Most of the characters and situations in this story belong to the Wachowskis, Dune Entertainment, Village Roadshow Pictures, and other entities, and I do not have permission to borrow them. All the others belong to me, and if you want to play with them, you have to ask me first. No infringement is intended in any way, and this story is not for profit. Any errors are mine, all mine, no you can't have any. The opinions expressed by characters in this story may or may not be those of the author.
Okay, so I'm wayyyy behind on reading and reviewing the fic challenge stories, sorry! But I'm out of time for this one. Betaing by the fabulous Cincoflex!
It was the same every year.
Diomika sat in the darkened officers' lounge, staring out the small window. Lounge was an ambitious title for so small a room, but an Aegis cruiser had little space to spare, so they made do with a table and a few battered chairs, and a beverage dispenser - the latter and the window being the only things upgrading it from the crew lounge two levels down. And the crew lounge was three times the size.
To be fair, there's a lot more of them than us. The old amusement curled through her. The crew grumbled ritually about the "perks", but it was easy to get drinks from the mess and the window was almost a liability anyway. Really, the only reason to have separate spaces was so each group could complain about the other without being overheard.
Diomika let out a tired breath and leaned back, eyes searching automatically for patterns in the points of burning color that went on forever. The universe was so large that no one could know every view by sight, but sometimes one could remember a spot or two, or at least imagine that they did.
I haven't been here before, though. She'd seen more space than most, growing up on a tradeship and then taking oath to the Legion; prospecting for bargains and fighting in the endless squabbling wars of the Commonwealth had taken her far and wide. The Aegis tended to cover less ground, but still, each new world was a new sky and perspective.
How long has it been?
It wasn't a question Diomika asked often. Time became a little unhinged in space, when one detached from a planet's endless circles around its star; Orus ticked out its year with a steady beat, but the hub of the known worlds could be very far away. And even if Regenex was limited to medical use, well, it mended whatever it touched, be it wounds or the slow creep of entropy...or both at once.
She really couldn't remember any more, though the calculation would be simple enough if she looked over her personal record. It had always been easier to measure time by those around her - first family, then colleagues. But family was long gone, though their descendents sent the occasional letter from the trade fleet, and colleagues came and went. Transfer, promotion, death - all moved the counters on the board.
A little restless, Diomika stood and walked to the window, looking out and out into infinity. It never bothered her, but then it had been the view for her entire life, never softened by atmosphere. Stars to her were navigational aids, gravity wells, silent beacons and occasionally ravening monsters off the ship's bow, but not little twinkling lights.
She sometimes wondered how people could continue thinking of them as small, once they'd seen the real thing.
The window was chill against her fingertips; it always was. Windows on a warship were dangerous, a weakness in the hull, and even on a policing vessel they weren't wise, but most had one or two anyway. Because occasionally we need to look with our own eyes, not with sensors.
And even if it was only once in an Orus-year, Diomika made sure to do that looking. To remember that she was a living being with a history, not just a smooth-machined part of the Commonwealth's enforcement branch.
The child she'd been long ago would have been baffled by the course her life had taken. It wasn't that everyone in her family-ship was expected to become a trader, but nobody had expected her to fall in love with the military. The Legion was not something traders usually dealt with at all.
But her due-share had gotten her into officer school, and she'd served well for decades, until gradually the prospect of yet another battle had gone from exhilarating to routine to distasteful.
Mustering out and joining the Aegis had felt like the proper next step, and it was quite common - nearly a third of Aegis personnel were ex-Legion. Once or twice Diomika had even commanded people she'd worked with before.
But the fact remained that the longer one was alive, the fewer ties one could keep. We tumble past each other like ions in ship exhaust.
The thought was less melancholy than resigned. Diomika usually only let herself consider it once a year - she had plenty to keep her busy the rest of the time.
It's wise to remind oneself. Once in a while.
Sighing, she turned away from the window. It was past the end of the main shift, and normally the lounge would have at least one other officer in it, drinking something hot and griping about whatever the mess was serving that evening. But they all knew, and they'd left her alone. For which Diomika was grateful.
Grateful, but also finished. Time to get on with things. Shift change waits for no being.
She left the lounge and detoured through the bridge, just to check up on things; beta shift was holding it down nicely, just the three of them taking it into ship's night, and all three giving her nods but going on with their quiet work. Diomika approved, and nodded back before heading for her quarters.
Yes, once a year was plenty. Time to stop being alone, and return to being the captain of a fine Aegis crew, who were hers for now if not for forever, and -
The hatch to her quarters slid open, and light and laughter spilled out. "There she is," Phylo called. "Let's hear it for Captain Tsing, another year wiser and still stuck with us!"
The cheers were almost deafening; most of the crew was crammed into the space, barely leaving room for the food and drink and herself. Diomika shook her head and let out the smile. Right on time...just like every year.
People came, and left. But while they were there, she would hold on.
She stepped over the threshold, and joined the party.
End.