Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Justice Served, Part Two

It took Clio a long time to find the JAG offices. People were helpful enough, but too often they sent her in the wrong direction. Nearly an hour after she landed on Earth, she finally found the right door and went inside, trying not to look too annoyed as she approached the front desk.

"How can I help you?" the secretary asked, not even looking up as Clio came close.

Clio smiled tightly, biting her tongue for a moment. "I'm here to see Commander Hutchins."

"Your name?"

"Eneas Clio. She knows I'm coming."

"I'll let her know you're here. Sit down and we'll call you when she's ready," the secretary said in a dismissive tone, waving Clio off as she wrote down a note for Commander Hutchins.

Clio narrowed her eyes a bit, leaning on the desk. "Look, I had a very long shuttle flight to get here, and Commander Hutchins said to talk to her as soon as I arrived. I would appreciate it if you cooperated because the Enterprise was more than two days out at the shuttle's maximum speed. This meeting is regarding a rather high priority case, so please stop intentionally delaying me and let her know I'm here now."

"You don't have an appointment, so you wait. Those are the rules. Doesn't matter how long your flight was or how important you think your case is. So have a seat, and we'll get to you when we get to you."

"Please tell me you're kidding."

The secretary finally looked up, giving Clio a cross glare. "No, I'm not kidding. Sit down and stop wasting my time; Commander Hutchins will be with you when she's good and ready."

"Marcia, I hope you're not giving Colonel Eneas a hard time!" a semi-familiar voice yelled from the back, and Clio relaxed, if only slightly. "Let the poor woman pass before she turns your desk over on you."

Marcia scowled and pointed toward Hutchins' office. "I guess she's ready then."

"Thank you," Clio said sweetly, giving Marcia a look that spoke volumes as she passed and went back to the office she'd heard the voice from.

"Grab yourself some coffee and have a seat. I'm just going to run to the bathroom for a minute, but I didn't want to leave you with Marcia." Commander Hutchins smiled a bit. "She can be so unbelievably rude sometimes. Excuse me."

Clio scooted out of the way to let Hutchins pass before going to inspect the coffee maker on the other side of the room. The coffee smelled decent, so she poured some into one of the paper cups and sat down in one of the chairs near the desk before taking a sip. It was bitter, but drinkable. Better than the shuttle's replicator coffee had been at least. Not sure how long she'd be alone, she occupied herself with looking at the few pictures on the walls while she waited.

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Short Story: Wicked

They say that no one mourns the wicked, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Charlie was as wicked as they come, and no, she's not dead. But she's gone just the same, and I still don't quite understand it. She didn't leave a note. She didn't so much as call. She didn't say good bye. She simply didn't return to the ship when I asked her. I mean, she didn't even answer the call. She just denied it when it came in. And even though I don't understand, I think I know why.

She was always the aggressor; everything was her idea... or nearly everything. She pushed for what she wanted and most nights I gave it to her. Other nights she would make me beg, and we'd laugh about it afterward. I thought we were ready, so I asked.

She just looked at me for a long time and said, "I have to think about it."

"You have to think about it? I thought that's what you wanted."

"I thought so too. But I don't know."

She slept on the couch that night, no matter how hard I begged her to come to bed. The next morning was shore leave, and she was gone when I got up. I never saw her again. All I have left are the pictures, and they don't do her justice at all. I look at them and I still wonder just what I did wrong.

I know it's not my fault, but I can't help feeling that I had something to do with her sudden disappearance. It would help if I could find her and ask, but even her father has no idea where she is. He says she's never done anything like this to anyone she's ever dated, male or female. That surprised me, finding out she was actually bisexual. She'd never so much as hinted at it while we were together. So now I have to wonder... did she find someone else?

It was never anything I considered, that Charlie would find someone she liked better and just leave. Everyone before her was so reluctant to even come aboard my ship, but she so gladly moved into my cabin that I really thought she was some kind of angel. Now, I'm not so sure.

