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Post by Amy81 on Jan 18, 2006 22:55:27 GMT -6
Ange's shuttle remained in a holding pattern for quite a long time before being cleared to land. Only one landing bay was cleared for use, and that was all the information that the shuttle crew was willing to pass along during the delay. Ange thought more than once about checking in with Agro security to get more details, but the very nature of the delay made him rethink the idea. Instead, he just looked out the shuttle window on occasion but mostly he sat back, eyes closed, thinking.
When the shuttle finally landed, he was the lone passenger to get off. The shuttle then rolled a short distance to the other side of the bay where it began to take on cargo. The bay was full of security, none of whom he recognized. He walked up to the nearest one.
"What's the situation, Lt.?" he asked.
The officer immediately asked for his credentials before answering. He then visibly relaxed. "Chaos, sir" he replied. "The bay is secured, but everything is still a mess around here. We haven't found all the bodies yet either."
"Who's in charge of security?" Ange wondered.
The officer consulted his list. "Captain Faltstaff. From the..."
"Fatstuff?" Ange said with a smile. "Really? Just how much of the security staff is imported from other ships?"
"A lot, sir" the officer replied. "As I understand it, a good percentage of the original staff is gone." He didn't say any more, but he didn't need to. Ange understood what he was referring to, and from the look on the officer's face he must have lost someone close during Pierce's final command.
"I understand" Ange said. "Thank you." He turned to walk away.
"Captain Faltstaff will want to know you are here" the officer called out to him.
Ange turned. "Please inform him I'll report to the main office shortly." With that he left the bay.
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Post by Amy81 on Jan 29, 2006 17:28:39 GMT -6
Ange didn't report to the main office right away. He instead went to his quarters. His last conversation with Em still nagged at him, and he wanted to be sure that Em had told the truth about the pictures he'd kept of Amy. Pictures he so foolishly kept. Em had said all the evidence had been destroyed, but something else was going on too. He just wasn't sure what.
Ange keyed the lock and entered his quarters. The lights were dark, and there was a faint odor of smoke, as if something had been burned in the room. He kept the lights off, and was making for his desk when the desk lamp suddenly turned on, shining bright light in his face.
Ange quickly dropped and rolled behind a chair, but that just brought laughter from behind the light. "Oh give me a break" the voice said. "I could have shot you a dozen times before you thought about ducking." The laughter continued as the light tilted down. Ange got up slowly, recognizing the voice. He walked to the light switch and turned the main lights on.
"Em" he said flatly, trying to disguise his heavy breathing. For that half second his heart had been up in his throat. He'd thought his reaction time was pretty good, but all Em did was laugh. "Em" he repeated. "What are you doing in here?" If she had a gun, he didn't see it.
"Waiting for you" she replied.
"How'd you know I was coming?" he asked. He'd booked the flight, but such information wasn't readily available, certainly not on such short notice.
"I have my ways" Em said, smiling. She noticed that her comment brought a deep frown from Ange, and she leaned forward, changing the subject. "I expected you'd come here, to see for yourself that your precious pictures were really gone." She held up the trash can. "If you were hoping to save some unburnt corner or something, I'm sorry to have to disappoint you."
"So, what? You sat here in the dark, hoping you could eventually surprise me?" Ange shook his head. "Come on Em."
Em ignored the questions. "They really are gone, Ange. You have nothing to worry about. It's all just talk and speculation now. Abby won't push the subject. And that little brat Amy..."
Ange walked closer, and sat on the corner of the desk near Em. She tried to lean her chair away from him, but he reached out quickly and grabbed onto it. He leaned closer. "Yes, Em. Let's talk about Amy. Why was it so important that she be an organ donor?"
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Post by Amy81 on Feb 5, 2006 0:00:59 GMT -6
Em's eyes grew wide for half a micron, betraying the fact to Ange that he'd struck a nerve. "It wasn't that important" she replied finally.
"Felgercarb" Ange said. There was a slight hint of menace in his voice. "The last time we talked, that's all you really cared about. That she was off the list. It really upset you too. I could tell. I haven't heard that tone in your voice since that day Amy woke up and ran out on us."
"Well" Em replied, regaining her composure, "Like everything else about you, your instincts are failing you too. There isn't anything more to say. I wanted her dead is all. Seeing her off the list meant maybe she wasn't going to die after all. I was only thinking of you, Ange. You know..."
"I don't believe you" Ange replied.
"Too frackin' bad" Em snapped at him.
Ange reached for Em's collar, a move that surprised even Em at it's quickness. He grabbed the collar with both hands, twisting it. Em let out a cough. "What's too fracking bad, Em, is that you aren't telling me everything. You think I'm a fool, Em? Is that what you think?"
