Fault at Fault

Posted on Thu Mar 17th, 2022 @ 10:40pm by Lieutenant JG Faith Vianelli & Captain Calypso Skyie

Mission: The Dexic Negotiations
Location: Faith’s Quarters

Calypso’s hover chair slowly approached the quarters of the young counselor, far slower than the rider would have liked. Okay, sure, she could have gone faster, but might have lost control and then the doctor would have her murdered. No thanks. She approached the placard stating that the quarters belonged to one Lieutenant (JG) (Provisional) Faith Vianelli and sighed. The young woman had fled the bridge earlier and it was one of the myriad of Captain’s responsibilities to be the counselor (or at least confidant) of the ships’s Counselor.

She waited for a few seconds before reaching out and pressing the chime by the door and announcing herself, “Faith? It’s Calypso, do you have a few minutes to talk?”

Faith was sitting on the floor, Briella in her lap, reading a story book. Around them lay a slew of toys, blocks, dolls, cars, crayons and colouring books. In fact, every visible inch of Faith's quarters screamed that a small child was in residence. From the toys to the sippy cup and plastic childs plate on the coffee table where what was likely a lunch had been earlier abandoned.

With Briella leaning back against her and Faith leaning forward to be able to see the words, the soft scent of her daughters dark brown curls filled her senses. Even the warmth of her small body was comforting and reassuring. A constant familiar. No matter what else happened, they would always have each other.

The sound of the chime interrupted them just as the wicked witch was about to toss the children into the oven. Briella looked up at Faith, uncertainty etched on her face. Faith sighed softly and set the book back in Briella's lap. "Enter," she called quietly.

The door slid open in front of her and Cally glided in, really wanting to walk in under her own power. That was probably a day or two away, however, and she smiled warmly at the sight that greeted her of Briella and Faith, wondering for a moment if she’d ever… No, not right now. “Thank you.” She said instead, giving a brighter smile to Briella, “And how are you doing, little one? Did I interrupt story time?”

"Captain," Faith acknowledged as Cally entered. Lifting Briella off her lap and onto her feet, Faith stood up, straightening her uniform before setting the book on the coffee table. She crouched down in front of Briella for a moment and smiled. "Okay Little Bit, we can finish our story later. How about you go tidy up the toys in your bedroom while I talk to Commander Skyie. If you do a real good job I'll let you have some ice cream after dinner, okay?"

"Okay Momma," Briella nodded, dark curls bouncing, a bright smile breaking out on her face, her eyes sparkling with happiness, a happiness that faded as she turned to face Cally, creeping forward until she was standing at the edge of the hover chair. By this point her expression had grown quite serious. "Are you a witch?" she asked, reaching up and poking Cally in the nose. "Are you gonna put my Momma in the oven?"

“A witch? How did you guess?” Calypso wiggled her nose after the child had poked it, like that one funny show from way back in Earth’s heyday, she couldn’t remember what it was called, but the witch always wiggled her nose, “But I’m a good witch, only bad, evil witches put people in ovens.” She nodded gravely, wondering why even a witch would put someone in an oven.

"Briella!" Faith admonished gently. "Go on, away with you before I put you in the oven!"

The small child giggled before turning and running in the direction of her bedroom. It was only after the doors had closed behind her that Faith turned back to Cally. "Sorry about that, we were reading Hansel and Gretel," she offered as explanation. "And I apologise for the mess. I normally tidy after she goes to sleep at night."

“Hansel and Gretel?” Cally asked, shaking her head, “I can’t say I’ve ever heard of that tale. And please, don’t worry about the mess, children are special and well, I may not have any, nor do I have any nephews or nieces, but still,” She gave another smile to put Faith at ease, “You ran off earlier before I could have a chat with you about what happened while I was… Incapacitated. Or failing to dodge properly, if that sounds any better. Are you okay?”

Faith tensed visibly. "I'm fine, thank you for asking Captain. Can I get you a drink? A tea or coffee? Hot chocolate?"

"No thank you, but perhaps you should just call me Cally for now? I'm not sure I'm even here AS the Captain right now." A slight bit of confusion crossed her face for a moment, "I suppose it could be considered a dual-purpose? But regardless, I put you in a bad situation. Me, myself and I."

Faith shook her head slightly. "You highlighted the obvious," she replied quietly, picking up the plate and sippy cup from the coffee table and recycling them in the replicator. "I am not, in any way, ready for this, any of it..." she waved a free hand around, vaguely indicating at the ship around her. "I thought I could do it, but I can't. Maybe it's better I know that now."

Calypso glanced at the door to Briella’s room to ensure it was closed, “Bullshit.” She stated, not opinion but determined fact. “Oh sure, you’re not ready to command a ship, but you should never have been put into that position. As I said, that’s my fault and will be going into my report that way as well. But you weren’t intended for that and given the situation you had handed to you, you did just fine.”

"A man died, a member of this crew, and we all saw it," Faith responded as she returned to the couch and took a seat. "We watched as..." her voice trailed off, there was no need to describe. Cally was aware of what they saw. "I will never be able to get that image out of my mind."

“No, you won’t. It was bad, and I’ve seen worse, much worse. Corporal Paxton would probably have had other more preferable ways to go, but this wasn’t as bad as some I’ve seen.” Cally said solemnly as a montage of images flicked through her head at light speed, “But while it won’t help, it wouldn’t have mattered who was on the bridge. We will all see our fair share of death, that much I can promise you, but it could have been worse. If I’d been smarter, Commander Driskell would have been on the bridge, he would have refused to even attempt to negotiate and the Private would have been shot. If I’d been there, same result.” The Commander shook her head, “I watched Xevar closely on my second run through and he wanted to do it, to prove a point. In fact, he has no intention of giving back our people, which is why, Faith, I’m grateful that you sent Natalya down to the surface before I got back to the bridge. It meant that I wouldn’t have to put another of the hostages at risk to do it.”

