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Post by Einar on Jul 9, 2018 6:52:42 GMT
Commander Anthony Adalberto Stardate 11806.25 U.S.S. Chiron, Guest Quarters 13
"I had no idea..." Part Two
With Aoibhe as Maquis Captain Niamh Danann
“She loved flying” he started off with, collecting his thoughts.
In his mind´s eye he was sitting with Antonia, a visitor from another time… a timeline that no longer existed. Sitting in Main Engineering onboard the Bremen, a ship that also, no longer existed. “She claimed she was a self taught Engineer, but her main passion was flying”.
He smiled. “Just like you”
Niamh stared at her glass, and softly nodded, accepting his words with the regal air of a medieval queen condemned to the tower. She sat near him, careful not to make contact. Her back straight, her head bowed, she searched for words that simply weren't there.
“Funny also” he said with a big smile on his face. “She had a wit...mine I would like to say”. He put his hands in his lap, cradling the glass. “And beautiful...amazing, smart...and she was fierce. Italian blood mixed with some of that Danann steel”. He looked over and down at her, the urge to reach out almost overwhelming his sensibility. “You were obviously a great influence on her”
She raised a hand and rested her quivering fingers on her own chest. For a moment she was lost in the absurdity of the situation. In another reality, she had brought up, raised, and taught a young woman who then went and saved her own long lost father from captivity half way across the galaxy. She struggled to find anything to say. “I'm sure I would have told her stories about you, too…”
She turned and finally looked up at him.
Tony smiled at her sadly. “You did, but I don´t think I lived up to the picture she had painted” Story of my life, he thought.
“I know this, that even if it no longer happened, you raised a smart, capable and extremely loving daughter who would traverse space and time to save me and to make you smile.”
He took a sip to stop the flow of tears threatening to break free.
“So at some point, we did something amazing”
Niamh drained her glass and swallowed, her attention on Tony the whole time. Her lip quivered. “She was one hell of an accident…” she observed, alluding to the somewhat frantic and hurried fumble between two war-weary engineers in the Bremen’s engineering office at the tail end of the Tzenkethi war that had resulted in a wholly unplanned pregnancy.
Tony reached down and grabbed the bottle of whiskey and topped her off as he spoke. “War makes you do crazy things. That was one of my more peaceful acts of war”
Niamh found herself smiling a little. “Yea…”
She got lost for a moment in memories of simpler, happier times. Tony hadn't liked her much when they'd first served together, and despite her superior position and advanced rank, he'd taken pains to inform her of that. It had taken time for her to pique his interest, and even more time for them both to realize their relationship had become more than a casual fling. She'd never intended to settle down, but as time wore on, and as the war pressed in around them, she’d begun to see a future with him, and had learnt to look forward to it. She’d learnt to depend upon it.
“How’ve y’been, Tony?”
Tony glanced over at her, caught off guard by the question. “You know, you´re the first person to ask me how I am doing in a long, long time”. He proceeded to empty his glass and promptly refilled it to give himself time to consider a proper response. What did he even want to say? That he was miserable? Constantly afraid, anxious and concerned about the few friends he had left in this galaxy?
“I’ve not been okay for a long time, Nia.”
The answer even surprised him.
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Post by Einar on Jul 12, 2018 9:14:49 GMT
Commander Anthony Adalberto Stardate 11806.25 U.S.S. Chiron, Guest Quarters 13
"I had no idea..." Part Three
With Aoibhe as Maquis Captain Niamh Danann
She absorbed this quietly, sensing the truth of it deeply. “I'm sorry if my messages made it harder for you.” She'd sent countless video and audio recordings, texts and letters out over subspace when he'd first fallen off the grid. Unsure if any or all of them had eventually reached him, now she felt horrible for many of the accusations she'd leveled at him in her loneliness and anger and grief.
She sipped at her whiskey, feeling its effects washing over her with some relief.
Then, some of her bravery owing directly to her drink, she turned towards him, reached out and rested a tentative hand gingerly on his thigh. “We were both suffering, and I forgot that.”
He looked down at her hand, then over at her. It felt electric, exciting and haunting all at the same exact time. Before he knew it he had placed his hand over hers, grabbing it tightly. “It’s alright. I deserved it...but I need you to know how sorry I am, Nia. I am so sorry”
She gently let go of his hand, leaned over and deposited her half-full glass on the carpet at the base of the sofa. Turning back to him, she renewed her grip and kneeled up on the couch cushions. Earnestly she examined his tired face. “Can we just get to the bit where we make up and everything is OK again…?”
The urge to kiss her almost overwrote his sensibilities, his eyes traveling from her eyes to her lips and back up before taking a deep breath as he held her hand tightly. “I would like that very much” he said earnestly. The big block of stone in his stomach slowly being chipped apart, piece by piece as she spoke. The guilt and pain that had followed him over the past few years diluted by her every smile.
She blinked with relief and bit her lip, nerves, even now, fraying her calm to shreds.
“Good…” she managed before she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled him towards her into a tight embrace. She pressed her face into the crook of his neck and breathed deeply, taking in the smell of his skin, his cologne, and the whiskey still lingering on his breath. He smelled good. He smelled like home.
Tony nearly jerked to, the gesture so sudden and unexpected but he let his hands wrap around her back, holding her tightly and burying his head in her long curls. The embrace seemed to go on forever, with neither of them letting go. With every second that passed, Tony felt his walls break down and before too long he was sobbing quietly, not out of pain, or grief but out of shock.
“I gotcha…” she soothed, her fingers balling into a fist in the jet black fabric covering his back. She lifted her head a little and pressed her cheek against his as he was overwhelmed with a renewed wave of emotion. “It’s ok…” she spoke barely over a whisper, her lips mere millimeters from his ear. His stubble felt rough on her skin and his body shook in her arms..
“I gotcha,” she repeated, “I gotcha…” more to herself than him.
This was a level of openness he’d only shown her once before, in Sickbay after the battle when he had thought her asleep. She fell silent, weighing up whether or not to tell him what she was thinking.
“...you’re... not a coward, Tony…”
She could feel him tense up but he did not break the bond they had formed, each one taking comfort from the other. He spoke softly into her ear, “...you were awake?” his voice almost trembled.
