Private Log- The Other Aurora, Part I
28 May 2022Lily Flemmon
I need to start a private logbook. It's just... There are too many things I need to process and that I want to write about, but I can't... in a public setting.Top on that list? Rory Bael.
I first met Rory during my second visit to the Colonia region. I was in supercruise running errands- well, giving people closure about my last trip, given the severe amnesia that had recently lifted- when I was interdicted. I began evading, which the Intrepid is capable of doing against a less skilled pilot, but this pilot interdicting me was incredibly deft at the controls. That and it was- what the hell? A Federal security interdiction. Something is very peculiar about this, enough to pique my curiosity that I went off the escape vector and guided the ship off-course before zeroing my throttle- slowly, so this interdictor wouldn't have to drop too hard and risk structural damage. As soon as I dropped, I came about, toggling flight assist to have visual on the interdicting ship before I was fully decelerated.
Asp Explorer. Hardpoints retracted. Blue. Paint damaged. Whoever was flying this ship was looking for me, and had followed me out here. But not to hurt me or detain me- if they wanted a fight, that already would have started.
The alternative... was that this person was looking for help.
This is why I kept my logs public. So they could be found, and so I would be found by people who needed me. Which is exactly what Rory did.
So we talked. As soon as we had a secure channel she revealed to me that she was not a Hudson loyalist- well, her exact words were "Zac Hudson can suck a fat dick." We landed on a nearby moon and talked in the Intrepid's conference room, and I saw pain that nobody can fake. So I trusted her, confided in her a bit, and she reciprocated that- her past is about as fucked up as mine, as it turned out. She popped out one of her cybernetic eyes, which definitely got me flustered because it- look, it was attractive, okay? Am I a bisexual disaster lady? Yes.
She skirted the topics of what she came to me for help with, so I asked her directly, and I had to grab her a bucket to hurl in before she could manage an answer.
So I stopped probing. I'd earned her trust, and I may as well give her a chance to earn the rest of mine. We walked over to her ship, and I met her copilot, Malcom Barrett. Sweet guy. I was glad she wasn't alone that whole way to Colonia, and Mal seemed to be really good at keeping her company.
I invited her to dinner aboard the Cuisinier, which was stationed at Colonia Hub for the time being, and she took me up on it. She may have overdressed, but... nobody could complain. This woman was looking fantastic in so many ways.
And I found the perfect offer for her- that she join CTAC. The core tech labs had a requisition that had been open for months for a security specialist with a passion for biology and a humane and empathetic respect for life, which for the caliber of security specialist they needed, had proven impossible to find. Well, I had just met someone who, so far, seems to fit the qualifications. Not only that, she's also pretty cute.
I gave her the offer, and after some thought, she took me up on it. Which not only gave me the ability to help her, it gave her the opportunity to help CTAC, and as I've now realized... to help me.
Rory Bael is... a very good friend.