In all honesty, the crew took my decision to stay and fight better than I had expected, as did Cserr, though she had insisted on joining us planet side for our final planning meeting. We had taken over parts of the colony's central administration complex, due to the powerful sensors and communication equipment it offered. The sensors were already proving their worth, a collection of warp signals were approaching from deep in Klingon space and would arrive in just under six hours. I hated how distant they were. Sure, that did allow us added time to prepare and arm the Suliban, but six hours was enough time to think. That time between battle, the time when everyone was alone with their thoughts, could break a unit. Officers and crew alike could find themselves second guessing why they were here and allow that to undermine their confidence. The waiting had defeated many armies across different Federation worlds throughout all of recorded history.
In a moment of irony not lost on me, we had commandeered the conference room I had rudely beamed into a little over an hour ago. Around the majestic wooden conference table where I had threatened the administration of New Jerusalem now sat most of my senior staff, Cserr and her Saurian First Officer T’kitt. I had left Lieutenants Grolik and Phillips on board the Resolute with a skeleton crew and transferred any volunteers to the surface. Now I was locked in an argument with my oldest friend about whether or not to allow her crew to do the same.
“Cserr please, if those are Klingon military ships, this fleet represents a significant task force in the Triangle. We have to warn Command.” I was doing my best to argue my case, painfully aware what two Captains having a very public disagreement in front of their crews could do for morale. That it was with Cserr made it doubly painful. Despite agreeing with my choice, she was angry with me for what I had done and was not doing a very good job of hiding it, uniquely choosing to stand and pace instead of sit.
“Of course, Niah, that's what you’re preparing to do with the Resolute.” She was right of course. I had intentionally left junior crew and those without combat experience onboard to make a run for Starbase 19 once the rest of the Klingons entered the system. Someone had to warn Starfleet. I also didn't want the Resolute to be the only ship to carry the warning, and I had asked Cserr to take the Aurora to Starbase 23, in the opposite direction. According to Starfleet regulations, as the Resolute’s tactical systems outclassed the Aurora’s I was technically in command, though I didn't think my friend actually cared about that. She continued before I could speak up.
“The Aurora can do the same, we have volunteers who are aching to give the Klingons a bloody nose for the war. Am I supposed to tell them to cut and run while your crew fights down here? I’d have a mutiny on my hands.” She was very animated as she paced, rapid hand movements punctuating her words.
“I don't think it will come to that.” I rebutted. “Your crew will understand how important this is. It's not like you’re leaving us here to die. I fully expect to see the Aurora back here leading the charge at the head of three DESRON’s to relieve us. We’re lucky, the Resolute was a front line ship during the war, most of its enlisted crew have seen combat, not to mention our crew is double yours, we can afford to spare some personnel.”
“Like its Captain?” That retort stung. I was suddenly worried about what direction she was taking this conversation. She continued, oblivious to my feelings. “I know why you did this Niah, hell I would have done exactly the same thing! I would have loved to see the look on that Bolian’s face when you arrested them. What I am trying to say is you don't have to do all of this on your own.” I took a moment to think about how I wanted to reply, trying to avoid saying something not meant for my crew's ears. I glanced over my staff's faces as I worked out what I wanted to say, almost amused to see a room full of adults wearing the same expression a young child does when she sees her parents fighting for the first time.
“It's not like that, a lot of people are going to get hurt down here, but so many more are going to get hurt or worse if Starfleet can't get here in time. My crews good, but I expect the Klingons to try to stop our ships. I would feel a lot better staying here knowing at least one of the ships bringing help had its senior officers in command.” I had another reason that I couldn't share. Just before this briefing I had given Lieutenant Philips a sealed order packet to be followed in the event the Tlhab attacked before or during the arrival of the Klingon reinforcements. The packet ordered the Resolute to stay on station and defend the Aurora until it successfully evacuated the system. It was therefore entirely possible the Resolute would be destroyed or crippled and we would be solely relying on Cserr for reinforcement. I relied on her ship utilizing all her cunning to escape any Klingon pursuit. Cserr’s hands shot up in exasperation as I explained my reasoning to her.
