Never be the Same
Part 5
When Isabella and Brie entered the voluminous dining area, the party was already well underway. Both were wearing dresses; Isabella’s was red and revealing, whilst Brie was wearing a more conservative navy blue dress. Isabella’s hair was done up neatly, and her red makeup accentuated her beauty, whilst Brie had left her hair down low and had removed the blue dye, returning her hair to her natural dark brown colour. Her makeup was more understated and darker. Nobody could deny their presence, however, and heads turned to look at them as they entered, arm in arm.
“I feel like a fool,” Brie hissed to Isabella in Spanish. “Why did we have to come to this?”
“Research,” Isabella replied. “I came here to see what luxury looked like,”
“You are not fucking researching right now… you’re enjoying this!”
Isabella flashed Brie a pretty smile. “I can do both,”
“Fine, do your research. But hurry it up. This isn’t my scene,” Brie said, looking forward again.
Isabella grinned. “Yeah, your scene is backroom clubs and kicking the ass of pon-farr fuelled Vulcans,”
Brie couldn’t help but grin as well. “Fuck you,”
Before they could take another step, the two were intercepted by two uniformed figures. One was an elderly man, wearing a smart dress uniform, polished until it shone, and a rack of medals. He was well-groomed with neat swooping waves of grey hair brushed back away from his aged and furrowed face, which itself was framed with a Verdi beard and a pointed moustache. The epaulettes on his shoulder contained four golden bars. His eyes were heavy and hooded, containing smart and knowledgable dark blue pupils.
The other man was the First Officer, Juan Pablo Vázquez. Brie suddenly felt rather self-conscious again. The First Officer broke the momentary silence. “Buenas noches, señoras,” he said, politely. “It is good to see you,”
“The pleasure is ours, Officer,” Isabella replied gracefully with a smile.
“May I introduce our Captain, Capitaine Pascal Delacroix,” Juan introduced and the Captain gave a short nod of the head.
“We are honoured to have you both on board our ship,” Pascal said, in fluent Spanish with only a slight hint of his native French accent.
“Captain, this is Isabella Fernades, the writer,” explained. “And her travelling companion is Major Gabriella Valencia,”
Brie blinked at the officer’s use of her rank.
The Captain’s look changed slightly after the introductions, and he seemed to regard the pair more carefully. “This is the writer? Well, Miss Fernandes, as I said, it is a pleasure to have you on the ship. I have been informed to give you full access of the ship, but you will understand if I am hesitant to grant such a request. I would ask politely that you do not hamper the smooth running of this vessel and you inform a senior member of the crew before you venture anywhere off limits to usual passengers,”
Isabella did not take any offence to this. “Of course, Captain. I am here as a guest and I would not want to cause any distress. I will follow your instructions to the letter,”
The Captain smiled professionally. “I am touched, Madam,” he said, courteously, before turning to look at Brie. “And you, Major?”
“And me what?” Brie replied, automatically, and then immediately regretted her tone.
“Will you follow instructions to the letter?”
“It depends on the instruction,”
“A free-thinking marine? You are very much a rarity,” the Captain commented.
“Yes, I am,” Brie said, with a hint of proudness and defiance. There was a slightly moment of awkward silence as the Captain and Brie looked at each other, each daring the other to look away.
“I am sure the Major will not be a hindrance, Captain. I will personally ensure it,” Juan interjected politely.
Isabella chimed in, “Thank you for the gracious welcome, Captain. We would hate to impose on your time further,” she said, taking Brie’s arm again.
“Enjoy your evening, ladies,” the Captain responded, diplomatically, before bowing his head. As Isabella wheeled Brie away from the pair, Brie locked eyes with the First Officer again. It may have been a trick of the light, but she could have sworn the Officer gave her small grin as she passed. And then the moment was gone as he turned to greet another guest.
“What was that?” Isabella asked Brie as the pair went to the bar.
“I don’t know, I was… taken by surprise,”
Isabella blinked. “Claro,” she nodded. “That’s what makes you different from the rest. When it comes to fight or flight, you always go to fight,”
“Seeing as humans can’t fly, I don’t see any other option,” Brie replied, nodding to the bartender. “Something strong,”
“I’ll have what she’s having,” Isabella added, and then looked at Brie. “Is there something wrong? You… seem really on edge,”
“I told you, this is… different to my scene. I don’t know how to act around all this…” she looked around at the gilded features. “High classness…”
“No… that’s not it,” Isabella shook her head as their drinks arrived. “I’ve seen you. I know you. You adapt easily to things. This is something different,”
Brie didn’t respond as she took a large gulp of her drink. Whatever it was, it burned, but Brie didn’t care and quickly ordered another. Isabella had a worse time of it and spluttered after a sip. “Fuck, what is that?”
Brie shrugged. “Something strong,”
Isabella looked at Brie and the pair began to laugh.
As the party went on, Brie and Isabella did a lot of drinking, eating, and mixing. After a time, both Isabella and Brie were starting to get a bit claustrophobic; Isabella because she was not used to operating at Brie’s level, and Brie because she felt everything was too stuffy. The pair decided to head out of the dining room to take some fresh air.
The girls walked out into one of the large corridors that swept around the ship, with the large windows on one side. Brie leaned on the window looking out to space, whilst Isabella slumped to the floor, head in her hands. “I drunk too much…” she moaned.
“How many times do I have to tell you?” Brie chastised. “Stop trying to keep up with me,”
“This is your fault, I keep telling you to slow down,” Isabella groaned.
“My fault?” Brie said, turning sharply and almost hitting a man and a woman who were walking past. “Lo siento,” she mumbled to them and looked down to Isabella. “Alright, fine. Sorry. I get carried away,” she admitted and turned to look out of the window. The ship was settled in a system that would have been boring if they had been on a Starfleet vessel; a simple star with a few orbital rocks, some of which had eccentric magnetic fields which interacted with the radiation from the star creating beautiful light patterns. Or at least, they were exciting to people who did not see the marvels of space every day, like Brie had. Or people who were not as badly inebriated as Isabella was.
“Should we call it a night then, Isa?” Brie asked, looking down at her companion.
“We’d better,” Isabella said, slowly getting up. “Let’s head…” Isa paused. “Brie… Brie!”
“What?” Brie asked, looking curiously at Isa.
“Mira!” Isa pointed out the window.
“Isa, it’s just rocks,” Brie said dismissively and turned. “You see them all…” Brie froze. “Oh, shit!”
Floating in space, close to ship but moving slowly away, was a dead body. And Brie recognised it as the woman she almost hit a moment ago.
“Oh, shit…”