She nodded against his skin. “I was pretty out of it, but…” she sniffed. She focused on how good it felt to be this close to him as she pressed on, “...but I remember that much.” She leaned back a little so she could see his face. “You’re not a coward. You never have been. You wouldn’t be here if you were.”
Tony looked into her eyes, looking crestfallen
I’m only here because I had no other choice, he thought to himself. Anger rose in his heart once more towards the institution that had coerced him into service and forced him to track down the woman he loved.
“I should have done more to protect you” he finally said.
Niamh's lips formed the question before she found her voice. Her eyes searched his face. “More?”
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Post by Einar on Jul 18, 2018 11:19:03 GMT
Commander Anthony Adalberto Stardate 11806.25 U.S.S. Chiron, Guest Quarters 13
"I had no idea..." Part Four & Five - the end
With Aoibhe as Maquis Captain Niamh Danann
Tony took a deep breath and tried to come up with the right set of words. “You’ve been busy, let’s put it that way.”[/div] “I have…” she admitted as the implications of his words began to dawn on her. She'd found it eerily easy to slip in and out of Fed space on occasion, had often found the inconsistencies in her flight plans draw no comment at ‘fleet star bases and stations, found red flags swept aside, a hundred little things that made her life simpler and safer. She'd thought herself just that good, just that lucky but…
She gazed at him in awe. He'd done all that? “Thank you,” she whispered, resting her forehead on his.
“Of course” he whispered “I’ll always have your back”
The moment lingered and the silence deepened. Overwhelmed, she closed her eyes, fighting back the urge to kiss him. It was neither the time nor the place for such thoughts, she knew, but regardless, with him so close to her, with her fingers pressed into the fabric of his uniform, the warmth of his body against hers, and his voice so soft and so near, she was defenseless against the wave of memories jostling for prominence.
They'd had their first kiss on a sofa just like this one. It had been intense, drunken and earnest and had marked the beginning of their complex relationship.
Their last kiss, she recalled, had been during the war, on a 3-day R&R they'd shared on Starbase 351. He'd held her tight, saying his farewells with a soft press of the lips that had built into something very different til they'd been told to move on. "I'll see you soon," he'd promised as she'd eventually moved towards her transport.
She was grateful to feel his hold on her tighten now. She wondered if he was struggling with the same memories.
Suddenly, a stray thought drifted through her mind and, eyes still closed, she chuckled.
Tony pulled his head back with a frown on his face “What?” “No, it's uh…” she replied, catching his eye and suddenly unsure of herself. “It's nothing.”
“Really though,” he asked, suddenly aware of his own heartbeat. “What?”
She grimaced, attempted a smile, then shrugged. “It's just… well…” she cleared her throat, “it just dawned on me. With everything that, uh, happened… we never actually… uh... broke up.”
Tony smiled ruefully “No we didn’t, did we?” he looked into her eyes and before he knew it he laughed. A mixture of genuine amusement and sadness over what was finally about to be set in stone. “I was busy, sorry.”
“Yea, well…” she returned his smile as renewed tears shone in her corners of her eyes. Her grip on his shirt back loosened and her hand moved across his shoulders to rest on his upper arm instead. “Not like I was waiting around.”
He only smiled back “Okay, so….what about this then”. Tony cleared his throat and put on his most charming smile “I´m not really looking for anything serious….my career is going well, and I have a lot on my plate.”
“Oh… sure,” she replied reasonably. “Career has to come first, yea…” She lowered her gaze and paused in thought, nodded once and set her green eyes steadily on his. “I’m uh… I’m glad you said that actually, cause uh, I move around a lot... and just… long distance never works for me, you know? Too complicated.”
“Yeah … yeah of course” he said nonchalantly as he let go of her. “Also you know, we´re on opposite sides of the border and allegiances….Starfleet would frown upon it, and I think the Maquis would never approve.”
“It's totally impractical,” she reasoned, bearing the loss of his embrace as well as she could. “I'd practically be scalped if they caught wind of this…” She sat back on her feet and rested her hands on her lap, perched on the sofa seat. “Besides…” she added, leaning down, picking up her long forgotten whiskey and finishing it in one, wincing gulp, “I’m more into women these days anyway, so…” Her chest tightened as she took in the sight of him. “This is all for the best.”
Any excuse would suffice, she knew. Anything to avoid admitting that the sight of each other recalled too much heartache and loss, that getting back what they’d once had was simply impossible now, and to try would only hurt them both even more.
He chuckled and placed his palms down on the armrest. “So ‘it's you, not me’.” Danann laughed and threw him a knowing grin. “Something like that, yea.”
She stood up, turned away from him and placed her empty tumbler on a small side table. Her fingertips lingered on the rim of the glass.
She counted to three and willed herself to let go. “But, hey… let’s stay friends, yea?”
Tony pushed himself to his feet, feeling the effects of the whiskey as he did. Or perhaps that boulder had simply returned to its familiar spot in his stomach. “Naturally” he said, forcing himself to sound jovial.
“Good… yea.” She turned back to him. “Good…this is, uh...”
“Good?” “...yea”
She covered the short distance between them, then. Pushing herself up on her toes, she hesitated, explained “for good luck…”, then pressed her lips gently against his. Tony felt heat rising to his cheeks and for a moment all was forgotten as they shared a final, loving, tender kiss.
She took a step back, a sad smile on her face. Then, she started to leave.
“Nia. Wait.”
---
She froze feet from the door. Fear and hope and panic shot through her in waves as she turned back.
“If you ever need help...if you need anything. I got your back”
She smiled with something akin to relief and gratitude.
“And the second you want out, Tony,” she croaked, “... contact me.”
Before he had the chance to respond, she’d activated the door and slipped out of sight into the dark corridor beyond.
Tony stood as frozen to the spot and stared at the door, his breathing deep and rhythmic. He wanted out.
But he could not run again. He owed it to his friends to see this through.
He angrily pulled at his collar, pulling the magnetic seal loose. At least he could get out of this uniform for the night.
