Battlefield: “Future Tense” (continued)

The young Science Officer continued to stare at him as if she did not realize that he had spoken.

“Ensign,” Raynes repeated, slightly firmer, but trying not to sound too harsh.

Her eyes sparked with awareness. “Yes, Captain.” Her voice was flat and almost toneless.

“I need a full sensor sweep of the area.”

Chautran blinked, seeming to have to parse every one of his words in order to understand his meaning. Then, she seemed to fully return to herself. Her cheeks darkened with embarrassment.

“Yes, sir,” she responded smartly, although her voice still remained quiet. “On it.”

She turned back toward the main Science station. Her fingers seemed to move tentatively at first, and then with more assurance as she recovered her confidence.

Raynes watched her for a moment, allowing a frown to briefly pass across his features. He could not remember ever being quite that nervous, but he had commanded some who were. Some of those had died.

“Helm?” he called over to Hudson again. He kept his tone even. Even before she spoke, he knew the answer.

“Still nothing,” she replied tightly. Her jaw vibrated at the joint. “Not even attitude thrusters.”

Raynes nodded, accepting her report. He had hoped for better news, but was unsurprised by both her report and her reaction. He turned toward Beart.

“Any news from Engineering?”

She glanced at her console for only an instant before shaking her head, her long braid swaying behind her.

“No, sir,” she reported. “But plenty of comm traffic.”

Raynes almost chuckled at that. “I can imagine,” he remarked softly, probably too low to be heard. If he knew [Chief Engineer], he would be tearing off bulkhead panels one by one himself until they located the problem.

“Do we have life support?” he asked Beart.

It took her longer to respond this time and he began to fear for the worst. Finally, though, she nodded and said, “Yes, sir. It’s functional in almost all sections.” She frowned, her fingers playing across some of the controls. “But I don’t think we should stress it.”

“I’ll do my best,” Raynes told her, flashing Beart a quick, reassuring smile. When her attention was drawn again to her console, he allowed his frown to return.