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Holodeck 1- Songs for Old Friends (A Wake)

Posted July 20, 2021, 8:30 a.m. by Lieutenant Commander Faye Calloway (Counter-Intelligence Officer) (Lindsay B)

Posted by Captain Alexander Cochrane (Commanding Officer) in Holodeck 1- Songs for Old Friends (A Wake)

Posted by Chief Warrant Officer Walker Darach (Chief Operations Officer) in Holodeck 1- Songs for Old Friends (A Wake)

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Faye Calloway (Counter-Intelligence Officer) in Holodeck 1- Songs for Old Friends (A Wake)
Posted by… suppressed (5) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

But remembering where she was an what she was doing, Faye set about more introductions. “Daggum Hammor, my good friend Kiama Naim, our Chief Science Officer. Kiama, this is Daggum, my… fiance.” She flipped her gaze back to him. “Huh, that sounds pretty good you know?”

Meanwhile, Shara set out glasses so Micah could divvy up some of the moonshine, though she set a different glass aside for Faye to make her something fun and special but without the alcohol.

~The Calloway Women

Alex and Hammor

“I hope I’m not too late,” Walker said as he walked onto the holodeck. He hadn’t been quite sure what to wear, but knowing Faye he decided to keep it simple with slacks and a light button down shirt. But with his first step onto the sand, he paused as he pulled off his socks and shoes. Scooping them up with one hand, he continued on barefoot.

Approaching the group he held up two bottles Aldebaran Whiskey he was carrying in his other hand. “Sorry I’m late, I picked up a case of these back on the station, but somehow the case ended up in one of the lower cargo bays, tucked back behind a bunch of the long term engineering part stores. I’m going to assume that one of the crewmen ‘accidently’ moved it, instead of trying to secret it away,” he said with a grin. Taking in the group, and the glasses being poured on the table already, Walker lowered the bottles. “But enough of my story, and we can save these for later.”

CWO Darach - COO

Cochrane smiled at Darach and said “That sound like a issue for the Operations Chief. Fair warning… he can be grumpy.” He walked over and held out his hand to Walker and said “Good to see you here. I figured Faye would have made sure you made it.”

Alex

“Oh he would have been even grumpier if I hadn’t found that crate,” Walker said with a laugh, taking Cochrane’s hand.

“And she certainly did make it pretty clear that I was to be here. I think the invite went something like ‘blah, blah, blah, holodeck, blah, blah, your life is forfeit’. I figured I got the point and made sure to block off the time,” he said with a chuckle.

Shara began passing out glasses of clear stuff. “Everyone grab a glass and be forewarned it’ll knock you your socks off and then also probably knock you on your ass,” she said with a grin. She handed a glass with a bubbly pale yellow drink in it to Faye. “Shall we start in a minute.”

Faye nodded. “Yeah, I think we’re good to get going.” But her gaze cast it way over to Pikelsimer and she looked like she was definitely sizing up the man.

~The Calloway Women

Daggum stepped up next to her and he caught her glance. “So… what are you thinking? About him, I mean…”

“I don’t know,” Faye said quietly. “I mean, whom am I to say anything really? She seems happy and that’s what matters. Is it weird? A little, but I’ll get over it.” There was still a large part of her mind that associated her mother with Edward Calloway, and despite him being long dead, someone else in the picture was… uncomfrotable.

“Thank you,” Walker said taking the glass. He took a brief sniff and let out a low whistle. It didn’t sneak past him that Faye was handed a different glass, he was going to have to bug her about that later.

CWO Darach - COO

Revna took the glass and sniffed, oh now that was something worth drinking. A home brew moonshine, she’d bet her last bottle of mead, but she did not miss the change of drink for the younger Callaway woman from the corner of her eye. She didn’t bring attention to her observation. No one should drink alone - alcohol or not, whatever their reason. She set the glass down and smiled at Shara, “I think that might be more than I can handle.”
McKenzie, DA

Shara chuckled. “Feel free to grab something else, or just inhale the fumes. It’s surprisingly effective.” She held out a hand to Revna. “I’m Shara,” she said, and then gestured to Faye. “And this is my daughter Faye. I’m just the guest around here.

