Mariko

Mariko had always trusted calculations more than instinct, which made the failure all the harder to bear when the ship entered the warp too early and immediately began to come apart around them. Sirens screamed, monitors hissed, and the crew waited for direction while the vessel hurtled toward destruction. It was Mariko's error, and he knew it. With no safe option left, he proposed the impossible: turn back in the middle of transit. Even Captain Kenji, bold as he was, hesitated before agreeing. Once the order was given, Mariko threw himself into the controls with total focus, driving the ship harder and faster than it had ever been meant to move. For one long moment, it seemed the warp might crush them anyway. Then the shaking stopped. The alarms died. The ship leveled. The crew erupted in relief, and Kenji answered Mariko's exhausted glance with a quiet nod. Another day's work, perhaps — but one Mariko would never forget, and never again approach carelessly.