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The sudden silence felt like explosive decompression, thought Captain Dufrau. In the last week she'd felt that decompression so much she was starting to feel nostalgic about it, but silence felt new. For the first time in 39 hours, there were no alarms. None of the hammering and welding sounds of ship repair. None of the crew were moaning in pain.
If anyone could have piloted the HMS Gary unscathed through the perils of the last week, it would have been Captain Dufrau. As it stood, the fact that the Gary was even in one piece was a credit to the fact that it was helmed by the greatest starship pilot in the Federation, Captain Sarah Dufrau, and protected by the greatest soldier and firefighter the galaxy had ever seen, the Rockman Alison.
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A week earlier, Alison was aboard the Rockman ship Lazuli. They were carrying information essential to protecting Rock controlled sectors from the oncoming Rebellion when a malfunction blew out the engines and most life support systems. Alison's crew loaded into escape pods, but Alison stayed behind. She knew the importance of their information. Someone had to stay behind to either get it into the right hands or scuttle the ship to protect it from the Rebels, and as the ship's engineer, no one was more qualified. As the last pods blasted from the ship toward the nearest planet, she turned on the ship's distress beacon, knowing that it might be one of the last things she ever did.
After several hours, as the temperature dropped and it became harder to breathe, a proximity alarm started to blare. A ship was approaching. Alison hovered her hand over the self-destruct button and waited.
And waited.
A hail rang out.
She answered the communication and the bridge video screen filled with the face of a ship pilot, her hair as tall as Federation regulations would allow. Like most Federation uniforms, hers showed the rumpled, worn effects of countless battles. However, her poise naturally imbued the damage with signs of bravery and perseverance where a lesser soldier would simply appear rumpled and beaten. Looking at the image on her screen, the stone skin of Alison's face felt warm despite the failing life support systems.
The pilot began to speak, but after seeing Alison, paused and took a breath. Humans tended to do that when seeing Rockmen, though usually without the flush turning the pilot's face red now. Seeing this, Alison thought about how glad she was her skin didn't change color like humans, or she would have been reddening as well.
"My name is Captain Dufrau, of the Federation Navy," said the pilot after a moment's pause. "What is your status?"
Alison was mesmerized by the pilot, but still managed to answer. "I am Alison Slate, Engineer of the Lazuli. My ship has been disabled, and I have essential information for defeating the Rebellion. If you can get me and this data to your fleet, maybe we can bring peace back to our galaxy."
Captain Dufrau agreed, and Alison transmitted the information to the Federation ship, knowing as she did so that there was nothing to stop them from leaving her behind now. Even so, she triggered the countdown for the self destruct sequence and waited. Soon, she felt the always-disorienting sense of her body dematerializing and reforming on the rescue ship.
As she fully materialized on the HMS Gary, she was surprised to see they had brought her directly to the bridge. Standing beside her was the captain, who reached out a hand. Alison took the hand in her own and shook it. She knew her skin felt warmer than usually ever did and wondered if the captain had met enough Rockmen to notice.
"Captain Sarah Dufrau," said the pilot. "Welcome to the HMS Gary." Alison was so focused on the captain's face as they jumped away that she failed to take a last look at the Lazuli. Behind them, the ship where she had spent so many years splintered apart.
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Throughout the following week, Alison took on various roles in the ship as they attempted to dodge rebels, pirates, and slavers on their way back to the Federation base. She manned the sensor arrays, insuring that the captain always knew what was happening on enemy ships and her own. She stomped out fires with the help of her stone feet and fireproof kitten heels. She battled mantis boarders and repaired hull breaches.
It seemed every sector the Gary jumped to had a more dangerous foe than the last. Somehow, the closer they got to the Federation, the more powerful the Rebel presence seemed to be. Captain Dufrau managed to lead her crew through each battle, though it was never easy. A ship helmed by any lesser pilot would have been ripped apart long ago. The Gary was overpowered and outgunned every step of the way, but Captain Dufrau never failed. No matter what they faced, she pulled the Gary and its crew through it, though rarely unscathed.
