Posted by Lieutenant Faye Calloway (Mission Specialist) in Ready Room - Calling Faye

Posted by Captain Alexander Cochrane (Commanding Officer) in Ready Room - Calling Faye

Posted by Lieutenant Faye Calloway (Mission Specialist) in Ready Room - Calling Faye
Posted by… suppressed (1) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

“That means we will need details on this handler, we have to find a way to smoke out the truth and move on from there. What all do we have on them?” Jack asked, more for Faye but Shara was free to divulge details if she knew too.

Creed, XO

Faye exhaled audible. “Commander Leroy Strickland, codename Blue. He was assigned to me when Intelligence asked me to go on my mission to seek out the Reunification Movement. There was a second piece to the assignment, and he was the one that guided me through that where necessary. After I was captured and convicted of crimes I didn’t commit, he was the a part of the group that arrived on the Atlantis after I escaped and made it back to Federation Space. He was the one who debriefed me. I’ve trusted him. He’s a good person and one fo the few from Intelligence that always gave it to me straight. I didn’t see him for awhile though, and it wasn’t till I got the assignment for the Manhattan that I spoke to him again.”

“What’s he been like since then?” Shara asked curiously, watching her daughter carefully. Faye was doing disclosure well given how anxious she clearly was, but she also knew they had to tread carefully lest Faye just finally lose it about the whole situation. She wouldn’t blame her, but it wouldn’t help any of them.

Faye sighed. “I don’t know. Himself? Mostly?” She shrugged.

“What do you mean mostly?” Commander Calloway said, frowning ever so slightly, allowing her mask of impassivity to break.

Faye shook her head. “I don’t know. He’s been a bit more distant lately, but then again I was giving him hell a bit about my secret orders and how much I despised doing things without the Captain knowing. He asked the higher ups about removing the non-disclosure clause on my order, but he was told no. Clearly I’ve done so anyway,” she said flatly, knowing she was going to be in trouble if their investigation didn’t pan out. Then again her mother was apparently higher up now too, or at least taking orders from someone with power in Intelligence. it said something, but Faye wasn’t sure she was happy about it.

~The Calloways

Cochrane listened as ideas were exchanged and comments made, but his eyes stayed focused on Faye. Finally, he cleared his throat and said “Mr. Creed. Please take Miss Calloway to the Mess for a cup of coffee. Lieutenant, a word in private, if I may.” His voice was soft, polite, professional… but it was direct. The XO knew him well enough to know that the words were not suggestions.

If Shara had any thoughts on the matter she certainly didn’t voice them. Rising to her feet, the elder Calloway simply glanced at Creed and then at her daughter, before heading for the door.

As the door slid closed behind them, Cochrane looked at Faye. “I’m hearing a lot of ideas on what we should do, how we should move forward. But I think they are missing an important piece of this puzzle. AMD he gestured to the chair.

What was it with him and wanting her to sit?! Couldn’t he see that her anxiety made it nearly impossible to sit right now? But she trusted him enough that she needed exhaled abruptly and sat in the chair she had been avoided for several minutes now. A scowl was set on her face though and she was clearly unhappy about the whole situation. but she doubted anyone would blame her.

“What is it you need, Faye? What outcome or path is what you want?”

Cochrane, CO

Her expression softened at the use of her first name. She had expected it with her mother because referring to family name and rank all the time just got tiring. But for him it had a different effect. Bracing her elbows on the desk, she covered her face with her hands for a few moments before running her hands over the top of her hair. Her hands fell into her lap heavily. “I’ve been an enemy of the state before,” Faye said quietly. “Captain… Alex… I understand what that life is like. What the consequences of being branded a traitor can be. I also understand that there are many others, possibly including yourself, that will dismiss those fears as exaggeration. As irrationality. But I am telling you now that if we’re not exceptionally careful, and there are people on the outside pulling strings, then my fear will come true. And what I don’t want is to disappear by someone else’s motives. I’ve worked too hard to get to where I am. I don’t want to die because others have made me a pawn in a game too big for any of us to fathom.” Faye was at least self-aware enough to know that knowing what you didn’t want was a good step towards finding out what you did want.

~Faye Calloway, Data Specialist

Cochrane listened to her intently and let her speak uninterrupted. When she finished he leaned back and fixed her with a look of both concern and confusion. He held that look for a long time before asking quite plainly and without any kind of aggresion:

“Faye… when did I ever discount your fears? If you tell me the threat is there, or even possible… then as far as I am concerned the threat is real. But I need you to grasp this one thing and make sure you keep it at the forefront of whatever we do. My only goal is to make sure you are the only one deciding your fate. Not anyone else. Got it? You determine your life, and I will stand right next to you to make sure that happens.”

Cochrane, CO