Relics

Dipper

???
Original poster
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FOLKLORE MEMBER
Posting Speed
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  2. 1-3 posts per week
  3. One post per week
Online Availability
Shake a tin of dice and tell me what numbers they give you.
Writing Levels
  1. Adept
  2. Advanced
  3. Adaptable
Preferred Character Gender
  1. Male
Genres
Sci-Fi, Fantasy, an assortment of others. Ask and you shall receive (an answer).
Sleek appearance aside, Tararui was undoubtedly the slowest ship in the fleet. Her ShockDrive jittered, her engines spat more than they ran, and most of her engineering crew left for the Valor the moment they had the chance. She was, for all intents and purposes, a last resort ship, sent to low-value sites that were unlikely to contain anything worth bringing back to the colonies. Truly a sad little thing.

Jonathan Drake O’Malley, or JD as he so often preferred, thought she was a fine ship. His father captained her in his prime, back when she was ferrying colonists from planet to planet. Now she was little more than a glorified goose-chaser, but he loved her all the same.

JD currently sat in the ship’s small galley, sipping salty broth while his friend chattered incessantly in his ear.

“... and real, untapped iron. Can you imagine a haul like that? Three months off in compensation… Hey, you get that note from engineering?”

Verlaine leaned back against the slate-grey wall behind them. His name was Jean, but JD had never called him that. Verlaine seemed more fitting.

“Uh… about the drive?”

“Tararui’s not moving ‘till they get her drive up and running, and Command’s gettin’ real serious about this mission. JD...”

JD grumbled through a mouthful of salt.

“Think Cass’ll come along?”

“Who?” JD nearly choked. Where had all this salt come from? “The blonde? I don’t know. She’s head of security, so… I think so. Why?” He set the broth aside, appetite gone and tongue positively burning. “She’s got a pulse rifle, Jean. All the time. If you want to look down its barrel, be my guest, but I’ve got an obligation to try to convince you not to.”

Verlaine shrugged. “I know. But--”

“Leave her alone, Verlaine.”

“O’Malley?”

JD leaned forward as the staticky voice of the Captain came through. “What’s up, Captain Morely?”

“We’re heading planetside in an hour. Grab Verlaine and head down to the dock and get the Virgo ready. Morley out.”

JD ran a hand through his hair, feeling a mixture of anticipation and worry well within him. He’d flown plenty of missions, most of them planetside scouting operations to ascertain whether staying in orbit was worth the returns. Tararui’s luck was wearing thin with the amount of rock and outdated tech they’d found in the past two years, and with the ship failing despite every attempt at repairs, he wouldn’t be surprised if she were to return to a decommissioning. For now, this was their last chance to prove they could find something of value

He didn’t have high hopes, but he put on an air of confidence for Verlaine’s sake. The poor man was looking for his big break. With the way things were going, they’d all end up transferred to the Farragut, or maybe Lonesome. Both were magnetically attracted to useful scraps, nothing impressive. Nothing that could lead to the break Verlaine was waiting for.

Shoving Verlaine’s shoulder, JD stood and tossed his tin into the bin before gathering his gear and heading to the tram. Verlaine followed close behind.

Ten minutes later and they were standing in the hangar, where the Virgo sat in its dock. It was almost as old as Tararui, but never once failed and didn’t look close to it, either. A reliable, if ugly, ship. It was his, and he was damn good at flying it.

Captain Kurt Morely walked over to them and greeted them with a nod. “Rest of the crew has been notified. We’ll try to keep this one brief-- in and out, as fast as we can. If you spot anything, we can take a look, but otherwise, we’re on a tight schedule.”

“Sure thing,” JD said. “Full security?”

“Half,” Morley set his hands on his hips. “Try to go easy on them. They’re new transfers, and Tararui doesn’t need the bad rap.”

Verlaine passed by them, snatching JD’s gear from his shoulder with a smirk. “I’ll stow our gear and get Virgo warmed up. You’re better with the new kids anyways.”

JD didn’t bother retorting. He got along just fine with transfers, especially the cocky ones. They liked pilots, saw them as unassuming and harmless. JD didn’t mind. The shock of how boring these expeditions could sometimes be would break them in, and after that, they’d be much easier to work with.

He leaned his shoulder against the side of the ship and waited.
 
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None of them were interested in waiting around. Not even the Captain, eagerly making his way back through the corridors to the airlock they'd come through. They were out faster than they'd come in, arriving just in time for the Virgo to arrive and set down several meters down the slope from the airlock entrance. Glassy shards of rock pelted their suits and turned molten under the ship's thrusters.

Verlaine was huddled like a child against the back of the co-pilot's chair, head in his hands and breath stuttering. JD nudged him as he passed and settled into the pilot's seat.

"Verlaine! Still holding up?" JD cast a glance over his shoulder. "We'll be back at the Tararui soon."

"... Good..."

Morley returned from stowing his weapons, helmet receding once the ship's ramp closed up. "Cargo's stored, no damage. Get us out of here O'Malley."

The Virgo rose steadily until the station was... it was much smaller than it had been on the ground, JD realized, staring out the cockpit at the endless sea of nothing stretching in all directions. The storm was only an hour, maybe two, away, and it had grown since they arrived.

This artifact of theirs may be odd, but he'd be lying if he didn't for a moment consider that perhaps it had brought them a small amount of luck.

-

They docked with the Tararui a few hours later. Their hangar was open and waiting, shuttling the Virgo into a snug dock. JD let the controls go to the larger ship's computers and sat back in his chair, helmet folding back. He scrubbed hard at his eyes until stars appeared. Exhaustion was seeping into his bones, the kind that only arose after a long, stressful day - and, he suppose, that's exactly what it was. It felt like forever, not to mention the horrific, uncomfortable, discoveries they'd made on the station. Verlaine wasn't fairing well judging by his resting, huddled form against his own chair.

Morley unstrapped himself. "I'll check in with command, see what we've got out of this find. In the meantime, the rest of you are off shift. Get some rest. And if you would be so kind, Doctor Torres, get Verlaine to the medical bay."

