More Puzzle Pieces

Posted on Thu Dec 23rd, 2010 @ 2:56pm by Commodore Samantha York & Colonel Damon Raine

953 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Peace, or Something Like It
Location: CO's Ready Room
Timeline: Current

ON

Samantha had cleared her afternoon and told her Yeoman she needed an hour to herself - unless Damon came by. Her Yeoman knew that he was always the exception. Sam wanted to have a good look at the chip Lieutenant McGraw gave her.

She looked it over carefully, then gave her command code and retinal scan. The chip beeped and she set it in a slot to begin the data transfer. Sam had already set up her own safety protocols, to keep the data from "migrating." Now, she spent the next hour carefully sorting and reading the data.

When she was done, she tapped her combadge. "Major Raine, could you please come to my ready room?"

Damon was filling out action reports when the call came in. He smiled, happy for the interruption. "On my way Captain."

He quickly stood up and left the room leaving the mass of PADDs littered across his desk.

Sam's face lit up when she saw Damon walk through the door. "Hi, love." She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a long, slow kiss. "I know it's not regulation, but I needed that," she said.

He grinned. "From time to time I think I can be persuaded to do away with it. I wouldn't want the ships moral to suffer any."

"A happy Captain makes for a happy crew," she joked. She took his hand and led him to her couch. "I received a chip from Ensign McGraw. He's been on a covert mission," said, sitting down next to Damon. "He has information on a mercenary group run by the Orion Syndicate. Or a member of the Syndicate. The data doesn't name the leader, but it does mention some testing they're doing on humans in this system." She paused. "Three guesses which planet."

One eyebrow lifted as he regarded Samantha. "If I guess right, dinner at my quarters tonight?" He allowed a smirk. "Are any of the faction leaders implicated in this?"

"Dinner in your quarters if you guess wrong, too," she chuckled. "Yes and no. More like one of the faction leaders was the puppet. He probably isn't aware he's being manipulated." She sighed and laid her head back against the cushion. "I think he wanted too much too fast. The end justifies the means. At least, that's my take on it."

"I have a suspicion that regardless of his intentions it will be frowned upon, at best, by the others. At worst...well, we had better evacuate the planet of any Federation personnel to be safe."

"Agreed. I need to meet with them and tell them what we found. After that... I don't know." She looked at him and shook her head. "This isn't going very well, Damon and there's not a lot we can do."

"Love, I think we may have un-realistic expectations as to what we can feasibly accomplish here. These people have been fighting each other for generations. Just because we arrived to help with the peace talks doesn't mean we should assume things will turn out rosy in the end. We did our best, but sometimes it isn't enough in the face of conditions like this." He placed a hand on her arm and rubbed it. "Look at the bright side, we discovered a plot to turn the inhabitants into guinea pigs and then stopped it before it could do more harm. That has to be worth something."

"You're right, but I still want to fix everything before we leave." She chuckled. "You help me maintain balance." She kissed him. " You rescue me when I get in trouble." She kissed him again. "And you keep me sane." And again. "You are the best thing that ever happened to me." She stood and walked to the viewport and looked at the planet. "I guess I should contact the faction leaders and set up a meeting."

"Will you be going back down to the surface?" He cringed a bit at the answer he knew would be coming.

"Yes. I need to tell them what we found." She turned to face him. "I promise I'll be careful."

He shook his head. "I know you will be and I'm not going to try to dissuade you from going. The factions here need to see that members of the Federation won't back down. From what I have gathered they would expect as much from us. Even if we can't convince them to sign a peace agreement we can at least leave them with the knowledge that we will stand and fight for their best interests, no matter how dangerous it gets. I think that's something that will make an impact someday."

"I hope so." She did believe that their trip made a positive impact; she just hoped it would lead to a lasting peace.

Damon stood from the couch he was sitting on and made his way over to her. His arms wrapped around her waist as he pulled her closer. "Sam, you've done really well here, better than most. Don't let it get you down."

She slipped one arm around his neck and gently caressed his cheek with her other hand. "Thank you, cario." There were no words to express how much she appreciated him. He centered her. "Te quiero."

Damon smiled warmly, having learned well what those words meant in the last few months. He leaned forward and softly kissed her while holding her tightly in his arms. He pulled away only to whisper a few words. "You mean everything to me, Sam. I would devote myself to making you happy."

Sam reached up and kissed him, letting him know without words that she felt the same.

 

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