Time to Say Goodbye

Posted on Tue 9th Jun, 2020 @ 8:22pm by Lieutenant Commander Dallas Briggs

1,176 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Resolution
Location: Briggs' Quarters
Timeline: MD 13, 1400

Wandering back into the living area, Victoria experimented with levitation as she waited for Dallas to return home after his shift ... or whenever he returned these days. She didn't know his schedule any longer. She rose toward the ceiling in her standing position and then floated back down again. She elevated her feet, back toward the floor, until she was lying flat and parallel to the table where she'd played with touching the surface earlier. If she fell asleep here, would she float down to the floor? Or through the floor to another set of quarters? She'd never know. She couldn't sleep.

At about 1600 hours, Dallas left for the day, his shift over. It took him about twenty minutes to get back to his quarters, so he went straight there. He hadn't seen Victory in a while, or at least since he had been hanging out with Kiara Lena, and he was worried that he may have hurt her feelings because of that. He knew that he needed to find a way to move on and let her go. Perhaps that was why she was still here, because he was holding on to her too tight. He entered his quarters, and the door hissed softly as it closed behind him.

Dallas unzipped his tunic and threw it on the chair that was close to the door and sighed. "Lights, sixty-five percent." The lights came on at less than three-quarter power which didn't affect the headache that Dallas was getting. He walked over to the sofa and plopped down hard.

The hissing of the door brought Victoria out of the semi-trance her thoughts had lead her into. She righted herself and drifted down toward the floor, noting the strained look on her husband's face ... if she could still think of him as her husband. "Bad day at the office?" she asked softly.

Dallas slowly shook his head, "Just a lot of things on my mind, I guess." Dallas managed a smile. "It's good to see you, it's been a while."

"Always busy with something," Victoria smiled, not making it clear whether she was talking about Dallas or herself. She sat on the sofa near her husband. Or her former husband now, she supposed. "Have you had any luck with finding the man who tried to kill you and almost succeeded?" she asked. Purposely staying away from Dallas meant she had lost touch with his investigation, too.

Dallas shook his head, "The would-be assassin is in the wind but, on the bright side, I did stop another assassin who was also after me."

"Another one, Dal?" Victoria stared at him. "What is going on? Who is that interested in killing you, and why? This doesn't make any sense at all!"

"That's what I was trying to find out, but the trail has gone cold. I don't think I'm going to be able to catch your killer." Dallas held up his had to stop her, "I already know what you're going to say, that it was an accident. I don't think it was, I think it was deliberate and I think someone thought I was getting too close."

For a moment, Victoria was silent. "Maybe you're right. It seems odd for two people to have tried to kill you in such a short time. Do you have someone watching your back? The diplomat - what was her name? Lena? Or your own department?"

Dallas shook his head, "No, I don't, and I have the feeling that there won't be any more coming after me, but it's just a feeling."

"I hope you're right." Turning to other thoughts, she asked, "What else have you been doing? How is it being Chief of Security? Does it tax all your skills?"

"Mainly just keeping busy and the station is a big place. It's a big city in space and the Security Section will always be inadequate for this size of population. I'm just thankful that we have the Promenade Police to take care of the Promenade. There is also the Sheriff to take of the Brown Sector." Dallas thought for a second. "Not exactly taxing my skills, but resources."

Dallas paused for a moment. "I have been hanging around Kiara. She reminds me a lot of you." Dallas paused again as he tried to word things so he didn't hurt Victoria, but he thought that it just might be inevitable. "I love you, more than life itself, and would trade my life for yours without hesitation, but I don't know what to do, I'm torn. I need you here with me, but I need to find away to let you go, so that you can move on, and I can move on."

Victoria smiled sadly, "Whatever you do, don't tell her that she reminds you of me. That would be ... difficult for her. She might always fear that you were comparing the two of us. It's inevitable that you will, but no need to make her think about that."

She waited for a few heartbeats ... his, not hers. "You're right, of course. There's nothing you can do for me. I don't want your life to become some kind of sacrifice to the loss of mine, and I don't want you to build a shrine and put me in it. Letting go is hard, but we both have to do it. It sounds like this is a good time for that, now that you've found Kiara. Does she love you?"

Dallas shook his head thoughtfully, "I think that she cares for me and could love me, but...." Dallas found it extremely hard to talk to Victoria about another woman. After all, she was his wife and had been for years. She was there right in front of him where they could have a real conversation.

Victoria laughed, sitting down next to her no-longer husband. "It feels strange, doesn't it? Listening to you talk about another woman is weird, but it really doesn't hurt me, Dal. That part of me has moved on, and the rest of me needs to go, too. I don't want you to be alone. That wouldn't be good for you at all. Some people, yes, but not you. You're a social creature in a lot of ways, and you need a partner. I hope that this woman turns out to be good for you. If not Kiara, then find someone else who will help you laugh and make you happy."

She put out her hand and let it hover on top of his. "I will always want you to be happy, and I will cherish our time together as long as I have memory." She waited a moment, but he didn't say anything, so she removed her hand and told him, "I have to go back now. I thought I could stay, but something is pulling me away, taking me back. I'm sorry, Dallas. Be happy."

In a moment, she was gone. There was nothing to hold on to, nothing to grab. She was there ... and then she wasn't.

 

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