"Think we've earned a break?" JD asked.

Morley rolled his shoulders until they popped. He might have been speaking to someone on his comm., but it was hard to tell. "A month. It's just preliminary until they can ascertain the value, but, yes. You've earned a break."

JD clapped his hands together. Just what they needed after the stress of the past couple of hours. Verlaine would no doubt do well with a long rest period. There was a bar near the Tararui's mess hall. He'd take his co-pilot there once he was cleared by medical, then they'd take a look at their earnings.

"I'll come along," he said to Kaiya, hands on his hips. "Make sure he gets there one piece." The poor man in question was pulling himself to his feet. His legs trembled beneath him. JD steadied him with one hand, which he quickly brushed off, mumbling something about not needing the help. JD ignored him, as he was wont to do, and helped him anyway to the door.
 
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A flash of light… red…. symbols… a scream… static clawing its way through her ears…

A jumble of images playing over and over in her mind although none of them would make sense. Whispers… all overlaying one another making it impossible to interpret what was attempting to be communicated. Her head reeled, feeling as though it was melting, a scream sounded through the air once more, piercing and sounding nearly inhuman until she realize it was coming from her own mouth.

All at once the noise ceased—at least for a moment until there was a single whisper

Make us whole again.


“Doc… Doc? Torres!”

Her eyes snapped open, her breathing quick and heavy as the cloud that enveloped her tired mind began to dissipate. Blinking a few times, they would finally land upon Gryffon who was seated beside her once more during their journey back to the Tararui. He looked at her with concern in his eyes.

“You alright there, Doc…?” She had been mumbling incoherently in her light slumber although he couldn’t really make out what it was. He was curious, but they were landing soon and so he figured he should get her up.

“…Yeah.” She didn’t even remember dosing off… yet she wondered how long she had been out because the ache in her eyes didn’t seem to have lessened any. If anything, it seemed worse.

Inhaling deeply before letting out a slow breath, Kaiya looked to Gryffon and offered a small grin that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Thanks for waking me. Hopefully I didn’t keep you up with my snoring.”

“Only heard your garbled muttering,” he said with a slow smirk as he began to undo his harness as did everyone else after they flawlessly docked.

Kaiya slid from her seat and gave her shoulders and neck a good stretch as she had managed to rest in quite the awkward position in her chair, creating another small ache in the crook of her neck. It was in that moment that the Captain called her over to take Verlaine to medical of which she gave a firm nod. “Yes, Captain.” She would grab her bag and haul it over her shoulder before coming to the man who had definitely seemed to get worse on the ride back… If anything, he seemed much more drained of energy and when his helmet reeled back, his eyes looked a little sunken from strain, his eyes still vibrantly bloodshot.

Her own tired looking eyes looked to O’Malley, not minding the additional help since Verlaine looked to barely be able to stand on his own two feet. “I appreciate the assistance,” she said easily and went to Verlaine’s other side just in case his feet gave out from under him. “Verlaine, we’re gonna get you feeling better in no time,” she said confidently as they headed toward the medical bay. It seemed as though her work was not quite finished for the evening.

“Let’s get him to my office. I can start working on him right away… if we take him into med bay we’re going to have to wait for one of the doctors to free up.” And she figured Verlaine had been waiting long enough. She shoved the door to her office open and turned on all the lights, everything already being prepped and sanitized for her next patient.

“Would you help him get his suit off and get him up onto the examination table? Go ahead and lay down, Verlaine. Just relax.” Quickly and nimbly she began to loosen the clamps on her own suit so she could slip out of it, revealing the simple white tank top beneath as well as the plain black cloth pants that hugged her form. She grabbed her clean white jacket and threw it on before gathering her short waves of hair and tying them back with a band that she always had around her wrist. In the pocket of her jacket was a simple radio of which she tuned it to the correct channel before speaking into it. “I need a couple nurses over in Torres’ room and another Doctor when available.”

She slipped the radio into her pocket before coming over to Verlaine and doing a general check of him first. “Slight fever… high blood pressure… rapid pulse…” Not all great things, but she has seen worse. She did the same test as she had in the station, taking a light and shining it in both eyes and seeing the pupils react accordingly. “Verlaine, how’re you doing? Tell me what’s going on,” she said easily in a rather soothing voice in an attempt to calm him. There was no need to panic yet.

She noticed the lack of color in his face as well as a light dotting of perspiration on his skin. It wouldn’t hurt to get an IV in him. He very well could be dehydrated. She walked over to the wall near the cabinets to set it up quickly, wheeling the little stand over for the fluid bag to hang from as she prepped his arm for the needle. “You’ll feel just a little pinch… there.” She set the needle and taped the spot so it wouldn’t slip out. “I’m going to give you a little something for the pain, okay Verlaine?” She found a syringe and took a glass vial from her cabinet, filling it to the appropriate cc before coming over to the IV, sticking the needle into the inlet valve, allowing the IV to distribute the medication. With some proper sleep and nutrition, his body should easily recover on its own. They just had to help it a little along the way.
 
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Verlaine went along, moving his feet only to partially support his weight but otherwise leaving most of the walk to JD. Stripping him of the suit was easy enough, just a matter of getting him to cooperate in his half aware state. Pilots suits came off easily. When that was out of the way, JD
got him situated and he immediately locked up, tense on his back for a split second, then slowly, inch by inch, relaxing until one hand dangled uselessly off the table.

"Relax," JD said and patted his shoulder. "You're gonna be fine. I need to wash up and grab a bite to eat, but I can come back if you want, Doctor. Someone's got to get him back to his room."

"You hear it too?" Verlaine's voice trembled as he spoke, barely above a whisper. "The..." He went silent again. Eyes closed, he seemed to drift off for a moment despite the doctor's questions. "Just... voice, y'know, won't stop, I... 'm not crazy... head still hurts..."

He settled down some with the pain medication, but his face remained pinched, eyes shut tightly.

"Never really... never felt like this before..."

"None of us have," JD said. "I'll be back later, Verlaine. Get some rest."

