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Post by LucianG on Apr 12, 2006 5:15:31 GMT -6
The "oohs" and "ahs" from the surrounding crowd told Roxzanna-Rizou that the people of the Fleet must be eating up the story being spun by this young ensign. Even she had believed every word at first, but then this Dolet had started spinning this fabulous tale of landing a damaged Viper on the roof of a shuttlecraft. Having interviewed Warriors many times before, and knowing their tendency to make a good story better, it had been all she could do to keep from laughing. Still, with the crowd lapping it up, the ratings would be good now, and even better on the late news broadcast as word of the story spread from person to person through the Fleet. Roxzanna-Rizou smiled inwardly at the thought. She noted that she'd have to find a retired shuttle expert before the late news. That way, she'd disprove Dolet's fantastic tale at the end of the feature story, so the big news tomorrow, assuming that there was no word from the Battlestars about a battle, was that the hero ensign who was the talk of the Fleet tonight was actually a bald-faced liar. Too bad, really. He was, though pretty young, actually quite cute. After the late news broadcast, he'd probably never want to speak with her again. Who knows, though, she thought, we might even find an expert that would just say that it's unlikely, but not totally impossible, leaving him at least a bit of his dignity, and possibly his libido. She wondered at the thought, then gave the young ensign an encouraging smile and asked, "Ensign Dolet, after you made it in to the shuttle, what happened to your Viper? You said you had to destroy it. Tell us why that was necessary and how it happened."
* * *
Mar-nee' leaned against Lucian slightly, with both her hands around his arm, and asked as they watched Lucian's two friends exit the landing bay, "Do you think they might be trying to give us some 'alone' time?"
Lucian nodded and replied, "Yeah, I KNOW they're trying to give us some 'alone' time. Unfortunately, I've got to go to the same place their heading to check in after I get these other two rounded up." He looked back through the crowd to see Ensign Dolet still hamming it up with Miss Red. Because it was a bit too far away, he couldn't tell for sure but he got the distinct impression Captain Stadia was rolling her eyes.
Seeing a Tech entering the landing bay, Lucian asked the woman to give a message to Captain Stadia and Ensign Dolet to join the others on the Bridge after they completed the interview. "Think they'll have any trouble finding it?" asked Mar-nee'.
"They shouldn't. Stadia was here on furlon the last time I was here, and I heard she even had a run-in with Councilor Troian. She'll get Dolet there if the crowd doesn't lift him on their shoulders and carry him there personally," he said, grinning.
They talked as they walked, slowly, arm in arm, looking at each other more than where they were going. Lucian was pleased that it seemed easier than he'd feared, as they grew comfortable sharing their thoughts with each other. He did, however, deliberately avoid the topic of Mar-nee's late husband, Lucian's familial friend Kaytoe. It had been a little more than half a yahren since his death, so he didn't want to push her too hard or to raise the touch subject right then. That would have to be discussed, but hopefully later, when they were more comfortable with each other.
"Here we are," said Mar-nee' as they arrived at the Rising Star's bridge. "While you check in with the Captain and the T.D.O., I'm going to make a stop at the lady's room. I'll join you in a few centons."
Not comfortable with the thought of departing her presence, Lucian hand caught hers as she slid it down his arm. He gave it a little squeeze and her a smile, as she slipped it free. Lucian watched her go, then entered the Bridge to get his orders.
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Post by LucianG on Apr 13, 2006 6:11:14 GMT -6
Lucian met Garshon, the Rising Star’s captain, to say hello, and then visited the T.D.O. in the closet-like room at the side of the bridge to get his orders. JustinB and Fallel were standing outside reading their own orders, so they waited while he stepped inside. Lucian was surprised that there was barely room for him inside the space, with the T.D.O., a disheveled, somewhat overweight, older man sitting behind a little desk framed by a vertical set of sealed order trays. There were piles of paper in the corners of the desk, and the actual work surface seemed tiny. This seemed to exaggerate the man’s size and actually minimized the free space in the room. A tiny vid screen was playing on the desk.
“Good evening, I’m—”
“Yeah, I know, Major Lucian, yeah, yeah. I just saw you on the vid with Roxzanna-Rizou. She’s a real dish, and you weren’t very nice to her,” groused the man, who didn’t bother to introduce himself. He shoved a sealed envelope at Lucian. “Major JustinB and the Frod said you’d be here soon so I went on and pulled it out. Sign and go,” he said, pushing a computer interface screen forward. Finished with his efforts for the moment, he turned his head back toward the vid screen, shutting out all thoughts of Lucian.
