The Last Ship Season 5

Episode 4~ Tropic of Cancer

He knew her voice. He could feel her presence with every beat of his heart. The pounding in his head was her knocking, trying to get in. As was her right. For she was flagship and he, her soldier. Her trusted deputy. She was calling him to her side, and he must obey. Only, he didn't. Because this voice was not the one he had known. It was different, she was different. The plague, the famine had changed her. She was once kind and gentle, filled with the wisdom of a ship her age and of her time. Now she was bitter and harsh, her wisdom replaced by a foul poison. The delusions of Tavo had given rise to a madness within that had convinced her that to turn against her own was the only way she could survive. He felt pity for her, despite the fact that his side was smarting from the blow he'd just received off her guns. She had witnessed everything taken from her. Her fleet perishing at her side, people dying in the streets just out of her reach to help. The agony of survival. Tavo's appearance must have seemed like a sign of the Ancients. A calling that she could respond to.

None of that changed the current situation. Nor Nathan James' fix for it. He pushed back against the call, resisting her. A part of him shuddered in horror as he fired back, the rest of him felt satisfaction as his missiles made their mark. She turned away, her song still as alluring and powerful as ever. It never went away completely, fading to the background as she sailed over the horizon.

It was only then that Nathan allowed himself to reflect on what had just occurred. This was far worse than anything he'd ever encountered before. He'd dealt with plague, with famine, he'd seen allies become enemies and betrayal from within his own ranks. But he'd always found a way to deal with these things, to push on. Because he believed, not just in his nation but in his flagship. He did what he did because he believed it was what she would have done. He didn't have that belief anymore. And the fact alone was enough to shake him to his core.

He stared at the now empty horizon, where she had once been. "Missouri," He whispered, his voice mirroring his inner agony. "What have you done?"