"Fething long cat. Just had to get one didn't ya?"
A reserved smirk tugged the edge of Cara's lips, quickly obscured by the rim of her mug. After a quiet sip of caf she set the mug back on the transparisteel desk, using a finger to scoot it away from the keyboard. "If it makes you feel better it was an impulse buy," her hand returned to sink its metal digits into the blue ExtraLong™ Rast'an'cat's hair, "besides, I can't help the embargoes."
There was a grumble from the other side of the screen. "There are ways around them..." the Nautolan quirked a brow, brown eyes issuing the silent question Cara had been waiting for.
A puckish grin was quick to her face. "Ahhh...I know what you're wanting R.O. but that would be fudging the copyright." She diverted her eyes to a sloppy paper she had been trying to grade before the video call.
"Pfft, I know you C.D. You've sequenced that thing's DNA ten times over."
Feigning offense she clutched the paper to her chest and scoffed. "How could you call him a thing? His name is Vectivus." She raised the cat's content face from her lap.
"Mrow."
"Yeah you tell him." Cara gave a short laugh and allowed the long cat to climb up her sweater, wrap around her shoulders, then settle its head back onto her lap.
R.O. reclined in his chair with a sigh and chuckle, gliding a hand over the tendrils of his head as he stretched before sinking deeper into the chair. The thumb of his hand held his chin while his finger pressed against his bottom lip, and for a moment he took on every posture of the classic exhausted scientist. If there hadn't been star maps running on the screens behind him Cara would have thought their connection dropped, the pause holding on for far longer than normal. She didn't press him to talk, acting as if to adjust the cable connected to her neck to buy him time to think. His voice went quiet, made soft with worry as he spoke. "It's gotten worse." Her eyes went back to the screen and saw his head resting in his hand.
"It's not just the embargoes. Remember," he gave a bitter chuckle, "remember when you lost an armband in that shipment of firazene?"
Cara shook her head at herself for such a careless accident. She regularly removed the state-required armband when donning her labcoat, but instead of putting it in a drawer she'd left it on the edge of the counter. "I recall."
"It raised some brows but at the end of the day I managed to laugh it off with customs. We joked that some 'distressed worker' was trying to 'call for help' or...well you know." By the way he avoided looking toward the screen it was obvious something heavy weighed on his mind. The Nautolan sighed, anger in his voice as he said, "Politicians don't care about our fields unless it gives them the latest and greatest means to stick it to other politicians."
An unusual sentence from a man who Cara knew cared little for the grudges of leadership. She leaned forward, brow knit in mild concern. "R.O., what's happened?"
He shook his head, gesturing vaguely with his free hand. "They're limiting transportation of nonessentials until the war is over. I've got two trips left."
Cara drew back from the screen. "You're an astronomer."
The laugh was cynical, "Yes, I am. And apparently a risk, so." He lifted his head to study the door at his left. Over her desk speakers Cara could hear the rustle of bags and the patters of small feet. "She's looking for me."
With a bitter sweet smile Cara nodded. "I understand. I'll freeze the disassembly of your lab on the asteroid."
He shook his head. "No, no. Give it to someone promising. I can always get a new one when the time comes." A bit of his previous spirit came back and he winked at Cara. "I know it's not easy being Director with all this going on. Don't worry about us lost in the cracks."
"Don't even try with that sacrificial hero act," her tone was light but sincere, "We will be expecting you back." She looked down to Vectivus, the long cat purring as she massaged between his ears.
"Can only hope it'll all be over soon. Until then, this will have to be the last call for a while. Tell D.A. to buy himself a new dress to mourn my loss." He gave a reassuring smile with the joke, trying to assume the same playful attitude everyone expected of him.
"Tck. I will."
"Take care of yourself, C.D."
A deep nod was her reply before the screen went dark, and the chair cushion exhaled as she leaned into it. Her attention turned to the lights of New Kaas City, her caf growing cold long before she graded any more papers that evening.
