Southern Cross by Windstar

"We got them, Ma'am."
She kept her voice quiet as she answered her Provost, her attention returning to the holo tank.
The Bak'ra fleet was shifting its course, trying to chase after the Tiri ships. They had no hope of
catching the Guardians before they opened warp gates and fled from the system, starting the fivejump
sequence that would take them to the Solar System.
"We only got four of them, Angwar. Four ships out of four thousand. It's barely a bloody nose."
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Julie yawned and groggily rolled up out of bed. It was early still, only 0500, five in the morning,
ship time. She didn't have to be up for another two or three hours, but she was having trouble
sleeping these days.
It had been two weeks since the Expeditionary force had set off from Sol. They hadn't been in
contact since the moment that North Star and her brothers and sisters had passed through the
sensor sphere. They couldn't risk a stray signal finding its way to the Bak'ra, especially the closer
that the Expeditionary force got to its intended interception of the Bak'ra.
If they managed to intercept the Bak'ra that is.
Julie forced that thought from her mind. Her dreams were filled with a nameless dread.
"Come back to me, Emie, I miss you."
The dark quarters were silent and she sighed, getting up and putting on a robe against an
imaginary chill in the air. It only took her a small brush with her ship bond to call up her
quarter's lights, and make certain that they were still on course.
Two hours until we reach the coordinates.
Julie sighed and ran a hand through her short, red hair. She'd been getting less than five hours
sleep every night since the Expeditionary force had set out. She didn't think any of them had
been getting much sleep since then.
Ok, shower and then breakfast. Then I can go up to the Command Deck see how things are
shaping up and maybe swing by Marine Country on my way. Make certain God has everything
she needs.
The trick, Julie had realized, was to keep her mind occupied. To keep sorting through her sensor
logs, to go through everything she had learned about Southern Cross and then go through it
again. Even paperwork served to keep her from thinking too much about Emily. Even when she
was working though, she'd be ambushed by memories of the First Guardian.