Gravity

[Asmus Janes]

"I need the locations and capabilities of air defences across the planet and the confidence level we hold the intelligence in," Asmus replied. "Strength of local air forces would be useful. I'll go through the process and raise any RFIs I need formally. I think I'm going to change the flight plan slightly. This point looks a bit risky and I can pull off diverting through the ravine."

"Excellent. It's not a heavily guarded location, obviously. Looking at this..." Vo looked down at the sheet, canting his head from side to side. "We can't place a great amount of confidence on their SAM sites. It's not a heavily fortified world, so they tend to deploy cheap, mobile units. Of course that means they're mobile."

"I should add," the Captain interrupted, "That the crew is not yet aware that we're taking a two week diversion on the way home. Please don't let this slip until I've spoken to them."

"Understood," Asmus replied. "I'm happy to sit down with Agent Vera now and start reviewing the details."

Vo considered this for a moment and then took two sheets of flimsi out of the folder before sliding the whole thing towards Asmus. "You will attend a Level Three briefing at fourteen hundred." he said, as of expecting Asmus to avoid the droll affair.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

It was interesting, watching how the Captain and the Lieutenant were interacting with Asmus. Reading their body language and the way that they spoke to him suggested that... well, they expected him to flounce at the earliest opportunity. It wasn't exactly in line to what she imagined Asmus would do.

Then again, it had been a while since Kalie managed to check on him since his time in the Alliance. Both of her brows gave a slight upward perk, turning from Vo over to Janes. Sitting down here right now to go over the details was okay, just that.. well. Kaile was still a bit shocked that she'll be working with Asmus for an actual mission.

The 'verse had a way with irony.

Now all I have to do is to remember to just stick to the mission.

Be professional.

-- and not try to ogle the Wraith Squadron Commander in his uniform.

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

"I really hate security briefing," he said in a conspiratorial tone as he sat down next to Kaile. "Especially Vo's." Raising his voice just as the two senior officers departed the room led to a small chuckle from the intelligence officer.

He spilled the contents out of the folder and started to arrange them across the deck. "A defecting Colonel, must have been in a key position for this effort," he said. It turned out he was. "I have a suspicion that my RFI will lead to a flyby of a scout ship to get some updated intel on the area around the town. Depends on whether they think the risk is worth it."

Asmus was talking more than necessary, but that came to an abrupt halt. Somehow his eyes had ended up on her and were now refusing to leave. It didn't help matter that he'd been playing a certain fantasy through his mind just a few minutes ago.

Asmus swallowed. "Well this is different." That was an understatement.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

That was an understatement.

Where Asmus had been talking a few kilometers a second, Kaile sat there trying her best to mentally prepare herself. Of course, she hadn't quite expected Vo or Amadgener to depart so quickly, leaving the Wraith pilot and the agent alone in the mission briefing room. Her own throat gave a bob, chest rising under her blouse as she gave a slow nod.

"Yeah..." she finally said, barely managing to tear her eyes away from Asmus to stare down at the multitude of filmsi sheets scattered across the table. His eyes were so green...

It wasn't the sort of position or situation Kaile would have ever dreamed being in. This was so way off left field that it left her a bit discombobulated. Picking her hands up, her arms went hovering over a few specific sheets of filmsi.

Another deep breath, "Fly by would be too risky." she began simply, reading over the notes. Now she understood why they had asked her. Her delicate profile to him, she picked up on a few key pieces of information.

"Their suspicions are already high." her knee began to rock from left to right, a nervous tick. If Asmus had sat any closer her knee would have bumped against his.

 

[Asmus Janes]

“It’s not that bad working with me,” he said with a grin, placing one hand on that bouncing thigh. She looked down at that hand once, then back at him. Gravity. They fell together in an instant. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tight as her hands roamed across his shoulders. He stood, looming over her, but only long enough to drag her to her feet. With a firm grip on her rump her turned and laid her across the table. Sheets of flimsiplast tumbling in all directions. Her legs wrapped tight, they both fumbled at buttons with quivering hands.

“No, that’s probably true. Wouldn’t want to…yes, I mean no.” Asmus kept his hands firmly to himself and tried to read the sentence before him. His eyes had gone over it four times now and not a single word had gone in. He yearned to have her again, but needed to shut all that away.

“Hope you haven’t watched episode three without me,” he blurted out.

 

[Kaile Vera]

His sudden stammering and abrupt change in subject got her attention. Kaile's eyes went panning from the sheet of filmsi in her hand to lock on Asmus' face again. That was a bad idea. A really bad idea. Now that they were alone, there was no hiding the expression or the emotions that went flowing across his face.

Or the way they seem to fall on her mouth only to snap back to her eyes. Or was that just Kaile's imagination going wild in thinking that only a foot or so separated their chairs.

"I... ah.. " she began, blinking a few times to gather her thoughts. A little less on the idea of him actually kissing her and a bit more on what he had asked her. Oh, he was talking about the show.

"No... no." her head shook from side to side, the stray strands of dark hair swaying with the motion across her cheeks.

