Leave it

[Nijil tr'Korjata 0]

Leave it

 

Nijil remained in a state of worry ever since Jylliene arrived back on the Aegean. Her departure unexpected and, as he would learn later, fraught with danger. He and Lawliet at first had no idea what happened to her. The the cloak never faltered before and a technology getting through THAT was a feat Nijil had yet encountered. Cloaking fields, by design, protected the interior from exactly these type of incursions. Evidence mounted of a rarely-encountered matter transport, but not of Federation or Rihan design. After even more research they deduced the transport used a dimensional fold. Scattered records of this technology indicated unhealthy results with continued use. The meeting in the Aegean conference room only complicated matters. His thoughts raced and he needed to ease his mind, and hunger.

 

Standard issue glasses and plates laid on a small table of Jylliene's quarters. Lit by a single candle in an otherwise dark room, the atmosphere provided few distractions. Steam rose from the replicated food the computer chose for them. They both were starving. As they sat at dinner, she looked at him. “Quite a mission so far.”

 

"Ie," he agreed in Rihannsu. "Several unexpected events." He looked up from his hot soup, studying her face for any sign of trouble. The thought of the dimensional fold compressing her molecules through a micro-wormhole sent his mind plotting worse-case scenarios. Untold danger. "I got to command the Aegean."

 

She smiled slightly. “How’d it feel? Other than the unexpected circumstance leading to your taking command.”

 

"She's a larger ship and when I fly the Nei'rrh it's only me and a few passengers." He lit up. "Lawliet rejected my urging to take the Aegean down to the planet." He gave a slight smile. "We just stayed put and waited."

 

“Good,” she replied with a chuckle. “It certainly had me on edge enough when we had not yet established contact with the team.” With a more serious expression, she added, “I imagine you were worried.”

 

"Na, not really," he lied. "After a moment of command structure confusion our teams got to work."

 

“Might work on your skills of deception,” she remarked.

 

Nijil sighed. "I'm an engineer, not a Tal Shiar agent."

 

“I know,” she said, smiling at him, and reaching out to clasp his hand briefly. “I suppose you have your work cut out for you over the next few days.”

 

"I suppose so. I guess we both aren't in command any longer and neither of us have had much sleep." He moved his hands around the tableware and touched hers. "Are you sure you are alright?"

 

Nodding, she replied, “Yes. A little bruised, perhaps, from when I was ‘escorted’ to the room Commander Ramson was in, but beyond that, fine, or I’d have gone to medical.”

 

"Fine? Really? Do you know what that folding does to you, what it had to do to locate you through the cloaking field? How it found the resonance frequency. The computer is still doing the simulations so we can protect ourselves against it." He squeezed her hand with a little bit of his temper, but only for a moment. "I'm sorry." Nijil looked at the soup bowl as if it had answers. It only replied with steam. He spoke again.

 

"This mission just makes me wish for home. I miss my quarters, my daughter... our daughter...us." A realization hit him. "Dealing with stress has not been a strong suit of mine. Give me a shuttle flight or temperamental piece of technology I'm fine. Distance me from the people I care about for an extended period, not so much."

 

Jylliene glanced down at her food, then back up at Nijil. “Perhaps what we both need is a little reconnecting,” she suggested, with a slight smile and a quirked eyebrow.

 

"Something wrong in engin... oh.." Nijil was often a little slow on intention. His smile widened as he interlocked his hand with hers. He started to stand and moved her hand to his lips, kissing each of her fingers one after the other. In his haste his other hand knocked over the half-empty wine glass. Still at her last digit his eyes looked over to see what had happened. Only a spill. His eyes revealed a laugh. "Leave it."

 

“Leaving it,” Jylliene replied with a slight chuckle as she stood and followed him.

 

 

 

 

 

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Notes