The Speed of Thought

[Chirakis 1]

Captain’s Log, Stardate 2387.094

Chirakis Kirel, SI-5

Commanding Officer, Sky Harbor Aegis

2010 Hours, Aegis Relative

 

The Speed of Thought

 

She’d been cleared for “light duty” which, at this point, meant little more than reading, signing, and passing on reports, plus a little finger-pointing at the operations console in the control tower. Things had settled down since the semi-containment of the suspicious ship that docked; it turned out to be no more than an advance party for a mining operation in the asteroid belt. However, the ship seemed oddly familiar to Kirel. That, and a certain mannerism of its captain triggered a memory she’d rather forget, so there was still cause for surveillance. Security accompanied her every move: sometimes from a distance and sometimes at very close range.

 

It often pays to have a paranoid Rihan for Chief of Security.

 

And then there was Resssk, the Gorn SI-5 operative who had arrived as an overt presence when Kirel’s subdermal transmitter had been triggered by her vital signs. Now, as she stood leaning on the railing of the Midway mezzanine and watching his interaction with the crowd below, she realized she missed his presence, and the presence of the rest the team: t’Pak, the ever-cautious, logical Vulcan, and Sonny Lucas, their lone human, dubbed “Face” by his peers, apparently a reference to an old terran book, play, or what they called a “movie,” of which Kirel was not familiar but she knew had close kinship to a holovid. Despite his occasional cavalier attitude, Lucas was more than capable, and a person to be reckoned with in any fight.

 

Eventually the captain made a slow descent toward Resssk, her eyes surreptitiously scanning the crowd with each step.

 

After passing the time with a few patrons at the bar and welcoming an interning cadet, Kirel settled into a table of Resssk’s choosing: his back to the wall close to a secure exit, Kirel sitting to his left where she had a clear view of the patrons while still being protected by a weight-bearing colonnade.

 

They passed the majority of their time in silence, occasionally engaging in small-talk. It was not only a welcome break from the control tower, but a time to eavesdrop on idle conversations and to judge the general mood of the station... until the unexpected happened.

 

A sudden blinding flash of light jerked her from her seat, planting her firmly behind the colonnade. Resssk followed, his teeth bared, his tail high for defense and his armaments at the ready as he scanned the crowd. Her security detail appeared seconds later, joining Resssk at her flank.

 

“Captain,” he said, turning to face her after a minute of surveillance, during which nothing happened, “isss there a problem?”

 

There came another flash, her face paled, and she leaned on the column for support, well out of sight of the patrons. The security detail closed in a circle.

 

“Wait,” she said, her face contorted with pain, one hand raised against an unseen enemy. A few more flashes, a deep breath, and the vision came into clear view: Aegean, Revenge, and several fighters dodging energy bolts from a rogue planet. “D’Ka.”

 

A deep thrum began in his throat as Resssk lowered his tail and secured his weapons. “Powerful thoughtsss, the Captain’sss, to transsscend the distance.”

 

After regaining her composure, she turned to face him and straightened her uniform. “Yes. An unfortunate consequence of a brief encounter. We must return to the control tower.”

 

<<TBC in sim.>>