Thirty minutes later Drake walked back onto the bridge. He’d spent the time in his cabin focusing on building his mental barriers, keeping everything he was thinking turned inward and blocking everything from the crew. It was hard work, really hard, but he had to master it.
He could sense the bridge crew studying his mood as he took his seat but that was from experience rather than sensing them through the link which was good. He forced himself to ignore the glances. He turned to Sonia.
“Any problems?” he asked.
“No, Captain. All quiet.”
Her tone was less frosty than before but she was studying him closely.
“Good,” he said.
The focus he was having to put into blocking out the crew was making it difficult to concentrate on a conversation, so he said no more. Over the next few mi
