=/\= Starbase Unity =/\=
"Im not disagreeing that he isn't." She easily recognized the tone she was using. "But it doesn't matter if it's his job or not. It's what he wants’ to do, and he's not going to be easily stopped." She said softly. After a moments pause, Chloe tried to give a soft smile. "Im going to let you settle in." She said with a nod before she turned to leave. She went to Richard's study, letting herself in but stopping in the doorway. "May I come in?" She said, pleading on her face.
“You going to lecture me on my duty too?” He asked, somewhat more fiercely than he probably meant to, but he was angry. He was polishing his cavalry sword, his back to the door.
"No, Im not." She moved into his study, letting the doors close behind her. She didn't want Sarah to hear their conversation. "I've learned that it's not going to change anything if I 'give you a lecture' or not." She said firmly, not phased at the moment by his tone. "But I do have something to tell you." She was going to be heard, she didn't care what mood he was in.
“By all means, carry on.” He said, not looking up from what he was doing.
"Damn it Richard, Im trying to talk to you!" She said, her voice raising a few levels.
“And I’m listening.” He said, evenly.
"No your not." She didn't want to nag on him about duty as an officer, she wanted to talk to him about something else, but still a duty in a way.
“You would be amazed at my abilities to listen to you and polish my sword…” He said, and then put the sword down. “But if you prefer, I won’t.”
"How long is Sarah going to be staying?" She asked, wanting to know how long the father wanted his daughter to stay vs how long the daughter thought the father wanted her to stay.
“As long as she wants.” Richard said, again evenly.
"She's leaving right after the wedding Richard.” Of course that wasn't what Chloe wanted. "She thinks that's what you will want." She went on, she was getting flustered, Richard having his back turned to her didn't help. "-Richard-" She said his name with meaning, her voice strained. She wanted him to look at her, give her some sort of response.
Richard just shrugged. “Depends, doesn’t it. Is she going to keep going at me about my duty, and are you going to back her up?”
She moved around his desk, standing behind him she softly put her hands on his shoulders. "No, Im on your side." Her hands rested on his shoulders, "I hate it when you leave, but I know it's part of you and I know that if I did stop you how much it would hurt you inside. And I understand that."
“But you’d rather I stayed here, in an office, ordering men to die without being there to prevent it?” He said, firmly, putting a hand on her hand.
"Yes and no." She said softly. "It's hard for me when you leave. It wouldn't matter where you left to, or what you were doing." Her voice seemed to be calmer now, but still had a sharp edge to it.
“And how do you think I feel about you?” He asked. “With me, I’m usually behind the lines, with you, you’re in the thick of it, fighting death itself. How do you think I’d feel if something happened to you?”
"But there isn't more to my position. That's all my job entails... Your different." She said with a sigh. "But I said I was on your side... Because I know how it feels to want to be out there in the thick of it, I know that it's what you crave. That's why Im not going to tell you no, and Im not going to make you stop." She said, her hands softly squeezing his shoulders.
“But you want me to, don’t you?” He asked.
"I want you to be happy." Sarah's words drifted threw her mind. "I understand because Im an officer too... But Sarah doesn't." She said, this was what had brought her in to him. "Sarah doesn't understand, and I doubt she will." She said softly.
“No, I don’t want her in the fleet.” Richard said. “I already told her I don’t want her in the service. I’ve lost a daughter and a wife to this service, I won’t loose another.”
"That's not what I mean Richard. I honestly don't see her following your footsteps in that way. She just isn't willing to accept that being in the thick of things is part of who you are. She's just as worried about loosing you as I am." Hoping that he had calmed down some, she lightly put pressure on his shoulders in effort to turn him to look at her.
“She lost her mother in action, and her grandparents brought her up believing it was my fault that she died. I was only reunited with Sarah when she was 13, and she hated me at first, but eventually grew to accept me, and then became concerned that she’d loose me as she did her mother. I’m not surprised at her fear, but her betrayal hurt me.”
"Her betrayal?" Chloe asked softly, wanting to understand what had happened between him and his daughter, the girl- the woman who would be her daughter too.
“She went around behind my back to Admiral Sha`mer, to tell her I was fighting on the front lines instead of doing my job. I got into a lot of trouble over that, and I was very hurt that she did it.” Richard said.
=/\= To be continued… =/\=
MGen. Richard Sharpe
MEF CO
2Lt Chloe Merau
Pilot
