by Aer-ki Jyr
She doubted that he would be getting involved with someone again if he was going back to fight, but if he survived and someday ended up in a place where away from the war, even if just for a vacation, Jenn didn’t want his relationship with her to come back to haunt him in the least. Running out the seal was partly out of respect for him and for herself, for she’d committed to five years and she was going to honor that regardless of current circumstances.
Those 5 years ended while she was on the water, with her wristband set to alert her when the moment passed. She was half asleep in a sun-induced stupor when the chime sounded, but she still recognized it for what it was and said one final goodbye to Brad. From here on out he was no longer a part of her life, but she wished him well wherever he was, keeping her and everyone else safe along with the rest of the military.
Letting go such thoughts, for news coming from the rest of Star Force territory was few and far between making Shangri-La almost like an island insulated from the rest of the galaxy, Jenn fully embraced her new life here by letting go her connections to Brad, Earth, and everything else in her past. She didn’t want to forget them, but as such things were no longer relevant they were tucked back into a storage compartment in her mind just in case they became relevant later, much like her days in the maturia had been.
None of it was relevant now and Jenn was relieved to finally put the last bit behind her. She didn’t intend looking for a boyfriend anytime soon, but it was good to have her vision set firmly ahead in her life. Right now she was blissfully soaking up sun and contently happy, and both she and Sarah were building towards the future. Already this planet had become home with the journey out here felling like a distant memory, and as Jenn resettled into her drifting haze on the ocean she relished in the golden age that was Star Force, safely encapsulated here in the wilds of space while the war continued to escalate elsewhere.
When she eventually woke to a mild sunburn, Jenn rolled off the panel and dunked herself in the warm water, shaking herself fully away and choosing to swim back to shore rather than paddling. She felt alive, invigorated, and hopeful. She was single now and her future full of opportunity, with Jenn intent on running into it aggressively now that her moment of reflection and rest was over.
When she got to the shore she jogged up the soft ramp that kept her wet, naked body clear of the beach sand as she got back to her wall locker and retrieved her clothes, which she put back on after a quick stint underneath a drying array that wicked the water off her body with a series of energy shields.
Then she passed through a door back into the interior of the city with the normal oxygen content and mildly cool air as she headed to the nearest cafeteria to get something to eat before spending the rest of her day in an entertainment complex that helped to finish clearing her mind and recharging her creativity for the following day when she got back to work helping her new startup company get established. She was getting to design some of the clothing that would be setting fashion trends across Minbar and perhaps the entire star system for centuries to come as more and more people were evacuated out here and the local population continued to grow, and it wasn’t a task she was taking lightly.
Jenn wouldn’t be helping with that population growth, now fully committed to the huge opportunity before her and making it profitable enough to be able to support her and her sister, after which she was going to make sure to make a spot in the company for Sarah. They were a team and intended to stay that way forever, and being able to work together would make their lives just that much better as they both inched their way forward into an unknown and bright future.
On that same day back in the Solar System, Brad and his Commando unit were dropping down to the surface of Venus through the dense, toxic atmosphere to the cities beneath that were currently under V’kit’no’sat attack. Like on Earth, the enemy was pushing from region to region going for the shield generators so they could expose the planet to their warfleet in orbit, and the longer Star Force could hold them here the more time they’d have to evacuate the outer planets.
Brad wasn’t thinking about Jenn now, only his fellow Commandos and their mission. He was a warrior and now that his fitness level had returned to adequate levels this was his time to fight, and despite the fact that he might not live through this there wasn’t another place in the galaxy where he wanted to be.
The fight against the Dinosaurs was here and now, and he wasn’t going to sit on the sidelines and watch anymore.
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