Solitude (open)

[Pacifica Alexander]

1800 2nd October 2003AK; Hyperion observation deck

Most of the crew was returning today and had plenty to get done to settle back in to there home. Pacifica had only left for about six days to go home and see her family. She had been back for about two weeks now and had been full settled back in. This meant the observation deck was devoid of people.

Pacifica sat in the window sill with her left side facing toward the window so she could enjoy the stars. She was dressed in her OD green uniform pants and her dark grey tank top. Her hair was still mostly up in a messy bun It was only slighly outside of regs at this point but she was off duty and alone so it was not a big issue. She had her book in front of her though she was not reading it. Her focus was on the stars outside. She enjoyed the wide open spaces. It was a quiet place she could sit down and think. She was still beating herself up internally over having slipped enough to let someone find out. Sure a few people outside of the military had noticed the issue and when it first happened there were even a few military persons who had noticed it but that was a long time past.

When it happened she was on the verge of tears or getting aggressive with him. She had no right to be mad at him and that only made it worse. It wasn't the best approach he took but he was not cruel about it either. It was her own weakness that had her mad, that made her want to cry. She had just gotten to this ship about five months ago and here she was with someone already questioning it. Part of her wanted to transfer off the ship already just because of that little incident but another part of her told her to fight on and not let it bother her. So what if she was blind in one eye she was one of the best damned deck hands the ship had and they were lucky to have her even with only one working eye.

[Alexander Christophe]

Alexander was wondering the ship as he approached the observation deck. His men had trained hard for the day and where having some r n r back in there quarters. Alexander was feeling a little more restless and wanted to get a glimpse of this new behemoth.

Alexander opened the door to the observation deck. He was wearing his black uniform pants and his black special ops t-shirt on. Alexander was crimped and clean shaved. Alexander made sure to shave before every watch, Alexander almost never had a five o clock shadow unless he was on leave.

As the door opened and closed it made an audible clank noise. Alexander walked over to take a glimpse at the stars and what they could see of the distant planet. He looked to his side and noticed a friendly face. Years ago he had assisted in saving her life. It was nice to see a familiar face for him. Alexander didn't know her rank at this time but he remembered her name. She had been wounded during the sag war. "Ms. Alexander? " It was easy for him to remember her name and always a little awkward. He then waited for her to look up from her book."sorry its been a long time since Ive seen you last. How have you been?" his voice partially uplifted when he spoke to her when she looked up. He recognized her slightly. The most memorable sight of her was the blood coming from her head.

[Jason Dumont]

Jason had been looking for a chance to talk Chief Alexander all day. He had seen her a few times on the deck, during training and maintenance, but had been unable to snag enough time to speak with her. It was eating at him, this whole business with his tactless words.

He finally found her on an observation deck, but before he could so much as approach, he was cut off again. This time by an enormous marine, who stood at least half a foot taller than himself. Jason recognized him right away. He had heard tales of an ensign Christophe. Part of him wanted to storm up, and tell the junior officer to step away, but he had no reason to. Instead, he leaned up against a nearby wall, and waited. There was no rush.

As he leaned there, trying not to listen in, he realized just how tight the neck of his duty blue uniform was, he picked at it. "The frak is wrong with me?" He thought, as he shifted his weight awkwardly from foot to foot. "This is no time for nerves....or whatever the frak this is."

Taking a deep breath, he quieted himself and waited his turn to speak. He hoped she wouldn't just run away, he really DID want to apologize.

[Pacifica Alexander]

Pacifica heard the hatch to the observation deck open as the ensign walked in and joined her in the observation deck She turned casually, her hair hanging and completely obscuring the scares on the side of her face, not uncommon for her to allow it to do after her shift was over. She casually turned to sit facing forward, her right side now by the bulk head to the window. She had gotten pretty good at keeping it not noticeable yet not seem odd when she does it.

She looked at his uniform to get a good look at who he was before she spoke. "Ensign Christophe, I am fine sir." She said as she stood up long enough to offer a salute. "it's Chief now, sir. I apologies for being out of uniform." She said in reference to both her hair and her lack of formal uniform top. She waited for him to give her the okay to sit back down before she returned to her seat. "I'm not sure sir where I know you from I'm sorry." It took a moment but out of the corner of her good eye she noticed that there was someone else in the room, the pilot from before. She could feel her heart speed up just a little at the thought of him being there.

As she sat back down there keeping close track that the right side of her face was hidden, by leaning her head against the bulk head she waited for the Ensign to respond and tell her how he remembers her but she does not remember him. All the while worried what the pilot was going to say if he came and talked to her again.

[Alexander Christophe]

Apparently Alexander had missed Jason as he walked in. Of course Alexander didn't know the man but he would generally exchange pleasantries with most people in a room. The man stood off to the side and fidgeted a little as Alexander and Pacifica talked. The man either had to pee or was waiting rather impatiently to talk to the young chief, well he was going to have to wait.