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Post by Einar on Jul 31, 2018 12:45:11 GMT
Commander Anthony Adalberto Stardate 11807.06 Starbase 41, Officer´s Lounge
Joint log with Shawna as Raqiin sh'Hruvek
The base's lounge seemed like a good, neutral place to meet. Raqiin nervously pushed some loose hair behind her ear, trying to quell the feeling. This was Tony, not a blind date or an important diplomat. And yet...a different Tony from the one she knew. They were both different, but he'd gone through so much, did so much... Neutrality and in public felt better, safer. And more casual. Sure, it meant they couldn't talk about more sensitive information in detail, but surely someone from Intelligence could talk around things if he needed to and still get the point across. If the need arose to go somewhere more private, well, they could always do that.
She, in spite of her nerves, still managed a smile when she spotted him, waving to catch his attention. "Hey."
Tony wore a half smile as he spotted her, his stomach doing summersaults. Gone was his black uniform, and instead he chose to wore something casual and less threatening, throwing on jeans and a relaxed blue shirt. "Hi there" he said as he neared the table and pulled out a chair. "It's good to see you, Raq"
"I mean, you've seen me this whole mission," she joked. Casual. Stay casual and it'll be fine. "It'll be nice to do so in an unofficial capacity, though. I, uh...assume you heard my letter. It's old and kind of dumb, and things are different, now, but..."
"Are they though? That different I mean?" he asked, his hand reaching out as he aimed to grab her arm, but midway decided against it. Keep casual... "I uh. I´m sorry Raqiin. I was so afraid of coming back, that I treated you and the Cap´n like you didn´t mean anything to me....whilst...seeing you again has just been amazing" He glanced up at her, realising he had been staring at his arm "And that letter wasn´t dumb..."
"It's..." She trailed off, rubbing at her arm and tugging at her sleeve before getting annoyed at her own nervous habits and setting both arms down on the table, if only to lean on them. "They're different. That doesn't mean they have to be very different, but they're different. And...I guess...I'm sorry I treated you so coldly when you came aboard. This is so awkward; why is this so awkward? I wish things could be like they were."
Tony sighed and leaned back in his seat "It is awkward, isn´t it?"
"You did point a weapon at me," she pointed out, perhaps more playfully than such a statement warranted. "That's a thing that definitely happened."
"Well I don´t remember receiving a fruitbasket while in prison....so I guess we´re even" he said flatly, then a huge grin swept over his face
"They probably would've confiscated it before you could rig something astonishingly improbable out of an orange and the stem of an apple." She laughed, and it felt good, real good to actually do that. "But seriously, I...I never really got the chance to thank you for what you did. It shouldn't have been you, shouldn't have been anyone, but you took the fall, and you didn't have to."
"My engineering prowess have been greatly exaggerated, Raqiin" he said smiling, the heavy cloud over his head starting to subside and he could see that she was already less fidgety "No, perhaps I didn´t have to. But they already had me on leaking the data....there was no sense in them getting you too"
"We were all ready to go down swinging, and now there's a civil war. Funny how it's all worked out. You're with your organization, I'm an XO, everyone and their great-grandmother wants to fight us. And here we are, blowing up our own ships and saving old flames from legal action." Raqiin shook her head, smiling tightly to herself. "How'd it even get to this..."
"Which part?" he asked grinning. "As to the ExOh....you´re doing brilliantly. I always knew you´d surpass the rest of us commoners"
She scoffed. "Hardly common, and you still outrank me anyway, Commander!"
Tony smiled at that, but there was more to it than that. He waved over the bartender, he needed something alcoholic after the day he´s having "Bottle of Champagne, Brut. Top shelf, put it on my account. Two glasses". He waited for the man to leave again before setting his sight back on Raq "My rank is temporary. I was dishonorably discharged, remember?"
"Yeah, but until that runs out, you still technically outrank me. I think I could run into you when we're old and greyer than we already are and long since out of service and I'd still call you sir." Then she glanced over at the bar. "You don't have to pull out all the stops to impress me, sir," she added, teasing.
"Why would I stop now?"
He nervously traced the side of his head with his right hand where his hair had turned grey already. "And I told you so many years ago, with me it´s just Tony"
"Remember that time I got you shot because I was on the comms too much? I was so out of my depth apologizing to you, I thought I was going to shake apart. I don't think I let myself live it down for ages."
The waiter interrupted as he placed two tall fluteshaped glasses before them and popped the cork. "Shall I?" Tony nodded and the waiter proceeded to fill their glasses, before placing the bottle in a tray of ice and heading off again. "How could I forget?" he said grinning as he took one glass and placed it before her, before raising his own. "You´ve grown so much....grown up that is"
"Well, I was just assuming that's what you meant. If you meant I'd grown out then I'd probably dump champagne on your head." She raised hers, mirroring. "To growing?"
"As good a reason as any to drink, I think" he answered and touched his glass to hers. He took a sip of the champagne and placed the glass back down before him "I´m sorry I left without telling you......that I wasn´t there when you needed me"
"It's...fine. I mean--what happened was...awful, but I had other people. I wasn't alone or anything. And you...needed space." Raqiin shrugged, running a finger over the rim of her glass. "I found out why later. And I don't blame you for leaving, just...that you did without saying anything to the rest of us. I nearly took Oleg's head off when he told me you were gone. I was ready to throw down and tear the ship apart to find you. But it's what you needed."
"No. It wasn't. What I needed was you...all of you. But I was ... I ran because I didn't know what else to do" He took a deep breath as tears threatened to break out. Again? He thought. "I missed you but I was just so lost"
He took a sip of his glass trying to hide his discomfort. "I just meant that....I should have called"
"...Tony." She reached out, putting a hand over his. The pain he was feeling over it even now swirled inside her head. "It's...okay. We're all okay. Nobody's perfect, and hindsight is 20/20. We're here...now. Alive and well. Thanks in no small part to you."
He looks down at her hand on his before looking back up, a smile on his face "Your human idioms are getting better, kid"
"Figures I'd get the one about eyesight right, huh? Just goes to show I've spent way too much time around humans and on Earth. Or--you know, I don't know that I've met anyone more human than Hamlet?"
