The comms room is silent as all six women of Skaoi read through the notice, one, twice, three times.

 

“They seem…”

 

“Freaked?” Des supplies, raising her eyebrows as she glances around at the others. Natasha nods and turns slightly to fiddle with a few knobs on her board, presumably preparing for the call from Commander Lawrence.

 

“Are they assuming Mettos, d’you think? It’s definitely the closest to Ptok.” Tully asks, settling back against a slightly discolored wall, compliments of Des’s latest experiment.

 

Sera frowns, and pokes at the notice. “Yeah, but I think anyone would think Ptok’s the reasonable choice for attack, or whatever, cause it’s the smallest.”

 

“Humph, if that’s so, they’re in for a surprise.”

 

“Either way, one ship isn’t going to take on an entire island; it’d be the scout.”

 

“Which would mean the rest of them are way off, and massively screwed now that we’ve seen the scout. Anyone else think it’s weird it’s not shielded though, if it is part of an attack?” Des says.

 

“Definitely. Maybe that’s why we aren’t on full alert; if Rak spotted it through a shield, it would’ve said, so most likely they figure it’s something harmless.”

 

A green light on the comms board blinks on, and Sera lunges for the headset, snagging it just out of Natasha’s fingers. “Commander?”

 

“Captain Reimer, how are you?”

 

“Good, sir, thank you; yourself?”

 

“Well, things are a little hectic out here, especially considering I was supposed to be returning to Banse today. They’ve called an emergency meeting for all officers on Abevri, so I’ll be staying a little longer.”

 

“Fun,” Sera says, dryly, flatly, and Lawrence chuckles.

 

“Only how. Julia isn’t too thrilled; it’s our 10th anniversary tomorrow.”

 

“I’m so sorry sir. Is there any chance you’ll be able to make it out on a runner?”

 

“With the weather in Banse what it is? Not a chance.”

 

“Its drought season, sir, how bad can it be?”

 

“Wind shears; they’ve been pretty constant for that past few days. Even without this meeting I’d have to wait until things were a little more under control. Cavalle’s in town, looking into the weather here, but she’s too busy with that to be any help to me, unfortunately. And she has to get back to flight’s base as soon as possibly anyway; name is too happy I pulled her away.”

 

“Maybe she should look into Banse too though, because wind shears are definitely not normal at any time of the year there, and especially not now.”

 

“You’re telling me. The weather all across the islands has gone wonky, though; apparently Ijask has a warm front rolling in, everyone up there is in a bit of a panic.”

 

“In that case you should get Polly and Luke on it as well, or are they already?

 

“Polly’s hunting, so he’s pretty much out for the count.”

 

“What about Luke?”

 

“He’s on Operation Phantom. Well, he will be once he gets himself out of the fucking hospital.”

 

“Shit, I knew that cold wasn’t gone.”

 

Des jumps up from her chair, it rattling back on two legs before toppling over. “Luke’s in the hospital? When? How bad is it?”

 

“Sir?”

 

“Don’t worry, it’s nothing like that. He’s been tested quite thoroughly, and is surprisingly healthy. He just… got a little out of control.”

 

“Do you know why?”

 

“What’s he saying?” Bella demands, tugging at the headset.

 

“Shut up. Sir? Do you know why?”

 

“No, and he’s not saying. He is raging and screaming about being admitted to the hospital though. From what I hear, he nearly strangled Reefer and Lane, that’s his lieutenant, when he woke up. They had to sedate him again.”

 

“How the hell did they get him there?”

 

“Reefer called Polly for help, and Polly had Ocham knock him out.”

 

“Why didn’t he call Jase?”

 

“Still unconscious.”

 

“Oh… Wait. What?!”

 

“…Alright, Jase was attacked by some OLs when he was working on some farmer, and was knocked unconscious. Fosher has a couple cracked ribs and Jansen broke an arm. They checked into Lahny hospital about a week ago.”

 

“And I’m hearing about this now!?”

 

Bella yanks the headset away. “Hearing what, sir? What’s going on?”

 

“Put Sera back on, she’ll explain it when we’re done.”

 

“Sir—”

 

“Why the hell wasn’t I told about this?” Sera demands, having retrieved the headset.

 

“It’s nothing major, captain.”

 

“Like hell it isn’t. We should have been informed.”

 

“Maybe so, but you were busy with other things. Same for Luke. They’re fine now; that’s all that matters.”

 

“They aren’t fine! Jase’s unconscious!”

 

“They expect him to wake up any day now.”

 

“Fuck you Lawrence. What the—”

 

“That is enough, captain. Get a hold of yourself.”

 

Sera grits her teeth, grits her teeth and breathes deep, because otherwise she’s going to keep screaming, and probably it would be better not to, especially when it’s Commander Lawrence on the other end; a man not only her Flight Commander, but one who’s been nothing but kind to her, although he’ll have no reason to continue to be so if she gives into the tremendous urge to give him a piece of her mind. The worst of it is, she thinks, that Fosher didn’t tell her either.

 

“Sorry, sir.” She says, and it’s a bit painful, but not as much as it could be, and that’s good, because it means she’s calmed down enough to get her orders.

 

“The other Flight Commanders and I have decided that you should run reconnaissance on Mettos and Aranek, Pigeon will be doing the same for Scalya and Gussia, Biry will cover Recha, and Sif has Cennan. It is entirely likely that this craft is harmless, just lost, or sightseeing, but we must take every precaution, as I’m sure you understand?”

 

“Of course, sir. Is there any particular areas you would like us to check, or just a general sweep?”

 

“A general sweep will be sufficient, just don’t be careless.”

 

“Sir!”

 

“You heard me captain; we need to be precise about this. We will require radio silence as well. If they are up to something, we don’t want them to know we’re on to them, and if they aren’t, answering questions as to your purpose will be awkward. Which mean you’ll be shielded at any time when there is even the slightest possibility of being sighted. You have as long as you need, but don’t dally. Collect all the information you can and get out of there. If you are spotted, book it out of there, and leave the explaining to us. Are we clear?”

 

“Crystal.”

 

“Good. Good luck, I’ll give Fosher and them your regards; radio silence begins now, I don’t want this getting out.”

 

And the line cuts off.

 

Sera stares off into the distance a moment before collecting herself and removing the headset. “Switch off all communications devices.” She says, and Natasha hurries to comply. “Meeting in the Navs room in ten minutes. Natasha, get the kettle, instant coffee, and some mugs from the kitchen, Bella, bring the first aid kit, Melanie, we’re going to be there a while, so do whatever you need to be comfortable.”

 

And she walks out, down the hallway and into her room, slamming the door closed behind her.

 

 

Previous: Scene 4-II

Scene 4-III

Next: Scene 4-IV