Journal Entry: The Flip Side

From the Journal of Joshua Drake
Thursday, 31 July 2521

I keep reminding myself that’s why I love her. That doesn’t make me any less scared or angry when it happens...

I’ve gotten ahead of myself. Let me back up.

Today we performed a rescue of a floundering naval vessel in a New Canaan ocean using our drop ship. The vessel belonged to Lord von Braun, Valerie’s (former?) husband who held a grudge against Arden. That’s another story altogether. I abseiled into the ship to rescue the passengers. Midway through, my line tangled, forcing me to release from my line. Since I was stranded, Rina was forced to abseil in herself which enabled me to get back out when the time came.

Of course, she ended up in the engine room.  She managed to lower the sails, giving us a few more minutes to rescue the crew. And had she stopped there, all would have been fine. But Rina cannot let go at times. This was one of those times.

She took it upon herself to attempt to repair the engine while I was rescuing the remaining passengers. The ship was a nice ship and I admit to a little sadness over its loss. But sinking it was and sinking it was going to be. She agreed with me, damn it. Then I say we ditch the ship.

And yet…

I came back for the last passenger, looking around as I landed. No sign of her up on deck and in a split second, I just knew where she was. My Reader abilities kicking in? Perhaps. But maybe just knowing her so well.

I raced to the engine room and saw her underwater, drowning. Funny, how I wasn’t scared in the moment. I couldn’t be, really. Her life, my life, and the passenger’s life depended on me. I reached down and pulled her out. She coughed out some water and managed a brief acknowledgment she was alright.

We all got back on board safely and I finally had a few minutes to decompress after getting out of the abseiling suit. Sitting there next to Rina as I watched Kiera give her antibiotics, a sudden fury overtook me. She almost drowned herself for a damn ship that wasn’t even ours! A freaking hunk of plastic! A lung full of water for a doomed pile of parts…

It took what little force of will I have and my Aikido calming exercises to keep me from screaming at her right then and there while Kiera injected her with antibiotics. But I managed. As I thought about what happened, I realized I was just seeing the other side of the coin. I loved her stubbornness and willingness to not give up on a solvable problem. But she sometimes didn’t distinguish between solvable and unsolvable problems. The personality trait frustrating me today will remind me how much I love her tomorrow.

She’s symbolic of the crew in that way, at least a little. Always very tactical, putting resources to work solving the problem in front of us. But sometimes we should examine whether we’re solving the right problem. Or even whether the problem should be solved at all.

Maybe I’ll try and talk to her about trying to see the bigger picture in situations like that. But I won’t push too hard or expect too much. 

She’s alive and I can breathe again. Given that, everything else is a bonus.

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