Mina stood starring out the front window of her house, her eyes darting back and forth across the frozen ground outside. She searched the darkness for any trace of her returning husband. She had been pacing back and forth across her house the entire time he had been gone, stopping only briefly to sit when her feet began to ache. Waiting to hear something was worse than the feeling of impending doom she had felt before he left.
Mina saw some movement outside and leaned closer to the window to get a better look. She noticed a figure walking towards her home, but the stature of the person did not match that of her husband. She watched the figure walk to her porch and she felt her heart skip a beat at the sound of knocking at the door. Mina took a deep breath to prepare herself before walking over to open the door. A young man that she had never seen stood in her doorway, a nervous and worried expression on his face.
"Are you the wife of Commander Kolya?" the young man asked.
Mina nodded slowly, feeling the building panic inside her rising to the surface.
"Is my husband alright?"
The man gave her a small nod.
"Yes ma'am. I am from the planet Dagan, where your husband was working. He assigned me the task of coming to you if something went wrong."
At the mention of something going wrong, Mina let out an exasperated sigh. She knew something would happen, and she hated being right about it.
"What happened?" she asked.
"His mission did not succeed and now he is trapped in an underground chamber. The people of Dagan were supposed to send someone to retrieve him, but they have no intention of following through. They would rather leave him down there to die and be rid of him and the trouble he caused for them."
Mina sighed again and told the man to stay at the doorway. She walked over to the closet and retrieved her coat before returning to the door.
"Come with me. I need to get some help."
The man followed Mina through the dark across the village until they reached her old home. Mina knocked on the door loudly, hoping she would be heard. A few moments later, the door opened to reveal a disheveled Caleb with a lantern.
"Mina? What's wrong? It's the middle of the night." He looked around his sister to the man behind him and raised his eyebrows in confusion. "Who's this?"
"I need your help. My husband seems to have gotten himself into trouble again and I can't help him on my own."
Mina held up her bandaged hands as evidence. Caleb nodded in understanding before disappearing behind the door again. Mina stood on her siblings' porch with the other man, waiting for her brother to return. When Caleb reappeared, he had changed and donned his coat. The three of them stepped off the porch and headed in the direction of the gate.
Mina and Caleb followed the young man across a large field on the planet of Dagan, shining a lantern to light the way. He led them to an opening in the ground with a device over the gap. A large stone sat off to the side, and the ground around the hole showed signs of struggle. The man pointed down into the opening.
"He's down there," he told them.
Caleb held the lantern down into the hole while Mina knelt at the side, looking down into the darkness.
"Acastus? Are you down there?"
A figure moved into the light shining in the hole and Mina saw her husband's face looking up at her. He looked disheveled, but otherwise alright. She let out a sigh of relief. Her relief quickly dissipated when she realized he was alone.
"Are you alright?" she asked.
He nodded but held his tied hands in front of him.
"I'm trapped in more ways than one," he answered in a defeated tone.
Caleb leaned over the opening of the chamber, fiddling with the device hanging above it.
"Don't worry Commander, we'll get you out."
Mina held the lantern as Caleb and the other man worked to get the device situated. Caleb lowered the belt and tossed his knife down into the shaft so Kolya could free himself of his bindings. Mina watched as the two men lifted her husband out of the hole, moving forward when he neared the top to assist in any way that she could. Once he was on solid ground, Mina threw her arms around his midsection.
"I'm so glad you are alright. What happened?"
She looked up into her husband's face and she could see sadness underneath his disappointment.
"Our mission was nearly successful, but as usual, Sheppard was two steps ahead. He sabotaged my efforts at the last moment and left me down in that hole. His team killed all my men."
Mina's heart sank at his words.
"Pranos?" she asked, realizing the source of his sadness.
Kolya nodded in response, but she could sense something else was bothering him.
"Pranos was killed by my own actions. There was a dangerous puzzle and he rushed through it on my orders. It's my fault that he's dead."
Mina reached up a cupped his cheek with her bandaged hand. She swore she felt wetness touch her fingers, but she wasn't sure. She had seen anger, pain, and regret in her husband, but never sadness.
"I'm sorry Acastus."
He reached up and gently removed her hand from his face, holding onto her fingers as he lowered their hands. He turned to the other two people and nodded in thanks.
"Thank you for getting help," he said to the young Daganian man.
The man bowed slightly in response before turning and walking away, leaving Mina alone with her husband and brother. The three of them walked towards the gate, Mina's hand still entwined with her husband's.
When they returned to their own planet, they went their separate ways; Caleb to his home and the couple to theirs. They walked in silence until they reached their home. Once the door closed behind them, Mina turned to face her husband.
"I know you are hurting from the loss of your friend, but I warned you this would happen. I knew if you went to that planet, something would go wrong. Was it worth it?"
Kolya's refused to look at her, his eyes focusing on a random spot on the floor behind her. He shook his head and walked away from her, moving to sit in his chair in front of the cold fireplace. Mina stood rooted in place.
"I'm sorry that Pranos is dead. I know it's hard to lose someone that you care about. I'm not trying to hurt you by saying 'I told you so', but it's the truth."
Kolya didn't seem to be bothered by her words. He simply sat silently, starring at nothing. Mina wondered if he could even hear her or if he was lost in his own head. She walked over behind him and placed her hands on his shoulders. She half expected him to brush her off, but when he didn't, she leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on his cheek. She gently squeezed his shoulders before releasing them and leaving her husband to be alone with his thoughts.
