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Post by LucianG on May 4, 2005 5:13:45 GMT -6
A short time later with the crisis seemingly at end, and with no significant damage to the Agro Ship that couldn’t be handled by that ship’s crew, Lucian took his leave of the Bridge to handle the other urgent matter: Captain Amy’s stolen brain functions.
As he passed by her, a smirking Lieutenant Finky handed him a folded paper. Opening it slightly, he saw it was a message from Mar-nee’. Though not knowing what the message said and not having time to read it, Lucian had a feeling that Finky already had. An awkward looking wink over her shoulder at him confirmed his fear, and he felt his face warm and glow red in embarrassment. Moments later, he hoped his coloration had returned to normal as he said, “Joey, I’ll be back shortly. Call me on my comm. unit if you need me.”
Just after leaving the Bridge, as he walked, he began humming a strange ditty that he didn’t remember hearing before, but which for some reason seemed somewhat appropriate, “Oh-oh, here she comes, Watch out boy, she’ll chew you up….” No more words came to him as he sounded the chime at Sergeant Pell’s door.
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Post by LucianG on May 4, 2005 16:14:59 GMT -6
The door slid open, and he was surprised to see the chamber was lit only by three candles and a bank of quad-mount computer monitors. From what he could see, it appeared that Sergeant Pell’s quarters were as big as his own. Suddenly, a door on the far wall opened, showing yet another, room, which appeared to be her bedroom. “Wow!” thought Lucian, “These quarters must be bigger than the Colonel’s!”
The light from the inner chamber was suddenly obscured by a tall, apparently well-built woman who had moved into the doorway, wearing some type of thin gown which allowed the light to shine through and highlight her figure. From what he could tell, she had to be around 1.9 meters tall. From her silhouette, she looked trim, but he suspected that she probably weighed more than he did.
“Major Lucian, I believe,” she said with a husky voice. “Do come in, please.”
Lucian, feeling uncomfortable in the low light, flicked his hand to his right and raised the light level in the room. The woman raised her arm in front of her eyes as she said, “Oooh, that’s bright!” Lucian was shocked to see that she was wearing a very sheer, very open purple robe, exposing what appeared to be a black, lacy…something…beneath it, and ample cleavage. He attempted for a moment to keep his eyes on her face, but his eyes were drawn downward, taking in the scenery as his face turned red. Figuring that Pell had staged this event, he forced his eyes to her face, trying to focus there, rather than allowing them to drift lower.
Feeling she had him where she wanted him, at the moment anyway, she moved over, brushing against him as she passed, and lowered the lights slightly. “We can’t have the lights too bright, now can we?” Lucian gave her a puzzled look, and she continued, right in front of him, raising her hands to shoulder height, pushing her elbows in and then her hands out, accentuating the exposed cleavage even more, “It makes it difficult for me to see the screens.”
“Ri-ight,” said Lucian, taking a step backward. “Sergeant Pell, I have an important assignment for you. Science Officer Fallel is working on some captured Cylon disks believed to contain the memory engrams of Captain Amy. Unfortunately, while he has experience with Cylon data, he said that this is well beyond anything he’s ever seen, and he needs programming assistance. You are to report to the captured Cylon Cruiser to assist him…as soon as you...uhm...get...ah...dressed.”
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Post by LucianG on May 5, 2005 5:57:45 GMT -6
At about that same time, Science Officer Fallel was rubbing his eyes from the centars of staring at the screens filled with translated code. Unfortunately, almost all of it was still unintelligible, and he had no way of knowing whether the part that he could read was correct, or, if it was, what it meant. His fatigue was beginning to show, as he was frequently rubbing his eyes and face, trying to wipe the tiredness away. Still, Fallel pressed on for Captain Amy. He barely knew her, but he still felt great desire to help her, partly because of her help to the Gastonovian people. After the refugees from Frodar Epsilon had come aboard the Callisto, Amy had been one of the first to offer meaningful assistance. Fallel, an Outlander who had served as a slave of the Cylons for many yahrens before being rescued from the Cylon base on FE Alpha, wasn’t very close to any of his people, but he had greatly appreciated her kindness to them anyway. Now, he hoped to be able to return the favor….