“Oh, so that's how it is, this is the same what happened on the Sirius then?” That was too far, Cserr had just crossed a line and I could tell from the look on her face she had realized it.
“Give us the room.” I ordered, doing my best to keep my voice steady and not looking at any of the officers around me who were no doubt confused as to what was going on. A sharp “Now!” got them moving, and before long we were alone in the room. The vastness of the room seemed even wider with just the two of us in it now and I couldn't help but think it represented what was about to happen to our friendship.
“I’m sorry, that was out of line.” she started, her voice quieter now, but I cut her off.
“Save it. You're damn right it was out of line.” I snapped at her, my eyes burning. What had happened on the USS Sirius was known in Starfleet, at least the broad strokes of it. I was sure my crew would have recognized the event had they looked up their new Captain's service record before I came onboard. The Sirius had been my posting after the Kerala was laid up in drydock in the aftermath of the Battle of the Binary Stars. I had replaced the ship's previous first officer and I served under Captain Sam Mason for the rest of the war. This was a memory of one of the worst moments in my life, and I hated her for bringing it up now.
“I’m worried about you Niah.” She crossed the room to sit in the chair opposite mine. “I hadn’t seen you in person for years before this mission, hell no one’s seen you. You don't talk to any of our friends anymore. I saw your quarters, it looked like you had barely moved in despite being onboard for what six months? What's going on?” She was fidgeting with her hands and could barely look at me as she spoke, and I could hear the concern in her voice.
“Nothing, I'm fine.” Deflect, reassure, manage. It's how I made it through my mandated Starfleet counseling, and it would serve me here as well. “I mean that too. You haven't seen me because I’ve been busy, first with my hospital stay, then my career. It's rare for us to see anyone.” She cut me off before I could continue my excuses.
“The rest of us make time. We keep in touch and plan our shore leaves together. I had to call in favors to get assigned to this mission so I could actually see you! When was the last time you’ve even used your leave?” The answer of course was before the war, but that information wasn't going to help right now. The bigger revelation was the fact that Cserr had wanted to be assigned to a mission with me. I felt terrible, having trapped her in what was turning out to be my own personal Kobayashi Maru. I was more determined than ever to make sure her ship and crew survived this.
“Well, my time after the hospital would qualify.” I rebutted “I don't see how time spent on a resort world could be seen as anything but leave.”
“You were hurt, and you were stuck there until the doctors cleared you! You were recovering, not vacationing!” Her voice was rising in intensity again. She had seen right through my excuses of course and was clearly unhappy that I was even making them. “I can't believe you would try to pass off a stay at an intensive care hospital as a vacation.”
I shrugged. “I’m certainly no worse for wear for not having taken a vacation. I told you Cserr, I’m alright.”
“I. Don't. Believe. You.” She harshly punctuated each word for emphasis. “If the ranking captain was anyone but you I would be trying to relieve them. Hell I still might try if you keep this up!” That stung, I may not be at my best, but I was still acting rationally. She continued. “I don't know what's going on in that brain of yours right now and how you’re justifying this to yourself, but you’re acting like that same ensign who couldn't stop jumping in front of the senior officers at the first sign of danger.”
“That was my job Cserr, same as this is.” I was starting to get worked up as well. This confrontation felt personal by this point, like we were both working out our lingering unresolved issues with each other. “I joined Starfleet security for a reason, it's my responsibility to put myself in harm's way for the citizens of the Federation. I wanted to do that back then, and I still do now.”
“By what, being a martyr? For fucks sake Niah, you’ve been like this the entire time I’ve known you. I’m sick of you taking on too many responsibilities and not leaving any time for yourself. When will you understand that you matter too?” that hit me like a full spread of photon torpedoes. I have always understood on some level that people cared about me. My parents, siblings, some of my fellow Captains and other Starfleet personnel did on some level but I had never really paid it much attention. I was Starfleet Security, danger was part of our job, more so than any other department. It wasn't at all that I wasn't taking care of myself, it was just that I was more accepting of the danger than others.
