by Linn Schwab
“Does that mean you won’t take Robin now?”
The commander hesitated. “I didn’t say that. But perhaps you can help me reach a decision.”
What? Caroline found herself thinking. Why would she even bother asking for my help? She has to know I’ll try to talk her out of taking Robin from us.
“What I want you to do,” Commander Eldridge explained, “is report back to me periodically on Robin’s physical and mental state of readiness, according to your own perceptions. You know Robin better than anyone. Who better than you to judge her condition. If you can convince me by the time I’m ready to leave that Robin is truly fit for her position, I’ll allow things to remain the way they are. If not, then ECHO 5 gets a new captain. Sounds easy enough, doesn’t it?” she challenged. “But things aren’t always as clear as they seem, and I think you’ll find this is no exception. You see, I know you’d willingly risk your own life for Robin, without the slightest bit of hesitation. But in this case, it isn’t just your own life on the line.” She directed Caroline’s attention to the opening in the floor where Chrissy was just now emerging from below, with grease and hydraulic fluid smudged on her skin, yet still looking very much the helpless little girl who relied on her older sisters for protection.
The message sank in immediately. If Caroline had even the slightest doubt about Robin’s condition, supporting her could prove to be a difficult decision.
REUNION 079
The cafeteria was beginning to fill up as additional fighter squadrons returned from the Zephyr. Major Richards had deemed it too great a risk to keep all of them stationed in the same location, so half of them were being called back to Volaris, including all four of the sister squadrons. When Commander Eldridge brought the younger girls down for lunch, there were hugs and many happy faces to greet them. After Chrissy had been introduced to the Hornets, the conversation shifted from concern over her age to focus once again on the station’s male visitor, what he was like, and what might have ultimately happened to him. After waiting quite some time for Major Richards to appear, and fill in the blanks that Virginia couldn’t seem to, Jenny eventually grew impatient, and set off with the intention of tracking her down.
She found the major in the infirmary, evaluating Miranda while asking her some questions. Miranda was sitting on the edge of a table; the major on a stool directly in front of her. “And then what happened?” the major asked her.
The question seemed to make Miranda uneasy. “Fire,” she said. “There was fire all around her. I tried to pull her out, but her leg was trapped.”
Major Richards did her best to keep the girl calm, but it was clear that she was beginning to tremble as she tried to recall some tragic event. “Are you certain she was still alive at that point?”
Miranda slowly nodded her head. “I ran to get a fire extinguisher, and I remember hearing her call out a name. Then I saw her reach out with both arms, but no one was there.”
“And then?” the major prompted her.
Miranda closed her eyes and swallowed. “And then she just collapsed to the floor. After that, she didn’t respond anymore. Her eyes were open, but she wasn’t breathing. I tried, but ... I couldn’t revive her.”
The major briefly glanced over at Jenny, then turned her attention back to Miranda. “You said you heard her call out a name. Do you remember who it was she called out to?”
“Yes, I do,” Miranda said. “It sounded like she was calling out to Commander Jeffries.”
If the answer came as a surprise to the major, she was very effective at keeping it concealed — at least until she attempted to speak again. “Alright,” she said weakly before clearing her throat, “I’m clearing you to return to work now, Miranda. You seem to be recovering as well as can be expected, given the severity of what you experienced. If you have any problems, make sure you come see me. And try to keep your mind off from what happened, okay? Just do your best to stay focused on your duties.”
Miranda nodded and got to her feet, then slid past Jenny and out through the doorway.
“That sounded rather unpleasant,” Jenny observed. “I can’t imagine going through something like that.”
“In a way, you may be fortunate,” the major replied. “For pilots, death usually comes in rapid fashion.”
“Yeah,” Jenny said. “That it does. I’ve seen it first hand more times than I can count. But I hear there may have been a recent opportunity to finally put all of this suffering behind us.”
“So it seemed,” the major said. “Unfortunately, it didn’t work out for us.”
“I heard that as well,” Jenny informed her. She moved in closer and leaned against the table. “So what happened?”
Major Richards shook her head. “We don’t know. I waited at the rendezvous point past the deadline, but no one showed up there to meet me.”
“You think something went wrong?” Jenny asked.
“That would be my guess, but there’s no way to be sure.”
“We have to find out. That much is clear. We just need to come up with a way to do it.”
“If you have any thoughts on that, I’d be happy to hear them. I’m afraid I’m coming up short on ideas.”
“We’ll think of something,” Jenny insisted. “Don’t give up hope just yet, Major.”
“Hope?” the major said. She shook her head sadly. “Have we ever really had any hope? I used to believe we could win this war, but now it seems I was just deluding myself. Commander Eldridge informs me that in order to win, we’d have to launch an attack on Earth. But to get there, we’d have to leave Sentinel space — which, according to what you’ve told me, presents an entirely different problem for us.
“By the way, Captain, while I’m on that subject, something happened while you were away that I think you may find interesting. Your star pupil, along with the rest of her squad, made another foray into enemy space. But this time they didn’t just skirt along the edge. They flew well beyond the outer bounds of our patrol zones.”
