“That’s really it?” Fox asked.
“I think so.” Grant replied, “We’re DOA unless we can find the reactor. I just hope we can get a bite on it before too long.”
“Well, we’ll keep everyone we can on it. That’s the best we can do. Keep training the force and be ready to deploy the second we get an ID.”
“God, this has been such an utter shit-show.” Grant said in frustration, “every piece of this operation’s gone straight to hell.”
“That’s the way of it. No plan survives first contact intact.”
“I know, I know,” Grant sighed, leaning back in his self-adjusting seat. “I should have seen this coming; I should have looked ahead. I just wish we could have had some measure of success.”
“How can you say that? That we’ve had no successes? We’ve had setbacks and made bad calls but that’s the way of warfare. Had you not made the decisions you did, right now we’d be watching Earth burn. We’ve got a fleet. We’ve got a crew. We’ve got a skilled command team that’s extremely competent. God willing, that’ll be enough.”
“I hope you’re right.” Grant stared off into the abyss, “I need to apologize. I’ve put you through hell non-stop since we left Earth.”
“Agreed and accepted.” Fox said, “I’m just as guilty as you. It’s how things go out here. All we can do is what’s right and maybe leave our corner of the universe a little more stable than when we started. We can never do more.”
Grant smiled with a nod, “And we should never wish to do less.”
http://goo.gl/1UxEox
MissionSRX: Deep Unknown Page 38