Things Fall Apart: Chapter 27
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Aboard Zephyr
Singer led a small, impromptu parade, at the front of which were herself and Saito, followed by the ambulatory survivors of Aquila, some of them assisted by members of her crew. A surprising number were determined to spend their last moments on their old ship on their own two feet. Behind them was Alexander, followed by the handful of floating gurneys, accompanied by Kasel and Luchny and a few others from Singer's crew.
Reaching the airlock to the docking tube, however, Singer and Saito both recognized a dilemma. Saito was not required to go down with his ship, but he did feel strongly that he should be the last one aboard. Singer, on the other hand, was still feeling a little put out at not having been on the bridge of her new command for her maiden flight, and felt strongly that she should be the first to board.
They resolved it by parting amicably at the airlock, Saito standing witness to the weary march of his crew into the tube and across to Zephyr. Singer led the way and took up the complementary post at the airlock of her ship, helping anyone who stumbled at the gravity gradient and generally exuding a welcoming presence. Zephyr was providing pressure to the tube, so the inner lock on her side was open, and PO Mxenge and Ensign Debenham were waiting to take up the mantle of grand marshals of this parade, leading the ambulatory down the corridor to the large lifts, to head down to barracks in shifts. Next came Kasel and his people leading the gurneys to the main sick bay, conveniently on this deck.
Finally, Singer saw Saito step into the tube, turn, and palm the controls that would dog the hatch. He was a long moment, after this, with his back to Singer. When he turned finally to cross the tube, his face was wet with tears.
By the time he made it to Zephyr's side, he'd regained enough of his composure to say in a steady voice, "Permission to come aboard?" Singer stifled a laugh—everyone else was already aboard, so it seemed a bit late for ceremony. She could see, however, that Saito was taking it seriously. "Granted, Doctor."
And so at last he stepped into the large lock. PO Li was at the airlock controls on the far side of the inner door and dogged the hatches behind them, each in turn, then triggered the retraction of the docking tube. Singer had a moment to realize that all three of the Almaty survivors had been a part of this operation, and made a mental note to ask Alexander if that was arranged, or just a consequence of all three being logistics personnel who were a bit ahead of the curve getting familiar with the new ship.
Regardless, Singer took a moment to say, "PO Li, it's good to see you up and about!"
Li gave her a wan smile. "A little at a time, ma'am, but I wanted to be here for this. It felt...right somehow. Does that make sense?"
Well, that answered part of Singer's question, anyway. "It does, PO. Thank you. Don't overdo it, though."
Li rolled her eyes. "Have you met Chief Kasel?"
Singer chuckled, and so did Saito next to her. "Once or twice."
The PO clearly decided that was sufficient. She finished locking down the board, saluted, and walked off, leaving Singer and Saito alone in the corridor. Saito was craning his neck and looking all around. "It's got new ship smell!"
"I'll happily give you the tour, later. For now, I expect you want to see the sick bay, and I also expect the aforementioned Chief Kasel wants to see you in the sick bay so he can make you lie—or at least sit—down." She moved a hand to invite him to join her down the corridor. "It's not far."
Saito nodded and made no protest, accompanying her. "I look forward to that tour, and also to hearing the story of how you came to be mistress to this beauty. You never wanted command."
"Neither did you!"
That got a chuckle. "In fact," he said, "under almost any other circumstances, there would have been exactly zero chance of my ever taking command, as you know. I actually tried to convince our bosun to take it, but she refused in no uncertain terms and had the dratted regulations to back her up."
They reached sick bay just as the hustling and bustling of getting people transferred to beds was wrapping up. Kasel stood in the center of the room looking rather pleased. The entire operation had gone well, the biobeds appeared to be doing their jobs, giving useful information, and best of all, all forty-eight survivors were accounted for, between the ambulatory and the people being treated here.
Saito asked, "Anything I can do, Chief?"
Kasel gave Saito a look. "Yes. You can sit in that chair over there, until you're satisfied that your people are going to be fine, and then you can ask me or one of my people to help you to your cabin."
Despite having professed to exhaustion back on Aquila, Saito looked very briefly like he might protest. Kasel, however, simply stared at him. Singer had seen that exact same look in the past from Saito himself, and now that she knew these two also knew each other, she suspected she knew where Kasel had learned it.
Saito sat down in the offered chair without further protest, and took the snack bar and drink bulb Luchny handed him with a murmured thanks.
Singer smiled and said, "Can I do anything, Chief?"
"No, but thank you, Captain. I think we're good for the moment. Go take your seat on the bridge."
From anyone else, this might have been impertinent, but at this point, Kasel had her number. "Am I that obvious?"
"Look, I think I know what Haraldsdottir was doing having you lead the workboat over, especially since you knew Doctor Saito, too; but even Alexander was irritated you didn't get to take Zephyr out of dock. Go be The Captain!"
She gave him a salute that was not entirely mocking. "Yes, sir!" She nodded to Saito, and headed to the left, and up to the bridge.
Walking onto the bridge, Singer found herself greeted with an unexpected and hearty, "Captain on the bridge!" from Alexander, who had apparently come to the bridge directly from seeing the Aquila crew aboard.
Everyone stood and applauded.
Singer blinked. And blushed. And perhaps teared up a little. She allowed the ruckus to go on a minute or two before taking a deep breath to settle herself, and say, "As you were!"
There were smiles all around as people resumed their places, and Singer crossed to the command position, finally taking her seat.
It felt good, and she allowed herself another moment to take it all in.
Finally, she looked at Alexander standing next to her. "Status, Exec?"
"The ambulatory survivors have been shown to quarters. A few expressed a desire to have some occupation. The truth is we don't have much work to do between here and Borass, and Kasel had already let me know that he wanted them all to rest before anything else, including any briefing or debriefing. The gym on that deck has been put into commission for anyone who feels like they need some activity, but I expect all but the most determined are going to avail themselves of the rack time.
"The work boat has been recovered to the boat bay, and PO Wasserman should be back up in a moment to take the helm. Lieutenant Cadotte has placed the cartridge containing Georgette in secure storage for the moment, and also reports themselves en route to the bridge. Mr. Espinoza reports the power systems and engines are all performing better than expected and that he's trying not to be superstitious about it."
While Alexander was finishing this, both Wasserman and Cadotte entered the bridge. Wasserman started beaming as soon as he saw Singer was present and in her seat, while Cadotte managed to actually look smug about it somehow.
"Lastly, based on the preliminary report from Wasserman, Borass says they'll arrange a tow for Aquila separately, and that we should head back as soon as we're secure, which we are."
Once again, Singer let herself savor the moment before saying, "Very good, Commander. Mr. Wasserman, please set our course for Borass Station orbit."
"With pleasure, ma'am."
A moment later. "Course is ready."
"Take us back to the barn, Mr. Wasserman."
As Singer watched the holodisplay, her ship began to move.