"No, I haven't." nervous fingers came up to push her bangs away from her face, lifting a few tuffs up before they fell anew. Her knee began to rock faster. Feth, I can barely even think. A bit closer and she'd be able to smell the scent of his shampoo again.

"Guess things got a bit crazy at the SIM then?" a question to perhaps keep them both talking, the Lorrdian doing her best to keep her hands in front of her, itching fingers slightly sliding over the filmsi to keep them busy.

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

"Oh you did watch?" Asmus asked, the pitch of his voice rising and a genuine smile appearing. He focussed on that and not the thought that the mission briefing room doors could be locked from the inside. "Did you see the whole thing? Captain had them drop a silly amount of fighters in just to wind me up. I got dressed down for not retreating and apparently getting wind of the fact that he's planning to mess with us is some kind of offence now.

"Shame Chad managed to hold together longer though," he added. There was a tone of genuine disappointment there are being shown up by his squadron mate whilst Kaile was watching. He placed his palms on the table and stood up, mumbling something about an 'LZ' as he brought the holo-display back to life. In truth he just needed to move away from Kaile for a few seconds to stop his head from spinning around.

"I never liked Cobb you know," he said as he inspected the terrain closely.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

He rose so suddenly that Kaile was startled, only to have her mind drift as Asmus stood slightly leaning over the table to review the holo-display.

"Umm... yeah." another run of her fingers to push her bangs out of the way.

"He means well," she added about the Captain. Which he did. He simply wanted everyone to train for every possible outcome, even the one where the lesson was meant to teach the inevitably one may feel against a greater opposition.

Doing her best to pull her eyes away from him was difficult, more so when she felt the heat rush to her face at the mention of 'Cobb.'

Right.

Kayleigh Cobb. That had been the alias she'd taken during the time she spent on the Quin. The name Asmus had come to know her by. A fake identity at that.

"Well..." she fidgeted. "I ain't the one who picks 'em." the Lorrdian managed to say, moving to collect the sheets of filmsi and stack them together. This bit was a bit rough for her. The part where she was actually discussing how she hadn't been who he thought she had been back then. How she hadn't been honest about it all.

 

[Asmus Janes]

"Oh I suppose not," Asmus said, flashing her a smile. "Sometimes the Captain means well and sometimes he means to be vindictive because we don't get along very well.

"That's probably an exaggeration. When chips are down we get on just fine. We got cornered by a First Order cruiser two months back. No issues on that day.

"How would this do for a landing point. Out of sight with this line of trees in the way. Wide enough for a rapid landing. I reckon I could sprint back from the outskirts of the town in two minutes."

A red dot appeared on the map, a good bit closer to the town than the original one.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

At the question, Kaile came to her feet. The flat of her hands came to rest on top of the table, and the Lorrdian leaned forward a bit to study the proposed landing point.

"That could work." she said, stretching forward to zoom in on the area and rotate it towards her.

"The only concern would be having to maintain a low profile through those trees. Could be dangerous," she added with a slight frown. The movement had brought the Lorrdian a bit closer, and with the way she was leaning over that table...

"What clearings are there?" her voice would abruptly cut through any potential ideas, the woman scanning through the holographic landscape.

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

"Hmm?"

Asmus felt his chest tighten and came to realise he'd started watching her closepy again. The way she'd leaned back on that first night and afforded him...

"Clearings, yes," he hurriedly corrected himself. "This is what I could do with more imagery on. This is three years old." The Wraith tapped away and the flat areas were filled with a magenta highlight. "I think I can handle the low flight, but I'm concerned our landing site won't still be there. I'm also going to adjust the flight plan so if anyone catches sight of us at high altitude it'll look like we're heading for this coastal city instead."

He was watching her again without even thinking about it. This time he was drawn to those wide eyes. His lips twitched as his gaze fell to her own. He was certain he could work with Kaile professionally and didn't want to compromise that. The problem was they were a long way from settled in where they stood with each other.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

That was a problem. Three year old intelligence. Worry manifested in the nibbling of her lower lip, the dark slashes of her brows scrunching forward under the straight slash of her bangs.

"If this clearing isn't there," a quick tap of keys and then an adjustment. In a few strokes of the keys she brought up another smaller area near the western area of the city. "Then we can potentially use this ravine area." she let a lime green path highlight it. It would funnel down towards a valley which would flatten out and provide a sandy bank to settle down. The only issue is that it was farther away from the city itself.

Kaile did her best to try and focus on the holo-map. However it was difficult when she could feel Asmus' gaze drift over her, how it would sail up to graze over her profile and when able, catch her eyes.

"That's the only other idea I have beyond risking another fly by for new intel."

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

"I'll put in an RFI and see if they can come up with anything more," Asmus said. He did his very best to look pensive and focussed on the task at hand.

Moving around the table he looked across the terrain, his kind filled with numbers as he tried to consider how he could approach the alternative landing zone.

"It's a good one, but I don't think I could easily abort from the original plan if it's no good. Unless they can respond to the RFI we'll go with yours." She knew her business.

