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Post by LucianG on Mar 10, 2007 10:34:11 GMT -6
The shuttle had finally landed, and Roxzanna-Rizou was getting out of her seat, when two Techs came aboard and took a look around. They looked questioningly around the shuttle, at her, then back around the shuttle once more. "Excuse me, Miss," said one, "we'z told this was a priorty shuttle with something important being sent over for this ship from the Starliner Alpha. What is it and where?"
Roxzanna-Rizou nodded and answered, "Yes, we were told that it was very high priority. Here, this is compliments of the crew of the Starliner Alpha to the crew of the Battlestar Callisto. We were asked to deliver it personally," she said, handing them the box, and then leaving the shuttle immediately, with N'Rondar right behind her carrying the vid-case and kit bag strapped to it.
"Wow, good looking woman," said one Tech to the other. Turning his attention to the box, he asked, "Think we should open this?"
"If she has legs and boobs, you'd think she was good looking," replied the other Tech. "But yeah, she really was. As for the box, she did say it was to the crew of the Callisto, and we're crew members, so let's see."
The box opened to reveal three muffins and the remains of a fourth one. Little circles on the bottom of the box revealed that there were a number of the original group that were missing, including a few that had been eaten by crew members in the Starliner Alpha's shuttle bay break room before Roxzanna-Rizou had stolen the rest.
The first Tech looked at the second one, "Why that stupid woman ate our ship's present! I hope she gets fat off of them!" He looked at the box, back to his fellow Tech, and then said, "Well, guess there's not quite enought to go around, so first come, first served," as he picked up a muffin and took a big bite....
* * *
Roxzanna-Rizou checked in aboard the Callisto, and requested two rooms, only to be told that there was currently only one TDY room available. A group of C.I. graysuits had taken a bunch of the other rooms, so she and N'Rondar would have to share, at least for a while. Angry, but hoping she'd be able to still catch her prize before the jump started, she asked, "Say, can you tell me where I can find Major JustinB's room. We met aboard the Starliner Alpha earlier tonight, and I saw him drop something that I want to return." She held out something wrapped in a wrinkled napkin, but didn't bother opening it up to show the clerk what was inside.
"Miss Roxzanna, if you'll give it to me, I'll see that he gets it, Ma'am," said the clerk
"Oh, no, don't even think about," replied the reporter. "It's very important, so I want to personally see that he gets it."
"Well, okay," replied the clerk, who gave the reporter the room number. Roxzanna-Rizou, still upset about the room assignment, left without saying "Thank you," with N'Rondar trailing behind. As she was about to enter the corridor in search of the Black Squadron Leader's quarters, she wiped her mouth once more, then stuffed the crumpled, crumb filled napkin in the receptacle.
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Post by Brie on Mar 10, 2007 11:04:07 GMT -6
They got dressed, then went back out into the outer room. Brie wrapped her arms once again around JustinB. They kissed. "Thanks for everything," she told him. "I'll see you soon. And here's something to think about when you're at your physical with Holodoc." She kissed him passionately one more time. "I love you."
"I love you too." JustinB opened the door and looked around. He heard something on one end of the corridor. "Better go that way," he said, pointing in the other direction.
"Okay," Brie said with a wink. She left, glad that she knew the ins and outs of the Callisto. She was able to make it back to her own quarters without being spotted.
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Post by LucianG on Mar 10, 2007 11:44:08 GMT -6
"Would you stop knocking that blasted thing against the side of the corridor!" Roxzanna-Rizou exclaimed in a hushed voice. "They make these corriodors wide enough that you shouldn't have to bump into them!" Unless you're an imbecile, she thought. "Major JustinB's quarters should be around here somewhere, so do be quiet!"
"Sorry," said N'Rondar, as he continued along the corridor behind her. A few moments later, he deliberately bumped the vid case with his leg, so it swung and bounced off the corridor wall once more with a clang.
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Post by Brie on Mar 11, 2007 12:51:49 GMT -6
The room was still a mess but Brie didn't care. The first thing that she did was to smell the Caprican Rose on her desk. Its fragrance was even sweeter than before. She noticed the picture that still hadn't put away. "Turner," Brie said out loud, picking it up, "you'll always have part of my heart. I will always love you and always miss you. But you know me. When I let my walls down, when I allow myself to care about someone, I fall fast." Brie grinned. "Really fast. Somehow I know that you're happy for me." She stared at the picture for another micron, then placed it carefully in her safe. "I'm happy for me. I didn't think that I could ever feel like this again." She glanced at her chrono, she was back on duty in 20 centons.
