Day 8 to Gault: Heart to Heart
Posted on Thu Nov 12th, 2026 @ 8:05pm by Lieutenant Kally Kellerman & Lieutenant JG Katie Kellerman
804 words; about a 4 minute read
Mission:
We'll Be Back
Location: Runabout
Katie Kellerman, Personal Log
We’ve been traveling for a bit over a week now, and we’ve managed to keep from going stir crazy. We’ve gotten more sleep than I can remember getting in a long time, we’ve swapped music tastes, explored unusual offerings in the replicator, played a few card games, and enjoyed each other’s company immensely. It’s been a while since I’ve felt this relaxed, and it’s a mixed blessing, if I’m being honest. It’s helped distract me, at times, from the melancholy I’ve been struggling with, but it’s also given me time to really feel it.
Izzy’s been wonderful as a distraction. He’s funny, sweet, and a lot of fun. I’m starting to wonder how he has that much fun in him, or if we’re really slowly killing him and he’s just not saying anything. For the most part, we’ve been making good time without any major incidents, although there was one minor incident a short time ago when Izzy got dizzy [snort] and during a particularly intense moment with Cally, sprained his wrist. The girls felt so bad, but he was understanding, it seemed. Thankfully, Kally had her medkit nearby and has been treating his pain and his dehydration. Hopefully he’ll be feeling better soon.
Katie paused her log and turned as the doors to the rear compartment opened and Kally stepped out.
“How’s Izzy feeling?” Katie said.
There was the sharp sound of a slap on skin and a squeal from Cally, followed by a “sorry, Sir!” as the doors closed behind Kally. “He’s good,” Kally said, grinning. She walked over to the copilot’s seat and sat down, tucking her legs under her as she watched the stars fly by. “We still on course?”
“On course and on time,” Katie said.
“Excellent,” Kally said, getting comfy. “With a little luck, we’ll be there in thirty-two hours, if I did the math right.”
“Thirty-four,” Katie said. “We warp to the edge of the system, then full impulse to the planet.”
“Oh, right,” Kally said. “Glad it’s a small system.” She looked over at Katie. “How are you doing?”
“I’m fine, Kal, really,” Katie said. “Stop worrying about me, okay? I’m good. The only thing I want is to get out of the shuttle and touch down at home. I want to see Mama and Papa, and I want to breathe real air for a while.”
Kally nodded. “Going to take Izzy around with you?” she said.
“Leave it be, Kal,” Katie said with an exasperated sigh. She threw an annoyed glance Kally’s way then looked back out at the stars.
“I’m just saying,” Kally said, holding her hands up in surrender, “he’s good company, and you two seem to get along.”
Katie rolled her eyes. “I know what you’re getting at, Kal, and if you recall, I’ve taken your breakup prescription multiple times already.”
“I know,” Kally said. “I just…like the look of you two. You’re both cute.”
“He’s cute, yes,” Katie said. “Nice body, good hair.”
“Great hair,” Kally corrected.
“Great hair,” Katie confirmed. “When you put him on paper, going after him is the same reason I went after Jadizon: very hot, great sex, is nice to me, understands us. So when it all goes to shit in a year, who do I turn to then?”
Kally frowned. “Just because your relationship with Jadizon didn’t work--”
“Kal, name a relationship I’ve had that did work out,” Katie said.
Kally blinked and looked at her. “Kat, I…I know I’m responsible for some of that,” she said, sounding upset.
“I’m not blaming you, Kal,” Katie sighed. “In point of fact, I’m blaming myself. I’m not approaching relationships correctly. I’m not building them right. I was telling Izzy a few nights ago. Engineering is about putting things together, and if you do it correctly, the machine works. I’m doing something wrong, and until I figure out what it is, I’m not going to go rush headlong into anything just to see it blow up in my face again.”
Kally watched her for a long moment, then nodded. “So you and Azrael are having late night heart-to-hearts?”
Katie glared at her. “Kalliope…”
“All right, all right,” Kally said, holding up her hands in surrender. “You know I’m just looking out for you.”
“I know, and I love you,” Katie said, giving her sister a small but loving smile. “We always look out for each other. I mean, someone’s gotta save your sorry ass.”
Kally grinned and chuckled. “My hero.”
RSS Feed