Posted by Civilian Micah Pikelsimer (Federation Security Agent) in From the Shadows Comes Hope

Posted by Commander Shara Calloway (Executive Officer) in From the Shadows Comes Hope

Posted by Civilian Micah Pikelsimer (Federation Security Agent) in From the Shadows Comes Hope
Posted by… suppressed (7) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

Shara snorted. “You do remember I almost poisoned Faye with her own birthday cake? Actually, to be fair, it wasn’t dangerous, just terribly inedible. But Nadine’s got enough weird things about her birth mom to work through. Food poisoning is not something I want to add to the list.”

While they were joking, there was something earnest in her voice. “I just don’t want my father to be the reason I can’t do something. I’m getting too old for that crap. Besides, he’s dying and if he didn’t die during our disappearance, he can’t last much longer. Though Gavin would have…” Shara dropped her toast onto her plate, her mouth and eyes wide.

“I haven’t called Gavin. It’s like I forgot we were even talking again…” she whispered. He had to have heard all the rumours but what if he hadn’t heard the aftermath? His sister, once again a terrible person betraying Starfleet. That’s what he had to have been thinking this whole time.

~Shara Calloway, CIO

Micah stood up and went to the closet where the records were kept and came back with a small comm unit. “Call ‘em. Right now. Although I will say FedSec sent a clearance memo to all known family members, so he probably knows you’re good… but ya should call.”

Micah

She set her plate down and took the comm. Shara stared at it for a moment before she put in the ping to Gavin, not even sure where his ship was right now. She knew the general service areas they tended to be in, but that didn’t mean he was easily reachable. “Okay, ping sent. Just need to wait,” Shara said, picking up her plate again and resuming her meal.

“So, besides listening to my music and teaching me to cook, and spending time with the kids, anything you want to specifically do while we’re here?”

~Shara Calloway, CIO

“Other than you?” he asked with a wink and a grin. “I wanna go fishing. I wanna go to the cave and drink some of Pap’s shine. And I wanna have the Morgans over to thank ‘em for the work they did for us and the kids. Other than that? I just wanna kick back and watch the trees for a while.” He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, all the tension he had held for the past almost-year starting to finally exit his body, mind… and soul. “What about you, hun? Whatcha want to do while we are home?”

Micah

“Well, Black Wolf was arranging things, but to make the experience more… real for me than the holodeck would be, he suggested I do this sweat lodge thing here on Earth. Would you go with me?” It was partly about safety while in a vulnerable state, but also she wanted him to be a part of her healing process. He had been for quite a bit of it and it felt important to allow him into this piece of the process.

~Shara Calloway, CIO

“Done and done. I’ll sweat with you anytime you like.” and he grinned and kissed her; a long, slow kiss that conveyed as much love as it did lust. When he finally pulled away he smiled and said “Oh, and just in case ya forgot… I love you, Shara Calloway-Pikelsimer.” They had never discussed names, or if either of their names would change after they were married (in a drunken haze, yes… but still legal). And his use of the name didn’t seem to say that he was suggesting it… just that she was a part of him, a partner and a wife.

Micah

“What a mouthful,” she quipped trying to curb a smile from lips that still tingled. “You forgot my middle name too. Yep, a mouthful.” She finished her toast and set the plate down. “I do want to drop into Knoxville to look at piano music, but that might be a good thing to do on our way back from wherever we do this ritual.”

---

Meanwhile, the shuttle dipped as they descended through the troposphere. Faye had been rather quiet on the journey over from the Athena, but she wasn’t moody per say. Just very contemplative and trying to not let her thoughts get ahead of her. Tess roamed about and had her favourite nooks but of course her favourite place to be was in Faye’s lap, even if Faye was piloting, as she was now. “We have clearance all the way. Should be two minutes,” she said, eyes focused on the readouts, glancing out the front window as North America came closer and then soon they were headed over the Eastern US towards Tennessee.

~Shara & Faye Calloway

Daggum stared out the window. “I’ve never seen anywhere like this.” he said as the shuttle banked and moved across the Appalachian Mountains. “I mean, I saw the forest groves on Nillar II. But those are planned and planted cultivated. This place looks… ” and they drew closer to the tree tops and could see the deep shadows, valleys, dense foliage, and dark hollers that gave the region it’s reputation of mystical and sometimes dark energy. “It looks haunted.” and he looked at his wife and said “Am I being weird? Did that sound weird?” he asked with a chuckle.

