<div class="floatleft">(http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j77/wulfjaeger/___protector_of_time____by_vincentxyooj-d5lw1gq_zps59496fa9.png)</div><br/><br/>Allia quietly walked back to the officers quarters, fighting to keep her thoughts as far away from the days problems and trying to look forward to the future.  She wasn't quite sure how Kari planned to make the fixes that would save the company, but that wasn't her job.  Her job had never had anything to do with company operations before, but she figured that was going to change rather quickly.  Every time her mind started to drift back to the failure of the mission, she forced herself to transition back to the look of Kari's almost naked body in the shower.  That was enough to distract her from problems for the time being.<br/><br/>Reaching her quarters she stripped off her bodysuit, realizing she'd not dried off in the shower prior to putting it back on.  Throwing the suit over a chair, she stood naked in front of the mirror in her room, her mind trying to fight the pain in her heart.  Slipping on a pair of boyshort underwear and a tshirt, a pair of worn fatigue pants and a pair of boots; she ran a comb through her hair for a few minutes until it was completely dry.  It wasn't normal for her to let her hair hang free, she wasn't in the mood to tie it up, so she let it fall down over her back, shoulders and chest.  The long flowing locks of pink hair looked rather odd on her from normal.  From her point of view, the world was upside down right now so normal was out the window.<br/><br/>Throwing a worn leather jacket over her shoulders, a jacket that had been handed down through her family from her grandfathers time, she walked out into the corridor, intent on food.  She wasn't sure if Kari would actually meet her, but she hoped they would get a chance to talk.  She sat quietly in the mess hall while she ate.  It was eery how deserted the messhall, an eeryness that only worked to drive home how much they had lost.  Quietly walking through the ship didn't help change the heaviness in her heart, and walking into the hangar bay to see how much the techs had torn apart the mechs that still surivived to assess the damage hurt even further.  Finally walking back to her quarters, she slipped into bed, sleep and pain dragging her down.<br/><br/>Waking in the quiet of her room did little to bouy Allia's spirits.  She could hear the familiar vibrations of the ships systems which told her they were still alive, so that was something.  Crawling out of bed, she slipped out of her room and moved down the corridors, hoping to run into Kari or Damian or anyone who might know how things were going.  Picking up a plate of fruit and bread from the messhall, she moved into the administrative areas of the ship, thinking Kari might be working, hoping for a chance to talk more.  Walking past Damian's office, she stopped.  Kari and Damian were both there, and the look on Damian's face did little to give Allia any hope that there was good news to move on with Kari's plans for the company.  Stepping into the office, she smiled.  "Should I even ask??