Bent forward at the hips, Faye’s arms were folded on the edge of the large worktable as she watched a holographic image spin slowly while data scrolled casually beside it. Chewing on the inside of her lip, she let the information settle into her mind. Another day, another data set. Boring but familiar. And life on the starbase wasn’t bad at all either. She’d been on bases and starships and in the end she just knew herself and knew that despite that part of her that liked the idea of rooting down in a place that didn’t go anywhere, she couldn’t handle the restriction. She craved the freedom that the passing stars gave her, a sense that she was going somewhere. But one just didn’t turn down a promotion like this! Well, she had in the past but that was a different woman who had so many secrets she hid in the corner like a child. It wasn’t the most prestigious of science assignments, in fact it was almost considered backwater, but considering her roots that suited her just fine. Beside, Commander Soustin was actually pleasant to work with and gave her a lot of latitude to do her own thing. Being an assistant chief had turned out to be a decent gig!

The door to the smaller general lab opened up and Faye’s solitude was disrupted by a lone figure that walked in with a quiet swagger and expression that told her that this person had not just confidence but had somehow determined that the Universe was on their side.

Faye rolled her eyes.

“Nice to meet you too,” he said with a smile, lighting up serious grey eyes.

“Normally, greetings proceed the introductions and then a determination is made by both parties, neither of whom have to agree. So says social convention,” Faye replied, gazing at her data but no longer really taking it in.

He stopped at the table and leaned against it, eyeing her before running ran a hand over his short cut dark brown hair. “Hmmm, I guess it helps that you could care less about social conventions.”

Faye finally looked up at the man with a mixture of annoyance and curiosity. “And what makes you say that?”

He smiled. “I know a lot about you.”

“Really?” she said dryly. “Good for you.”

He leaned towards her. “Faye Calloway, current rank Lieutenant. Born in 2358, on Tracken Two. Parents were Maquis. Admitted to the Academy in 2381 with an interesting choice of a sponsor. Incredible academic skills and analytical capacity. If it weren’t for the lousy attitude and poor social skills, you’d probably have been valedictorian. Then came the sequence of assignments that went from bad to worse, though you never quite crossed the line into insubordination. But curiously on your second assignment, you were promoted to Lieutenant junior grade and offered the role of Chief Science Officer. Which you turned down. Of which the rumours surrounding that event were rather… interesting. That assignment ended when you had… personal issues you needed to work through. But then came the doozy, the Samurai. On probation, you just couldn’t quite keep out of trouble. And yet… no one could deny you weren’t trying. And no one could could deny your brilliance either. When you’re focused, it’s quite something to behold. Which leads us to here”-he gestured with both arms to the lab-”and this wonderful farce of Calloway the obedient officer whose has finally seen the light and is everything they ever told her to be. It’s quite the yawn really. But then again, when you’ve settled what else do you expect?”

It was to her credit that she had stood there listening to this man spew her record (skewed in a weird way) at her like it was worthy of some sort of laugh. Her grey-green eyes had gone dark and she pointed to the door. “Get out! Get out before I have security throw you out!” He outranked her, but that didn’t mean she had to put up with his crap.

This seemed to amuse the man even more. “Really? Security? Come now, I’m as fit as the next officer, but you Calloway could take me down without sweating. I’m pretty sure you’re safe in here.”

She leaned in towards him, but hers was not a friendly demeanour. “It’s not me I’m worried about,” she said sweetly.

His expression shifted and while he still smiled, there was something serious in his gaze. “There she is.” But while it could have been a game to make her snap, instead he was finally seeing what he wanted and it was agreeable.

“I hate people who play games,” she said.

“I know,” he replied softly. “But I’m right, aren’t I? Bit by bit you’ve been stuffing down the real Faye, the rebel woman who isn’t afraid to shock people and has no patience for hypocrisy. Whose sense of honour is greater than most officers would ever want to admit. Because she makes them look bad and all they see is an insufferable know-it-all who is, much to their chagrin, more loyal then they will ever be. Because she stays, when everyone else expects her to leave. Expects her to give up.”

A couple years ago she might have already thrown a punch at this lunatic, but she had gathered up a great-deal of self control that had been hard won. Faye sighed. “What is it that you want?”

“To give you a chance to be more, do more. To actually use that high intelligence your file notes and actually make use of all those skills you’ve buried out of fear.”

“When people make offers, I like to know who is making the offer,” Calloway said, planting a hand on her hip.

“Fair,” he said with a nod. “Commander Leroy Strickland, at your service,” he said with a flourish of a hand and a bow.

Faye almost snorted. “Leroy…” she said with some amusement.

“Hey, don’t mock. My mother’s father had that name and he was a great man.”

Faye held her hands up. “My mistake.”

“And she admits it. Huh. Wonders never cease…” Strickland eyed her intently and then slid a small object across the table, its polished metal surface clinking on the metal worktable.

“What’s that?” Faye said, seemingly unimpressed.

He offered her a lopsided smirk before turning on the ball of his foot and heading for the door. “I heard you like puzzles. Come find me and you can tell me all about it.”

Faye didn’t even have a chance at a rebuttal before he disappeared.

To be continued…

~Faye Calloway