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Post by elizar on Jun 24, 2010 21:22:57 GMT -5
"There will be people who are able to justify GM's actions in a reasonable manner." Miles sighed. "Don't mean we have to agree with them." He took another sip from the wine glass.
"I am not going to watch the trial." Gates said. "I'm also going to attempt to dodge the media if it turns into the shitstorm of the century."
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Post by Evangeline on Jun 24, 2010 21:53:11 GMT -5
"It's not in anyone's best interest if this gets out of hand." Zoe frowned. "We want to get some closure, to invoke a rather overused word, but not trigger an emotional avalanche. Going public is going to happen, but everyone has to manage it with extreme care."
Bree sighed. "Things never end neatly, outside of sitcoms."
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Post by elizar on Jun 24, 2010 22:20:47 GMT -5
"Push it under the rug kind of thing." Miles shrugged. "Going to be hard, but probably not impossible."
"Things are changing." Helen said and looked to the open doorway of the hangar. "We've defeated an old foe, uprooted the Asian child slavery ring, and soon enough open the eyes of many. If there are consequences of our actions, very great consequences, I shall remember this day, this party, as the beginning of those consequences."
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Post by Evangeline on Jun 24, 2010 22:56:27 GMT -5
"Good or bad, we deal with'em." Zoe finally looked around for something to drink. "Anyway, hubby and I want to forget about it for awhile."
An hour passed, in which the partiers became a little more "lubricated." At last, Picard and Lewis made their way to the hangar doors with Christine and Serafina shadowing them. "Alright, where's the booze? I only get to drink once in a blue moon, so I'm making it good!"
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Post by elizar on Jun 25, 2010 6:44:13 GMT -5
"It's over there." Miles pointed to where there were drums of good quality drinks for aircrafts. The discussion had soon delved into getting to know each other better, and as the drinks flew the mouths opened, detailing some childhood escapades. Current discussion was pets.
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Post by Evangeline on Jun 25, 2010 12:52:28 GMT -5
"My uncle, he had this pet raven," Lionel was holding forth, "And this bird could say about nine or ten different phrases, some of them kinda... off-color. Well, the census guy came one day and Unc came to the door with Blackie on his shoulder, and the first thing the bird did was take one look at this strange dude and screech "F*** off, *sshole!" Of course, Unc ran a biker bar, so it could be said the bird came by it honestly."
"That reminds me of the parrots one of our people brought over to Iyaroak." Zoe smirked. "There's one African Grey that we called "Sweary Mary", and she just scandalized Mom and Grandma, who didn't want her around us kids, but you know how well THAT works, eh? We still have her, actually."
"Closest things I had to pets were the stray dogs in the street." Pilar said, "But if you fed them a little, they'd stay around and be a good alarm system when you had to sleep somewhere."
"We had a couple of smalltracks when I was young." Bree said. "Papa trained them to ride around with him."
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Post by elizar on Jun 25, 2010 15:55:31 GMT -5
"I found a parrot in the wild one day." Helen said. "Beats me how the heck it survived when belting out themes from various TV shows from the old day. Its favorite was from some old cop show and began with a shrill yell."
Miles chuckled, then noticed a human entering. Bryan had finally been allowed entrance into the KSC.
"So, ever going to thank me for saving your sorry ass?" Bryan patted Miles on the shoulder. After his father's death, he had been closer to his cousin than before. He reached down for some nice quality beer and opened the bottle with ease.
"How about you get off that high horse of yours, and then I'll consider it?" Miles laughed.
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Post by Evangeline on Jun 25, 2010 20:14:21 GMT -5
"Guess I'll have to do it for you, eh, Miles?" Picard smirked. "Hey Bryan, thanks for saving our *sses up there." <<< Good God, this is like Hee-Haw meets Cirque du Soleil. Where can we find singing, dancing contortionists these days? www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNR74UCidBI >>>
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Post by elizar on Jun 26, 2010 6:56:40 GMT -5
(( Now that was something to see! ))
"Thanks Picard." Bryan smirked as looking up at him.
Miles stood up and patted Bryan on the back. "I hope that your episodes weren't too bad during the attack." He said sorrowful.