But that lasted only for a moment. Lucian hadn’t been pleased when he saw the sloppiness of the space or the man, but then he saw two more envelopes, with the top one labeled ‘Captain Stadia.’ Lucian slid his hand out to separate the two envelopes, allowing him to see ‘Ensign Dolet, Black Squadron’, marked on the other. This was a violation of standing orders, and was, in Lucian’s mind, was the last straw. “Sergeant!” barked Lucian as he switched off the vid screen. “Stand to attention!”
The man probably hadn’t been ordered to do that in yahrens, so he knocked his chair over backwards as he almost jumped to attention in surprise and his blood pressure shot up. The chair, being so close to the wall, bounced off of it, and hit him in the legs, leading him to collapse awkwardly back down onto it. A few moments later, he was standing once more, looking rigidly ahead.
“Sergeant, what are your orders regarding dispensing temporary orders?” asked Lucian, leaning across the desk toward the man, who was keeping his gazed locked rigidly straight ahead. The man’s breath reeked of garlic or a similar harsh spice, but Lucian stayed close to keep from allowing the man to relax. “Are you supposed to remove orders from a sealed tray before the office on temporary duty is in this room and the door is closed?”
“Ah, uhm, no. No, Sir!” stammered the man.
“Are you supposed to leave records of those dispensed orders lying around on your desk?”
“Uhm, um, not really, Sir,” he replied nervously.
“Then return these to the locked trays until these Warriors arrive,” said Lucian handing Stadia’s and Dolet’s orders back to the T.D.O., “and get those papers shredded and recycled before they fall into the hands of a Cylon spy. But first, I need a temporary quarters assignment.”
Moments later, Lucian stepped out of the office with his orders and a bunk assignment....
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Post by LucianG on Apr 13, 2006 11:01:59 GMT -6
At that moment, Lucian heard one of the Comm Officers report to Captain Garshon, "The Battlestars have reported that they are closing on the Cylon Base Star's location. Commander Apollo has ordered the Fleet to move toward their position. We have a couple of Black Squadron Vipers temporarily attached to us that are on rear guard and pretty far out. It will be a few centars before they close on us, Sir."
Garshon looked over at the Callisto Warriors on his Bridge and smiled, then replied to the Comm Officer, "Looks like we're going to have to lag behind a bit to pick them up. At least we've got some fighter coverage if we need it. There are eight Black Squadron Vipers assigned to our landing bay, and we've got their Squadron Leader and those other Warriors, too. We'll be just fine."
"Send that as a response, Sir?" asked the officer, unsure what to do.
"No," said Garshon. "If intercepted by the tin-heads, that message would endanger the Warriors, us, and maybe the Fleet, too. No, we're just going to hang back a bit, pick up that patrol, and then move up with the Fleet as soon as we can."
Lucian nodded, silently wishing the Battletars and their crews good luck and the Kobolian Lords' blessings as he started to open his orders.
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Post by LucianG on Apr 14, 2006 6:06:19 GMT -6
"Sealed Orders--Open First"
Lucian realized that there was a second part below, separate from the first. Dutifully, he opened the first and started reading:
To: Major Lucian, on temporary assignment, The Rising Star From: Commander Sheba, Battlestar Callisto
I hope and trust that your mission has been successful and that Major JustinB is now safely aboard the Rising Star or another ship of the Fleet. In that case, you are to destroy the second set of orders unopened. If and only if your mission could not be completed successfully are you to open the second set of sealed orders.
Due to the fuel shortage facing our Fleet on arrival in this system, we were unable to rapidly cross the system and escape prior to the Cylons' arrival. You are very familiar with the events and plans developed some sectars ago as we made our way into the system in association with this shortage, and with Commander Apollo's final decision to move slowly to conserve fuel for another jump. Numerous long-range surveys were made without success. Due to security concerns related to the events that occured shortly after our arrival in system, the Fleet was not made aware of the fact that some minor tylium sources were detected in the third asteroid belt during long-range patrols by the Galactica's pilots four sectars ago. Commander Apollo secretly dispatched the Zedlav Noxxe, one of the Fleet's two tylium tankers, and a mining mission to the asteroid belt, where they have mined a number of asteroids and successfully refined a small quantity of tylium. While it is not a large amount, it will help partially refuel those ships with the lowest fuel reserves--"
"Lucian, is everything okay?" asked Mar-nee', who had stepped up beside him.
