Jessa sat at her desk idyll tapping her stylus on the desk. The rhythmic pattern was white noise to Jessa as she stared out the viewport of the classroom. She no longer heard it but found the motion was soothing. It kept her hands busy as her mind contemplated a multitude of thoughts. Life had settled into the mundane routine of life over the past month for Jessa. She woke up, went to classes for a portion of the day, met with Rinker, and they spent the remainder of the day either with the Bordeaux’s or the O’Neills. Jack had two sons that were close to Jessa’s age. She actually enjoyed going over there when Kelly and Ian were on duty. The family was loud, noisy, and reminder her of happier days back home. Rinker’s sessions were less intense and draining now that she had stopped fighting him on every topic that was broached. It had been exhausting trying to out think him or look for meaning in every word he spoke. Unfortunately, Rinker’s session plagued her thoughts after they were over. She often shrugged off his questions but they seemed to find a way to lodge deep in her brain making Jessa question things she didn’t even know she had questions about. Glancing up at the clock, Jessa ran the numerical system in her head trying to remember the sequence so that she could count down how long before she could leave.

It was at that moment the wave hit the ship. Her body was thrown across the but her armored suit came on instantly preventing her from impacting anything in the room. The event was over almost as fast as it had started except for the fact that Jessa’s heads up display in the suit went wild. Intelligence about the arriving Galactic Union fleet scrolled almost too fast for her to read it; however she clearly read one line.

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Two minutes later
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Jessa broke into sickbay running at full speed. Her eyes scanned the room finding the one person she was looking for. “Rinker.”

“Pellan is here. The fleet is here,” she repeated following him around the room. “What do I do?”

Jessa Novar