Daggum

“I would never call you weird,” Faye said as she adjusted their pitch starboard and their pitch downwards further, banking towards the clearing where the cabin was located. “It looks like a forest in the mountains to me, though I was raised in a community surrounded by woods, and anything supernatural had a discernible source. Even when we can find a logical reason, doesn’t mean there isn’t one,” she said with a tiny smirk.

~Faye

“So you say…” Daggum said doubtfully and then sat back as the shuttle came in for a landing. He looked at Vanessa and nodded in approval. “Pikelsimer has good taste. Those things are almost indestructible for their size.” As the engines powered down, he stood up and grabbed (all of ) their bags. “Lead on, wife. You can tell the spirits that there is a logical reason for them.” and he grinned at her.

Feeling mildly smug about her excellent landing job, Faye matched his grin and stepped out the back. “Don’t worry, Gem, I’ll protect you from the ghosties.”

Inside the house, Micah’s ears had perked up at the sound of the shuttle about a minute before it landed. He was on the porch watching; and even though they were expecting company, there was a nasty looking Klingon rifle just inside the doorway. When the hatch opened and the two figures appeared, he grinned and stepped off the porch. “ ‘Bout time. Y’all take the scenic route of sumthin’?” he asked with a grin.

Daggum / Micah

Shara appeared behind Micah wearing a light smile that hid her nervousness. At least Faye and Dag seemed in good enough moods.

“Naturally,” Faye said as she appeared. “It’s R&R after all. Vacation means sightseeing sometimes. Thought about doing the Sol System tour, but been there, done that. Though we most definitely avoided San Fran. I made sure none of the brass knew I was in the system because that’s the last thing I want to be doing.” Her experimental work was getting interesting but she had no intention of letting the uppers drag her into meetings while she was around.

Faye reached Micah first and threw her arms around him. “Heya, Pops. Nice of you to survive. I appreciate it.” It might sound flippant to others, but those that knew Faye understood given her history just how happy she truly was to see him. Her father.

~Faye & Shara

Micah embraced her tightly and held her for a long minute. “It’s good ta be seen, hun.” he said quietly. “I missed ya, daughter of mine.” and he let her go and looked at Daggum. “What’s up, Chief?” he asked with a smile. Daggum chuckled. “I thought you probably already knew.” and he reached for Micah’s hand. Micah slapped it away with his metal hand and the hugged the giant Orion close. “Missed ya, boy. Glad to have ya here.”

Micah

Shara stepped down watching this all play out with a deeper (and genuine) smile. Faye approached and stood there before her, hands planted on her hips, wearing a look Shara often did. It made her smirk to see her own disgruntled expression tossed back at her. “Nice to see you too,” Shara said.

“I’m putting a tracker on you, for the record,” Faye said before she closed the distance and threw her arms around Shara.

The embrace was tight and it surprised Shara, not that it happened, but by its fierceness. There was something in it, in the tiny caught breath that tore at Shara’s heart. Yes, she knew none of them have gotten off easy. Never mind that if anyone else had made that threat, Shara wouldn’t have believed them capable, nor would they have tolerated it. But Faye? Well, there were few people she trusted as much as her daughter, nor any of those who had Faye’s quirky brain and impressive skills as well. “Duly noted,” she whispered. “We’ll talk more, promise.”

Faye nodded within the embrace and buried her head more. When she finally pulled back, she slipped out of Shara’s arms and held up a finger. “Needed to do that before I brought our other guest.” Faye jogged back to the shuttle and a minute later came out with Tess in the carrier and then closed up the shuttle. She had thought about letting Tess walk into the cabin on her own, but she didn’t want Tess getting used to being outside when the chances of a predator taking her cat was rather high. “She’s been strangely interested in the travel. But I want to set boundaries about where she can and can’t be.”

“Well, the cabin is mostly open, except for Micah’s record room. She can’t get stuck many places inside, but you and Daggum have your own cabin to stay in, so we’ll make sure to give her a chance to get to know that space too.”

Faye dropped her head to peer into the softshell carrier. “Sound good to you? You can’t corral your person when you don’t know the space, right?” Tess chirped and Faye laughed. She looked over her shoulder at Daggum. “What do you say? Tour the big cabin first and settle ourselves in the other after?”

Meanwhile, Shara gazed at Faye and Daggum with a soft smile and she held out her arms to Daggum.

~Shara Calloway, CIO