“What?” Jenny uttered, both surprised and concerned. Robin hadn’t mentioned anything about another mission. And why would she have been sent out into space again anyway? Now was not exactly a good time for training runs, with those enemy ships lingering so close to Volaris.
“If you don’t mind,” Major Richards continued, “I’d like to question Captain Starling in your presence. Maybe together we can shed some light on this mysterious influence you claim is restricting us.”
“Of course,” Jenny responded flatly, though she wanted to give someone a piece of her mind. And I’ve got a few questions of my own I’d like answered, when I find out who it was that sent Robin out there!
After further discussion, both of them agreed Commander Eldridge should be present when they interviewed Robin. So they decided it was best to put the session off until after the evening meal period. Since Jenny had a few hours to kill before then, she made her way back toward the cafeteria to talk things over with the other pilots. If they were ever going to learn why the Earthlings hadn’t shown up at the rendezvous, they needed to come up with some sort of plan to figure out what might have become of their guest. Had the offer been rejected outright by his superiors? Or had he even made it back to his fleet alive? Without knowing the answer to the latter question, it was impossible to reach any kind of conclusion.
As Jenny wandered past the observation lounge, her mind pondering the plausibility of various options, she thought she overheard Virginia’s voice, drifting out into the corridor. Stopping to peer inside the lounge, she noticed Virginia sitting on a bench, reading aloud from an archive interface, with Zoe curled up on the seat right beside her. Intrigued, she listened from a distance for a moment to see if she could tell what Virginia was reading. It wasn’t like Zoe to have someone read to her, and it wasn’t anything at all like Virginia to talk as much as this. Yet both of them seemed to be enjoying the experience — an exceedingly rare moment for Sentinel pilots. It gave her a pleasant feeling inside
, and coaxed a smile of satisfaction from her.
The words she was hearing seemed part of a story, though it was difficult for her to piece together what was happening. There was mention of treasure, and the voice of a dragon, and something about a thief becoming invisible. As she continued to follow along with the story, a plan began to take shape in her mind. Before she knew it, the lounge was behind her, and her feet were heading for the elevators. Moments later she found herself in the hangar, searching for one of the fighter technicians.
“A jamming device?” Genevieve asked, after Jenny had described to her what she wanted.
“Yes,” Jenny said. “Do you think you can make one?”
The technician gave her a puzzled look. “I’m not really sure, but what purpose would it serve? Volaris already has that capability.”
“Our fighters don’t have that ability, though. I need something we can use far away from Volaris. Can you rig up a belly pod for one of us?”
Genevieve carefully considered her request, then nodded and added a stipulation. “But, you’ll have to get the major or Commander Eldridge to sign off on it first. This station needs a lot of repair work right now, so I’ll need authorization to divert the time and effort.”
“Fair enough,” Jenny said. “I’ll speak with Major Richards myself. I’m certain I can talk her into this.”
“Just to be clear,” Genevieve cautioned, “there’s no guarantee I can make this work. My training is in how to repair things, Captain. In many cases, I don’t even understand how they work. I just follow the procedures laid out in my repair guides.”
“I understand,” Jenny acknowledged. “Just try your best. That’s all I ask.”
Genevieve turned her eyes to the row of fighters parked along the far wall. “Assuming you do get permission for this, which fighter do you want me to install this on? It could turn out to be enough of an encumbrance to place the pilot’s life at greater risk.”
Jenny wasted little time in responding. “Put it on my fighter, then.” She turned toward the exit and headed off to secure approval from Major Richards.
* * * *
Following the lunch break, Commander Eldridge and her work crew returned to the gun bays, leaving Robin alone again with the pilots. As she nibbled at the rations on her tray, she listened in on their conversations and chimed in with an occasional thought of her own. After Jenny had left to find the major, she began to lose interest in the discussion and found herself observing rather than listening. At one point she noticed Zoe reach inside her uniform and slowly pull out an archive interface. She made a subtle gesture toward Virginia with the interface, then after an exchange of coy grins, they both got up and left the room together. So discreet had the whole interaction been that none of the others even seemed to notice. The conversation simply continued without them, but the questions were soon being directed at Robin.
With Jenny and Virginia both gone now, Nancy and Suzanne took the seats at Robin’s sides.
“Did you get a chance to speak with him?” Nancy asked her.
“Yes,” she said, then quickly added, “a little.”
Suzanne grasped her by the upper arm and gave it a gentle squeeze in excitement. “What did you talk about?” she pried. “Can you tell us anything else about him?”
“I don’t know,” Robin said, trying to think back to the brief time she’d spent with him. “I think he was trying to be nice. He seemed really fond of Major Richards.”
“Really?” Nancy exclaimed. “What makes you say that? Did he tell you that himself? Did you see them together?” There appeared to be a heightened thirst for knowledge in her eyes in regards to the major’s relationship with Dave.
“It was pretty obvious,” Robin said, then she went on to describe how Dave had helped her retrieve Major Richards from the elevator. How the two of them had moved her to the infirmary, and how Dave had given the major an injection, after both of them had expressed their unease in doing so. Eventually her account delved into a description of other details relating to the station’s collision. Before she knew it, the evening meal period arrived, and the rest of her battalion was returning from the gun bays.
