Keeping in Touch

Posted on Mon Feb 6th, 2012 @ 2:51pm by Commodore Samantha York & Colonel Damon Raine

1,496 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: The Race for the Lost Treasure
Location: Various
Timeline: Current

ON

It was late, but Sam couldn't sleep. She hadn't slept well since Damon left, but tonight she also had a lot on her mind.

In the past she'd always been able to talk things over with Damon. His advice was usually sage and he helped her keep things in perspective.

Hoping to catch him in his quarters she opened a channel to send a subspace communication. If nothing else, she could leave him a message and he could get back to her when he had the time.

Damon also couldn't sleep that night, though not for the same reasons. This command was by far the busiest one he had ever experienced as he needed to be available for any major engagement on the surface; night or day. The combination of irregular attacks and adrenalin was met with a curious case of insomnia which had lasted for the better part of three days now.

He was going over some assault plans alone in his office when his comm badge chirped.

"Incoming subspace communication for you Commander." Voiced his communications officer. "It's from the USS Calypso."

Damon smiled to himself. "I'll take it in my office Ensign."

The battle plans on his computer dissolved away being replaced by the image of Samantha.

Damon stole a glance at his chronometer, noting the time. "Good morning Captain York." He smiled warmly as he looked back to her.

She raised an eyebrow at being addressed as Captain York, but returned his smile. "Good morning, Commander. How goes the battle?"

Damon chuckled lightly at her expression and ran his hands over his face. "I'm sorry Sam, apparently the first casualty of sleep deprivation is ill timed jokes."

"Sorry. I wish I could do something to help with that." She was having trouble sleeping herself, but it wasn't for the same reason. "Any idea how long you'll be needed there?"

He shook his head. "If I was to take their word for it my replacement would have arrived two weeks ago. I don't know Sam, I have a feeling the General in charge of the mission isn't too keen on sending me away just yet. We have a good working relationship and things finally look to be going our way on the surface."

"I'm not surprised they want to keep you. You're a rare commodity: an excellent officer in both Starfleet and the Marines." Sam shook her head. "And you're missed here." She paused, not wanting to go into how much she missed him personally, and how the ship wasn';t the same without him, either. "We've a guest. Well, two, actually. A woman and a monkey. They were in a shuttle under attack by what we assume to be pirates. The other ship failed to respond to our hails and disappeared when it was engaged. The woman seems harmless enough, but she doesn't remember why she was here or why she was being shot at. And it appears we've drawn attention of our own. A pirate named Kilgore. But we seem to have lost him."

Damon simply stared at her image and stifled a laugh. He needed a moment to regain his composure before speaking. "Pirates? You have managed to attract pirates?" He shook his head mirthfully, "How is it that on a mission as benign as an archeological expedition your ship has managed to run into danger?"

"I think it was the map..." she said lamely. "But we lost them when we left Typhon." Or so she hoped. She didn't want to think that the ship attacking Morgana's shuttle -- or even Morgana herself -- was connected with the pirates. But it was a definite possibility. "So far Morgana seems to be an innocent victim, but there are several things we still can't explain. Lieutenant Wolfe is looking into her story, as is Lieutenant Levue."

He thought on this for a moment. "What's your intuition tell you?"

"That there's something fishy going on. I don't trust her ,and I don't trust why she's here. But I have nothing to support my suspicions, so I have to be careful." She ran a hand through her hair and sighed. "There've been grave robbers and treasure hunters for generations, so I can understand why they'd be interested in a lost civilization. But to go to this extend makes no sense."

"It would only make sense if there was something of real value to be found." Damon shuffled a bit in his seat, clearly uncomfortable. "Sam, these people wouldn't risk their lives or freedom unless they felt they were guaranteed the prize. Either they know something you don't or they have an ace in the pocket. They might be reckless, but please don't confuse that for stupidity."

"Or I'm making a mountain out of a mole hill," Sam said. "That's the problem. What if this is nothing but a series of coincidences?" And that was the crux of her problem. There really was nothing but a few incidents and a whole lot of supposing.

He shrugged. "To be honest I would sleep at night a lot more comfortably if I knew you were airing on the side of caution, Love."

"I feel the same about you, querido," Sam replied. "I am staying on board, if it helps. I'm not going down with the current away team. They're exploring an underwater cave. And I'm missing it." She grinned at the mention of the cave. Damon often teased her about her penchant for finding caves to explore -- and getting in trouble in them.

"Is that why you can't sleep? The thought of a cave going unexplored?" He joked.

"Very funny." She stuck her tongue out at him. "No. I can't sleep because you're not here." She hated to admit the rest, but continued, "And caves aren't as much fun without you, either."

Sam shook her head. "I didn't call to make you feel bad. I called because I wanted to see how you're doing -- and to get your thoughts on the Calypso's current situation. I feel like this Kilgore is one step ahead of us, but I have no idea what game he's playing."

"Just keep an eye out and trust your crew, they'll get you though. Unfortunately that's all I have for advice." He tapped his fingers on the dest in front of him. "Has anyone done a search on this Kilgore character?"

"Lieutenant Wolfe is working on it. We have a new mission advisor. He's from Starfleet Intelligence. He thinks this Kilgore is after the map I found. But I'm keeping my options open. I trust Wolfe. I'm not so sure about this Mission Advisor. I don't seem to have much luck in that department. I'll let you know what we find." She eyed him critically for a moment. "How are you holding up?"

"Good," he said with a nod, though not looking into the monitor." He pushed aside some PADD's that were in front of him and tried to look nonchalant. "Work keeps me occupied." He looked up and smiled at her. The truth was, he was glad that she was too far away to read his emotions. This was the happiest he had been in a long time and felt bad for the truth of it. He missed working with the Marines and the feeling of being useful, both of which was found in spades on this assignment. He hadn't felt this way once since he left the Corps. As far as he was concerned being a Fleetie was a job whereas being a Marine was a career. In many ways this assignment was the best he could hope for in terms of career advancement as a Starfleet officer. In fact the only downside to this assignment was that he was away from Sam, whom he missed terribly. He was more than a little conflicted as to how he should feel about his impending dismissal back to the Calypso.

Sam wasn't comfortable with his answer. He was keeping something back, and it bothered her. She missed being able to curl up next to him and talk. This wasn't quite the same. It didn't help that she worried about him. "I guess I should let you go." She paused for a moment and smiled back. "I love you, Imzadi."

"I love you too, Sam. I'll give you a call tomorrow, hopefully at an earlier hour." He gave her a wink.

Sam touched her fingers to the screen. "I look forward to it. Cuidate, querido." She knew he would be as careful as he could, but that only went so far in a war zone. Still, she had to ask. She watched as the screen went black and then changed back to the Starfleet logo.

She felt better after talking to Damon. Maybe now she could get some sleep.

OFF

Captain Samantha York
Commanding Officer
USS Calypso

Commander Damon Raine
Executive Officer
USS Calypso

 

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