[New Years came and the streets were filled with cheers as the clock rolled over into 1954. Most of Pittsburgh partied; most of Pittsburgh had the night off. Not Al Calavicci, though. He had traded the night off for Christmas, leaving his traveling companion, Kara, to celebrate on her own in the extremely small apartment they shared.]

[Eventually, ( Read more... )

[Al's spent a lot of time thinking on his previous meeting with the little blue creature named Renne. He had been continually surprised at the exuberance the little guy expressed while learning, so much so that he is often reminded of his long-passed sister, which is why he's out and about today ( Read more... )

[They were already almost two weeks in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, far off their intended course and always looking back for some sign of their pursuers. With Christmas fast approaching, Al's mood deteriorated, and it didn't help that they found themselves in the grips of some very rotten luck. Al and Kara had spent more nights without food than ( Read more... )

[It was warm -- that's why he chose it. Someone had told him it was all right. No one lived there, and sure, lots of squatters had claimed many of the rooms of the closely guarded secret, but the attic still had some space. He might find room to rest for the night there, assuming the secret hadn't gotten to many other ears in the time it had gotten ( Read more... )

CandyLand
1950; Detroit, MI

"It's your turn, Trud." He passed the die and it clattered immediately against the worn and faded game board. Al Calavicci, sixteen years old, didn't bother counting the spaces his thirteen year old sister moved her coin. It didn't matter; the battered CandyLand game had probably been at the Wayne County Sanatorium for ( Read more... )

[Post-scuba training, the aspiring astronaut known as Al Calavicci (Bingo, to most,) finds himself held somewhere between satisfyingly tired and exceptionally charged. Knowing Cocoa Beach to be the stomping ground of one Kara Thrace, he hopes to take the time to seek her out before returning to the Cape for more training.]

[As luck would have it ( ( Read more... )

Six weeks had passed from the last time Kara Thrace had been at the Cape. She'd learned one hell of a lot about Earth in that short amount of time; waiting tables was often hard work, but it was a great way to keep her fingers on the pulse of happenings at Patrick Air Force Base as everyone from tourists to locals to the military families ( Read more... )

Kara stood and slipped her arm into Calavicci's. It was those little gestures she wasn't used to and usually rolled her eyes at she'd likely miss the most when they parted ways. It was almost eerie they way she'd fallen in with him and just... trusted him as a kindred spirit. Gods knew she had no real reason to trust anyone, especially not in ( Read more... )

When Calavicci awoke, it was early. Too early to mention. Morning loomed as a concept -- darkness lingering in the pre-dawn hours. The horizon was just taking on some color, showing the contrast between the earth and the sky.

The drinking the evening before, coupled with the ridiculously long day they had shared sent Thrace to bed early. Albert had ( Read more... )

Nighttime.

The desert cooled greatly at night, especially nights as clear as this one. Lieutenant (J.G.) Al "Bingo" Calavicci wouldn't know the difference. Half the bottles lay strewn in the dirt while the other half were placed precisely, a practical lineup on the white edge line of the road. Off the road, in the dirt, Al's candy apple red ( Read more... )