Selected Quotes March '24
Posted on 01 Apr 2024 @ 6:21am by Commander Calliope Zahn
Selected Quotes March 2024
Refractions: Let Yourself In
Carefully, the rest of the fire team came through, Bondieux coming through last with their Starfleet handler.
[...] Ahead were the bodies, free-floating yet eerily still in death. Noah closed his eyes briefly, murmuring a quick chant of respect from childhood memories past as Bondieux finished sealing the lock.
“Secure the bodies,” Bondieux ordered.
Moving back, Noah allowed space for the officers to work; while he was the officer present, he knew his place was more advisory compared to Bondieux. Instead, his focus shifted over the scene as a whole, taking in the damage caused in the assault. A part of him worried that they would find no survivors save for the Pirates still present on the ship.
The Marines locked the corpses to the bulkhead using a small tool in their kits and then deployed out on the next doorway, ready to open it and move forward. Bondieux looked back to make sure their handler was secure and then nodded to his Marines, gesturing forward. “Two by two, let’s go,” he repeated.
–
A terrible whine creaked through the decking as the structural integrity fields were off line and the Virgil’s bones sounded to be resettling around them. Everyone froze as the noise reverberated throughout. When it quieted again there was the sound of voices at the junction ahead– indecipherable but tense and shouting.
The Transformation of a Life
Who knew, for instance, that bioluminescent bacteria could create light show symphonies and that they used those lights to communicate with each other? Also, since the realm of scientific discoveries was ever-evolving, the prospect of discovering new specimens was thrilling. One day, he might even have the privilege of naming one species. The name ‘Photobacterium brekensis’, for instance, had a beautiful ring to his ears.
Unwitnessed, Unratified: What We Do
“It’ll be hard for people to remember that, I think. Sometimes we can’t see past the end of our noses.”
--
“Starfleet is giving the orders now. We might get folded up into their Diplomatic Corps for the duration of the emergency. I don’t want to take orders from some admiral who doesn’t know diplomacy from a hole in the wall.”
Family Strife
“It’s okay, right?” At her very core still the optimist, Ibis tried to reassure both herself and Wallace as they gripped one another's fingers white. Her throat felt tighter than ever as she eked out the words. “Because Marcus will meet us and he’ll know. He’ll know that Ikemba’s already in a family. In Marcus’ own family, even. A Wallace. A Xeri. Ikemba’s already in this family and they’ll become our families too. The Childresses and the Omoleyes. The Winetrouts too.”
Substitution
The knife… it hadn’t killed Rachel. Rachel was already dying. The knife. It had saved Ikemba.
–
Drawing the knife back from Laura, Ibis turned and tried to give the implement to Fanna, suddenly resolute. “Cut me open instead!”
Fanna quirked an eyebrow at her, her arms crossed. “You’re not pregnant. Ikemba doesn’t get born if you’re cut open.”
Refractions: Unexpected Arrival
“Ms. Saaba, I know you’re plenty annoyed by now, but go for the kneecaps, not the throat.” With their new targeting advantage they were now in control. In truth, they'd been the heavier ship since the skiff had picked the fight. Only now the blindfold was off. “I want a decisive run, take out the engines before they can re-evaluate their chances and decide to bail.”
–
“The Federation puts down claims on space itself, even with no planets in proximity. A girl can’t even stretch her legs without stepping on a pair of one of your freshly polished boots.
Politics, Diplomacy, and a Handful of Grease
Cormac O’Braonain looked like he’d been dipped in brownish-red freckles and had then lit his hair on fire. Despite being thirty pounds overweight and with a bulbous nose and on the farside of forty, the freckles and hair gave him the look of a twelve-year-old boy who’d simply ballooned.
--
“What do you expect him to get from Inimik?”
“An agreement to support a military alliance.”
Cormac snorted again and rolled his eyes, “Old timers.”
“Stranger things have happened,” Rice said, though he agreed with the assessment.
“Thank you, Cormac. One favor called in…”
“And a dozen more to go,” he finished for Rice. The viewer cut off.