“I know people care and I am grateful for it but like I said I was busy. I am alright.” I shot back, trying to reassure her as much as myself.
“Then why don't you show it? Why didn't you make time for the class reunion?” She was back on her feet at this point. “Pike made it Niah! The Captain of the Enterprise found time to make it all the way back to Earth, but you couldn't pull yourself away from your desk on Starbase 10 for a few days to see everyone. I spent half the party having to make excuses for why you weren't there! Our classmates wanted to see you! I wanted to see you, but you don't make time for us. How can you possibly know people care about you without giving us the opportunity to show you?” I stood up, trepidation etched on my features and tried to put a comforting arm around her. She pulled away and left me standing there awkwardly, my mind racing for something to say.
“I may have been too single minded after the war.” I conceded. In an attempt to defuse the awkwardness of my failed hug, I instead hopped up on the table so I could sit closer to her. “It was a crazy time in Starfleet Tactical, everyone was convinced that another Klingon attack was coming any day, we were trying to restructure the fleet into something useful for wartime and get the procurement finalized for our next generation of ships.” She shot me an angry look and I held up my hands.
“Not making excuses, just making sure you knew what was happening at Tactical. I never saw Decker, Ostertag or Fukuhara take a vacation during those years either. We were scared, Cserr and I know I still am. I’m still as scared for the future as I was back on the Kerala at the Binary Stars.” I hung my head and continued. “There's just so much going wrong and it's so much bigger than me and right here, right now I can make a difference.” She joined me, sitting on the table beside me, though still not looking at me.
“You saying you’re scared is the most honest thing I’ve heard from you in years.” She said quietly, almost too quietly for me to hear. She continued, louder. “Most people would spend more time with their loved ones if they were scared, not less. You know that right?”
“Most people aren’t in a position to do something about what's scaring them.” I replied. She leaned into me, completely surprising me and causing my breath to hitch in my throat. I was worried we were finished being friends and here she was taking comfort in my presence.
“You know it's precisely that attitude that makes people care about you.” She replied quietly. I did not know that! I had always believed that attitude is why someone enlisted in Starfleet in the first place, and I replied with as much.
“You big blue dummy.” She lightly punched my arm as she said that. “You're always trying your best to help people. Everyone in Starfleet wants to make a difference, but you always go that extra step even if that extra step might get you killed. Sometimes it seems like the more likely that it could kill you the harder you try to do something about it. That's why we all worry.” I had no idea how to respond to this, so we sat in silence enjoying each other’s company. Eventually Cserr spoke up.
“I know I can't change your mind. We’ve been friends for almost twenty years, I know how you operate. I just needed you to know that people care about you, ok? Can you please just promise me you won’t get yourself killed?”
“I can promise I won't do anything stupid. Ow!” I replied and she punched me again, harder this time and leaned away from me.
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“Fine I guess I’ll have to take what I can get. We should get our officers anyway. Since the shouting stopped, maybe they think one of us strangled the other. Let's stop them before they charge in here, phasers drawn.” I chuckled, stood up and returned to my chair from before as she went to open the door to let our crews back in. Despite all of this there was still a great deal to discuss.
The rest of the meeting had been productive. Cserr had agreed to take the Aurora to Starbase 23, and we had managed to hammer out a defense plan for the colony. The Tlhab had also been mercifully quiet while we debated which gave me some reassurance we had the time to do what we needed to. Additionally, Lieutenant Risi’s report on the Brotherhood's readiness was favorable, but as they had never actually seen combat, their actual effectiveness was still up in the air. After dismissing our officers and Cserr returning to her ship after a final hug I found myself with surprisingly little to do. The Klingon ships were still too far away for the planetary sensors to resolve them and with the Suliban volunteering en masse to support us, I would simply be an extra set of hands building earthworks and barriers right now. Instead, I decided to try taking Cserr’s advice and take some time for myself. I had nothing to do so maybe I could get some rest? I wandered through the halls of the colonial office looking for somewhere I could lay down for a while and eventually found myself back in the interior garden.
