9 (DSV Nautica)AU-945 Part 2
Flare was silent, staring at the ceiling of her quarters. Lyn wasn't permanently damaged, but nevertheless the battle had taken a toll on her. She had yet to wake up. May'ael found nothing wrong, so it all must have been in her mind. Flare pulled herself up off the bed and wandered down the halls to the medical bay. It was thankfully empty, or at least almost empty. Lyn was laying in the back corner bed, mumbling to herself. Her mind felt confused and blocked off from the rest of them. It felt unstable. Flare sat next to her and took her hand. Lyn's mumbling slowed and stopped, as the monitors indicated she entered a deep sleep phase.Aki paced the deck, scanning the displays all around the room. She sighed and tapped in a few absent-minded commands into the propulsion, altering course for the next exploration location. A planet that showed signs of terraforming. This galaxy held the most advanced races they knew of, apart from themselves. This implied that the dragons had something to do with the anomaly in development.
"Or we are the anomaly..." She bit her lip. Her thoughts returned to their encounter mere moments ago. She reportedly had one of her protectors incapacitated. Lyn, one of Flares favorites. Aki didn't know Lyn personally, but Flare did. She wouldn't take this well."De'an, you have the bridge." Aki got up and headed toward the rear of the ship. Her thoughts strayed to home already, and they had been in this galaxy for maybe 5 minutes. She frowned and shook her head, reaching the communication room. Ka'ya was in there, with another crew member. It didn't look like it was anything innocent either, for her synth suit was half way off, and his was coming off."Ka'ya, you can finish later. I have to contact home."Ka'ya let out a grin and sent the flustered crew member on his way. Ka'ya pulled her suit back on and laid on the comms bed. "The council, captain?""Yes please""One moment." Ka'ya entered a deep comatose phase once again, her body trembling slightly.Aki felt herself connect to the council chamber. The council members scrutinizing her. "Nee'Ak'Ee'oh, Captain of the exploration ship Erebus, what do you have to report?"
"Successfully entered Galaxy AU-945. Draconid ambush upon entry. We suffered one serious injury, and some ship damage, but we are cloaked in FTL and en route to the first exploration point.""Only one serious injury?""Yes.""Very impressive captain. Check back in with us 2 cycles from now. If you are any more than 1 cycle late, then you will be considered lost. Understand?""Yes."The link disconnected, leaving Aki with a cold feeling in her stomach."Zhi...warm the jump drive please...and keep it warm.""Whats wrong?""Bad feeling. Just do it.""We can't leave the drive charged. It will
blow out the buffer.""Charge it for as long as you can, decharge it, then recharge it again. I want minimal downtime.""...Yes captain."She could sense Zhi's apprehension. She felt bad for doing that to him, but she had to be a captain right now, not a lover. She was segregating the two so far, but it was becoming harder to do it. She resumed her trip to the infirmary and entered behind Flare, standing behind her quietly. She was staring off into space, thinking some private thoughts. Aki poked her over the link, snapping her out of it.
"Captain!" Flare stood at attention.Aki nodded to her. "How is she doing?"Flare glanced at Lyn. "Not too well...""And you?"Flare stayed slient for awhile before answering "I'm fine."Aki scrutinized. "She knew the risks. You knew the risks. This was bound to happen to someone. You have to understand that and move on Flare. The connection is intimate, but here it can easily be severed. If you can't deal...ill have to replace you."Flare looked dumbstruck where she stood. Aki left the room, feeling rather unsure about the way things were going. She knew there was no one better than Flare to lead. Was she right? To threaten replacement? She sighed, heading to her quarters, sealing the door behind her."Bad day?"Zhi whirled around, seeing Zhi laying on her bed, looking concerned."The drives are warmed and constantly so as per your orders...but there is propulsion conduit damage. We have to shut down and repair at some point."Aki sighed and climbed into the bed. Their synth suits melted off of them, into small lumps which they placed on the bedside stand. Aki pressed up against Zhi, feeling his warmth close as he hugged her tightly, their bare bodies rubbing, tails entwined. Aki closed her eyes, feeling the ship thrumming around them. It would be several hours before they reached their destination.
"The crew is repairing what they can, as fast as they can. But we will have to shut the engines down for repairs...we can't continue without doing so."Aki nuzzled his chest and nodded, inhaling his scent, her senses tingling. She smiled up at him with dreamy eyes, for one moment feeling like a girl again, and not like the ship captain that she was. She pulled Zhi on top of her and kissed him deeply. Rubbing his back and running her fingers though his hair.De'an ran scans on the planet from afar, snapping at a few crew whom were getting too social. The scan results filled the screen. The planet showed breathable atmosphere, but devoid of plant life. Classic terraformed planet. His eyes flicked over the lateral power conduit. It was reading a little low. Must have been damage. He contacted Zhi, only to find him blocking out anyone else. De'an groaned and contacted the engineering, finding that there was no damage down
there. Very odd.The Draconid siphoned a little more power to protect himself against the FTL field, having gotten a little weak from clinging on to the hull. He had to hang on and broadcast the location of the trespassers, and take them down this time.