The lake rippled gently under the afternoon breeze, its glassy surface shimmering and shaking. Sunlight struck the bands of water, cracking into rainbow prisms and creating a wash of colour under the cobalt sky. Amber dipped her toes into the water, feeling the pleasant, cool sensation pass up her legs. She closed her eyes, leaning back in the floating lounger with a contented sigh as the sun beat down on her skin.

Suspended several hundred feet in the sky, she was doing her best to enjoy what was left of her leave from being a Blink operative. After the events that took place on Titan Aquilla her whole squad received an extended period of rest and recuperation, to be taken however they pleased. And they'd needed it.

One of Illuvari's enormous sky lakes made the perfect solitary escape from life, but it wasn't her job Amber found she needed to get away from for a while. She needed time away from the normal flow of human civilisation. It didn't feel quite right rejoining the casual humdrum of the citizens of Illuvari, not after what she'd been through.

Nothing would erase the nightmare of that fateful mission two months ago. At the time Amber had still felt like the rookie, the new girl, only on her seventh mission as a fully-fledged operative. What the team had been through forced her to grow up very fast. She'd seen dark things out in the depths of the universe, things that she couldn't and wouldn't share with anyone from her old life. Coming home on leave had underlined how little she had in common with the people she used to know.

Her parents, although ecstatic to see her for the first time since she shipped out for Blink, could sense that something had happened out there. She tried her hardest to act normal and enjoy the visit; she was happy to see them. But as the reunion wore on she realised there was too much she couldn't tell them, and when she tried to take an interest in what they'd been doing in the past year she found herself losing that interest rapidly. Their problems seemed so small now.

She looked at the small metal band around her wrist – the Blink communicator that the operatives had been issued before going on leave in case an urgent recall was required. It was sleek, smooth; a perfect bracelet of silver adorned with a small sapphire light. Part of her hated the Blink organisation for ripping her out of her normal life. She could no longer relate to friends and family; no longer cared whether a new politician had been elected to the Council Chambers, or if the Sky Jockey flotilla were stopping to ply their high octane trade in the clouds of Illuvari. She didn't care if a school had closed, or that the government were imposing new tariffs on inter-planetary goods. All the little things that colonial life revolved around no longer mattered to her.

The other part of her, however, felt a sense of pride that she was out there, protecting billions of human beings from threats they didn't even know existed. Her life had the ultimate purpose – Blink had given her that much. The dream she once held of being a fleet navigator seemed so inconsequential now, when measured against what her life had become.

Amber tried to shake those thoughts from her mind. In a sudden burst of motion she stood up in the lounger and dove straight into the lake, relishing the feeling as the water cascaded over her. She plunged deep, able to look down through the crystalline waters and see the glittering mass of the city below. It gave the spires a dream-like quality, making their structures warp and bend as the water of the lake moved.

For as long as she could hold her breath, Amber stayed beneath the surface, gazing down through the cool waters. The world didn't seem so frighteningly real when she stayed beneath the surface. Eventually she had to come up for air, bursting back into the sunlight with a gasp and shaking her head from side to side in a blizzard of water droplets.

Treading water, she swept her long, ebony hair our of her eyes, feeling the rivulets running down her face. Up here she could ignore the petty squabbles of human space, at least for a little while, so she was determined to make the most of it. She just felt above it all. That thought bordered on arrogance, but she couldn't shake it off. Was she really just better than other people? When she'd been at school Amber always outstripped her classmates in tests, sports, anything they could be compared at, but she hadn't felt above them. Now she did and the sensation was uncomfortable. They didn't understand how fragile the world they lived in was.

Then she noticed the light on the communication bracelet had started to pulse softly beneath the surface. Her heart started beating faster and she wasn't sure if it was through fear or excitement. She swam back over to the lounger and propped her elbows up on the rim. Sitting against the side of the chair, her portable vid-screen bleeped impatiently with an incoming call. She took a deep breath and pressed the accept button on the side of the panel.

