Impossible Pursuits
Posted on Wed Jul 1st, 2020 @ 4:22am by Commodore Jane Saulitis & Hak
Mission:
Cruel Meridian
Location: USS Sankuru
Timeline: MD7
596 words - 1.2 OF Standard Post Measure
Hak's runabout, USS Sankuru was traveling at maximum sustainable cruise speed. He'd picked up Majestic's warp trail from where they were recorded as having picked up Princess Leyana and was able to follow it a good portion of the way to Sozon II. It was definitely headed on the correct course but more than twenty days later, several weeks overdue, no one had heard from the ship. Starfleet officially listed the ship and crew as Missing two larger vessels had already performed sweeps of the route. The possibility that some horrific tragedy happened on Jane's ship was now the the most likely scenario and soon even Hak would be recalled from the search.
He was on his third and final pass of the route and had yet to pick up any debris field. He had decided he would focus this time on the area of space where the warp trail had dissipated and dropped the runabout out of warp.
"Computer, run full spectrum analysis of this area at .02 microns," he ordered.
"Acknowledged. Completion time: 2 hours."
"Notify me when done," he said, exhaustion coming through in his voice. He stood from the science station and made his way back to the bunk, where he fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.
When he dreamt it was of Jane. They were enjoying the evening on the patio of a house that wasn't familiar, but was understood to be the one they lived in together. It wasn't clear if it was on earth, or somewhere else, but it was definitely home.
Strands of lights criss-crossed above them and cast everything into a warm glow. Soft music played from somewhere in the background and there was a gentle babble of water cascading across rocks into a serene pool.
"I feel like I haven't seen you much lately," Hak said as he set down a drink in front of Jane and kissed her on the forehead, "and I miss you."
"You haven't. You're stuck somewhere," she replied in an off-handed fashion as she picked up her drink, removed the tiny pink umbrella, and took a sip.
"What do you mean, stuck somewhere?"
"I mean it's like we've had this talk before, like the universe is on repeat. Don't you feel it? I think it's a warning. Fuels are critical," she replied as she blinked at him. The words made no sense, even to dream-Jane, and less so to Hak.
"Warning. Fuel levels critical."
"Warning. Fuel levels critical."
"Warning. Fuel levels critical."
It took four times for the computer's annoucement to wake Hak from a deep slumber. When he opened his eyes, he found the cabin bathed in red lighting. He lept to his feet.
"Computer, silence alarms and shut down all non-essential systems," he slid into the pilot's seat and began looking over the engineering situation as the computer chirped its acknowledgement.
"One nacelle off-line and unexplained fuel loss," he muttered before his eyes read across the detailed sensor scan that he'd started before his rest period. "Good god. Okay. This subspace looks like a patchwork of fabrics trying to glue itself back together."
He immediately set an impulse-only course toward more stable space and brought the small ship about. Still, if Jane was somehow stuck in the same anomaly, he couldn't just leave her. A larger ship would have a much harder time maneuvering and she may not even know."
Hak
Mysterious Occasional guest star/Jane's husband
PNPC by Murphy
