The Outsiders (Backpost)

Posted on Wed Oct 23, 2019 @ 6:38am by Lieutenant Nicole Anderson & Lieutenant Cassandra Kennings & Lieutenant JG Camille Lévesque PhD

2,036 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Nibiru
Location: Kansas

Richard and Cassandra were standing out at the edge of the parking lot, the lights of the party in the background. Almost all the guests had departed, leaving the hall far more quiet, and affording those who remained some peace. They were sitting on a swing bench, rocking gently and looking up at the stars. Cassandra was wrapped around his arm, her head on his shoulder. Richard had a drink in his hand and let out a sigh of contentment. They heard footsteps and Richard looked behind him. “Hello. Staying up late as well?”

Camille couldn’t help but grin at the happy newlyweds as they took their moment of peace on the swing, a half-empty wine glass in her hand. “Enjoying the late night, yes. Though it’s not all that late; we woke up a bit later than expected.” She didn’t say the exact time, for fear that the bride’s head would explode. “I’m, ah, sure Amber will fill you in. What are you up to?”

“We thought we’d take a moment and sneak away,” Cassandra said. “Have a little talk, reflect on things. I hope you’ve been enjoying yourself. You and Nicole looked adorable in there.”

“Merci,” Camille answered, blushing not only from drink. “I thought so, too. But pardonnez-moi, if you want a private moment, I’ll go back in and leave you be.”

"No, please, sit," Richard said, gesturing to a wooden lounge chair facing near them. "We outsiders need to stick together."

“Outsiders?” Camille asked as she sat down.

"Those of us who are only associated with her Crew of Crazies by proxy," Richard said, winking conspiratorially. He paused and watched Camille's expression. "You've been on a mission with them, haven't you."

Camille giggled at his explanation, and nodded. He was right; she was only involved in League activities through her association with Nicole and to a lesser extent Cass and Penny. Outsider was a good description. “Yes, I went on one mission.”

"Let me guess," he said. "Started off quietly, but quickly escalated to something life-threatening?"

“Good guess!” She said with a smile. “I imagine I can’t say much, but when the mission begins with a riddle, you know it’s not going to be usual. At least I hope it isn’t. It honestly wouldn’t surprise me if the Castelnaudary’s computer, undoubtedly a sentient being in its own right, needs you to answer three questions before it agrees to run the most basic tasks.”

"It's not quite as bad as all that," Cassandra said. "Admittedly, neither of you saw us at our absolute best your first times."

“Cass never told me how you two met,” Camille remarked as she took a sip of wine.

"We met at the Questor Group," Richard said. "It's a think tank based in San Francisco. She joined after..." he glanced at her, "she left her former crew. Naturally I was taken with her the moment I saw her." He beamed at her warmly and kissed her cheek. "Unfortunately, she wasn't interested in meeting socially at first."

"I had my reasons," Cassandra said, gently.

"I know," Richard said. "But eventually, she agreed to have lunch with me. All I had to do was go on one little side trip, get shot at, walk across the exposed surface of the moon, and defy Starfleet security while being beamed around in an unstable transporter." He sipped his drink slowly and looked at Camille. "Truth be told, it almost made me walk away. Almost. It was hands down the most terrifying experience of my life. After it was over, I told her I was done, and I tried to walk away." He looked back at Cassandra. "Although now, I can't imagine how I could have even contemplated that."

She smiled at him and they kissed gently. "Thank you for having some faith," she said.

"Thank you for not asking me to commit any other acts of treason," he said, dryly.

“That...sounds about right,” said Camille. “Given my first few months with Nicole, and how our story compares with that, I’d say she and I are on the right track!”

Cassandra smiled. "I like to think so. Committing to a relationship takes everything a person has, in normal circumstances. To do so when you don't always agree with the company they keep makes it even more difficult. Nicole is lucky to have you on her side."

"And don't worry if you ever have doubts," Richard said. "They pass. If you've already been through a trial with them, and you're still here, you already have what it takes to see it through." He took another sip of his drink. "Although, if we're being honest, I'm glad Cassandra's back home. The thought of her getting hurt out there worries me no end. Every time they show up asking for a 'favor', my stomach knots up all over again."

Cass squeezed his hand. "Well I think we're done with favors for now. Things have settled down, and you and I have other priorities now."

Camille was curious about their priorities, but would leave some secrets for the happy couple. “Cass, may I ask a favour?”

"Name it and it's yours," Cassandra said.

“As you know, the old Victory is being salvaged,” Camille explained. “Anything useful is being taken to other ships, or to the new Victory. Cass, can I have your garden? I think I can arrange for people to harvest whatever seeds they can, and I’d like to rebuild it.”

Cass smiled. "That's very thoughtful. I can make those arrangements, yes. Everything is currently on DQ8. I'll contact them. Don't take it to heart, however, if the plants aren't as receptive to growth at first. I may have aided in their development a bit. Things tend to bloom a bit more around me." She tapped her headband and the jewel in it glowed a bit brighter.