Verlaine had never been one to listen to sound advice, especially not from JD, but this time he looked ready to consider it as JD left, passing a doctor on the way out.

He'd be fine. Tararui was limited in the medical department due to personnel getting transfers to other, better ships. But those they did have were committed and genuinely cared for the crew. As for Doctor Torres, he had no concerns. She'd gotten Verlaine back in one piece without him descending into delirious violence or sickness. The worst he'd gotten was the gibbering, still echoing in his mind like like the Tararui's maintenance alarms. That looping, incessant trill, repeating over and over in that same, infuriating tone. Voices, he'd said. Voices spouting nonsense he'd uncontrollably repeated.

None of them were ever admitted for having psychological issues, making this a notable first. Without that history, though, JD wondered what would become of Verlaine once he was cleared for duty again.

JD shook those thoughts free. No reason to dwell on it when the payoff was already looking promising.

He returned to his quarters to shower, change, and stow his suit, then went on his merry way down a level to the mess hall. The usual was a mixture that closely resembled oatmeal but clearly wasn't, the easiest thing to make later in the ship's 'day' compared the more substantial vegetable soup served before first shifts. Meat wasn't an easy resource to get one's hands on, especially not out with the fleet. Thus, food was filled with more artificial nutrients than actual food, and the taste was less than appetizing.

Sustenance was sustenance, he supposed.

Back in the medical bay, Verlaine was insisting he felt better. The doctor arrived shortly after JD left, glasses low on his thin nose a beady brown, sparkling and friendly. He smiled brightly at both Verlaine and Kaiya.

"A few cases of food poisoning is all, I have the time." His smile fell slightly. "What have we got?"

Verlaine rolled his eyes, throwing his forearm over his eyes petulantly. "I'm feeling better, doc, really. Headache... it's goin' away too!"

The voices, however, hadn't, judging by the harried, cornered look in his eyes when he deigned to look at the two doctors form under his own arm. He was tensed again and ready to flee, if he had the strength to.

"Well that's just fine, son, but we need to be sure nonetheless. Tell me--"

His words were cut off when Verlaine snarled like a beast and wrenched upward into a sitting position. His eyes, once tired and glazed, were now alive with an enraged, wild fire, more animal than man. "I'm fine! Where's the fucking captain? I'm fine - get out!"

Jumping a good distance away, the doctor held up his hands in surrender and stood his ground despite Verlaine's persistent demands to leave. The pilot was scratching furiously at the iv, either too flooded with adrenaline to remove it properly or too desperate to care.

"Get - he needs to be sedated, quickly now--"
 
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“If you would like. If he stabilizes then I imagine he will be free to go back to his room. Otherwise we will admit him for observation over night… just to be safe.” Kaiya pulled her eyes away from Verlaine to look at the pilot, giving him a reassuring grin. “Go take care of yourself. That was a strenuous mission. We can take care of him from here.”

Her attention was caught once more by Verlaine as he began to speak, although she would have to lean down to hear his nearly nonexistent whispers. “Voices…?” She questioned quietly and bit the inside of her lip, furrowing her brows just sightly. She vaguely remembered hearing such things in a fuzzy dream on their flight back… it was there in the back of her mind, a blur, and it made goosebumps rise onto her flesh.

At this point, she became a little more concerned than she was letting on, but again it was more of an instinct and less of actual evidence being exerted from Verlaine. She reached up and brushed some short flyaways from her hair away from her eyes and tucked them behind her ear. “See you later, O’Malley,” she said as he departed to leave her alone with Verlaine, but not for long as another Doctor waltzed into the room.

“Doctor Phillips, thanks for coming on such short notice,” she greeted as he came over to get an eyeful of the patient. “One of the pilots from our mission to the surface. He has spiked vitals and is complaining of an intense headache-”

Her concern only continued to grow as Verlaine began to deny his symptoms and looking as though panic was beginning to ensue and was growing rapidly. “Verlaine… calm down…” she said cautiously although this time is seemed her’s words nor Phillips’ would have a positive effect on the pilot. Her eyes widened in shock as his entire demeanor changed in the blink of an eye. All the energy he had been missing flooded back, enough for him to sit up and hop off of the table in order to get away from them.

“Verlaine…!” Kaiya gasped as she had went for his arms in an attempt to get him to lay back down before he jumped away from her and onto the floor, digging at the IV in his arm. She knew what needed to be done even more Phillips spoke. She rushed to the cabinets and grabbed a new syringe that was pre-filled with the correct dosage of medicine to knock out any person for a good couple of hours. “We can’t do that… we are here to help you, Verlaine…” Although she very well could have been threatening him with the way he was now glaring at her.

In these moments she could not deny the fierce pounding of her heart as Verlaine’s hostile gaze shot towards her while his fingers still dug at the needle in his arm. He didn’t really give her a lot of choice as she lunged for him, grabbing ahold of the arm closest to him, using every bit of strength to hold it down, but he was surprisingly strong. His free flailing arm cracked her in the jaw and her head whipped to the side at the action, a small grunt of pain leaving her lips. “A little help, please..!” She called desperately to Phillips as she still managed to have his right arm pinned to the floor, but she couldn’t really administer it until his wriggling lessened.

With the other Doctor’s aid, she finally managed to inject the needle and release the medication into his veins. She then scrambled back with the empty syringe, the disheveled state of her hair showcasing her frazzled nature in these moments. “Holy shit…” she gasped and tossed the syringe onto the counter before reaching up to rub her aching jaw. “I think… we need to get him set up in observation. An isolated room too,” she added as now that they knew he was prone to get violent in this state, there was no way he would be able to be around other patients.

-

“Where’s your googly-eyed friend this evening?”

A blonde woman decked out in a security uniform came to sit across from JD, all but dropping her tray of mushy shit on the table before sitting down and using a spoon to move the goopy sludge about with obvious distaste in her eyes. “I really am sick of eating this crap,” she muttered softly under her breath before setting down her spoon. Looked like she needed a little more time with her rumbling stomach before braving a mouthful.

