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Post by Amy81 on Apr 5, 2006 23:28:50 GMT -6
Roxzanna-Rizou's composure wavered for the briefest of millicentons, then she recovered smoothly. "That was Major JustinB of Black Squadron..."
She turned away from him and found herself standing next too a far too young ensign, a non-newsworthy one she instantly felt. She was about to continue into the camera when the star struck ensign spoke.
"Ensign Dolet, M'am" he said, "with a 'D'..." He looked into the camera and smiled...
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Post by JustinB on Apr 6, 2006 3:52:34 GMT -6
Roxzanna-Rizou turned into Dolet.
"Ensign Dolet, Ma'am" he said, "with a 'D'..." He looked into the camera and smiled...
I wondered what Dolet had to say for himself, considering he was the one they mixed up as being killed. I liked what I saw in this young Ensign. As soon as we got back to the Callisto I would have a surprise for him.
I turned to Lucian, "Brother, Thanks for coming after me. I was sure as dead. I would like to ask you to ask Commander Sheba when we get back to promote Ensign Dolet to Lieutenant in light of what has happened. Oh and buy the way I think I owe you all a drink once Dolet gets his fifteen microns of fame."
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Post by Amy81 on Apr 6, 2006 6:08:34 GMT -6
Dolet turned from the camera, still smiling as he now looked at Roxzanna-Rizou. His smile wavered and he swallowed hard. He'd crushed big time on the reporter, and he hoped it didn't show too badly as he felt himself beginning to blush.
"I'm from Black Squadron" he said, trying to impress her. "I flew viper escort on this mission."
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Post by LucianG on Apr 7, 2006 5:47:56 GMT -6
"I'm from Black Squadron, I flew viper escort on this mission."
Dolet? Roxzanna-Rizou could have kicked herself for getting his name wrong, but now she had an opportunity to turn this piece into the story that she had originally sought.
“Ensign Dolet, welcome back to the Fleet after your great mission,” said a smiling Roxzanna-Rizou as she stepped closer to the young man and had the vid operator zoom in on the two of them. The young man looked somewhat nervous, so she patted his arm, not so much to comfort him as to show the viewers that she “cared” about the young man and his story, though if it calmed him down, that would be good, too. She slid her hand around his arm and gently pulled him closer, which made the interview have a more intimate feel. In addition, she’d learned long ago that this made it more difficult for a male interviewee to extricate himself from an interview without making a scene that would make the interviewee look bad in front of the viewers. Of course, that couldn’t be used very often or it would become obvious to the viewers, but Roxzanna-Rizou was very good at her job. She looked directly at Dolet instead of the vid recorder, hoping to reel him in, and said, “Ensign Dolet, you said you flew Viper escort on the mission, yet it was reported that your ship had been destroyed and you’d been killed. We thank the Lords and are extremely glad that report was incorrect, but tell our viewers about it. You were on a very dangerous mission, far from the Fleet, possibly with Cylons nearby and with no C.O.R.A. search and rescue craft nearby, your ship is evidently damaged or even destroyed by, I believe, Cylons, yet you came home successfully. That’s a GREAT story, Ensign Dolet, and the people of the Fleet deserve to hear it. Please, Ensign, tell us all about it.”
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Post by Amy81 on Apr 7, 2006 9:34:31 GMT -6
Dolet thought he'd died and gone to the heavens. Roxzanna-Rizou had slipped an arm in his and pulled him closer. He could feel her body next to his. He could smell her perfume, a soft, elegant scent... He'd dreamed of just seeing her one day, and now he stood arm and arm with her, talking on IFB!
"Well" he said, swallowing hard. "We were out there, the shuttle, with Captain Stadia and I as escort. We picked up four Cylons on our scanner..."
"Cylon Raiders?" she asked, sounding fascinated.
He nodded, encouraged. "Yes. Captain Stadia bagged the first two. The third got knocked out by interference from the shuttle, and I chased him down and finished him off."
"Really!" she said, looking into the camera, then back at Dolet.
Somehow, Dolet's voice was sounding deeper, more confident. "The last Cylon was real trouble. I went at it with him, toe to toe."
"Toe to toe" she repeated.
Dolet nodded. "I threw every trick I had at him until he gave up and tried to ram the shuttle."