"All good things come to an end," my mother always said. "Never count on anything. Ever." As much as I hate to admit it, she was right. If something is too good to be true, well... it's usually not true. I wish I had learned that sooner and avoided all this. I know what she'll say when she hears about all this. "I told you so, Felicia. You should find a nice boy. Nice boys don't do that to pretty girls like you." Sometimes I'm not sure she's really my mother.

I don't know if I'll ever be able to trust a pretty face again, wicked or innocent. I've learned my lesson, painful as it was.

Good bye, Charlie, wherever you are. I hope you're happy.

Justice Served, Part One

Clio was half-asleep on the couch in her office when the comm unit on her desk suddenly went off, startling her so that her panicked flailing dumped her right on the deck. Scowling, she picked herself up and brushed off her uniform before sitting at the desk to answer the call.

"Colonel Eneas?"

"Yeah, that's me." Clio subconsciously swiped at her hair, trying to calm it down. "Who are you?"

"Commander Hutchins with JAG. We're looking at your case against Lieutenant Junior Grade George McKinley, and we're going to need you to come to Earth to testify."

Clio sighed. "Yeah, I expected that. When's his trial date? I have to give Captain Harrison fair warning and make sure the Intelligence center is properly secured."

"I'm afraid this is short notice as McKinley is already here, waiting for trial. We can give you a few days, but not more than a week. Otherwise we'll be denying him a prompt trial since he's waiting for discharge according to this."

Great. Clio smiled tightly. "I think I can manage that. Should I call you before I leave or when I get there?"

"When you arrive is fine. We're a bit busy around here."

"All right. Well, I need to go talk to my commander then. I'll see you in a few days." It was rude, but Clio cut the comm line herself, leaning back in her chair for a moment and rolling her eyes. Why didn't we court-martial the bastard on board? she groused to herself as she got up and left her office.

The trip to the bridge was a short one, and Clio waited impatiently after ringing the chime to Danny's ready room. It seemed like forever until Danny finally said, "Come in."

Biting her lip, Clio went inside and stopped in front of Danny's desk. "Well, JAG just called me. They need me to come to Earth to testify against McKinley, and I only have a week to get there, apparently. Makes me wish we did the court-martial here, but it's too late to change the plans." She watched as Danny sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, his usual reaction to her lately. "Yeah, I know it's a hassle, but it's not my fault."

"I know it's not your fault. You don't have a choice, so go."

"Yes, sir." Knowing better than to stick around and chatter about it, Clio made her way back out of the ready room and back down to the 'Cave', which she painstakingly set to only open for Intelligence officers' unlock codes before going home to pack a bag and explain to Michael just where she was going and why.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Remembrance

I remember being interested in the military as a kid. My dad had been in the Navy, and I always thought that was pretty cool. I didn't know then that not only would I join the military, I would join when our nation was at war.

In 2001, I was fourteen. I thought America was safe. Who would attack America? I knew from school that we were a military superpower, so I figured someone would have to be pretty dumb to attack us.

September 11 started off as any normal day. I got up, I got on the bus, I went to school. I hung out in the courtyard with my friends until the first bell rang, then I went to my first class. As soon as I walked through the door, I knew something was wrong because the TV was on, and something was on fire and pouring thick smoke. I wasn't sure what it was at first. Then they changed to another camera angle.

It was the Twin Towers at the World Trade Center in New York City. I'd never been there at that point, but I recognized them. Both towers had been hit by that point.

Class started, but we didn't do any work. Not even ten minutes after the bell rang to start class, another teacher ran to our classroom and she said, "They just hit the Pentagon."

One plane flying into a tower could have been an accident. Two planes flying into two towers would be a really strange coincidence, so I kind of figured it was on purpose. But the Pentagon? Even as a kid I knew how important that building was. That's when it clicked that America was suddenly at war, attacked on her own soil.