“I heard you guys stumbled upon quite a find on the surface,” she said with interest. It really must be a big deal… if news had spread that quickly. Although, thinking about who went on the expedition, Stroud was definitely one to boast, and the two researchers seemed rather excited about their find as well. Seemed as though there would be plenty of active mouths spreading the word. “Congratulations. First descent on this planet and it was a gold mine, huh? It’s about time we had some good luck.”
 
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Verlaine went down easy, and was surprisingly light when moved to a more secure isolation room. Nurses got him situated on the bed and with Phillips now overseeing his care, a mild sedative was included alongside standard pain medication and fluids to keep him calm once he awoke. No doubt he would be confused, agitated, and highly unpredictable, and with medical personnel already being as limited as it was, he had no reason to risk anymore of their staff.

"We'll keep him here for a few days, see how it goes. Any idea what could have brought this on?" Phillips began making a list of notes on an old datapad, glancing up frequently at Verlaine, who was strapped quite firmly to a medical bed. "We may want to run a full toxicology test just to be safe."

There was no history of drug use in Verlaine's file, though usage was common among low-tier personnel such as pilots and maintenance workers. It was only right to be sure, and to rule out any potential drug-related psychosis or delirium so they could get to the bottom of it. Until then, they'd flush the man's system just in case and wait to see what happens in the coming days.

"Get some rest, Doctor Torres. I can take over from here." Before she could leave, he leaned in and whispered, "Keep an eye on the rest of your crew. These things rarely affect only one."

-

"Cass. You missed out. Verlaine's up in medical, but I'll be dragging him down here soon enough." He pushed the mushy remnants of his meal aside almost too eagerly. "Some kind of... artifact, or something. Generates power, I think. Looks creepy as shit. Once Morley figures out the value, I think we're in for a good, long break. Might head back to the colonies awhile."

Just to set his feet on some solid ground while Tararui got her upgrades. A new drive, fresh plating, more than one overworked engineering team to perform repairs. She was in for a full overhaul, fully deserved.

"Where've you been? Verlaine was hoping you'd join us." He leaned over the table, grinning almost conspiratorially. "Or have you got some sweet new deal Command said you're not allowed to tell us about? I won't tell."

Verlaine claimed their pay had been increased, then stated he only knew because one of the officers had been drunk when he was boasting about it, so the information, albeit uncontested, was still suspect. It was interesting, however-- security was barely a rung above the service workers, pilots, and engineers, so what had encourage this increase was a mystery. He didn't expect Cass to offer much of an answer as the head of Tararui's security, but it made him wonder all the same.

"... Anyway, you going anywhere once we return to the fleet?" JD opened a tin of process water and gulped it down within seconds without a breath. "I was thinking..."

"All Alpha-Level research personnel please report to Lab 2-C. Repeat, all Alpha-Level research personnel please report to Lab 2-C. Thank you."

JD set the tin upside down and pressed down on it until it was flattened. "Our science team went nuts over that thing. Guess they need all hands on deck to figure it out."

Alpha-Level. Standard term for their most experienced and educated scientists. At least two of their researchers had been Alpha-Level. Was the artifact really that difficult to decipher? It had seemed simple enough to him, if ugly, confusing, and headache inducing. But their usage of high level researchers was promising; their artifact was indeed of high value, and that quickly brought a smile to his face. Creepiness aside, its luck held strong in their favor.

Still... he couldn't shake the feeling of unease stirring beneath his skin. Logic told him it was an unknown entity to be viewed through a lens of utmost caution, but his desire to get the Tararui back into respectable shape and make some good pay as a result was just as fierce and told him to sit back, relax, and enjoy the coming spoils.

It was quite the position to be in.
 
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Looking drained even more so, Kaiya followed after Phillips and observed as Verlaine was set up in an isolated room where he could get proper care from the medical personnel. She crossed her arms tightly over her middle, her fingers clamping onto her own forearms with unnecessary pressure as she took in Verlaine’s unconscious body. She had been hoping once they got him off of the planet that he would be feeling better… the fact that his condition was worsening made the uneasiness in her gut bounce back tenfold.

Her insides jumped slightly as the Doctor’s voice startled her out of the recesses of her mind. She reached up and combed her hair back from her eyes apprehensively. “Your guess is as good as mine… we were thinking it could have been the atmosphere. Otherwise, I thought it was just the stress of the situation. We ran across a lot of… rather disturbing things in that station. I figured it was a natural bodily reaction to the situation…” She slid her fingers over her lips as her brows furrowed in thought. “I really have no other information.”

The artifact… the idea kept bouncing around in her head, but how crazy would that sound? An object causing people to… lose their mind? The doctor hadn’t been there to hear the logs… people were acting different after exposure, but how was she supposed to explain something like that… let alone cure it. “I would as well. Knock out any possibilities so we can figure out the root cause.”

Apparently the weariness was seen within her even before she reached up to rub at her tired eyes. She hesitated as she wanted to be updated with Verlaine’s condition… but if she didn’t take care of herself then she wasn’t going to be much use to anyone. “Thank you, Doctor Phillips. I’ll come by later to check in.” She moved to leave, but not before he leaned close to speak to her. She was still and silent for a moment before giving a small nod. She thought of O’Malley and how he had been experiencing the same headaches… and also herself with the headache as well as hearing those voices…

It had to be lack of sleep. That’s all it was…. but either way she gave a reassuring grin to the Doctor. “Of course. I’ll watch out for them.” Although that would prove difficult since they weren’t going on any missions again any time soon. Usually it was a… one and done type deal with these sort of scavenging missions. Not to mention she had done a number on making herself look the fool when it came to bringing that artifact on board.

With a departing wave, she wandered the hall to head toward her personal quarters where she could get a shower in. Perhaps that would wake her up enough to get her to the mess hall to grab something to eat before crashing for the night.

-

“An… artifact?” Like an ancient thing… that managed to generate modern day power? Sounded a bit far fetched to her and she found herself raising a brow almost skeptically toward him as if he was just trying to fuck with her. “Are you just saying that to try to impress me or are you serious?” Although the way he spoke of the thing, she had an inkling that it was the later. She gave a little laugh and sat back in her seat, crossing her arms easily over her chest. “Well, I’ll be damned… seems as though I really did miss out.” She was a little disheartened at not being there for the find, but she had unfortunately got caught up in a mess that she couldn’t wriggle out of.

