Posted by Lieutenant Faye Calloway (Mission Specialist) in Auxiliary Bridge- Late Night Tinkering

Posted by Captain Alexander Cochrane (Commanding Officer) in Auxiliary Bridge- Late Night Tinkering

Posted by Lieutenant Faye Calloway (Mission Specialist) in Auxiliary Bridge- Late Night Tinkering
Posted by… suppressed (2) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

She grinned and shook her head slightly. “Already on it, Captain. Hence why I’m dragging equipment about the ship. And why I was given so much cargo to work with. I was given latitude to construct, deconstruct, rebuild, whatever. I have to adapt on the fly.”

Faye pulled back away from the inner workings of the system and with one knee up and an arm draped over the knee. “But this is all the experimental side of my work. Who knows how any of it will go at any point. There will be the usual testing and threat evaluation of data coming and going form the ship, but this”-she gestured in a circle with her index finger to the chipset-“is why I have taken over an entire lab. Command cares a lot about making sure the Manhattan is protected when it’s not within arms reach of Federation support. After all, it’s a big galaxy out there,” she said with a hint of excited awe.

~Faye Calloway, Data Specialist

Cochrane slid out and, still laying on the deck, said “Indeed it is, Lieutenant. I’m glad you are here looking out for us and keeping the surprises we get to a minimum!” and he chuckled.

Well… some of them, she thought idly. Her earlier conversation with Blue made her stomach tighten slightly, but there was nothing to be done about the situation but carry on. “Well, that’s one person,” Faye remarked with a lopsided grin.

Sitting up, he then stood up and brushed off his pants before putting his over shirt back on. Adjusting it with an ease born of repetition and familiarity, in a few seconds he appeared as he had when he walked in. “Well, I suppose I will leave you to your work, then. I just came down because I saw the Aux bridge had been accessed and the computer said it was you. Sorry to interrupt.”

Cochrane, CO

Calloway cringed slightly. “Yeah, sorry about that. And I don’t mind the interruption. Most of my work is on my own, which is fine and often preferred. But it does make for long and monotonous days.” What time had she started this morning? 0700?

“I have to admit I did wonder what was keeping you up working so late. I know a lot of COs keep looser and more variable schedules. Tell me you’re not planning to up to some stupidly late hour and then be one of those cheery people the next morning…”

~Faye Calloway, Data Specialist

Cochrane chuckled. “I am most definitely not a morning person. And it usually takes at least two cups of coffee for me to not want to rip the head off anyone speaking to me. So fair warning. If you need to talk to me in the morning… bring coffee. I cannot guarantee your safety otherwise.” and he winked at her.

Faye grinned. “I’m right there with you.” It didn’t help that her meds could make her a bit groggy mot mornings either.

“Do you prefer to be on your own? Or with a team?” he asked looking around at the obviously massive amount of work that she had taken on.

Cochrane, CO

Chewing on the inside of her lip, Faye considered the question as she looked around the smaller bridge, still rather comfortable sitting on the deck. Tapping the tips of her index finger and thumb together, she looked back at him and shrugged slightly. “It generally goes better for people if I do more work on my own. But had you asked me that question earlier in my career, it would have been an emphatic yes to being on my own. All the time.”

At that point, the ease in her voice shifted and Faye began to choose her words very carefully. “You mentioned reading my file, so you know the whole Maquis family history stuff, or at least know enough that this won’t be a surprise to you, but… I spent the first years of my career terrified that someone would find out. When I got sponsorship for the Academy, it was only a few years after the War ended. And while some people were willing to forgive the Maquis for their transgressions, others still saw them as traitors. Saw me as a traitor. An idle conversation here and there would tell me where they stood and I quickly realized that keeping that part of my life a secret was vital. But it separated me from everyone. I couldn’t let them get too close, because they might find out and after the Dominion massacres of the Maquis, the Federation had a variable policy on the survivors. Some were arrested and sent to prison. I…” Faye paused and looked down slightly. “I was lucky to have survived but the immediate years after were not… good. Prison would have destroyed me more than I already felt I had been, and I mean, I had been a minor, not legally of age during the border wars. It was pointed out to me as exactly that when all this came out. That they wouldn’t have charged me for anything I might have done as a teenager, especially since it was all over at that point and my parents were not in the picture. But I couldn’t convince myself that revealing that truth was a risk worth taking. And that was before we fully realized the craziness that is going on in here,” she said gesturing to her head, and referencing her personality disorder.

~Faye Calloway, Data Specialist

Cochrane tilted his head to the side as she spoke and listened. When she finished, he nodded his head slightly and took a seat in the chair next to the console she sat on the floor before. He leaned forward a bit so he wasn’t looking straight down at her, but still at an angle. he clasped his hands on his lap.

“Yes. I read your file. And I am aware of your history. But you need to realize this, Lieutenant… I don’t care.” an he paused and looked at the deck for a moment. Looking up, he had an expression of strong consideration on his face.

“Where we come from shapes who we were. That, in turn, influences who we become. They are links in a chain. Some links are strong, some aren’t. It is simply a matter of linear progression from one point in time to another. So I try not to judge people I serve with based on their timeline. I cannot change how they came to be with me. What matters to me is how they are now. And how they strive to forge that next link in their chain. If I can help make that chain stronger, I will. But at the end of the day, we are simply who we are. How we got to be that way is for relationships that involve much stronger emotions than that of ship mates.” and he leaned back and looked at her for a few moments.

“What is going on up there isn’t ‘craziness’, Lieutenant. It is a combination of genetics, biology, and trauma. Same as the rest of us, but more complicated for you. The next time I hear you refer to yourself as crazy I will take offense, understood? You aren’t crazy. Your just built a bit different. And that difference is part of you. And quite frankly, I wouldn’t be speaking to the person I am speaking with without it.”

Cochrane, CO