Tony smiled, and turned his wrist around to grab her arm in reciprocity "How are you, Raqiin? I feel I've missed so much"
"You have." No sense in sugarcoating it. "I'm...tired. I'm really looking forward to this leave. Did you hear we went missing for a few months? That wasn't...at all fun. I had to choose not to help people that really could have used our help if we were in a position to give it, and we had an interdimensional intruder, and the Delta quadrant was the Delta quadrant... But I'm fine. You know? Other than that. Physically fine. Aside from the legs. I mean, those are fine! They're perfectly fine. Physically. They just kinda have this ache, sometimes? At high warp. Or sometimes when I'm on my feet too much, but that might just be normal weariness. Just not always emotionally fine. Physically fine, mentally needing a break."
Tony smiled a bittersweet smile, it was obvious to him that so many ´fines´ were anything but that "You should take some time to unwind.....take someone........ Ollie for example, for a nice trip" he cleared his throat and casually let go of her arm and took a sip of the champagne.
"Oh he's...still recovering. Nothing big!" she added with a wave. "You know how it is, though, running around down there while everything's shaking and getting thrown around. Nowhere to really secure yourself. He's just on the mend a couple days is all. Maybe I'll visit home. I'm sure I've given my family enough heart attacks at this point.
"I remember those days, yeah" he says as he grabs the bottle out of the ice and tops them up "As long as you take some time to unwind"
"What's going to happen to you? When this is all wrapped up."
"I....I'm leaving on a transport tomorrow morning for Earth. I have a lot of explaining to do to my superiors....honestly Raq, I don't know what happens to me now"
"Tomorrow? That soon? I guess...they don't want to mess around and risk you running off or doing something stupid..."
"I have a tendency to do so" he said with a smirk
"Their worry is warranted, yeah. So...think you will? Do something stupid? Or, hypothetically, what would you do."
"Stay here, with you...the ship I mean..." he leant back in the seat and sipped the drink. "But they have a leverage"
"Her?" Raqiin leaned her chin on a hand. "Captain Danann, I mean."
Tony just took a deep breath as he looked at her. She looked so much like he remembered, but somehow older as if the last few years had enriched her with experience. "No" he found himself saying. "You. You and Sara"
A chill crept into her, leaning back, taking a surreptitious glance around the lounge. "They know?"
He merely nodded as he sipped of his champagne. "They´ve known for a long time, maybe they´ve always known. As long as I do what they want, they´ve let my confession stand as is"
"Does the captain know they know? Neither one of us is afraid of what might happen. Or...I doubt she would be. We all did the right thing."
"She knows. And I will tell you what I told her. Leave it alone.....as long as they have me, we´re all safe"
"Tony-" She cut herself off with another look around before leaning in close, voice low but emphatic. "We caused this. The Federation is in the position it's in right now because--because I didn't think keeping what happened a secret was right." She knew it was more complicated than that, that there were a lot of other factors involved. Logically. Emotionally?
"I wouldn't take it back for anything, and I know what we did was morally right, and if they want to come arrest us retroactively in the middle of all of this because it helped sniff out who wasn't even on our side in the first place, then they can come and take us. It won't hold up. We'll get Hamlet on our side, he was JAG, we'll make a huge case out of it if we have to, because they can't just disappear us, they can't, because if they try, then they're no better than the True Federation."
Tony reached out once more, his hand wrapping gently around her arm "Please don't. I am okay, more now than I was at least. These people are dangerous..I can at least keep you safe. Please"
"You don't even know what's going to happen to you. Stay. We've harbored fugitives before."
"Not like this. Raqiin, I fucked up a long time ago, I´m just starting to put things right. I can´t put you in danger now too"
"Then..." She laughed, only out of nerves and how insane the situation seemed, and sat back with her drink. "You're going to go see off everyone else before you go, too, right? Don't let me...take up all of your time. In case it's the last we see of you." Perhaps in another time she would have added 'for a while', but she isn't that optimistic.
"There's no one else I'd rather spend my last evening with" he said smiling. "But don't worry, you haven't seen the last of me"
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Post by Einar on Aug 23, 2018 14:49:03 GMT
Commander Anthony Adalberto Stardate 11807.30 Starfleet Intelligence, Earth.
"The Truth is out there"
“Commander, she´s ready for you“
Tony glanced up from his hands, where they rested in his lap. The waiting room was classic Starfleet, beige carpets and ferns and other flora strewn about to make it feel warm and safe. He knew this place was anything but.
Tony stood up and adjusted his uniform jacket before heading into the office of the Orion that merely went by the name Marta. “Commander, sit down“ she said as he entered.
“Been a while“ Tony said as he grabbed a chair and sat down unceremoniously, awaiting whatever judgement they deemed fit for his failure onboard the Chiron.
“I´ve been busy“ she said with a toothless smile as she walked over to the nearest window, turning her back to him.
Tony took a moment to admire her back-end as the formfitting black uniform hugged her every curve. “Recruiting other assets like me“
He could see her posture change, but was unsure whether it was amusement or annoyance. “We use specialized handler´s for that..... your case, I just wanted to handle myself...I wonder now if recruiting you was a mistake“
What the fuck did that even mean?
“Okay...I know I screwed up..-“
“How so exactly?“ she asked him, her back still to him.
Tony exhaled loudly and placed his palms down on his thighs “I was ordered to locate and arrest Captain Danann....I was outranked“ Thank you, Sara
He could see her shoulder´s slump, followed by her stretching her neck “Commander, we were willing to look past you saving your girlfriend from border checkpoints, allowing her and her crew to continue smuggling operations in the area....but the deal was that you brought her to justice for raiding a Starfleet facility....and by doing so, saving your own career“
She turned around, her brow heavy “so tell me where it went wrong“
“Marta, I did what you asked....I found her, and I arrested her....but when it came to bringing her to justice, Starfleet had other plans.....there was nothing I could do“
“We agree. It was out of your hands“ she moved over to her desk and picked up her mug of peppermint tea and inhaled the fumes before taking a sip. “But I don´t care. We had a deal, you would work for us and your past crimes would eventually be forgiven. That deal is no longer in place“
Tony tensed up “I did what you asked!“ he said, raising his voice.
