Written by YvonneKindle

Shetle stood in the dark, staring at the unlit gate. At the moment, she could see the back wall through it. On the next mission, she would see some foreign land through it. It both thrilled her and terrified her at the same time. Ever since she'd been trapped on the other side for days because of a malfunction, she'd been dealing with some trauma about missions.

But, she was determined to keep it up. She had a ways to go before she was more decorated than her Father had ever been. Plus, she just flat out liked the job.

At first, she just needed a little help with the anxiety on mission days. The medics were more than happy to treat her. Only, now, she needed help... a little more often. She had to turn to other sources in order to get treatment.

In fact, she realized as she checked her chronometer, she'd be late meeting her guy if she didn't hurry. She had to meet him before dinner with K'nerth.

~~~

The vid glass in the office room was beeping. Shetle woke up and looked at the chronometer. It was early morning. It was either her mother with some drink-fueled words to day that couldn't wait until morning, or her superior officer with a mission. Either way, she had a feeling she was going to end up in an argument. She sighed.

"What's that noise?" K'nerth asked groggily. It was only his third week sleeping over at her place. Before, she had always visited at his. Shetle wondered how long it would last. She had a feeling she was about to find out.

"It's the vid glass. Go back to sleep," she said quietly, sliding out of bed before he could capture her for a kiss. She didn't have time for that.

She slipped on some sleep pants and threw on a t-shirt. Nothing she could do about her hair. She padded to the glass barefoot and touched the screen to silence the beeping, opening the call with a spark of magick.

"Lieutenant Maricks reporting, this is a non-secured line," she said, seeing that it was, indeed, her Captain.

"We have a mission in three hours. Can you be ready?"

"Sir, yes, Sir," she said formally, even though her mannerisms were casual. "What kind of pack, Sir?"

"Good. Cold weather pack, Maricks." She caught her Captain looking over her shoulder and she turned, finding a very naked K'nerth standing behind her in the office doorway.

She rolled her eyes and turned back to the glass. "Copy that," she said to her Captain.

"See you at the gate, Lieutenant," the Captain said with a smile before swiping the glass to cut off the call.

"Are you going on another mission so soon?" K'nerth asked, running a hand over his hair.

"Yes. It's important." She padded over to him, putting her arms around him.

"But, you've only been home a week. What about our trip?" he said, leaning back to look at her.

"We'll take it when I get back," she explained and went up on tiptoe to kiss him.

He pulled away. "That's what you said last time, Shetle."

She let her arms drop. "I don't control the mission schedule, K'nerth. No one does. We go when we can. We've been waiting for the weather to clear at this location for months."

"Can't you say no?"

"What?" she exclaimed. "Why would I say no? This is my job."

"Are you sure about that, Shetle?" K'nerth asked, his voice getting louder. "Really sure? Or is this part of that vendetta you have against your Father? A dead man, I might add. When are you going to let go of that?"

Shetle narrowed her eyes. It was a low blow to use her feelings about her Father as part of the argument. K'nerth knew how important it was to her to be a Traveler, despite her Father's tampering in her early career, just because he had the clout to try it. K'nerth knew that.

She let go of him and stepped back, anger coloring her face. She made the fists at her side relax and said, "Look. I am gone a lot. You know this. If you can't handle being a Traveler's partner, maybe we should end things right here."

He crossed his arms and glared at her. "Maybe we should."

So, this is how it ends.