Opalina Outpost

Chapter 24: The Worst Plan of All Time

Ravi's feet twitched impatiently beneath his desk. Usually, he liked tasks that demanded organization and planning. Maybe excelled at them. But he hated every minute of planning for the end of his own crew. It was taking all he had not to snap at Jossen and demand he stop chewing a snack bar so loudly. The poor subal was doing his best, and he'd had a good idea to make sure that every crew member went to their new unit with a lengthy recommendation highlighting the gifts they could bring. Ravi just had to finish nine of those reports now, and he needed Jossen and his enthusiastic chewing to leave so he could get through it.

His patience wasn't helped by the fact that they'd been in his cramped trailer-office for the whole afternoon. The morning was spent on mundane tasks with the crew, which was a miserable affair. They worked on Yorune and Rosareen's garden project, but the crew all seemed scattered and jumpy, and nothing was getting done well. Ravi couldn't bring himself to care. He refused to yell at them to focus and put in effort while they were all thinking about their uncertain futures.

"Jossen," he said. "You should go get some real food."

The subal, poking at a slate, gave him a weak smile. "It's alright, Com. I don't want to leave you to this business alone."

"I'll be alright. Check in on the crew. I'm sure they could use some distraction right now."

"True enough," Jossen said. He sighed, gave Ravi a salute, and dragged out of the trailer.

When he left, Ravi slumped. He let his arms dangle at his sides and sprawled his legs out in defeat. Losing the outpost had brought him to the point of tears. Losing everything else was bringing on fury. Writing these reports for unit commanders who would think Yorune was distractible and Duhar was an idiot and Aziri was too prickly was unbearable. He would do his best for them, and he still knew it wasn't enough. None of his oddball team would be appreciated the way they deserved.

And what the fuck was he going to write about Lio? He sat up and maniacally typed away at the screen on his desk, writing something ridiculous. Alior is impulsive but has strong leadership potential. Key skills are being hilarious and brilliant and beautiful. Area for growth: cooking. Best practice with him is not to sleep with him, because if you do, you'll end up—

He stopped, fingers poised over the illuminated keys. The words he'd been about to use circled inside his skull, half a surprise, half the most predictable thing in the world.

Letter by letter, he typed it out, staring at the evidence of his own foolishness as the sentence grew across his screen.

You'll end up falling in love with him.

Holding his breath, he deleted the whole thing. And then groaned, shutting off the screen and draping himself across the desk. It was way too late to take any of his own advice. He was already tangled up in it, already weighing everything in his life against how it would make Lio feel.

The question of whether the Commissioners would give him the lightship command position hung over his head. But even if they didn't offer, it was inevitable that he and Lio were going to be separated. With everything Lio had said about things being over when his family finally snatched him away from Opalina, he didn't get the impression that Lio was ready or willing to try to keep things going if they were in different units. Maybe different cities. Different fucking regions. Ravi squeezed his fists shut and slammed them on the desk. His slate and all the inktouch pens jumped.

Hurried footsteps outside his trailer alerted him right before the office door was wrenched open. Jossen's face was coated in sweat, his words coming between gulps of air. "Com Endessen! The crew is gone!"