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Post by LucianG on May 5, 2005 16:31:45 GMT -6
Pell gave him a perturbed little smile as she moved yet closer to him. At that range, Lucian had to look up at her, and still had to force himself from glancing down. “Major Lucian,” she purred, “just what do you know about me? Haven’t you heard anything at all aboard this ship?”
“Ah, just that you are the best computer programmer on the Callisto, and…and probably one of the best in the entire fleet,” he stammered.
“Nothing else?” she pressed, “Nothing else at all?”
Taking yet another step back, his face felt hot, partly from the delicate situation, but even more with anger at himself for allowing himself to be caught in the mess. Struggling to regain his composure, he answered, “There’s a rumor…that with guys…you can be…a real handful.”
“Oh, Major,” she said, dropping the robe from her shoulders, fully exposing the lacy negligee which was even more sheer than the discarded robe, “I can be much, much more than that.” She pressed herself against him, and Lucian started to step back but then realized he was already against the wall. “If you help me, just a little, I’ll be glad to help you…a lot.”
Her touch, her warmth, her smell were almost intoxicating. He felt her breath against his cheek and ear, making it even more difficult to concentrate. Concentrating on duty wasn’t working nearly as well as it should, so he switched his thoughts to Mar-nee’ as he struggled to say, “Sergeant Pell, you have your orders. Act on them now! Get dressed and report to that Cruiser, now!”
“But I’m supposed to be off duty now, Major. You wouldn’t deny me my…rest, would you?”
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Post by LucianG on May 6, 2005 5:01:46 GMT -6
The Tech stuck his head in the Cruiser and called out. Hearing no answer, he moved slowly, cautiously into the ship seeking the little Frod science guy. “Hey, anyone here?”
In the Data Center, Fallel heard the call and answered, “Yes, I am in the Data Center.” Having been around Cylons for so many yahrens, his speech patterns were usually quite formal and both his style and accent were quite different than other Frodarians. He’d been working to change that, but, so far, with very little success.
“You’ve got a call from the Med Lab, Sir, on the comm unit over by the bulkhead. It’s supposedly urgent.”
Fallel, fearing a change in Amy’s condition before he could complete his work, was out of the chair immediately, making his way quickly to the unit. “Yes, Doctor, how may I be of assistance?”
* * *
Having at least partly regained his cool, Lucian put his hands on her arms, and touching more than he’d intended, he gently but firmly pushed Pell away. “Another time, another place, perhaps, Sergeant, but for now,” he said, straightening his uniform, “you have your orders. Carry them out, immediately.”
A shocked, hurt expression crossed her face as he stepped by her and moved quickly for the door, evidently hoping to escape the man-eater’s lair before she overpowered him again and completely. As she watched the second man leave her quarters in a matter of centons, she shouted at him, “Damn you, Major Lucian, but you were too bloody short anyway!”
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Post by LucianG on May 6, 2005 20:58:00 GMT -6
Ears still ringing at the insult, Lucian decided to make one more stop before returning to assist Fallel on the Cylon Cruiser. He didn’t know if he’d be lucky enough to catch the man in his quarters, but he decided to give it a try. Arriving outside the door, he pressed the button to announce his presence.
Moments later, the door opened and Captain Lazant stood in front of him. Dressed in loose pants with no shirt, the Captain had obviously been exercising, but had not yet worked up a good sweat. With muscles still tensed, Lazant continued moving his arms and legs periodically to avoid a break in the workout. Since the alert had ended shortly before, Lucian suspected that Lazant had just started the workout. “Sorry for the intrusion, Captain, but can we talk for a moment?”