Revna could smell the fumes easily and it was quality shine that was for sure. But she took a glass of a fruit juice with her thanks. She took the woman’s hand, “Revna, I’m the new girl.” She smiled at Faye, “It’s nice to meet you both.”

“Welcome to the party,” Faye said. She’d figure the details of this person soon enough, though she was definitely curious about a person she didn’t know who was brave enough to drop into a wake. Kudos were in order.

Cochrane took a glass and looked around. “Ladies and gentlemen, if I may be so bold” he said over the assembled guests, “… a toast. To the people of Tracken - past, present, and future. May their memory and their strength continue to shine to us as an example of what we all strive for: community, hearth, and home.” and he raised his glass to group.

Alex

Revna raised her glass in salute and then sipped from the drink. It was very good.

“Hear, hear.” Shara lifted her glass and drank a moderate sip, casting a sideways grin towards Micah. It was good stuff. But she felt attention on her and turning her head, she met Faye’s gaze. They had worked out ahed of time sort of how they wanted to handle this, but now it was time for words and actions. And mirrored in her gaze Shara saw the same uncertainty. How did you sum something like that up? Maybe you didn’t need to try.

Moving to let Faye and Daggum stand with them, Shara switched ‘’on’, letting herself hold the space she stood in and reached out a hand to Faye.

Faye took her mothers, hand, letting her fingers wrap around Shara’s and squeeze gently. She was already emotional and they hadn’t even gotten started.

Daggum reached out and took Faye’s other hand, squeezing gently.

Squeezing her daughter’s hand, the two women share a moment of silent communication before Shara began. “We asked people to join us this evening for many reasons. But the core of it all is the fact that on Tracken Two, you never went it alone. Even those that chose a life of solitude could participate in the community in their own way. Tonight I am here because I was an unconventional woman who married an unconventional man and raised a very unconventional daughter. Tracken itself seemed to defy convention, and yet at its core, it gave and bred the things that so many people want: camaraderie, love, kinship, protection and belonging. You could do your own thing, be your own person and you still belonged. Here we are on a Starfleet vessel where much of that can be said as well., but its… different. And I know for some of us that finding those things took unexpected turns and were not always easily found, but I like to think that it’s because of places like Tracken that we get to enjoy that here.

Shara sighed slightly. “I wasn’t sure who I wanted to be or what I wanted to do when Edward and I first moved to Tracken. In fact, we almost didn’t go. I thought it was a ridiculous idea.” Shara shot Faye a look as if to say, ‘listen up kid, you might learn something’. For her part, Faye was amused. “I mean, it was hard enough getting by as I was at the time, working on a small moon. Edward thought I was wasting away there, and maybe I was. But I wasn’t looking for anyone to rescue me and I certainly wasn’t asking him to. But he did anyway, in his own quiet way and when he told me about this colony one of his freighter shipmates was moving too, his eyes lit up. He was nothing less than enchanted. And I thought to myself, here’s this man I unexpectedly fell in love with. I could try it, for a little while. And if we weren’t happy there we could leave. And so we went and ended up finding things we didn’t know we were missing.

“For me, Tracken is this incomplete thought and feeling. I was whisked away before it was gone, so a part of me has to remind myself that it doesn’t exist anymore, except in here”-she tapped her head-” and in here,”she said as she placed her hand on her heart. “And maybe that’s easier some days, though I feel all their absences deeply. I am Shara, wife of Edward, best friend of T’Lora and Jaris. On Tracken I was a hunter and forager, a mathematics teacher and a musician. I am still all those things, but it’s al very different now.” She turned to Faye to let her daughter take over and say her peace.