Em tried to reply, but couldn't. She brought her hands up, pulling and scratching at his hands as they twisted the collar tighter.
Ange picked Em up by the collar and slammed her against the wall behind the desk. "You think I'm old, washed up? A fool? Well I'm beginning to think you played me for one. You used me. Had me worrying about Abby and the past, while you were doing something else. What was it, Em?"
She managed to shake her head. But still no words came. Ange relaxed his grip a little, and she gratefully sucked in air. "What's the matter" she managed to huff between breaths, "this the only way you can come on to a woman?"
Ange tightened his grip, then with a lot of effort tossed Em away from him. She crashed into a row of filing cabinets and landed heavily on the floor. Ange was on her then, his weight knocking her breath out as he sat on her, his hands again at her throat.
"One more chance, Em. One more. Why was it so important that Amy donate her organs?"
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Post by Amy81 on Feb 23, 2006 9:06:55 GMT -6
"One more chance, Em" Ange insisted, "One more. Why was it so important that Amy donate her organs?"
Em really couldn't breathe now and she was starting to panic. Ange relaxed his grip enough for her to be able to talk. "Needed them..." she weezed. "HE needed them..."
"Amy's organs?" Ange asked. "Who needed them? Who...?"
"HE did" She replied. She noticed that he didn't understand. "Ange... you really are a stupid frack..."
He twisted the collar tighter, his rage taking over.
"Stop..." she hissed. "You're... killing me..."
"No Em" he replied twisting even tighter. "Just taking care of a loose end. Like you suggested, remember?"
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Post by Amy81 on Feb 24, 2006 7:21:30 GMT -6
Ange sat down, drumming his fingers on his desk, trying to think things through. He stared down at Em, sometimes seeing her, sometimes seeing right through her as he lost himself in thought. Though hardly noticeable, he could detect the faint rising and falling of her chest, indicating that she was still breathing.
He hadn't killed her, at least not yet, and was impressed with himself for finding the self control to stop himself. It wouldn't have taken much more to do it. A little more pressure and it would have been over. But the mystery hadn't been solved yet, and he needed to search Em's office and her place first. If nothing turned up, he'd have to question her again, then he could always get rid of her later.
He was still sitting there drumming his fingers when his com went off. "Yeah" he said, opening the connection.
"Faltstalf here, you old space daggit."
Ange laughed. "Fatstuff. Good to hear your voice. It's been a long time."
"And you are making it longer. Now get your butt down to the security office. Time to punch in and earn your cubits."
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Post by Amy81 on Feb 25, 2006 23:19:35 GMT -6
Ange tied Em up, gagged her, and dumped her in his bedroom before he left his quarters. Satisfied that she wasn't going anywhere, he left for the short walk to the security sector of the Agro ship. He thought about knocking at the security chief office door, but decided to just go in.
"Ange!" Captain Faltstaf said, getting up from behind his desk. "Good to see you, old friend."
"Fatstuff" Ange replied, shaking hands. "What in hades have you been up to?"
"Doing good, doing good."
"You still out there running the caboose?" Ange asked.
"The caboose is a great gig" Faltstaf replied, grabbing an ambrosia bottle and two glasses. "Being the last ship in the fleet has it's perks. You should see the upgrades the old tub got. The lastest in scanning technology. The absolute latest." He smiled. "And being furthest from the Callisto ain't too bad either. Keeps Sheba and that stuffed shirt Charybdis out of my hair, if you know what I mean."
Ange smiled, taking a glass. They touched glasses, and downed the ambrosia in unison. "Come on, you aren't still bending the rules, running around...?"
Faltstaf laughed. "Remember when we did?"
"I remember you had your share" Ange replied. "Was it on the catwalk of that old barge, 100 feet up? You and that tech?"
"She never knew what hit her" Faltstaf replied. "And you. I remember you telling me about that one... in a storage closet was it?"
"Something like that."
"16, 17... 18 yahrens, was she?"
"Something like that."
"I'd bet you'd go younger if you could." Faltstaf poured a second round, and they drank to old times. Faltstaf walked around and sat down behind his desk, letting out a long sigh. "I miss the old days. None of us expected to last a yahren when the fleet first set out. Nothing for us cast offs to do but live life to the fullest, and wait for the end."
"Which never came" Ange reminded him.
"No" Faltstaf replied. "It never did. And I wish I'd been on this ship during Pierce's takeover. Sounded like the old days, from what I heard."
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Post by Amy81 on Feb 28, 2006 7:47:04 GMT -6
"I was there" Ange replied, "and it was pretty lawless." He sat down in a chair near the desk. "So, what's the status around here now?"
