Page 172 of Every Almost

She woke gasping, drenched in sweat, her covers tossed across her bed. She pressed her hand to her chest, pushing against the fear, the pain, the anxiety and panic.

Minutes later, she lay back against her bed, and stared at the ceiling until the ship's artificial dawn lightened her room in gold.

NINETEEN

THE IMMOVABLE PROMISE

The next morning,Charlie was in Engineering earlier than usual, running diagnostics she'd kept putting off. Rudimentary busy work that Cael kept assigning her.

The truth was, she hadn't slept well, though she wasn't sure why. Earth Night had been a great success, more than she even expected. Most of the crew had attended, many even stayed late, asking when the next one would be, even offering to help where they could. Tavi had already started a list of topics for Charlie to cover, Borran had already started planning to food, and?—

Reyna hadn't been there.

Charlie grumbled to herself, focusing back on the diagnostic.

It's okay, she told herself.I'm sure there was a perfectly legitimate reason.

Then why was it bothering her so much.

"Ugh," Charlie uttered.

"Trouble in paradise, Spark Plug?" Tavi asked, entering the sector from parts storage.

Charlie shook her head. "All good," she answered. Even if she wanted to tell Tavi something, she wasn't sure what it would be.

She heard the bay door open behind her.

Charlie felt her and knew, instinctively, who it was. It was becoming a problem, this sixth sense for Reyna's presence.

When she turned around, Reyna stood in the doorway. Charlie noted the Captain was ahead of her usual rounds schedule. She was in full uniform with her datapad in hand and her Captain presentation fully in place. But when Charlie looked to her, something in Reyna's expression seemed different.

"Charlie," Reyna addressed. Even her voice sounded odd.

"Captain."

Reyna walked over to Charlie's station, standing there at Charlie's side for a moment.

"I owe you an apology," Reyna said, putting her datapad down and giving Charlie her full and undivided attention.

Charlie blinked. "For what, Captain?"

Reyna blew out a breath. "Last night. For not being at Earth Night." Charlie studied her for a beat, still confused. "I told you I would be there, and I... wasn't."

"Oh. That." Charlie waved a hand dismissively, not wanting to let Reyna know she had noticed her absence. It was a few moments before Charlie responded. "It's fine, really. I figured something came up."

"Something did," Reyna grumbled. Actually grumbled. "Vondra sent a transmission requiring a full Aetherfin status report with a twelve-hour deadline for the Commissioner from the CASB."

"The 'CASB'?" Charlie asked.

"The Coalition Animal Strategy Board," Reyna said. "The Commissioner is visiting the Admiral today, and had specific questions that would help grant us funding we've been asking for for over two years. Torvax and I spent the evening preparing the data and formatting Coalition paperwork."

"But Torvax was at Earth Night?" Charlie questioned.

"I ordered him to go," Reyna replied. "I, at least, wanted one of us to be there."

Why wasn't it you?Charlie thought.

Then she made an attempt to legitimately shake the thought from her mind. Her gaze settled back on Reyna. "Well, then, see?" She said with a shrug of her shoulders. "Duty calls, Captain. I completely understand, I promis?—"