27 (DSV Nautica) Fallen Angel
Aki stared at the ceiling, trying to make sense of it all. This was just too much for her. She felt so tired. So worn out as if she had just tried to singlehandedly move a mountain with her will. May'ael restrained her briefly, easing off as it became apparent that she was no threat."Captain...you fell into a comatose state. You are in the medical ward."All it took was a brief exchange of thoughts with various crew members to get a read on the ships status. They were damaged, but not completely inoperable. They could live with it. But that wasn't the sentiment that the council shared with them, as Aki would soon find out.The council representative connected with Aki's mind, delivering a private message."Captain. You are ordered to return to New Ayr as soon as possible. You must make the next resonance match."Aki had no time to protest the action as the representative withdrew his presence. She paused for a moment, shocked at the abrupt order. They had things to do here. A signal to investigate. But she received new orders. As much as it pained her...she needed to follow them.
May'ael attempted to stop her, but Aki brushed her aside as she left the medical ward, heading toward the bridge. They didnt have time for these precautions. She instructed De'an to enter the new course toward the galaxies center, and for Zhi to report to her private quarters immediately.Flare relaxed on the bed alone, awaiting Aa'zac. He was checking out of the medical bay at this moment. They had fared well on the planet, though it had been rather boring to be honest. She had expected more dragons to come for them, perhaps some kind of dramatic food shortage. But none of that had happened. What had happened instead, was she found someone that she could love. She hadn't eve given it any thought. Always, there had been things to do, a job to tend to. But on the planet, she had the first real time to herself in so long. Time to reflect inward and find where she was lacking in her life. Granted, there was the helplessness on the planet, a fear that they would never be rescued.That time had allowed her to find the holes in her life, and she found them. When she really looked at it, she had a warriors life. A lonely life. She always felt jealous of Aki, on some level, for having Zhi as her mate. She knew there were other couples around the ship, and even those who didn't have someone on board had someone back home. The Ayr'een had none of the marriage rites that other species had, but then nevertheless did have mates. She had done some reflecting. She found what she had been missing, and she wasn't sure how to proceed.
The Erebus began to turn in FTL, heading toward the galactic core. Across the galaxy, all the Ayr'een ships began following similar orders, to fall back and come home. However, a distress signal
began strobing across the stars. Only the Ayr'een could detect this signal. Subsystems flashed warnings to De'an, whom called the captain to the bridge immediately."Are you sure?""Yes captain. The Thanatos let out an omnidirectional burst warning right before it went dark."Aki sighed and sunk into her chair. She felt weak from the recent events, but did her best to hide it."Where are they? In relation to us?""Close. 50 light years. Almost directly in front of us.""Set a course. New Ayr can wait a little bit. We should still make the resonance fields in time.""Understood captain. If they have been taken down by draconids-""then we will reenter FTL and proceed home, simple as that. Tag the wreck, and come back with a strike force."De'an stayed quiet, but placed weapons on standby, enabling the cloak in FTL. It wouldn't be long before they got to the Thanatos' site and would be able to assess if it was wrecked, or just stuck. Probably the former. He sighed, laying back and taking a few minutes to close his eyes and clear his thoughts.
"I admit, im angry. But I was scared when you went under..." Zhi's voice was low, he glanced around the room and fidgeted, nervous.Aki bit her lip in annoyance, facing him. She had summoned him to her quarters for a talk."You have no right to be angry. You endangered the ship needlessly, you disobeyed me. Any other captain would have locked you up without even a word until we got back to New Ayr."Zhi had no retort to that. He was beginning to think that he had messed up really badly. It grew from feeling that he did the right thing, to a feeling that it was all just misguided. He stayed silent, bowing his head in shame. Aki took that as his admission of defeat and stared for a few moments. The humming of the ship around them was the only noise to break the silence.Ka'ya shuddered as the council member replaced her consciousness through the communication link, demanding to speak to the captain immediately. It didnt take long for Aki to be summoned to the comms center to answer to the council member. Zhi was left alone in her quarters to ponder what would become of him.
"Why have you altered course? Your orders are-""The Thanatos has gone dark. We are en route to investigating the cause-""That is not your job, Captain. Get back on schedule!""With due respect...we came here to investigate this galaxy. A force recon carrier has gone dark, and how can you say that is not my job to investigate. We will return in time for the next resonance.""Captain, you WILL get back to New Ayr!" The Council member was furious, and made no attempt to hide it, on the verge of a physical altercation."Is that a
direct order from the council? Because if it isnt, then you have no right to order me around."The Council Member stayed silent for a moment, glaring at Aki."You will retu-"Aki cut the communication link. She would receive new orders. Not be the punching bag for some bastards misplaced anger."Reset the link and be ready to receive any messages that are incoming."The technicians got everything ready, as Aki sent a message to Zhi to return to his post. She got no reply. The bridge was quieter than usual, word of the mission having gotten around. The loss of the Thanatos was a reminder that they could be squashed like bugs if not careful. And the Thanatos was much more powerful than they were.
"Captain, we are exiting FTL"