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“Old ship,” he said with a shrug. “I wish the Mebsuta had an AI. Or I wish I could give this to Maeve on the Nebula Zephyr. No doubt she’d decipher it in a few minutes, bad penmanship and all.” He tucked the small book into a pocket. “I’m going to the bridge.”
“I’m going to find Soames,” Jayna said. “Get his report, ream his ass for not making it in a timely manner. See you later.”
Theo watched her walk away, shoulders set. He wouldn’t want to be the errant Security officer when Jayna caught up to him. Briefly he considered revisiting the captain’s suite but the notebook wasn’t going to be any easier to read in there than on the bridge and all things considered he needed to be on the bridge. Not being on the command deck was what had led to the catastrophe which ended his naval career. Any captain whose ship drifted out of its assigned vector while in formation around a battlestar and inflicted severe damage on another destroyer while taking major damage itself, with the associated loss of life in both vessels didn’t have a future in the space navy. Never mind he’d been on duty for three shifts in a row prior to the fatal lapse due to a skirmish with the enemy and various alerts, and had finally retired to his bunk, leaving the supposedly capable Executive Officer in charge of the helm.
No, Theo Knox had the ultimate responsibility and he knew it. Accepted it.
All his hopes and dreams gone in one screw up on someone else’s part.
Guilt he’d never be able to escape although he’d come to terms with it.
It didn’t help much the man who’d actually caused the disaster hadn’t received equal justice, since he was the son of a high ranking admiral. No, he’d gotten reassigned to a cushy ground station while Theo was out.
Bitterness washed over him briefly but Theo shook his head and scoffed at his own train of dismal recollections. He was in a new life now, in a good place and with opportunity in front of him.
The Mebsuta captain’s notebook poked his leg as he walked and he withdrew it from his pocket again. This assignment represented a major step in the rehabilitation of his professional name and his new career. Fleming was counting on him. He’d get to the bottom of this mystery in the few days of the voyage remaining, he’d deliver the prize to Najie Three, and he might even stand a chance for a deepening of the relationship with Jayna after they spent more time together.
When he arrived at the bridge he was stunned to find the portal locked. He keyed the subaural com. “Turner, what the seven hells is going on in there? Why have you locked the doors?”
Her reply was full of static and broke up a bit. “Sorry, sir. I just …heard something outside the ship…afraid they’d get in…”
Patience exhausted, he pounded on the door. “Open this immediately.”
There was a delay and Theo considered shooting the controls if she didn’t obey his order but then the panels slid aside and the tech was facing him. She looked awful, with huge circles under her eyes and lines on her face. She’d aged ten years in the brief time frame since he’d last been on the bridge.
Theo strode past her, rushing to the exterior vids. He checked the ones which were active and saw nothing but the reassuring, if disorienting landscape of travel through hyperspace. “You do know it’s impossible for anything to board us while we’re at lightspeed, don’t you, lieutenant?”
“I heard what I heard. And I was afraid to be here alone.” She ran one hand through her hair and acted dazed. “I couldn’t raise any of you on the coms and I thought you were all gone, like the original crew?—”
He took pity on her, raising one hand to cut off her disjointed explanation. “You’re relieved of duty for the rest of this shift. I’ll handle the con.”
“I can’t walk to my cabin by myself, sir. I just can’t.” The gaze she cast at the exit was pitiful. Turner sank into one of the chairs at a tech station and buried her face in her hands, weeping.
He called Jayna. “Turner’s had a breakdown. Can you come escort her to her cabin?”
“What? Of course, I’ll be right there. Maybe I should take her to the medbay and give her something to calm her nerves.” The security officer’s voice was serene as always and her suggestion was sensible.
“Sounds good. We’ll be here on the bridge.” Theo rested one hand on Turner’s shoulder briefly. “Jayna is coming. Rest till she gets here and then she’ll take care of you.”
“I might be able to take my next shift, sir, if I can rest.”
“We’ll see how it goes when the time comes. Don’t worry about it right now.” Reluctantly he moved away from her and headed to the pilot’s console, checking their heading and other indicators of the ship’s health. There was a flicker in the power which was probably due to Abrall, below in the engine room, inflicting more ‘punishment’ on the ship for some imaginary infraction. How had things come to this so quickly? Was there something in the Mebsuta’s life support system affecting his crew? He had no issues certainly and Jayna seemed stable. Paxter was on the verge of space happy and he hadn’t seen Soames for nearly twenty-four hours.
Setting Herron’s notebook on the work surface next to him, a sense of urgency to get to the details of the ship’s final cruise under her original captain’s command flooded his mind. His fingers literally itched to turn the pages of the old-fashioned book and start to work deciphering the lousy handwriting and the old form Basic words. The autopilot could manage without him.
Jayna took a long breath which was shaky and straightened, staring at the corridor stretching in front of her. The walls were covered with dripping vines and spiky flowers and there was an odd mist floating above the deck, undulating like a living creature. She heard a little girl’s voice chanting a nursery rhyme in a thin voice which set her nerves on edge and added to the uncanny situation.
“This cannot be here,” she said, holding her pulse rifle at the ready. I’m having a flashback, that’s all. Tarentella Five, the site of her last mission outside the fence, had supported plant life exactly like what faced her now. The deadly flowers and vines had wreaked havoc on a team of groundpounders and she and her team had gone in to rescue anyone who might have survived, only to suffer their own losses.
Jayna forced herself to take a step forward and the nearest of the orange-and puce flowers quivered. She froze. A featherlight touch on her shoulder had her spinning around and ready to fire. A spiky tentacle pulled away from her like a snake getting g ready to strike. Without conscious thought Jayna sprinted away from the scene, not stopping until she reached the lift to the next level. There she leaned on the bulkhead, scanning the blessedly normal surroundings and drawing deep breaths. What the seven hells was that? She knew flashbacks could be vivid and seem like reality but the last few minutes had been intense. Glancing down she froze at the sight of a piece of spiked plant stuck to her tunic. She plucked it loose with her fingertips, threw it away from her and crisped it with a quick blast from her weapon. The remnant fell to the deck, blackened and smoking. Jayna kicked it aside and hastened up the old-fashioned ladder.
When she got to the bridge, Theo was in the captain’s chair, immersed in the old notebook. Lt. Turner was huddled at one of the side consoles, tears streaming down her face. Evidently the autopilot was flying the ship. “Captain?”
Theo barely glanced up from his rapt perusal of the handwritten pages. “Oh there you are. Do whatever you think best for Turner there. She’s off duty till her next scheduled shift. I’ve got the helm.”
Do you? Doesn’t look like it to me. Theo had shown himself to be such a by-the-book, leave no detail unchecked officer when they were on the Nebula Zephyr. His current disinterest in his obviously ill officer or the ship itself was out of character and concerning. I’ll admit I’m not functioning at 100% here either. She bit her tongue and decided she needed to give more consideration of how best to approach the captain about the state of the ship and their team. She’d deal with Lt. Turner in the meantime and get back to Theo later. Maybe find Soames somewhere in this abysmal ship first. After all, Soames was her direct responsibility.
“Come on, Lydia, let’s go to sickbay and see what they have in the way of calming meds. Then I’ll be happy to walk you to your cabin.” She put a hand on the other woman’s shoulder and drew her to her feet.