“You still used our resources to allow your girlfriend to circumvent the law for months....you were unable to remedie this....actions have consequences“. She turned to look at him “You of all people should know this“
Tony clenched his jaw, his nails digging into the armrest of his chair. “Fine....do what you want, I don´t fucking care anymore...but please don´t bring Commander sh´Hruvek or Captain Sumner into this......please honor that deal. I´m begging you“
Marta grinned a predatory grin, and chuckled before placing the cup back down on her desk “It´s too late for that....for your Captain in any case“
“And Commander....I need you to go with them now“
Tony raised an eyebrow before looking over his shoulder at two Security guards, phasers drawn then looked back over at Marta. “What is this....what´s going on?“
She picked up a PADD from the desk and threw it at his lap “Here, you can get caught up while we decide what you do with you“
He glanced at the PADD, seeing a headline from the FNN ´EXCLUSIVE: New Claim of Responsibility for Twissel Leak´
What have you done, Sara
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Post by aoibheni on Aug 23, 2018 15:44:24 GMT
I don't know how many times I need to tell you, Einar. I love Tony Adalberto and I really wish you'd stop making him miserable! hehe. Really nice atmosphere here. Love that Intel knew about his little tricks all along. And there he was thinking he'd got away with it. Cannot wait to see what you put this poor chap through next.
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Post by Einar on Oct 1, 2018 12:55:15 GMT
Commander Anthony Adalberto Stardate 11809.30 Starfleet Intelligence Holding Facility in Alaska, Earth.
"Coalescence"
Tony shielded his eyes with his forearm as he stepped outside the facility for the first time in over three weeks. He had not loved being back in captivity, however his year on New Zealand had taught him one thing, patience. And now, after three weeks in this cell he had finally been released, however with a tracking bracelet on his leg that also worked as a transporter inhibitor.
In short, he wasn´t gonna get far fast.
Tony waved as he neared the transport, containing a single male human. He adjusted the weight of his Standard issue duffelbag as he reached down and activated the door, sliding into the passenger seat. "Rodriguez, you son-of-a-bitch!" He leant over and grabbed his friend in a sideways hug, slapping his back rigorously. "You´ve put on weight!"
The younger man laughed and returned the hug "and you look like a bag of bones, Chief". The two men chuckled as they adjusted back into their seats, followed by a moment of silence. "So....are you going to tell me what happened to you and why I´m picking you up from a holding cell at STARFLEET INTELLIGENCE?"
Tony smirked "Thanks for coming...I had no one else to call. I appreciate it".
Rodriguez rolled his eyes as he activated his seatbelt and fired up the thruster. The car was an older model from the 2350s, but probably well maintained, just like the freighter. That kid was a bona fide miracle worker, and had a way with outdated tech. "Don´t worry about it, dude.The Captain wasn´t too thrilled leaving on a run without his Chief Engineer but he had to get a shipment of Kanar to some big shot spoonhead....but when I pointed out that the Majel was running faster and more power efficient now than back when she was unboxed thanks to you...he grunted something unintelligible and approved my leave until they return".
"Sounds like the Cap´n alright" Tony said, placing the duffelbag between his legs before strapping in.
Rodriguez pulled the attitude control, aiming the vehicle towards the skyline "So are you ever going to tell me what happened to you after you left the Majel, Tony? That guy with no name docks with us and the morning after you run off with him....the Captain was furious"
"I had to go help out a friend....I got caught up in some stuff, and ended up here"
"Wow, that was helpful. I am all caught up now" the kid said sarcastically while piloting the craft towards the interstate lane.
Tony looked over at his friend, and one time protegé "I´m sorry, it´s better if you don´t know".
The engineer shrugged as he slid the car in between the guide drones and switched to autopilot "that´s fine, but you owe me a drink when we get there"
Tony pulled air through his teeth "I...don´t have any credits"
Rodriguez sighed and ran a hand through his messy hair "Alright, drinks and a meal are on me...but you better tell some stories that aren´t classified or whatever"
Tony smirked at that "I can do that"
"Good! Next stop, San Fran!"
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Post by Einar on Jan 16, 2019 11:35:25 GMT
Commander Anthony Adalberto Stardate 11812.16 San Francisco, Earth
"After Dark" a joint log with CJ as Captain Sara Sumner
Sara stared at the dark ceiling, listening to the rain pelt the roof. Her mind wouldn’t let her sleep, clinging desperately to consciousness for some unknowable purpose - things just weren’t settled yet, which was vague as fuck, but there it was. She knew the protocol for it: get up, watch or read something until she felt sleepy, and try again.
She couldn’t quite get herself to do that, either, so she just laid in bed and let the pit in her stomach try to consume her essence, pretending the rain might drown out her screams.
Christ, that’s dark…
“Computer, time,” she called out.
“The time is 0204 hours.”
It was time to do something stupid, so she picked the first stupid thing that came to mind.
“Send a communication request to Commander Anthony Adalberto, San Francisco.” --
The music was loud and included some beats and shouting, and that suited him perfectly as he set up his next shot. Hustling lowlifes was simple enough with his Intelligence training, and his only means of income now that Starfleet had frozen his expenditure accounts and no one would even hire him on this pristine planet. He whacked the table as the balls flickered for a second, then fired the ball directly into the eightball, resulting in large letters of congratulations appearing in the air and freezing the game.
The two Corridians huffed and left their latinum on the table before storming off, probably planning his murder. That was okay, he had enough for another few rounds of drinks. “Sheila, another beer please” he exclaimed victoriously as he threw himself into the barstool. “And keep the change love”
She gobbled up the latinum with her third arm, and slid it into her tunic while grabbing him another pint and slid it across the bar.
Tony raised the glass to his lips and took a gingerly sip. If he gauged the clientele correctly, there were at least three other possible targets he could swindle out of some hard earned latinum before the night was over….if he played it right..
Beep.
Beep
He raised an eyebrow as he grabbed his communication device from his pocket and glanced at the alarm. “Sara…”. He flipped the device open “This better be good, Cap´n. It’s late and I am nowhere sober.”
A sarcastic ‘shocking’ was the first thing that came to Sara’s mind, but she managed not to say it.
“I mean, it’s not specifically good,” she offered. “Not specifically bad, either, just, uh…”
He smirked “missed me?”
She sat on that for a moment, staring at her darkened ceiling and imagining the rain coating her in a shield of chaos.
“I did, yeah.”
“Oh” was all that he managed to say, the communicator still close to his lips. “Is uh….everything alright?” he finally added, clearing his throat.
She couldn’t help a small chuckle.
