[center][h1][color=EF5C86]Genevieve Dupoit[/color]/
[color=17A589]Carla Lobo[/color][/h1][/center]
[hr][center][color=EF5C86][b]Location:[/b][/color] Port Shuttle -> Cargo Bay[/center][hr]
[hr][center][color=17A589][b]Location:[/b][/color] Conference Room -> Personal Quarters -> Conference Room[/center][hr]

Carla was a proficient practitioner of patience. She could lurk for weeks before the sweet moment of a kill. Waiting for a ship to get ready to blast out of atmo was entirely within her power. The woman made a career off of laying still in place. [i][color=17A589]Child's play.[/color][/i] The thought occurred to her as her hands curled into tight fists. She clenched her teeth and exhaled. She didn't do anxious. [i][color=17A589]Greg's impatience is contagious.[/color][/i]

Carla stood and left the conference room. Quinn would be busy doing his Captain thing. There was time enough. She made her way to her quarters and opened her portable computer. Rapid keystrokes established a secure private connection through a third party on Persephone. She then cycled through her contact list.

[i][color=17A589]All my friends are heathens or dead.[/color][/i] Names scrolled by until she selected the contacted labeled GENE. She hit the enter key and let the tone dial out. Gloves were stripped off and she hung her jacket on a hanger while she waited to leave a message.

Genevieve heard her communications station beep shortly after Jackson left. She stood up and strolled over to see who it was from. She assumed it was a client wondering where she was and was pleasantly surprised to see a familiar name pop up. She settled herself down, letting her hair down along her shoulders. She quickly fixed her face before she accepted the call with a warm smile and a watchful eye.

[color=EF5C86][b]"Hello Carla, long time no talk. I am glad to hear from you."[/b][/color]

Carla had rolled up her sleeves and locked the entrance to her quarters when Genevive answered. She turned around and realized how she looked. Hair still wet from the shower, lips stained red, and open collar. She looked a mess and Gene looked like she woke up like that: pristine and serene.

Eyes met through the screen. Carla took a step, tripped, and fell off-screen. Her hands then groped in the dim light for a towel. [b][color=17A589]"Yeah. Long time."[/color][/b] She said from the deck while suppressing a groan. Carla found the face towel draped over her bed post. Her scarred arm appeared on-screen briefly before snatching the towel and retreating out of Gene's view. [b][color=17A589]"I'd have reached out sooner but I figured you wanted space."[/color][/b] She started to wipe at her face. 

Gene paid particular attention to the woman's arm. Albeit brief, she noticed it, but also noticed that Carla didn't want to show it. [color=EF5C86][i]Another topic for later down the road[/i][/color] she thought to herself.

[color=EF5C86][b]"How could you think that? I enjoy hearing from you. I assume, by the fact you contacted me, that you want to talk, so I am all ears. I am indisposed at the moment so I have a lot of free time right now."[/b][/color] Gene would casually lean back in her chair and wait for the woman to begin. She already had her own thoughts about this give and take the two did, but Carla was a tough woman and a dear friend, so she would do her part.

Carla sat up and her face came into the camera's view. [b][color=17A589]"It doesn't have to do with me, priy. People need space. You don't leave like you did just to see the sights."[/color][/b] She propped her knee up and rested her arm across it while leaning against the bulkhead. 

Carla sighed. She could hear the gears turning in Gene's head. [color=17A589][b]"I was just getting ready for a vacation. Got a list of delays longer than my leg. When you get time you get to thinking and I just thought I'd check up. If you're eating right and not letting some [i]Huen Dahn[/i] take advantage of you."[/b][/color] Carla's voice had a borrowed frontier ring as natural as breathing.