“Well, I could do worse than this.” I said to myself and entered. My original plan had been to find a bench, but they all proved too short for me, instead I decided on a patch of grass under a tree. As I was beginning to settle in, a flash of a blue uniform in amongst a patch of large flowering bushes to my left told me I wasn't alone. I knew exactly who this would be.
“Commander Foro?” I was greeted with a quiet “eep” almost lost in the rustling of the bushes as the patch of blue jumped and I had to suppress a laugh. “Don't worry, it's just me!” I continued. She stayed still a moment, no doubt out of embarrassment before extracting herself from the bushes. I couldn't help myself and chuckled as she awkwardly climbed through the tangle of branches.
“It's alright Commander, I just wanted to be sure it was you.” I said through my laughter. I could see she was self-conscious, feeling no doubt like she had been caught doing something she shouldn't.
“Sorry Captain.” She replied, not able to meet my eyes. “I know I should have been doing something useful, but I just wanted to spend some time here in case it was the last time.” Her unsaid words spoke volumes. It was entirely possible, even if we somehow survived this, that these gardens would be destroyed in the fighting. I still didn't quite understand the significance of them, but Yamina’s reaction to the gardens told me all I needed to know of their one of a kind importance. The last thing I wanted was her to feel bad for taking a quiet minute for herself, considering I was trying to do the same. I put my hand on her shoulder for reassurance.
“Yamina it's alright. I know how important these gardens are for you, plus you’re not the only one to come here for a break.” She cocked her head at this, and I elaborated. “I’m here hoping to have a nap. I won’t tell if you won't tell.” I said with a smile.
“Captain?”
“I haven't had more than fifteen minutes to myself since we arrived in the system.” I replied. “I need a break as much as the next person. Can you make sure no one bothers me for the next hour or so? That patch of grass is singing my name.” I gestured with my thumb over my shoulder to the tree I had decided would be my makeshift bed earlier. She smiled and laughed, good, I didn't want her feeling bad about her interests.
“I can do that Captain.” she giggled as she said it.
“Great. Keep doing what you're doing then. Oh, and Commander Foro?”
“Yes?”
“If my communicator goes off before an hour has passed, shoot it.” I smiled and she laughed. I walked past her, grabbed a throw pillow from one of the benches and made my way over to the tree. I could hear the sound of her humming to herself accompanied by the whirs and peeps of her tricorder as I set up my makeshift bed. This was a welcomed peaceful moment, and I was determined to enjoy as much of it as possible. Setting the pillow down against the tree I stripped off my gold tunic to prevent grass stains and neatly folded it and placed it next to my phaser and communicator. The grass was welcomely cool against my skin despite being scratchy and I was reminded of laying out on the quad at Starfleet Academy after a rainstorm. I looked up at the night sky through the glass roof of the garden. The stars were unfamiliar to me, though the lack of surface illumination allowed the entirety of the Milky Way to be clearly visible. I imagined one of those points of light was Andoria. Our main star burned bright, almost a pale blue and was visible from many locations in the Federation, though my limited astronavigation skills prevented me from pinpointing it now. Wrapped in the cool comfort of the ground and thoughts of home, I soon fell asleep.
I awoke with a start from my dreamless sleep to a gentle tapping on my shoulder, somehow more tired than when I had started. It was looking increasingly likely I would need to see Doctor Truong for some stimulants at this point. Oh well I was no stranger to them. I opened my eyes after rubbing the sleep from them and jumped. Commander Foro was crouched over me. She startled at my movement and fell backwards.
“Oh shoot, sorry Captain.” she exclaimed as she fell back onto her rear. “I didn't expect that.”