"You" she asked, "wore out a cylon attack craft?"
Dolet nodded again. "Until he gave up and tried a suicide run. That's when I finished him off as well."
"That is..." she began.
"But" he interrupted, drawing her closer to him. He was on a roll now, confident, and sure that she was impressed. "Something happened to my fuel. I suspect a leak due to fire from the battle. I ran out of fuel, had to spacewalk into the shuttle, then we had to destroy the viper. Keep it out of enemy hands, you understand. I agreed with the decision. Can't get emotional about such things..."
He was beginning to think a date might be in order. Once the cameras were off, Dolet thought about maybe asking her...
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Post by LucianG on Apr 7, 2006 21:27:35 GMT -6
An entire generation had been born and raised aboard the ships of the rag tag Fleet, with virtually all never having set foot on a planet. Roxzanna-Rizou herself barely remembered planetside, having been only about four yahrens of age at the time of the Exodus. During all that time, the people had faced many hardships, had overcome many obstacles, and learned to live in many unique ways, often even in different areas of the same ship, but two items topped most people’s list of fears. As a spacefaring people, the Colonial survivors had adapted to living within their enclosed environments, always battling to keep their ships airtight, their air clean, their water usable, and life, in general, actually livable. To do this, people were constantly on the lookout for leaks, either of air into the vacuum of space or water into the shipboard environment. The occasional, and fortunately, none-too-frequent accidents that left portions of ships exposed to space were feared and vigilantly guarded against. The other fear was closely related to the first. During the twenty-seven some odd yahrens since the Exodus, one thing that had given everyone some degree of courage was the artificial gravity that held them in place on the decks of those ships, and generally prevented the nausea, frame extensibility, bone embrittlement, and other issues that were often associated with weightlessness. If there was one thing that many people in the Fleet feared more than anything else, other than perhaps vacuum, it was floating in that vacuum, a walk in space itself. Between the people who most feared the vacuum of space and those who most feared floating weightless in it, the two groups covered the vast majority of people. Fortunately, Roxzanna-Rizou knew this from some of the extremely extensive research conducted by the IFB among the people of the Fleet over the yahrens.
“Forced into a spacewalk after destroying the Cylon Raider? How very brave and dashing, Ensign Dolet! Please, tell us about it. How did you do it, how were you able to get from one ship to the other, and what was going through your mind as you realized what you had to do and as you floated out there in the darkness, weightless, so far from home.” She smiled and swiftly batted her eyes at the young man….
* * *
Lucian grasped JustinB’s forearm in his hand as JustinB took his and they just grinned at each other for a moment. He smiled at his friend and said, “No thanks necessary, buddy. I couldn’t afford to lose a brother, and besides, I’d never have forgiven myself if I hadn’t tried. Hey, I probably owe you several good rescues anyway. No,” Lucian sighed, “I’m just so glad we succeeded. All of us together,” he said as he nodded to Fallel, who had joined them to escape the growing throng around Roxzanna-Rizou, Ensign Dolet, and Captain Stadia. Stadia was standing just over to the side, seemingly debating whether she wanted to speak with the newswoman or slip away. “Yeah, I think you’re right, the kid may deserve a promotion after this trip, if that newslady doesn't eat him alive first. Let’s get on it when we get home.”
They watched the interview for a few more moments. Nodding to JustinB, Lucian said, “Well, we need to go check in with the Captain of this pleasure boat to say hello and find out the status of Fleet defenses, and with the T.D.O. [temporary duty officer] to get our orders and a temporary housing assignment. Since I see a couple of Black Squadron Vipers over there on the deck, I suspect that at least part of your squadron is here on assignment while the Battlestars are off playing catch with the Cylons. You may have work to do after we get some dinner and that drink. Looks like we may have a couple of centons, though, before Dolet gets through with Miss Red-zoo, so I’ve got someone I’d like for you guys to meet. Come on, I think she’s around here somewhere.”