“I have no idea,” she admitted. “I’m just kinda takin’ it day by day. How, uh, how are you?”
He grabbed his pint and stood up, heading to a more remote part of the bar where he could talk more privately. “I´m….you know me. I´m keeping busy…..”
“Sounds like it,” she offered, smirking at the ceiling. “So, uh, there’s this burger joint on Alameda island near Neptune Park. Do you, maybe, like, wanna meet and, uh, chat about some things, I guess?”
Her confidence was draining fast, and the memories it elicited of nervously asking people out in high school would have been funny if she didn’t feel so suddenly ill.
She could hear a chuckle over the comm before he continued “You askin´ me out on a date, Cap´n?”
“Apparently,” she replied, a snicker in her voice.
“Now?” he asked, feeling suddenly anxious about seeing Sara for the first time since Nia´s capture. “They open late?”
“They were open all night when I was at the Academy, so I assume so.”
Sara sat up and extracted herself from the bed, her body struggling to keep up with the plans her mouth was making without her mind’s consent.
“I can be there in, like, five minutes, and if they’re closed I’ll call you back and we can go from there.”
“Send the the coordinates and I’ll hop on the nearest tram…” --
The place fittingly specialized in the classic California burger, more a morass of meat, cheese, onions and tangy sauces than a cohesive sandwich. Sara had had memories of the place, of late-night conversations with Jules and Xenny and the endless shit-talking about Red Squad and complicated feelings about Vulcan culture. She would go regardless of whether she was sad or happy, anxious or content, and it had imprinted on her in that stupidly whimsical way that Human brains latch onto things.
And it was open! Bonus.
She plopped down in a booth, needlessly browsing a menu as she waited for Tony.
“They have any specials?” he asked as he plopped into the seat opposite her, grabbing a laminated menu from the table. He looked her over, taking in the changes from last time. “Cap´n”
“That’s an absurd question, the entire menu is special,” she stated.
‘Look at him. Look.’
She did, setting the menu down as she looked, taking in the makings of a beard, and tired eyes. It wouldn’t have been so bad if he’d just let himself go, but she could still see the same charming Tony underneath. It made the lack of kemptness seem more like something afflicted upon him. Something she inflicted upon him.
Still she managed a warm smile for her friend, briefly scanning his dark hazel eyes for something like forgiveness that she knew better than to seek.
“This looks good” he said, pointing at a selection on the menu. Then sighed and placed the menu back down “The hell, Sara…..we had a deal”
“Yeah,” she lamented with a nod. “It might not surprise you to learn that I’m really bad at keeping promises, especially shit ones.”
This was it. Might as well lay it all out.
“I shouldn’t’ve let you take the fall. I shouldn’t’ve let you leave. I should’ve hugged you and told you I’d be there for you, and I should’ve gone to FNN directly, or some other less-stupid plan to single-handedly save the universe.”
She lowered her head - some self-loathing had gotten in there at the end, and that was something she didn’t like people to see.
“You deserved better, Tony, and I let you down.”
He just stared at her, his fingers trembling with some built-up rage from all those years in prison, real brick and forcefield ones and the one enforced by Intelligence. “Bull….shit Sara. I didn´t need saving, I wasn’t playing a martyr. I just wanted to disappear and save the people I loved from the repercussions of what we did….everyone was safe, until you opened your mouth”
“It’s not our job to be safe, Tony,” she replied. “It’s our job to keep others safe, to protect them from threats, to tell them the truth especially when it’s inconvenient. And besides, you weren’t safe. What kind of bullshit would SFI have made you do? What would you have done to protect me and Raqiin?”
She shook her head briskly, lowering her gaze to the table.
“Probably anything they asked” he answered, defeatedly. “She’s safe, right? Raq is safe?”
“As safe as a Starfleet Officer can be,” she said. “I won’t be giving them any details about how the report was made.”
She took a deep breath, holding for a moment before ordering a soda from the booth terminal.
“I’m willing to lose my career over it if necessary.”
He had to laugh at that.
“That won’t happen….there will be backlash, but the public loves their Captain Sumner...have you even read the comments on your news report?”
“I explicitly avoid doing so.”
“Captain, you will be fine….but I am worried that Intelligence will see it differently”
“I couldn’t give less of a shit what SFI thinks of me,” declared Sara. “I-I… I have fought Section 31 for most of my career. I’ve fought the Tzenkethi. I’ve been caught in menageries, and beaten by Klingons; I got sucked into Borg Space for fuck’s sake. I’m not afraid for myself about anything anymore.“
“I don’t suppose you’re afraid of much of anything” he stated, ordering a burger and a beer from the holographic display. “We are too public now to kill or silence, but we will probably never escape this…..and you know what. I’m okay with that, because what the fuck else is there?”
Sara offered a token smile to the server lady who delivered her drink, thinking about Tony’s question as Jess’ reciting her brother’s favorite quote forced itself into her head.
“I’m afraid of plenty,” she offered quietly. “But I’m done being controlled by it. I could go into a rant about what fear makes people do, but you already know all that, and I’m kinda over moral speeches at this point. All of my little delusions are melting away, and it’s like I’m seeing myself in the mirror for the first time, and I see all the little chips and cracks and compromises, and it’s like I’m on this precipice of being either the exact thing I want to be or the complete opposite, a-and I don’t know the way forward.”
Some combination of sleeplessness and emotional exhaustion had turned off her filter, apparently, and she didn’t really have the wherewithal to stop.
“All I have is this stubborn little impulse to try and do the thing that feels most right, and seeing them do this shit to you wasn’t right.”
Tony pulled at his earlobe as he glanced out the darkened window, “remember that time on the Bremen when the computer shut off and the UT stopped working?”
Sara blinked, trying to recall the memory.
“That actually happened? I thought that’d been a dream or hallucination or something.”
“No it was quite real….funny thing those Starship UTs. They have those pesky profanity filters….for the longest time, all I heard from you was ‘Fuck’ “
He smiled as the server returned with his order and placed it on the table, neither of them saying a word until she left again.
“This reminds me of that”
“I’m a simple girl, I like swears,” she admitted simply. “I like to flip people off and flash crowds and contribute the societal ruptures on a galactic scale.”
