Joint Personal Log - LtCmdr Waterhouse & Lt Atarah - "But The War's Still Going On, Dear"

Posted on Sat Aug 23rd, 2014 @ 4:47am by Commander Amelia Waterhouse & Danielle Atarah

2,326 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: In the Dark

Everything was ready. Plans were set, crimes were alluded to, contacts were contacted, and equipment was assembled. Everything was going as planned.

And yet, Danielle Atarah, once a fairly good criminal herself, was nervous. This would be the turning point, she realized. There was no going back after this, no second (or, in her case, third) chances. There will likely be no leniency, either; not for an officer leaving her duties behind in a time of war. This will probably be the last time she sees a starfleet ship from this angle. Perhaps ever.

She knew the price, but she had no doubts about what she must do, not even for a single moment. The Fleet and the Federation may fight one another, but she won't let the people on Earth be the pawns of both sides. The hell with her commission, with avoiding jail, with staying on "the right side". There was only one right thing to do, and the fleet was too busy fighting its enemy to remember what it should be.

She switched her duffel bag to her other shoulder and snuck down the corridor, nodding casually to random officers who walked briskly towards their posts. The morning shift will start soon. A perfect time to make a getaway. She turned the corner towards the shuttle bay and reached to her back pocket nervously, making sure her PADD was there.

Amelia was on her way back from the holodeck. She padded down the corridor barefoot, in lime green and black sports bra and yoga pants, idly twirling her nunchuks as she walked. She'd catch them and hold them still whenever someone passed, but when no one was within a nine foot bubble of her, they spun. She spied Dani down the corridor with a duffel on her shoulder and made a face.

"Lieutenant Atarah," Amelia barked, intending to make her friend jump.

And jump she did. Startled, the hairs on the back of her neck standing up taught, her hand reaching for the PADD in her back pocket as she turned towards the call, Dani looked for a moment, her brain analyzing the situation. Finally, she forced smile, trying to relax her muscles.

"Geez, Pond. You scared the shit out of me." Well. This is... unplanned. Dani brushed a hand over her forehead to move stubborn hair off her face and shifted the bag from one shoulder to the other. "What the hell are you doing up?"

Amelia laughed at Dani's reaction. Priceless. Probably only going to get away with it once. She grinned, nunchuks coming to a stop, chain doubled and clinking slightly as Amelia twitched them without thinking about it. She stepped closer to Dani, studying her reaction. Then she realized her friend hadn't called her a funny name, she'd just called her Pond.

"I'm on duty soon, so I wanted to get some ressless energy out first," Amelia explained, holding up the nunchuks as if they explained. She looked closer at her friend, and noted the duffel. "Where ya off to, Bugs Bunny?"

"Right, right, your... training... things. Heh." What a coincidence it had to be here. And now. Dani wondered for a moment if there was anything else she may have neglected to factor into the plan. "I'm just, you know, off to do some fixing," her forced smile faded to a much less fake smirk. "In case you didn't notice, the ship could use some Engineering TLC." She even had the orders in her PADD in case anyone asked, though those would probably only hold up to brief inspection. Any closer scrutiny, and she'll be royally screwed. Then again, there was always plan B. And plan C, but she really didn't want to have to use plan C.

"Must be some heavy work you have planned, needing a duffel full of stuff for it," Amelia observed. Dani wasn't acting right, so Amelia held out her empty hand for the PADD to see the orders.

"Must be," Dani agreed, and looked at Amelia with a suspicious "really?" expression. She blinked, took an impatient breath and reached to her back pocket, giving over the PADD. "Wow, is it the hour of the day that makes you this vigilant, or those new pips on your collar?" She muttered, glaring up at the woman unapologetically. The forgeries should be good enough for a short inspection, but not for a trained eye. Dani clenched her teeth and kept her gaze steady on Amelia's face, waiting to measure the level of success -- or failure. She may need to use plan B after all. Damnit, that will make things so much more complicated.

Amelia quickly skimmed the orders. They looked legit, she wanted to believe they were legit, but Dani was acting funny. So she looked them over again, chewing them over in her head in silence while she waited to see if Dani squirmed. She didn't have anything to go on but her gut, knowing her friend as she did, but something didn't feel right. The last time she let Dani out of her sight when something didn't feel right... Dani ended up with new eyes that she still didn't seem to like.

And those eyes were now staring at her quietly. Dani didn't squirm, but her nervousness grew. She wanted to get going; the plan was to leave by now, go off on the shuttle before the switch of the shifts, in time to make her rendezvous and replace her ride. The plan had some leeway for time changes, but not much. Don't pick now to be a hard-ass, Dani prayed internally, continuing to stare at her friend.

"I really need to get going now, Waterhouse."

"Maybe I'm just stupid about engineering, could you walk me through these orders?" she asked, head tilting to the side, staring Dani down.

Dani reddened, more of anger than of any sort of embarrassment. She was beyond embarrassment, and into worry, anxiousness, and anger. Goddamnit, Pond.

"They say I need to get going," Dani extended her hand to get the PADD back. "But if you have a problem with it, you can go and verify, if you want. I'll just wait here." Her eyes remained fixed on Amelia's. Goddamnit, Pond. Goddamnit. Don't pick now...

Amelia's eyes dropped to the PADD again, looking at the name who signed the orders. Maelia Terahouwes. She can't believe she didn't catch that the first time looking over the orders, or the second... she sighed. Glancing around, she noticed they were near the Probe Laboratories — they would be empty this time of the day. So she grabbed Dani by the arm, popped the door with her access codes, and pulled the tiny engineer inside.