Mina went into their bedroom, closing the door behind her. Sitting down on the bed, she leaned forward and rubbed her eyes. Her mind raced through the events that would likely happen the next day. As soon as Cowen got wind of what had happened, her husband would surely be reprimanded. He was already on thin ice from his last mistake, so who knew what would happen to him now. She felt like she needed to do something to help him, to help both of them out of this mess.
A few days passed before Mina saw her husband again. She imagined that he had been severely reprimanded by Cowen and wanted to be alone. He likely had been spending all of his time in the military quarters that were in the bunker. Not wanting to be at home sitting idly, Mina convinced Corric to let her come back to work, even if it was to just do paperwork. Her hands had begun to heal from the burns, but she could tell that there would be scars. She sat at her desk, looking at her injury and thought back to the situation that had led to her injury.
She and Corric had run into a dangerous area to save injured people. When Corric tried to go save Dahlia, Mekhai stopped him because he was valuable to the Genii as the only real medic. That was one of the reasons he had recruited Mina, but her training had been lacking. She could serve a more useful purpose working in the field like had originally been planned. She thought back to what Pranos had said to her about not being a member of the military, so she didn't need to rush into danger to save people.
An idea popped into Mina's mind at that thought. She had a plan that could help multiple situations at once, she only needed the courage to act on it. Getting up from her desk, she straightened herself up. She called out to Corric, telling him that she would return in a little bit. Leaving the infirmary, Mina made her way in a direction she had never gone before. She headed straight for Cowen's office. As she approached, Mina noticed a woman sitting behind a desk outside Cowen's door. She approached the woman and cleared her throat.
"I would like to speak to Chief Cowen whenever possible," she said.
The woman looked up at Mina and gave her a friendly smile.
"He's not busy at the moment. Who should I say is here to see him?"
"Mina Kolya."
Cowen's secretary stood from her seat and knocked on the door behind her. Mina heard a voice answer her knock and the woman opened the door to speak to the occupant inside. After a moment, she returned and gestured to Mina and then to the door.
"You can go in."
Mina nodded and took a deep breath. She had never spoken to Cowen directly before. Her opinion of the man was not a high one, but he was the most powerful man in the Genii so she was nervous. She walked around the desk and entered Cowen's office, closing the door behind her. Cowen looked up from his paperwork to look at her. Mina clasped her hands behind her back to hide their shaking.
"Hello Mina. I must say that you are not the Kolya I expected to come groveling at my feet."
Mina winced slightly at his remark but held her head high.
"Chief Cowen. I have come before you with a proposition."
Cowen sat back in his chair, his interest peaked.
"And what proposition would that be?" he asked.
Mina took another deep breath before continuing, her idea strong in the front of her mind.
"I understand that the Genii do not have much in the way of medical staff, which was the reason behind my hiring as Corric's assistant. My initial hiring purpose was to serve as a sort of field medic for those working on the farms, but that seems to have changed due to need for my help elsewhere. The need for a medic that is capable of serving in a situation involving combat or disaster has become clear and I wish to offer myself up for that position."
Cowen narrowed his eyes at Mina, unsure of what she was getting at.
"Do you mean to say that you want to serve as a medic for mobile teams? I can't allow that as you have no military training. I can't send you out there unprepared."
Mina could see that her point was not getting across to Cowen and that she needed to elaborate.
"What I am requesting sir is that I be trained so I can serve that position."
Cowen let out a small laugh of disbelief.
"You are a bit too old to begin training now. We usually start training our soldiers much younger than you."
It dawned on Mina that Cowen was not aware of her past. He was not privy to the information she thought he was.
"Except I would not be starting from scratch sir. When I was a teenager, my father trained me alongside my brother and his other students. I am unpracticed, but I do have existing fight skills. All that is needed is proper training to hone my skills."
Cowen raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"I was not aware that your father had trained you. Why did you not join alongside your brother when you came of age?"
Mina's confident attitude slipped slightly and she blinked a few times to regain her composure.
"That was not the life my parents wanted for me. But what they wanted does not seem to apply now. I have a duty to fulfill, to my people and my family."
Cowen smirked at her mention of family.
"Meaning you feel you need to make up for the mistakes of others, namely your husband."
Mina's eyes fell to the floor at his comment about her husband. One of the main reasons she had come up with this plan was to help pull herself and Acastus out of the situation that had found themselves in due to his actions.
"Yes sir," she answered solemnly.
"It seems that you continue to attempt to make up for the mistakes of your family members. First by marrying Kolya and now this. You have a very noble attitude, I admire that."
Mina wasn't sure she was comfortable with Cowen admiring anything about her. She viewed it as a point in her favor however and raised her eyes again to meet his. Cowen seemed to be in contemplation for a few moments before he gave her an answer.
"I heard about your actions the day of the lab fire. Your quick thinking saved Dahlia Radim's life. It would be valuable to have someone like that in the field should your team come under hard times. I accept your proposal and approve of you training."
Mina's mouth quirked up in a small smile that she quickly hid behind a small cough, masking her happiness at her success. Cowen stood up from his chair and walked over to the door. He opened it and spoke with his secretary for a few moments before returning to talk to Mina.
"Kenna will have some forms for you to fill out and then she will see to your assignment. I wish you luck Mina."
Mina thanked him before leaving his office to fill out the forms his secretary handed her. Once she finished, she returned them to the woman. She was assured that she would hear from her in a day or so. Mina left and headed back in the direction of the infirmary. She let out a big breath of air as she walked and let the tension dispel from her shoulders. She had succeeded in her plan, but now she had another thing to deal with.
What would she tell her husband?
A/N: Much thanks to my new BETA Nika Dixon for helping me out on my writing! Hope you all enjoy this chapter. Please review and let me know what you think!