$h 


"Holmes."
"Oh! Ross - aye, hi. Sorry, I didn't see you come in."
"Didn't mean to sneak up. Just... got told I should talk to you."
"Ordered by the XO?"
"Something like that. 'Get to know the crew,' he said. 'Be less of an island.'"
"Well, I'm always happy to be the first stop on the mandatory socialisation tour. You want to sit?"
"Sure."

"You've got a reputation, you know. Quiet, serious, 'flew with the Federation', survived live action. Some of us think you're just shy. Others think you might be a robot."
"I'll let you keep guessing."
"I'm betting 'quiet with a tragic past.' That's usually how it goes in stories. Is it true you were at Morik when it went down?"
"Yeah."
"That was on Artemis, right?"
"Yeah."
"I read about what happened. I'm sorry."
"Thanks."

"I - I still remember when we were in the Veil. Just waiting for one nuclear warhead from that Malikan carrier to get through Aria's point defenses. Do you ever get used to it? The fear?"
"You don't get used to it. You just get better at moving through it."
"I'd like to be like that. Right now, I'm still double-checking the target lock three times before I hit confirm."
"That's probably why the XO trusts you more than he trusts me."
"Maybe. But I do have a lot of questions. If - if you ever wanted to talk more. Not 'mandatory tour' stuff. Just... flying, tactics, what it's really like out there."
"Alright. I'll answer what I can."
"Deal."
"Just don't expect stories with happy endings."
"I'm from Caledonia, sir. We don't expect happy endings. Just good ones."