Posted by Lieutenant Commander Faye Calloway (Counter-Intelligence Officer) in Event Horizon Station- Promises

Posted by James Sinclair in Event Horizon Station- Promises

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Faye Calloway (Counter-Intelligence Officer) in Event Horizon Station- Promises
Posted by… suppressed (2) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

“Koska nebula. There’s an asteroid field right there in front of us. We’re not far from the station and the Manhattan surveyed the area at one point. Nothing much out here, except for this. But it’s close to a couple inhabited systems.”

Flexing her fingers, Faye stretched out her arms. “Already my dear, hold on tight! While I’m not going to recreate my mad dash from the Romulans, I’m going to simulate how it felt,” she said with an almost giddy grin.

The whole time they were talking, they were still travelling at full impulse, but now Faye shifted the guidance system into manual input so she could let her senses guide her. Pushing the engines, they sped forward, an asteroid rapidly approaching. But Faye was utterly calm, letting the ship get rather close before veering off and around, her eyes tracking the movement in the asteroid field. Daggum could see the field clearly on the sensors, but Faye wasn’t paying any attention to her console, her fingers flying out of touch memory and her keen reactions.

Immediately they dipped underneath another asteroid and her eye caught another closer than preferred and she spun them up and over. The inertial dampers complained but she wasn’t pushing them beyond a safe point. More than anything Faye was skirting that line of danger, mindful that she was not trying to show off so much as create a feeling for them both for when they reached the nebula. The swirl of colours beckoned and all they needed to do was get through. “So my dad told me once that flying a ship in the day and age we live in was as much a life skill as knowing how to swim. After mom disappeared, it was like he couldn’t bear for me to be out of his sight, so he took me with him if he left the colony. We’d do stuff like this to test the modifications he’d make to the few ships we had.” The dampeners complained again as she did an abrupt loop, grinning.

~Faye

Daggum smiled as she manivered them over, under, and around. His gaze was half on the viewscreen, half on her. She was happy… and that made him happy. He focused fully on the view in front of them and then said “He wasn’t wrong. Before I was allowed to work on the engines, I had to be able to pilot the ship. It was always something I try to keep current with.”

Daggum

“And then once you understand the mechanics of a vessel, you can appreciate how it moves even better,” Faye said as they dove to avoid a final asteroid. When they came out, the abundant hydrogen and oxygen in the nebula registering as blue, teal and greens.

She flew them straight in to the middle and then slowed the shuttle down, bringing it to a stop. “That asteroid field was once a planetoid and this nebula is the remnants of the atmosphere. Best we could figure, the orbit of this planetoid got disrupted and it was orphaned and then drifted away from the nearest system. A large meteor collided with it and boom you have yourself an asteroid field.”

Faye grinned at Daggum. “And now it’s time to see what the hotel staff opted to put into our picnic basket. They said they took you into account,” she said as she retrieved a blanket and spread it over the central deck of the shuttle. She unzipped her boots and chucked them off to the side and sat in her stain cargo pants, careful not to see on the hem of her beaded tunic.

~Faye

Daggum looked at the remnants of the planet and shook his head. “I wonder if it was inhabited…” he mused quietly. He then shook his head and got up and joined Faye on the blanket. He looked at her and said “You know… I really can’t wait to be your husband.” and he winked, and then helped her unload the basket.

Faye grinned at him. “You know, I never thought I’d ever get married, that it would be a recipe for disaster, but with you at my side everything feels possible Dag. And I love finding out all the ways that that is true.”

He pulled out a large jug and smiled. “You talked to Kistra, didn’t you? He knows I love that lemonade and tea drink.”

Daggum

“Hey, I got my connections,” she said with a wink as she pulled out al the fixings to make hero sandwiches. “I mean what kind of intelligence officer would I be if I didn’t know how to haggle with people?”

Spreading everything out, there was also a fruit platter and a tray of yummy looking sweet things. As she starting to assemble her sandwich, she looked at Daggum. “So, tell me more about this friend you’re inviting to the wedding. I want to know everything.”

~Faye

Daggum began assembling his sandwich and smiled. “Paul. Paul Shaughnessy. He’s the one who got me off Orion, onto a ship. Helped me learn about systems and Engineering.” and he set the assembled sandwich on a plate and got comfortable.

“So when I was a kid, we’d get all kinds of species in the cages with us. Slaves, prisoners, people who lost a bet… all kinds. Anyway, one day they drop a captured space freighter crew member in the cage next to mine. Human. Got captured by the Syndicate and couldn’t buy his way out, so there he was. He learned pretty quick I could fight, and he offered to teach me things if I taught him how not to get killed in the Pits. I agreed. So, he taught me to read and write, a few languages, and he would tell me stories of space and the ships that moved through it. Those stories were the first way I learned that there was more than just the Pits. I loved those stories…” he said and took a bite and chewed, clearly remembering the times. “Anyway… he was held for a couple of years and he and I would speak at night after the task-masters had allowed us to sleep. But one day I came back… and Paul was gone. I looked at the Pit Master and told him I wanted to know where he had gone. The Master started in on me for speaking out of turn. I guess he didn’t think about it, but I had grown up a lot… I was already a very strong fighter. The pain didn’t really matter, but something just… snapped. So I grabbed him and choked him to death with my bare hands. Grabbed the key ring and opened all the cages, let everyone go. I watched to see if I could find Paul… but he wasn’t there.” and he took another bite and chewed slowly.

So… I spent the next few years on the streets, just trying not get sent back to the Pits. It was close a time or two, but I managed. By then I had grown a lot and my size made me useful. Took odd jobs in construction, but made the most money collecting debts and enforcing the rules of whoever was paying me. I was well on my into the Orion Syndicate, but then Paul showed back up. He found me working in a bar. Told me he had come back to try and buy my freedom. He had finally been paid for, thats ho he got out. He’d been on Orion weeks by that point. He heard about the break out, that there was still a price on my head. He offered me a spot on his crew, helping the engineers. I jumped without even thinking. Once we got in space, Paul explained that he was a former Star Fleet officer who had resigned and now worked on his own ship. He knew I had a good head on my shoulders; so I spent several years transporting cargo between systems with him. Learned a great deal about star ship systems, and by the time I was eighteen I had already seen a good chunk of the Alpha Quadrant. It was Paul that pushed me to apply to the Academy… he saved me. Almost as much as you have.” and he winked at her and took another bite.

Daggum