Posted by Commander Shara Calloway (Chief Intelligence Officer) in While the Cat’s Away…

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Bethany Kovra Gadi (Chief of Security) in While the Cat’s Away…

Posted by Commander Shara Calloway (Chief Intelligence Officer) in While the Cat’s Away…
Posted by… suppressed (2) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

The lift came to a stop and Shara stepped out and waited for Bethy before they continued down the corridor. “I do have him and it is amazing. Unexpectedly amazing. We have something of an unconventional marriage too, in that as our work requires we will sometimes be apart, doing our own thing. I wasn’t expecting him to be here, but given our assignment, well, I should have seen it coming.”

Their quarters, connected by the tiny washroom, approached and Shara keyed in her security code to her own. “Come on, rum awaits us.”

Inside the duplicate tiny quarters, Shara’s was probably not much different from expectations. She had little in the way of personal effects on display, but for the first time in her life that was starting to change. In addition to the framed photo of her, her late husband and her then ten-year old daughter, there was one of her and Micah sitting on the front steps of a large wooden building set amongst mountains.

At the workstation (modified to a two-screen set-up), a soft throw in cream was draped over the chair and her guitar rested in its case against the side of the desk. There was a hard-shelled footlocker tucked into a corner and the other than some PaDDs piled neatly on the desktop, there was little else different about the space other than a (perhaps) odd appearance of a bulging paper envelope sitting on the dining table. Signs that her and Micah spent time there were few, other than an extra pair of boots. Everything else was tucked neatly away from prying eyes.

Shara moved to a little cabinet tucked next to a bedside table and keyed in a code. Her body blocked what all was in there, but she closed the door with a click and a beep and returned with a full bottle of rum, setting it on the table. “Open that, will ya? I’ll find us some glasses,” she said, moving to a small cabinet next to the desk.

Bethany didn’t glance around too much out of respect for Sharah’s privacy. She noticed the different items, but didn’t linger. She picked up the bottle, broke the seal, and opened it. The smell of the rum was a welcome assault on her nose. “Rum and pirates? Fitting I guess.”

Returning with the glasses, she set them down and then reached into her pocket, extracted the uneaten liquorice and dumped them (seven in total) on the table with a smirk, her foggy blue eyes lit up. “The rules didn’t say there was a punishment for not eating them all…”

Commander Calloway, CIO

Bethany dropped about 5 of the candies on the desk. “If I had eaten anymore and we would have needed the cleaning crew. That would have been a story for them to share.”

Gadi, CoS

“Good girl,” Shara said with a wink. She liked Bethy. It was nice to have someone else around (other than her husband) who respected that rules were rules but they often needed amendment, bending and sometimes breaking.

Bethany knew people who would take offense to the phrase…one of her taskforce team mates for instance, but it just made Bethany grin wider. “Hey I might be young, but I learn quick.”

She pulled out the chair and slunk into it, feeling all of her sixty-five years as she poured a double-measure for each of them. She slid one glass to to Gadi and knocked back half of hers. Picking up one of the liquorice, she rolled it between her fingertips. “Never have I ever gotten pregnant as a teen and had to give my baby up for adoption,” she said before dropping the candy and knocking back the rest of the rum. It was spicy and warm and the taste of the hideous liquorice was dissipating.

Bethany picked the glass up mid slide and moved over to a chair and plopped down into it. The rum was welcome and slid down her throat with an inticing burn. She wondered what Ryley would say about her drinking? Probably just stare at her, he should tell her not to, but knowing they had a standing drinking engagement waiting he couldn’t say much. The idea made her smirk.

She hadn’t conscious decided to share that tidbit with Bethany, or anyone. When she first got here it was a protected secret, but hell, Nadine had been at Faye’s wedding and it wasn’t a secret anymore. Nor did she want it to be. There was still that shred of shame lingering for having to abandon not one but two children, but at least with her first born it had been done out of a love and knowing that she couldn’t be the mother that babe needed. Now though? She liked to think they were all finding their groove together, strange as it all was.

Commander Calloway, CIO

Bethany didn’t drink at that one, letting Sharah have the moment to herself. That was hard and heartbreaking and life. Bethany didn’t have words to offer that wouldn’t be insulting, especially considering she had NO experience even close to that to compare it to. The worse was Shara couldn’t even pin it on the ‘the idiots at intel command’. It was just the way life happened some times. The thing was though, the Federation claimed to be this great Utopian society, so where were they when a scared, struggling, on her own, teen mom needed them and their great society that made everyone equals? Not where they needed to be, that’s for sure. Of course those details were conjecture, but the tone of Shara’s voice convinced Bethany. It was a measure of the respect Bethany had for the other woman that for once she found herself devoid of anything to say, related or distracting.

Gadi, CoS

Refilling her glass, her hand rested on the bottle at its shoulder. She looked up at Bethany and a look passed through Shara’s eyes before she slipped out of her chair and shuffled through the PADDs on her desk. She moved back and slid the PaDD across to Gadi with a soft smile.

“That’s her, my first born. I got to meet her Bethy. You won’t find her on any of my records, for now. Been too dangerous. I didn’t know her name until I was on R&R before I came here. Her name is Nadine. I was her mother for a month before I realized I was equipped to do it alone. I let others raise her and I’m glad I did. She’s wonderful, strong and resilient in the face of adversity like the other women in this family. and I have this urge to tell everyone about her, because I’m so damn proud to be her mama, even if it’s complicated and hard after all these years. But when I said I wished I had a few less secrets, this is partly what I meant. I don’t care about old missions, though some affected me harder than others, but finding family again: Micah, Nadine, Faye, after not having so many for so long. It’s breathed life into me in a way I don’t know I can fully explain. It’s why I don’t retire. Because why in some moment I feel old, other days I’m astonished at how this has all gone down and I feel like a kids again, eager to see what’s around the corner. I’m not afraid of it anymore.”

OOC: Nadine, Shara’s doppelgänger: https://i.imgur.com/lJyicsa.png

Commander Calloway, CIO

Bethany listened and the emotion she could hear in Shara’s voice made her smile. “That’s really wonderful, Shara. I’m happy for you.” Bethany genuinely was. She couldn’t imagine her life turning out in the end like Shara’s. If Bethany was honest she couldn’t imagine being Shara’s age. She hadn’t really thought about that either. Bethany tipped back another swallow of the rum. “You know Shara, you have a lot to return to. I know it’s not in our nature, and I know you and Micah and Blue have a lot of history going on here. But, if you decide the risk isn’t worth it, you tell me, I’ll take your place whatever it is. You or Micah.”

Bethany wasn’t sure if she believed Shara would take the offer or not. It wasn’t in their nature to let others take risks for them, but after this long, Bethany wanted to make sure Shara made it back to her family. “But none of us are really alone in this right? At least in theory. Blue will be once he gets in, no matter what precautions we take.”

Bethy threw back the last of her glass, “It doesn’t feel right, any of this. I feel on edge and waiting for the explosion. I will admit, but only here, knowing Balthazar had something to do with this, in helping us, that he is connected in some way, is keeping me up all nights. I don’t like it. I am being totally paranoid about it all.”

Gadi, CoS