A reserved smirk tugged the edge of Cara's lips, quickly obscured by the rim of her mug. After a quiet sip of caf she set the mug back on the transparisteel desk, using a finger to scoot it away from the keyboard. "If it makes you feel better it was an impulse buy," her hand returned to sink its metal digits into the blue ExtraLong™ Rast'an'cat's hair, "besides, I can't help the embargoes."
There was a grumble from the other side of the screen. "There are ways around them..." the Nautolan quirked a brow, brown eyes issuing the silent question Cara had been waiting for.
A puckish grin was quick to her face. "Ahhh...I know what you're wanting R.O. but that would be fudging the copyright." She diverted her eyes to a sloppy paper she had been trying to grade before the video call.
"Pfft, I know you C.D. You've sequenced that thing's DNA ten times over."
Feigning offense she clutched the paper to her chest and scoffed. "How could you call him a thing? His name is Vectivus." She raised the cat's content face from her lap.
"Mrow."
"Yeah you tell him." Cara gave a short laugh and allowed the long cat to climb up her sweater, wrap around her shoulders, then settle its head back onto her lap.
R.O. reclined in his chair with a sigh and chuckle, gliding a hand over the tendrils of his head as he stretched before sinking deeper into the chair. The thumb of his hand held his chin while his finger pressed against his bottom lip, and for a moment he took on every posture of the classic exhausted scientist. If there hadn't been star maps running on the screens behind him Cara would have thought their connection dropped, the pause holding on for far longer than normal. She didn't press him to talk, acting as if to adjust the cable connected to her neck to buy him time to think. His voice went quiet, made soft with worry as he spoke. "It's gotten worse." Her eyes went back to the screen and saw his head resting in his hand.
"It's not just the embargoes. Remember," he gave a bitter chuckle, "remember when you lost an armband in that shipment of firazene?"
Cara shook her head at herself for such a careless accident. She regularly removed the state-required armband when donning her labcoat, but instead of putting it in a drawer she'd left it on the edge of the counter. "I recall."
"It raised some brows but at the end of the day I managed to laugh it off with customs. We joked that some 'distressed worker' was trying to 'call for help' or...well you know." By the way he avoided looking toward the screen it was obvious something heavy weighed on his mind. The Nautolan sighed, anger in his voice as he said, "Politicians don't care about our fields unless it gives them the latest and greatest means to stick it to other politicians."
An unusual sentence from a man who Cara knew cared little for the grudges of leadership. She leaned forward, brow knit in mild concern. "R.O., what's happened?"
He shook his head, gesturing vaguely with his free hand. "They're limiting transportation of nonessentials until the war is over. I've got two trips left."
Cara drew back from the screen. "You're an astronomer."
The laugh was cynical, "Yes, I am. And apparently a risk, so." He lifted his head to study the door at his left. Over her desk speakers Cara could hear the rustle of bags and the patters of small feet. "She's looking for me."
With a bitter sweet smile Cara nodded. "I understand. I'll freeze the disassembly of your lab on the asteroid."
He shook his head. "No, no. Give it to someone promising. I can always get a new one when the time comes." A bit of his previous spirit came back and he winked at Cara. "I know it's not easy being Director with all this going on. Don't worry about us lost in the cracks."
"Don't even try with that sacrificial hero act," her tone was light but sincere, "We will be expecting you back." She looked down to Vectivus, the long cat purring as she massaged between his ears.
"Can only hope it'll all be over soon. Until then, this will have to be the last call for a while. Tell D.A. to buy himself a new dress to mourn my loss." He gave a reassuring smile with the joke, trying to assume the same playful attitude everyone expected of him.
"Tck. I will."
"Take care of yourself, C.D."
A deep nod was her reply before the screen went dark, and the chair cushion exhaled as she leaned into it. Her attention turned to the lights of New Kaas City, her caf growing cold long before she graded any more papers that evening.
