“So what? They’ll send help if they find out what happened.”
“I don’t know if that’s true.”
“Really? You think if we get a hold of them, they’re just going to say, ‘Sorry, we’re out. Best of luck’？”
Jackin scoffed. “Honestly, boss? Maybe.”
Puck covered his face with both hands and breathed deeply. Cavalon went unnoticed as he stepped up to lean against the door frame.
“Then I’ll talk to Lugen,” Rake said, tone firm. “They’re not just going to leave us here.”
“We don’t need anything from the Legion in order to start the gate,” Jackin said. “We can say fuck comms and focus efforts on that. You can make the call—”
“This is the call,” she said. “We can’t put a Hermes through an Apollo Gate anyway. It’s too risky.”
Puck sighed and dropped his hands. “She’s right about that, Optio.”
Rake nodded her appreciation, then turned back to Jackin. “We need them to send a vessel. We’re stuck until they do. Get the Legion on the horn.”
“Okay, boss.” He ran his hands down his face. “But we’ve had no luck so far, and it’s been hours.”
“What more can we do?” she asked.
“I’ve been avoiding it because it’ll take internal comms down as well,” Jackin said, “but we can do a full manual reboot of the mainframe and comm systems. Even if it doesn’t help with comms, the sensor grid is on the fritz too—we didn’t get more than a few minutes warning when the Drudger ship arrived. A reboot might help that as well.”
“Okay, let’s try it,” Rake said.
“We have to do it manually. From the server room.”
“I’ll go.”
“It’s at the other end of the station, and the conveyance system’s down. It’s at least a forty-minute walk, one way.”
“Sounds good.”
“Remember that sleeping thing you promised to do?” he scolded.
“I’m fine,” she insisted. “I need to be doing something. I can’t take all this waiting around.”
“All right,” Jackin huffed. “But when you get back, you’re sleeping, whether it’s willfully or not.”
“Fine,” Rake agreed. “You wouldn’t be the first subordinate to render me unconscious today.”
They both looked to Puck. He raised his eyebrows, entwined his hands, then stretched them high above his head before leaning back over his console and busying himself.
Rake patted Jackin’s back firmly. She picked up a weapons belt and strapped it around her waist, then turned and marched toward Cavalon. He stepped back, worried he’d be reprimanded for listening in, but she hardly registered his presence.
Jackin called after her. “Don’t go alone. What if…”
Rake ignored the optio, giving Cavalon a nod as she passed on her way out the door.
Cavalon watched her go, and when he turned back, he found Jackin staring at him. Cavalon diverted his gaze to his feet. He rubbed a light scuff mark on the toe of one boot with the heel of the other.
“Oculus,” Jackin said.
“Yes. Sorry, sir. Just looking for Puck. I wasn’t sure what I should, uh … be doing.”
Jackin crossed his arms. “You’re feeling better?”
“Good as new, sir.”