<div class="floatright">(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y156/jillvader/mw-nmfkmpkarimonero_zps55a1bf27.jpg)</div>Damien’s ‘I would like to be alone now’ was a pretty clear indicator to Kari, one she wasn’t going to argue with. As much as he was the stoic Clan warrior, Kari also knew that he was still a human being, and he needed his time to deal with this whole mess like everyone else. She’d put a lot of pressure on him, and he needed to let it all out. And so, with a respectful nod, she left his quarters, heading back to her own.<br/><br/><em>I only hope that Allia has some luck with Emily,</em>Kari mentally added as she went. Retaining an experienced officer, even if only for a short period, would be invaluable for the unit’s morale and their chances of hiring again. She could also tell it would be good for Allia’s morale as well; there was definitely something between the pair of them, but what exactly it was Kari had never figured out and had also been discrete enough not to ask.<em>Now there’s a small backhanded upside to this whole mess,</em>she told herself as she entered her quarters.<br/><br/>Kari had lost her father in the disaster, which had been bad enough. She’d lost friends as well, compounding the grief. But on the upside, she didn’t have a lover among the dead, nor was there someone special for her within the unit proper.<em>Thanks dad,</em>she told herself as she sat at her desk, staring at her data terminal.<em>It seems like your overbearing nature paid off</em>.<br/><br/>Carlos Montero had made it clear that as much as he was a commander, he was also a father. A part of that had been making sure that members of the unit stayed the hell away from his daughter, especially when she was younger. Right now, she was certainly beginning to understand part of that policy.<em>When something like this happens, it limits the damage and the pain</em>. It was a harsh truth, but she accepted it.<br/><br/>Sighing to herself, she stared again at the datapad, trying to find the words to say what she had to.<br/>