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Post by Amy81 on Feb 10, 2006 6:21:46 GMT -6
Amy's jaw dropped open, her eyes suddenly showing some life. "You're fracking kidding me! He's alive?" She tried to put it all together. He'd been lost, in a battle shortly before she'd left on her own ill-fated mission. How could he be alive? Then she thought about how long she'd been gone. Half a yarhen. Plenty of time for people to move on, apparently. What she remembered of their friendship was probably history to him by now.
Her smile faded. "Well, it's good to hear he's okay. It seems a lot has changed since I left. How long has he been back?"
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Post by Brie on Feb 10, 2006 10:58:18 GMT -6
“I’m not really sure,” Brie replied. “You’re not the only one with a lot of catching up to do. From what I skimmed of the report, his viper was found floating in space and he was barely alive. I’ve asked about visiting him but they keep telling me not yet. Apparently he was in a coma for a while as well.” Brie laughed. “I’m also surprised he didn’t show up in the middle of our conversation.”
Amy stared blankly at Brie. “What conversation?”
Brie looked far off in the distance. “Ever have a dream that you can’t quite remember, but at the same time it feels like it really happened?” Amy nodded. “That happened to me when I was in the coma. I only remember glimpses of this dream, you and I were talking. I don’t know what about. But lords, Amy, it feels so real.”
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Post by Amy81 on Feb 10, 2006 11:29:34 GMT -6
"I think I know what you mean" Amy said. "I sort of remember something like that too. But then, my brain has been so scrambled that I'm not sure what to call real memory and what not to. I mean, there's this one dream. I seem to remember Charybdis with nothing on..."
Brie held up a hand. "Spare me the visual!"
Amy laughed. "I suppose it's cause that's how I had seen him last before the mission..."
"Stop!" Brie insisted. "Sounds like a nightmare to me."
"No, wait" Amy said with a smile. "I remember tiny little vipers, and flying over landscapes..."
"Love will do that to you" Brie said.
"It's more than that" Amy replied, her voice not all that excited. What had happened, she wondered. How did the excitement fade so quickly? She also wondered what Brie would think of the news. "Brie, I'm engaged again."
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Post by Brie on Feb 10, 2006 15:22:25 GMT -6
"Engaged....." Brie paused, "........to Charybdis?" Amy nodded. Brie reached over and hugged her. "Amy, that's fantastic! Congratulations! I'm so happy for you."
Amy looked at Brie in amazement. "That's not how he thought you'd react."
Brie laughed. "He thinks he knows me so well. I'll admit, I've been a bit frustrated with him lately, but that has nothing to do with you. Well, it sort of does, but not directly. He thought I'd be upset?"
Amy nodded again. "Yup."
"Not at all," Brie replied. "Charybdis tends to remember things differently than they actually happened. I wasn't upset when you two were together before, what upset me was that you were sneaking around, which had you a bundle of nerves, which directly affected the squadron. And yeah, questioning every mission I would send you on was a bit annoying. He needs to learn that he's no longer a part of Gold Squadron, so he's not allowed to make decisions for us or question mine."
"He is a Colonel," Amy reminded her.
"Colonel, shmolonel," Brie said. “Sheba’s the Commander, but she trusts me to do what’s best with the squadron. She doesn’t question my assignments. Charybdis, well, he seems to think I’m always on the verge of another nervous breakdown. It probably drives him crazy that it’s now in my record that I faked the first one and never was really crazy after all. I doubt he really believes that it was faked. He’s always more than willing to think the worst of me...”
“Um,” Amy interrupted, “you are happy about this engagement, aren’t you?”
Brie grinned. “Of course I am. Oh, there are so many plans to be made. I’d let you borrow my sealing gown, but they gave it away when my will was implemented. There’s got to be another one around somewhere. Let’s see, we’ll need flowers, a place for the ceremony...are you going to want to be sealed here or on the Agro Ship? Personally I don’t really want to go there again any time soon, but I’d do it for you. If you want I’ll contact Rev. Mars, see when he’s available...”
