Jalina followed me to an auxiliary tactical station, maintaining careful distance. Professional courtesy. The warmth that usually characterized our collaboration was absent, replaced by formal politeness that felt worse than anger would have.
I deserved it.
"TheVeritaxisis here." I pulled up the holographic display, highlighting the damaged vessel. "Drifting at approximately forty-three meters per second toward the asteroid field's densest sector. Current trajectory will intersect with Cluster Seven-Seven-Alpha in two hours, fifty-three minutes."
Jalina studied the display, her analytical mind processing the data. "Can't we just intercept them before they reach the field?"
"Their propulsion systems are offline. Even with tractor beams, we can't extract them safely at their current velocity without risking structural damage to both vessels." I manipulated the hologram, showing the planned rescue route. "We need to follow them into the field, match velocity, and extract them internally while navigating the asteroids."
"That's insane."
"That's necessity." I zoomed in on the asteroid cluster. "The field's density requires real-time path calculation. Every asteroid has a slightly different orbital pattern, influenced by the sector's gravitational anomalies. Standard navigation algorithms can't adapt fast enough."
"But you can?"
"I can calculate optimal trajectories. But calculations alone aren't sufficient. I need someone who can visualize the paths, see the spaces between the obstacles, identify routes that numbersalone might miss." I finally met her eyes. "I need your spatial intuition."
She was quiet for a moment, studying the holographic asteroids rotating through their complex orbital patterns. When she spoke, her voice was small. "What if I'm wrong? What if I guide us into a collision?"
"Then I'll correct the trajectory before impact occurs. This is collaboration, Jalina. You visualize, I calculate, we iterate in real-time. The same process we use for the expansion designs."
"This is slightly more high-stakes than residential pod configurations."
"Only slightly." I allowed the smallest hint of humor into my voice. "Eight hundred lives versus sixteen thousand future residents. Technically, the expansion has higher numerical stakes."
That earned me a brief, surprised laugh. The sound loosened something tight in my chest.
"Twenty minutes to learn how to navigate an asteroid field," she said. "No pressure."
"You already know how. You just don't realize it yet." I pulled up one of her neighborhood cluster designs—the courtyard system with its intricate traffic flow patterns. "Look familiar?"
She leaned closer to study the hologram, her shoulder almost brushing my arm. I held perfectly still. "That's my Cluster Three design."
"Notice the pathways. How you created multiple routes through the same space, allowing for different traffic patterns depending on time of day and population density. You designed in three dimensions, accounting for beings at different heights, with different mobility needs, moving at different speeds."
"That's just urban planning."
"That's exactly what asteroid field navigation is. Urban planning in motion. You're designing pathways through movingobstacles instead of static structures." I overlaid her courtyard design with the asteroid field data. The patterns aligned with different contexts, same fundamental problem. "Show me how you'd route pedestrian traffic through this courtyard during peak hours if random obstacles kept appearing."
Her eyes narrowed behind her glasses, that familiar analytical intensity taking over. "I'd identify the stable spaces first. The areas where obstacles are least likely to appear. Then create primary pathways through those spaces."
"The asteroids with the most predictable orbital patterns."
"Right. Then secondary routes for flexibility, in case the primary paths become blocked." Her hands moved through the holographic display, sketching invisible trajectories. "But I'd need real-time data on the obstacles. Where they're moving, how fast, what their patterns look like."
"Which I'll provide through continuous calculation."
"And I'd need..." She trailed off, chewing her bottom lip. A habit I'd noticed she exhibited when solving difficult problems. "I'd need to think ahead. Multiple steps. Not just the immediate path but where the obstacles will be when we reach each point."
"Exactly. You're already thinking like a navigator."
Jalina studied the asteroid field with a new perspective, her mind visibly working through the problem. The uncertainty faded, replaced by focused determination. This was the Jalina I'd worked with for six weeks, brilliant, intuitive, fearless when presented with a challenge she understood how to approach.
"Okay," she said finally. "Okay, I can do this. But Zor'go..."
"Yes?"
"I need you to trust me. Actually trust me, not just theoretically trust me while you're calculating backup trajectories to correct my mistakes."