"Tell me what you are doing. Now," she demanded when the door shut behind them. She palmed the controls to lock them again. "I'm not asking as the XO, I am asking as your friend."

"Hey! Stop it," Dani protested angrily and looked at the door with growing dismay, fingering the small button in her pocket and decided against using it. Emergency transport would be the last resort, she thought. This may yet be salvaged.

She took a breath and shook her head slightly. "I'm asking you as your friend. Let it go, Waterhouse. This has nothing to do with you. It shouldn't have anything to do with you. Goddamnit, I went into a lot of trouble to make sure it won't have anything to do with you."

"I explained how this works. I catch you, you answer to me. So tell me what is up," Amelia insisted, crossing her arms.

Dani glared back, frustrated, her teeth clenched. "For once, Waterhouse, for fucking once could you stop being a damn straight-arrow and just trust me? I am trying to protect you. There are going to be questions later, and the answers really shouldn't involve you. Not during a damn war, and with you wanting to go up in ranks in this... place." She gestured in frustration and picked up her bag. "This isn't a prank, or a joke, or some sneaking-into-some-Admiral's-bedroom trick that might get us in trouble. This is serious, and it is happening, and you really don't want to get in the middle of it." She blurted, staring up at Amelia's eyes. "You don't want to know what I'm up to. Not this time."

"You're family," Amelia said simply. "Which is the only reason to tell the regs to go screw themselves. I would rather be fully informed and lie under oath, than not know what you're getting yourself into. I want to know that I did what I could to help. Family always comes before anything else. Always."

"That was the point of not having you involved," Dani sighed angrily, inhaled in frustration and then turned to face Amelia again.

"I'm leaving. I'm going to do what the fleet forgot it's for, Pond. I'm going back for the people we left behind on Earth."

"Okay," she said softly, considering. She looked down at the PADD, and thought a moment. She quickly made a couple changes on the PADD and handed it back to Dani. "That should keep you from being reported AWOL, though you'll have to claim you've been tapped by Intel if challenged. I don't know how long it'll buy you, it's kinda an emergency catch all to cover our asses when in the field." She caught Dani in a sudden, boots off the deck, tight hug. "Be careful, and if you find yourself near HQ, can you pop across the bay to check in on Gram and Gran'dad for me? I promise Gram's cookies are better when she makes them."

Dani stared at the PADD with suspicion, but before she had any time to respond, she was practically lifted off the floor with a tight hug. She hugged back for a moment, then took a step back, looking at Amelia doubtfully. "You're helping me," she glanced at the PADD and back at Amelia with suspicious curiosity. "You're not going to try and stop me...?"

"Tell me how often someone successfully stopped Bugs Bunny in all those cartoons?" Amelia quipped with a sigh, half smile on her face. "I really would rather you didn't go, especially not alone, but I know better than to try and stop the impossible. So I'll do what I can to minimize damage. If you do swing by and see my grandparents, ask Gran'Dad for Dad's public key, in case you need to get in touch. I don't have the digi copy on me and I while I trust my memory, it's a long string and if one character is off..." She shrugged.

Dani stared at Amelia thoughtfully, considering the explanation. She didn't think this was a good idea at all; it was one thing to make the decision on her own behalf -- it was another to have Amelia knowingly help and put herself in danger. But she couldn't help but feeling proud.

"I..." despite herself, Dani found she was speechless. She brushed her hair back and smiled crookedly. "Be careful not to lose those shiny new pips of yours, Waterbucket. If I get you in the kind of trouble I am probably getting myself into, your parents are going to kill me. I don't want to risk you being accused of treason. If nothing else, I think your mother is probably going to hunt me down and make gagh from my entrails." She looked up into her friend's eyes. "Promise me you're not going to do anything stupid like cover for me at the expense of your own safety."

"You don't really know my parents, so I understand why you wouldn't realize this... my mother's more likely to kick my ass for not helping you, than she would ever dream of kicking your ass for risking my commission," Amelia insisted with a merry laugh. "Dad might be a little put out, he's proud of his career and it would create awkward questions if I got in trouble. But really, don't worry about me. Keep your own ass safe, and don't hesitate to call for help if something pops up you can't handle... as unlikely as that seems it can be."

Dani smirked, "I didn't intend to tell you this quickly, but I actually do know your folks. They're good people. But," she picked up the duffel again and turned towards the door, expecting Pond to open it now. "There is one thing I need you to do for me," she smiled, "keep my comic book collection safe for me, will you? You can give it back when" if "we meet again at the end of all this mess."

"Give them back?" Amelia asked, a look of feigned innocence on her face as she unlocked the door and opened it. "I figure it's fair trade for that cloak of temporary invisibility I just gave you." Amelia winked.

Dani snorted, "in your dreams. I have the original 1938 superman first edition. You might want to go over that one, by the way. I think you'll like the plot." She smiled mischievously, tucked the PADD back in her pocket, and walked out the door.

"I don't have to use tweezers and gloves, do I? Oh wait, they're my comics now," Amelia teased as she followed Dani out the door, but stopped just inside the corridor to watch her friend walk away. Hopefully not for the last time.

Dani chuckled, and turned to Amelia without stopping her strides. "I'll come back for those, Waterhose, you better believe it. Them, and those cookies," she smiled, spent a second giving her friend a goodbye look, and turned towards the shuttlebay doors, hoping those were promises she could keep.

=/\= END LOG =/\=

Lt Commander Amelia Waterhouse
Executive Officer
USS Vindicator

Lt Danielle Adi Atarah
Engineer
USS Vindicator

 

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