“Stop!” Amy pleaded. “We’re not that far yet. I haven’t even told my mom.”
“I’m sorry, Amy,” Brie apologized. “I guess I was getting a little ahead of myself. It’s just been a really sucky few sectars, and it’s nice to have something to look forward to for a change. Charybdis may be infuriating, but he’s a good man. When we were close I used to say that he was the closest thing that I had to family.” She paused for several microns and could almost hear Turner’s voice, telling her that she needed to work things out with Charybdis. “I guess I miss that sometimes.”
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Post by Amy81 on Feb 11, 2006 7:23:58 GMT -6
"And I had a family but all we did was hate each other" Amy said. "Isn't that strange? So many people would have loved to have what I had, but to me it just stunk. And now it's gone."
"I am sorry about your dad" Brie said.
Amy looked Brie in the eye. "He wasn't my dad" she said flatly.
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Post by Brie on Feb 13, 2006 10:26:04 GMT -6
Brie was stunned by Amy's comment. Could she somehow know? she wondered. All the planning, the heart wrenching decision to give the baby away so Amy could have some semblance of a normal life, the look on Abby’s face as she was about to hold her daughter for the first time...and all Amy could do was complain.
“Would you please grow up?” Brie said at last. "You're about to become a wife and a mother, you need to act like an adult." She purposely didn't look at Amy as she continued. "You know something? Life in general stinks. I lost my parents when I was three yahrens old. I never even knew anyone my age who wasn't an orphan until I was in the Academy! Turner never knew his parents or even what they had named him. About a yahren after we were sealed a man showed up, thinking that maybe Turner was his long lost brother. They had the genetic tests run...Turner would have given anything for the results to turn out differently." She paused for only a micron. "Most children born into the fleet have to live in close quarters on over-crowded ships but you were able to grow up and run free on the most beautiful ship in the fleet! You were surrounded by people who adored you. I know that first hand, I didn't almost die on the Agro Ship because of Pierce, it was the damage inflicted by the workers who thought that your condition was my fault. And as far as your parents go...did you know that your first doctor wanted to take you off of life support, but your mother had so much faith in you that she wouldn't let them? She knew that you were strong enough to come back. It's all there in your medical file. And even your dad...so he wasn't emotional. He was a man, get used to it. Did you know that he testified at my tribunal? What did he testify? That he was proud of you. Proud. So you may not have had a storybook childhood, but compared to most people you were pretty damn lucky."
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Post by Amy81 on Feb 13, 2006 12:37:52 GMT -6
Amy's eyes watered up and flooded over as she listened to Brie. She didn't move to wipe the tears, only blinked, which just blurred her vision. As she listened, she had an odd memory, a fleeting one, that made her think she'd had a conversation like this before, but then it was gone. Still, seeing Brie through misty eyes made her think of it again, but now there was nothing left to remember.
"...So you may not have had a storybook childhood" Brie concluded, "but compared to most people you were pretty damn lucky."
"What do you know?" Amy snapped, her voice wavering with emotion. "You weren't there, so don't even pretend to know what it was like for me. Thinking that I was loved only to find out I wasn't. Proud of me. He could say it to a room full of strangers, but he let me board that shuttle to fleet academy believing that I'd cut his heart out by turning my back on farming. You know how long I carried that with me? How much it hurt? And my mom, never indicating that it was any different. Both of them, with their noses in the dirt, loving their plants more than they ever loved me. Sure the other farmers thought I was great. The cute little farmer girl. It's cause they saw more of me than my parents did that caused them any reason to get attached to me. I found more friendship and attention from fleet security than I ever did from any of them."
"I'd cry myself to sleep at night. Wishing my mom or dad would come in and read me a story rather than sit in the kitchen and read the growth reports. Does that make me any different from any of the orphans? I might have had two parents, but was an orphan anyway."
