26

By the time Evan and Russo reluctantly left it was passed midnight and Littlefoot was already passed out on the bed. Launch days were the only days so busy that they tired out the endless energetic Aussie.

Well, that and battle days but that was less about busy and more about being stressful.

It was surprising how exhausting stress could be.

Finley spent another hour putting her things away because she'd never get around to it if she didn't make herself do it now and ruminating on Betchley's supposed presence at Walker Hospital.

Finley had only changed the Loss' route to stop by the Saturn orbiting hospital a month ago, well after the crew of the Loss had been selected. It wasn't a lot of time to locate Betchley and get him to Saturn in anticipation of the Loss needing a new captain.

Finley had been expecting at least a few attempts on her life. There'd already been a couple since the war ended, but they'd been haphazard and infantile. Now that the new government was on its way to well established, she expected something more efficient.

It made sense they'd want it to take place before the Loss crossed the light wall, adding a new captain to an already new, volatile crew and an untried ship was dangerous in the safety of the solar system.

It would be suicide outside it.

They'd already missed their best chance anyway, since assassinating her on Earth would have been far easier than attempting it on this ship.

Inexperience would say the ship was a confined space and there was no shortage of hiding places and nowhere for Finley to run, but experience said those two factors applied to the assassin as well. 

An attempt on the ship had a high possibility of being interrupted by a bystander and unless there was a whole lot of prior coordination, an equally high chance that the bystander was on Finley's side verses her assassin's. 

It would be a suicide mission unless they found a way to make the assassination look like an accident. Aside from creating a ship-wide emergency that happened to kill Finley, that was nearly impossible. The ship's life support systems were familiar, and even designed in most cases, to combat most known poisons immediately. And the few it couldn't cure with an aerosolized treatment; it could alert medics to.

The speed with which the ship could notify everyone and how quickly some member of the crew could get anywhere left a would-be assassin with less than a minute to get away or cover up their crime.

Finley was significantly safer on the ship than off it.

Which didn't rule out someone trying something at Walker Hospital, which was far more open and present multiple escape routes, but still…attempting to kill someone at a hospital was a bit stupid.

The more she thought about it; the more Finley was looking forward to seeing what they came up with. No one on the crew was a secret assassin using a secret identity. That kind of thing was impossible to fake now, far too many cameras and biometrics in daily life to be able to fool them for more than an hour. 

But there were more than a few that had served in Special or Intelligence Services that might have the necessary skills to make a decent attempt.

She put the last of her clothes away and turned on the shower. As much as she wanted to soak in a hot bath, she was so tired she was in danger of falling asleep and drowning herself before anyone else got their chance.

She stood under the hot spray until her fingertips pruned. 

It was odd to be hated so much and for so long that she wasn't even surprised that they were trying to kill her. Even before the civil war had kicked off, Finley hadn't been quite in her thoughts or opinions and despite the move into space, governments were still governments. No one had achieved the enlightenment of Star Trek or all those hopeful stories of noble exploration for exploration's sake. 

There was still a chance they could get there. The human race had escaped extinction by freeing themselves from a single planet, but there was evidence for the argument that they were simply stagnating in a new way now.

As horrible as the war had been, it had probably saved them.

And nothing made Finley angrier that the fact that it had taken the war to do it. There were so many brilliant people that had focused on their own interests instead of the good of everyone. Too many people who'd been afraid of change and thought they could stop it in its tracks.

Finley didn't regret a single thing she'd done during the war because she'd done it all for the betterment of humankind. She could sleep soundly because all of it had cumulated in this mission. 

In the decision to cross the light wall.

What existed beyond it had once scared the human race so badly they'd run home and locked the door, but hiding never solved anything and no fear willingly went away.

You had to work to send it away, it never left on its own.

The war had gone a long way to removing that fear, but it hadn't managed it completely. 

If someone did succeed in killing Finley and Betchley took over, would he still lead the Loss beyond the light wall? Or would he stall until the new government gave up.

Techy Betchley they'd called him at the academy. He'd been in Finley's class, finishing at the bottom of the top and came from a long line of military officers. He'd been an entitled little asshole, but surprisingly knowledgeable and skilled for someone raised with a silver spoon in his mouth.

Finley didn't really remember him, she hadn't really noticed him unless he was arguing with someone, as he'd avoided the Orphaned Trio. The first years of the war he'd been in a Fleet position and hadn't become a Captain until almost halfway through. He did have a respectable record, better at defense than offense and combined with being a legacy and conventionally attractive, he'd been one of the Republican's star officers.

~ tbc