The screen flicked into life and Amber felt a rush of different emotions when Darien's face appeared, just as she remembered him. His dark mass of hair was longer now, but she could still see the faint line of a scar that flowed from just above his right eye to disappear behind his ear; a souvenir of their last mission together. Aside from that he looked to be a picture of health and he smiled brightly when he saw her.

"Making the most of your leisure time I see," he chuckled. "How're you doing, Amber?"

"Oh, you know me, I can waste time with the best of them," she replied, wiping away the water that was still trickling down her face. "Thought I might catch some sun while I've got the chance."

"By yourself?"

She shrugged awkwardly. "I needed some time, alone."

"I know what you mean. Unfortunately I've had Idas nailed to my ankle for the past week."

"I heard that!" the other Blink operative shouted from off the screen and Amber stifled a laugh.

Darien looked out of shot and grinned. "Good."

"So what are you two up to?"

"Until recently we were on a trip to Sol – went out to watch the shuttle races."

"Until recently?"

"Had to cut the trip short. Blink got in touch with me direct, high priority."

"That figures." Amber leant her chin on her arms. "Am I right in thinking our leave's been cancelled?"

"Afraid so," Darien answered, his grin fading into a rueful smile. "Sorry about this."

"It's okay," she sighed. "To be honest...I feel like I'm going a little stir crazy here."

"Yeah, it's weird isn't it?"

"What is?"

"Going back to civilisation, knowing what you know. It was the same for me. It takes a bit of getting used to."

Amber nodded. "Exactly. I feel like I don't know what to talk to them about – my friends, family. They just don't...know."

"And we need to keep it that way. It sucks, but that's what you sign up for."

"I know. I always knew, I just...I guess I wasn't expecting it to feel so weird. I thought it'd be easier."

"It's never as easy as we hope." Darien winked at her. "Cheer up. At this rate we'll be back at Blink before you know it. This is a big one."

Amber straightened up at that. "It's not another-?"

"Summit Grade? No, no, no, it's not like that."

"So what's the big emergency?"

"I don't have all the details yet, but it's an exploration op. We're heading out to make history. How does that sound?"

She considered it for a moment, then allowed herself a smile. "Sounds exactly like what I need right now."

"The whole team's been called back in – and we're not going in alone. It's going to be a joint operation – three Blink teams, Colonial Marines, the works."

"Space! Do you know what we're exploring?"

"Rumour mill says we're investigating an archaeological site out in the Barrcko Colonial sector. If they're calling in Blink my money says we're looking into something potentially extra-terrestrial."

Despite the sun Amber felt a shiver go up her spine when he said those last two words. Their last operation had introduced them to something truly alien, and utterly deadly. Humanity's first contact with extra-terrestrial life ended in a bloodbath in the far reaches of space. But she shoved the sensation to the back of her mind. The Blink operatives had faced a creature from nightmares and come out alive. She wouldn't let the creature's terrifying legacy dictate her actions.

"Okay, Darien, I'm all yours," she declared. "Where and when?"

"Pack a bag," Darien answered. "There'll be a Blink shuttle waiting for you at the space-dock tomorrow morning – I'm sending the bay number and the departure details on the back of this transmission. I assume you're happy to pilot yourself out to HQ?"

"Willing and able."

"Then I'll see you there. Fly safe."

"You too."

Then the transmission ended and Amber was left looking at a screen filled with docking instructions and departure details for her transit tomorrow morning. They'd booked her out on an aggressively early departure window, which she appreciated. She could slip out without a lot of awkward goodbyes to her parents. They knew her job left her on call at all times – to their immense credit her mother and father had been nothing but supportive – and Amber tried to convince herself that justified her actions.

She hauled her dripping body back up onto the lounger, squinted up at the bright midday sun and smiled. She was ready to get back into the fray.

*

This chapter is dedicated to zuko_42 for making both the graphic for this story and Blink: 3003. :)