We watched as the South Tower collapsed. Then a portion of the Pentagon. Then the North Tower just before my first class ended, and the attack was over. I don't remember hearing about Flight 93 until later in the day when they mentioned that a plane that seemed bound for the D.C. area had crashed in Pennsylvania.

I think that's the day I really decided. I took the ASVAB, a placement test for the military, in my senior year, three years later. I had high scores, and I was getting calls from all branches of the military. I wasn't interested in the Marine Corps, so they stopped calling and sending letters first. I thought about the Navy, but at the time I was only interested in the submarine force. The submarine force didn't accept women yet.

I didn't actually join until I'd been out of high school for a year. Initially, I thought about the Air Force. However, the Air Force would only accept me with a GED if I had college credit. With the Air Force out of the equation, I turned to the Army.

I told them I wanted to be a linguist. I even took their language test and passed it easily. They didn't have any slots for linguists, they told me, after I took the test of course. Since I'd had such high scores, my recruiter suggested I look at other military intelligence fields. Out of what was available, I chose Signals Analysis. I went to school for that, and then I never did it for real. The closest I got was collecting Morse code in Korea, which is where I met my husband.

We got married about a year before I got out of the Army. He got out the year after I did.

I look back and I realize that without the events of September 11, 2001, my life could have been very different. Maybe I still would have joined the military, but during peace rather than war. Or maybe I wouldn't have, and I would have never met my husband.

And if I had never met my husband, I would have never met his friend,John Smith. John quickly became a close friend of mine as well.

John is currently deployed in the War Against Terror with his National Guard unit. We are both hoping he stays safe and comes home.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Theater Craziness

So on Tuesday, we went to see the last Harry Potter movie. We'd wanted to see it for a while, and we figured the crowd would have died down a little. The parking lot was pretty full, so we thought there would still be a decently sized group there to see the movie.

When we walked into the 6:30 PM showing, there were maybe ten people there, including us. Then Mark noticed that the movie didn't sound right, so he went to talk to the manager. Turns out that the center channel speaker had blown, which the girl selling tickets didn't tell us about.

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Wasabi Brownies?

Cupcake Project: The Brownie Recipe for Everyone - Panko-Encrusted ...: "I'm imagining you staring at your screen. Your head is cocked to the side and you've rested your hand on your chin to ponder my bizarre title.  Could a panko-encrusted wasabi brownie really be the brownie recipe for everyone?"


Yeah, that about sums up what I was thinking at first. But it sounds surprisingly tasty after thinking about it a bit. I almost want to try baking these myself!

Friday, July 29, 2011

Short Story: Seeing the Stars

(This was a writing challenge also. This one takes place in 2360, when Felicia Quinn was ten years old.)

"Felicia! Mom said stay in the cabin while she was gone!"

"What Mom doesn't know won't hurt her. Come on, Liv, this is boring!"

Olivia crossed her arms and stood in front of the door, glowering with all the meanness she could muster. "Mom said."

Felicia shrugged and turned around, darting over to the couch and scrambling up on its back. "You can't stop me." She stuck her tongue out at her sister and pulled the air vent cover off, dropping it on the deck before she hauled herself up into the vent. She paused, scooting around so that she could look at Olivia through the opening. "You coming?"

Short Story: The Captain's Angel

(This was written for a writing challenge.)

"Hey, Felicia. Wake up."

"No, thank you. I'll just stay asleep, thanks." Felicia pulled the blanket over her head, only to have it suddenly yanked away. "Hey!" She sat up, grabbing at it and trying not to laugh as Charlie held it out of her reach. "Okay, okay. I'm up."

"Better hurry," Charlie advised sweetly as she folded the blanket and set it on the bed. "You know. Starship to run and all that."

"...right. Thanks." Felicia kissed Charlie's cheek and scrambled off the bed. "I'd ask you to join me, but..."

