22.07 - Interrupted conversation

Janet Lindsay was lying face-down on her bed when the buzzer rang. “Come in,” she said, her voice partially muffled by the pillow.

The door opened and Chris Finan walked through. “Janet,” he began, “I’ve been meaning to have a private chat with you ever since we got back from Enigma. Is this a good time?”

She slowly sat up on her bed. Chris could see that she had been crying. “As good a time as any, I suppose,” she said.

He sat down at the far end of the bed, and looked at her kindly. “I know that Doug’s death has hurt you more than the other marines,” he said. “Were you very close to him?”

She shook her head. “Not really. We used to talk a bit, sometimes. I think he had a bit of a crush on me.”

“I don’t think he was the only one,” Chris said. “Half the Marine company on this ship probably still does. However, as your commanding officer, I’m going to have to order you to forget that I said that.” He smiled at her, and she managed a weak smile in return.

“He was a nice guy,” she said. “The other guys—Johnson, Tuss… I didn’t know them that well. Maybe it’s wrong of me to be more upset by Doug’s death than the others, I mean, we’re all trained to accept that our job carries certain risks, and Doug knew that as well as anyone else.” She stared at the wall, her eyes blank.

“I guess you’ve heard that Intelligence has figured out a plan based on the genetic samples we recovered from the Deathspawn,” Chris said.

“Yeah. I heard something about that. I suppose I should be happy that Doug and the others didn’t die for nothing.” She sighed heavily. “Still, it doesn’t seem fair. Why should we be here to enjoy the benefits of their sacrifice?”

“It’s a very common feeling,” Chris said gently. “They even have a name for it—Survivor’s Guilt. Once this is all over, I encourage you to go visit one of the ship’s counselors and talk about this some more. They can help you a lot better than I can.”

Janet sniffed and wiped her eyes with her sleeve. “Oh, I don’t know about that. I think you’ve helped me a lot already. I never did thank you for stopping me from destroying the samples back on Enigma. You should have busted me down to Private for that, I think.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Chris said. “You’ve always been a good soldier, and I wouldn’t be a good leader if I came down on you heavily for a momentary lapse of judgment, given the situation.” He offered his hand and she accepted it, shaking it lightly.

“Thank you, Sir,” she said, sitting up straight for the first time. “You’ve always been a good CO, and a good friend. I’ll take your advice about…”

She was interrupted by a sudden, ear-splitting klaxon.

“The Deathspawn!” she shouted, her face turning white. “They’re here!”