saw Brinus outside of the workshop looking at the cigarette vending machine at the main entrance.
“Officer on deck.”
Brinus stood at attention but couldn’t salute properly or stand at full attention because of the shakes.
“Smokestack. Are you in withdrawal?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Why don’t you want to buy a pack of cigarettes then?”
“Sir, I think I have a problem. It might be time to quit.”
Oh, now he realizes it? Captain Plato rolled his eyes and swished his tail side to side. “Smokestack, are you saying you are willing to quit? If so I will discharge you from classes and duty for two months for medical leave and one-month limited duty.”
Brinus nodded.
"Dismissed Midshipman."
He saluted the best he could and left.
----------------------------------------
Brinus came home early from work. He got a ping on his TriQuarter that he was given three months of medical and and medically withdrawn from his semester at the academy. Tangent greeted him. She hugged his waist. Suddenly Brinus didn’t need to smoke.
“Hi, tangent.”
Tangent let go. “I heard what happened in the workshop. Dr. Calnori came by and dropped this off.”
She handed him a bottle of pills.
“What is it?”
“She said it was a medication called an antidepressant. She said you take it once a day and it will help with the cravings and irritability. There are four more bottles like it on the table. What is an antidepressant?”
Brinus laughed as he popped the pill and swallowed it down with a soda from the fridge. He said as the medication took the edge off of his mood. “It is a type of mood stabilizer to help depression. In my case, they balance out my brain chemicals to keep me from going off the rails.”
He read the instructions on the other meds and took the other pills as well. He removed his shoes, socks, and shirt and got into a pair of gym shorts.
The medication made Brinus sluggish and feel like a zombie so he laid on the couch and streamer-surfed.
He saw his pen on the counter and put it in the replicator. He then pressed a button and it disappeared in a flurry of purple light.
“Fuck you, I quit.”