Refractions: Deal or No Deal
“Shall we have a seat, Calliope Zahn? There’s no reason us girls working up a sweat just standing here, glowering” Revana said, pointing her long red nailed first finger to the chairs at the back of the room. “You look ravishing, by the way. Your body is totally wasted in that confining prison you call a uniform.”
Windfall
“I see.” This single word conveyed her disapproval. How could this colony live without regular transports between their settlement and the civilised world? Certain people, she knew - Romulans among them - enjoyed being awkward for the privilege of annoying everyone.
–
“Oly is not quite himself. He has been injured. Despite his insistence that it is merely a few bruises; but then his line of work often requires him to downplay the truth.”
Oly grimaced. “It really isn’t as bad as she’s making it out to be. I just took a hit from a boulder on legs.”
–
Shirin came to a stop before turning to face the Vulcan. “You seem to have an elevated opinion of the standard shuttle first aid kit. Either that, or you have no concept of how our colony functions. Care to inform me which it is?”
Memory of a Friend
"I might have cried. I can't remember. I don't even remember what he said exactly until he yelled that I was dismissed, then asked me if I even knew what dismissed meant, and that I was dumber than his newest recruits and maybe they should be lab scientists at that rate and I should be doing their PT. It's... funnier now I think, looking back. You want me to introduce you?"
Artists United
“Well if we are talking about fairness, Mr Brek,” Kyrill went on. “There is the odd case of the dog I painted for you, for free.”
“So what? You are an apprentice.”
“Sure. But my mum said she gave you good money for that paint. And you kept it all to yourself.”
“Of course I did. Did you forget that I am a Ferengi?
The Collective
This said, his own people loved to use this method: go for customers who, although they are down on their luck and not particularly focused, still have the impertinence to be greedy.
—
Bragging is an art too.
-–
He'd play the part of a disillusioned Ferengi yearning for more profits.
His qualifications? An insatiable hunger for latinum, coupled with a talent that transcended mere memorization. Brek could not only internalize scripts and sales pitches, but elevate them. He could spin them into irresistible, mesmerizing propositions, weaving in his own inventive manipulative tactics. The Collective, he asserted on the application form, was stagnating. If they desired to propel their ingenious organization to the next level, he was the answer they sought.
Pretty Lights
If I let you, you would tell me that your money intakes fluctuate. You have good and lousy weeks. You like it that way, because it’s convenient to hide in the grey zone afforded by the art market. It’s secretive and mysterious and nobody ought to know what you exactly do with your latinum and your time.”
“I’m not sure I like where this conversation is going,” Brek said with a forced smile. “Next you’ll be asking to see my accounts.”
She looked at him blankly. Ferengi males would rather be seen stark naked in plain daylight rather than reveal the actual content of their coffers.
The Spaces In Between
She smirked. “It’s rare that a ‘sensitive matter’ is communicated to me outside of my intel handlers.”
Refractions: Taking a Lickin'
He was an older man, at least compared to the relatively young crew manning the Pathfinder, though he thought himself in his prime despite the gray hair on his head or the relative white of his beard.
–
“Now you’re just reaching to mess with me. I’ve got as much in common with you as an iguana insofar as we’re all green.”
–
“It’ll be too tempting for Ms. Nezar to ignore us flashing our backside. Load and ready aft torpedoes. We have to make her head spin and regain our lead.”
Trust But Verify
"Let's check you over my boy, then we shall walk along the promenade. I am sure that there are places to go where we can purchase something like a cradle or a moses basket for you. I cannot make a nursery adequately in my current quarters, but I will requisition a new set of quarters in the family wing. That will give us enough space for you to have a proper nursery. But, I must first register your birth, and my physical custody of you." He tapped a finger on the baby's button nose, and laughed when the child sneezed.
Adorable.
Onomastics
"Colby. Colby?" The incredulousness in his voice was almost funny as it rose sharply" "Isn't that a type of cheese? No. Definitely not.
Ongoing Business - Security Edition
“Pog’s Emporium reported multiple thefts, but we haven’t been able to confirm the inventory logs or to identify any theft on security sensors. My sense is the proprietor wants a case number to engage in insurance fraud. But we’re continuing to review the recordings.”
Category: General News
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