A slow curl of her lips formed a sly smirk as she shook her head and gave a dramatic roll of her eyes. “Of course he was…” she muttered lightly under her breath although it was easily loud enough to be heard by JD. She would have had to be a complete idiot to not notice the man’s starry-eyed gaze when he gawked at her. It was kind of hard to miss.

“Unfortunately, I had to take care of some shit here at base.” She rose a delicate brow before beginning to laugh as she mimicked his movement and leaned forward onto the table with her forearms resting on the cool metal, her fingers crossing leisurely over one another. “I don’t know what kind of nonsense you’ve been hearing about, but it is far from a sweet deal.” You couldn’t trust a damn thing that began spreading around these ships as there were loose mouths everywhere you turned trying to spread some sort of drama to make life a little more interesting on this ship. “I’d really rather not talk about it. Maybe some other time.” It would only sour her mood further.

Her eyes moved curiously to him as he spoke, tilting her head just slightly in interest before he was interrupted by the comm overhead. She glanced upward as the words echoed through the mess hall. “Huh… yeah I guess so.” She pressed her lips together for a moment before turning her attention back to him, reaching up to rub the back of her neck as she though. “Not sure. Honestly, I haven’t thought that far ahead. I still have a shitload of work to do, but I’m sure I’ll figure something out. But ah… you were thinking… what exactly?” She asked, the curiosity evident in her eyes.

Although she would once again have to wait for an answer as a voice that would be familiar to JD spoke up.

“O’Malley, I was hoping to run into you here.” Kaiya approached their table, looking freshly showered with wavy damp locks tucked behind her ears and a new clean set of clothes on. Her eyes seemed slightly more aware, a little brighter after her shower although there was some sort of hesitance in her features as she hated being the bearer of bad news. Her eyes shifted to the woman sitting across from JD, noticing she looked a little on the irritated side at the intrusion.

“I apologize… I didn’t mean to interrupt,” Kaiya assured quickly and offered a little bow of her head to the woman. “I’m Doctor Kaiya Torres. I was the medical officer that was assigned to accompany O’Malley’s team to the surface,” she explained quickly as she was quick to assume there was maybe something going on between the two and wished for there to be no misunderstandings. When that explanation didn’t exactly seem to lessen the hardened expression on the woman’s face, Kaiya in a half flustered state turned her eyes to JD. “I just wanted to update you on Verlaine’s condition. He is okay, but there were some complications and we have concerns. So, he will be kept in observation for a couple days.” At this point, there was a dull yet darkening mark that blotched the left side of her jaw where Verlaine smacked her a good one…
 
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The poor woman was already burdened with Verlaine’s affections and obvious adoration. Now, JD had effectively set another weight on her shoulders with the revelation that she likely wouldn’t experience the same luck they had - at least, not any time soon. JD felt an immeasurable sense of pride at their accomplishment despite it being purely a fluke, but he bathed in it nonetheless and let Cass wonder about the possibilities without interference.

“Nonsense,” JD sat back, lips pulled back in a lopsided grin. “I’ll have you know that pilot chatter is not nonsense!”

He respected her decsion on the matter and didn’t bring it up again. She had her secrets, he had his. Security were a tight bunch, like the pilots, and he didn’t have any interest in sparking a disagreement between the two worlds. Not that the end result wouldn't entertaining aboard an otherwise boring ship. He, nor any of the pilots, really, could risk such an altercation. Soft around the middle. Not physically, just... everywhere else.

“Nevermind,” he said as Kaiya approached, turning a warm, welcoming smile on her as he let himself melt into a more relaxed position on the bench. “Glad to here it Doc - Kaiya. Can I call you that? We’re, uh, not on duty anymore, so…”

What a stupid thing to say. He kicked himself internally. “Glad to hear he’s alright, but what do you mean by concerns? I mean, observation for a couple of days? That’s a bit more than concerns, I’d think. Hey, what happened there?”

He gestured to the welt on the side of her face with one hand, eyes flitting between it and the rest of her face. She cleaned up nice, he thought, turning his gaze back on the table to avoid staring. Professional standards be damned. He was off duty. Looking at a co worker who’d undergone the same stressful experience he had was human nature, that’s all. Besides, she was looking after his closest friend. He had reason to appreciate her commitment.

Verlaine. Right. JD hoped he was alright. Hell, he shouldn’t be talking about this in front of Cass. Verlaine would never forgive him if JD leaked the fact that he'd had an emotional break just hours ago. A punch to his pride, he'd call it. Betrayal. Knowing Cass, she wouldn't give a shit one way or the other, but his image was important to Verlaine.

“O’Malley?” came the trilling voice of a nurse, his comm. lighting up. “Jonathan O’Malley?”

JD froze and pulled his comm. in close. “That’s me.”

“Do you know a Jean Verlaine?”

What?
“Yeah, why? What’s up?”

A chair squeaked in the background, then a distant shouting match ensued. He couldn’t make out the words. “He’s been asking for you. Stop by medical whenever you can. There’s no rush, but Doctor Phillips thinks you might help his mental state.”

“I… sure, I guess. I’ll be there when I can.” He looked up to the two women, mouth set in a grim line. He wanted to make sure his friend was doing alright, yet part of him insisted he stay to wind down and take a moment to forget the mess that was their mission. He set his hands flat on the tabletop, letting out a steady sigh that was part stress, part exhaustion.

Why couldn't it all just blow over already?

"I'll give it a moment," he said after a drawn out silence. "I'm not his keeper, stupid bastard. He should be getting some shuteye. Not... sitting holed up in some observation room."

He himself was tired, worn down, and uninterested in lengthening his day much more. He most definitely cared, but sometimes Verlaine needed to sort out his own issues without JD's input. JD gave terrible advice anyway. He knew it, Verlaine knew yet, and they still traded awful advice and laughed when it failed.

