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Post by LucianG on Jul 8, 2007 19:58:00 GMT -6
A couple of centons later, Pell was nodding her head. “Lucian, I think I know how to do what you’re asking, but despite your attempt at flattery, it is going to take time and effort. In fact, I’ll have to subcontract item two due to the amount of time it would take. I just don’t have it. A woman has to get her beauty sleep…sometime.” She moved closer to him, standing just centimeters from him. “Now, in case you didn’t know it, I’m an avowed capitalist,” she said as she placed a hand on each side of the front of his Warrior’s jacket, and ever so slowly ran each individual fingernail down his chest in sequence. “You want something from me, I’ll want something of you of comparable, acceptable value in return. Since I’m subcontracting it, I’ll need cubits for item two.” Leaning even closer, she put her face to the side of his head and whispered a number in his ear. “Well, Lucian, do we have deal on that one?”
Feeling her breath hot against his ear and her body almost touching him, Lucian attempted to give the number due consideration. It was a good bit higher than he’d anticipated, but with the feminine distractions, he gave up and merely agreed with a nod and a mumbled, “Yeah.”
Pell said, “Good. Now, you think we can agree on something for items one and three?” She moved closer too him, uncomfortably close for someone who saw himself in love with another woman, and she gently took his jacket in hand and started to pull as if to remove it. “For what I have in mind, you’ll need to take that off.”
“Pell, I’m seeing some—”
“SHHHH!” she ordered as she pulled the jacket down and free of his arms. “Now, I’ve heard that you’re…really good…with your hands. Well, we’re about to find out….”
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Post by LucianG on Jul 9, 2007 5:39:27 GMT -6
About forty-five centons later, they stood opposite each other just inside the door to Pell’s quarters. Lucian rubbed his hands together, hard and repeatedly, as Pell said, “Lucian, thank you so much. I’ve really been wanting to do that for the longest time. You did…great!”
Lucian gave her only a little nod as he replied, continuing to rub his hands as he did. “I’m...glad. Now, please make sure you take care of my items. I expect item one to be completed within a secton, and the other two within two sectons. I think that’s realistic, wouldn’t you agree?”
Pell smiled broadly, “That’ll be pretty tight, but I think it can be done. I’ll take care of everything for you.”
Lucian said, “Thanks,” then hefted the bag and left without another word. Glancing at his chrono, he knew he didn’t have much time remaining….
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Post by LucianG on Jul 10, 2007 5:40:21 GMT -6
Pell watched him walk away down the corridor, and then closed the door. She started toward the monitor bank, already formulating the required search in her head, but instead, took a seat at the table. As she did, an old Colonial rhyme popped into her head. It was one that she hated since it wasn’t very good but was still sometimes used at sealing ceremonies, but it still seemed somewhat appropriate under the circumstances,
“Two separate parts, on their own way, But then drawn together, come what may; From separate parts, one common goal, Distinct pieces that make a new whole.”
Ever so carefully, she ran her hand over the smooth, gently curved surface. She had hoped for the past few yahrens that she’d get this chance someday, and now, she, against all odds, she finally had….
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Post by LucianG on Jul 11, 2007 5:51:41 GMT -6
Just a short way down the corridor, Lucian turned around. He’d noticed an open door to one of the maintenance closets, and he thought that he might find just what he needed in there. He was about to step into the closet when he stopped short. A tall man stepped out from behind the door and said, “Yeah, kin I help yah?”
“Hi, I’m Major Lucian. And yes, I’m hoping you can. I’ve got something on my hands, so I’m looking for some industrial solvent, hypochlor or something similar with which to clean them. You have any in here?”
“Well, yeah, Major, I got some, but I don’t know if yah really wanna use it on your hands,” said the man, who was rather tall, with several cycles of stubble on his face. “They say that stuff can make a’body real sick like. Got some soap there next to the sink. Might be better for yah.”
“Unfortunately, soap won’t touch it,” replied Lucian. “I’ve already tried. Twice. Just let me have a spot of that hypochlor and then I’ll take that off right away with the soap. Deal?”
“Yah get sick, remember, it ain’t my fault,” replied the maintenance man.
“That’s a deal,” replied Lucian. * * *
A few centons later, Lucian was in the Engineering Office, shaking hands, his own being freshly cleaned, with all of his friends and subordinates of the past few yahrens. It wasn’t a goodbye, just a see you later, so it didn’t take long, which was good since he didn’t have long. He spoke with Fallel for some time, both about engineering status and personal matters, and then the two men shook hands and gave in to give each other a quick embrace. “Be good,” Lucian said with a smile.
