But I cannot fail.
It feels like an accomplishment to be this far in but next week? When I've hit that oh so charming 50 K? That will be a rewarding night.
And here's a little update on situations with Hunter proving herself to be not the diplomat a stand in Captain is expected to be:
“Who’s the boy scout?”
“Captain Grey of Titan,”
Sokoloff said just before she let the video transmission continue.
“Ah, Captain O’Donnell
I believe?”
She eyed him
suspiciously for several seconds before she nodded, “Captain Grey. Command send
you?”
Grey gave a slight
smile. “Yes. You see, when they discovered a sudden spike in heat and
radiation well, they got interested. So they sent us through to look.”
Out of the corner
of her eye she could see Hunter and Sokoloff both shaking their heads. She was
glad that neither of them were in video range since it had been shifted to
focus on her. “Well, you must have some pretty fast engines. Faster than mine”
Grey chuckled. “To
which ship are you referencing? This hunk of junk or your designated ship
Valhalla?”
“Both actually. I’d
like to lay claim to both. What better way to prove to be a capable Captain
then command two ships at the same time?”
Grey quirked one
brow at her and she wondered what thought had just crossed his mind. “You
must prepare for an emergency docking sequence Captain. Direct orders from
Command.”
The atmosphere in
the bridge changed and Charlie hid it well. “Direct orders? Well,” she could
feel the sarcasm slathering up each word as she spoke, “Who am I to disagree
with direct orders?”
Now Grey was
frowning. “I don’t like your tone Captain.”
“We were given
orders that you would be waiting for us on the other side of the belt. Even if
you were, which is doubtful, there is no way you caught up to us in that short
space of time.” She pressed her hands to the arms of the chair and pushed
herself up. Nelson and Torres stepped forward, ready to steady her. But she
waved them off with a subtle shake of the head. Her eyes turned and snapped
themselves on Grey. “So you listen to me you lying sack of shit. I’ve had
enough bullshit being fed to me over these two days to last me a lifetime. I am
not going to put up with your crap too. So tell me, Captain to Captain,
honestly, what the fuck are you and your crew doing out here?”
There was silence
for several seconds and Charlie could tell there was shock in the room. There
was rarely a time she yelled, never mind yelled whilst putting somebody in
their place. Even Grey was silent for several long seconds before his shoulders
rose and he exhaled a large sigh. “Captain O’Donnell, I have my orders.”
“And I have mine.”
She made a motion across her throat with her good arm and Sokoloff cut the
transmission.
Silence made
itself comfortable in her seat, attracting all of the attention. Eliot cleared his
throat and Nelson was the one to speak, “And our orders are?”
Charlie let her
eyes trail from the screen to Sokoloff, to Zach, to Hunter, to Nelson, to Eliot
and finally back to Nelson before she said, “Get Dixon and some answers.”
Hunter cleared her
throat next and said, “And Command?”
Well, she
thought bitterly, No holding back now. “Can screw itself for all I care.
We’re getting our ship back, finding medical help for Garrison and capturing
Dixon for questioning.” The new found bump of energy had her limping towards
the door, bypassing Nelson and the wheelchair. Every muscle in her body was
screaming and her head was ready to shatter into a million pieces, but she
needed space. “Let me know when we arrive at the planets.”
“And what if,”
Zach said, “Grey decides to call us up again?”
Charlie sighed,
let her good hand rest her weight against the frame and turned her eyes over
her shoulder, “Ignore him. Tell him to screw himself. He can’t fire without
having to explain it. He shouldn’t be here.”
“What if he opens
fire?” Sokoloff asked the question nobody had wanted to hear.
She would be lying
if she said the idea hadn’t crossed her mind, or wasn’t even a possibility. But
it was. Grey could open fire and if Command had sent him, if they deemed she
was ignoring rules and orders again, which she was, then they could either
force an emergency docking or potentially shoot them down if they didn’t
comply. “Eliot mess with the docking ports. Only the ones another ship could
latch onto. Make it so that it can’t perform an emergency dock. Can’t break the
rules if you can’t dock.”
“And why we are
going towards two unknown planets?” Sokoloff said.
Charlie just wanted to sit down and forget
this day or two, she couldn’t tell, couldn’t be bothered to check just yet, had
ever happened. She wanted to wake up to McCallister complaining at the early
hours, Rhodes giving orders and being blunt with everything. “Seeking medical
help from nearest possible facility, and technically true so again, can’t open
fire.”
Then Hunter just
had to open her mouth and stop her feet once more. “What if they open fire
anyway?”
“Have the
emergency broadcast signal going. Somebody’s bound to pick it up and if Grey
destroys us he’ll be ruined anyway.”
“We were more
thinking about staying alive,” Nelson offered in a sarcastic drawl and Charlie
could feel her head getting worse.
“Emergency
broadcast. If he calls, medical help, can’t dock, he can try if he wishes.” And
she ignored anything else to go lie down before she collapsed in an unconscious
heap in the doorway. She’d managed to close the door to the Captain’s room
behind her before her body gave up and had her collapsing with the need to
rest. By the time she hit the floor she was already out to whatever was going
on.
18
Grey’s command signature appeared on the screen again and
Hunter sighed. She pulled herself up with a wince, whilst Nelson and Eliot left
the bridge, and meandered to the Captain’s seat. “Okay,” she sighed, “Pull it
up.”
Zach sighed
himself and pressed the button that connected the two ships. “Where is
Captain O’Donnell?”
“Attending
business. Now, what can I help you with?”
“You tell the
Captain that I have every right to dock and board your ship”
Hunter shrugged
and fell into the seat. “Sure, by all means, go ahead. If you catch up
with it.”
Grey frowned. “What
do you mean? Who are you?”
“Staff Sergeant
Evelyn Hunter. And our designated ship is Valhalla. About, ooh,”
she turned her head about her neck as if thinking, and snapped her eyes back
onto the other Captain. “An hour ahead on our current heading. Feel free to
follow us.” And she offered the man her best grin.
But it only seemed
to make the man glare even harder. “Staff Sergeant, you are to relinquish
command of your vessel and prepare for emergency docking.”
“Yeah,” the American
drawled out with a hint of a southern accent. If anyone were to ask she’d tell
them plain and straight she was from Tennessee and proud. “You see, our docking
system got damaged when we disconnected with Vanguard and well,” she
shrugged her shoulders, “We can’t dock. We would love to dock for the use of
your very useful medical bay because you see,” and she was twisting her hand
about her wrist with exaggeration. “One of our crew members were severely
injured in an altercation and he needs blood. A lot of it. Now, no doubt there
will be some sort of medical facility on one of those planets. No doubt about
it that they are also much closer than Command
or anywhere from where we were to the nearest station or Mars. We couldn’t risk
losing another man for the sake of telling Command our story. So, we’re taking
a diversion then we’ll be right on our merry way.” Another grin.
Then Grey was gone
and the stars with the planets not too far off came into view. Hunter slumped
into the chair, a sigh releasing her tensely strung body. “I’ve never fake
smiled so much in my life.”
Zach chuckled with
a shake of his head. “I thought you were going to crack.”
Hunter nodded with
a smile, “Yeah well, maybe next time I’ll just tell him to fuck off and see
what happens.”
“Then,” Sokoloff
said, “If he does decide to open fire, it is on you.”
Hunter rolled her
eyes. “With my charming personality what’s not to love?”
No comments:
Post a Comment