Battlestar Olympia: Two Days After

[pinchy417]

The sound of the hatch door opening caught Charmer’s attention. He had spent the better part of the last hour trying to read on of his portable readers of Virgon Philosophy. He kept the book in one hand and a cigarette burning in the other. It was a vein attempt to keep his mind off the past few days. Charmer sat, still in his flight suit, up against a bulkhead pylon that overlooked one of the hanger bay sections. This out of the way place was one of the few refuges he had found on the ship where he could be alone with his thoughts.

After a few moments a leggy, bright red headed, woman appeared. She looked around with a puzzled look on her face. Eventually she walked to one of the open sections looked down at the flurry of activity on the hanger deck below. The Deck Crew were busy welding, tearing down two engines, while others crowded around a Damaged Mark Seven stripping it for whatever was left. Something caught her nose. A familiar smell of Mentha Cigarette smoke…it took her exhausted brain a few moments to process the smell.

Her head whipped around to see Charmer looking up at her with the book now at his side and taking a long drag. “Oh sorry, I’m a tad bit lost, you see I’m…”

“Doctor?” Charmer inquired.

“Yes,” the woman answered puzzled.

Charmer pointed out, “The white coat and stethoscope gives it away.”

“I suppose it does,” the Woman said suddenly feeling the weight of the scope around her neck. She immediately took it off and placed it in the left pocket of her lab coat.

Charmer took another drag of the cigarette and exhaled slowly letting the smoke billow out from him towards the doctor. “Your not military are you?”

“No,” the woman answers a little frightened. “I’m sorry, um, I don’t know my way around here yet. I was on one of the civilian ships you picked up. They requested people with medical experience to help out, so I stepped foreword. Is this a restricted area?”

“No.”

“Oh what a relief,” the woman sighed letting her guard down slightly. She looked at his flight suit and insignia. “You a pilot?”

“Yep. Viper and Raptors,” Charmer answered.

“So what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be down there helping?”

“Technically I’m on Alert, but I can be down to the hanger deck in less than a minute. I come up here because it’s the only place on this frakking ship that I can be alone and has enough light to read.”

“Really. I had noticed things were rather dark,” the woman commented.

“The CAG thinks there must have been a light bulb shortage when this bucket was built,” Charmer smirked.

“CAG?” the Woman questioned.

“Military slang for Commander Air Group, lead pilot: Captain Miller,” Charmer answered.

“So your not a CAG?”

“No, I am Lt. Charles Brakov the Third, they call me Charmer.”

“Amber,” the woman offered in return.

Charmer noticed the woman eying his cigarette. He pulled out his pack and drew two out. “Care for a smoke?”

Amber hesitated, as the debate raged in her mind. Smoking was something she gave up as a wedding present to her husband. She reached down and took one of the cigarettes letting the Lieutenant light it for her. “Thanks,” she offered taking her first drag in five years. She coughed slighted as she felt the return of a familiar comfort.

“Not a smoker?”

“I was, gave it up.”

Charmer grinned, “Yeah, always surprised me how many doctors and nurses smoked. Always thought you all would be leading the crusade against it.”

“I’ll leave the moral high ground to the Gemonese.”

“Ain’t that the truth. I heard a couple of them ranting about the prophecies of scriptures and such nonsense,” Charmer said.

“Well,” Amber shrugged. “It’s been one hell of a day, hasn’t it?”

“Excuse me?” Charmer questioned.

“I mean with the attack and all. It’s been a long twelve, fifteen hours. I hadn’t worked emergency triage in years. But as I treating the graven ill, I had one of the medics come and yell at me to treat the minor wounds first. Goes against everything I
swore to do as a doctor,” Amber said taking another long drag off the cigarette and shaking off the ash.

“Yeah, there’s a reason for that,” Charmer answered.

“What in the Gods' names could that be?”

Charmer lit his next cigarette making it the third in this chain. “Simple, during combat we need as many people on the line as possible. That one guy with a minor injury can go back out and make the difference between loosing the ship or saving it.”

“Really, can’t get me mind around that,” Amber answered taking a short puff.

“Your from Picon aren’t you?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Accent,” Charmer answered. “Although you hide it better than most.”

“Sorry, when I get…”

“No, no, you don’t have to apologize, just saying.,” Charmer dismissed. “So what kind of doctor are you?”

“Back on Picon, I had a private practice in a clinic. I was the OB/GYN for a small community, about ten thousand people. My husband was a school teacher,” Amber said nervously spinning her ring. “I was on my way back from a conference on Taron when the attack happens. It’s been a bad day.”

Charmer gave her the same look as before when she said it had been a bad day.

“What, did I say something?” the Doctor became defensive.

“You do realize that the attack happened over two days ago right?”

“Two?” the Woman said almost falling over in shock. “No wonder they made me leave.”

“Leave?”

“Medical bay, said I needed to get some sleep. I had no idea it’s been two days.”

“You mean you’ve been in the medical bay for the past could days straight?”

“Not straight, got a couple hours nap in a couple times here and there,” Amber answered. “Is there anyway you could show me where your quarters are?”

Charmer thought about it for a moment. He was not supposed to leave the flight pod on alert. “Sure,” Charmer said finishing the last cigarette and stomping it out on the deck. “I can take twenty minutes and do that.”