Posted by Lieutenant Commander Faye Calloway (Chief Intelligence Officer) in Elsewhere- A Honeymoon

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Daggum Hammor (Chief Operations Officer) in Elsewhere- A Honeymoon

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Faye Calloway (Chief Intelligence Officer) in Elsewhere- A Honeymoon
Posted by… suppressed (2) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

Rising to her feet, Faye could feel that strange sensation in her body again, but she let herself move in the direction of the Atrium. Along the Mezzanine, the walls were entirely shelves of books, and the skylights above lit everything perfectly on this sunny day, but there was a clever system of reflection going on that prevented the sun from directly touching the books. No fading here.

The Mezzanine wrapped around the space but Faye stopped when they reached one corner and pressed her hand on a dark metal bookend. The shelf moved, revealing a metal spiral staircase down into a little courtyard with a table and chairs that was surrounded by plants and flowers in large colourful containers. At the top of the stairs were bookcases enclosed behind glass that held dozens of very old looking books. These shelves were the ones Kodell had spoke of. Her hand reached out as if to touch the glass, but it hovered. She wouldn’t put fingerprints on the glass and force someone to have to clean them off. No, not cool. “Wow,” she whispered. “Look at these titles. I bet you anything none of these are younger than two hundred years!” They were from all over the galaxy, though at first glance it seemed predominantly Beta and Alpha Quadrant, though she recognized a a couple languages as likely being from the Gamma Quadrant.

~Faye

Daggum looked through the glass and smiled despite himself. “Dante Alighieri, ‘The Divine Comedy’. Nice. Cervantes, ‘Don Quixote’. Also nice. And a first edition of Praxis-ltre’s ‘Compendium of Divine Secrets’. Thats the book that got her killed. Not easy to find outside a museum.”

Daggum

“Huh,” Faye said, shaking her head. Her eyes continued to trace the titles till her eyes landed on one in particular. She almost leapt backwards, stumbling into Daggum, her face contorted with confusion and awe. Breath caught in her throat she turned to Daggum and all but hid herself in his large form.

“Third shelf…sixth book from the left…” she managed to sputter out. There was no way that Kodell pointing her in the direction of these discreetly placed shelves was anything but purposeful. He knew it was there and expected her to find it.

Sitting there amongst all the valuable tomes was The Poetry Pharmacy: Tried-and-True Prescriptions for the Heart, Mind and Soul by William Seighart. It had been Edward Calloway’s favourite book of poetry and the one that Faye quoted from on occasion when she was feeling particularly sentimental. It was also lost on Tracken when the Dominion destroyed the settlement.

~Faye

Daggum’s eyes fell on the title and his jaw tightened. He knew the history of the book… what it meant. He now also knew that this Kodell still held feelings for Faye. And he had money. And they were on a planet where his money, and his name, meant something. But he also knew that Faye trusted him… at least somewhat. So he kept his breathing normal and held her to him. “How does that make you feel, Faye? Knowing that book is here of all places?”

Daggum

Lifting her face from his braid chest, she forced herself to take a deep breath. “Confused, I think.” She took another moment to gather her thoughts into some semblance of order before she spoke again. “We didn’t move on… he and I. I did finally after you came back into my life and I told you all about this place and him, but it took that long. That book tells me that he was either on the lookout for it or he specifically had someone track down a copy. He hasn’t moved on, Dag. He’s divorced, alone. I think… I think I feel sad for him. I can’t be anything for him. Not anymore. I came here for closure but maybe he needs it more than I do?”

~Faye

“Well… is that a conversation you feel like having?” Daggum asked, his eyes still on the book. “Or do you want to just let it be and go? It’s up to you, and you know I will support you however you decide. But… I do feel like this is the last time we come to Orion. Or, at least, maybe it should be… so this could be the last chance you have. What do you think?”

Daggum