Hello readers! I am overwhelmed by the feedback! I am grateful. Here's part four. Soooo... The entire story is completely rewritten, and is read to upload. I will try and get it up as fast as I can, but I am going in for a big surgery on april 1st, so it may slow down for a week or two. Thanks for your patience and enjoy!
Cali stood in the smoldering wreck of the engine room in tears, her shoulders slumped. "It should have worked, she knew what she was doing." She looked around. "What could have gone wrong?"
Serra sat with Kat's head on her lap as Saphina tended to Kat's wounds. "How bad is it?" Serra asked, her voice was shaky and weak.
"I... I don't know. I'm not a doctor, but it looks... bad." She said with tears in her eyes. Il'taira stood silently in the doorway to the small med bay. Soon, Cali and Lexi joined them.
"We're at a dead stop captain, engines are still running though- '' Lexi stopped short when Serra looked up at her. Tears streamed down her face. Cali wept hard. Il'taira held her in an attempt to comfort her.
"Please be okay." Serra said over and over. After a few more minutes of the crew standing in silence, Cali and Lexi wandered away.
"What the hell happened?!" Lexi asked her.
"I don't know. Katarina and I had a repair plan that we agreed would work, and I know it should have. I left her to get started while I was going to tell Serra what we had planned." She quietly sniffled, "This is my fault!" She said, slamming her fists onto a counter.
"Don't," Lexi approached her. "This is not your fault. Do not do that to yourself. Katarina is a competent engineer, shit, she's got skills enough to replace any of us." She poured two drinks and offered one to Cali. "Just figure out what went wrong and don't let it happen again."
"Wise words." Saphina said as she entered the mess.
"Thanks." Lexi smiled at her.
"Cali, we have faith that you'll get to the bottom of it." Saphina encouraged her. Cali gave them both a weak smile and took a drink.
Back in the med bay, Serra continued to sit, weeping quietly and stroking Katarina's hair. "You have to be okay, do you hear me? Kat, I... I..."
Il'taira stepped into the room and moved next to her. Serra looked up at the pale skinned Kurn. "Can you... help her?"
"I don't know, but I will try." She said honestly.
"Please." Serra said between sobs. Il'taira nodded and knelt next to Katarina. She closed her eyes, held her hands over her body. Black, smoke-like tendrils reached out and wrapped around her. The dark energy enveloped the body and began to pulse. Her brow furrowed as she tightened her focus on the task. Beads of sweat began to form on her forehead. She grimaced as the pulse seemed to grow. The entire room grew gloomy and noticeably cooler. Serra could see her breath in the air which startled her. She began to worry as Il'taira let out a soft grunt.
"Il'taira?" Serra whispered. She replied with an upheld finger and gritted her teeth as she let out a low growl. Finally, she collapsed back onto the ground breathing heavily. "Are you okay?"
Il'taira nodded weakly.
"H... hey..." A weak vice could be heard between the heavy breathing. Serra looked down at Katarina.
"Hey... yourself." She smiled through her tears. Katarina turned her head to see Il'taira breathing heavily on the floor. "My... Empress..." Il'taira nodded at her.
"Not... Emp..."
"Shh... don't push yourself." Serra said quietly. Kat turned her face back to Serra and smiled weakly. "S... Serra..."
"Yes?"
"I...I... love...y-"
Katarina passed out.
"I love you too." Serra whispered and stroked her face.
Cali retreated back to the engine room and sat on a bench and just surveyed the damage. She began to weep.
How could I let this happen?! It should have been a routine fix. I can't understand what possibly could have caused an explosion. I've done stuff like that before with no issues... I'm never going to be allowed on this ship again! I-
Just then, Il'taira staggered in. Cali looked up at her, utterly defeated, but her sadness turned to concern upon seeing Il'taira struggling to stay upright. She ran to her and caught her.
"What's wrong?! Are you hurt?!"
"No..." she moved to the stool. Cali helped her sit. "I expended a great deal of energy to help Katarina."
"Did it work?" Cali asked.
"I... I don't know, but she did wake up and spoke." Il'taira said. "But she passed out."
"I'm sure you did all you could." Cali said holding her.
"I did..."
Later, Il'taira sat on a stool in the engine room watching Cali go through every tiny detail. "Talk to me girl." She said quietly while reading over the logs, inspecting equipment and thinking over the steps she and Kat made. For a moment, Il'taira thought she saw a faint spark of blue-green light coming from Cali. She cocked her head and opened her mouth, but before she could speak.
"I got it!" She snapped her fingers. "At least I think I do."
She hurried to the power transfer conduit where the explosion seemed to ignite. She checked it over and tapped the pipe with her spanner. "This is it!"
Il'taira smiled at her, "What happened?"
There was a tiny fracture here." She said, motioning to the pipe.
"A fracture?! How?"
"My best guess, it likely happened during our escape from Wrolmar. Remember how badly the ship shook during breaking atmo?"
"Yes, it was scary." Il'taira agreed.
"The fracture must have happened at the moment, and rerouting the power through here at nearly double standard recommended levels caused it to weaken and eventually rupture." She explained.
"I'm glad you figured it out." Il'taira said. "What's next?"
"Well, we can't go back to jump space, the whole system will get stressed and overload the other capacitors. We need to replace the broken parts and then recalibrate everything." She explained.
"Okay."
"We need to make planetfall or a well-stocked space station. This is going to be an expensive repair." She stated. "The VoidStar would be best, if we can make it."
Later, the crew gathered in the lounge and Cali gave them the rundown. Laying out the repairs and computer system work that will need to be done. She paused and shifted nervously.
"Cali? Is there anything else?" Serra asked.
"Uh, yeah. I could really use Katarina's help."
"We all know that's not possible at the moment." Serra said, slightly annoyed. "But maybe we can hire some techs to assist you with the repairs."
"Yeah, I guess." Cali replied. She kept her gaze low, not making eye contact.
"Cali? Are you okay?" Il'taira asked, putting a hand on her arm.
"Huh? Oh... yeah." She mumbled something and hurried out toward her quarters.
"I know you're new, but do you have any idea what that was about?" Serra asked.
"She feels awful." Il'taira said. "She blames herself for the accident and Katarina's injuries. She's really beating herself up over it."
"There's no way anyone could have known that would happen." Lexi said.
"Agreed." Serra added. "That was completely unpredictable."
"She knows, but that doesn't mean she didn't blame herself." Il'taira said. The group sat quietly for several minutes. Then, one by one, they all got up and went their separate ways. Serra went to the med bay and sat with a still unconscious Katarina. "I meant what I said Kat." She whispered. "I do love you. I know... I know... in this universe, love isn't a thing most of us ever experience. I know it hasn't been very long, but with everything we went through... you've always been so strong and such an inspiration, my life since meeting you has been... so very fulfilling." She sighed and sat in silence.
"I don't think we should break our mate bond just yet. I rather like having that connection with you, even if it was... not exactly real. I know it was supposed to be a ruse and never meant to be permanent, but... I like the idea." She smiled to herself. She looked at the warrior lying there, weak and vulnerable... she began to cry. After a time, she jumped when she felt a hand on hers. "Kat?!" She looked down at her. Katarina's eyes were slits, barely open and moist.
"Hey... Captain." Her voice was barely above a whisper and very hoarse.
"How do you feel?"
"Tired... and I hurt... all over." She said weakly.
"I'm sorry." Serra replied sympathetically.
"How?" Kat licked her lips, trying to moisturize them. "How... is Cali?"
"What?"
"Cali, is she okay?"
"She wasn't hurt. She wasn't in the engine room." Serra said.