JD ought to be there for his friend despite it all, he realized. Why didn't he feel like standing up? Or... really even helping at all. Bitterness rose up in his throat like bile, and none of it felt like his. The hell was wrong with him?
 
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Kaiya rose a brow in what looked to be slight amusement as her features seemed to relax the smallest bit. Any worry she had about being met with a cold demeanor from the pilot melted away as her own lips curved into a pleasant grin. “I suppose there is no reason to be so formal.” As he was right and they were technically off duty… which was the first time in awhile for the doctor. It was honestly a bit of a relief. As much as it was her passion to help people, it really could wear her down to the bone. One could complain about having no breaks as much as they wanted, but when there were sick people that needed attention, no one was given time to recoup.

“Kaiya is just fine. Which means… I can call you JD, right? That is what you prefer?” She remembered that is how he introduced himself to her when they first met before the expedition. With slight apprehension she turned her eyes to the woman who was sitting there silently with folded arms.

“Cass. Head of security,” she said simply before turning her eyes back to the bowl of mush in front of her and taking in a spoonful although she wouldn’t do too well at hiding her distaste for the stuff. It was always as bad as she remembered.

“Nice to meet you,” Kaiya said with a small nod of her head before looking back to JD and explaining the situation, but naturally he had questions about her vagueness. The relaxed nature of her features tightened once more as she took a breath and let it out slowly. “May I sit for a moment?” She asked and when given permission, took up a spot down on the bench beside him.

She looked over to him as her fingers clasped over each other on the table, her eyes remaining on his features as was just sort of customary for her in her practices. Although, it was in this moment of being so close to him that she was able to get a good look at the pilot for what seemed like the first time. With everything going on from the harassment of Stroud and the whole… being scared for their lives thing… she hadn’t been able to consciously take in the man’s image. She thought him… standardly handsome… strong features with soft dark eyes to match the darkness of his hair that laid neatly atop his head and with a light peppering of dark stubble along his sturdy jaw. His form was in a similar state, seeming well-built and taken care of as well as it could be out here in deep space…. of course all of this she took in by just a quick glance over him in which she hoped was inconspicuous.

“Verlaine had a… minor episode,” she said carefully as she didn’t want to make him worry. Although the behavior surprised her, it was still relatively normal for a patient to act out under the circumstances. “He… lashed out and we had to try to restrain him. My face just happened to catch his hand,” she said with a slight chuckle although it was hardly funny. She spoke quickly after, “It was an accident. I don’t think he intentionally swung at me… he was just trying to get away and kept asking for the Captain…” Her delicate fingers reached up almost subconsciously to rub her aching jaw.

Although this apparently was rather surprising news to the security officer sitting across from them. “He hit you?” She said through a mouthful of mush.

“Again… unintentionally,” Kaiya reminded and sighed softly. “Anyway, we need to wait till he stabilizes before releasing him-” Her voice paused as JD’s comm lit up and someone spoke over it. The noises in the background made her heart squeeze and the brightness in her eyes fell a bit to hear that Verlaine was no better than when she had left him. Both women were quiet and it was JD who broke the silence.

Kaiya’s brows furrowed just the smallest bit in sympathy and she took a deep breath before, without really thinking, reaching over and resting one of her hands over his. It was… just sort of natural for her to do, to want to comfort and aid where she could. “He just needs some time… I think that this break for you all couldn’t have come at a better time. You all need it.” As the weariness in JD’s features was becoming more and more apparent. The guy looked like he needed a few straight days of hibernation.

“Why don’t you finish eating? Then, when you’re ready, we can go together. I was going to drop by to check on him one last time anyway before going to get some sleep.”

Cass furrowed her brows just slightly and still looked to be a bit shocked at this news about Verlaine. The guy was always so… hopelessly goofy and light-hearted that it was hard to imagine him as anything but. With the few bites she took of her food, the rumbling in her stomach seemed to be satisfied for now which made her more than willing to toss the rest of the sludge into the garbage. “Look, I um… I have to get back to work,” she said softly and rose from the other side of the table with tray in hand. She wandered past, but would pause and rest her free hand on one of JD’s shoulders and gave it a firm squeeze. “Tell Jean to get better soon for me,” she said before walking off.
 
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A minor episode, she said. A minor episode in which he’d clearly gotten violent, lashed out, and injured her enough to leave a growing bruise on her face. JD liked to keep things reasonable, but nothing about that explanation sounded reasonable to him. Verlaine didn't lash out aggressively, he didn't assault, he rarely even spared a nasty word when JD wished he would. He wasn't the shy sort, but he was as far as one could get from being violent.

He'd been staring at her emptily for a solid few minutes now, trapped between admiration and a desperate desire to know more. Disgust welled up within him at himself, for even considering ignoring his friend now that he knew what had happened. He should speak to him, see what was going on. Maybe Verlaine would open up if he were there...

"A break?" he scoffed. "Verlaine's suffering in there. He'd take up watch for me if he had to, if I had some kind of... of mental breakdown."

JD reined himself in. Kaiya wasn't denying him the chance, yet he'd reacted as if she had. Idiot. He breathed in deeply and let his hands relax, fingers curling about each other as he pulled them to his chest. "Not hungry anymore, so I'd like to go now, if that's alright with you."

His smile was, admittedly, a little weak. Kaiya was under just as much stress if not more, and she pulled through in one piece. More or less. None of them were exactly perfect after their experience on the planet. It seemed so simple in retrospect; an abandoned research station, strange experiments, an artifact, and dead bodies. He'd seen dead bodies. Bodies with flesh on their bones and faces on their skulls, dead for mere minutes. Something about the desiccated corpse in the station bothered him more than it ought to, and he couldn't explain it for the life of him.

Was he staring, again? Of course he was. Several months on the Tararui in the presence of no one save for his immediate coworkers had to be the reason, even with Cass in the picture. But as she was the object of Verlaine's very obvious affections, JD avoided any improper interactions out of acknowledgement for those... affections.

Maybe once the Tararui returned to the fleet. When they had time. For now, he was content to watch, and pretend he hadn't seen her doing the same.

