Posted by Commander Shara Calloway (Chief Intelligence Officer) in Side Sim - Portland - Family Reunion… Or ‘Pre-Union’, As It Were

Posted by Civilian Micah Pikelsimer (Federation Security Agent) in Side Sim - Portland - Family Reunion… Or ‘Pre-Union’, As It Were

Posted by Commander Shara Calloway (Chief Intelligence Officer) in Side Sim - Portland - Family Reunion… Or ‘Pre-Union’, As It Were

(snip)

Nadine’s jaw dropped. “Newlyweds! Wow! I mean, congratulations!” His answers only brought up more questions. So many more questions. But instincts told her that she would mostly likely get those answers from her mother.

With Earth as their backdrop, she fixed her hazel eyes on Micah. “Tell me about her. The woman you know. Tell me how you see her. I want to know more about her but I know the details of her life will come soon enough But as someone who just got married to her, who is she in your eyes?”

~Nadine

Micah took a breath and thought for a moment. “She is… truly the most incredible woman I have ever met. Super smart. Wicked sense of humor. Loyal. So much so it causes her pain, sometimes. And oh my god is she stubborn. But she will do anything to protect those she needs to protect. She’s gifted. Music, mathematics… she can do almost anything.” and he smiled and chuckled. “Except cook. She can make coffee ok, but do NOT ever let her cook.” The chuckles subsided and his face became somewhat melancholic.

She laughed. “Noted.” There was a story there for sure, or a lot of them.

“She carries a lot of hurt inside her. She spent so many years when she was younger just trying to survive. That’s why she did what she did with you. She didn’t want her struggles to keep you from having a good life. Pain follows that woman like a comet’s tail. And thats why I love her. She carries pain that would literally kill lesser people. And she not only carries it… she keeps going. Giving you up… the war… losing it all… being trapped so far from home… all that and more she carries. And she keeps going through it all. It’s… awe inspiring.” He thought for a few more moments and then he tapped a button and they started their decent.

Nadine nodded. It was a lovely picture and an honest one too. She had been honest herself. She didn’t want to hurt the woman and she wasn’t angry with her. But she did want to understand where she came from. There were questions no one could answer for her except her parents.

“C’mon… we got a piano to move.”

Micah

“What’s with the piano, anyway? All this lead up it sounds like the most precious thing in the world to her. Or am I off base?” Nadine asked as they dipped back into the upper atmosphere, heading to… well, wherever crazy secret agent man was taking her. She had to give these people credit, they knew how to make things lively!

~Nadine

“The lady wants a piano, the lady gets a piano. Trust me… easier to just nod and agree. Besides… she needs to start making the place her home too, right?”

A few minutes later and the ship landed on a dirt patch near a somewhat ‘quaint’ cargo yard. Containers and crates lay stacked in the sun, all surrounding a metal siding building with a faded sign that said ‘Corigan Bros. Shipping and Freight, Knoxville’. As the ramp lowered and Micah and Nadine stepped out, a man came walking over, squinting nto the sun and wiping his hands with a dirty rag. “Help y’all?” he said from about twenty feet away. Micha nodded and said “Yeah. Y’all got a piano and crate waitin’ fer us. We’re here for pickup.” The man nodded, spit tobacco juice on the ground, and said “Yeah… we got it. Y’all need help loading?” Micah shook his head. “Naw, we can manage.” The man nodded and then turned and started walking. “Just inside to the left. Bills paid. We ain’t responsible for damage if you’re loading!” Micah just nodded. He looked at Nadine and said “Wait here, be right back.” He walked up the ramp and came with a anitgrav sled.

Walking into the warehouse, the piano was well wrapped in shipping blankets. Next to it was a beat up and aged footlocker. Micah nodded with his head and wlaked the sled over. Touching the controls, it lowered and extended a ramp. “Here, help me slide. Be careful.” and he took one side of the piano.

It took a few minutes to get the two items on, but after that they made short work of getting everything on Vanessa. Soon they were airborne. Micah said “Ok… we’ll land in about fifteen minutes. If you wanna freshen up, bathroom is straight back.”

Micah