She drummed her fingers on the table for a moment before leaning forward and reaching for Tony’s hand.
“And I like to do stupid shit for my friends.”
Tony looked down at his hand, the touch was almost electric in a way that real person connection was. “And you don’t like to be alone”
Sara smirked lightly as she sat back, glancing out the window.
“I’m not alone,” she said. “You’re alone, but you don’t have to be. You still have friends.”
Tony pulled his hand back, grabbing the beer instead and taking a long sip. “Have you heard from Nia?” he asked finally, unwrapping his burger.
There it was. A brief panic rose in her throat. Was this the time to tell him? To admit that she’d come in and swept his ex off her feet while he was on the lam? Would it be better to tell him now and leave a bridge burned, or wait until a new one was built so they - so she - could burn it again? Did he ever really need to know?
Without a clear answer, Sara let her cowardice win. She’d tell him someday, maybe, but not tonight.
“Not since she left the Chiron,” she assured. “She thinks she can reform the Maquis, make them into a force for good. I don’t expect to hear from her again for a while.”
“I don't think that's true” he said with a mouth full of grilled meat and sauce “this is good stuff”. He waited to swallow and took a sip of his beer. “You two are close, closer than I knew and that's okay….she's not my property or anyone else´s”. He placed the burger down on the table and reached for a napkin to wipe the grease from his fingers. “She’ll do great as the new leader of the Maquis. If someone doesn’t murder her in her sleep….she does tend to piss people off” he said, as if to move past the matter. “You not hungry?”
“I was waiting to see if you’d be storming out first,” she murmured, doing her best not to show her sudden terror. He knew. Did he know all of it? If not, how much? And it wasn’t like she could ask - if he didn’t know everything, then she’d be forced to tell him, and that was just slightly more than she could handle at this point.
“I’m sorry,” she offered. “I probably should’ve told you.”
“No. I think it’s better we don’t go there….we have a lot ahead of us Cap’n” he took another bite of his burger, savoring the flavor of real cooked food for the first time in months. “I’ve been called before the Judicial committee to answer for my perjury”
“Is that all?” Sara flashed a small grin. “We’ll be okay. They’re not gonna send me to prison for trying to expose Section 31 when we now know they’re real, and you’ve already served more time than you should’ve.”
“I’m hoping for the best” Tony sat as he chewed on a piece of burger. “They can’t lock me up twice for the same crime….but they have threatened me with obstruction charges” He shrugged as he swallowed his last bite and took a long sip of his beer to wash it down “As long as you get back out there, and Raq stays safe. I’ll manage.”
Sara sat with that for a while, ordering a burger and sipping her drink. She couldn’t help thinking that was something Jonathan would’ve said: ‘I’ll manage.’ After a brief foray into her complicated feelings about her former mentor, she folded her hands and leaned forward to get Tony’s attention.
“That’s not good enough for me,” she stated. “None of this is right, Tony. Starfleet shouldn’t be headhunting because we had the nerve to try and inform the public of an internal threat. They shouldn’t be out to make any examples in order to hide the mess they were complicit in. Understand? The people who want to censure us are largely the same people who knew about Section 31 and did nothing, and they have the fucking gall to tut and shake the rulebook at us? Fuck. That. It’s not good enough for me to get slapped on the wrist while you sit in bumfuck New Zealand for another couple years.”
“I won’t...don’t worry about me, okay?” he said with as much bravado as he could muster “I’ll tell them everything, I will tell them all...and I already informed FNN. If the great Sara Sumner can get the public’s attention, then this guy should be able to get them to eat out of his hand”
“I will worry about you, Tony, and there's nothing you can do to stop me,” promised Sara. “Because you're my friend. As far as I'm concerned, anyway. I'd, uh, understand if you didn't feel the same. I know I haven't been a great friend the last couple years.”
“We might not be friends, but you were my Captain for a long time. That counts for something right?”
Sara stared for a moment before putting on a smile made inscrutable by conflicting thoughts. It was alright that Tony didn’t want to be her friend. She’d literally just said as much, in fact, and she knew she’d simply have to swallow this, just like she had with Nia’s decision.
It took a great deal of effort to ignore her entirely explicable drop in self-esteem.
“Sure.”
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Post by aoibheni on Jan 16, 2019 16:46:10 GMT
That ending! Oh, my heart!
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Post by Einar on Jan 20, 2019 6:24:11 GMT
- OP moved
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Post by Nola on Jan 20, 2019 18:05:08 GMT
Just because you're good at something doesn't mean you enjoy it. Nicely done, guys
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Post by Einar on Jan 25, 2019 14:47:20 GMT
Lieutenant Anthony Adalberto Stardate 11901.17 U.S.S. Chiron, personal quarters
"New beginnings"
The doors slid closed behind him and Tony let the duffel fall to the floor of his new quarters. Last time he had been here, he had been an outsider. In diplomatic quarters, but these were almost identical to the ones he had on the Bremen. And the engine room would be the same, but it wouldn't be his. Not yet. It belonged to someone else.
Beaming him onto the Bridge had been Sara's way of knocking him off balance, and it had worked.
Seeing Sara, he had no problems with. But coming face to face with Raq like that had felt like a punch to the gut. Last time they were together, he had managed to fix some of the damage he had inflicted on her....but he knew there was a long way to go until she would fully forgive him.
And then there was Ollie, he made things more complicated. He had trained him, and the man had earned his position as CEO of the ship...and here he was to take it all away from him.
He would not like that, and he wasn't sure how Raq would react either.
"Computer, beer" he walked over to the replicator and grabbed the ale and brought it to his lips and grimaced as he tasted the foul tasting ale. Synthahol. Federation synthahol.
He needed his command codes back so he could do something about that.
But first, he needed to pass that damn physical and he had to admit.....he was kinda looking forward to seeing that Doc again, she sure was cuter than his last one.
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Post by Einar on Jan 25, 2019 14:52:30 GMT
Lieutenant Anthony Adalberto Stardate 11901.17 U.S.S. Chiron, Sickbay waiting area
"Waiting"
With Aoibhe as SCI Ensign T'ali
Tony entered the waiting area adjacent to Sickbay, a room reserved for the waiting family members or crew scheduled for appointments. He had heard of this fabled room before, without actually ever seeing it.
