<div><span class="italic">Amanu Station</span>'s pilot barracks had originally housed maintenance staff back when it had been an explorer ship. On a practical level, the decision made sense: the floor plan was designed with emergency response in mind, and it was already wired up with alarms and PA systems. But pilots are often curious, and they'd stumbled upon any number of out-of-the-way spaces formerly reserved for long-forgotten maintenance tasks. In the section set aside for Task Force 27, an unmarked corridor leading to an unmarked stairway leading to a little alcove overlooking the station's promenade had been discovered twice. Its original purpose was unclear, but for its discoverers, it had become a place to think in private. On the eve of what could be their last battle, they were both surprised to find someone else using it.</div><br/>

<div>"Ah, sorry, Skunk," said Azure. "I just, ah, couldn't sleep. I didn't mean to interrupt."</div><br/>

<div>The old spook just chuckled. "There're two chairs," he said. As Az took a seat, Skunk set aside the notebook he'd been working on; dense rows of small letters winked out as his thumb hit the switch. "I didn't know anyone else knew about this place. I must be slipping."</div><br/>

<div>It was Az's turn to chuckle. "Ah, well, I, uh, didn't exactly go around telling people about it. Sometimes, when things get too intense, I like to come here and watch the world go by. You?"</div><br/>

<div>Skunk nodded. "Much the same," he said. "I guess I like to see the people. Working recon back in the Vasudan War, I was so far from everything, it was easy to forget what we were fighting for."</div><br/>

<div>"We were fighting over a misunderstanding," Azure was quick to butt in. Almost immediately, he thought better of it, and held up his hands in a conciliatory gesture. "Sorry. That was, uh, uncalled for."</div><br/>

<div>Skunk just shrugged. "It's not <span class="italic">wrong.</span> Did you know I actually learned a little Vasudan, the better to listen in on comm intercepts? I can say with confidence that no one wanted that war but arms dealers." He leaned back in his chair with a sigh. "A war of pride and greed, serving nobody."</div><br/>

<div>"I, uh. Are you being metaphorical, sir?"</div><br/>

<div>That got a laugh out of Skunk - not much of one, more of a quiet <span class="italic">fha,</span> but from him, it may as well have been a shriek of laughter. "I guess I am. Have you heard the latest?"</div><br/>

<div>This time, it was Azure's turn to sigh. "Last I heard, it was working its way through the depots over Luyten II. STX's booby traps are slowing it down, but not by much. I just hope Ekul's plan comes through."</div><br/>

<div>Skunk didn't like to rely on hope, but he wasn't going to tell Azure that, either. Instead, he just nodded. "The director knows what they're doing, and so do we."</div><br/>

<div>"I hope so," Azure said, a little too eagerly. "This, ah, isn't really what I pictured myself doing with my life, you know? I mean... You know why I signed on in the first place."</div><br/>

<div>"I do," Skunk said. Azure had never made much of a secret about his past as a washed-up academic. The collapse of the Sol jump node had cut him off from his entire family, and he'd ended up flunking out with no degree and a drinking problem; he'd ended up in the Navy largely to pay off student loans. </div><br/>

<div>"You know, Charon said it'd get easier. I guess she was right. Some days, I feel like I've almost gotten used to it. I don't know how I feel about that."</div><br/>

<div>Skunk leaned back in his chair and let out a long sigh. He was quiet for a long time, and Azure was about to ask if he'd finally fallen asleep when he finally spoke.</div><br/>

<div>"Tell me your impression of the Tyr-class interceptor," Skunk said; Azure cocked an eyebrow at that.</div><br/>

<div>"Uh, it's a fine ship. I, uh, I like the modularity. It's less wasteful and, besides, I've got to like anything with scientific applications."</div><br/>

<div>Skunk nodded along with Azure's explanation; when he was finished, he had another question. "What about the anomaly the LNA found in the Doceitov Cloud?"</div><br/>

<div>"Oh, the RABOs?" Azure perked up at that, leaning forward in excitement. "Uh, that stands for Rosenthal-Albertsen Bypass Object. No one's sure if they actually exist, but if they do, it means Kashiwabara's exclusion principle only holds within a given manifold, not across them, which, uh... I know that sounds <span class="italic">really</span> esoteric, but if it's true, it completely changes our understanding of how jump nodes form, along with a dozen other things. Now, the LNA don't <span class="italic">know</span> that there's even a subspace anomaly in the Cloud at all; probe flights down there are hard enough even without INEDAM shooting them down. But if the readings they've captured <span class="italic">are</span> subspace-based, it's consistent with multiple stable RABOs putting pressure on each other, which... well, you can probably understand why people are excited."</div><br/>

<div>As Azure's explanation wound down, he got quiet, almost like he was embarrassed. Skunk, for his part, tried to listen as intently as he could; when Azure was finished, he leaned in to talk to him in a low, almost conspiratorial voice.</div><br/>

<div>"Do you really have any doubt as to where you belong?"</div><br/>

<div>Azure thought about that, then laughed. "Yeah, okay, point taken," he said; but Skunk had more to say.</div><br/>

<div>"Maybe you've gotten something out of your time with the military. You're not the first. But you don't owe them anything. Once we get out of here, I'll be disappointed if I never hear about Ramil's Law and how it's going to reveal the secrets of the universe." He paused, then added, "Or how it's going to get home."</div><br/>

<div>Azure didn't know what to say, and settled for an uncertain, "Uh, thank you, sir." A moment of silence fell between them, and Azure decided to ask a risky question.</div><br/>

<div>"Sir, is there something you want to get off your chest? About, you know, <span class="italic">you?</span>"</div><br/>

<div>Skunk's response was a long time coming.</div><br/>

<div>"Once we kill this thing and get out of here? Maybe. Once we get that far, we'll see."</div><br/>

<div class="hr"></div>

<div>Eventually, exhaustion overtook the two officers, and they left for the respective bunks. On the way out, they passed by Hermes and Tiger from the LNA's 2nd Squadron going the other way. Once they were out of earshot, Skunk quipped about how he really must be slipping in his old age, and Azure reassured him that he wasn't <span class="italic">that</span> old. That night, he dreamed about a single system cut off from the broader galaxy and menaced by a massive enemy carrier, but whether it was Luyten or Sol, he wasn't sure.</div><br/>