Alexander listened to her as she spoke about her rank and being out of uniform. Alexander saluted her back as well and said"At ease chief. Your off duty you have a right to relax a little.As Alexander was a hard nose marine but since she wasn't one of his men she was held to different standards. Being out of uniform and a little outside regs when you are off duty is something that should be expected. Military personnel should always be professional but even the most hard ass of them needed some r and r every now and then. " I'm sure things are a buzz on the deck with the war games just around the corner. " Alexander didn't know how to approach the next question. but the action on Sagitaron was not classified so he spoke plainly. He left out some of the details but he said."We met back during the sag war. well it wasn't much of a really meeting. A raptor went down and some deckhands volunteered to go see what they could do with the wreckage. My squad volunteered to provide cover for you." He stopped there she would remember the rest. There group never made it to the crash site they where ambushed not far off and her Humvee was destroyed. She was lucky to be alive. Alexander had pulled her from the wreckage and carried her to some cover. He provided cover fire so a medic could take a look at her and from there the mission was to just get everyone back safely. She wrote him once after being transferred to a hospital to let him know she was OK. There was no reason for him to drum up the old battle wound that would probably not have the best memories for her. Alexander would have liked to have met her on different terms but he was glad she was still serving.

"Anyone who volunteers for a tough mission like that is alright in my book.you would have made a fine marine I'm sure" He said the last piece with a little smile, hoping that the event didn't bring up too many bad memories.

[Pacifica Alexander]

Pacifica sat there looking up at the man after he had told her not to work because she was off duty. It was a little uneasy for her to sit in the presence of an officer when they themselves were not. It wasn't outside of the rules or anything but was still a challenge. "It has been hectic on the deck, but we are just about ready at this point." She replied to him as she noticed how much he towered over her. He had to be the biggest person on the ship in not the biggest person she had ever met.

His next comment brought her to a crashing halt in her thoughts. He had been part of the group that was there when it all happened. How much did he know, could he possible know what had happened to her. It was unlikely she didn't even know at that point what had really happened, it was till she got back to the field hospital and they told her that she really knew. Even then she didn't accept it really, that part took a bit more time. It was a long fight for her to realize she was going to live her life like this. Once she had come to that conclusion it was a long battle to get the right to stay in the navy all together.

"I was just doing my job sir, nothing more." She replied to his comment about how she would have made a good marine. "I was young and thought I was unstoppable, learned the hard way I wasn't." She turned in her seat to have her left side facing the window and her right toward him. She was using his reflection in the window to track him, to watch him. "How has the marine corp been treating you since then?" She really didn't remember him but she wouldn't come out right and say it, the man had been part of the group responsible for saving her and she would show respect to that.

[Alexander Christophe]

Alexander listened as she spoke. Her tone would suggest she remembered the even but maybe not his role. It was normal for someone to block certain aspects of battle out of there head and Alexander wasn't going to push the subject all that. When she said she was just doing her job Alexander scoffed at the comment and said. "Chief you volunteered for the task no one was voluntold. " Then he looked her up and down quickly and gestured at her with his hands. "Well you may have gotten a few bumps and bruises but here you are today. I would say unstoppable fits pretty well." He gave a little nod. Truth be told it was a little more then a bump and a bruise she was bleeding a lot from her head. Alexander was more worried about laying down covering fire then checking out her wound, that's what ate-up medics are for.

Alexander shrugged his shoulders slightly. "well i became a crew sergeant went spec ops and a few years later I'm here. Ensign Alexander Christophe. Leading my own squad of men and pioneering some new special operators techniques. I would say the corps is treating me pretty well. " He paused momentarily "How about you?"

[Pacifica Alexander]

She smiled and listened as he told her how things were going in his life. It seemed everything was fine for him, actually it seemed as though things were going amazingly well. She hadn't done bad herself. It was a long six month fight for her to get herself welcomed back in to the service but she had done it. Now she was a Deck Chief only one step from being the top of the food chain on a battlestar of her own, maybe in about five or so years she would be there.

"I made it to Chief Petty Officer so I must be doing something right. As far as I can tell Senior Chief Hoffman seems to be happy with me so I guess I will just keep doing what I'm doing." She was pleased with the fact that it was all going so well actually. It wasn't like she hadn't worked for it though it was a long hard fight all the way. She had to work doubly hard to get where she was with her condition fighting for every promotion along the way.

She looked out the window at the planet below for a moment while the two of them talked. She was grateful she wasn't forced out and had to find a new path back home she had no idea what she would have done with herself. "To be honest I don't really remember that day well so whatever part you had in it thank you for saving my life out there. I know with out the help of the marines I wouldn't be here today." She could not fully show her gratitude toward him for what he had done.

[Alexander Christophe]

It was good to see she was doing well, the military owed her a debt of gratitude for what she had volunteered for that day. Alexander wasn't overly surprised that she had forgotten most of the day, it was a useful defensive mechanism that the human body used. The events of that day where traumatic to say the least especially for her. She had lost a lot of mechanics that day.

Alexander had kept her from her book for long enough he didn't intend to have a long conversation with her but wanted to say hi to a familiar face. "Sounds like life in the military is working out the way it should for the both of us" he said with a smile.

He then tapped her book with his index finger and said. "well sorry to keep you from your book, i just noticed a familiar face and wanted to see how things where going." He then gave her a nod and headed towards the door to continue his tour of the huge ship. It would most likely take him months to walk the entire ship being the beast that she was.

When he got close to the door her turned back and said "sir" as he left the observation deck to the other man that just stood there in silence as the other two talked.