“Shit, I don’t care.”
“Just need something to put in the transponder when I boot it up.”
Rake shook her head. “SGL?”
Jackin smirked. “Really, boss? The SGL?”
“I dunno, Jack. Does it matter?”
“Not in the least. Copy SGL. You’ll need an admin terminal to clear us for departure. Where’s Lace?”
“I dismissed her.” Rake rubbed her hands together nervously. “I don’t really want this to reach the bridge either.”
“That’s fine. Head to your office and call my nexus, I’ll step you through how to unlock the bay controls.”
“Thanks, Optio. Be safe.”
“You got it, boss.”
Rake faced Emery and Warner and saluted. “Good luck, soldiers.” They returned the gesture, then climbed the flimsy ladder into the ship.
Oddly, Cavalon’s feet wouldn’t move. He looked down at them in annoyance.
Rake began to leave, but paused as she passed, gripping his shoulder.
“Good work today, Oculus,” she said. “Thank you.”
His cheeks warmed, and he hoped the surprise of being thanked by Rake would shock him out of his paralyzed reverie, but he still couldn’t move. He glanced up at her, and he knew she could read his frozen, wide-eyed look for what it was: fear.
“You’ll be fine,” she said, so matter-of-factly he felt inclined to believe her. “Just listen to Optio North.”
He nodded, and his body finally listened when he told it to turn around and climb into the ship. Jackin followed, and Warner secured the hatch closed behind him.
Cavalon spun to take in the layout of the Hermes—or rather the SGL—noting how well the inside matched the design of the outside: circular everything. The circular hatch sat dead center in a circular common room, complete with a circular table flanked by two half-circle benches. A small wedge protruding partway into the room outlined the cockpit, and in arcs on the outer wall sat doors to three separate areas. The one opposite the cockpit Cavalon knew would lead to the engines at the back of the ship, the others likely to cargo and crew quarters.
He finished his revolution and landed face-to-face with Jackin. The optio flashed a quick smile and shoved the brightly glowing warp core into Cavalon’s chest.
“You can install that, right?”
Cavalon glanced at it. “Uh, yes, sir. Absolutely.”
Jackin spun on his heel and disappeared into the cockpit.
“Need help, sir?” Warner called after him.
“No,” Jackin called back. “Just need to get the transponder going, then put in some coordinates. It’ll do most of it itself.”
Emery began to help Warner sequester the supplies into the starboard room. Cavalon stood and watched, the cold steel of the warp core sending goose bumps up his arms.
“That is…” Jackin called out, “if someone installs the core so we can turn the warp drive on.”
“Right,” Cavalon said under his breath. That’d be him.
The lights faded up in the engine room as he entered. He walked up to the long, central console along the back wall and unlocked the fuel port, then tugged open the hatch in the floor. He lay on his stomach at the edge of the small cavity, dropping the core into the mechanism and locking it in place.
Twisting to reach behind him, he stretched up to the console and input the command for the warp drive to accept its new fuel cell.
“Acium core accepted,” the computer said, then gave a negative chirp. “Error. Drive access lock not engaged.” Cavalon grumbled, swiping the warning away, but the computer wasn’t having it. “Please engage lock or give verbal confirmation to disengage safety protocols.”