Lazant, who had disliked Lucian rather intensely since Lucian had vaulted past him in rank several yahrens before, performed a sharp, powerful kick, stopping his foot only centimeters from Lucian’s chest. Lucian, halfway anticipating such a threatening move, barely flinched, and asked, “Are you done, Captain? I think you may be interested in this.”
Lazant looked at him intently for a moment, then lowered the still raised foot and spun on the ball of his other foot back to a defensive position. Taking another few moments, he gave the Major a suspicious look and asked with more than a hint of disdain, “What ever do you think I’d be interested in speaking with you about, Major?”
“Captain Amy…and those discs.”
Lazant looked at him questioningly then relaxed out of the martial arts stance. He nodded grimly and said, “Do come in, Major,” as he picked up a towel off the nearby seat. The door closed behind him.
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Post by LucianG on May 11, 2005 5:53:32 GMT -6
Any time Major Lucian got together with Captain Lazant, Lucian usually walked away with a bad case of heartburn. He knew Lazant had developed a deep dislike, possibly bordering on hatred, for him after he was elected Black Squadron Leader. Lazant had some concern that Lucian, who’d only been assigned to the Callisto for a few sectars when elected, was not experienced enough as a Warrior, despite his experience as second in command of a research vessel that had fled and battled Cylons for many yahrens prior to finally locating the Fleet. Lazant had told Lucian this to his face some yahrens ago; however, Lucian had long suspected that what was left unsaid was that Lazant harbored a serious grudge against him for being promoted to Major, from the rank of Lieutenant, under the Fleet’s revised promotion protocol, leaving Lazant stalled as a Captain. Lazant’s accusations against then Lieutenant Colonel Charybdis had most likely put a permanent “hold” on his never-ending desire to advance in rank and power.
As Lucian left Lazant’s quarters, he felt at least somewhat different this time. Lazant clearly still didn’t like him, but the Captain had been surprisingly cooperative after hearing Lucian’s explanation and request. Perhaps his reported friendship with Major Brie and his recent experiences had mellowed him a little. Lucian also suspected that there was some, possibly strange, bond formed between Lazant and Amy during the mission, probably as a result of fighting together in combat. As he made his way back toward the landing bay, Lucian had high hopes that the information Lazant supplied might be of assistance in helping Amy….
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Post by LucianG on May 12, 2005 6:01:30 GMT -6
Lucian reentered the Cylon Cruiser a little later, hoping to get in, see Fallel, and get back out before Pell arrived. When he entered the data center, he saw Fallel leaning back in the seat, hands clasped behind his head, with his eyes closed. Fallel had obviously heard him approach, for he said, “Has the doctor from the Med Lab been in touch with you?”
“No,” replied Lucian, growing more concerned, “Is there a change in Amy’s condition?”
Fallel shook his head as he opened his eyes and said, sadly, “I do not know the young lady very well, but it appears they have given up on her. We have been instructed to stop working on the discs, effective immediately. It seems that it is feared that if we make progress with the information, we may be…‘violating her privacy.’” He leaned back and closed his eyes once more, retreating into himself as he had often done during his time as a Cylon slave.
Seeing the doleful look on Fallel’s face, Lucian questioned, with a mixture of shock and anger, “You’re not teasing, are you?” The look on Fallel’s face, and the slight turn of the head, confirmed the answer. As the impact struck him, Lucian felt his anger continue to rise. Amy had been one of the first people he had met after joining the Callisto, and they had worked together quite closely on his first big assignment. They’d shared stories of their childhoods over a series of breakfast meetings, a habit that Lucian had picked up from Captain Rostammer long before on the O-9, during the work. Amy had been interested in Lucian’s stories of his xeno-agronomist father’s attempts to farm on the series of “subject planets”, but she had been even more interested in the stories of the O-9’s later adventures. She was particularly impressed with the determination of the crew. Lucian had also enjoyed her stories of life in the Fleet, since his life on the O-9, while having numerous parallels, had been quite different. He also learned that she’d been influenced to become a Warrior by another “lone” ship that had escaped, and even fought, the Cylons for many yahrens. After their project was completed, since they were in different squadrons and of different generations, they had never been very close but had remained casual friends. Now, it upset him that someone would be willing to let her go before all avenues of research were exhausted.
