shipmaster | (no subject)

No. The setup was too chaotic to have been planned, even by a master. There's no hints that Norwood was-

Norwood had your cryocamber. He was pinned down by fire, took it to Shipping and Receiving during the extraction. He had said "The Admiral will get out of here even if we don't."

[Norwood certainly hadn't.]

Everything is a riot right now.

Edited 2016-10-30 01:53 (UTC)

[ Miles bows his head, another shiver going through him. ]

I'm sorry, Captain. I can't imagine how frantic all of you were.

[ His next instinct is to ask if his family had been told too, but - who? What family? His memories of his parents and home planet seem strangely unrealistic. ]

Edited 2016-10-30 01:58 (UTC)

More than worrying about that, we need to get back. Commander Quinn...

[Probably still hasn't slept, unless Bothari-Jesek is still as clever with a hypospray.]

Ah. Quinn will be beside herself. With you and Taura here ...

[ His expression immediately warms, thinking of her. ]

And I can't imagine she wants me dead either.

She has a list at this point. You are anything but on it.

Ah. Of course. God, I miss her ... I miss the whole outfit. I even miss rat bars.

[ His voice is thick with the sharpness of his longing. One downside of now remembering almost everything. ]

[They try. Miles can SEE them try. Perhaps it's the emotional weight, the strain of everything recently, but it just strikes them as direly funny.]

I wouldn't go THAT far.

[ Ah, but that's good to see anyway. Somehow normalizing to joke about that kind of thing. ]

Faced with a literal mountain of crab ... I miss them a little.

A little. I'll give you a little.

Just so.

[ He looks up at Bel now, as if finally seeing them for the first time. In some ways, he sort of is. His expression turns conflicted for a moment as he compares recent memory with those he'd forgotten until just now. Weighing all of Bel's behavior on his mental scales. ]

Ah ... I have to commend you, Captain.

[That was like a lightning strike. Bel's eyes go wide, they straighten in a bolt and start pulling back-away.]

No. [There is actual anguish there. The break is sealed fast, chin lifted, and eyes level, even through the standing water in them.] I'm no longer in command, besides.

[ Miles lets them go. There's a hint of his old awkwardness now in the way he holds himself. Not quite so demonstrative now. Most important, perhaps, is the flicker of steel behind his eyes. He remembers how unfinished their previous conversation was. ]

Has someone relieved you already then? Quinn, in my absence?

[They stand then, composure returning in full. Arms clasped behind their back, they're at crisp and perfect military attention.]

Yes, sir. I was placed on house arrest. [A half smile breaks here.] Guarding myself. [All the very mixed implications of that were clear. Still trusted, still useful, but in such deep shit.]

The trial and punishment were to hold until you were found and restored.

[ Miles wobbles back to his feet, still a bit woozy but capable enough. He looks Bel up and down again, his gaze cool and measuring. ]

Ah. I see. [ All the implications thereof. Bless Quinn for having such a good head on her shoulders. ] Then I have one question for you.

[They take a deep breath and seem to hold it.]

Sir.

[ This is the all important detail. He suspects he knows the answer - could he even have asked the question already? - even post-cascade, his mind is full of holes - but in any case, he must ask. ]

When did you realize you were dealing with Mark?

Almost immediately. [And at that, Bel's gaze finally drops. Something in them softens a little bit.]

He said 'clone,' and not brother. I tested, to be sure a few times but...

It was obvious.

[Another breath, another exhale, as they simply and knowingly seal their own coffin.] I wanted what he wanted to do. I don't regret it.

But I knew he wouldn't take help. Not from me, especially not from you. He had to 'trick' me into it.

[ From the beginning, then, Dammit. There's no way he can grant mercy in a situation like that, can he? It would undermine the entire outfit ... Not to mention his own feelings. The rise up like a storm surge now, having been let loose by his cascading memories. ]

You could have delayed him. A day would have been enough. We could have done this together.

[ His voice cracks at that. Hurt and betrayal shining through. ]

[Now he looks up, fixing Miles with an assessing gaze. Whatever they find there, they don't vocalize.]

I know.

I though I could bring it off, though.

You were close. [ Miles has to admit that much, however reluctantly. ] If not for that sniper, I'd have seen out the end of it too.

Yeah. [Their voice is small, uncharacteristically. It lowers further, almost a whisper.] That is what I'm sorry about. I never..

You never meant to get me killed? God, I hope not. I'd hate to add you to the list of potential assassins.

[ His tone is bone dry. He appreciates the sentiment, really, but - who wants to get their men killed in the first place? ]

[No one who has lasted in the Dendarii command for this long. As an Admiral, Naismith never brooked cruelty.

Still, the assurance brings back a ghost of a smile and that ugly humor.]

Well. Gently wringing your neck is completely separate and an upper staff prerequisite.

[ Good. Miles is - well, he has a lot of complicated feelings on this subject, but dragging them both into a bog of anger and guilt isn't productive for either one of them. Forward momentum. ]

Naturally. I wouldn't deny it to any of you. It's the only way to know I'm still on the right track.

God. You couldn't even die in an uncomplicated way. [NOW they start laughing, the standing water, long denied finally starts flowing down their cheeks.] You had to wander off and lead us on a chase.