Keryn walked the empty halls of the Revolution, glad to be away from the bustle of activity that accompanied their docking at the space station. Nearly everyone had left the ship, eager to begin their shore leave, leaving the ship a vacant ghost. Only the sounds of hammering and the distant sparking of the welders repairing the Cruiser broke the silence.
It was a welcomed change from the past four weeks. Keryn had thought that the hardest part of getting promoted to Squadron Commander would have been planning new strategies and taking her pilots through the simulations. Instead, her hardest task had been finding creative ways to avoid Yen Xiao. He hadn’t actively sought her company and she knew his blood still boiled at the thought of their argument. Still, against her own desires, she had refrained from apologizing. Though the time apart had been difficult, it had also been invigorating. Keryn found more and more time to examine her own interests and desires and, slowly, she grew more confident as a leader. Her Squadron still grumbled at the thought of more simulations, but they performed admirably, no matter how difficult the battlefield she envisioned.
Walking down one of the empty corridors, Keryn turned the corner and almost ran into Captain Hodge. Sliding quickly apart, the Captain placed her hand on her chest in evident shock.
“Squadron Commander,” she said breathlessly. “I hadn’t expected anyone else to still be aboard.” Slowly, Captain Hodge regained her composure. Her look of surprise was replaced by one of suspicion. “Why are you still on board?”
Keryn shrugged. “I had a lot of work to do, ma’am. I figured I could take some quiet time while everyone in the Squadron is enjoying their shore leave to catch up on some of the projects I’d been procrastinating to finish for the past four weeks.”
Shaking her head in disapproval, Captain Hodge replied. “You’re exactly right, Keryn. Everyone under your command is enjoying their shore leave, except for you.”
“There’s nothing for me down there that I can’t appreciate by remaining on board.”
The Captain frowned. “You don’t honestly believe that, do you?”
“I believe it enough, does that count?” Keryn asked, laughing slightly.
Captain Hodge sat on a bench nearby. Tapping the seat next to her, she invited Keryn to sit as well. “You know, it may sound like a bad cliche, but you remind me a lot of a younger me. When I was a young officer, I believed that I could change the world… if only there was one more hour in every day. I worked myself nearly to death to try to set myself apart from my peers. And I was successful. I was one of the youngest Avalon to ever be promoted to the rank of Captain and be given command of my own Cruiser. It was a remarkable day, but you know who celebrated with me?”
Keryn knew where the story was going, and frowned at the realization. “No one, ma’am.”
“Exactly. Against popular belief, there is no such thing as being married to your work. At the end of the day, your work is a fickle lover. The job that you fill, the one that you’re so attached to, can easily be filled by anyone else. So if you want something that’s actually committed to you, you need to get your butt off this ship and go enjoy your shore leave.”
Keryn smiled. “Is that an order, ma’am?”
“If it has to be,” Captain Hodge laughed.
Keryn lowered her eyes, unsure if she would follow that order even if it was given. She didn’t want to go through the grueling effort of trying to find a good man amongst the sea of horny Crewmen all on their shore leave. If she was going to go through that much work, she might as well stay on the ship and do some work that would truly make a difference.
As though reading her mind, Captain Hodge interrupted. “I can see you’re still not sold on the idea,” she said in her musical tones. “Come with me, Keryn.”
With no more directive than that, the Captain stood and began walking toward the front of the ship. Curious, Keryn climbed to her feet and followed. Leading her through winding halls and past dozens of work crews, Captain Hodge never looked back to ensure Keryn was still behind her. A strange sixth sense let her know that Keryn hadn’t strayed far. The Captain was cryptically quiet, something that only piqued Keryn’s interest further. As they neared midship, Captain Hodge came to a stop in front of a bank of elevators. More than familiar with this particular lift, Keryn had taken this specific elevator down to the hangar bay many times before. As the doors opened, both women stepped inside.
Confined in a smaller space, Keryn couldn’t resist asking questions. “Exactly what is it you need to show me in the hangar bay?”
“You’ll see,” the Avalon replied, adjusting her feathery wings. “It’s my final gift to you before I ship you down to the planet for your shore leave.”
Keryn rolled her eyes, but was sure to do it in a way that the Captain couldn’t see.
As the doors slid open, Keryn was surprised to see that they were not on the hangar bay floor. Instead, the elevators opened onto the observation deck which overlooked the open bay. Keryn had come here many times since the battle with the Terran Fleet, often to check on the repair work being conducted on her ships. They had patched up the fighters and transport ships as much as possible, but some repairs could only be conducted once they reached a facility like the space station.