While the others formed a line at the serving counter, Katrina headed straight for Robin’s table and positioned herself to speak to Suzanne.
“Suzanne,” she said, apparently somewhat nervous, “I was just wondering if ... I mean, I know you taught Sheri how to use the systems console. There’s a lot of things I still don’t know how to do. Would you be willing to teach me too?”
Suzanne grinned and immediately got to her feet. “Absolutely! I’d be happy to show you what you need to know. Why don’t we grab a tray and head down to the spur. We can go over some of the basics while we’re eating.”
As Suzanne and Katrina stepped away from the table, an announcement came over the station’s loudspeakers.
“Captain Starling, report to classroom A.”
A hush fell over the cafeteria. Robin felt the eyes of the room upon her. I’m in trouble, she thought, contemplating what awaited. Commander Eldridge is going to ask me about that station. She’s going to ask me why I didn’t attack. Or maybe she knows we altered the ship’s recording. Either way, the discussion likely wouldn’t be pleasant. She stood up and headed for classroom A, resigned to receiving a stout verbal lashing.
The door was open when she approached. She could see Commander Eldridge inside. To her surprise, Major Richards was present as well, and Jenny was also in the room.
“Come in,” Commander Eldridge greeted her. “Close the door behind you and take a seat.”
Robin pressed a button to close the door, and sat herself in the midst of the others. She looked tentatively at Commander Eldridge, but it was Jenny who actually spoke to her first.
“Robin,” Jenny said, “just try to stay relaxed. There’s something very sensitive we need to ask you about.”
Commander Eldridge looked at Robin and shook her head. “This is not my doing, Captain Starling,” she insisted. “I have no idea why they’ve asked us both here.”
“It’s true,” the major confirmed. “This was my idea. Though Captain McNeil had something to do with it as well. Captain?” she said, prompting Jenny to take the lead.
Jenny moved closer and sat down next to Robin, and spoke to her in a soothing voice. “From what the major tells me,” Jenny began, “you had quite the adventure while I was away. Though she hasn’t yet filled me in on all of the details, she tells me you took one of our destroyers deep inside enemy territory. Much deeper than on your last excursion. Deeper than our patrols have ever managed to penetrate. What we’re wondering about is something that affects our personnel. A sensation we feel when we venture out too far. Did you experience any uneasy feelings while you were out there in enemy space?”
Robin knew immediately what Jenny was referring to. The experience was still quite fresh in her mind. As she focused on the memory of what it had felt like, a violent shudder overtook her body, and left her trembling for a few seconds afterward.
“Did you see that?” Jenny asked Major Richards. “Even just thinking about it can trigger a response.”
“Remarkable,” the major replied. “Robin, can you tell me what you were feeling just now?”
Robin opened her mouth to speak, but shuddered a second time and recoiled from the major as if her instincts were warning her to flee.
“It’s alright, Robin,” Jenny assured her, “just clear your mind and try not to think about it.”
Robin felt Jenny’s hand on her shoulder and realized she wasn’t the only one shaking. She looked up at the others, searching for answers, but Jenny silenced her by placing a finger on her lips, and suggested she should concentrate on trying to relax.
Major Richards looked at Commander Eldridge as if awaiting an explanation. “What are your thoughts on this, Commander?” she asked. “Are you aware of any previous accounts of this phenomenon?”
The commander appeared reluctan
t to answer at first, but gave in after a moment of thought. “Yes, of course,” she finally replied. “I’ve heard multiple reports of similar reactions.”
“And?” Major Richards pressed.
Commander Eldridge studied Robin’s face, as if trying to decide how much to reveal. “The evidence does seem to support those accounts, Major. There does indeed appear to be some sort of affliction that sets in when we stray a certain distance from Valhalla.”
“That’s it?” the major asked. “Some sort of affliction? No details as to how or why it affects us?”
“I can’t tell you what I don’t know, Major. We can’t exactly study this phenomenon in action. The threshold of its onset lies beyond our territory.”
“Yes,” the major said, “but is that just a coincidence? Or does the threshold actually limit the extent of our territory? When Captain McNeil first mentioned this phenomenon to me, I got the impression it interfered with our ability to function. Yet Robin’s crew still managed to perform their duties, even when they were deep inside enemy space.”
Commander Eldridge suddenly seemed intrigued. “Captain Starling,” she said, “I’d like to hear your perspective on this. Would you say your ability to function was impaired?”
“Yes,” Robin managed to reply. She poised herself for another round of the shakes, but managed to keep her thoughts focused on her answer, and avoid falling back on that unsettling feeling.
The commander continued to watch her closely. “And what about the rest of your crew?” she asked. “Would you say they were all affected likewise?”
Robin gave a nod of confirmation. “They were all affected. Except for Chrissy.”
The others looked at each other in silence. “Are you sure about that?” the commander asked. “About Chrissy not being affected, I mean.”
Robin again responded with a nod. “It didn’t seem to have any affect on her at all.”
“And do you have any idea why that might be?”