Charlie giggled, pushing her away toward the head. "Go on, crazy. You'll be late."

Wow

Damn, it's been a while. Truth is...I replaced my aging laptop and didn't remember the link to get here! I had to go look it up!

I do plan to use this more often, but college starts in a month (A MONTH! SERIOUSLY!) so there won't be a new post every day!

I do have some new fiction to post though. Keep an eye out!

Monday, June 20, 2011

"Under God"

I walked past the TV a bit ago and overheard Glen Beck talking about how the words "under God" are in the pledge for a reason and they've always been there and this country needs to return to its Christian ideals. He makes a great point. Problem is...he's wrong.

The words "under God" weren't in the original pledge of allegiance, which read as follows.

"I pledge allegiance to my flag and the republic for which it stands: one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all."

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Thursday, June 16, 2011

Short Story: Bad Luck Charm

(This was written for the writing challenge I hold every month on the Valley Forge. It's one side of a conversation, Captain Felicia Quinn telling another starship captain how she lost her first ship.)

It all started when they sent me to the Valley Forge. That's where I met Alexandra Springfield. She was experienced. She'd commanded her own ship. I didn't see the harm in making her my first officer. Yeah, turns out that wasn't such a great idea after all. You see, Colonel Springfield is a bit of a bad luck charm. Now, I'm not saying she did any of this on purpose. I think she just attracts trouble.

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Monday, June 6, 2011

Taco Seasoning

No, this is not a food blog. But this was too good not to share!

Most people use those taco seasoning packets when they make tacos. It works, it tastes pretty good, and that's what I grew up with. However, I discovered last night how easy it is to make the seasoning blend yourself. You might even have all of the ingredients already! It's all dry ingredients, so I toss all the spices into the container I store it in, seal the lid, and shake the container to mix it all up. The amount in the recipe below makes about 4 tablespoons, enough for two pounds of ground beef. It's easy to double or triple to keep some on hand at all times though.


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Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Rant Rant Rant Rant Raaaaaaaaant

UGH. Some people just make me want to smack them. Hard. Really, really hard.

Take, for example, role playing. Specifically, Star Trek role playing. On a forum. (I know I'm a geek. Hush.) Easy, right? I mean, really, the rules are so simple. The in-game universe isn't terribly hard to understand. A little nerdy, and sometimes a lot nerdy, but simple.

Now, some of us like a little realism in our game. So we make things a little more military. Our characters have some really wacky flaws, like real people. Which, by the way, makes the game more awesome. Most players I simm with don't mind this at all. They think it's great! (Some people, however, seem to think that a flawed, normal character is "boring", which I don't understand at all.)

We also like to try to write the game as if it's a huge novel being written by several authors.  (Some people hate this, but really...how else would you do it?)

All in all, role playing is great.

Until you run into one of these guys.
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Thursday, April 21, 2011

A New Challenge?

So today I got just a little bit bored.

Bored enough to decide to switch my keyboard from Qwerty to Dvorak. Apparently this is enough to convince people that I'm crazy!

Granted, it's a bit difficult making the switch, but it's not so hard as I thought it might be! It's actually kind of fun really...

So here's to learning new things "just because"!

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Therianmagi: Witch Wolf, Chapter Two

(Last pre-written post for this one.)


“It’s not a vampire.” Marcy leaned forward between the front seats, still shaken and pale.

Adina yelped in surprise, nearly swerving into an oncoming car. “Damn it, Marcy! I thought you were still hiding on the floor.”

Marcy smiled weakly at her.

“Okay then.” Adina took a deep breath and drove past the office to give them time to talk. “What is it then? I’ve never seen you like that before.”

“Don’t lie. Yes, you have.”
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Therianmagi: Witch Wolf, Chapter One

(Book two of Therianmagi.)

