Taking a chance

Posted on Wed Feb 4th, 2026 @ 12:44pm by Rear Admiral Indi Hawk & Treon Brevor

823 words; about a 4 minute read

/// Somewhere ////

Following her conversation with Admiral Hawk, Sena still had no idea whether she could or should approach her with the suspicions she had.

She wasn't even sure how to put it into words.

And yet, here she was, outside Fleet Ops, waiting for the Admiral to leave her office for the day. She herself had stepped out of her office a little early. She hoped Hawk wouldn't take too long, because she couldn't stand there for hours.

With a PADD in hand, she leaned against a bulkhead and pretended to review a cargo manifest. If anybody would ask, she had just gotten a new update and was deciding whether to return back to the Logistics offices.

But nobody asked.

When she saw Indi coming out, she waited a couple of seconds before starting after her.

This wasn't the first time she had followed people on the base. For the past few weeks she had been keeping an eye on several people - waiting to see if anything they did would put her unease to rest.

It wasn't as if anybody acted weird. They just acted right.

Too right.

Her coworkers, even her CO, would go straight from work to their quarters. They never varied their routine, they never delayed anywhere or changed their route.

Indi exited her office and started to head for her quarters; She'd been preoccupied the entire day about her meeting with Sidra, and by the end of the day, she was so tired of it that she left early. Maybe the solitude of her quarters would bring advice on what to do next. She didn't notice that someone was following her, which was only an indication just how preoccupied she was.

Over the course of the afternoon, she'd tried to open the link to Sha'mer, but she had failed. It was the only thing she was still sure about. Everything and everyone else had a big question mark next to them. But the link could've brought the hope and reality check she needed. In vain. She'd try again tonight, but if it didn't work, she had to find a way on her own to get off this Starbase. Or whatever it was.

Sena followed Indi to her quarters, stopping just around the corner while Indi disappeared behind the door.

Maybe she was wrong about Admiral Hawk.

Hawk acted like all the other people on the base - going straight from work to her quarters.

She might have accepted that this was how things were done on the base, if not for the Promenade.

Every time she passed through it, it was full with officers eating and enjoying themselves.

She quickly glanced once more at the empty corridor, stretching out with doors on either side.

With a quiet sigh, she turned and headed back.

"You might as well come in instead of stalking me," Indi spoke at the retreating back of the Commander. She might be preoccupied and not immediately notice that someone was following her, but it was hard to ignore when that person followed you all the way to your quarters.

When the door closed behind Sena, Indi put her hands on her hips. "When's the last time you spoke to Admiral MacLaren?" she asked. The time for niceties was over. Either she could trust this person, or she couldn't. One way or the other, she was resolved to find out right there and right then.

Sena glanced at the door, then back at Indi. She hadn't expected this question.

"I've never spoken to her, Admiral."

A pause. "Why?"

All or nothing. "You're not part of this simulation," Indi spoke with a certainty that couldn't be misunderstood.

"Simulation?" Sena gaped. "What simulation?"

Though it did answer a lot of questions.

She lowered her voice. "The base is a simulation?"

Indi let her hands drop and turned to face the window. Or was it a window? This was all so confusing. She let out a sigh that released the breath she didn't know she'd been holding. The Commander's first reaction seemed to indicate that her gut feeling had been right. But it also raised a lot more questions than it answered.

After a few moments, she faced Sena again and shrugged. "I don't know if it's a simulation. I don't know exactly what it is. But I know it's not Starbase 369."

"Not Starbase 369," Sena repeated. She felt dazed.

She knew something was wrong, but it never occurred to her that the entire base... wasn't the base.

She tried thinking back to the first time she had reported aboard.

She had been on a transport, the USS Korolev, together with many other officers, headed for the new Fleet HQ.

But now, she discovered she didn't actually remember docking and reporting to duty.

Sena shook her head, trying to clear the confusion. "Then how do we get to SB 369?"

--

by LtCmdr Sena Tal apb Treon Brevor
&
RAdm Indi Hawk

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