Carla let the slang into her voice around Gene when alone. The neutral Alliance baritone slid off one night after drinks and the companion had caught it. Carla then laughed it off and swore her to secrecy on her hick roots. Shy, career-driven Alliance girl with a humble background became her story. [i][color=17A589]The best lies had a hint of the truth.[/color][/i]

The words Carla spoke hit Gene particularly hard. You don't leave just to see the sights. She was right and the memories came flooding back without much effort. The whole time away, the memory of the man who almost had his way with her, whatever he was planning on doing, and her surprise vacation away from it all. She looked towards her bed, to the small stunner that laid underneath it, a forever memory that she wasn't safe, that she was weak and troubled. Just part of the reason she was on the ship to begin with, because she needed to be better.

She masked whatever worry she had on her face and returned a smile back to Carla, [color=EF5C86][b]"Your concern is heartwarming. I am fine. I apologize for that absence, but I was long overdue for my own vacation. I am doing well for myself, eating and sleeping. No worries there. What about you though? Are you doing ok?"[/b][/color] The concern on her voice wasn't faked either, Gene felt herself worrying about this woman who she has come to know really well. She knew there was more than meets the eye to this situation, but then, both of them would have their secrets.

Carla winced. The sudden concern for her well-being made her want to stop this wave. [b][color=17A589]"I'm fine. Took a break with this war going on. Probably go off the grid until this thing blows over."[/color][/b] She sat for a minute and considered the image of the woman on the screen.

[b][color=17A589]"I miss you. I'm happy you're okay."[/color][/b] She took a moment for Gene to process and respond with her distant platonic affection. [i][color=17A589]He's gone. You don't have to worry.[/color][/i] She thought it out and searched for the words she needed to say. 

Gene noted the uncomfortableness she sensed and made a point in the future to make sure she didn't do that again, and find out why. [color=EF5C86][b]"Well I hope I hear from you more in the future. We should make plans sometime to get together when both our respective schedules line up."[/b][/color] 

[b][color=17A589]"Yeah. Schedules should line up and all."[/color][/b] Carla wanted to tell Gene she was safe. Instead she said, [b][color=17A589]"Yeah, no. Schedules probably won't line up."[/color][/b] She cast her eyes downward and let raven locks obscure her face. [i][color=17A589]Quick. Like ripping off a band-aid.[/color][/i] She mouthed the words and took a breath.

[b][color=17A589]"I just wanted to tell you that...it's dangerous. Core, border, rim. It don't matter. The 'Verse is bleeding and people will walk over your body if it means a chance at getting ahead. Stop traveling and get somewhere solid. Get somewhere you feel safe. 'Cause feeling safe is the closest you'll get. I got to go."[/color][/b] She reached out and ended the transmission. It felt better than letting her leave her again. It felt like she was back in control. 

Before Gene could respond in turn, Carla cut off the transmission. Gene sat there, dumbfounded at the bluntness of the woman's words. Though she wasn't what one would call a "light in a dark room" the impact of Carla's words worried Gene. Just what did she mean?

Gene wasn't blind to what was going on in the Verse. However, she felt safe where she was. She had a ship full of people that worked together well, despite the vast differences, was that good enough?

Gene turned off the screen and stood up, letting the words sink in again. She was safe. She was secure. And even if danger reared its ugly head, she was sure she could face it with her new found crew behind her back. No more running. No more hiding.

Carla dressed herself in a fresh blouse and re-donned her jacket. She washed her face, tucked her hair behind her ear, and took a moment in front of the reflection. The woman in the black suit stepped out of her quarters and strolled back to the conference room. She found Quinn inside waiting for her. [b][color=17A589]“Had to make a call.”[/color][/b] The doors hissed shut behind her. She took her seat at the table to Quinn's right. [b][color=17A589]“I had thoughts on Whitefall. You got enough info for a brief?”[/color][/b] Information was what kept operatives alive. Thing about working for the Alliance was this compartmentalization concept they had. [i][color=17A589]Need to know.[/color][/i] All it did was cause unnecessary complications and death. Usually to cover some official's dirty business.

As Gene set outside of her shuttle, her personal comm device beeped. She knew what that meant, there was something going on. She checked it out and heard the message. She didn't know what problem, but it couldn't be good. She went to her bed and grabbed her stunner and her rapier and quickly and quietly made her way towards the cargo area.