In the bedroom Amy was sleeping soundly. Ever so quietly, Brie tiptoed past so she could grab a quick turbowash. She put on a clean uniform, dried and braided her hair, then softly headed back out into her office. She knew that she'd be hit with the teasing/questions as soon as Amy was up and wasn't sure if she was looking forward to it or dreading it. Instead of sitting at her desk she sat on her sofa, pulled up her feet, and relaxed. Holodoc's kitten jumped on top of her. Brie absentmindedly scratched it behind its ear. More than anything, she wanted to know when she would see JustinB again. She wondered if the smile would ever leave her face.
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Post by LucianG on Mar 11, 2007 14:49:48 GMT -6
With the vid-camera in place on N'Rondar's shoulder as he adjusted settings for the light in the corridor, Roxzanna-Rizou checked her appearance in the small mirror one last time. This was it, the end of the chase! To catch a Warrior, and an officer at that, red-handed with a girl--OH!--it was too delicious to imagine. If this worked as expected, they'd be able to get this broadcast to all the ships of the Fleet before the jump, and, as celebrity news rather than gossip, it would be shown over and over again throughout the jump. People would want more about it even after the jump ended! Her ratings would soar!
"Get ready," she ordered, then seeing the little red light come on, she began the report in a low, hushed voice standing in the corridor, just a little way from a door, "This is IFB reporter Roxzanna-Rizou, standing outside the door of Black Squadron Leader Major JustinB aboard the Battlestar Callisto. Last evening, Major JustinB escorting a mysterious, and as yet-unknown, red-headed woman, led this reporter on a merry chase from the Rising Star to the agri-ship to the fabulous Starliner Alpha and then to the Battlestar Callisto. Now, despite keeping the identity of the mystery woman so well hidden throughout that chase, we have reason to believe that the amorous Warrior has the mystery woman hidden inside his quarters. In moments, we hope to know the identity of the mystery woman, and perhaps even details of their relationship.”
She moved to the door and rang the comm buzzer....
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Post by JustinB on Mar 11, 2007 16:51:54 GMT -6
When Brie left, I was still on cloud nine. I was still getting over the shock over what happened and what an excellent night we had just spent together. I never thought I could be so happy and that I would fall so big for Brie.
I was wide awake and was on duty within a centar and a half. I threw on a pair of pants and a sweatshirt and put on a pair of running shoes. A nice relaxing run around the Callisto was in order to get rid of all this adrenalin I had.
I was about to get a drink of water when the comm buzzer rang. I wondered who it might be. I got the surprise of my life when the door opened and IFB reporter Roxzanna-Rizou was standing there with a vid-camera operator.
"What the Frack is going on here," I said in an annoyed tone. I knew why she was here but I wasn't going to let her know that. "I didn't know a warrior going for a run was such a news item for your show, but by all means join me if you like."
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Post by LucianG on Mar 12, 2007 6:04:32 GMT -6
FRACK! thought Roxzanna-Rizou. The plan had just done a complete belly-up. The mystery woman must be long gone, if she’d ever been here at all. The story would be harder to finish that she had hoped, if it could ever be finished at all, but all wasn’t lost yet. There might still be something useful here, so she switched gears smoothly, giving the setup, “Good morning, Major JustinB. I’m Roxzanna-Rizou of the IFB, it’s good to see you again. I’ve been assigned to cover the jump aboard the Callisto, and in the event that there’s no real news, I’m to do human-interest stories. Right now, there’s no news, so I’m looking at the story side.”
His impatience was showing, so she delivered the bait, “With your recent long-range mission and recovery, there are a great number of people in the Fleet who are greatly interested in you and your story, people who’d like to follow-up on your story and to learn more about Black Squadron’s illustrious leader. In fact, you probably didn’t know it, but a couple cycles ago, you were one of the top ten most hit searches on the Fleet infonet. People really want to know more!”