“It's a reaction from the war Commander, it's alright, I just need a moment.” I didn't want to elaborate. I was just happy that I hadn’t jumped her. “Is my hour up already?” She looked away before responding.
“No Captain sorry.” I made a face and she continued. “There's someone here who wants to speak with you, and I didn’t want to tell her no.” I could tell she was upset about having to wake me, though I needed to put a pin in that for now. I sighed.
“Fine, just give me a moment.” I groaned and stretched while Yamina stood up. “Might as well bring them in Commander.” My body ached as I forced myself to my feet and stooped to pick up my uniform top and gear. I was already missing the cold embrace of the grass. As I was pulling my tunic over my head I heard a voice behind me.
“Did I catch you at a bad time?” Despite the muffling of my uniform, I recognized the voice. I felt my antennae flatten against my head in embarrassment as I finished getting dressed, cheeks burning. I hesitated a moment before turning around.
“Sala, what can I help you with?” I said with my back still facing her. I heard her giggle from behind me.
“So formal Captain. No, there's nothing you can help me with, I came to see how you are doing.” My antennae flattened again, and I turned around. She was standing a few paces away from me, shadowed by Commander Foro, a big smile plastered on her face. That was good to see, the last time I had seen her she had been in tears and helping Lieutenant Risi carry Vaanek out of this room. Though I couldn’t shake the feeling that her good mood that accompanied this smile was at my expense. I leaned against the tree, trying to project a similar confidence I had tried to do with Cserr a couple hours ago.
“I’m doing fine, just trying to get a bit of rest. I really should be asking how you are.” I stated, flatly. Deflect, reassure, manage. The mantra would continue to serve me well though I did see her visibly deflate at my answer.
“We’re, I mean the Suliban are good. We are happy to help in any way. This is the first time in a very long time we’ve felt like anyone gave a damn about us.” She was deflecting too. I felt terrible and hoped she wasn't just mirroring my dismissiveness. I reattached my phaser belt and stretched again trying to think of what to do.
“Well, I’m up, why don't we take a walk? Commander Foro, don't let us keep you.” Yamina nodded and pulled her tricorder back out and made for a small patch of flowers as Sala joined me. Again, she linked her arm in mine as we walked and again, I felt my antennae flitter nervously. I chastised myself internally for my body's reaction. I wasn't some hormonal cadet, and I wished my body would stop embarrassing me. The only saving grace was I doubted Sala knew anything about Andorian antennae body language and I wanted it to stay that way. That meant she could never meet Cserr, that blabbermouth, but I was alright with that. These were thoughts unbecoming anyways. I needed to stay focused.
We made our way through the garden not really trying to end up anywhere. Eventually we found ourselves near the shore of a pond split by a small arched footbridge made of white metal. The low lambent lights lining the walls were supplemented by strange glowing bioluminescent flora lending an almost ethereal blue quality to the garden and reflected in the surface of the pond. It reminded me of the ice caves of home, and I said as much to Sala.
“Tell me more about Andoria, Niah.” She said, I looked over and could see she was observing a small flight of nocturnal pollinators flitting amongst a crop of bright pink flowers I didn't recognize.
“I can tell you it's nothing like this.” I stated, “the surface barely gets above zero where I’m from even in the direct sunlight of summer. We have vegetation, but it's sparse and primarily blue. It is beautiful though, especially out on the ice fields. There are risks going out that far, sure, but when the light of our big star hits them, they sparkle like the entire planet is made of diamonds. Andoria is a dangerous place, but a beautiful one too.” I lost myself in my memory for a moment in reverie for my world. I was thinking a lot about home it seemed. I hoped I would see it again.
“Huh,” Sala said quietly at my side. “Dangerous but beautiful.”
