CHAPTER 41 KAT #2
“Go on,” Kat encouraged, her interest piqued. Where it was Kiara and Kamata, Kat didn’t particularly mind so much. And he was right, she’d trust them over just about anyone.
“We got lucky last time with our ship’s shield configuration,” Whistler said, flatly.
“The way we configured our ship’s energy shields very nearly left us stranded and drained inside those forcefield-shields.
And had there been no Segura, we would have been out of commission, likely for quite some time. ”
“So what do you propose?” Lee asked, again, the clarity once more in his green eyes, always looking to the next step.
“We’re working on a preset, a sort of custom switchover program, if you will…
I’ve been dreaming it up in my free time.
We’ll have it done in time, I swear it,” Whistler said, tapping two fingers to the lifeblood of his left wrist as Kat and Lee exchanged glances.
“But ideally, we’ll be able to shift between shield configurations with a much more efficient energy outtake.
Allowing for an energy life more similar to what we are used to. ”
Kat was again exceedingly grateful they’d opted to bring Whistler onboard. But the shielding had brought another issue to mind. That of sorting out communication. Obviously they wouldn’t want to be shooting out signals left and right alerting the rest of the galaxy or their presence…
“We already have a design in mind,” Whistler said quickly, misinterpreting Kat’s shift in emotions.
“No it’s not that, we trust you,” she said, turning instead to address Lee. “But this has me wondering after our ship’s communication signal…”
“Would we loop in Nikola? More hypotheticals?” Lee suggested, using the same, barely-opaque excuse Whistler had crafted earlier and catching her wavelength, right on schedule.
“Is that too many? You’ve got Jed, too, helping us out…”
“Honestly, at this point, I’d rather ensure we do things thoroughly, then worry about discretion. We said it before. We can trust them.” Lee shoved his hands in his pockets.
Kat snorted, leaving Whistler to piece together as much or as little as he liked. “At this rate, we’ll probably end up with Hanna, too.”
“The whole squadron working together again,” she said faintly. Who knows, maybe Levy would find her way back into this too, somehow.
It had taken about three months. But her heart wasn’t confused anymore.
It was finally ready.
That night, she and Lee caught up with Nikola in the Hideaway. Coincidentally, when they found him, he was hanging out with Hanna, the pair of them tucked into a set of stuffed armchairs in a corner.
Kat cleared her throat as they approached. They both looked up, Hanna tracking her gaze like a hawk. But it was Nikola she addressed. “We wanted to ask you for a favor.”
“Shoot,” Nikola said, finally looking up.
She glanced tentatively towards Hanna, before continuing. “Lee and I are working on a bit of a hypothetical project.”
“An extra-curricular, if you will,” Lee added.
“Yeah, that,” Kat agreed. “Anyway, we wanted to see how you would go about arranging long-distance communication, if for some reason you found yourself in a different part of the galaxy, not wanting to be detected…hypothetically.”
Beside him, Hanna’s perfectly manicured brows had risen up into her new bangs.
“Do I have any particular parameters I’m working with?” Nikola asked, adjusting his rectangular specs over his nose.
“Just for kicks, let’s say they’re similar to that of Argos,” Kat said, lowering her voice.
Hanna hadn’t moved a muscle. And again, she didn’t say anything as Nikola considered. “I have some time. I can draw up something for you if you like.”
“Sooner than later?” Kat pressed.
“Sure thing.”
“Nice to see you, Hanna.” Kat at last turned to her, ready for the fallout. But Hanna only nodded, expression carefully neutral.
“And you,” she said.
Only the slightest put-off as per usual by their interactions, Kat followed Lee over to one of their regular tables, peering back over to watch as Hanna leaned in to peer at some video open on Nikola’s holoblock.
“Do you think they got back together?” she asked.
“It’s possible,” Lee mused, pulling out his holoblock.
“I think I’m happy for them.” She let herself lean into Lee’s arm, curling into him as he drew up a fresh file on his holoblock.
