“Just get to work, please.”
“Yes, sir. Sorry, sir.” He refocused his glower on the floor and began to furiously mop.
Jackin climbed the steps toward her two at a time. “All good, boss.”
“Good. Let’s go, uh … have a chat.”
Jackin followed her down the corridor to her office. They didn’t bother to sit, merely stepping inside far enough for the door to close behind them.
Adequin crossed her arms. “Long-term plan?”
He mirrored her, crossing his arms and facing her squarely. “I’m ready. Hit me.”
She shook her head. “No, you hit me, Jack.”
“I got nothin’， boss.”
“I need you to have something.”
“I don’t know what you want me to have.”
She exhaled sharply. “Well, we’ve clearly got to get farther out of range than the thrusters can move us. How can we retreat at a quicker rate?”
“No idea.”
“What about the jump drive? I know it’s been decommissioned, but we have some people that might know their way around one—that new recruit’s studied astromech and propulsion.”
Jackin shook his head. “Even if there was a star out here to charge it, they pulled the primary components clean out and put them in some other ship.”
“Seriously? No engine at all anymore?”
“Nope, it used to be where Novem Sector is now.”
“Void. They really didn’t want us going anywhere, did they?” She sighed. “How’d I go five years without knowing that?”
He shrugged. “Like you said, you’re not really a ship captain.”
“Maybe we just need to tell the Legion what’s going on. Get a team out here to study it, help us figure out the best way to handle it.”
He scoffed. “Even if they believe us, and even if we get them to send support to help figure this all out, fastest it’ll get here is a month.”
“Admittedly not ideal, but so what?”
“We don’t have a month before…”
She stared at his dark brown eyes until the full reality of his seriousness sunk in. “Before what?”
“Before we all get to find out if there really is anything on the other side of the Divide.”
“Is it speeding up?”
“Sure seems that way. I lined up all the data, and I’ve been trying all morning to figure out a timeline, but besides the constant interference plaguing our instruments, it’s the same problem as always—nothing to orient us. I can’t tell where we are versus where we were, other than how far our sensors seem to think we’ve moved, but they’re just as in the dark as I am. No pun intended. Honestly, I don’t even know if the thrusters are staying ahead of it at this point.”
“Okay, forget the measurements.” She rounded her desk and opened her terminal. “Let’s get everyone safe, then worry about what’s really going on. I’m going to send a priority message to HQ.”
She slid open the comms interface and a red warning symbol floated to the top of her display. She glanced at Jackin. “It says link with Kharon Gate can’t be established.”
“Void.” He pressed his fingers to his temples. “We’ve moved far enough at this point, we might’ve drifted out of range of the comm relay.”
“Can we realign? Widen or boost our signal somehow?”