Lucian realized that he must have been frowning at the need to go to such lengths to keep the Fleet operational, especially in such secrecy. The situation with Counselor Troian had been a real eye opener to Lucian, so he understood but still didn't like it. The other plan for obtaining tylium had been very risky, but now, they'd probably be forced into that same solution unless another source suddenly materialized. He smiled at Mar-nee' and replied, "I'm fine. Just tired, and now there's still more work to be done, as always! I'm almost done with this," he said flipping the orders up slightly. He took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze as he continued to read....
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Post by LucianG on Apr 15, 2006 13:28:34 GMT -6
In a distant ship of the Fleet, in a small community viewing room, one man rose as the interview appeared to be winding down. “Where ya’ goin, Gorjan?” asked the man who’d been sitting next to him in the crowded room. “It’s early yet, and the quarters of the Pyramid tournament are s’posed to be broadcast later this evening. Your bracket sheet still looks pretty good, doesn’t it?”
“Not feeling very well, tonight,” replied the man known as Gorjan. “Going to take a walk to try to clear my head a bit. If I feel better, I may be back later for the tournament,” he said.
“You be sitting in the back, if ya’ do,” replied Qatzar. “Don’t say I didn’t warn ya’.”
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Post by LucianG on Apr 15, 2006 13:31:51 GMT -6
“The mining operation has shut down in the past secton, the equipment, miners, and tylium have been recovered, and the Zedlav Noxxe is ready to return to the Fleet. The presence of Cylons in this sector makes this a dangerous journey, so Major JustinB has been ordered to dispatch four Black Squadron Vipers to rendezvous with the Zedlav Noxxe—”
The Z-Noxy, Lucian knew, was a large tanker/refiner for tylium fuel. He didn’t know how many people were on board, but he’d heard that the miners and the guys who handled refuelings were a real rough and tumble bunch. He marveled momentarily about the difficulties of mining asteroids under almost zero gravity conditions while hiding from marauding Cylons.
“—at the quickest possible speed and then escort the ship back to the Fleet. Because of its distance away, the need for speed, and the possibility of Cylons in the area, the Vipers will need to be equipped with special wing mounted drop tanks for an extra fuel reserve. C.M.S. [Chief Mission Specialist] Phrenyix has been working to equip four Vipers with these tanks. You will accompany the group in the Rescue One shuttlecraft with additional fuel for the first half of their trip. Because of the Vipers’ greatly superior speed, you will launch first with two additional Vipers who will accompany you with all possible speed to the point indicated on the accompanying coordinates where you will rendezvous with the Zedlav Noxxe’s escort Vipers. Once the four Black Squadron Vipers have refueled from your reserve, you and your escorts will return to normal speed and arc ahead to rendezvous back with the Callisto, if present, or the Rising Star otherwise. Your mission is to commence no later than four centars after you arrive on the Rising Star. May the Lords of Kobol with you all.
Commander Sheba"
There was a short handwritten note at the bottom. Lucian recognized the handwriting immediately.
"P.S. Lucian, Sheba wanted you to leave within 2 centars of arrival, but knowing how you might run into a “certain lovely lady” over there on the R.S., I convinced her to give you a couple more centars on the grounds that you would “probably be exhausted after rescuing JustinB.” I couldn’t get as much as I’d hoped, but some’s better than none at all! You’d better take advantage of it and be ready to spill serious details over breakfast as soon as you get back here to the Callisto!!! Wings, BatGal”
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Post by LucianG on Apr 16, 2006 20:21:46 GMT -6
Lucian smiled at the note from BatGal, his former wingmate and first officer, then looked at his chrono. With decontamination, the interview, and actually getting the orders, he’d already wasted over nearly thiry centons since landing, and his time remaining aboard the Rising Star was running out fast.