But today he was not the only occupant it seemed. He noticed a tall, lean Vulcan woman with her hair tied up in a bun. Not too bad looking either, for a Vulcan. “Heya” he said as he plopped down in an ugly sofa opposite her, leaning back with his arms over the back cushion. “What you in for? A broken ear?”
T’ali turned her head to the left, then the right, holding on to a glimmer of hope that this man was talking to someone else in the room, someone her keen senses had simply failed to detect. It soon became clear he was addressing her. “My ears are in perfect working order,” she informed him. “And soon, I will have the doctor confirm it to be so.”
She didn’t like him already.
Tony smirked as he looked her up and down “Teal, Science? Working for that Klingon?”
She sat a little straighter. “It appears you are very early for your own appointment, sir, as I have yet to be called. Perhaps it would be best to go away and come back later?”
“Nah, they haven’t activated my command codes yet, which means I cannot access the holodeck or get a proper beer...so I thought I’d stick around here for another 30 minutes...you at 1400 I take it?”
“Yes,” she said, the word escaping before she had a moment to consider her answer. She frowned. Volunteering personal information to a complete stranger wasn’t like her at all. This ship, much like her mother had warned her before she left Vulcan, would eventually impress human behaviour patterns on her.
“Succinct. You undoubtedly are a Vulcan” he said, leaning forward to examine the PADDs on the table before them. News reports and the like from today, a couple on him and his relationship with Nia. It was not easy being in the spotlight. At Least Sara enjoyed it “So you are new onboard. I didn’t spot you the last time I was here”
“Perhaps your powers of observation are weak.”
That made him chuckle. “I´m Tony, Tony Adalberto. Your new Chief Engineer”
Social convention dictated what came next, so, reluctantly she replied “Ensign T’ali. That’s Tee, apostrophe, Ay Ell Eye. I answer to only that.” She blinked once. Maybe this time she wouldn’t be saddled with a wholly inaccurate and insulting nickname.
“Tee...apostrophe...Eye?” he said slowly, looking perplexed.
She breathed in through her nose and held it for a heartbeat or two. “T’ali”, she repeated, annunciating the short word as if for a slow child. “And… you are to be our Engineering Chief?” she added, unconvinced.
“Wait wait wait” he said holding up a hand “Tee, apostrophe, Ay Eye Ell?”
“There are a total of 24 letter combinations that can be produced from the ones in my name. There are 120 when counting the apostrophe. The only one that I will answer to, however is the correct one.”
Tony merely smirked “I think I got it now. Thanks” he would have fun with this one.
She pursed her lips, unsure of his sincerity, and let a silence fall.
The seconds ticked by, and with nothing to look at in this room but him, she came to a difficult decision.
She’d have to continue the conversation.
She looked down at the pale grey carpet, then up at him again. “Your reception on the bridge would lead me to believe you have been stationed on this vessel before. You know the crew, therefore.”
Tony crossed his legs, wholly comfortable in this setting having been interrogated on and off for the past two years “Nope. Never been stationed here before...but I had some business with the ship a few months back, and me and the command crew go ways back” he responded, a bit surprised that this Vulcan had not digested the numerous news reports on his life. Perhaps there was some mystery left in his life. Or perhaps she was just Vulcan.
“Then I expect it is from the crew's familiarity with you that the willful informality I witnessed on the bridge originates,” she observed. “Even humans are capable of basic decorum and etiquette,” she added, blatantly observing his slouched posture and tousled hair.
“You will find, Tallie, that the people on this ship, especially the command crew, are anything but formal”
“I will trust,” she began as her name was called over the comm and she stood up, “that that is an example of humour, sir.”
“Teaches you to trust me” he merely stated, crossing his legs. “Good luck in there kid”
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Post by Einar on Jan 25, 2019 15:10:46 GMT
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Post by Einar on Jan 27, 2019 15:58:15 GMT
Lieutenant Anthony Adalberto Stardate 11901.24 U.S.S. Chiron, Main Engineering
"Power on self"
It was well past midnight, and the Gamma shift was on duty. Unlike the rest of the ship, the lights in here were not dimmed.
Engineers on duty did not care for circadian rythms. They had a job to do, and none cared what the time was. Unless the Captain was asking. In here everyone worked in perfect synchronicity, passing PADDs around as they walked between stations, running diagnostics and carrying out repairs that could not be prioritized on the day shifts. So far, everyone ignored him as they went about their business. Of course no one here would know who he was as Ollie had signed off on the roster, not him.
Tony grabbed a PADD to seem less out of place and walked over to the warp core, the reaction inside slow and pulsing. He hadn't been this close to a Starfleet warp core in years, and it brought butterflies to his stomach. He had been fascinated by warp technology since his Engineering studies, reading every book he could find on Henry Archer, and the first warp 5 core. The first real deep space core to be put in service, allowing humans to travel beyond their closest sectors, beyond Vulcan and Andor, beyond the confines of their backyard.
He had been obsessed with the written reports and notes of the late Commander Tucker, or 'Trip' as his comrades had called him. Even thought Henry Archer had designed the core that all later Starfleet cores were based on, Tucker had perfected it. Tucker was the man that broke it in, who cobbled together repairs during the Xindi war, that held the core together with some string and bubblegum when all seemed lost.
He was the man that taught the rest of us how one wrestles such a machine, and bends it to do our will, or die by its hand.
And Tony had done that, for years on the Hooke and on the Bremen, having walked out on the latter.
However there was a machine onboard, that had been experimental the last time he wore an Engineer's vest. The slipstream drive on the Bremen had been not but shoehorned into the corner of Main Engineering, with tubes and lines coming down from the ceiling, patchwork at worst, hopeful madness at best. It had rarely been stable and only good for one jump at a time, without external sensors or real navigation. The tech was way too advanced for the aging systems onboard. But that was then.
He looked past the core at titanium doors leading to a secondary engine room, one containing merely a small tubular core in the middle of a circular room lined with consoles and ODN relays. The QSD control room. A piece of technology he had merely studied, but not broken in yet.
And he would have to get up to speed, fast. Before Sara realized her mistake.
He would have to ask Ollie for help, and he wasn't sure how he would react.
How would Tony react if someone else was brought in to replace him?
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