Posted by Lieutenant Faye Calloway (Counter-Intelligence Officer) in Event Horizon - Two Sides To Every Coin

Posted by James Sinclair in Event Horizon - Two Sides To Every Coin

Posted by Lieutenant Faye Calloway (Counter-Intelligence Officer) in Event Horizon - Two Sides To Every Coin

(snip)

Reaching up, she rested her hand on his green cheek. “My beautiful and brave man, you’ve taken all I’ve shared with you in stride and made me feel loved and cared for. I could never give you less than that in return. Show me,” she said gently.

“Ok. I will… I love you, Faye.” he said, and something in his voice carried worry.

“Right back atchya.”

Slipping out of bed, Faye slipped the tin straps off her shoulders and let the nightgown fall in a puddle at her feet. She rummaged for one of her t-shirts and yoga bottoms, not caring about undergarments at this time of night. She grabbed her necklace with the vial of scent in case she was at all overwhelmed and the silently stood there with an expectant look on her face wondering what the holodeck program could be about. She could guess given all he’d told her so far, but Faye somehow thought that maybe it was deeper than those original conveyances.

~Faye

As she dressed, Daggum pulled sweatpants and a hoodie over his green skin. He then went into the closet and brought out a well-traveled black bag and set it on the bed. “So… I take this with me whenever I travel.” and he patted the bag respectfully. “I’ve had most of these as long as I can remember. I’ll show when we get there.” and he held out his hand to her. “I’ll be honest… I’m nervous showing you this. But I never want you to think I will keep anything from you Faye. Because I won’t.”

Daggum

Faye’s gaze flicked between him and the bag and back again. “Well, I can’t say all the build up isn’t making me nervous, but I trust you. If I didn’t I wouldn’t have let you give me this,” she said, lifting her left hand and wiggling the ring with her thumb. Faye sighed. “If it’s a lot, I’ve got my pendant vial with the scent with me to ground me. I’ll be okay.” She didn’t say anything like ‘It can’t be worse than…’ or ‘You’re being dramatic’. Not only was she not that way with him, she knew they’d both been through Hell and she would never minimize either of their pain.

“Lead the way, husband-to-be,” she said softly, smiling at how nice that sounded.

~Faye

Daggum ushered her out of the room and they made their way to the holosuite. Daggum opened a small pouch on the side of the bag’s strap and pulled out an optical chip and put it in the slot inside the door. The door slid closed and the black room transformed into a large walled enclosure with a dirt covered stone floor. Risers went up in circles all around the space and above them hovered enclosed viewing boxes.

Daggum set the bag on the ground and opened it as he knelt on the ground next to it. He looked at Faye and said “When I feel too comfortable, my brain tells me that its a trap… that I can’t be comfortable or relaxed. I start to feel like I’m being watched… that something is waiting for me. I learned a long time ago that I can keep that part of my brain quiet if he gets what it is after. It took me a very long time to figure out exactly what that was, though.” He looked around and then looked at Faye.

“This is the Pits of Orion. Main arena… where… well… where I grew up.”

From inside Daggum retrieved an assortment of odd weaponry and a tangled mass of leather and metal plates. Laying the weapons on the ground, he placed a short spear with a long, fine chain attached to the hilt… a curved knife made of some kind of stone joined in next in line, and then a wicked looking metal hammer. Lastly, he pulled out a round rock that was discolored in places. Oblong impressions worn into the sphere looked like they would fit a large hand. The stone Daggum set almost reverently last in line. Standing up, he shook out the mass of leather straps and laid them out on the ground. Stripping off his sweats, he looked at Faye… the mass of tattoos, brands, and scars all over his torso and limbs seemed somehow more pronounced… fresher.

He lifted the straps over his head and began fastening them in a well-practiced routine. In a matter of moments he was dressed in leather straps with metal plates covering most of his vital areas of his chest, arms and legs. The straps themselves were stained dark and seemed well used. Anyone with a knowledge of the darker side of the cultures of the Alpha quadrant would recognize gladiatorial gear; designed to keep the wearer alive (if they were good), but allowing for blood to flow. Lastly, he retrieved a silvery-gray metal helmet with a full face plate. He set it under his arm, fastened all the weapons to various hooks and ties on the armor, hefted the stone in one hand, and looked at Faye.

“You are going to see me fight, Faye. A real fight of mine. I don’t know which, that’s random… one of a few dozen I was able to get vid footage of over the years. I do this here so I don’t lose controlout there. It used to be I had to do this a few times a week. Now, its a few times a month. Sometimes I get lucky and its not once, but that’s not often.” He stepped close to her and his face was a combination of fear, worry, and determination.

“If you don’t want to see this, you don’t have to. But if you do… want or need to… then I’ll put you in one of the boxes up there. Its safer, the Pit audience sometimes… helped.”

Daggum