The Crucible: Leap of Faith by Odette C. Bell Page B

forward. Agony
that had been nothing when I compared it to the sight of my damaged
ship.
    “Nathan.” She reached a hand out
and placed it gently on my elbow.
    I took a sharp breath. “It could
be worse,” I forced myself to admit. “No casualties,” I said
through a swallow that punched my throat against my collar, “and
the damage to the station’s repairable.… It could have been a lot
worse,” I repeated again.
    If the deck I’d
been on hadn’t held, the Ra’xon could have been shunted into the
station….
    I shivered suddenly.
    “I’m so happy you’re alive,”
Annabelle said again, actual tears shimmering in her
gaze.
    They caught my attention, and a
small smile tugged its way across my lips. “You’re not one for
emotional displays, Lieutenant,” I said gently.
    “Nathan, I’m just… I’m glad you’re
alive.”
    I patted her hand and took a step
back. “I’m bone tired,” I said. “But I’ve got to see to the rest of
my crew. Some of them were injured badly.”
    “Give yourself a chance to rest,”
she counselled immediately. “You’re crew are fine. They are
receiving the best medical attention the Star Forces can provide.
You need to look after yourself, Nate.”
    “I know they’re receiving the best
medical attention, and no, I don’t need to look after myself. I
still need to see them.” With that, I gave a short nod and walked
away.
    When I reached the medical bay, my
body was so tired I could have fallen asleep on the
floor.
    I didn’t. Instead, systematically,
I saw every injured member of my crew. I sat with them until the
medical personnel shooed me away and gave me direct orders to get
some rest of my own.
    I walked out of the med bay, the
doors swishing closed behind me. Then I stood there for about a
minute doing nothing but feeling the heady lethargy shift through
my limbs.
    I knew I should get some rest, but
there was one more thing I had to do.
    Though Ensign Jenks wasn’t part of
my crew, I still wanted to check on her, if only to thank her. And
though everybody had told me she was fine, I needed to see that
with my own two eyes.
    I found that she
had already been transferred to the Ra’xon .
    I forced myself to walk to her
quarters.
    And then, when I reached them, I
paused for a few seconds. My mouth was dry, heart beating hard in
my chest. I didn’t know why. Latent shock from the explosion? Or
maybe I’d pushed myself so far that I was about to
collapse.
    Closing my eyes briefly, I pushed
the sensation away and jammed my thumb into the intercom. “This is
Nathan Shepherd,” I announced myself.
    “Enter,” someone said, and the
doors slid open.
    An unfamiliar Ensign popped her
head around the door, her confusion obvious. “How can I help
you?”
    I glanced past her to see Ensign
Jenks. She was kneeling with her hands rested on her lap, her head
angled down until her short cropped hair cupped her
ears.
    She appeared to have her eyes
closed and either wasn’t aware of my presence or didn’t
care.
    The Ensign at the door followed my
gaze. “Are you after her? Is she late for her shift or
something?”
    “No, she is not late for a duty
shift. I’m here to…” I trailed off.
    The Ensign turned around and
cleared her throat.
    Jenks didn’t move.
    “You have a visitor,” the Ensign
tried, raising her voice high. She half turned to me and lifted an
eyebrow. “She’s done nothing but sit there and stare at the wall
for the past half hour. It’s just my luck to get another crazy
roommate.”
    I wasn’t wearing my uniform, so
the Ensign would have no idea of my rank. I cleared my throat.
“Ensign,” I let my voice dip low, “Jenks here was just involved in
the accident. She almost lost her life. I suggest,” my voice dipped
even lower, “you cut her some slack.”
    The young woman stiffened, her
eyes growing wide. “What, you were involved in the explosion?” She
shifted her head quickly towards Jenks.
    Jenks finally stood, the movements
of her