While the captain never forgot her mission, after each hazard she was sure to check on her crew personally. She would visit them in the medical bays. She would check on their mental well-being. But Alison couldn't help but notice that each time, the captain spent a little more time with her than anyone else in the crew. She joked more with Alison. In the rare moments of rest, she would share a drink with Alison before anyone else. She didn't know if it was because the captain didn't trust Alison's abilities as the newest crew member, but she did know any time spent in the captain's presence caused a nervous fluttering in her stomach that she had never felt before.
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Just as Alison began to feel like no jump would ever reach the home base, the ship flashed to a stop in a new sector and found itself surrounded by Federation ships. The captain quickly hailed the Federation flagship and passed on the information recovered from the Lazuli.
Soon after the information was passed on, a message was returned from Federation HQ. In return for their assistance and bravery, the Gary and its crew were being tapped to take down the Rebel flagship. The captain balked for just an instant before accepting the mission. Then she visited Alison in the sensor room.
"Alison," said the captain. "You have been indispensable to this ship since we found you. But I have to be honest with you. This fight is not one anyone on this ship is likely to survive. Because of your information, we all know what's facing us. HQ probably expects us to fail, and is using us to simply slow the Rebels down while they mount a defense.
"What I'm saying is, you've succeeded in your mission. You passed on your information. If you want us to drop you at a planet where you can find a way back to your home, we'll all understand." The captain gave Alison a long, hard look in the eye and waited.
Alison took a long, deep breath. "Captain," she said.
"Please. Call me Sarah. Don't answer my title. Tell *me* what you want."
Alison braced herself again. "Sarah. This is my crew now. My home will never be safe as long as the rebels rule the galaxy. And I will never feel right knowing I let you go into this fight without trying to help. I can't know I lost you... lost you all, without trying to keep you alive. I will be with you to the end."
Sarah ran a hand back through her resplendent hair and nodded once. "Okay, let's go."
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The battle with the flagship was faster and more chaotic than anything Alison had ever seen in all her time as a crew member on a ship. Even the deft movements of Sarah at the helm couldn't keep the ship from constantly rocking from missile attacks. The space between the ships, normally the void of space, was instead filled with drones, missiles, energy beams, and debris blasted off both of the ships.
"I don't know if we're going to make it!" said Captain Dufrau over the intercom. "Their shields are too strong for our lasers. We can't seem to do enough to disable those missiles!"
Alison looked on her scanner monitors and saw the room where the missile array was controlled on the Rebel flagship. One lucky attack had blasted a hole in the hull of the room, but hadn't destroyed the controls. Repeated attacks on the room were missing or bouncing off the shields. That's when Alison made her decision.
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Because of all the warning lights appearing on her screen, Captain Dufrau didn't notice the new one for a few seconds. When she realized what it was, she clicked on the intercom to the teleporter room.
"Who is powering up the teleporter?" she asked.
"I have a plan!" came Alison's voice from the intercom. "You have to trust me!"
"NO!" yelled Sarah. "You can't go over there! It's suicide!"
"It's the only chance we have," said Alison. "It's too late to stop me." With that, the teleporter signal on the captain's control board flashed. On her ship scanner screen, she saw Alison appear in the missile control room on the enemy ship.
"What are you doing?" she yelled into her commlink, still weaving the ship through the cloud of ion beams and breach missiles. "There is a hull breach in that room! There's no air!"
"It's fading fast," said Alison, crackling through the noise of the battle. Captain Dufrau could hear the sound of Alison's huge stone fists smashing the missile controls. "But I think I can do this. If I can't, though, I need you to know something. This last week, even with all the dangers, has been the greatest week of my life. Because I got to spend it with you." Alison's voice started to slow down, and the captain could hear her struggling to breathe. "No one has ever inspired me like you have. I need you to know. I love you."