"There was a reason for why I joined the army instead of the navy or the coast guard." Bryan admitted. "Same reason for why I'm going for West Point."
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Post by Evangeline on Jun 26, 2010 21:09:36 GMT -5
"Good luck, and I really do mean that." Picard smiled. "The world owes you that much."
Serafina, who had remained quietly at Picard's side throughout the conversation, nuzzled his cheek.
Bree was a bit wistful, finding herself without her own consort. Her husband was currently busy out west, working on an investigation. But he'd been thrilled to hear of Carl's recapture and sent his regards to everyone.
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Post by elizar on Jun 26, 2010 23:09:06 GMT -5
"Thanks guys." Bryan took a sip of his beer. He didn't feel that comfortable diving into the expensive stuff available. He wasn't working at KSC.
Christine leaned against Lewis, still slightly favoring her injured wing.
"Got an old foe locked up finally." Bryan said and placed his palm on Bree's cheek, though aware of that the subject was probably brought up before he arrived. "I have no doubt of the question currently burning in your mind. "Where to go from here?" Bryan said as looking over the group.
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Post by Evangeline on Jun 27, 2010 17:27:24 GMT -5
Bree accepted Bryan's gesture with the familiarity of one who had known him since first whiffing his newborn scent. "It does feel like kind of an afterthought, doesn't it? I have heard threats from on high to make me the next superintendant of the Coast Guard academy, a cheap ploy, I think, to keep me from getting into even more trouble." Some who were present knew exactly what she meant. "It has also been suggested that my troubles would make for a very interesting book, though I'm not sure I'm ready for THAT yet."
Lionel reached into the cooler. "Bryan, for God's sake get yourself a real drink!" He put a high-end imported Czech pilsener on the table. "I might teach the babies for a while, then open up a bar someplace, that serves everybody." He leaned back. "And maybe get a pet raven."
"I'm not sure about long term," Pilar shrugged, "But humanside Argentina invited me back home to visit some schools and colleges to, you know, get the kids inspired."
Picard smiled. "Next mission's not for a few months, but from the looks of things, "getting a room" is in our immediate future." Serafina made a murmur of agreement.
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Post by elizar on Jun 27, 2010 18:55:42 GMT -5
"The Appalachian Trail." Miles said. "It's too late in the season to be thru-hiker, but I'm going to do at least part of it."
Bryan accepted the Czech pilsener and put his half-begun bottle down. "I think everyone has enough materials for a book." He said to Bree. "It's just that the reason why is more obvious with some than others." He looked over the crowd of people, humans, aircrafts, cars, forklifts and whatnot, all enjoying themselves in the welcome-home party.
"And this is an end of a chapter." Bryan took a sip.
Miles managed to catch the tail of that and stood up and looked around, his mannerisms indicating that he wanted attention. Once he was sure he got enough pair of eyes on him, he cleared his throat.
"My cousin just said that today is an end of a chapter. I have to agree with him." Miles began. "We've just finished one of the most grueling and atrocious missions that the space program has seen so far. I have no doubts that harder missions await NASA in the future. If we are going to be part of it, I don't know.
"But what I do know is that the mission was just not about some satellites. Of course it is going to be said on the paper, the mission statements and whatnot. A great breakthrough has been made within the user society, combining science and magic. What the council makes of it, beats me and I don't really care about that. The admiral we've known and adored for decades managed to catch the bastard who had irked her to no end just by being in free waters.
"All those loose ends, the missions, the promises and breakthroughs, get together to make a solid rope. This is why we're at a chapter's end. But all of us still have things to do. There's still things hidden and awaiting discovery. Not only in astrology or science. This may be an end of a chapter, but it is far from the end of the story."
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Post by Evangeline on Jun 27, 2010 21:47:15 GMT -5
"Enough with the speechifying!" Lionel called out, "Let's have another round before Miles decides to try out his future commencement adresses on us!"
Zoe grinned impishly. "I'll drink to that." She winced as a spontaneous sing-along in the far corner hit a particularly loud and sour note. "Poor tone-deaf Amara."
"Aw, let her have fun." Lionel reached for a liquor bottle. "Enough with the beer, I've been saving this old Mezcal for the last twenty-five years. Anybody for tequila shots?" He passed around the salt and lemon wedges to go with it.
