This story was first published on FictionMania, with just a few changes from the original.

Still, there was the fact that if given the same choice, confronted with the same circumstances, she would still have done the same thing. It was a burden none should have to bear and it was something she was stuck with. All that was left to her was to find some way to redeem herself in her own eyes, some way to counter the debt she owed to humanity.

The errant hunk of rock had been avoided at minimal cost and the entire crew breathed a sigh of relief. One more disaster avoided through the quick action of one Ensign Sarah Masters. It was her voice that had warned everyone to brace, even as she overrode the control lockouts to maneuver the ship in a way it had never been meant to move, against the direct orders of her captain. Right now she was literally shaking in her boots as she awaited her captain’s displeasure in the captain’s very own ready room.

Mistress was wonderful to me. She tried so hard to make sure I wasn’t alone and that I was taken care of. We were in an odd place since I was trying to do the same thing for her. When comparing losing a job to being attacked the latter won out in my mind. Apparently in Mistress’ mind, the former was the victor.

I gave her the whole story as I could. It took me a couple days to get my brain together enough to be coherent. I wasn’t myself totally and so I probably missed a lot of her reaction to the story, but at that moment I was a bit too depressed.