“Ultima Thila!?” Phoebe asked. “The Gray Society? No way!”

“Yeah.” Tessa set her drink down. They were in the Officer’s Lounge again, perched at the bar this time, just the two of them with the steady buzz of conversation hanging in the air behind them, the blurred words of a handful of other pilots who had just come back from the range. Tessa looked up, stared into the silicon stars that scrolled past the screen at the far end of the bar, tried not to think about Izzy, about the last time she’d sat in that familiar seat.

“He thinks I’m qualified for the TALENT program.”

“Well, I mean, if you score high enough on the RRH bar of ESP tests, they say your mind can be taught to do just about anything.” Phoebe gestured quickly, glanced at Tessa again, excitement faltering slightly as the other woman nodded soberly, sighed.

“What did you score on your TK tests Earthside?”

“.05c in ten.” Phoebe said immediately. “Eighth tier.” She blinked as Tessa turned toward her, met her eyes. “You?”

“.07c in fifteen.” Tessa nodded, looked away again and took a slow sip of her drink. “Also Eighth tier.”

“So then...” Phoebe looked away again. eyes wandering blankly as her mind tried to sort out a coherent sentence. “But then, why didn’t they– I mean, why didn’t they pick us up... you up when we first took the tests Earthside?”

“Apparently, they don’t take people right out of basic unless they score into First or Second tier for TK, ES, Visionary Precog or anything else.” She made a loose gesture. “Everyone else has to spend some time in the field first, get experience, develop any talents they might have on their own, and then be recommended in, or seek them out directly.”

“I scored a twenty three on the VP test.” Phoebe said absently. “Sixth tier.”

“It’s just a stupid game.” Tessa said flatly.

“You’re still going to accept, right?”

Tessa closed her eyes, breathed a tired sigh. “I’m not going to find anything better.”

“But that...” Phoebe swallowed. “That means you’re going to be leaving... right? I mean, like soon, right?”

“Yeah.” Tessa paused, swirled her drink absently. “Apparently as soon as we get to Thuban Reticulae.” Tessa let her eyes drift open, lose themselves in the depths of her drink. “Virek thinks I should talk to the head psych officer in Med,” She laughed dryly. “Like an hour alone with Altaker is going to convince me to stay instead of transferring.”

“Well, maybe you should go.” Phoebe shifted slightly, swallowed anxiously. “Talk to him, I mean. It might– I mean, not that you’re crazy or anything,” She said hurriedly, hesitated as Tessa looked at her. “C-cause you’re not, y’know, but... uh... y’know, maybe he’s right, I mean he is the Admiral and the leader and all, and...” She gestured. “And...”

“I know.” Tessa said quietly, turned back to her drink.

“I don’t know. It might help.” Phoebe made a defeated gesture. “I mean, it’s because of Izzy, isn’t it? The reason you’re transferring out?”

“Yeah.” Tessa closed her eyes again, squeezed the bridge of her nose in silent frustration. “I’m sorry, Phoebe.”

“No, it’s...” Phoebe tried, but the words wouldn’t come. In her mind, she imagined herself reaching out to Tessa, touching the hunched, defeated shoulders, pulling her LC into a hug– anything that might bring back the familiar strength, the resolve and power that Izzy’s death seemed to have sapped from her very being... but in the end, she simply sighed, turned back to her own drink and stared, unable to do anything but wait, eyes distant, mind running through the same broken thoughts over and over again. Tears touched the edges of her eyes, quivered there.

“Do you think...” Phoebe spoke up suddenly, and as she paused, Tessa shifted slightly, turned to regard her with those cool, cobalt eyes. The young Lieutenant played idly with the ring of condensation at the base of her glass, found herself unable to even meet the other woman’s eyes. “Do you think you could ever love anyone again?” She asked quietly. “I mean, the way that you loved Izzy?”

“I–” Tessa hesitated, looked away again. The question blossomed cruelly in her mind, brought with it traces of memories that could no longer bring her joy, memories laced with an unshakable, subtly burning pain.

“I dunno, Pheebs.” She said finally, and as she breathed the words, she closed her eyes, fingers tightening imperceptibly against her glass.

“It’s... hard to say.”