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Post by LucianG on Apr 8, 2006 9:14:13 GMT -6
On the Rising Star, there were more publicity daggits than on probably any other ship in the Fleet. Anytime there was a story on board ship, some people, particularly those who were counted among the Fleet's "elite," the famous, the wealthy, the talented, or the just-plain-lucky, poured out to get in on the action to see it in person and to get their faces broadcast to the fleet’s vid-screen viewers. Often, the story wasn’t newsworthy; instead, it was just one of the other "elite," some minor or even self-proclaimed celebrity visiting the ship, also as a means of getting his or her face out in front of the people in an attempt to become even more famous. In this case, the “stars” weren’t publicity seekers, but rather, men and women doing their jobs and doing it well. As a result, even more people than usual were gathered, including quite a few parents with young children who wanted to see the “heroes.”
Mar-nee’ had lost sight of Lucian in that gathering crowd. She’d hung back to avoid the camera and the usual publicity nuts, but she was surprised to see how many more people entered the landing bay area. Evidently, the Black Shirts who were supposed to be providing security either figured it wasn’t important in this case, or more likely since she thought she saw at least one black colored shirt in the crowd, they’d joined in the fun. This was crazy, she thought, with probably a hundred and fifty, or maybe even more, people milling around, and more people crushing in all the time. She backed off, separating from the throng, and waiting patiently while hoping she’d find him before he slipped away.
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Post by LucianG on Apr 8, 2006 9:54:34 GMT -6
They had to circle around a good part of the crowd, so even the usually reserved Fallel said laughingly to JustinB, “I am beginning to think this mystery lady is a figment of his imagination.” Just as he said that, though, Lucian spotted her, a picture of loveliness, moving off toward the entrance. Her dark brown hair was shorter than when he’d seen her last, just touching her shoulders now, and seemed a bit straighter. He was very surprised to see that she was dressed up. She wore a pale pink dress with V-neck, ¾ sleeves, a pleated skirt section with a skewed hem that was just above the knee on one side, and just below on the other, and a matching rope-type belt that accentuated her fine figure. He also noticed she wore low-heeled matching pink shoes. He smiled at the thought, since high heels would have made her taller than he was. However, considering the way she looked, his heart raced as he began to wonder if she was going out on a date. Considering the length of time since Kaytoe’s death and that he, Lucian, had not had the opportunity to spend any time with her in sectars, or to express to her how he felt about her, he wouldn’t be too surprised if she was.
She saw him as he approached, just before he could say anything, and they embraced. “Mar-nee’,” Lucian started, as she was also saying his name, but their embraced carried on while their words did not. JustinB nudged Fallel and whispered, “Nice imagination,” and Fallel nodded in return, his eyes a bit wide.
As their embrace ended, they clasped hands, tightly at first, then tenderly, and Lucian said, “Mar-nee’, I want you to meet a couple of my friends, Major JustinB, Black Squadron Leader, and Science Officer Fallel, both of the Callisto. Guys, this lovely lady is Mar-nee’. She’s a Communications Officer here on the Rising Star, and hopefully, if we aren’t interrupting anything, our guide for the evening.”
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Post by JustinB on Apr 11, 2006 6:03:00 GMT -6
"Nice imagination,” and Fallel nodded in return, his eyes a bit wide.
As their embrace ended, they clasped hands, tightly at first, then tenderly, and Lucian said, “Mar-nee’, I want you to meet a couple of my friends, Major JustinB, Black Squadron Leader, and Science Officer Fallel, both of the Callisto. Guys, this lovely lady is Mar-nee’. She’s a Communications Officer here on the Rising Star, and hopefully, if we aren’t interrupting anything, our guide for the evening.”
Fallel and I shook Mar-nee's hand. " "Pleased to meet you Mar-nee. You know you have yourself one hell of a man there. If it was'nt for Lucian I would be with The Lords Of Kobol right now." Mar-nee's and Lucian's grip tightened. " I guess since you and Lucian have some catching up to do, we will make our way to the bridge and see the Captain" Turning to Lucian, " we will meet you there shortly." Lucian nodded and we made our way to the bridge.
"mar-nee is more beautiful than Lucian said, " Fallel commented. "Yes she is,but at the moment all I am interested in is finding out the tactical situation then bunking down for some sleep. Mind you, I wonder how Dolet is getting along?"
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Post by Amy81 on Apr 11, 2006 23:00:21 GMT -6
Dolet was laying it on thick, enjoying his time with Roxzanna-Rizou...
"And so there I was" he was saying with a far off look in his eye, "out there between my viper and the shuttle, one slip away from floating in space forever..."
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