“It certainly can be, we have these creatures there called ice borers.” I abruptly stopped talking as what she had just said sunk in. I flushed bright blue, thankfully unnoticed in the off blue light filling the garden and I clenched my jaw to avoid making a sound. I could feel her looking up at me from my arm. I took a moment to muster my courage and looked down at her. The pale light was dancing over her face, the shadows accentuating the sharp angles of her cheekbones and sparkling in the deep gold of her irises. This was the first time I had really looked at her and she honestly was beautiful, even more than I had initially thought. My heart skipped a beat, and, in a moment, I indulged myself in a fantasy of what could be. But like all fantasies it had to end. We were facing invasion, death and slavery at the hands of the Klingons, we didn’t have time to waste on flights of fancy.
“Sala, I’m sorry.” I started to reply, tearing away my eyes from hers, but she cut me off. I felt guilty about my treacherous thoughts and wanted to make sure our conversation focused on how to save her people.
“You have nothing to be sorry for. You are the first person any of us have met who has taken our plight seriously. You're literally putting your life and career on the line for us.” I blushed again, I was certainly unaccustomed to the amount of affection I was receiving today, and deep down I feared it was because of the hopelessness of our situation. She let go of my arm to bend down at the shore of the pond while I stood there hopelessly awkward, unsure of what to do with my now empty hands. Gently she reached out and fiddled nervously with the stems of a few flowers that lined the pond’s edge before continuing speaking.
“We know our peoples reputation as, what did that woman call us, galactic trash. We are used to having to fend for ourselves and staying in our own communities. We had no home, no government. We are one of the galaxy's forgotten peoples. But not to you. You didn't care that we weren't Human, or Tellarite, or Vulcan, or any of the other Federation members. I haven't even been a Federation citizen for a year, yet you still stood up for all of us. That means something, alright?” With a light crack she broke the stem of one of the flowers and stood back up, cradling the delicate pink blossom in her left hand. Still not looking at me, she found my hand with her empty right one and with a gentle tug pulled me towards the bridge. I followed as if on autopilot, still unsure of what was actually happening here or what she was doing. We stopped in the center of the bridge, bathed in the light of the plants surrounding us and she turned to face me. With a determined look on her face she reached up and tucked the flower she had picked behind my left ear, almost having to stand on her tiptoes to reach. Leaning back to admire her handiwork, Sala spoke again.
“I wanted to say thank you in some small way. When your officer said you were here, I knew it had to mean something and since we may not have another chance…” She trailed off, looking up at me, before sighing and pulling me into a hug. I let her hold me for a moment before returning the hug, anything I could do to help. We stood there locked in an embrace for a long time, cradled in the soft blue light surrounding us. I felt her breath hitch against my chest, she was starting to cry.
“Hey, hey it's alright.” I tried to comfort her, shifting one arm from the embrace and using my hand to lift her chin so she could look at me. I put on my best reassuring smile before continuing.
“I don't abandon people just because it's difficult. I can’t promise everything will work out, but I do promise that I will do everything I possibly can to save your people.” Anything else I had planned to say was at once lost as she pulled me down into a kiss. Time slammed to a halt as all sensation was replaced with the closeness of Sala’s body and the softness of her lips. One kiss became many, our lips only parting for brief moments to breathe, lost entirely in the beauty of this moment. I could stay here forever.
We were unfairly returned to reality however by the beeping of my communicator on my waist. How long had that been going off for? I gently pushed away from her and retrieved it from my belt. I met her eyes again and mouthed ‘sorry’ before opening the flap with a flick of my wrist.
“Go for the Captain.” Shit I sounded out of breath.
“Niah, sensors have finally resolved the approaching ships. They're Orion.” It was Cserr. Though I was glad we finally knew what was approaching, the fact that it was Orion’s and not Klingons gave me pause. Why wouldn't they just send in the Imperial army? Unless…
“Cserr, you need to leave now! I’ll send the same order to the Resolute. The Klingons are using the Orion’s as cover to legitimize this by playing it off as a slave raid! They're banking on the colony being too gutless to go against that story, and the Empire will be blameless for our deaths! That means no Starfleet witnesses!” I was practically shouting into the communicator by the end. This was their endgame, how they would get away with attacking a Federation world.
