“Are there any bugs on this planet?” Calli Hertz checked the trees and grass surrounding the log upon which she sat. Her weapon was carefully poised beside her, laying just over the log’s support, to her right.

“There are bugs on any planet.” her teammate, Anthony Colletti had pulled an impatient face. He was taking water samples from the mammoth pond by which they sat.

“I’m asking, are there any honkin big bugs.” Calli clarified, as if she wouldn’t waste time on asking about ‘regular’ size bugs. “The kind that swoop down unsuspectingly and shit in your hair, say. Or the kind that suck your face off when you least expect it, kind of bugs, Tony... as well you know, so stop giving me the business.”

“I haven’t seen any, honey.” Mac McAroy stood, ever vigilant, by the edge of the forest, surveying the land with the trained eyes of an observer. “I’ll keep an eye out for you.”

“I love you, Mac.” Calli was instantly happy, turning to other more important matters. “Can I swim in the pond?”

“You want some alien ‘bug’ crawling up your ass, Hertz?” Tony was still examining the samples, his brow furrowed critically. “We are on patrol. Act like you’re a soldier at least, geessh.”

“I’m just as much a soldier as you are.” That cute little up-turned nose snubbed the guy. “General Hathaway gave me a medal just the other day.”

“It was two years back and it was for cleaning and maintaining your weapon, idiot.”

“It meant a lot to the General. He was very happy with me that day.” Calli stood, ready for battle. “You’re just being a butthead cause you didn’t get a medal.”

“He was happy because you hadn’t shot any foreign dignitaries that week.” Tony grinned, keeping the fact from his BFF. As he often did.

Wouldn’t do to let the woman know just how cool he thought these weird conversations were or how much he enjoyed them. “Which lasted two days, as I recall, yeah?” He shifted knowing eyes. “The Premier of Canada, right?”

“He wasn’t really all that important...it's Canada, for Christ's sake.” Calli sighed heavily, waving a dismissing hand. “He shouldn’t have made a pass at me. Which wasn’t cool, by the way. Not at all.”