The XO and I exited the Captain's office onto the bridge. The watch officer saw us and announced. 'Captain on the bridge.' And saluted.
'Carry on,' I said, and returned his salute without changing my stride, and Seki and I exited the bridge for the transport hub.
My mind wandered as I followed the XO down the stairs. It wandered not to the subject of my mental health but, of all things, how the XO's tush appeared in her uniform.
Seki turned her head and gave me a knowing smile. 'Don't worry, I don't mind that you find me attractive.' She said, 'I find you attractive too,' and she gave me another smile.
'It's nice to know that attraction is mutual.'
'It seems we'll never get a chance to act on it.' She lamented.
'I had planned to retire before this. I will retire after this, then perhaps if you're still interested we...' I trailed off. Seki's face shined. 'Perhaps we could.' She said and blushed. For the rest of the brief trip to the transport pad, we walked in silence.
We arrived at the landing a minute later, and the transport was already there waiting for us. We entered and sat opposite each other. The doors of the pod closed and left for Main Medical.
Normally, a trip to Main medical would have taken under five minutes. The ship is on full defence alert, and it will take fifteen minutes to the facility.
'Now we are in defence mode, it's slow-going everywhere,' Seki said as we approached the first airlock. The first door opened, and we entered the airlock, and it closed behind us with a muffled thump.
'But necessary, these tubes snake through the entire ship. If we took major hull damage, several sections could lose atmosphere at once.'
'Yes, it's annoying, but necessary.' I agreed. With a dull hiss, the airlock decompressed.
The process complete, the second door opened and transport accelerated into an intra-section space.
The decompression cycle changed the cabin pressure of the transport, and my ears felt full.
'I forgot about this part,' I said and swallowed to equalize the pressure in my ears.
'Yeah, I often wonder if the engineers who designed these procedures have any idea how it is to live with them?' Seki said, sounding distant again.
The transport's hum changed as we moved vertically several levels and connected to another tube.
'Are you okay Seki?'
'I don't know, Drew.' Her voice had a slight waver. She tried to stifle the tears and failed. My heart broke as I watched her go-to pieces. I tossed propriety aside and hugged her. Her silent tears became body racking sobs and incoherent sentences.
'They are all dead...'
'Mom... Dad... Hiro... The kids are all gone in an instant.'
I held her as she emptied the pain she had bottled up the past few days.
Seki stopped crying after a few minutes and regained her composure somewhat.
'Sorry.' She said as she looked away, her ears and neck crimson.
'Don't apologize for being human,' I said and sat next to her. I offered her a sealed package of napkins. She took them, blotted her face and blew her nose.
'Do you feel better?'
'Right now, Drew, I don't know how I feel? One moment, I am riding high on thoughts of a future with you. Next, I am crashing with the realization that all my family died a few days ago.' Her eyes shone with tears again. This time, she caught herself and stifled the tears.
I could not think of something to say that wasn't a platitude, so I kept silent.
She took a deep breath and put her XO face on. Seki always amazed me by how quickly she could put her mask on.
Then she looked at my uniform and almost lost her composure again.
'Look at what I did to your uniform.'
I looked down at myself, and there was a wet spot on my abdomen. 'Oops.'
'Oops, what would the crew think?' She asked as she frantically balled up some napkins.
'I think XO, it's a little late for that,' I said, still looking down at myself. 'The tears and other stuff have already soaked into the fabric. You cannot do anything now.'
Seki looked at my face, then down at the wet spot on my uniform, and sighed.
'I am really in a mess, aren't I.' she said as she looked down at her lap and twiddled with the ball of wadded paper.
She was way out of her norm. I was about to panic about her pendulum mood when I had a mini epiphany.
'XO?'
'Yes, Captain?' She said and glanced at me.
'I know you've got a fibre line straight into my head, but what about other people?'
Seki's eyes narrowed, and she tossed the ball of paper at my head. I let it hit me and caught it as it fell with mock drama.
'Feel better? Now answer the question.' She faux pouted for a few seconds before she answered.
'I sense the emotion of people around me most of the time. Occasionally I'll get flashes of memory.'
'So, more empath than telepath?' I asked to lead her to a realization.
'I guess...'
'I wonder what would happen to an empath on a ship full of terrified, uncertain crew?'
Seki's eyes lit up. 'Oh.'
'Yes, Oh. The emotional instability you are experiencing may not be all you.'
'Thanks.'
'No Problem XO, I just hope that the understanding will be useful.'
'Knowing is half the battle, so I think it will.' She said as she moved some hair out of her face.
'You always seem to figure these things out before the rest of us.'
'I am lucky, I guess.'
'Luck has nothing to do with it.'
I slouched, folded my arms and said, 'I'm not that special XO.' She looked at me as if she wanted to say more, but didn't push the matter.
We sat in silence for a while.
'Okay. There is a water fountain on the platform just outside Main medical.'
'You want me to fake a water fountain accident?' I asked with loads of drama.
Seki looked like she wanted to smack me. I took the hint and toyed with her no further.
We were about a minute out from the platform closest to Main Medical. We sat in the quiet hum of the car until we arrived.
The transport pulled into the station, and its doors opened with a muted hiss. Seki and I exited the vehicle on the way to my date with a water fountain.