Chapter Text
It had been 10 hours since the Theta had taken flight, and it was only by then that the freighter’s passenger count had been confirmed. Clifford stapled the freshly printed papers together and turned in his floor-bound swivel chair. Alex, who had been waiting just a few feet from Clifford’s desk, reached out in anticipation.
“Here’s the detail, son.” Clifford said, handing the stack to Alex with weathered old hands. “Now, I skimmed the first page when the computer was printing it out, and it didn’t look pretty. Don’t expect the captain to react to the news all that well.”
“Noted. Thanks!”
Clutching the report against his chest, Alex left the small archive office. He began his trek to the bridge, his footsteps echoing through the hall as he jogged. Once he was at the front of the ship, it was just a couple of steps up a small staircase and he was there.
The command deck was lined with metal wall desks on both sides. Each desk held slim monitors and keyboards, both connected to bulky computers built into the walls. At the center of the already claustrophobic room was a large, circular command station with a 360° monitor, ringed by dials and controls.
“Captain?” Alex called out as he approached the captain’s corner desk.
“Not now, Alex.” Captain Eleanor Murphy replied bluntly, not looking away from the pillar of a screen in front of her as she typed. “I’m waiting on the census.”
“Well, that’s the thing…”
The captain looked across the table, only then taking notice of the documents that Alex held. “Oh, I see.” She stated, seemingly caught off-guard by the prospect of the android doing his job properly for once. Captain Murphy reached out to take the report, and Alex reciprocated, handing the bundle off.
“I wonder why they didn’t just send a digital copy to the-.”
“Clifford said the system’s going slow.” Alex interjected, as if he had been waiting for this very line of questioning with a prepared response. “Says it’s overwhelmed by the number of civilian calls going out.”
“Oh, well, that explains a few things. Thank you, Alex. You’re dismissed.”
The Protectorate captain began looking over the papers as Alex made his way to the exit staircase. Before he left the room, however, a shout ran out from behind him.
“Forty-seven?!” Captain Murphy exclaimed, slamming the report face down on her desk.
Alex turned in the doorway and stared, as did the other bridge staff.
“Out of all the lives in that GOD-forsaken hub,” Captain Murphy cried, “We only managed to save forty-seven people?”
There was a brief silence, before she resumed in a slightly lower tone.
“Alex. You were on the ground when it happened, right?”
Alex approached the central desk once again. He nodded, recalling how he and several others from the squadron were sent to the headquarters early to aid in evacuation preparations. Captain Murphy continued.
“Therefore, you experienced the calamity firsthand?”
“I-I’m afraid so.” The android replied.
“Could you KINDLY tell me why ground staff chose to give the launch order at such a low passenger count?”
“Well, I wasn’t by the gate for the whole thing, but I think I overheard that the lower areas of the ship were being attacked.”
“Lower areas?”
“Explanatory. Landing gear, that sort of thing.”
“I see.”
Captain Murphy set the report down and put her head in her hands. Elbows resting against the rim of the table, she rubbed her temples in silence, pondering the information being presented to her.
“If it makes you feel better,” Alex chimed in. “Those who didn’t board the Theta probably boarded on one of the other Dreadnau-.”
“Judging by the fact that Dreadnaught-Zeta didn’t even make it off the ground, I wouldn’t consider that a good thing, Alex.”
There was another long pause. The captain looked around the room, prompting the eavesdropping bridge staff to return to whatever job they were doing before. Murphy once again put her head in her hands.
“Y-you can go now.” Captain Murphy muttered, not looking up from the command station.
“Where to?”
“Just… anywhere. Go help around the ship. Make sure nobody accidentally opens the airlock, or something- I… I frankly don’t care.”
Reluctantly, Alex slowly made his down the stairs and out of the bridge, leaving Captain Murphy to mope.
Alex knew on some level that it wasn’t anyone’s fault in particular. Despite the combined efforts of the Protectorate and the majority of Earth’s international governments, the infrastructure necessary to evacuate an entire planet’s population on such short notice simply didn’t exist. Regardless, Alex vowed to himself to do better next time as he marched towards the heart of the vessel.