Posted by Lieutenant Commander Faye Calloway (Counter-Intelligence Officer) in Wedding Bells- An End and a Beginning

Posted by Captain Alexander Cochrane (Commanding Officer) in Wedding Bells- An End and a Beginning

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Faye Calloway (Counter-Intelligence Officer) in Wedding Bells- An End and a Beginning
Posted by… suppressed (2) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

For someone who with self-described social ineptitude, Faye was instantly overwhelmed. Her body had frozen and she had to force herself to breathe. It was way too much. And that wasn’t even considering that the woman liked Faye, or assumed she did. Wow. She cast Alex a ‘Holy hell’ sort of look and stepped forward, right in front of Halstead. She placed her hands on the woman’s shoulders and, in a firm voice, said, “Breath, Lieutenant! Take a deep breath, count to three and breathe again. That’s an order. Because you’re the host and it’s my wedding day and if you faint on me that’ll put a huge damper in the fun, don’cha think?” Calloway dropped her hands and stepped back.

“Great. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let me introduce you to my friend and Commanding Officer, Captain Alex Cochrane. And why don’t you be a dear and show us the way and you can tell me about these modifications. I’ve been told some of comms array work has been used in the Hub and I have to admit I’m curious about the implementation.”

“Lieutenant. A pleasure.” Cochrane said and the young woman’s face went pale. “Oh… OH! Captain! I’m so sorry! P-p-please accept my-” and Cochrane waived her off with a smile. “At ease, Lieutenant. It’s okay. Let’s just make our way,shall we?”

She let Halstead step ahead and leaned in towards Alex. “Okay, best friend and officiant, your task is to keep a healthy personal bubble space between her and I.”

~Faye

Alex smiled and said “Easier said than done. See… I don’t have permission to go in. Only you. Looks like you are stuck… Im off to the Admiral’s office.” and he veered away towards a waiting pair of Security officers.

Cochrane, CO

“Some bodyguard, you are!” Faye tossed with a grin before setting off to follow her overeager fan to The Hub.

She should be miffed, annoyed, on edge. All of those states were common when she was presented with an unknown situation with an unknown person. But instead Faye was, well, happy. Calm. At ease. She was a bride-to-be about to see what was supposed to be the most advanced comp sci set-up in the Fleet (all of Starfleet?). And there was this strange part of of her that was thrilled at the adventure, the unknown. It had come up and again in her life, but in much smaller ways. Perhaps the real Faye Calloway loved mysteries applied to life more than she had realized. Perhaps she had always been this way and it was only now when she was truly ready to embrace it that it was coming to the forefront? An interesting thought, but either way, Faye moved with energy beside Halstead. “So Lieutenant, you been here long?” she said as they approached their destination.

~Faye Calloway, Bride on an Adventure

“Six months, Commander.”came the much more subdued response from Halstead. She kept her eyes straight ahead and walked with a more measured step than seeme d really natural for someone who had been just moments ago bouncing off the bulkheads of the landing bay. “If you’ll follow me, Ma’am, we will have to go through the Security checkpoint before you can change clothes.” and she gestured them forward.

Halstead

Ouch. She was the party-killer, who would’ve thought it? But Faye also knew that there was a certain level of peopling that was, and might always be, difficult. Studying the woman as they walked, she sighed. “Halstead, hold up,” Faye said as she paused.

“Look, I’m not saying you can’t be excited. I’m excited! I mean, hell, I’m getting married today. But that’s the thing. This brain”-she tapped her head with two fingers-“is trying to do a lot of filtering to keep myself level today. Because I want to enjoy it, all of it. I want to be present for every moment. My fiance arranged this amazing surprise for me here on the Dawn and I want to really enjoy it. But I tend to go overboard from one end of emotion to the other, and it… creates problems. I’m trying to find neutral ground because today’s a really important and emotional day. Does that makes sense? Do you think you can help me with this?”

~Faye

Halstead looked at her for a moment and then smiled. “Absolutely, Commander. And I’m sorry… criticism is something I have always struggled to take, even if it’s meant well.” and she shrugged. “One of the joys of having an Uncle that’s an Admiral… I have an expectation of greatness that I don’t always feel I can live up to.” and then she shook her head and said “But that isn’t a discussion for today. Today is all about you! And… this.” and they came to a plain door in a plain hallway. It looked like any other door. It could have been quarters… an office… maybe a closet of cleaning supplies.

And then it opened… and it was none of those things.

They now stood in a stark white room. Opposite the door was a desk… and six armed and armored figures. Federation Marines in full combat load out. An additional figure sat at the desk, dressed in the Uniform of Ship Security. It was he that spoke up. “This her, Lieutenant?” the man asked. Pips on his collar showed he was a Lieutenant Commander… odd for a guard post. Halstead said “Yes. Lt. Commander Faye Calloway, Lt. Commander Drake Fris. He is in charge of securing the Hub” Fris nodded and said “Commander, a pleasure. Please step forward for the scan. After you will go through the door on my right, your left, and enter the clean room. You will fully undress, shower, and don a clean suit. Then you will be escorted inside. There you will meet Captain Octaviana Drulae. She is in charge of the Hub and will set you up.” Octaviana Drule was an absolute legend in the computer science field. Known for high-end modeling of simulated consciousness and inter-dimensional computational algorithms, if she was here there was something major going on.

The Hub