In Command (#1 Post-Order 66 Series)

In Command - Part 5

"Nononononono!" Senna cursed loudly as her lunch tipped over off of the pile of parts she had precariously balanced her bowl on. She looked up at the sound of footsteps coming down the hallway. Rex appeared in the door as she frantically shoveled noodles and vegetable bits back into the bowl.

"What's wrong?" He blinked when he saw the room. "Are...are you cleaning in here?"

Kneeling on the ground, she was up to her elbows in metal and wires and plastoid. "More...erm...reorganizing. I figure maybe then you can actually, you know, walk around here and – KRIFF!" she cursed again as a circuit board she had mounted to a power supply fizzled and sparked, the overturned noodle soup flowing over its components, hissing and popping. Grabbing the board, she ripped the power cable from its port. With a loud pop and sizzle, the board sparked and then smoked, dying an undignified death in her hands.

Rex rubbed his face in exasperation. "Tell me that wasn't important."

"Well...it certainly isn't now," she said, carelessly tossing the board over her shoulder into what he hoped was the trash heap she was planning on disposing of.

"What were you planning on using it for?"

"Well, Lon, if you must know," she said cheekily, "I was planning on using it to try and replicate a communication node like the ones the Imperials use for planet-wide and orbit to ground messaging."

He stared at her blankly. "You could do that?"

"I think so," she said, chewing on her lip, and he could practically hear the gears turning behind her eyes. "I'd need to boost the signal strength and determine what frequencies they're using, but that could be done with a wide sweep of the various communication bands. With a modified power supply it should be pretty simple. The one issue would be figuring out how to decrypt any classified comms that come in. I'd need one of their decryption disks." She tugged at the braid dangling over her shoulder, twirling the ends of her hair as she thought. The braid had slowly made an appearance in the few weeks since Empire Day, along with several other changes. It seemed as though invisible ray shields had dropped and they walked around each other less cautiously. Rex couldn't pinpoint exactly when her mess had bothered him less, but it had seemed to be about the same time he'd stopped caring when she used his real name, although now she hardly ever did now. They'd somehow come to a nonverbal agreement to meet each other halfway, and it had made their time together seem almost normal. Maybe even pleasant.

Rex rubbed his forehead, trying to imagine how she'd procure the disk she needed. "That's no small order. They don't just leave those things lying around."

"Weeeell, some of them might." She grinned impishly.

"Who exactly do you think you'll get one of those off of?"

"You know that commander that puked all over his shoes and got a little too handsy with me? Commander Fisk?"

Rex remembered him. He also remembered how badly he wanted to throw him out of an airlock mid-hyperspace. "Mhm."

"Yeah, well I've seen him around in the last few weeks, and he always asks if I want to get a drink with him."

Rex raised an eyebrow. "Can't say I'd approve of my wife hanging out with other men at seedy bars."

"Well, good thing I wasn't looking for your approval then, isn't it?"

"This seems like a bad idea. What happens if he tells Brak? We spent a lot of time spinning our epic love story, and I think you suddenly seeing other men behind my back might just raise some flags."

"Oh, he hates Brak. He avoids talking to him at all costs. Finds him insufferable."

"He told you this?"