~Shara Calloway

Juice in one hand, Faye drew in a deep breath. “And I am Faye, daughter of Shara and Edward, best friend to Cameron, protege of T’Lora. Growing up on Tracken was so different than many others I’ve talked to over the years, but also I’ve come across many who also grew up on colonies. Some had more than we did, some less, but the commonality was self-reliance. I’m not going to sugar-coat this. We’re here tonight because a lot of people died.” She gestured over to the rows upon rows of candles burning brightly within their hurricane shades. “Each candle represents a member of our community that no longer lives. Who died under horrific circumstances. My mom and I decided that while that event was sad and still is sad, that tonight would not be. But we can’t let it pass without honouring their lives but recognizing how they died.

She shook her head for a moment, trying to gather her words. And she went to say more but couldn’t and decided that maybe that was enough. So she shrugged. “I guess there’s not much to say. I’ve told the story in detail to some people here, but the thing about all the changes I’ve been going through is that now that I’ve told the story a few times, I don’t want to. I’m ready to let it go. And that was the whole point of this. My mom and i never got closure. Normally when your loved ones die you do something, but circumstances didn’t allow us to have that. So this is our way so thanking them and saying goodbye. Please do walk amongst the candles. Each one has a name on it. And listen to our stories and know that you now share Tracken with us. That you too get to carry its spirit with you wherever you go.”

Faye lifted her glass. “To Tracken, its people and the things they held dear.”

~Faye Calloway

Daggum squeezed her hand and whispered “That was great, love.” and raised his glass. “To Tracken.”

Along with the rest of the assembled crowd Revna raised her glass and there was a chorus of “To Tracken” and then everyone was drinking. Revna smirked watching those that had no idea what ‘shine’ was taking big heaping gulps of it or sniffing and sipping and a shocked shiver go through them. But either way it was a beautiful tribute of support for the two woman standing before them.
McKenzie, DA

“To Tracken,” Walker echoed as he raised his own glass, before taking a drink. He tried to suppress a grin at what sounded like a cough somewhere as someone took a drink. That was one thing they never did teach officers back at the Academy, how to drink.

CWO Darach - COO

Alex raised his glass. “To Tracken.” and he took a drink. He had one advantage… he had had the moonshine before. A long drink and a wink at Darach, and he looked around and smiled. Community… thats what they were here to celebrate. And in doing so, they further cemented the ideal in their own way. This ship, its crew, was a community not much unlike Tracken, he thought to himself. Isolated, self-reliant, and used to doing things their own way with little in the way of guidance or outside direction. He smiled slight and looked at the Calloways. He knew nothing would ever replace their home or it’s people… but here, at least in this moment, perhaps they had found something of ‘home’.

Alex

Daggum Hammor

Shara sipped a bit more and as the liquid warmed her belly she smiled. “Alright, there’s lots of food and drink and a nice fire going, so help yourself and get comfy. But you folks get to choose the next bit: do you want a song or a story first?”

~The Calloway Women

“I vote story,” Walker said finishing off his drink. Picking up one of his bottles of whiskey, he refilled his glass. “Plus I haven’t had quite enough to drink yet to start in with the singing.”

Chuckling he took a drink.

CWO Darach - COO

“I second the motion.” Alex said with a grin and then took a drink.

Cochrane, CO

“Ohhh! I so have this!,” Faye said. “You got to tell my fiancé my embarrassing stories, now I get to tell one about you! But, first…” Faye moved over to where she had set the hasperat down and lifted the tray It had apparently been resting on a rectangular box that was fairly flat and wrapped in blue paper.

“Oh no,” Shara said, shaking her head as she watched her daughter. “Well, I can get the guitar ready while you do.” Grabbing her soft case, Shara moved over to the large logs around the fire.