Fearing that he was about to close the door in her face, she decided to soften the line, just a bit, hoping to draw on his sympathy, by saying, “I understand, with you going for a run, this may not be the best time for an interview, so perhaps we can do that a bit later? We’d like our viewers to learn all about you, so for now, can we come in and get a look at your quarters? No vid-taping, just a look. We want the people to learn more about you, something that wouldn’t appear in your infonet bio, so it would be a huge help to me by allowing me to develop a better interview based on your lifestyle. Please, Major, how about it? Your public loves you, and they’re really clamoring to know everything about you.”
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Post by Brie on Mar 12, 2007 9:11:34 GMT -6
Brie counted down on her chrono. "Five...four...three...two...one." She was officially back on duty. She gently picked up the kitten and placed it on the floor before walking to her desk. There were no messages, things must have gone smoothly for Hawke in her absence. At first she had been a bit apprehensive about giving Hawke such a position but he had proven that he could handle it. Once everyone was back on full-duty and back in their correct assignment she was still going to give Hawke more authority than most captains. Until then, he’d be acting third officer, and Amy acting SIC. She trusted Hawke, something she had at one point never thought possible. Hawke had been the one who, through his actions, had convinced Brie that it was finally time to close Turner’s file, let him rest in peace. If she hadn’t done that she’d still be legally sealed, and the previous evening never would have happened.
“Concentrate, Brie,” she said out loud. “You’re back on duty.” She checked her calendar, there was nothing yet scheduled. There were a couple of things that she needed to take care of. Her first action was to send a note to Persephone.
Ensign, please come to see me this morning, at your convenience. I look forward to officially meeting you. If you’re not sure where my office is just ask any member of Gold Squadron.
Major Brie
The second message was to Commander Sheba.
Commander,
If you could spare a few centons during the jump there’s something I would like to discuss privately with you. Thank you.
Major Brie
She was sure that she would see the commander soon, there were always meetings during the jumps, but there were two matters that she needed to discuss with her. For one of them JustinB should probably also be present, she would need to talk to him beforehand. She smiled, she had an excuse. Knowing that messages were sometimes intercepted and that they had decided to keep things quiet, she kept it formal.
Major JustinB,
I would like to continue our discussion about squadron procedures sometime in the very near future. I’ve sent a message to Commander Sheba, since we need to discuss our ideas with her as well. Please let me know a good time to continue our conversation.
Major Brie Gold Squadron
Satisfied that the message would sound innocent enough, Brie sent it. She just hoped that JustinB would have some free time. There was nothing stopping them from spending time together, even if they were on duty, as long as she had her comm with her.
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Post by JustinB on Mar 12, 2007 16:31:05 GMT -6
I didn't know Roxzanna-Rizou personally, but her reputation preceded her. If there was any gossip to spread, you could bet she wouldn't be far to broadcast it. I felt like treating her with the same disrespect she shows everyone else. But as a squadron leader I knew it would expected of me to behave properly.
I knew why she was here. I had been recognised on the Starliner Alpha and someone had placed a called the the IFB. Once more it would have been reported I was out with someone. Luckily, I had tidied the room as I got ready for the run. I made sure that everything was back in its place and anyone who came over wouldn't know someone else had been there. I was very careful Brie didn't leave anything behind and she hadn't.
Knowing the coast was clear I decided to let her in. "Ok Miss Rizou, you can come in for a few microns but why I don't have a clue. As for an interview, you will get it once I have cleared it with Commander Sheba."
She came in but looked disappointed at finding nothing as she trudged around my quarters.
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Post by LucianG on Mar 12, 2007 17:50:45 GMT -6
Nothing, nothing, nothing...nothing! What was it with this guy? Did he have a maid or some type of neatness fetish? Roxzanna-Rizou wondered as she peaked around the rest of his quarters. She made mental notes on a couple of personal items she could use in the upcoming interview, but there was nothing of any real value to her.
Turning back to Major JustinB, she put on her best face and said, "Major, you have been very hospitable, and I thank you for your time. I'll submit a request to Commander Sheba regarding that interview, and I look forward to speaking with you again...very soon." Suddenly realizing how tired she was since the chase had ended, for the moment, she stepped out of the room and walked away without another word, leaving the vid-op, still holding the vid-camera in his hands, to grab the still open equipment case and follow her as best as he could.
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