Undercurrents

Posted on Sun Dec 2nd, 2018 @ 9:02pm by Commander Sonia Dalca & Commander Jacob Bannerman

Mission: My Place In This Universe
Location: Academy Grounds
Timeline: 2388/08/21 0600 (August 21 2388 6:00 am)

Sonia sighed in relief as she left her building. She walked a bit to the nearby woods. Wearing her running clothes, she breathed in the crisp summer air as the woods shone in all their glory around her. There was a light breeze in the early morning sun that flowed through the trees, gently riffling the leaves. Various animals could be heard in the distance as a nearby creek burbled. The smell of leaves, grass, even the hint of water from the creek added up in Sonia's mind as the smell of summer with a hint of the fall about to begin. She did her warms up and checked her water bottle, glad to have this chance to relax.

It was odd this teaching thing. In one aspect it was a lot like setting training sessions for her old Security/Tactical unit but all the time. In another it was odd because she wasn't dealing with inexperienced personnel. She found that a lot of her preparation with her security education department was learning the systems and procedures better than anyone else so she could teach others. It was odd to be in this peaceful setting all the time, she looked for threats and wondered if she'd ever stop.

Ready she pushed the thoughts away and began to run. Lightly at first, building up to speed. Legs and arms pumping in perfect unison as she breathed evenly. She picked up speed dodging holes and tree roots. Then leaping from rock to rock when she crossed the creek. Her cares were a distant memory as her feet hit the path an she threw herself into sights and sounds of the forest as the wind whipped past her. Feeling reckless she went off the set path into the woods. She lost herself there running, everything focus on where she was and what she doing. Her heart thrummed in her chest as she ran, her whole being focused on not twisting an ankle because of a tree root or a small hole in the ground.

She loved the challenge of running on difficult terrain. The dips and hills, the rocks and roots. Much better then some flat, sterile treadmill or track. If the ground was level where was the challenge? She wondered that then nearly slowed in surprise but caught herself and kept going. That's what this new post was, she realized, a challenge. And Sonia had responded the same way she did with everything, she gathered information and then pressed forward with a quiet stubbornness. The endorphins kicked in and she kept running flat out, the surroundings whipping past her as she let her mind go blank again. She always felt so alive running, felt like she could do this forever. It felt so good she didn't want to stop but knew she had too, finally after 10 miles she slowed to a looping speed to cool down as she swung around to the lake to relax a bit.

When she got closer she noticed another person there, she automatically rated them as 'someone who could be a pain' just based off of the way he moved. Then she got closer and noticed it was Bannerman, the resident ladies man. She could feel the contempt curling in her as she neared. At first all she noticed was his lean, muscled form. He was shirtless, obviously he'd been running as well. Then when the sun cleared from her vision she noticed the scars and almost lost her balance in surprise. To someone who couldn't read 'Wound' they might need to ask but to Sonia it was an open book of his life. Her grey eyes skimmed the various scars, some of which looked like there had no purpose other than to cause pain.

She drew close and slowed to a stop, moving with an easy grace. She took a drink from her water bottle to buy time as she nodded a greeting as her mind tried to adjust to this new information but keeping her face polite.

His chest heaving from the exertion of the run that he had been taking, Jake turned to face the sound of the approaching woman, his gaze flicking up and down her body before resting on her face. A mischievous twinkle set up residence there as he uttered "Like what you see?"

His words rang a little hollow as the scars spoke louder in her mind. She forced her mind from the story they told, as a combat vet herself she knew he would not talk of them easily, and replied to his surface question. "It is as automatic to you as breathing isn't it?" she asked with a bit more patience and curiosity than if she hadn't seen the scar tissue. For them to be there they were either very deep and/or left as reminders to himself. Either way, damn.

Jake shrugged then grinned, "A little flirting never hurt anyone." His eyes roamed over her again before he added "Besides, when a beautiful woman sneaks up on you in the middle of nowhere it would be remiss of me not to at least take a chance that she might be interested." he looked away as he turned his shirt back in the right way to put it on again.

Dalca shook her head, thinking Who flirts with words like 'remiss'? Then decided to ignore the flirting since there didn't seem to be any real emotion behind it as she thought, he'd flirt if he was breathing. Her eyes skimmed him but it was very subtle. He was something, problem was he knew it and then some. "I thought it would be busier, this is good path for run.." She looked around the oddly deserted area.

"Give it a week or two and it won't be as peaceful." Jake replied, "But lucky for me I have access to the shuttle bay so when that happens, I guess I'll just take myself off to one of the other continents for my daily work out." he grinned before adding "And of course, friends are invited if they want to tag along."

Oh he's smooth and it doesn't stop... She thought but replied, "Perhaps if I was a friend and not just here and of the correct gender." She quipped instead of the 'Go Pound Salt' she would have said had she not seen his history in his torso. Her grey eyes seemed to see much as she took another drink from her canteen and thought about swinging back to her quarters for a shower.

"Ouch!" Jake dramatically clutched at his heart, "You certainly know how to wound a guy's ego." he added as he took a step closer, "So we're not gonna be friends then?" he asked with a charmingly boyish pout.

Sonia thought, By the gods he's pretty....focus Dalca. then titled her head, "Tell me one true thing about you, one thing that shows you're a real person under all that charm and maybe..."

"Maybe what?" Jake grinned before adding "Okay...my favourite food is triple chocolate chip ice cream, I'm an orphan with no family and when I'm not working, training, flirting or flying I like to read." He watched her for a moment and added "How's that for a start?" He'd deliberately kept it light...after all, what was he supposed to say? It wasn't like he was going to admit that every night he went to bed and had nightmares about the things he had endured over the years, the weeks of torture, the months of rehab, the faces of the people he'd murdered. No. Keeping it light was better.

Sonia half expected...ok more than half expected he'd completely blow her off. The fact she got anything even hinting at seriousness was something. Even though he tossed his being an orphan with no family out there like someone else might comment about the weather. She wondered what else happened to him to make such a statement a throwaway comment. She decided to respond in kind, "Only child, one parent..." an old pain fluttered behind her eyes but masked it. Her face was naturally expressive and generally had to go into 'cop mode' to get it to behave fully. "I like anything dessert wise, running and caving are a couple of my favorite things. And on that note I have a run to complete, maybe I'll see you around..." and started to take off, calling over her shoulder, "Sonia!..." then with a wave she took off at a full run.

Jake watched her retreating form and whistled softly to himself as he wondered just what he'd have to do to get himself a piece of....then he pulled himself up short. No. Something told him that this woman could be more than a roll in the hay. Dare he say it but this woman could possibly be a friend.


Commander Sonia Dalca
Chief of Security Studies Department
Magellan Campus

Commander Jacob Bannerman
Chief of Flight Control
Magellan Campus