So much for my hope of spending a relaxing couple of cycles getting to know you better in person, he thought about Mar-nee’. They had been corresponding with a virtual stream of messages since their experience with the Council’s attempted coup shortly after Kay-toe’s death. They’d learned much about each other’s likes and dislikes, their hopes and fears, and their thoughts and dreams, but they’d still had little face-to-face time. Since Mar-nee’ was a communications officer, they had talked via comm every now and then, probably even more than the rules actually allowed, but they hadn’t been able to see each other in person due to the severe transportation restrictions enacted because of the fuel shortage. Now, when sectars of hopes seemed about to be fulfilled, those hopes were dashed by yet another mission. Lucian looked into Mar-nee’s eyes and said, with sadness in his heart, “Mar-nee’, I’ve told you for sectars that I’ve wanted to see you, but now that I’m here, I can’t stay. I’ve been assigned a mission that has to leave in less than four centars. There’s some preparation that needs to be done, and then I’ll have to get some rest. I’m—”
Mar-nee’ nodded as she put her index finger to his lips and said, “Lucian, I understand. You do what you need to do, and then we’ll get a quick bite so you can get some rest before you go. We can talk while we walk, if you don’t mind me coming along. We’ll get together again soon, even if I have to spacewalk over to the Callisto.”
They both laughed at the reference then moved arm in arm over to where JustinB and Fallel were discussing the orders. Lucian spoke with JustinB, who was making the pilot assignments, and with Fallel, who would be his co-pilot again on this mission. Then, they contacted Phrenyix, who immediately began refueling and servicing the shuttlecraft, while assuring them that the drop tank-equipped Vipers would be ready on time. They were about to leave when Lucian realized that he still had the second set of unopened orders in his hand. Since the T.D.O. office had a shredder, Lucian stepped back inside.
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Post by LucianG on Apr 18, 2006 5:00:23 GMT -6
The overweight man behind the desk was listening intently to his comm unit but looked up sharply in surprise when Lucian stepped back inside. The man abruptly disconnected the comm as soon as the door opened, without even saying goodbye. He looked extremely flustered at the unexpected interruption.
“What is it now? Sir?” he more barked than asked. The dislike in the man’s eyes...and voice...was clear.
“Just wanted to have you shred these, Sergeant,” replied Lucian, looking at the man intently. He handed the man the unopened orders, then hesitated, waiting to see if the man would do it.
“Uh, the shredders jammed with some of the stuff you ordered me to get rid of,” complained the man.
The desk didn’t really look any different than it had a few centons earlier, but he couldn’t tell for sure until he glanced at the shredder. It did indeed look as if it was overfilled. “Might put in a little less at a time,” Lucian replied. “Thanks for taking care of that when you get it working again.” The man nodded wordlessly, placing the unopened order folder in the tray to be shredded.
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Post by LucianG on Apr 19, 2006 5:39:53 GMT -6
The next thirty centons were a blur. Mar-nee’, who seemed to know all of the staff on the Rising Star, had gotten them a somewhat private booth in the mess hall typically used by the ship’s crewmembers, and they sat opposite each other eating a small meal as they talked, touching on recent events since they’d last spoken via the comm. In actuality, both seemed to be toying with their food more than eating it. Lucian finally put down his utensil and extended a hand part way across the table. Mar-nee’ gave him a quizzical look, and, almost embarrassed, he started to retreat, feeling that he’d made a serious tactical error, but her grin and hand dropping onto and then interlacing with his eased his mind slightly. But only very, very slightly. His mind was racing with conflicting thoughts. Was she really over Kaytoe’s death? If so, was she ready to move on? Was he moving in too quickly? Did she even want him to make that mov—
Leaning forward, she whispered to him and interrupted the string of thoughts, “Lucian, you’re as nervous as a cat tonight. Ever since we sat down here, we’ve been talking but not really talking, eating but not REALLY eating. You’re a Warrior, so just guessing, this isn’t about your mission, is it?”
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Post by LucianG on Apr 25, 2006 5:54:42 GMT -6
Lucian, full of emotions and feeling himself suddenly cornered, looked at her, but the cut of her dress combined with her lovely figure drew his eye downward. The bit of exposed cleavage—
Catching himself, he quickly pulled his eyes upward, but suddenly reddened when he realized that she had tracked his viewpoint from her bosom to her eyes. Totally embarrassed at being put on the spot and not handling it well at all, he quickly averted his eyes from her and nodded his head slightly.
Mar-nee’ rose from her seat and leaned further across the table, putting her face close to his ear. Her whisper caused her breath to tickle his ear as she asked, “Lucian, could it be, possibly, that you’re apprehensive about being here with me?”
More embarrassed than he remembered ever having been in his life, Lucian closed his eyes for a micron, focused on the situation, and then faced it directly. He looked her straight in the eyes as he stammered, “Mar-nee’, I…like you…a lot…but…I don’t…want to…do anything that would hurt you…or rush you…into anything that you’re not really ready for. And, yeah, I’m scared to death that I’m going to do something that will turn you off and I’ll never be able to see you again.”
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