Surefoot 04: Sanction Ch. 01

He breathed out slowly, his fingers absently playing with the furred tip of her tail. "That wasn't my little girl up there."

"Of course it wasn't. She's eighteen, she's grown up, she has her own opinions on things."

He remembered his personal log from that morning, noting the same thing - and being glad for it at the time. "It wasn't just that. It was the rage, the fury in her eyes, her voice. She really wants to see Giger die. Why wasn't this covered in her psychiatric evaluation?"

"What makes you think it wasn't?"

Hrelle looked at her. "You knew how she felt? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because it's none of your damn business, Captain Sir. She's entitled to her privacy, like you and the rest of us."

"And no one thought it important enough to address with her before now?"

"We all have little bits of savagery in our psyches, and luckily for us, they usually don't surface. Unfortunately, the past has two big bad points about it: one, it can't be changed, and two, it can pop back into the present without warning and kick you in the balls. And that's what's happened to both of you."

"But I've managed to put it behind me."

"I hate to point out the obvious, but you're older, and you've had a lot more experience at doing that. Sasha hasn't. But give her time. She's strong. She'll pick herself up again."

"Is that what *you* do when you're kicked in the balls?"

Kami smirked. "My balls are made of pure neutronium. Nothing drops me." She patted him on the knee. "Now let's get back to the bridge before T'Varik thinks we're rutting down here."

*

Deck 2, Study Room:

Sasha entered the Study Room, as Alpha Squad looked up from their PADDs and terminals, Eydiir rising in concern. "Is everything okay, Sash?"

Sasha stopped at the doorway and nodded, stepping back to look out in the corridor and ensure no one else was approaching to hear what she had to say. Then she entered fully, grabbing a chair and drawing it into the centre of the room before straddling it backwards, looking to each of them in turn before focusing on a bemused Giles. "I need your help. All of you really, but yours especially, Giles."

He blinked, looking to the others before focusing on her again. "Mine? Sure. But what for?"

She couldn't believe she was going to say this. "You know the Captain's personal shuttle in Hangar Bay 2, the Sureswift? Do you think you can fly it?"

TO BE CONTINUED...