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Quinn relayed someone made two pings to the emergency line about fifteen minutes ago. Then, it went silent until about five minutes ago. Something was happening, but there was no telling what from here. There were life signs in one of the cargo bays, mainly the one holding some of his settling equipment.
He opened the viewing screens for Kira and explained this as well as. “I’ll put a live view of where they’re at.”
Kira knew all the supplies that he’d stored read as containing nothing more than long-term journey food stores and medical backup equipment if scanned. If they forced them open, well, that was another can of worms, since it would have triggered the emergency defense system.
Morgan escorted several gentlemen past the boxes. One waving a scanner while the first one spoke. The conversation muted on the relay.
Kira felt extremely stressed, a bubble of anxiety under her sternum resting beneath the bone. Hela and Bree had sent the emergency pings. Both women were the secondary line of notification when there was something that needed to be sent when Morgan was busy. Quinn opened up the messages to relay them to her. The first was a simple ‘Sit tight’, the second was no longer, ‘Full inspection’, it said. The third and final one was a short, ‘Keep monitoring comms.’
“Get the sound on,” Kira demanded before realizing who she spoke to. “Please.”
The one speaking ranked as a Praetoriate, a rank she recognized by the bars on his shoulders.
He clipped his words, his enunciation crisp. “Yes, well, it all seems in order.”
“As I told you, sir,” Morgan said with as much politeness as he could muster. “Your sensors must have been malfunctioning before.”
“Yes, I suppose so.” The man had his hands clasped behind his back. When he turned fully, the camera showed his full military uniform. A rigid suit in navy blue that lacked much decoration other than the insignia of Praetoria on one side of his chest and his name embroidered upon the other. The lapel was where Kira’s eyes lingered.
Watching intently, their position left the crew compromised if an emergency arose. It made her feel nauseous to think she’d forgotten.
She paced the room while Quinn cracked a panel, adjusting something inside.
“There, now they will come through, no matter if my systems are on or off.” It clicked back into place with a bit of pressure. “Is something still wrong?”
“No,” the answer was too quick, followed up with a short. “Yes, but no.” Crossing her arms under her bosom, she struggled to find an explanation that didn’t shift blame. Usually after patrols left, she would help Morgan monitor their departure, and it was the reason she’d been up so quickly. “I didn’t even think about it,” she told him a second later, “About them not being able to reach me here. Which you’ve solved now, but had something horrible happened?” she trailed off.
“I mean, it was an oversight, but it’s resolved now. If they had needed your help, it would have been a situation where we were under attack and we would have been alerted to that. You can’t be reachable all the time, even when you aren’t keeping yourself hidden from the Praetorians. I am not sure what you mean by yes, but no.”
Her mouth formed a grim line as he tried to smooth over her emotions with pure logic. It was one downside of him not being clear about the emotions of others. Especially at his last statement. “I am upset that I missed it to start, but it will not be an issue now, is what I mean by it.”
One hand went up through her hair, the black shimmering with a purple sheen when she shook it out behind her like she did then.
“Okay?” He remained perplexed, eyebrows knitted inward.
She felt explaining the situation was inadequate considering his past. Being cut off, being of little aid, of not being able to be there for her crew because of either her own inadequacies or whatever Toke was hiding from her, it haunted her. It was also the sensation of being trapped, no matter how nice the prison or the company.
“Okay.” She said dismissively. She did not wish to discuss it. It held little merit. The problem would be over with soon enough, or so she hoped, and they would be in the clear from a rather intensive search which was only allowable because of their relationship with Praetoria. The ship being registered through their channels meant they had to submit to searches, which were hardly ever done without reason.
Quinn’s response came as a tentative touch, more reserved than he’d been moments ago when he’d been a millimeter away from her skin following instinct.
She was masking much worse than he was initially capable of, but she did not attempt to shield him from her emotions to keep him from getting to know her. She meant to protect him and by doing so was preventing him from getting to know her further. Both were aware she cared for the crew. The extent of her reaction before him signified just how much.
“I’m fine,” she lied outright, but she was a good liar. A great one to anyone who didn’t know her, good to those who did, and poor right now to Quinn who’s net was fully functioning, able to pinpoint minute micro-expressions that betrayed her.
Thankfully, he didn’t question her, or call her out. He held her, relaying warmth through layers and wrapping her up against him. It was the right decision, and it eased some of the discomfort, all of which was of her making. She knew she was being silly, but anxiety did not travel in the same realm as logic and reason. It was bound to emotions and, therefore, volatile and uncertain.
Leaning into him after a second, her body relaxed against his. Destroying a beautiful memory by making things murky felt wrong. So she kissed his shoulder where her head turned, and then turned it back to kiss the crook of his neck, her lips settling there.
He let out a long, inaudible sigh. He was quite a bit taller and just a hair wider than her. She felt comforted and safe with him.
“I like it here,” she said.
“Thank you.”
The emergency line buzzed, and the cold set back in.
It was the all clear sign.