Marcy stretched and yawned as the sunlight streaming through the half open curtains woke her up. She blinked a few times at the blank clock before realizing Jackson had unplugged it the night before. Smiling and shaking her head, she pushed the blanket back and sat up, combing her fingers through her hair and inhaling deeply. A human wouldn’t have smelled the subtle vanilla and hazelnut mixed with the strong coffee aroma, but the wolf inside her did, compelling her to get out of bed and scramble into the shower. She scrubbed quickly and pulled on jeans and a sweater without drying her hair and headed downstairs still barefoot, picking up her ring and her necklace from the dresser as she passed it.
She was still settling the gold pentacle under her sweater when she entered the kitchen and snuck up behind Jackson, wrapping her arms around his waist and putting her chin on his shoulder. “Is there breakfast or just coffee this morning?” she asked teasingly, biting lightly at his ear.
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Therianmagi: Silver Nightmares, Chapter Six

(Last pre-written bit of this one.)


“Oh, come on.”

Marcy sighed. She’d always had bad luck dealing with people, and it seemed that Adina wasn’t going to be an exception. “No dog jokes, please, no matter how well meant they are. I get enough of that from Quin and his insistent use of the nickname ‘Little Wolf’. I have told him numerous times that only my father is allowed to call me ‘Little Wolf’, but he doesn’t listen to me. He uses the nickname to annoy me, along with various dog jokes. He thinks that it’s funny, but it’s not.”
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Therianmagi: Silver Nightmares, Chapter Five

(Gosh this thing is long. And nowhere near done either, mind you.)


“Quindarryl asked me to be your new partner. He said something about needing a second fire witch on his staff.” Adina let her hand drop. “And please, do not call me ‘Miss Sheppard’. No one has called me that since sixteen ninety nine. ‘Adina’ is fine. Or ‘Shep’, if you do not like first names.”

“Sixteen ninety nine?” Marcy blinked at her in surprise. “You don’t look three hundred.”

“Just like you do not look forty-four.” Adina smirked at the surprised look Marcy gave her. “Quindarryl gave me your file to read through. I am surprised that he did not give you mine as well.”

Marcy looked down at her desk, which was covered, as usual, in folders and papers. Some pertained to cases, some were prospective new Watchers, and there was one, a red folder, that was new. Smiling sheepishly, she picked it up and read the name off of the front. “Senior Watcher Adina Sheppard, London Division.” Startled and puzzled, she looked back up at Adina. “Wait, he assigned you, a Senior Watcher, under me? Why?”
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Therianmagi: Silver Nightmares, Chapter Four

(I know what you're thinking. Another pre-write. Well you're right.)


“Marcy, I cannot stop in the middle of the–”

She looked at him with wolf eyes, noting with mild pleasure that he recoiled away from her. “Quin, stop the car.”

“Okay. Okay.” Looking puzzled and shaken, Quin turned on the car’s hazard lights and stopped, giving Marcy a puzzled look. “Is something wrong?”

“Not with me.” Marcy unbuckled her seat belt and popped the door open, kicking off her shoes. “Are we inside the Council office glamour?”
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Therianmagi: Silver Nightmares, Chapter Three

(Yep. More pre-written stuff.)


Marcy was out of the car almost before it was completely stopped, looking at the leaping purple flames. Oddly enough, they were not giving off the heat that one would expect to feel so close to a raging fire. Puzzled, Marcy sniffed the air. Her nose was not as sensitive in her human form, but it was still plenty useful for tasks like this. She could smell the ash, the burning wood, and the heavy scent of smoke. “Well. It’s certainly not a glamour.”

Quin gave her a skeptical look. “How do you even know that?”

“Because.” Marcy looked at him, just barely smiling. “A glamour only works on one sense, typically. Even the best scent-screening glamours cannot fool a werewolf’s nose.” She turned her attention back to the strange purple fire, a quizzical expression on her face. “Funny how there’s no heat to it. Definitely not a dragon fire.”

