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Charlotte Matsumura

No Pressure

No Pressure

CDR Malcolm Alexander (NPC)

***

 

Belief that he was doing the right thing for the greater sake of the Federation had gotten Mal through the roughest days of his twenty-year career. And, on days where he saw the difference, he loved his job. But sometimes doing his job meant knowing things other, normal civilians didn't know... or learning things ahead of most 'fleet officers. Those were the days he hated his job.

 

Today he hated his job.

 

Ah-Windu Corizon, a seasoned, unconventional captain, had taken the Excalibur and her crew on what Headquarters had dubbed a "milk run": They were expected to simply carry supplies and other goods to nearby colonies and labs. The first stop had provided Charlotte with her first courier mission that had – aside from the random camel spit – gone exactly by the numbers. The interested parties were thankful for the info and would reply in kind at a later date.

 

The second stop involved priests and hallucinogenics. Mal figured it was best for all concerned if he didn't record too much on this particular incident. He code-named the location "Berkeley" and thought that said enough.

 

It was afterward when Murphy struck. The almost immediate cessation of message traffic had been an early warning. Afterward, any messages had been scattered and disjointed; there was no regular flow of information. That alone had caused no small amount of concern through command. The story unfolded more as Excal and the surviving members of her crew limped home: Corizon seriously injured, zombies, mad scientists, and a killer octopus. Mal could only offer a dark chuckle as he realized the vampire was already on crew.

 

Charlotte's preliminary report was more remarkable in what it didn't say. Sentence fragments, slipping grammar, and missing punctuation spoke volumes about her state of mind. That realization alone sent a knot roiling in his gut. She'd been injured. The duty roster showed her pulling more than double shifts, so she'd been tired, too. Paired with the reality of lost crewmates, as well as the violation of being boarded – it was a lot for an agent, fresh off the farm...even one as grounded as Charlotte. Her debrief was going to be difficult. If, of course, he could crack her defensive outer layer.

 

Mal frowned. A defensive outer layer, he thought, that was likely to be a few shades thicker after their last...moment. Wasn't that what he was trying to avoid? Sighing, he rubbed his face wearily, then glanced at the clock. The Excalibur would be docking in less than an hour. That meant he had a little more than that hour to try and figure a way in – a way that preserved their friendship and their respective positions.

 

He tossed back the last of his tea and shook his head. "Right," he said aloud. "No pressure."

Edited by Charlotte Matsumura

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