“Why start now?” asked Fallel with an even bigger grin.
“Oh, well. Don’t let it be said that I didn’t try,” replied Lucian as he gave the new Captain a salute. Moments later, he was on his way to Beta Bay. Lucian was almost there when a quick wave of nausea swept over him. From his past experience with the feeling, Lucian knew that the Callisto had just come out of the jump.
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Post by LucianG on Jul 12, 2007 6:00:41 GMT -6
N’Rondar, was readying everything for the big broadcast that the Fire Witch would be making shortly. He glanced at his chrono for at least the tenth time in the past three centons. It was now only a matter of microns before the jump ended. FW was in the turboflush room….
A few moments later, there was a strange sound from within the room. It was almost as if someone was suddenly violently ill. N’Rondar looked at the chrono once more, and smiled as he said to anyone who might have been listening, “And Roxanna-Rizou announces the end of the jump with great—”
Another strange blast from the turboflush room—
“fanfare and decorum!” he ended.
A couple of centons later, she emerged from the turboflush room, gave the vid op a “don’t say a word or you’re dead” look, and then said, “Let’s do this!”
* * *
Plugged into the power socket, the small, portable vid monitor could pick up the IFB broadcast piggy-backed onto the ship’s power supply, even though, technically, it should not have been in use during a worker’s on-duty period. Of course, since Zoarolar wasn’t really into technicalities, he used it quite regularly, though very discretely, during his work period. Seeing the Roxzanna-Rizou’s image appear on the screen, he immediately turned it up just a bit.
"—na-Rizou reporting from the briefing room of Black Squadron aboard the Battlestar Callisto. The fleet has now finished this current jump in what this reporter has learned is the Borreck System. I had the privilege to be aboard the Callisto during the...”
Because it was always there, most viewers typically subconsciously filtered out the text at the bottom of their vid monitor. However, in Zoarolar’s case, he’d been thinking about that very text. He’d heard rumors that for particularly juicy tidbits of information, the IFB sometimes gave monetary rewards, or better yet, free vacations aboard the Rising Star, or recently, the Starliner Alpha, or better yet on a hidden vacation planet secretly used by some of the Sires, Siresses, and other bigwigs in the Fleet. Some people even said the vacation planet was Earth, and that the bigwigs had convinced the Earthlings to allow them to visit while the Earth people completed a huge fleet of Battlestars which would soon be used to defea—
Suddenly, as he continued to watch the beautiful Roxzanna-Rizou, he finally saw the crawler that he sought:
“Whether you have hard news, celebrity tidbits, or other information that might be of interest to the people of the Fleet, contact Roxzanna-Rizou through your ship’s IFB office. Don’t put it off! Call now!” The Callisto’s version of the broadcast included the local comm number, so the maintenance worker jotted it down on a scrap of paper.
“….his romance in the future. This is Roxzanna-Rizou reporting from the briefing room of Black Squadron aboard the Battlestar Callisto."
Zoarolar lowered the volume one more, then shut off and unplugged the vid monitor, slid it back behind the false divider in his locker, and then exited the closet to go to the nearest comm unit.
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Post by LucianG on Jul 13, 2007 17:56:37 GMT -6
Beta Bay.
It had been his operations home for about two yahrens before he transferred to the Bridge, and now he was there seeking JustinB. He’d already spoken with a couple of the young Black Squadron ensigns who had told him that he might check in JustinB’s office or in the Black Squadron Briefing Room. Thanking them, he had chuckled silently to himself at their brilliantly obvious recommendations. He’d stepped into the room just in time to see Roxzanna-Rizou apparently completing a report. He wondered why she was doing it from there, if it might have something to do with JustinB and the redhead’s red head hunt, but he didn’t want to stick around to find out. Not seeing JustinB, he quickly ducked back out and headed down the corridor to see if the Black Squadron Leader was in his office.
* * *
Just after the report ended, N’Rondar noticed Major Lucian leaving the briefing room. He hadn’t noticed him come in, and he hoped, for Major Lucian’s sake, that FW hadn’t either. N’Rondar knew that the Major was on Roxzanna-Rizou’s felgercarb list, and, as far as he was concerned, that wasn’t a place anyone deserved to stay for very long. He shut down the vid unit as he observed the redheaded reporter suddenly answer her newly borrowed personal comm unit. With the excuse that they would be entering a new system and would have to coordinate a number of reports, N’Rondar had finally convinced the Callisto’s IFB branch to lend them a pair of personal comm units.
