Deep

Chapter 69 Time to share.

'Sorry for the constant rush meetings, you two.'

'No need to apologise, Captain, the current situation calls for it.' 

'Thanks. And Su, in here Andrew or Drew, is okay.' She looked surprised by my statement. I see Su as a friend, not just an underling. So her calling me by my first name in private is okay.

'Understood, Captain... Drew I mean.'

'Please sit.' I gestured to the plush chairs behind them. They both thanked me and sat. 

'Just give me a moment. I need to set something up. Oh, Seki, please have Alice organise some refreshments. Thanks.' 

'Sure. Su, what do you want?' 

'Just coffee, thanks.' 

'Drew?'

I went to a side table, and set the data case upon it. I ran through the security protocols to link to it. 

'Uh, some coffee and another BLT wrap.' I did not glance up from what I was doing.

'Hmm, sounds good. I have one too. Su you sure about just the coffee?'

'On second thought, order me a BLT wrap as well.' 

'Okay, I've ordered everything. It will be here soon.' With the link set, I returned to Seki and Su.

'So Drew, what new crisis are we dealing with now?' Su asked. I took a moment to formulate a proper answer. Seki stared at the floor and said nothing. Su read the mood of the room and followed up. 'That bad?'

'It's not... It's better if you watch this first.' I activated a privacy filter that killed external RF transmissions. 'Accept the peer-to-peer link.' We set up a secure local net.

'Okay, watch the presentation, we will chat when it's done.' We sat in silence and listened to Admiral's Craskell presentation again. I observed their faces during the show. Their faces remained impassive, maybe they were numb. It has been one crisis rolling into another the past couple of days. Or maybe they were better poker players than I.

The food arrived just as the presentation completed. I collected it from the service bot and placed it on a centre table. 

'Well... that's a detailed plan,' Su said after a delay. Seki said nothing.

 I verbally nudged her. 'Sek?'

She looked at me. 'I know why they did it. But...' Seki appeared at a loss for the words to describe what she felt. I understood why, it was difficult for me to find the words myself. 

I gave her a half-smile, 'I know.' I said and headed to the sink to wash my hands. When I returned, they were in the same position that I had left them. Each trapped in their own bubble of confusing emotions.