Camille smiled. “So you’re saying I’ll have to grow them with good old fashioned science and muscle instead of magic? I’ll do my best.”

"I'm sure you'll do well," Cassandra said. "And you have someone to garden by your side." She smiled. "So what's next for you two?"

Camille shrugged. “Short term, visiting my family, followed by a trip to Rigel to visit hers, but beyond that, we’ll need to talk. How about you? Where are you both off to? Surely you’ve been thinking of the future for some time now.”

"We're going to have a daughter," Cassandra said. "The only question is whether we'll raise her in San Francisco or here in Kansas."

“Mon Dieu!” Camille exclaimed. “Congratulations! But...you’ve not seen each other in months, non?” She snickered. “You weren’t out here THAT long!”

Richard snorted and almost inhaled his drink. Cassandra laughed as well. "It's a peculiarity of my grandmother's species," she said. "Taureans only have one child, and it is always a daughter. We think it's related to the genetic mutations caused by the radiation they were subjected to for centuries. My grandmother had my mother, she had me, I'll have a daughter as well." She smiled at Camille's reaction. "You know...eventually."

Camille nodded. “Cass, you’ve been there for me from the day I came aboard the Victory. When I was down, you were always there to listen. And you helped me sort out my feelings for Nicole in a time when I didn’t think it was right for me to have them. Mille fois, merci.”

"You're welcome," Cass said. "I will always be there when you both need me."

“You’d better treat this one right,” Camille said, looking at Richard. “Or I’ll send Nicole after you.” She’d unfortunately had enough wine that couldn’t maintain a serious face to save her life.

Richard eyed her and raised an eyebrow. "I'll assume you know how dangerous that is," he said, his voice mock serious.

Cassandra smiled. "Worry not. He does just fine."

“I figured as much,” Camille answered.

"Of course. Thank you again for coming and have a safe trip north." Cassandra got up and hugged Camille tightly, kissing her forehead and giving her one last look before stepping back. Richard also walked up and gave her a hug. "Stay safe," he said. They let her get a head start, then took each other's hand, enjoyed one more moment alone to steal a kiss, then followed her slowly back.

Camille took a deep breath of the country air. A bit different from her home, but still fresh and clean. Above her was a sea of stars, from which she could not look away as she walked back to the hall.

Nicole watched her approach from the doorway of the hall. "Everything's cleaned up and squared away," she said. She looked down. "There's...something we need to talk about though," she said. "And I need to get it off my chest now, before we go any further."

“Oh?” Camille was fairly certain she knew what this was about. She wondered how best to play it. “What’s the matter, Nicole?”

Nicole met Camille's eyes and her own began to water. "The other night, at the hen party...I don't know what came over me. I walked by the bar, I saw this girl...we talked and she....she kissed me." She looked at Camille. "I don't know where my head was, but I let her and I need you to know I didn't mean anything by it."

Camille did her best to hide the smile that wanted to come out. She put on her most serious tone. “I see. You said you talked...what did you say that prompted her to kiss you?”

"I..." Nicole blushed hard. "I told her she was the most beautiful woman in the world. I mean, we'd had a few drinks, obviously we were all a bit woozy and I just lost my head."

Camille nodded as she listened. “Any woman would love to hear that, I’m sure. How was the kiss? And be honest. We’re past half truths on this one.” Little did Nicole know...

Nicole's eyes widened in shock. "I mean....it was....it was nice? It was good. It wasn't as good as you, I mean, you know," she sputtered, "but I didn't exactly stop her right away...why aren't you upset?" Nicole said, her eyes narrowing at Camille's barely restrained expression.

Camille couldn’t hide it anymore. She started to giggle like a madwoman. “Maybe because...it was me? The woman you crept up behind. Whispered how beautiful she was. She kissed you like this?” Camille re-enacted the kiss to the best of her ability, smiling to Nicole as she stepped away.

Nicole sighed as Camille kissed her, but as they broke apart, her face paled even past her norm as it dawned on her. "You bitch! You let me stand here, makeup running and practically having a coronary over this while you giggle?"

"And if the tables were turned, you would have done exactly the same," Cass said, passing by them.

"Not the point, Cassandra!" Nicole called after her. She looked back at Camille. "Wait...did you know at the time?"

“Ummm...non. Not at the time,” Camille admitted. “I felt awful too. But Penny told me this morning. Asked why I was so upset, given that, prior to going back to her room, the only people you and I had kissed were each other. I asked her not to tell you.”

"I am going to dismantle her," Nicole said, her voice deceptively casual.

“Now,” Camille said, stepping closer once again to her love, “it’s very late, and we have somewhere to be tomorrow, don’t we?” She wrapped her arms around Nicole’s neck. “Take me to bed? It’s not every day I get to sleep with a bridesmaid.”

Nicole shrugged. "Second night in a row, for me," she said, nonchalantly, then grinned and kissed the most beautiful girl in the world.

 

RSS Feed