4. Fostering
FOUR
FOSTERING
After six months with Elena as captain, Reyna figured out two things about the CMS Emberkind starship.
First, it was truly and irreverently a complete disaster.
It was ancient, severely understaffed, and practically held together by systems so outdated that half of Reyna's job was convincing them to do what their actual job, and duct tape.
The crew they did have was barebones, and even that was on a good day.
It consisted of people assigned to the Emberkind because of all sorts of reasons that ranged from the fact that, some of the more savory characters had nowhere else that wanted them, to some that had requested quieter postings (and learned they got duped by ending up where they were), or just because the Coalition itself simply needed to put certain individuals somewhere, so why not the last ship listed on the Coalition's docket?
Most of the crew were competent enough. At times, some were better than competent, a surprise not just to Elena and the leadership crew, but the individuals themselves.
But the complete truth was, none of the crew Elena was given had chosen to be on the Emberkind.
Second, Reyna had figured out that, in all truth none of that really mattered. Elena made up for it in spades.
Reyna couldn't explain it in any way that would do Elena justice, but she watched her captain treat the Emberkind with fury on its behalf at the unfairness it was being dealt by those who were supposed to care and maintain the ship.
Elena learned the ship's sounds, like the particular hum the engines made at cruising speed and the click the port-side airlock rattled when it sealed, just a slight octave different from the starboard side.
She even knew how the environmental systems sighed when they cycled, something she referenced as the ship 'breathing.
' Elena treated the Emberkind like it was alive.
During Reyna's quiet hours, when most of the corridors were empty and all the lights around the ship were low, she started thinking Elena might just be right.
Reyna had stepped onto the Emberkind to run operations, just as Elena had hired her to do.
She managed to turn Elena's directives into workable, efficient systems, as well as anticipated problems before they surfaced so Elena could focus on missions.
As a result, Reyna had spent more time talking to bulkheads than she'd ever admit, especially when any particular system refused to cooperate.
But she was just doing her job. The fact that her job required the innate awareness of a third-level fleet commander as well as the patience of one who is required to negotiate with inanimate objects, was completely beside the point.
"You know, I truly believe that you know this ship better than I do," Elena said to her once during a late shift together.
"I know the ship's problems better than you do," Reyna corrected. "You can see and work towards its potential. That's way different."
"And see? That's why we work," Elena replied with a smirk. Reyna ignored her but didn't argue either. She'd learned full well when and how to pick her battles with Elena Voss, and the ones that included compliments directed at Reyna were lost before they even began.
Suffice to say, the Emberkind ran, the crew eventually came together, and Elena was, without a doubt, an incredible captain.
Reyna had never doubted she would be. It was clear from the first day at Novahall, in a room full of cadets who had followed a woman that hadn't doubted her abilities, or her team, for a single second.
Despite Elena's ability to encourage the crew around her to care for the Emberkind, Reyna could tell something was churning within her.
She could actually see it when Elena lingered in the cargo hold during off-hours, standing in that vast, empty space, looking up at the vaulted ceiling with all the environmental vents, and then down to the reinforced floors designed to bear the weight of the some of the heaviest items known in the universe.
Now, the hold was cavernous, half-empty, and masqueraded as a relic from the ship's collection days.
Which was to say, it was a glorified storage room full of junk.
Originally, it had been built to transport everything the Coalition could ever want to catalog, study, or collect. From the smallest research specimens to the finest rare minerals.
And now it just held absolutely nothing. Which was why Elena kept staring at it like it was hiding a secret from her, a secret purpose or a secret endeavor that she was just short of grasping.
But while studying her, Reyna had learned that Elena's mind worked on its own schedule. And sometimes, it struck gold.
It happened during routine rounds on the lower decks, the two of them running through operations and checking systems. Reyna happen to mention, offhandedly, that one of the environmental readings that came back from an enclosed space in the cargo hold actually reminded her of the habitats at Novahall.
"You know, like the ones Jere would just waltz in and scare all the professors," she'd said to Elena while they walked the corridors along the hold.
Now, what Reyna had meant was for that to just be a simple, passing comment. Sharing in the mention of the memory they had both experienced and been present for together. But beyond that, she hadn't thought a single thing of it.
Which was why Reyna almost barreled right into her captain when Elena had stopped walking, and Reyna saw that look she knew on her best friend's face.
She knew it was something significant as she'd only seen it once before on Elena's face, and that had been in a training habitat at Novahall when she kneeled beside that wounded creature, and something behind Elena's eyes unlocked, the woman underneath the Voss composure stepping into the light.
"Rey." Elena spun around and grabbed Reyna by the shoulders. "Rey! You're a fucking genius!"
"Language, Captain," Reyna teased, before setting her expression straight again. "Wait, I didn't say anything?"
"You said everything!”
Reyna saw that Elena's markings were doing something she had never seen, and was only expected when a Kaelari experienced extreme sides of certain emotions.
From happiness, to sadness, to anger, Kaelari markings could change based on heightened experiences.
But these moments were usually very private, kept to yourself if they happened at all, and held in extreme containment in society.
But Elena's violet light that usually pulsed at its steady, heartbeat rhythm, had accelerated, flickering at the edges of her markings as the excitement in her composure struggled to fully contain.
"The cargo hold, Rey! The environmental controls!
Reyna Solas," Elena began again, turning back to the cargo hold and holding her arms out.
"We can build animal habitats. Real ones!
We can conduct rescue operations for the displaced species Jere always talked about, and we could start breeding programs for the endangered populations that are always being pushed further and further down priority lists.
We could even have mobile rehabilitation across Coalition space, travelling wherever we're needed and doing everything we can to ensure the safety and continuation of all the animals left behind.
" Elena was grinning from ear to ear, and the palpable excitement radiating off of her gripped Reyna as well, making her see and believe everything Elena was describing.
"The ship... this ship... was BUILT for this.
It was literally designed to collect and transport cargo that was living and non-living. It's all RIGHT HERE."
Elena stopped again, slowly turning back to Reyna, her eyes alive with wonder. "We just have to reverse the purpose. Instead of taking, we save."
Reyna stared at her. It was true that her tactical brain immediately went to running the numbers of the refit costs and the staffing requirements, plus began considering the political obstacles and the sheer impracticality of turning a neglected cargo vessel into a mobile sanctuary.
The truth was that the list of reasons this couldn't work was longer than any manifest Reyna had yet to work through.
"Elena, it sounds amazing, but it would require a complete refit, a complete overhaul of the Emberkind. I don't know, but I think the Coalition would never—"
"The Coalition will agree because I'm going to make them agree," Elena interrupted, her eyes boring into Reyna. "Please, Rey. Trust me on this. I need my second." Elena stopped, her expression going softer as she looked at Reyna. "I need my friend."
With just those few words, all of the reasons this wouldn't work morphed into challenges to overcome instead of causing her to step away. She steeled her gaze on her captain, ready for the next step.
"I'm with you, Elena. Through and through." Elena smiled, placing her hand on Reyna's shoulder and squeezing it gently. Then Reyna watched as her expression turned to intense focus.
"I need Jere. Where is he right now?"
Reyna pulled out her datapad, finding Jere's contact card and running his locator system to ping his current location. "It looks like he's on a research station, serving a posting in the Thyros sys—"
"Get him on comms. Now."
"Now?"
"At the latest tonight."
And then Elena was off and running. Reyna just stood in the now empty corridor and watched her captain sprint toward a future that hadn't existed thirty seconds ago.