Posted by Ensign Rand Farquharson (Yeoman First Class) in When Paparazzi Hide in the Bushes

Posted by Commander Roman Alden (First Officer & Chief Science Officer) in When Paparazzi Hide in the Bushes

Posted by Ensign Rand Farquharson (Yeoman First Class) in When Paparazzi Hide in the Bushes
Posted by… suppressed (3) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)
Roman nodded. “We won’t have need of the room.” Then he turned and left to let Kovan work, heading back up towards his own quarters to check on Rand.

~ Roman

Randy waited for the door to close behind Roman and then went and sat on the bed with Rand. She was doing a great imitation of sleeping. She was hugging her pillow, blanket tucked in around her, face half hidden by blanket and her arms. Randy sat, propped up by the headboard, legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles, arms folded across his chest. Despite his bulk, he looked very solid and protective sitting there staring at her. “Ya know, ya can’t hide in here forever, Miranda. This is not a thing ya haven’t dealt with a’fore.” He waited, and finally with a deep sigh he bent down and lifted the edge of the blanket to look her in the face. “Sister-mine, ya can’t hide in here. I know ya wanted ta keep it secret…”

“Why do they hate me Randy?” She sounded so d@mn forelorne that Randy wanted to break something, preferably whoever sold those pictures with is fists.

“They don’t hate you, Rand. Most love ya, some are jealous and wish they were ya, and the others, well that’s the Paparazzi isn’t it? And they do it ta make money because of the other two groups.”

“B…but wh…wh…who would do that? I w…w…work hard.” Randy brushed her hair back from her face. “I don’t know, but the picture is over a year old. Whoever it was is probably gone.” Randy wasn’t so sure of that but he was going to tell Rand that anyway. “It’s really not that bad. Excitement that you’ve been spotted, speculation about you and Roman. They got his rank and position wrong, but they usually get facts wrong. They don’t even realize you are serving. We won’t respond at all. The Clan won’t either. You are going to get up and do yer work.”

Rand pressed her face into the pillow making a negative sound. “Yes Rand. Get up. Come on. Get up and put on the part. You said you wanted this, you wanted to be useful. You can’t do that hidin’ in yer room. You are the captain’s yeoman. You run this ship. If we learned anything from your accident, it’s we can’t function as a crew without you.” He tugged the blanket off her. “Come on, go get a shower, dress the part and plaster that polite, but I know better look on your face.” He gave her a long hard look, “It’s that or resign and go home.”

Rand looked at him, devastated. “I don’t wanna go home.” She hated when Randy got all tough on her. Randy knew it was necessary. He tugged her up to sitting, “Then Miranda Arabella Blair Elizabeth Scarlett Farquharson, get off yer arse, clean up, and do what you do best. Hold yer audience in the palm of yer hand. Go,” and he pushed her toward the bathroom.

Rand and Randy

Roman returned just as Randy pushed her into the bathroom. He sat on the bed and waved Randy over. “It was my attacker. My assassin sold our photos to the press. He’s not on the ship. Nothing we can do but make sure she’s okay.” He decided to lie to keep Randy from throwing away his career. It was mostly true anyway. “I am doing what I can, but the images are already sold. At this point ask we can do is wait until it dies down.”

~ Roman

Randy leaned against the half wall and stared at Roman a moment as that sank in. “Let’s not tell Rand that, unless we have to. We don’t know who did it. I told her it was probably someone who had already left the ship. Let her believe they were sent after the person left.” He glanced over his shoulder toward the closed door. “She’s…not okay, and she’s a bit miffed at me. I told her to deal with it or resign. She can’t hide in here.” Randy shrugged. “I told her to put on part, make the role hers. It’s what she did when she first came on board, she can do it again. She’s amazing at it. She can play the part of the perfect Yeoman. She is anyway, and be all business. She can’t not report for duty. It’s not good professionally or personally.”

Roman glanced at Randy. “Not tell her? He’s not on the ship. We’ve confirmed who it is and that he can’t do it again. Why wouldn’t we tell her that?” Then he sighed and nodded. “I’ll make sure she reports as normal. She knows she can’t not, regardless of personal issues. We both know she can do this.”

Randy nodded,”No you’re right. That might help. I’m just so used to…” he blew out a breath. “What bothers me though is the end of the article. It said there was more to come. That could be a tabloid ploy to get people to keep buying, or there could be more.” He glaced at the door again. “She can; she just needs to remember she can.”

Randy pinched the bridge of his nose before crossing his arms over his chest again. “It’s not like we didn’t deal with this sort of thing for years. She’s just…” he sighed, “She felt safe here, and now she doesn’t.”

Randy

Roman huffed an angry little huff. “Those rats don’t leave anyone alone, not ever. Took me years to get out of their way. Now it’ll take forever to do it again.” He shook his head again, “But I won’t let them get to her. I’d rather them harass me than her. And the missing Alden heir would be plenty of big news for them.”

~ Roman

“It would be, but in certain circles they wouldn’t even mention you except you are associated with Rand. Four years of total silence and they picked up on her before they mentioned you. She’s still a very big deal.” He stood up from where he was leaning against the wall. “I’ve got to get back. Maybe go do diagnostics on the field kits or something.” Randy left.

Randy

“I know…” he sighed. Roman sat on the bed and waited for Rand to come out. He was going to tell her that it was the assassin, and that they might have more old pictures but that they weren’t on the ship anymore and she should be safe. He hoped it would make her feel better.

~ Roman