“Understood Captain, we are having an issue with our warp engines, we will depart as soon as…” A blizzard of static cut off the end of the transmission.
“Cserr! Cserr!” I shouted into my communicator, fully pulling away from Sala and cupping it with both hands. It was no use the transmission was dead at the source. My communicator began beeping again, and I thumbed the connection switch automatically.
“Captain.” It was Lieutenant Phillips. “Somethings wrong with the Aurora, she just lost all power. She's dead in space.” This wasn't a system fault, this was something else, sabotage? An undetected Klingon boarding party perhaps?
“Lieutenant, bring the ship to red alert and take the Aurora in tow. Once you have them, set course for Starbase 19. Is that understood?” We did not have time for questions, and I hoped the severity of my tone conveyed the immediacy of the situations. Fortunately, Lieutenant Phillips didn't disappoint.
“Understood ma’am. All hands red alert. Bring us around course one eight zero mark one four. Execute” I heard them yell to the bridge crew. A muffled reply that the bridge comms system did not fully resolve, responded to Lieutenant Phillips and they spoke to me again.
“Captain, we just received a tight beam communication from the Aurora on an Orion frequency.” A wash of static drowned out whatever they had added, though I had distinctly heard the words “power failure”, “inertia”, “collision course” and “planet.” I had no trouble reading between the lines. The Resolute had befallen the same fate as the Aurora. Worse, the result of my last order had set them on a course to crash into the planet, rather than remaining in a slowly decaying standard orbit.
“Resolute if you can hear me, abandon ship!” A wall of static greeted me in response. I thumbed my communicator to a wide beam broadcast and repeated the order across all frequencies, trying to in some way ensure the safety of whatever crew remained above on my ship. Silence was my only reply. I turned to Sala dumbstruck, and I could see the sadness etched in her face. Unable to look her in the eye for more than a moment I instead stared at the floor.
“My ship,” I stammered. “They’ve done something to my ship.” I could feel tears welling in the corners of my eyes. I was losing another ship and was powerless to do anything. I had failed again as a Captain. I should have been onboard, instead of wasting time in this garden. Worse still whatever it had been had doomed my friend and her ship as well. A soft touch pulled me back into the present momentarily and I glanced up. Sala had reached out and taken my hands in hers, mirroring the comfort I had shown her earlier when we had first met. I met her eyes and she smiled softly at me, her thumbs rubbing small circles above my knuckles.
“They’re your crew Niah, they’ll know what to do. From what I’ve seen you have to be some of the best Starfleet has.” Her words were comforting but felt hollow. My crew was first rate, but I certainly wasn't. Disaster followed the ships I commanded. Ignorant of my thoughts, Sala leaned up again and pecked the tip of my nose.
“What was that for?” I replied blankly, completely dumbfounded by her action.
“You were trapped in your own mind, I could tell. I wanted to break you out.” She smiled and I returned it, barely. She was right of course, I had been spiraling and her kiss had completely brought me back to the present moment. I pulled her into another hug, and we stood there for a time, both terrified of the future yet finding solace with each other. Despite our closeness, I was still unable to tear my eyes away from the sky, looking for any sign of the Resolute. Part of me knew it was too far away to be able to see anything, but that didn't stop me. I needed to know what was happening.
“Niah look!” Sala gasped, pulling away from me and pointing to the sky. Through the glass ceiling of the garden and completely unobstructed by the clear night sky I had been admiring just a short time ago, we saw a new star burst to life and streak across the heavens before winking out near the horizon.
“They’re headed towards the ocean.” Sala whispered beside me. I could say nothing, made mute by everything that occurred. In a matter of minutes our lifelines to the rest of the Federation had been severed and I had just lost my ship. Instinctively I pulled Sala closer, seeking some form of comfort but found none this time. All I could imagine was the sound of Captain Klaugh laughing.