In-between barreling through the Commander’s mainframe notes, she and Lee had also started narrowing their list of potential base locations based on known amenities and atmospheric conditions, dropping in whatever they could find from the Commander’s hacked mission files.
They now had a system and a shortlist, ranging from highly likely to nearly impossible.
But if this was the best they’d get, they would make the best of it.
“At least we got one more out of the way,” Kat said, crossing the communication tech off her mental checklist.
She’d only just started into their notes when her hyperband buzzed. She glanced down, squinting, before the message information registered with her brain.
“We’ll have to cut this short tonight…” she murmured, re-reading the message at her wrist. She huffed a laugh, now shaking her head. “I’d forgotten all about this.”
She motioned towards his holoblock. “We’ll want to bring these up first, though. I don’t think we’ll end up back down here… after…”
Lee arced a brow curiously. She was aware of how this looked, and aware of the late hour.
“You’ll see,” she promised, grinning to herself. Fate sure had an interesting sense of humor.
A dozen or so minutes later, she led Lee quietly by the hand, down through the dimmed and darkened Heptagon. She only let go of his hand when they reached the starboard doors of the Spectrum.
She shook her head when he reached for the panel covering the wires. “Not this time—they’re already down.”
He raised his eyebrow further up his forehead. “RIMs again?” He guessed.
“Nope.” She let her lips pop on the “p.” Then, grabbing his hand again, she pulled him after her into the darkened stands of the Blackout Galaxy.
“So you remember weeks and weeks ago, when you gave me my present?”
“The star flower?” he asked. The mention of his little nickname for her sent glittered pricks up her spine. “That was months ago,” he breathed.
“Yeah, well, it took me a little while to source a provider…”
“A provider...” he began, but fell silent when Kat again dragged him down towards a figure near the base of the stands. Kat recognized the cadet, a blond-haired Ultra looking to make a little extra pocket change.
“Well,” they demanded, glancing uneasily between her and Lee. Of course, the cadet recognized them as well; Kat would have been irritated had it been otherwise.
Kat rolled her eyes, but extended her hyperband to make the exchange. Once the funds had been transferred, the cadet opened up the drawstrings on a dark bag and tipped a small cubic tin into Kat’s outstretched palms.
Shooting the two of them one more anxious glance, the cadet slipped back off into the dark, leaving Kat to inspect the label on the bottom. “It seems like we got the right one.” Snapping the lid loose, she held the tin out for Lee. “Chocolate?”
“Chocolate, wait, you got us—” Lee leaned over the tin. She could tell the moment he realized the nature of the luxury treat she was offering him.
Sucking in a breath and biting his lip, Lee dug out a morsel. There was such a look of elation, of giddiness and boyishness, on his face as he brought it up to his lips, she couldn’t stifle her laugh.
“You’re welcome.” She grinned, still breathless as he savored that initial bite of bitterness, the dark percentage of chocolate that would very momentarily melt into an inebriation of complex tasting notes.
“Are you going to try some?” Lee asked. She could already smell the chocolate on him.
Kat just laughed. “This is mostly for you. I never liked them as much as you did.”
“Oh, come on. It’s been years. I didn’t even know they sold them outside that one sweet shop in the Lehibro?”
“I’m not sure they do, either.” She grinned. Chocolate and a show in the city. She’d never forget that trip with him and Tonya.
He didn’t have to do much to sway her as she allowed Lee to drop one of the smaller morsels onto her tongue.
She cringed as the bitterness swept in—yep, she still didn’t like them. But she had to admit the moment the concentrated liquor concoction set in, it wasn’t all that bad. Sort of cut the bitter taste in half.
When she swallowed, she found Lee still grinning at her, his eyes twinkling in the starlight that streamed in through the high windows. A twinkling that probably had quite a bit to do with the sweets he’d just devoured.
“I don’t even know what to say,” he said, with that goofy smile still on his face.
“Then kiss me, you dork.” And to that, he submitted.