Who Says You Can't Go Home - Part 2

Posted on Thu 6th Feb, 2025 @ 2:22pm by Captain Andrus Grax & Commander Mikaela Locke

594 words; about a 3 minute read

Mission: The Phoenix Gamble
Location: Captain Grax's Quarters, USS Falcon - Spatial Location, Classified
Timeline: Previously...

"Check."

Mikaela Locke pushed her king's side bishop forward.

Andrus Grax moved his king one space to the side. "How are you feeling about being back?" he asked as he did so.

"Mixed emotions," Locke conceded, fairly easily. "On one hand, glad to be home. On the other, not completely sure what that home will look like. The command dynamic will undoubtedly be different," she continued, "and I presume I've been replaced as XO, so don't even know if there's going to be space for me to fit into the new command structure." She moved a knight across the top of the main Tri-D Chess board. "What about you?" She added.

"Same," Grax admitted. "Given that our comms have been limited to essential transmissions, it's been hard to keep up with what's been happening on One-Oh-Nine but, as far as I can tell, the base's new commander is Gordon Francis..." He paused for a fraction too long, which allowed Mikaela to divine the reason.

"You know him?" she asked, without really needing him to answer.

"We have some history," he said in a tone that suggested he wasn't going to elaborate any further.

Mikaela decided not to push the point. "But given you're the head of intel. for the sector, surely it makes sense for you to still be based on One-Oh-Nine?" she asked.

"You would think," Grax replied, again in a tone that suggested he knew more than he was willing to let on.

Mikaela sat back, wondering to herself whether she should try and press her old friend to open up, as she had often done in the past or whether to allow him to keep his own counsel for the time being. More often than not, when they had talked issues through with each other in the past, it had been of value to both of them, and she had come to rely on Grax as a sounding board. She knew the same to be true for him, but there had been times in the past when he simply wasn't ready to open up. She regarded him for a few seconds before deciding that this was one of those times. Grax had told her a lot of his story, but she was aware that there were many details, and even whole chunks of his history, that he hadn't divulged yet. Whatever it was about the new station commander that was making him uncomfortable, she would likely find out in time.

And so, for now, she sat back, reached behind her head and scraped her hair together into a ponytail, before letting it fall around her shoulders again. "It's your move," she said, reaching forward and picking her drink up from the small table between them, on which the Tri-D Chess board sat. She took a sip and replaced it, watching carefully as Grax's attention returned to the board from whichever memory it had been lingering on for the last few seconds.

He raised his hand towards the top-most battle-board, when the comm alert sounded.

"Captain Grax, Commander Locke, please report to the bridge. We're coming up on Starbase One-Oh-Nine." Hannah Sawyer's voice echoed through the room.

Grax and Locke exchanged a brief glance before both rising from their seats, leaving their chess game unfinished. "On our way, lieutenant," Grax responded.

Both paused momentarily as they weighed the gravity of returning to a starbase that they knew would be both familiar and changed. Both breathed a heavy breath, looked at each other again, and then headed out towards the bridge.

 

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