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Therianmagi: Silver Nightmares, Chapter Two

(Yup. Another part of this one. There's a few of these!)


The alarm clock went off, blaring in Marcy’s ear. Groaning quietly, she swatted at it, hitting the snooze button entirely by accident. She yanked the blanket up over her head, trying to pretend that she was still asleep.

When the alarm went off again a few minutes later, Grant prodded her gently in the ribs. “Wake up, sleepy head.”

Marcy growled at him, reaching over and turning the alarm off.

“Come on.” Grant nudged her again, pushing the blanket back. He switched on the lamp next to the bed and yelped in surprise when Marcy smacked him, just hard enough to hurt a little. “Quit being a brat, Marcy.” He poked her again, a bit more roughly this time. “Get up, lazy.”
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Therianmagi: Silver Nightmares, Chapter One

(Silver Nightmares is the first story in the Therianmagi series.)


The red wolf sailed through the open window into the bedroom, landing in a half crouch with a muffled thump. A moment later, the light overhead blazed on. She wagged her tail appeasingly at the man standing over her, holding her head and tail in the dominant “up” position.

Grant Cooper sighed at her. “It’s half past midnight, Marcy. What in the name of hell were you doing out there?”

Marcy just wagged her tail at him again, sitting down with a wolf smile on her face and letting her tongue loll out of her mouth. Maybe if she just stayed as the red wolf he would leave her alone, but she knew that was a reach. Grant was incredibly overprotective these days. After a few tense moments, she heaved a doggy sigh and shifted forms, crouching on the floor and grinning up at him. “Oh, come on. It’s not like I was hunting or anything. I just went for a run.”

“Marcy Xantara Cooper!”
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Short Story: Just An Exam

(Something silly. Again, old. Not one of my personal favorites but meh.)

“So where are you getting the catnip?”

L'sira gave Serys a startled look, not having realized that the Bajoran doctor had run a blood test on her. “Um.” Her tail twitched and her ears flicked back and forth a few times. “From Admiral Kirk,” she admitted finally. “I didn't think you would check for it, honestly.”

Serys sighed, looking up at the ceiling for a moment. “It's a physical, Commander. I'm checking for everything.”

“...oh.” Far from embarrassed, L'sira flashed Serys a toothy grin. “Well, you'll find nothing else, I'm sure.”

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Short Story: Breaking Point

(Bit of an emotionally charged piece. This was the forerunner to this particular character being diagnosed with bipolar disorder.)


Serys stalked into her empty cabin without turning on the lights and flopped onto the couch. She just didn't understand what was going on with her lately. So far it only seemed work related; all of her explosions had happened on duty, and it was a wonder no one had reported her to Jaimie yet. She sighed, trying to find a reason behind her overly dramatic snapping in sickbay that afternoon. She couldn't find one, and it worried her. One of her nurses had been close to tears when Serys disappeared into her office, over a patient's dosing schedule! Still trying to figure things out, she closed her eyes and leaned back into the couch.

She didn't budge when moments later the door hummed open and the lights came up. Rianne's distinctive giggle and Chad's voice didn't get so much as a “hello” from her.

Chad frowned slightly and shushed the toddler. “Shhh, Rianne, mommy's sleeping.”
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Short(er) Story: Temptress

(Quite a bit older than the last piece, and much shorter. But it's cute.)

“Chad, are you sure you don't want to join us tonight? Jaimie promises it'll be fun.” Serys used the mirror to attempt to reattach her earring, which she'd taken off because it got in her way while she was working in sickbay.

“I'm sure, babe.” Chad came up behind her, helping her fasten the obstinate jewelry. He kissed her neck to avoid any chance of smearing her minimal makeup. “You look stunning, and you and Jaimie are great together, but I don't much like dinners with flag officers.”

Serys smiled at him as she turned to peck him lightly on the cheek. “Okay. You can watch Ri tonight then, and I'll give you something special later.” She winked slyly and smoothed the glossy fabric of her deep blue halter dress.