"Not too good. We've got the ship secure enough, but we're still finding bodies from Pierce's carnage. It could take a secton to find them all."
Ange thought about that. It was perfect. If he had to, he could get rid of Em, then leave her somewhere to be found. Sure it wasn't suicide, but with everything that happened they wouldn't be investigating any of the deaths that closely...
"And... there's something else I need to talk to you about" Faltstaf said. He studied Ange for a moment before continuing. "Ange" Faltstaf began, "they want me to take over security here permanently."
"That's great" Ange replied with a smile. "That's a huge promotion. The Agro gig is pretty prestigious."
"I don't want it. I'm more of an urban guy." He looked around the room, picturing the open meadows of the agro domes. "All that green, all those hicks plowing the fields... I like the caboose. It fits my style much better."
"So turn it down."
Faltstaf half smiled. "I can't. Not unless there's someone else that can fill the bill. Someone who knows the ship, has proved himself, someone who could step right in..."
"Seriously?"
"It's yours if you want it. I can't think of a reason why they'd turn you down. You're about to get a medal for sagan's sake."
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Post by Amy81 on Mar 2, 2006 6:50:16 GMT -6
"I don't know what to say" Ange said truthfully.
"Say yes" Faltstaf replied.
Ange sat back. Run Agro security? It'd mean a big raise, a huge jump in status. A lot of communication with the commander, bi-annual meetings on the Callisto and the Galactica, rubbing elbows with Apollo and Sheba... It'd mean he'd have made it back. All the way back. From fallen warrior to captain in charge of security for the second most important ship in the fleet...
But there still was the whole Em thing to consider. He really needed to tidy the whole thing up. First see what he could dig up in her files, then, if he had to, kill her and put her somewhere to be discovered. He didn't really see how he could allow her to live. He wouldn't be able to function as head of security as long as she had knowledge that could compromise his position. Just this one thing. This one last thing. But he had to move quickly, for the window of opportunity was beginning to close.
"I'm not hearing any answer" Faltstaf said, breaking the silence.
"Huh?" Ange said, snapping out of his thoughts. "Just thinking. I'd love the job, Fatstuff. They'd really give it to me?"
"Give it to you?" Faltstaf asked. "My friend, you earned it. You've been through hades over the yarhens, paid your dues. A reward like this is long overdue. So if you are ready, I'd like to take you around, walk you through a few things, get you up to speed. Then I'm submitting your name and getting the frack off this bumpkin barge."
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Post by Amy81 on Mar 3, 2006 7:18:11 GMT -6
Right now? Ange thought. I need time. "Gee Fats" he said, thinking of an excuse, "I'm really beat right now..." He needed to get away, take care of the Em thing while he still could.
"Don't break out the violins, pal" Faltstaf interrupted, "We're all on double shifts here. Suck it up and let's go."
"No, really" Ange insisted. "A few hours, four maybe? The shuttle ride wore me out. Plus this promotion... I need a little time to let it sink in."
Faltstaf stared at Ange for a moment. "Fine. Four hours. Then I'm banging on your door if you aren't here yet."
Ange stood up, offering his hand. Faltstaf shook it. "Congrats, Ange. I knew we'd both come out on top someday. And after a few sectons, once you are settled in, we are going to the Rising Star. Find us some lady friends and really celebrate. It's amazing, these captain uniforms. You can actually find a willing partner wearing one of these."
Ange laughed. "To the old days" he said.
"To the old days" Faltstaf replied.
Ange left Faltstaf's office, helped himself to a new master key, and made his way to the administration wing and Em's office...
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Post by Amy81 on Mar 5, 2006 8:57:53 GMT -6
Ange used the key, and entered Em's office. It was dark, and he paused in the doorway for a long moment. Finally he did a quick check, and satisfied that the office was deserted, he walked over and sat down at Em's desk.
He turned on the desk lamp, activated the computer, and began to sift through the files. He kept one eye on the time. Four hours wasn't much time. Not much at all. And he still needed time to get rid of Em if he decided to. And he was leaning very much that way.
What would Em be up to involving organ donation, he thought. A black market ring of some sort? Something more sinister? Was he even onto anything at all? He sat back, rubbing his eyes. He could swear Em was playing him somehow, but maybe it was like she said: Em just hated Abby, hated Amy, and that she really was on Ange's side all along. And here he'd almost strangled her...
He found what he was looking for buried in the files, deep, but not so deep that someone of Ange's skills couldn't find it. He scanned through the documents, a sinking feeling spreading through him. No wonder Em wanted those organs donated...
He sat, drumming his fingers and thinking. Then he closed down the computer and left the office, unaware that the real evidence of what Em was up to was concealed a few layers deeper into the files.
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