"Where do you want me?" He asked as he looked up. He gulped. "I mean, do you want me to stay in the ship and keep it hot or linger on the outskirts of the town and get eyes on the area?"

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

Kaile would be lying if the immediate thought that popped into her head to answer that question had anything to do with the RFI or the mission at hand. At the moment, the Lorrdian found herself momentarily entranced by the way the dark forelocks of his hair had softly fallen over his brow. All she'd have to do is reach over and run her fingers through it to push it back. Or to grip.

Right.

"Umm." darting her eyes back to the holographic map, Kaile cleared her throat.

"Stay on the ship." it would be safer, and she wouldn't have to worry about him or what he was getting himself into. In her mind, Kaile had already pegged the Wraith to not be too familiar with the types of missions she was used to. No mind that he'd been doing this for how long prior to their abrupt reunion.

"I can handle this on my own once you drop me off."

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

"That's fine," he replied with a smile. He sat back down and started sifting through piles of documents again.

"What I... will do..." he said as he looked for some printed imagery. "Is work out where I could land if we needed to pull what we did with Darek and yourself. Or rather, we need a number of fixed locations in the area where I could land the shuttle - and I can near enough land that thing on a pinhead - in case you call for emergency evac."

This time the pair of them wouldn't have quite the same jolt of astonishment as that door opened.

"It's a little less secure than where I picked the pair of you up. If I need to evac we could probably do a straight burn and be in hyperspace within... ninety seven seconds."

They were actually doing this, he realised. Sat here working together to plan out an operation behind enemy lines. It was a stark contrast to the awkward silence that hung over them down in the med-bay.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

The last few sheets of filmsi were collected by the Lorrdian, carefully shuffled and given a tap on the table to straightened them for slipping back into their file. They were both now standing just a few feet apart from each other. How strange was that?

Throughout the past few years, the primary justification for not contacting Asmus had been her profession. Being a spy and an embedded agent had its dangers. Not only for Kalie but also for those who were close to her. Revealing all of that and pouring such a great and likely overwhelming information about who she really was and what she did to Asmus was the last thing she'd wanted to do. Not to mention the amount of emotional confusion and the rollercoaster of doubts, fears, and sorrow that had come before, during, and after.

Nothing back then had ever been so black and white. Everything had been in shades of gray.

Things were still confusing as ever, and her mind and heart were in a constant struggle. Even more now knowing that they were going to be working together. It was the last thing Kaile had ever even considered would be a possibility.

Would he think of me differently? Did he already question just how real and how much truth had been to what I'd told him in the past? Kaile found herself swallowing hard. Yeah, there were those questions again. Questions that she didn't want to know the answer to or even answer.

"Okay." she managed to murmur out quietly, drawing into herself again as the reality of the situation sunk in.

Another nod and hazel eyes came up to meet blue.

"Fourteen hundred then."

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

Asmus, however, had a much less complicated thought process. At least his mind was so dominated by one thought that all his confusion was put aside for the time being.

He ceased piling the papers together and looked at Kaile across the room. One eyebrow was raised quizzically. A mischievous smile appeared.

"And episode three at nineteen hundred? Technically after my briefing I'll be allowed on deck B for two weeks..."

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

Files to her chest, Kaile gave a pause. Her eyes went wide as if in sudden realization, then she visibly vacillated between what to say to answer that. Part of her wanted to. Another erred on caution. The Wraith did have a valid point. He would be allowed onto Deck B for two weeks.

A part of Kaile argued that she could have these two weeks. She could have them and just leave it at that. Give herself a timeframe and then step away. The condition of ‘no questions’ would still be there, but it would allow them both some time. Precious time. In her mind, Kaile could be happy with just that before she left.

“Okay.” the Lorrdian managed to say, giving a half nod. “Observation room.” certainly safer than her room.
I couldn’t trust myself with that.

 

[Asmus Janes]

The deliberation over such a small decision led to the visible consternation on his face. For all he knew she was deciding if seven or eight would be best. Or deciding if she wanted to see him in anything other than a professional setting again.

“Good,” he said with a relatively vacant smile. “Have you heard about Darek by the way? I was thinking I might go past and see if he was up.”

Asmus locked the paperwork away in a drawer. He wasn't permitted to keep this material in his cabin. He made no overt move to leave the room and lingered near Kaile, clearly planning to continue the conversation.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

They weren’t moving. On the outside looking in perhaps it would be a rather comical sight. Or maybe any one of the crew would believe that Janes was being his typical social self and getting to know the new special agent. Ironic that to a degree, he actually was.

“He’s out of the bacta tank.” Kaile answered, reaching over to turn off the holo array. “Doing right as rain.” nervousness expressed itself in colloquial terminology.

“No need to go visit him.” she added. In her mind Asmus held no fault to what had befallen the agent. Kaile would be the one to visit him to see how he was doing. Darek and she had worked together for some time, so there was that relationship there.
“I’ll check on him to see how’s he’s feelin’.” the files were all gathered, held to her chest almost like a barrier. A feeble one at that. Looking at him from her position, well… he made that uniform look good. Too good. Okay, deep breath and a banish of the thoughts.