did you just mess with my popsicle stand

[fightfair.livejournal.com]

Calibri watched the headquarters come into view with an unexplainable sense of dread settling at the base of his stomach. It might have had to do with being stuck in a ship with a broken Central Gravity system for half a day, and it might have had to do with the stress of accidentally poisoning his boss (as opposed to intentionally, for once), or it might have just been his natural pessimism. Being a pragmatic person and not prone to falling victim to superstitions, though, he dismissed the feeling as an odd sort of 'homesickness' and just went to the dock to prepare for unloading with the rest of the crew. He left the bridge just in time to miss seeing the small hole in the hull of the main Circle Seven ship.

Understandably, then, he was a little bit unprepared when an anxious-looking ship officer greeted them as he and Garamond stepped off the transporter. Bentley had been sent to fetch and collect his medical supplies and belongings - all for the better, too. The doctor had probably been witness enough to Calibri's foul temper, really. "S-Sir," said the officer, with a nod of his head (because salutes were so twenty-seventh century), eyes nervously darting between the more understanding visage of Garamond and the impatient look of his second-in-command. "Th-there was a breach in our security system while you were away, just two days ago. An unidentified ship broke into our storage sector and managed to steal a portion of our weapon supply. We believe it was a military ship from Gladsheim, though our intel hasn't been confirmed yet by the Fourth Circle."

The Fourth Circle, being the partition of Circle Seven largely responsible for the acquisition of information (an integral part of the organization's profitable livelihood), was notoriously slow when not dealt with directly. It was understandable. The leader of the Fourth was stationed on a satellite nestled in a much more central part of the galactic system, and considering the sheer volume of information involved with handling hundreds upon hundred of planets, it was only to be expected. They were still the top authority in intelligence, a fact that made Circle Seven nearly impossible to crack down on by the 'official' authorities.

But Calibri was in no mood for entertaining such boastful thoughts. "What," he said, deadpan, and it might have been the unfortunate officer's imagination, but the temperature seemed to drop a few degrees around the beguilingly small-statured man. Calibri stared at him over the top rim of his glasses, stance deceptively relaxed. "Repeat that."