Yggdrasil halted for a moment in the doorway of the galley, frowning at the tense atmosphere. With a sigh, he moved in and got down a glass, filling it with water before joining Tava and Kartk at the table. Both of them were hunched under a heavy weight of sorrow and guilt that made the air thick around them.
The doctor took a sip of his water before breaking through the silence. "Quorra's wound is superficial. He should be fully recovered in a minimum of time."
Tava sighed as she sat back, hands curled around her cup of coffee. "How's Kit?"
Yggdrasil stared into his water, despondent and stressed as they inevitably got to the worse news. His usually jewel bright green skin had dulled to a gray green. His green eyes flickered around the table before falling back into his water. "I had to sedate him. He's not taking it well."
Kartk sat back heavily, taking a pull from his beer. "He has apparently taken up Jornea's idea that death is not a sure thing unless there is a body."
Tava glanced at Kartk, then couldn't help the small smile that crossed her face. Of course he would take up that philosophy. It was the only thing that let him hope. She swallowed when she caught Kartk staring down into his palm, a look of guilt on his face.
His husky whisper barely carried across the table. "He was right. I had her. For a moment, I had her hand but then-"
"Kartk, you can't blame-" Tava started to reach across to Kartk, hoping to lend him some comfort. He clenched his hand into a fist and shoved away, getting to his feet and stalking out of the galley. Tava and Yggdrasil watched him go sadly.
"Allow him to grieve. He will only refuse assistance until his guilt has been assuaged."
Tava sighed and nodded. "It's been a while since I lost a soldier. It hurts, even if the life was given for a good cause. But Jornea was no soldier. I don't know how old she was or how much she's been through, but she was still a kid to me. A little kid sister that was annoying and saw too much but loved you back just as fiercely as you loved her."
The silence hung heavy for a long moment, then Tava brushed away the tears and cleared her throat, hiding the pain behind her Colonel face. "Let Kit and Kartk grieve. The rest of us have a mission to complete for Virillus and then we should really keep moving. We don't have the luxury of sitting still while we heal."
Yggdrasil glanced at her, contemplating. "Not if we intend to remain unmolested by more attempts on our lives." He took another gulp of water. "And after this mission? Will we look to hire on another pilot?"
Tava bit her lip, trying to foresee how well that would be taken by Kartk and Kit. She could practically feel the hostility aimed at whoever she brought on to 'replace' Jornea. Groaning in defeat, she massaged her temples. "Not just yet. For now, we'll have to get by on my piloting skills. At least until Kit has had some time to get past all this. I'd rather not have to deal with him sabotaging things in a fit of temper if we so casually replace his best friend."
A shiver of lime green shimmered across his skin before dulling back to grey green. "You may have to deal with fits of temper regardless."
Tava sighed. "True." She pushed aside her coffee and shoved to her feet. "We'll give them some time and hope they can work through it when we need them to. And we'll all heal as we go. This revolution can't stop now."
To be Continued in Bolide Subterfuge.
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Lunar Conspiracy
Ciencia FicciónSequal to Running on Borrowed Time. Tava Bismark uncovered a conspiracy. One that would destroy democracy for the entire universe and put every world under the tyranny of a single man. Tava isn't about to let that happen without a fight. So, wit...