Chad growled at her playfully and gave her a quick but fierce hug. He adored her anyway, but the mid-calm length halter dress was easily his favorite of her outfits. “Here.” He picked up the silver sash Serys had thrown over the back of a chair and looped it around her waist, tying it loosely at her hip. “Perfect.”

Serys laughed at him, giving him a final kiss and hug before picking up her matching handbag. “I'll see you tonight,” she whispered coyly as she left.

Short Story: "Redjac"

(A short story connected to one of my role playing message boards. A bit dark, maybe, but it's a favorite. For some reason.)


Clio sighed as she rang the chime to the office door. If Gazelle hadn't forced her to do this, she might never have done it. And she didn't want to. Not by a long shot.

"Come in," Vel called toward the door. The partition she normally had up was moved to the side, so that she could see the door.

Clio came inside, hesitating before speaking.  "Um...hi. Doctor Girabaldi sent me...to talk to you."

And I thought Gazelle was kidding. Velktra smiled a little. "Have a seat in the sitting area. I'll join you in a second." She wanted Clio to choose her own seat, to make her comfortable. If, that is, the Cervan officer could be comfortable in the presence of a psychiatrist.
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Prelude to War: Winds of Darkness, Chapter Three

(And part three. Last of the pre-written segments. Stay tuned!)


Night fell aboard Fury's Heart. Unlike the night of a Federation starship, with dimmed lighting, the Cervan bioship glowed blue in her corridors. Troya had been relieved by a junior guard for the night; Clio wasn't sure if this was a good or bad thing just yet. The young guard had her back to the cell. Unwise, Clio thought, amused.

Of course, there was still the young officer guarding the door to get out of the brig area itself to deal with, if she could even get the ship to release her from the cell.

Knowing that Adonia shared an intimate connection with Fury's Heart, Clio nonetheless caressed the bulkhead next to the bunk, trying to tap into the ship's conscious mind.

The bioship resisted. No. You cannot come in.
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Prelude to War: Winds of Darkness, Chapter Two

(Part two. You can tell these chapters are already written can't you?)


“The Empress wishes to see you.”

Clio just stared at the female guard on the other side of the force field. Interesting how it's “The Empress” and not “your mother”, “Empress Eneas” or “Empress Adonia”. She didn't even move from where she lounged across the provided bunk, her hand resting lightly on the bulkhead. “I have nothing to say to the Empress. You can tell her that.”

“She said you'd say that.” A second guard moved into Clio's field of vision. “She also said to convince you. If necessary.”

“Really.” Clio raised an eyebrow at them. “And how do you plan to do that?”
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Prelude to War: Winds of Darkness, Chapter One

(Obviously this is the beginning of a story arc that will be posted here over time as it grows and develops.)


Clio groaned quietly and rubbed her head as she sat up from the deck. She didn’t remember what had happened or, more importantly, how she’d gotten there, but she recognized the interior of a Cervan bioship. The ship’s sentient mind tugged at the periphery of Clio’s muted telepathic senses. She’d just gotten her senses in order when she saw someone standing at the brig force field, smirking at her. The Cervan woman seemed oddly familiar, even though Clio was certain that they’d never met. There were several seconds of tense silence between them as Clio tried to figure out what was so familiar about her captor.

“You don’t know who I am,” the other woman remarked, somewhat amused. “What a shame. We could have had such fun together, Clio.”
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Musing On A Whim?

It means just what it says, honest. When the mood strikes, I shall write. Maybe it's a random musing. Maybe it's an excerpt from a story I'm writing. Maybe it's just a random thought I had during the day. I'll try to make it clear what's what, but if there's ever any confusion, just let me know in a comment and I'll clear things up for you!

I'll probably put up some of my old writing here as well. Stuff some people have already seen elsewhere. For...comparison purposes. And for entertainment.

Enjoy!