Running on Empty

Posted on Wed Nov 21st, 2018 @ 7:57pm by Hak & Commodore Jane Saulitis

Mission: Run Afoul
Timeline: Post-Bombing
948 words - 1.9 OF Standard Post Measure

Jane swallowed and rubbed her face a couple of times before opening a comm to Hak. She wasn't even sure she'd be able to reach him, he'd said he'd be away for a bit. When his face appeared on the screen she was so relieved. Her sore throat left her unable to say the words she'd planned to let out.

"Jane?" Hak sounded surprised when he opened the call and the moment he laid eyes on her face, he knew something was definitely wrong. "What's happened?"

She finally cleared out her emotions enough to speak. "An explosion in engineering. We're dead in space. Auxiliary power is working but we're not going anywhere for some time. Several fatalities." She would have said the exact number if she'd known it. They were still sifting through debris.

Six. There were six fatalities, though he couldn't explain this fact or how he knew it. He hated keeping things from her, but it wasn't going to be easy to explain any of it and that wasn't part of the job. Right now, he was just here for her. "You're okay? You've reported in to your task force command? Are they sending help?"

"Physically yes, I was no where near engineering at the time. Yes, and not yet. We're kind of in the middle of nowhere, it would take days for someone to get to us anyway. We're going to try and make repairs and investigate on our own." Jane had a feeling that this is what Hak had warned her about, but how he had known that something would happen was impossible to guess.

"I wish I was there with you," he replied, the crease between his eyebrows deepening. He knew she was strong enough to handle this without him, but it didn't stop him from wanting nothing more in that moment than to just wrap her up in his arms and whisk her away to safety. "You have good people there and they have a strong leader. You're going to sort this out."

"How can you say that?! I've been a Captain for literally weeks and I've already lost a handful of people to what I can't believe is any sort of accident, not with the maintenance that starships are supposed to maintain. How can you have confidence in someone who apparently let some sort of terrorist on her ship?"

Hak scowled. "This could have happened to anyone. Listen, Jas. You can't afford the luxury of doubting yourself right now because this is a time for facts. Find out how this happened. Was it an engineering problem or a security issue? Once you have those answers, you'll have more questions. You just keep going until you have all the answers you can get."

She knew she was better than this but it didn't make her feel any better. "We are." She answered simply. It had taken all of her willpower to keep herself out of engineering, she would only be in their way and she'd wanted to talk to Hak.

Hak nodded encouragingly. "Then you're doing everything right. You're doing everything you're supposed to be doing."

"Maybe," Jane bit her lip slightly as she looked out the view port, showing Hak only one side of her face. It didn't make her feel any better to be doing everything by the book. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. I just needed to see you."

"I'm glad you reached out. I missed your voice," he admitted, not bothering to tell her that he was going to worry about her whether he had her blessing or not.

"I know you can't talk about it, but how are things there? Are you okay?" She turned back to him finally, letting out a breath as she did so as if that would get rid of some of the feelings that were swarming inside.

He hesitated on the question for a second, but then nodded. "Busy, but okay, yeah. Things are just... in flux. They always are, though..."

Jane nodded. That part was true. But it made her seriously wonder about his career. "Hak," she said before she closed the channel. "I think I made a mistake. Not about the ship . . . with us."

"You don't have to do this," Hak said, not needing to hear the words. Still, the sentiment affected him, it was readable in his dark eyes. "Not... not now. Not over comms, like this."

She turned her head slightly, "I know . . . but when are we going to see each other again in person? I just wanted to tell you, you already know of course. But I do love you."

"And I love you, too, of course. That's never going to change," he said matter-of-factly. "I hope soon. Maybe we can rendezvous once you finish with the Creoli. Your ship is going to need some drydock time and I have shore leave coming..."

Jane smiled for the first time since opening the channel. "That sounds amazing. I should let you go though. Try to stay out of trouble."

"That's a tall order," Hak smirked, happy to see that familiar smile peek through again. "Stay on your toes." He gave her a small nod and let her close the channel. His screen flicked off and he leaned back in his chair, folding his hands together behind his head and closing his eyes to contemplate. He'd been through Jane's manifest already, but he was obviously missing something -- a loose thread -- a seemingly insignificant detail somewhere that when pulled on would reveal someone's nefarious interference. He knew Jane would be looking for it too.

Commander Jane Saulitis
Commanding Officer
USS Majestic

Hak
pnpc Murphy