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5 THE INVESTIGATION
A medical officer rushed to help Alexis to her feet. She brushed off his assistance and pulled herself up from the floor.
"I'm fine. Take care of her." Alexis looked around, trying to find anyone who might be able to provide some answers. "Where are the superiors?"
The med shrugged as he lifted Jennifer onto a stretcher.
"It looks like we’re on Deck 12." Jennifer motioned down the hall. "If there are any officers on this deck, they’re going to be in the control room."
"Got it." Alexis pointed to the medics. "Make sure you guys take care of her."
Alexis made her way down several corridors to the main control room on the deck. Deck 12 was five decks below the flight deck, where the majority of the military crew would normally be, but with the elevators down, she was hoping she would find some officers who hadn't made it up there yet. As she rounded a corner, she bumped into her brother, nearly knocking him over.
"Oh my god, Lexi!" he exclaimed. "You're okay." He grabbed her and pulled her into a hug. "When I heard about the Observation Deck, I was worried you were down there."
"What about the O-Deck?" She grabbed Levi's shoulders and pushed herself free.
The Observation Deck was one level above Stasis, but it hadn't occurred to her until now that whatever happened down there may have affected other decks.
"I'm sorry, I assumed you knew. It's gone... It's just gone."
"Levi!" she yelled. "What do you mean it's gone? Did it detach?"
"No, Lexi," he said, pausing in grief, "it exploded."
She could feel herself beginning to faint but caught herself against the wall before falling.
That can't be what that was, she thought as she glanced around the hallway, as if trying to find someone with a better answer. Then she looked back at Levi. "Are you sure it was Observation?"
Her office, the observation platform, and The Pub are all on the O-Deck. Most days, if she wasn’t in her quarters, she was on that level. Before Jennifer came knocking at her door, she had been only moments from making her way there again. The realization that Jennifer had probably saved her life twice that morning was sobering. But then she remembered that David was scheduled to give a speech at the viewing platform this morning.
Maybe he hadn't made it there yet. Maybe he’s safe.
"Have you heard from David?" she demanded.
"No, we haven't heard from anyone outside of Deck 12. Until you."
Alexis exhaled with frustration as she moved to the side of her young brother. "Is communication down? I need to speak to someone who knows what's going on."
"I don't know, Lexi. I'm sorry."
"Where is your boss, Levi?" she demanded as she quickened her pace.
"She's in the control room," Levi replied, attempting to keep up with his sister. “She sent me to find a tech. I guess that’s gonna be you.”
Alexis opened the door to the control room to find several guides and a few officers arguing over a table. At the center, making the most noise, was Guide Salazar, senior among the guides and Levi's boss. Guides had no sway over the operations of the ship. Their job was to ensure that civilization and democracy thrived on the new planet. Much like the governors back home, but instead of territories, they were in charge of the trades. It was on them to ensure the farmers, botanists, techs, miners, and every other guild had a way to make their voices heard. Any power they might hold was not meant to come into effect until after the ship had landed. But everyone in the room, including the military officers, seemed to be taking their cues from her. Salazar turned as the pair entered the room.
"Ms. Waverly. I'm glad to see you’re okay," said Salazar, walking over and hugging Alexis. "We thought your whole team might be lost."
"My team?" she asked as she shouldered out of Salazar's arms and backed away, visibly irritated that everyone kept hugging her. "What the hell is going on? I was just told that O-Deck is gone. Has anyone made contact with Flight?" She fired off several questions, not waiting for any individual answers.
"Yes, I'm sorry to say. Observation has been destroyed and from what we can tell, so has the flight deck and the officer's deck. Maybe others."
"What? Why? They’re nowhere near Stasis."
"Stasis?" asked Salazar, confused. "I don't know anything about Stasis. Is Stasis down too?" she yelled as she looked around the room for answers.
"I was told that it was drawing power. I assumed..." Alexis paused for a moment as she remembered that she needed more information about the observation deck... and David. If anyone knew about David, it would be Salazar.
As Salazar began to ask another question, Alexis interrupted. "Have you heard from David?"
Salazar looked back at Alexis and sighed. "No." She looked down at the table for a moment and then regained her composure. "I am very sorry, but Mr. Conway was on the observation deck during the explosion."
Alexis’ stomach cramped up, as if she had just been gut punched by Salazar’s words. "Are we sure there are no survivors? Have we looked?"
"Comms are down. We have no visuals and no way of communicating," Salazar explained. "We can't split our resources until we can communicate with each other."
"Are you serious?" Alexis demanded. "Do you have any idea how many people were on O-Deck today? It's landing day. We have to check for survivors."
Having nearly zero understanding of military hierarchy, Alexis looked around the room and found the officer with the most pins on his chest. "You there. Help me put together a search party."
"Ignore that." Salazar pointed to the officer as he squirmed.
"Since when are the politicians in charge?" Alexis asked, looking incredulously at Salazar and the officer.
"Since I am the only one here with any ability to lead," Salazar answered smugly. "Look, I agree with you," Salazar continued in a softer tone. "I want to help as many as we can, but we simply don't have the resources. If you want us to go down to Observation, help me fix the comms."
Alexis, standing eye-to-eye with Salazar, and without any desire to back down, realized that what she was being told was logical. Her hatred for politics and her desire to find David, no matter how remote a possibility that was, was clouding her judgment.
"Fine," she said. "I need a team. Who do you have that knows how to not get themselves electrocuted?"
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