Faye thrust the box at Shara with a grin. “Happy belated birthday. I know we never used to do physical gifts, but eh, screw it. New traditions.”
Shara looked at her daughter with genuine surprise. “Faye…”
“Open it!”
With a smile, Shara lifted the lid and unfolded the tissue paper. For a moment she was perplexed until she lifted out an apron and began to laugh uproariously. She slipped it over her head and tied the waist and turned to face everyone, despite the deepened colour of her cheeks. It was a deep indigo with white writing on the front that said Galaxy’s Best Cook. Shara shook her head, and while her cheeks were still rather vibrant, she didn’t seem upset. “You really shouldn’t have…” she deadpanned.

Faye chuckled. “For this story to make sense, you have to understand Tracken. It was a place where we were self-sufficient and we grew food, foraged, hunted, fished, you name it. And we all took turns in rotas taking care of different tasks in the community that supported us all. I got to work in the gardens and on communal dinner cooking mostly because it was something I enjoyed and I was young, but I would go out with the other teams as well. And my mother, who if you don’t know yet, is a woman of many surprising skills. She often would do meal cleanup and help prep, but rare was the time when I ever saw her cook. She taught the older children calculus and advanced mathematics and was often out hunting, trapping or foraging.

“So one year, on my eighth birthday, she decided her gift to me was that she was going to make me a birthday cake.” Shara groaned and shielded her face with a hand. “Now to also make this make sense, you also have to know that because we were resource poor, gifts for special occasions were usually things we made or services we offered others. An example of this is how my parents’ friend Jaris taught me to make the hasperat we brought tonight. His grandmother taught him how to before she died in the camps and so this recipe and his story were priceless to me. And it’s still one of my most cherished memories.

“Anyway, mom disappears into the house and is adamant she doesn’t need help. Now, my father was extremely skeptical and kept trying to offer to help with small things. Now, it was well known in the community that my mom couldn’t cook but no one really knew why. But my father seemed to know more than he let on. Fast forward a few hours and we’re having dinner with T’Lora and Jaris and my mom brings the cake out. But she’s looking pretty skeptical and says ‘I know it’s not how it’s supposed to look but hopefully it’s okay’. And she was so nervous looking. I couldn’t recall her ever looking anything less then self-assured. So there she is setting this sunken looking cake with some sort of brown coating smothered on top that we definitely couldn’t call frosting and I don’t have the heart to tell her I don’t want to try it. So she cuts a piece and I take a bite… and it’s terrible. Like I don’t know what went into it, but it was inedible. But the look on her face! So I take another bite and try again but nope. And even my stomach is turning at this point. It’s sooo bitter! My dad tastes some and his eyes go wide and he’s like ‘Shar? What happened? She replies that she followed a recipe and everything! So he coaxes her into the house to try and find out what went wrong.

“Now, I’m looking at this cake- that we have so infrequently, by the way- and I dunno, I wasn’t upset. I just thought it sort of amusing. So I sneak into the house and I hear them talking and I’m pretty sure they didn’t know I was there. Turns out, because my dad and I do all the cooking and know which container is which, we don’t need to label everything. So instead of confectioner’s sugar, she used… baking powder. And my dad is explaining this to her and she bursts into tears. Now, my mom is a pretty stoic person, not much visibly ruffles her feathers, but messing up a cake for her daughter’s birthday? A wreck. And my dad, who was a quiet spoken and sensitive man just wrapped his arms around her and said ‘Shar darlin’. You are a woman of extraordinary talents, many of which most people don’t even know about. This just isn’t one of them and that’s okay. We love you anyway, and probably even more because of it.”

Faye was grinning fondly at Shara now, who seemed to have composed herself by this point. “My mom is *very talented but when it comes to the kitchen, her role is as sous chef. She’s scarily handy with a knife, but to be on the safe side, we banned her from the stove. Don’t know if much has changed but I err on the side of caution.”

Shara snorted. “For the record, I’ve made it sixty-five years without starving. I know my skills and that just gets me every time. Happy to help and watch but I think it’s best I stay away from doing anything more than boiling water.”

Faye shot Micah a look. “Hear that Pikelsimer? You’ve been warned!”

~Faye & Shara Calloway


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