And then she... left. Her presence would do Verlaine as much good as his, so why...? Dismayed, JD stood slowly and stepped away from the table, tossing his tin into the bin, then stood Kaiya's side somewhat awkwardly, as if he weren't sure what else to do with himself.

"We should go, then. Cass'll... check in when she wants, I guess." He shrugged. "I hope."

She had her reasoning and a right to do as she pleased without JD interfering purely for his friend's benefit. Clearing his throat, JD backed up toward the lift that would lead them to the medical bay, quiet on their journey down a level. He'd just... check in on Verlaine and make sure he was doing well. After that, he could sleep for the next few days if he wished. He had no duties to attend to, who would complain? Morley? The Captain didn't care so long as he and the crew got their pay, and with the way things were going, they would soon enough. Tararui would be meeting back up with the fleet soon, ahead of schedule.

... Which inevitably meant familiar dirt beneath his boots. His home colony had a nice bar; maybe he'd stop by and catch up. Take time to reminisce even though there wasn't much to reminisce about on a hot dust ball like home.

Doctor Phillips was still up when they arrived, eyes scanning a datapad through thick glasses. He looked up when they entered and rose to his feet to greet them, a strained smile on his face.

"O'Malley, then? Glad you could make it." He inclined his head to Kaiya. "Doctor Torres. Our patient has been quite resistant to any kind of food or medication. Had quite the screaming match earlier... he's calm now, at least. Hopefully he'll stay that way."

"You... put him in observation, right? Can I see him?"

"Oh! Of course, that's why you were called here. Come with me."

Phillips led them through the medical bay and into a wide side corridor, both walls lined with bland square rooms and plexiglass observation windows. Verlaine was the only one contained here, in the first room on the right. He sat, dejected, in the far right corner behind a cot with only a thin white blanket around his shoulders and pants to clothe him.

Doctor Phillips tapped on the glass. "Jean? Jonathan is here. Why don't you come say hello?"

Verlaine looked up, hazel eyes squinting against the artificial light. He approached them with his back hunched and defensive, then stopped before the glass, dropping into an exhausted crouch. The rings below his eyes were deeper than before.

"JD. How... how're you doin'?"

JD's chest heaved with surprised laughter. "How am I doing? How are you? I heard you lost it for awhile."

Verlaine's eyes narrowed. "... Tired, mostly. Think... JD, I think they're druggin' me..."

"Pain medication in his water," Phillips said. "He'll drink."

"It's to help you feel better." JD leaned his shoulder against the glass. "What happened?"

"Dunno." Verlaine trembled and hunched his shoulders, head dropping to look at the floor. "Can't remember. Just images, y'know, feelings and things? Impressions. Had a nightmare earlier."

"About?"

"Mmm... remember that zombie film we projected onto the hangar bay?"

"You had a nightmare about a movie we saw two weeks ago?" JD asked, one brow quirked.

Verlaine grumbled. "Guess I did. Stop laughin', asshole."

"Not laughing at you, man. Relax." He grinned and crouched low to meet Verlaine's eyes. "You're gonna be fine. Eat your food, get some sleep..."

While they chatted, Doctor Phillips turned to Kaiya and began to speak quietly. "This is the most he's said since we put him here. Protocol is that we put them under during the night cycle. We'll get him strapped in and hopefully he'll have recovered somewhat by tomorrow. But the future looks good for him."

"I need to hit the hay, Ver, but I'll be back in tomorrow." JD stood. He stepped away from the glass, shoulders relaxed from the tension of before. "I think he'll be okay. Verlaine's a resilient bastard."

Phillips smiled brightly. "Excellent! These meetings are always good for the mental state of our patients in the long term. Don't worry yourself, Jonathan, he'll pull through in one piece."

JD flinched at the use of his full name - the second time, now - but nodded politely all the same. "I should probably turn in before I drop." He stuffed his hands into his pockets, looking to Kaiya. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

Once he returned to his quarters, JD bee-lined for the bed. He was asleep within minutes.
 
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Remaining silent and unmoving, Kaiya allowed JD to vent his pent up frustrations. It was an expectation, honestly, and usually it was a lot worse. Lots of yelling and blaming of why they couldn’t do better… it was just a natural reaction to trauma. It didn’t make it easier to tolerate most of the time, but it was something that just came with the job.

“Of course,” she said softly with a nod of her head, feeling his fingers slide out from under her own. Kaiya had been through enough of these situations that she felt as though sometimes it was best to say nothing. Sure enough, it depended on the person, but this was one of those moments where she felt as though she could say nothing to ease the anxiety that she knew was balling up inside of JD.

She would, however, offer him a small grin in return as she saw his attempt to gain control of the torrent of emotions going on within him. Granted, the fact that they were all exhausted from the operation earlier in the day didn’t help. Once a person was sleep deprived, it widely opened up the door for mental instability… making people act in ways that they normally did not. It was natural and she held no judgement in her eyes for the man standing in front of her.

“Right behind you,” she said as she rose from the bench then after him, although she felt tension in the air as Cass promptly exited the scene. Clearly, this was not what JD had thought was going to happen. “Are they… close? Verlaine and Cass?” Obviously this was none of her business, but she would be unable to help her surprise if he confirmed this as the woman seemed rather cold and distant. Not that she knew Verlaine nor the woman very well, but… well she just didn’t see the connection. Coming to this conclusion, she could feel her cheeks turn the slightest bit pink in her embarrassment of thinking such things. She would blame her scientific mind… it was always poking and prodding where it usually did not belong.

Which it did once more as she found her eyes observing the muscles of JD's back moving beneath his shirt as he walked in front of her. It was almost natural for her, just to watch, but she soon realized she was… nearly gawking and she quickly wrenched her gaze away from him with a more prominent blush appearing on her cheeks.

Wow… she really needed to get some sleep.

She was a bit relieved at the silence between them so she could compose herself, reaching up to nonchalantly brush back a few stray waves of her hair behind her ear as they rode the elevator down to the medical bay. Once below, the door opened up and they would be met by Doctor Phillips shortly after.