"I didn't want to send them down at all," she finally said softly. "But then Rene contacted us," she tucked her feet under her, smoothing her long skirt over her knees before pulling her hands inside the chunky knit of her sweater sleeves. She bit her bottom lip momentarily. "Captain, what would you have done if you were in that position?"

"Even if Rene hadn't made contact, I'd have sent them. I'd wanted to go with them, despite my shooting days ending two decades ago." Cally nodded slowly, "Marines are... Expendable. I hate to put it like that, but it's the truth. Every single one that I lose takes another piece of my heart, but we all signed up knowing the risks, the chances we take. My brother was one, he died in the opening months of the Dominion War. They know what they're doing."

"Every life is valuable," Faith replied quietly. "You just never know how valuable until it's gone." She paused for a moment. "I couldn't do that, I couldn't treat individuals like expendable commodities. They may have signed up for it, but no one wants to die."

"And no commanding officer ever wants to send them to their deaths." Calypso agreed, then sighed, "That's the problem with being a CO, however, is that we may find ourselves in the position to absolutely HAVE to do it. Everyone is expendable at some level, even myself. May the Four never put me in the position to send someone to that sort of situation. I don't think I'd eat a bullet after that, but I'd sure as hells want to."

"After watching that..." Faith shook her head slightly. "I'm glad for Briella's innocence, for her presence, she's a grounding force, reminds me every moment that I need to be here."

Cally nodded, "And I promise that I will do everything in my power to make sure she remains protected from ever seeing or experiencing anything like that. Having her on board is a breath of fresh air, the reason why we do what we do."

Faith nodded slightly. "Thank you, Captain, for visiting me, for trying to make me feel better about what happened, I do appreciate it."

“It’s part of my job, one I willingly do.” Calypso admitted, “Even the Chief Counselor needs someone to talk to and my door is always open to you.” She gave a grim smile to Faith, “No matter the time or day.”

As Cally finished speaking Faith became aware of a small face peeking around a corner, watching them curiously. "Come on Little Bit," she said softly. "No point hiding around there spying."

Briella ran straight toward Faith, climbing onto the couch and into her mother's lap, eyeing Cally cautiously before looking back at Faith again. "She didn't put you in the oven?"

Faith laughed and shook her head. "No, Commander Skyie isn't a wicked witch," she said with a smile. "She doesn't put children or Mommies in the oven."

"That's because she can't!" Briella hooted suddenly, looking at Cally and grinning cheekily, her deep brown eyes sparkling with mischief. "We don't got an oven 'cause Momma can't cook!"

Cally scrunched her face up in amusement, "Well, everyone knows that ovens aren't for people, ovens are for cookies! I may have to see if I can find one, then if you Momma says it's okay, I'll bring you some?"

"Not from the repicador?" Briella asked skeptically. "I don't like stuff from da repicador. It's scary." The toddler crawled off the couch and walked over to the side of Cally's chair, leaning up on her tiptoes, her todderlike whisper clearly audible by anyone. "The repicador is where da brocci's live."

"Not from the replicator," Cally whispered back in the same tone of voice, leaning down to Briella's level, "I don't like the broccoli's either." She confided in the little girl with a smile.

Briella gave a satisfied nod with the response and then retreated back to her mother, content with the outcome. She danced back toward her bedroom and disappeared from view again, leaving the two adults alone.

Faith watched after her for a moment. "Sorry about that," she finally said as she turned back toward the Captain. "She's not used to dealing with the chain of command. At the Academy she was mostly shielded from my instructors and other staff. It was just me and Claire, her Nanny."

"And having her on board is a fresh breath of air." Calypso admitted, "She's definitely going to have an interesting childhood, meeting new races and cultures. I get this feeling that she could actually be rather important when it comes down to convincing some of them that we don't mean any harm, after all, who takes their children on a mission of conquest?"

"Her childhood will definitely be a lot more interesting than mine." Faith smiled faintly. "But I expect that this crew will largely become a family to her which is something I never really had. She has a way of charming everyone she meets. She already has Master Chief Petty Officer Ross wrapped around her pinky finger."

"Not just him, I don't think." Cally chuckled, "I'm afraid that she may eventually have to be issued her own uniform and take her official position as a roving morale officer, bringing light and cheer along with cookies to the entire crew, assuming she doesn't eat them all."

"Just tell her they come from the replicator," Faith replied with a smile. "She won't touch a single one then."

"That's the secret then, tell her that my chocolates are from the replicator, so they'll be safe." Calypso smiled slightly, "You know that you can come to see me whenever you need to, right? No matter what is going on, what the problem is, no matter what. My door is always open to you, okay?"

Faith nodded slightly. "Thank you Captain, I do appreciate that. They warned us at the Academy to make sure we had someone we could turn to. It can become overwhelming dealing with everyone elses mental burdens. Not that I'd trade my choices for anything."

"No, I don't expect so." Cally agreed with a glance at the closed door to Briella's room, "But let me let you get back to your daughter for now." She reached a hand out and placed it on Faith's knee, "She's special, as are you, Faith. Don't change yourself, all right?"

The young counselor started slightly at the touch but smiled faintly. "Thank you Captain, I appreciate your kindness." She watched for a moment as Cally exited before turning her gaze back to Briella's door. "Alright little bit, how about we tidy up your mess here and wash up for dinner."