AN: What if…?
Eleven: Freefall
Jeff's test flight of TV 21 goes awry.
Too many indicators were in the red. Too many alerts were flashing, demanding their attention. The mission controller glanced at her second with haunted eyes before touching her comm button. "Col. Tracy, this is Control. Can you hear us?"
The answer was choppy, but unmistakable. "I–py you."
"We've lost you on radar. Give us your coordinates."
"…I can't do that."
Lucy's heart stopped. She reached between the controllers and slammed the comm button. "Control to TV 21. Say again?" she snapped.
"Lucy. Oh, sweetheart. I was hoping I'd get the chance–"
She cut him off. If he didn't say it, maybe it wouldn't happen. "Jeff, what's going on?"
His voice was grim. "I've got smoke in the cockpit. I can't tell if it's mechanical or electrical. Controls aren't responding, and the stabilizers won't come back online."
"Tell us where you are." So he was ditching in the ocean; they could handle this. After he splashed down, she'd call the Secretary of the Navy to go get him if she had to, the Coast Guard and the Marines, WASP for crying out loud–
"Telemetry is screwed. I couldn't tell you if I was inside out or backwards."
She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Not funny."
He chuckled. "Sorry."
"What happened?"
"That's something you're gonna have to figure out."
Her heart may have restarted, but it was pumping ice water now. "No, Jeff–"
"Listen to me. In two minutes I'm gonna be at the bottom of the Atlantic, and I wanna tell you…I love you. All of you."
He couldn't. He could not. "Don't do this–"
"Lucy." The command was sharp, and it cut her to silence. The control room went pin-drop silent around her. "I want you to continue with the-what we talked about. The boys–they'll help you. They're young but they know what's expected of them. Keep them safe, like I know you will. Kyrano will be there for you, and Mom, and all of our friends who helped us. Rely on them. Will you promise me, Lucy?"
Tears were streaming down her face. "Yes. I promise."
"I'm so proud of our boys. I'm so proud of you. You're going to be all right."
"Not without you!" Sobbing, she beat her fists against the console, beyond caring that six other people were staring at her. He'd survived the moon and Mars; it couldn't end here, not like this. "Jeff…oh, Jeff, please, I love you, I can't–"
"It'll be all right," he repeated, and Lucy wasn't sure if he was reassuring her, or himself. "It'll be–"
The comm went silent.
"Jeff!"
No answer except static.
"Jefferson Tracy!"
Static.
He was gone.
She threw back her head and screamed his name to the stars.