[Wave] Maire to Saienne

Saienne's tarnished silver PDA burbles cheerfully and she looks up from the book she is reading to dig the thing out from one of her pockets. As it is retrieved, Sai flips the book over to rest open pages down, and taps with one finger on the PDA's screen.

"Maire," she says, with some surprise and no little concern, as the screen resolves from eerie blue into full colour. "What you callin' for? Kids all doin' fine? No one got themselves sick...? You got my letter..."


There are a few moments silence from Saienne as she listens to a high-pitched stream of talking from the woman at the other end of the wave. Her expression shifts, slowly but entirely surely, from concern and surprise to defensive distaste. She leans back into her chair and opens her mouth to answer Maire.

"Ah, hell, Maire. I ain't been sayin' I won't come. I'm sayin' I ain't able to. Will you hold up an' listen to me, gorram it? Look... no, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have taken His name an' all, I know. I'm sorry. Yes, Maire. No... I ain't goin' to lose my temper again, but will you listen for a second? I can't come. Not won't. Can't. An' don't you go sayin' I'm cuttin' an' runnin' because I ain't. If you knew what's been goin' on... no, come on Maire - that ain't in the slightest bit fair. It ain't an excuse. Hell's bells, do you even notice what I send your way every time I can scrape enough together to manage it? An' what about Jacob, when he bust his knee down at Charlotte's Crossin'? Who paid for that to get fixed up good an' proper? Sure as hell weren't income from carrots an' onions payin' for that...

"Oh, Maire, don't take on so. I got committments. It ain't like I can just take off when I feel like it - when you feel like it, even. No... I ain't sayin' this gig is more important than the family. Nothin' is more important than the family. I'm just sayin' things ain't simple no more. I've got responsibilities...

"Don't you laugh, you little... Gorram it! No! I ain't spinnin' you a line! Why would I spin you a line? Why in the six hells would I stay away if I din't have a good reason? Well, yes, I know I ain't been back in a while. Well... actually, it's closer on nine than seven. But we both know the ins an' outs of that an' we don't need to look no closer.

"Come on Maire. Be even about this, will you? The ship I'm workin' on crashed into an honest to goodness moon an' we're all lucky to be alive. I really, truly ain't bein' difficult. You know how important the family is to me, an' I surely will zip your way as soon as I am able. But right now, I'm shipwrecked. Stranded..."

The reception on the PDA flickers and cuts out and Saienne throws the battered shiny thing onto her bunk with a few curt words in Chinese. It bounces, flips off the bed, and lands on the floor with an unhealthy thunk. She stares at it for a moment, then, sighing, bends to scoop it up - stroking its scratched surface with gentle fingers - and stash it back in one of her many pockets.

"That girl," she says, somewhat sadly, "Never did have the truth of me."


The above took place on Haven, after the EMP had been disabled but before the singularity was conclusively dealt with.