Blast from the past WHO: Darlene Wolff & Callie Morgan WHERE: Outside Pilots Ready Room, Battlestar Avalon WHEN: A few days after New Dawn
With the suspicious death of Lieutenant Darcy Selwyn, Tactical Officer for the Avalon; an investigation was to be carried out as per protocol. In the meantime, the replacement officer had been requested and approved through proper military channels. Captain Darlene Wolff had accepted the position aboard what she had recently learned could be an important ship in the fleet. Of course, her employers would be pleased with the news.
For the past few days, Darlene had been using her time wisely to unpack her belongings and make every effort to keep apprised of the progress of the investigation ongoing. She after all had a vested interest in the proceedings. This morning, she was doing the latter; keeping her ear figuratively to the ground about the investigated.
Darlene left the investigation in limbo as they were still doing the prelims. She strolled through the bowls of the ship, a friendly nod here and there with a warm friendly smile accompanying it. It was still difficult to recall names; she had probably only met a handful of the total crew. The circumstances that brought her here also didn’t help.
Callie had arranged to meet all her pilot’s in the ready room and discuss recent activities during port leave. With the exception of Tra, she hadn’t spoken to another pilot in her squadron about their actions down below. The XO had been pushing her to get her pilot’s in line or face punishment herself. Harsh as it was, she knew he was right.
With clipboard in hand, Callie strolled through towards the ready room where she fully expected all her pilot’s to be seated and waiting in orderly fashion. Last thing she needed now was another flair up onboard the ship. She could at least trust them to be sombre given the mourning the entire ship was under.
Darlene knew how the crew viewed her, stepping into someone’s dead shoes so soon but it didn’t faze her. She knew eventually her professionalism would win through and they would soon move on from Lieutenant Selwyn. It was simply a matter of time. Darla walked around and then froze at the sight before her eyes.
Callgirl was making great tracks towards chewing out her pilot’s when she stopped dead in those tracks at the sight of an old acquaintance. Her eyes blinked as if testing if she was seeing things but it was a true image. “Dar?”
People walked past with a stare, wondering what was going on. Avalon wasn’t exactly known for its privacy factor. Darla stood dead for a moment and then moved to close the gap between them quickly. She grabbed a hold of Callie and pushed her up against the bulkhead, cupping a cheek with a hand and lightly kissing lip to lip.
Cal was surprised by the affection; she didn’t know what to do but still managed to return the kiss happily as if reliving old times. She broke the kiss and placed her hands on Darlene’s hips, holding her but slightly away. “What are you doing here?”
“You mean to tell me; you don’t know about my assignment to Avalon?” Darlene asked with a level of surprise in her tone. She thought everyone knew about her recent return to the fleet. Word spread quickly on a ship like Avalon.
“No, I’ve been….never mind” Callie looked at Darlene, a hand lightly running over the side of the blonde’s face as she chuckled a little nervously, feeling a little lightheaded at that very moment. Her eyes looked over Dar’s shoulders at the passers by, the number of eyes fixated on them and that warm embrace moment ago. She tapped Dar on the side and removed her hands, stood to attention and cleared her throat in quick composure.
Darlene moved back and straightened her tunic, “Captain”
Callie nodded, “Captain, welcome aboard the Avalon. It is good to see you again”
Drooling eyes moved off as the show was over, Darlene and Callie remaining separated as they listened intently to the whispers of the crew behind and around. They knew this would reach ship wide quickly, so why hide.
“Callie, dinner tonight, we have a lot to talk about.” Darlene stepped forward, lightly pecked Callgirl on the lips and started backwards and away. “It really is good to see you”
With Darlene backing away and eventually back around that corner, Callie licked her own lips and then got her composure again, realizing her pilot’s were probably climbing the walls in the ready room waiting. She slowly strolled off with a faint glimpse of a smile. At least she had something to look forward to today.