<<< And now we'll see what's going on with Juno. I probably should have written this as a PM, but what the hell. >>>
The night in the helicopter ward at Jefferson Military Hospital was quiet, except for one voice speaking surreptitiously from a semi-private room. "No Bree, don't you dare try to give me an instructor post there! Your "frenemies", and you do have'em, will cry patronage quick as anything... who is that singing where you are, she must be brave to do that when she's got no pitch whatsoever... Amara? Chrylser, she must be drunk. OK, I take that back, she's brave AND drunk! As for me, I'm a g*damned pincushion right now, tubes going in everywhere, and the doctor says I'm not getting out of here 'till I put on another two hundred pounds. You know how long it takes for me to put on twenty, let alone keep'em... yeah, they're pouring Hi-Cal down my throat three times a day, I'm so damn sick of the stuff... Listen, I'll have to get you back later, OK, I think I hear a nurse coming, they don't like us talking this late... OK, later, bye."
Juno Desmairais sighed and lay back on her well-cushioned hospital mat. She had to be careful, lest she displace one of the several needles feeding nutrients and fluids into her. It was a familiar, periodic routine, with this episode brought on by the stress of her last mission and the bullet wound, which was still packed and bandaged. No chances were being taken, and Juno had the feeling that this would be the very last time they let her go out on a cutter, or do any serious flying. Her reassignment was pending, command of a coastal station in Ft. Lauderdale. It would probably be her last posting. Might as well make the best of it.
The HH-65 woman hushed and held her breath as lights came on in the hall, and the sound of a forklift became louder. But it seemed that the nurse was not alone. She was followed by a grey shadow, that snorted and uttered something in a low male voice. The nurse's charge paused by the door of Juno's room, which was open to the hall. The other mat was empty, but it seemed that it was about to be occupied once again. CV helicopters did not have the reservations that humans did about unisex accommodations, and Juno looked up with curiosity to see who her new roomate was.
The nurse gestured, and a Seahawk of elder years rolled in. He glanced and cocked his head at Juno, then tipped his nose in a mannerly fashion. His escort completed some record-keeping on her tablet, then proceeded to get him settled. Juno glanced off towards the window and tried not to stare too much. It occurred to her that for an old Seahawk, this gentleman wasn't too bad-looking. It was funny that this thought should occur now, to one who had had maybe three dates in her lifetime, and two of them blind. Juno had effectively married her job, for the past three and a half decades. The Coast Guard had been the only extended family the creche-raised helo had ever known.
After the nurse finally took her leave, Juno dared another look. The Seahawk didn't seem particularly ill or tired, perhaps he was in for one of those three-day exams. Late-night non-emergency admissions were unusual, but not unprecedented. The old gentleman shifted and turned until he'd arranged things to his liking, then settled and checked out his surroundings a little more. His light brown eyes fell on Juno again, and a whicker came from his nose, a friendly one. That was followed by a few words. "Sorry to disturb you, ma'am." The rank-mark on his side was that of a navy commander, and there were some other marks of decoration that were evident in the low light. This one had some accomplishments and worthy deeds to his name. As for the name, Juno would learn that as well, eventually.
"It's all right." she smiled pleasantly. She decided she liked the tone of his voice, just a hair above baritone. His scent was clean and agreeable, and he took care to keep himself to his own space and didn't seem put off by the fact that his companion was as skinny as a rake and looked like a cyborg with so many tubes and wires. Maybe, she might have some interesting company for the next few days. One could hope.
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Post by elizar on Jun 27, 2010 22:15:10 GMT -5
"And my plan worked!" Miles recovered smoothly with a smile. "Only way to shut me up is to give me the good stuff. Hit me."
Bryan chuckled, but he had enough senses to not be videotaping Amara's rendition of... whatever it was. It was for the best to let her have a happy moment before she would go to humanverse to accompany the kids to their father.
Christine leaned against Lewis. She knew that the party was going on, so she had skipped the painkillers to be able to partake. The pain wasn't much, but bearable. Especially with someone besides her, and she realized a bit later than expected that the one she was leaning against trusted her, and she trusted him.
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