She wiped at the tears now. "Sure, my mom wouldn't let them take me off of life support. Cause she was too filled with guilt to dare do it! Know what I'd like to do? Take a genetic test myself. I'd give anything to prove that my being there on the agro ship, with them, was a mistake. Cause it sure to hades feels like one."
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Post by Brie on Feb 13, 2006 13:41:29 GMT -6
Brie was torn between being furious at Amy and extremely upset with herself for hurting her so badly. "I'm glad to hear you say that, because the test has already been arranged."
"What?" Amy asked immediately. "Why?"
"Did you hear how I was able to stop your friends from killing me?" Brie wanted to know.
"You made up some story." Amy started and then stopped.
It seemed to Brie that Amy was trying to force her to say it. "Yeah, I told them that I was your biological mother. That I was raped and you were the result. Unfortunately, the IFB somehow found out about my lie and reported it as fact. Even though I've tried to refute it, it seems like the only way to prove it false to some people in the fleet is to perform a genetic test. As I said, it's already been arranged."
"Why would people care if the story was true?" Amy asked. "I don't understand what the big deal for them would be."
"Three things, Amy," Brie replied. "First of all, remember how everyone acted when they found out about you and Charybdis? You were given responsibilities and promoted based on merit, not because of him, but too many people thought otherwise. Second, some of Pierce's people may still be out there. My doctor tried to poison me in the middle of an operation, for Sagan’s sake! If there’s just one of them out there who thinks we’re biologically related, you’re a target. You might be anyway because of the simple fact that we’re friends. Third, this one is selfish on my part, I need the squadron to trust me. I can’t have them whispering behind my back, wondering if rumors are true. So yeah, it’s important that we show the fleet that it was a lie.”
“Does my mom know?”
“Not yet, I need to speak with her as soon as I leave here.” Brie sighed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to get you upset, and I never meant to make you cry. But don’t ever tell an orphan that you were just like one. The day my parents died is as clear in my memory as if it was yesterday. I hardly remember them, but I’ll never forget learning about their deaths. After that I was whisked away from everything and everyone that I knew and sent to a military orphanage. They used our losses at Cylon hands to teach us to hate the Cylons even more. I grew up being told that my purpose in life was to die in battle with the Cylons. Since I’m still alive I guess neither one of us has fulfilled the destiny we were expected to follow.”
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Post by Amy81 on Feb 14, 2006 6:33:13 GMT -6
"Defend the fleet, or die trying" Amy said, nodding. It was one of the mottos during her academy days. "I'd put more emphasis on the 'defend the fleet' part. We'd go through warriors like tylium otherwise." Brie smiled, and Amy did too, still wiping at her wet cheeks. "I'm sorry I yelled at you. Still friends?"
"Absolutely" Brie replied.
"Can I ask you something?" Amy began. Brie nodded. "Why did you say you were raped? I mean, you could have said anything. Affair that didn't work out, anything. It's quite a story, and I know you were under a lot of pressure at the time, but sometimes the things we say under pressure are closest of all to the truth."
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Post by Brie on Feb 14, 2006 10:27:49 GMT -6
Brie looked at Amy and raised her eyebrows. "The secret to a good lie is to keep it real. Do you really think that anyone would believe that I had a teenage affair? I haven't worked all these yahrens on my reputation for having ice water in my veins for nothing! Turner and I even waited until.........but you're right, it is a true story." Amy's mouth dropped open. Brie shook her head. "It's just not our story. It happened to a friend of mine, a girl that I grew up with. It wasn't long after we fled the Colonies. Poor girl was only 16. She was raped, found out she was pregnant, and came to me, not knowing what to do. I went to one of our instructors, who arranged for the adoption. I held her hand while her baby boy was born. She was killed while she was still an ensign, her son is a Pyramid dealer on the Rising Star, blissfully unaware of the facts surrounding his conception. So on the Agro Ship I told a true story that I had actually been a part of, I just changed a couple of names."
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