08-04-2024, 12:31 AM
== Some slight crossed wires with Cdr Coleman, so just tweaking a little! ==
With her decidedly half-hearted ‘welcome’ still in the air, Mara went to get up. She didn’t get the chance to go as Damian had a speech of his own ready, and he was soon into special mentions for Miles and Emily. The Bandaran didn’t have the heart to disrupt their moment, so she stayed quiet.
I can’t deal with this. Tyra is gone, the brass is up our collective arses, and we’re supposed to be sat here celebratin’ the absolute clusterfuck of our last time out. Is the next thing out of that fuckin’ box in front of Givens some bastard party poppers and sashes?
We fucked up so hard our Captain got fired and our Chief Engineer is in jail. Go us! Gold stars for everyone!
The carefully benign expression on the Chief of Security’s face was starting to slip as she gripped the arms of her chair. She was not OK. The meeting room was starting to feel claustrophobic and she wanted to be as far away from people as possible until she could get her head straight.
As soon as Star had received her pip and enjoyed her moment, Calleja was up and bearing down on the door. Coleman was straight across to intercept her, and he physically put himself between her and the exit.
“Have a seat Lieutenant Calleja. The meeting isn’t done yet.”
Oh you picked a really bad fuckin’ time to try and reel off the contents of an assertiveness trainin’ manual…
At point blank range, Damian was able to see the turmoil behind Mara’s dark eyes. She was hanging on to her self-control by a thread, her hands flexing loosely by her side. Without thinking about it she found herself calculating the quickest way to put him down so she could get out. She was close enough to launching the headbutt that she could almost hear the organic crunch of his nose breaking under the force of the blow, the familiar feeling of blood spattering across her face…
What the fuck am I doin’.
The realisation of what she was about to do was like a bucket of cold water to the face. It jerked her out of her reverie and she took half a step back.
If I beat his arse, I’m in the next cell along from Elias. And right now if I let go, I don’t know if I’d be able to stop whilst there was anythin’ left of him to send back home.
“Lieutenant,” Ju said stepping forward and placing her hands gently on Mara’s arm. “I was hoping to speak with you after the meeting, you can’t dodge me like this.” She tugged very slightly on the woman’s arm. “I’m over here.”
“Sorry. I got distracted and thought we were done,” Mara said as she pulled her arm free with a warning frown at Damian and Ju. She had been working on not being so overtly spiky, but the ex-ganger was still extremely uncomfortable at being touched. “Let’s get it over with, shall we?”
Her words were stilted but she took her seat again. She couldn’t focus on anyone, her eyes going from the box to the wall to the door to the cracked glass in front of her. Mara needed to be somewhere else to work through the emotions she was so poorly equipped to handle. The last few seconds could quite easily have ended up with both halves of Coju in neighboring biobeds but the Bandaran’s willpower had held. Barely, but it had held.
Why couldn’t that prick have just let me go… What’s so fuckin’ important that he was willin’ to risk bein’ worked over? ‘Cause if I didn’t catch myself he was goin’ down.
The thought sent Calleja’s mind back down a violent path and she had to take another deep breath to drag herself back again. She needed something to focus on and quickly.
With her decidedly half-hearted ‘welcome’ still in the air, Mara went to get up. She didn’t get the chance to go as Damian had a speech of his own ready, and he was soon into special mentions for Miles and Emily. The Bandaran didn’t have the heart to disrupt their moment, so she stayed quiet.
I can’t deal with this. Tyra is gone, the brass is up our collective arses, and we’re supposed to be sat here celebratin’ the absolute clusterfuck of our last time out. Is the next thing out of that fuckin’ box in front of Givens some bastard party poppers and sashes?
We fucked up so hard our Captain got fired and our Chief Engineer is in jail. Go us! Gold stars for everyone!
The carefully benign expression on the Chief of Security’s face was starting to slip as she gripped the arms of her chair. She was not OK. The meeting room was starting to feel claustrophobic and she wanted to be as far away from people as possible until she could get her head straight.
As soon as Star had received her pip and enjoyed her moment, Calleja was up and bearing down on the door. Coleman was straight across to intercept her, and he physically put himself between her and the exit.
“Have a seat Lieutenant Calleja. The meeting isn’t done yet.”
Oh you picked a really bad fuckin’ time to try and reel off the contents of an assertiveness trainin’ manual…
At point blank range, Damian was able to see the turmoil behind Mara’s dark eyes. She was hanging on to her self-control by a thread, her hands flexing loosely by her side. Without thinking about it she found herself calculating the quickest way to put him down so she could get out. She was close enough to launching the headbutt that she could almost hear the organic crunch of his nose breaking under the force of the blow, the familiar feeling of blood spattering across her face…
What the fuck am I doin’.
The realisation of what she was about to do was like a bucket of cold water to the face. It jerked her out of her reverie and she took half a step back.
If I beat his arse, I’m in the next cell along from Elias. And right now if I let go, I don’t know if I’d be able to stop whilst there was anythin’ left of him to send back home.
“Lieutenant,” Ju said stepping forward and placing her hands gently on Mara’s arm. “I was hoping to speak with you after the meeting, you can’t dodge me like this.” She tugged very slightly on the woman’s arm. “I’m over here.”
“Sorry. I got distracted and thought we were done,” Mara said as she pulled her arm free with a warning frown at Damian and Ju. She had been working on not being so overtly spiky, but the ex-ganger was still extremely uncomfortable at being touched. “Let’s get it over with, shall we?”
Her words were stilted but she took her seat again. She couldn’t focus on anyone, her eyes going from the box to the wall to the door to the cracked glass in front of her. Mara needed to be somewhere else to work through the emotions she was so poorly equipped to handle. The last few seconds could quite easily have ended up with both halves of Coju in neighboring biobeds but the Bandaran’s willpower had held. Barely, but it had held.
Why couldn’t that prick have just let me go… What’s so fuckin’ important that he was willin’ to risk bein’ worked over? ‘Cause if I didn’t catch myself he was goin’ down.
The thought sent Calleja’s mind back down a violent path and she had to take another deep breath to drag herself back again. She needed something to focus on and quickly.