N’Rondar took a break and got a cup of coffee and a doughnut while Roxzanna-Rizou was engaged in what had evidently become a fierce argument about something. He had just taken another bite when his unit suddenly sounded. Answering it, he mumbled, “Um-huh?”
“N’Rondar, this is Klesh,” one of the broadcast engineers in the Callisto’s IFB office, “we’ve received a call from someone that Roxzanna-Rizou really needs to hear. This guy’s got a tale that’s right up her alley.”
“Mmmm, she’th on enother…another call at the moment,” replied N’Rondar. “I’ll have to take it.” He quickly took another couple of sips of the coffee to try to clear his mouth.
“Hul-lo? Roxzanna-Rizou?”
“Hi, this is N’Rondar, IFB, Roxzanna-Rizou’s personal vid operator. What’s your name and position?”
“I’m Zoarolar, and I'm in Janitorial Services.”
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Post by LucianG on Jul 14, 2007 9:15:59 GMT -6
“Well, Mr. Zoarolar, thanks for calling for Roxzanna-Rizou. I understand you may have a story that might be of interest to her and to the people of the Fleet? What can you tell me about it?”
“No, I got to talk to Miss Roxzanna-Rizou. I gotta tell her for the reward.”
“Oh, yeah, the reward,” replied N’Rondar with little enthusiasm. He heard many stories spun by people expecting some rich reward for piddling little stories that amounted to nothing, so he decided to play along, even though he knew that there likely wouldn’t really be a reward, or if in the extremely rare occasion that some small payment was made, it surely wouldn’t be what the teller of tales would expect…or probably even want. “The reward. Well, we just might…maybe…be able to do a reward, if your story is good enough, IF it can be fully documented, and IF it really, really proves to be of interest. You got it? First though, before we even think about rewards, we have to know what you’ve got. Now, you understand, that a reporter like Roxzanna-Rizou gets lots and lots of calls, so only the very best stories get to her. So, what can you tell me so I can tell you if Miss Roxzanna-Rizou’ll be interested?”
“Well,” replied the man on the other end of the comm, rather tentatively, “I seen Major Lucian come outta her room with her. She’s wearing...uh...a…”
N’Rondar knew that as a result of the incident with the little Outlander, the Fire Witch had it in for the Major. This could be interesting. He nudged, “Well, she was wearing something?”
The voice said, “Well, she had on a little something, but she was really next to stark naked. They were in the corridor for a bit talking—”
“Stark naked, eh, and…just talking?”
Zoarolar’s mind was turning as he was telling the story, he suddenly realized that the reward could be slipping through his fingers since it wasn’t much of a story if they were just talking, was it?
“Well, at first, then he put his arms around her and kissed her, real passionate like. I got a good view cause I was stand’in in the door of a maintenance closet down the hall. His hands was all over the woman.”
N’Rondar’s eyes had widened as he heard the story and thought of the implications. This was, as Klesh had said, just up the Fire Witch’s alley. If it was true, she’d run with it, and if it wasn’t…well, she’d probably run just as far. N’Rondar briefly felt almost sorry for the officer, but really, only for a moment. After all, he himself had protected Major Lucian from Roxzanna-Rizou just a few centons earlier. If the Major couldn’t keep it in his pants and himself out of trouble, well, he deserved his just reward. N’Rondar asked, “First, whose room? And second, how’d you know it was Major Lucian?”
“Sergeant Pell, a computer wiz. And I know it was the Major cause he told me his name. He walked right by my maintenance closet at first, then came back to wash his hands.”
“Hmm. What can you tell us about this woman, Sergeant Pell? Do you have any type of relationship with her?”
“Oh, no Sir. I don’t know her personal-like. You see a high maintenance woman don't want no maintenance man.* Miss Pell, she’s a real lady, though, from what I’ve seen. She’s real purty and she’s built like a….”
* With credit for a good line to Toby Keith, whose song inspired a tiny bit of this storyline.
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Post by LucianG on Jul 15, 2007 18:44:33 GMT -6
A few centons later, N’Rondar was looking over the notes he’d jotted down on a little scrap of paper. He was pretty pleased with the story’s overall potential, though he had his doubts about part of it. A good part of it, actually, but he was quite sure it had at least a grain of truth in it…somewhere. Of course, he wasn’t actually a producer who had to make such decisions, but something like this might get him a shot at an opening sometime soon. He thought, “Yeah! Just wait until Roxzanna-Rizou heard about this! She’s going to love it. Sorry, Major Lucian!”