“Fallel, get back to work. Based on our progress so far, I don’t think there’s any danger of violating Amy’s or anyone else’s privacy for a good while.” He quickly supplied some additional information from Captain Lazant, and then said, “Go as far as you can, as fast as you can. I’m going to do something about this.”
* * * Lucian almost stomped out of the Cruiser, barreling past a surprised Sergeant Pell who had just approached the entrance. Pell turned and stared at Lucian’s back again for the second time in the past 40 centons. This time smiling, she entered the Cruiser.
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Post by LucianG on Jun 9, 2005 5:00:46 GMT -6
Lucian finally arrived on the Bridge after a number of delays dealing with various engineering emergencies. There were always things requiring repairs on a battlestar….
Commander Sheba was sitting at her desk when she welcomed him into the room. “Lucian, you look stressed. I believe I may be able to guess the cause.”
Lucian looked at her questioningly. “Amy,” she continued. The surprise reflected on his face confirmed her guess. “I just finished speaking with the doctor regarding the work you and Fallel were doing….
* * *
A few centons later, Lucian left the Commander’s Ready Room. He’d done all he could, even to the point of arguing with Sheba. She’d let him go much further than he’d figured, almost as if she was trying to convince herself, but finally cut it off by saying, “Major,” using his rank for the first time in the conversation, “I understand your arguments and agree with your sentiment, but my order stands.” Her gaze returned to the report on her desk.
Seeing he was dismissed, Lucian replied, “Yes, Commander,” as he turned to leave. “I’ll take care of it at once.” As he exited the room, he surreptitiously wiped a tear from his eye. Though he didn’t see it, Commander Sheba was doing the same.
* * *
Lucian took a longer route on his way back to the landing bay, giving Fallel as much time to complete as much work as possible. He knew it was a long shot, but every micron might count. The initial disappointment he’d felt on receiving the order from Commander Sheba was bearing down on him more with each passing step. When he finally stepped on board the Cruiser, he smelled something that was somewhat familiar. Sniffing deeply, he smiled realizing that it was the lingering residue of Sergeant Pell’s perfume. He entered the data center and was somewhat surprised to find it deserted and the discs gone. He was too late! Time was up and Amy’s chances were gone. Disappointment and frustration weighed heavily on him as he finally accepted the fact that he would not be able to help her. The hard-fought race to help her was over.
Silently, he shut down the equipment in accordance with standard procedure. There was no leaving Cylon equipment active and unattended aboard the Callisto. One never knew when a sleeper program might activate and cause anything from minor trouble to massive destruction. He’d have to speak with Fallel and Pell about that; the younger Outlander knew that rule by heart, and Pell…well, with her, Lucian didn’t know what she was thinking but he figured that it probably wasn’t something for polite company based on her actions a little earlier. Fallel, at least, Lucian thought, must have been extremely disappointed and frustrated to have walked out like that. Turning off the light as he exited, he headed toward the Med Lab to say a final goodbye, and to apologize, to the physical vestiges of Captain Amy.
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Post by Col. Charybdis on Jun 9, 2005 11:38:21 GMT -6
I arrived on the bridge and just caught Major Lucian leaving. He didn't look well. He caught sight of me and stopped for a micron. He looked into my eyes and all he said quietly was, "I'm sorry, Colonel." He dropped his head and then immediately left down the corridor away from the bridge.
I didn't quite make out what he said nor the meaning of it. I entered the bridge and went to see Sheba in her ready room. She looked up to see me and a look of total despair came across her face. "Colonel, sit down. We have a lot to talk about."
I took a chair close to her and wondered what the frack was going on...
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