Captain Hodge stepped toward the glass and motioned for Keryn to join her at the window. Nonchalantly, Keryn stepped forward. She already knew what she would see. Welders and munitions specialists would be working diligently to repair and rearm the Squadron, making it space worthy for any eventuality. Once, Keryn would have thought them daft for spending so much effort preparing a Squadron of ships during peacetime operations. But now that they were at war with the Empire, the next battle could truly be only months away.
When she stepped to the glass, Keryn was floored by what she saw. The repairs were evidently completed long ago. The piles of scrap metal and worker’s tools had long since been removed. Both the Duun fighters and Cair ships were stored in their alcoves, glistening in the halogen lights. From her vantage point, she could even see the Cair Ilmun, fully repaired as though no harm had ever come to her. But it wasn’t the repairs that surprised Keryn. Around a large number of the Cair ships, men in jumpsuits swarmed over the vehicles, moving large engine-like machines into position near the rear of the crafts. The men in jumpsuits were completely unfamiliar. She had seen the work crews when they came aboard from the space station. Their uniforms looked nothing like these.
“Who are those men and what are they doing to my ships?” Keryn asked with a mixture of surprise and anger. Those ships were her direct responsibility as the Squadron Commander. She found it hard to believe that Captain Hodge would approve anyone to make modifications to her ships without her consent.
“Keep watching,” Captain Hodge said calmly.
Looking closer, Keryn watched as one of the men turned around, his eyes cast toward the observation deck where they watched. Emblazoned upon his chest in stark red design was an emblem with which everyone in the Fleet was familiar. The men working on the Cair ships worked directly for the High Council.
As Keryn turned, the Captain shook her head, stopping her question before it could be asked. “I can’t tell you why they’re here or what they’re doing to your ships. Everything they’re doing is classified, though I’m sure you’ll find out soon enough. I only brought you here because you need to realize that it would be better if you’re not around while they’re doing their work. Stumbling upon them in the middle of their operation and asking the wrong questions could damage your career.”
Taking her gently by the arm, Captain Hodge turned Keryn away from the window. “Believe me when I tell you that I fully support what they’re doing. But for the next few days, the best thing you could do is take my advice and enjoy your shore leave.”
“I don’t know what they’re doing down there,” Keryn said curtly, “but I won’t be able to just forget about it and enjoy my leave.”
“Then find something to take your mind off it,” the Captain replied playfully.
Keryn frowned, knowing what she was alluding to. “No offense, ma’am, but I’m not exactly looking for a relationship right now.”
“Who said anything about a relationship? Just find a cute guy down on the space station and let him help you relax.”
Keryn couldn’t help but let her mouth fall open. This was not the conversation she was expecting to have with her Captain. “Ma’am, I just can’t do that.”
“Then you need to learn. Sometimes, when you’re piloting a ship, it’s not about reaching your final destination. When you’re caught in a nebula, sometimes any port in the storm will do.” The Captain let her words hang in the air a moment longer before ushering Keryn back toward the lift. “Go pack your things. I’ll expect you on the next lift heading down to the city. And yes, Commander, that is an order.”
The Captain’s smile vanished as the elevator doors closed and the lift carried Keryn back to the living quarters. Stunned, both by her odd conversation and what she had seen in the hangar bay. She absently threw clothes into her bag and changed out of her uniform. The next lift would be leaving in less than an hour, granting her almost no time to consider everything before she had to depart. Keryn wondered if that wasn’t part of the Captain’s plan all along.
Riding the lift to the city itself gave Keryn lots of time to think. The High Council wouldn’t be involved in ship modifications unless something big was being planned. After the Fleet battle, though, Keryn had trouble imagining what could be so big that it would require their intervention. The thought of it both excited and scared Keryn to death. The Fleet encounter had been daunting and frightening. But this, she could guarantee, would be much bigger than anyone would believe.
Lost in her own thoughts, Keryn didn’t pay attention to the cheering crowds as she walked under the arch and into the city. Turning a sharp left, she rode the lift up to the residential level and found the closest, cheapest hotel available. Not caring about the niceties that could have been found with a little more effort, Keryn dropped her bag on the bed and looked out her slightly dingy window toward the canals that wound through the street. Yen would have loved a place like this, she realized. Frowning, Keryn knew that it was thoughts like those that she had come here to escape. The upper level was beautiful, she had to admit, but she wasn’t overly interested in admiring the city’s architecture. Captain Hodge’s parting words still ran through her mind. Smiling to herself, Keryn realized that maybe the Captain was smarter than she even let on. No more thoughts of Yen, she promised herself. Maybe any port in the storm was exactly what she needed right now.
Switching the placard on the door to read “do not disturb” just in case she was too engrossed to remember to do so later, Keryn walked down to street level and made her way back to the lifts. Two levels down, she’d find the entertainment district and, somewhere, the perfect distraction to the stresses of command.