Captain Dufrau muted her comm microphone and punched the ship's intercom button. "SOMEONE GET TO THE TELEPORTER ROOM AND GET ALISON BACK ON THIS SHIP!" She went back to the commlink and said, "Alison... I... I had no idea. I mean, I hoped, but I had no idea. The truth is..."
Just then, the voice of Yavon Si, the Gary's engineer, came from the intercom. "I'm here, Captain, but the teleporter needs to charge back up. I'll get her out of there as soon as I can."
"Do it faster than that!" She shouted, then clicked the commlink back on. "Alison, the truth is. I love you, too. I just couldn't admit it until now."
She continued weaving around the attacks coming her way, though she noticed that the missiles had stopped. Alison had done it. Laser attacks were still coming through, but Alison's gamble had bought them some time. Sarah relaxed a little until she noticed that she wasn't hearing Alison's breath in her commlink any more.
"Alison?" she asked. "Alison! Stay with me, Alison!" She continued to maneuver to avoid attacks, but a combat drone took out her shields and a beam from the flagship sliced across the bridge and cut straight through her control panel. There was nothing she could do but leave the evasive maneuvers to the autopilot. She sprinted to the medical bay to wait for Alison's return.
The instant the sensors showed the teleporter was at full charge, Alison, silent on the comms for almost a minute, materialized in the medical bay. Her substantial stone chest wasn't moving. "Alison!" she shouted, rushing to her. She did the only thing she could think to do. She put her mouth over Alison's and attempted to breathe life into her. She had no idea if she could generate enough oxygen to bring Alison back, but she had to try. All around her, she heard the shouts of her crew and the rending of metal as the autopilot tried and failed to avoid the attacks.
Sarah breathed into Alison's mouth again. And again. Finally, as smoke began to filter into the medical bay through the damaged blast doors and the hull of the ship seemed to scream in pain, Alison's eyes opened with a flutter. She looked up at her captain standing over her and heard the chaos around her. "Why aren't you at the helm?" she asked.
"The controls were destroyed. There's nothing left for me to do. I don't think we have much longer, and I wanted to spend my last moments in your arms." She draped herself across Alison's body, only able to wrap her arms halfway around her. She felt Alison's heavy, strong arms wrap around her and rest on her back. The weight was the only thing Sarah found reassuring as they listened to the pounding of the weapons and waited for the end.
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The end that came was not the one they expected. Suddenly, with a bright flash of light, the impact of the weapons ended. Captain Dufrau rushed to the bridge, with Alison slowly stumbling behind her, still weak from her experience. On the bridge, Sarah brought up the external camera. The area where the Rebel flagship should have been looming was instead a spreading cloud of debris.
Eyes wide, mouths hanging open, they stared at the screen, neither knowing what to say. Alison reached out and took Sarah's hand. She pulled Sarah in front of her and they stood there, Alison's big, powerful arms wrapping around Sarah from behind as they watched the once-formidable opponent drift in all directions. Finally, Alison asked the question they both had on their minds. "But how?"
Just then, a ship hailed them. Sarah pressed the button to answer the hail. "Federation ship, please identify yourself," came the message, from a familiar voice she couldn't identify.
"This is Captain Sarah Dufrau of the HMS Gary. Who is this?"
Before the voice could answer, she recognized it. Everyone in the Federation would have. They had all heard it giving rousing speeches in the most desperate of times. They had seen the propaganda vids of her battling through swarms of Rebel ships. Most Federation soldiers knew the woman behind that voice, though they didn't even know if she was still alive, let alone still fighting. She had been the deadliest fighter in the fleet for years, until one day she disappeared. She had once been thought to be the last great hope against the Rebellion, but most were convinced she'd died in a battle. Knowing she was here, and had just saved her life, filled Sarah with hope.
"Well, Captain," came the voice over the comms. "This is Commander Clarke Griffin of the HMS Lexa kom Trikru. It looked like you could use a little help."
With that, Sarah and Alison started laughing, and Alison held Sarah tightly to her. Maybe a little too tightly. Sarah didn't mind. Things were going to be okay.