Seeing her end a call with a big smile on her face, he figured that now was the perfect time to spring it on her. N’Rondar approached her and exclaimed, “Roxzanna! Wait until you hear the juicy story I have for you! It could be big!”
“CAN IT,” she ordered as she gave him an exaggerated cut sign. “Not interested at the moment. Not interested at all, actually. You see, I ALREADY have MY big story. There’s going to be a prisoner transfer of some of those NSS or whatever the heck they call those people, and we’re going along to observe it! Up close and personal!” Seeing the disappointment on N’Rondar’s face, she gave him an evil look and in a lower voice where no one else could hear, said, “Well, get a move on, you stupid oaf! We’ll be leaving shortly, and if you frack this up, I swear, you’ll be looking for a new line of work. Understand?”
N’Rondar nodded wordlessly, and then turned away, feeling her eyes staring holes in his back. To himself, he added, “Don’t you worry about my part, lady.” As he started to check his equipment, he silently pictured the outwardly beautiful Fire Witch, suddenly encircled with a mass of leaping flames the color of her hair, revealing her inward evil visage for only him to see. As the flames grew, he could almost hear her wicked laugh as the entire assembly suddenly was sucked downward into the unfathomable hell from which she’d come. That brought a smile back to his face as he pushed the image from mind. Sticking a hand into his pocket, he fingered the little paper gingerly…wondering. Since the Fire Witch was too good for it, maybe he could give the story to…to...someone? Pulling it out for his pocket, he stared questioningly at the paper in the palm of his hand for several microns...and then several more...before he suddenly ripped it into pieces and thrust the remains into a nearby recycling receptacle.
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Post by JustinB on Jul 17, 2007 7:47:48 GMT -6
Leaving Brie behind me in the launch bay so she could continue preparing for her mission, I went to find Major Lucian. I wanted to extend my hand to him to wish him well on his transfer to the Galactica.
On the way I stopped at a comm panel. I contacted Ensign Missygoat to prepare to launch in twenty microns. I then placed a message for Major Lucian to meet me in my office ASAP. Opening my office door, I settled in and waited for Major Lucian to arrive. Opening up a crate under the desk I pulled out a bottle of Ambrosia.
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Post by LucianG on Jul 18, 2007 6:12:56 GMT -6
On the Bridge, there was a buzz of excitement about exiting the jump and entering the Borreck Cluster. As soon as the Callisto had arrived, communications had been established with the Galactica, and soon thereafter, the rest of the Fleet. A short time later, Lieutenant Aegina approached Commander Sheba and said, “Commander, there’s a priority call from the Galactica.”
Moments later, in her Ready Room, Sheba greeted Colonel Starbuck’s image on the vid monitor. “Hi Sheba, good to see you. We have some good news and some bad news. We’ve just established contact with the missing scout ship. It’s in orbit around one of the inner planets, and everyone is safe. The bad news is that they ran into hostiles, note NOT believed to be Cylon, in the Nine Borreck system of this star cluster. They said three relatively small ships, each about 50 meters long, with no obvious FTL capability, and armed with some pretty nasty projectile-type weapons, gave them a very rough time. Our scout ship took some pretty serious damage, but were able to make the jump and limp back to this system. Unfortunately, some of the crew members have what we believe is some type of radiation sickness from exposure to some of those weapons, so Apollo has ordered a quarantine of the Nine Borreck system for the moment. We’re going to get a better feel for this system before we dispatch anyone over there to negotiate with them or maybe get in a rumpus with them.”
Sheba could tell from Starbuck’s expression that he wanted nothing more than to be involved in a butt-kicking rumpus with someone who would attack the Colonial Fleet. However, she also knew that he understood that the safety and preservation of the Fleet came first, so if a fight could be avoided, he would do so…with some regrets.
Starbuck went on, saying, “We’re going to scout this system a bit more in case there are any of those little ships around here, and hopefully, we can do some restocking of supplies while we’re here. We’re working on a new plan now, and will be in touch shortly. For now, we’ve dispatched a shuttle to you with some transfers. It should be there any moment.” Glancing down for a moment, he looked back up and said, “That’s about it.”
The friends spoke for a few moments before had to go due to other incoming calls. Starbuck quickly concluded, “Oh, and Sheba, good luck with your prisoner transfer. If your group is like the rest of these folks, they’re nuts and dangerous to boot. Starbuck, out.”
* * *
Continued in Chapter 37 O - The Present
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