Day 6
There'd been no attempt on day five, which was a bit annoying when Russo'd had his people waiting for it all day. He had a handful of former Federal Security Officers he sort of trusted and then a bunch of Federal and Republican Security Officers he didn't trust at all, and he'd put them all on alert since the first day.
It was starting to wear on them. They weren't hiding the frustration and confusion as well as they had previously.
Russo didn't trust any of them enough to tell them the entire truth.
He didn't trust anyone that much. As much as he loved Finley and Evan there were times, he kept things from them too. Only ever for their own good, but there were times, and they trusted him enough to let his carry out his plans and then let him explain after.
Sometimes they were angry when they let him explain, Finley had a nasty right-hook and Evan was a biter when he grappled, but they always heard him out.
They'd been together for two and a half decades now. Nothing would ever break them up entirely.
Except maybe death.
But Russo didn't have much to live for besides the two of them, so probably not.
Then he just wouldn't have to worry about anything ever again.
How boring would that be?
Russo could barely handle his days off. He needed something to do. He had long lists of things to do when he ran out of work.
He always kept background checks on Evan's romance of the week at the top of that list, just to drive him mad.
He was too fucking funny when he was mad and thankful at the same time. Russo put him in that small group of people that were too pure for the rest of humankind.
Finley went in and out of that group. There were days when her dedication to bettering the universe for the rest of them made her a saint and other days when her willingness to do whatever was necessary put her firmly in the asshole group.
They'd clearly all been together too long since none of this was enough to shake Russo's loyalty. He didn't actually know what he'd do without them in his life.
So he took their safety seriously, even when they didn't. Finley was more amused by the attempts on her life than she should have been and not nearly worried enough. Evan was more worried than Finley, but he also didn't think there was a serious threat because all the attempts were by random people who weren't trained assassins.
Evan put too much stock in the good in people and Finley in their intelligence.
Russo figured all people were just aggressive scared animals desperate to survive and as such, they were capable of anything and everything.
Two of his Security Officers returned from their shift guarding the Command Deck, though even Russo didn't think anyone was stupid enough to try and kill Finley there. Both of them were frowning, heads ducked together as they whispered furiously.
Probably complaining about the work and Russo.
There were certain things that all Security Officers were taught when it came to prevent attacks, leaks, and mishaps and one of the biggest was preventative security.
More often than not, just seeing a Security Officer was enough to deter someone from anything nefarious. Posting officers when he knew something might happen but not what was the best course of action and apparently it was working.
Even if it meant his people were confused and cranky. He was planning to brief them soon. He'd been using the last few days to get a look at how they were when they were frustrated, and he'd notice a few with serious promise as senior officers.
And a few who would never be more than middling. The rest could go either way.
Missions like this tended to provide enough stress and pressure to make diamonds and dust and there wasn't a lot left in-between. The crews that had manned the first humankind ships that truly explored the universe were the stuff of legend. Every last one of them heroes of a highest caliber. That reputation had faded as time had gone on and missions had become safer and then risen again when the Parasites came and dropped accordingly after when humankind had decided to hide away.
The civil war had gone a long way towards to making those kinds of crews again, but the disbandment of every standing crew at the end of the war had torn all that work apart.
It would be on Finley to build it back up again.
And it was on Russo to make sure she and that crew were safe while she did it.
One of the former Republicans, a Junior Security Officer by the name of Hammet, wandered in. He wasn't set to be on shift for another hour, but he'd shown up early yesterday too. He'd spent the entire hour before his shift taking to two of his comrades in the corner and ignoring the two Federals on their shift. They'd only spoken the bare minimum to one another during the shift and what little communication Russo had seen had been tense and bare bones.
It was dangerously close to unsafe given the importance of communication in their work, but Finley was determined not to make any major crew manning decisions until they reached Walker Hospital. Since she was the one who had to justify any changes to the new government and Abernathy, Russo wasn't going to be the one who made it harder.
But he was paying attention. He hadn't yet decided if Hammet was just young and immature or if he was honestly mean and had the capacity to be deliberately dangerous.
According to his crew file he was an only child of successful parents, had grown up on Mars and was only twenty-two. He'd seen a bit of action during the war, enough to wear a combat patch, but nothing significant.
Nothing to justify the attitude Russo was seeing and hearing.
"It's just, you've gotta remind these Flints of their place. Can't let them get too comfortable. Everybody has to pay for their mistakes."
~ tbc