Nodding her head in acknowledgement to her fellow colleague, she would give him a small grin although it didn’t quite reach her eyes. She could see he seemed a little distressed at the situation. “So that’s what that was,” she said softly, referencing the noises she had heard on JD’s comm in the mess hall. Once they were moving toward the isolation rooms, she spoke, “Is he still getting the dosage of Midazolam?” They would probably need to keep the sedative moving in his system to keep the anxiety down until he could control it on his own.

They moved into the side corridor with the isolation rooms and Kaiya allowed herself to stand back, allowing JD and Verlaine some privacy. Her eyes watched them and she couldn’t help but feel a little genuine grin come to her lips at their interaction. Verlaine seemed to be acting… normal in the presence of JD and that made her feel optimistic about his recovery. Her eyes remained on the duo, but she leaned back against the wall and listened to what Doctor Phillips had to say, keeping their tone hushed.

“A sense of normalcy… that does a lot for a person,” she said softly and nodded her head at the proceedings. “Thank you for taking care of him.” She glanced over to the doctor and gave him another kind smile before looking back to JD and Verlaine. It was interactions like this that made it all worth it in the end, no matter how trying the process would sometimes be in trying to get someone well again.

She pushed off of the wall to stand straight once more as JD walked over to them, glad to see that he looked a little less anxious after being able to talk with Verlaine. “I’m confident of this as well,” she assured with her kind eyes remaining on his features. She gave a quick nod and clasped her hands behind her back casually. “See you tomorrow,” she confirmed and walked out with him a short distance to ensure he found the exit. “Rest easy JD,” she said softly before watching him go. Her eyes would glance down to the floor for a moment after he was gone, just… thinking… before she sighed softly and turned to Doctor Phillips. “Let me know if you need anything. I’ll have my comm on, but I’m going to try and get some rest.” After bidding him goodnight, she would walk the short distance to her personal quarters which were actually located beside the medical bay. They wanted the medical staff to be close by in case of emergency so it was always a nice convenient walk after a long day.

Practically collapsing in her bed when she got there, she allowed the blankets to envelop her, feeling as though she would be content to never rise from the comfort of her bed again…

Not even in her dreams.

“D-Doctor Torres…? Kaiya, p-please wake up… Kaiya?”

The static continued to come over her comm, insistently until her aching eyes peeled open slowly only to see darkness. She honestly didn’t remember falling asleep… it must have been almost instantaneous once her head had hit the pillow.

“Kaiya we need you right away! Please respond!”

What in the world…?

She fumbled for her comm and rubbed her eyes insistently as she sat up in the dark. “It’s Kaiya… what’s going on…?” She asked in her still husky voice from sleep as she stumbled to her feet, searching for the light before regrettably turning it on and nearly blinding herself in the process.

“Oh th-thank goodness… Kaiya I’m sorry, but you’re needed in Phillips’ room…. please hurry…”

“I’ll be over there shortly,” Kaiya said and pulled her hair back messily into a ponytail as she pulled her doctor’s jacket on over her cloth pajama pants and silky tank top, not remembering putting those on either as she slipped the comm within her pocket and hurried out the door. What had to have happened that they disturbed her…? Automatically, her foggy brain thought of Verlaine and she felt her insides twist uncomfortably. Please let it not be Verlaine… She pushed her tired body into a frantic run.

“Oh my God-!” In her entire time of being stationed on the Tararui she had never come across something like this.

“Doctor Torres! Please, quickly, put on sterilized gloves, we need your assistance!” It was the same voice that had spoken through the comm, Doctor Hendricks to be exact, and Kaiya did exactly what was asked of her. The beep of the heart monitor in the room pounded at her skull as she slid on a mask, goggles, and a pair of sterilized gloves as she came over to the patient.

She didn’t know them… she should not have felt so relieved and instantly felt guilty about the thought afterwards, but now wasn’t the time. The beeps came fast, yet irregularly as the patient’s heart strained to keep beating. Upon looking over the patient, it was crudely apparent what was wrong. The man had the tip of a ball-point pen sticking out of his right eye-socket.

“What happened??” Kaiya asked as she came to inspect it closer. The pen had penetrated at least two to three inches, leaving only the last third of the pen sticking out from his lid. It was oozing blood and dripping onto the floor.

“Roommate heard him mumbling about… god knows what. Just gibberish! Then willingly stuck this thing in his own eye…” That was the most disturbing part… not that it would have been any better if someone had done this to him, but… who would want to do this to themselves…? “They managed to restrain him before he could stick it all the way through…”

“Fuck…” Kaiya gasped as she used a suction hose to clear the blood around the area. They had to get it out… the ink could cause an infection if it remained, but it was also terribly risky to remove the object as he could easily bleed out. However, before she could do anything, the patient’s body began to flail spontaneously.

“Hold him down!!!” Kaiya shrilled and tried to do so herself, but the man was strong with swinging arms and kicking legs as he screamed at the top of his lungs. Why the hell wasn’t he sedated in the first place??? However, before they could do anything, the man promptly turned his head and smashed it into the table hard enough for the pen to emerge out the other side of his skull.

Kaiya couldn’t even scream. She stood there in complete shock, her clothes having been splattered with the dark red liquid that oozed from the now motionless body of the patient. All she could hear was this ringing in her ears until the sound of someone saying her name broke her of this trance. She realized someone was beside her with a grip on her shoulders, shaking her.

“K-Kaiya…? Kaiya, come on it’s…. it’s o-okay…”

It was far from okay. Her body trembled against her will as the hands that gripped her slowly removed her from the room and led her outside. “Kaiya, breathe…” the voice urged as the woman’s breathing seemed to hitch in her chest, unable to take a proper full breath.

“I…I don’t understand…” She found herself perched upon a chair in another room with Doctor Hendricks, doubling over and holding her head in her hands. She had seen a lot of shit… but nothing like watching a person commit suicide right in front of her eyes. The time would pass and she soon didn’t know how long she had been sitting there stewing in her own thoughts… it would be the noise of her comm that would break her out of this stupor.

“P-please this is…h-head of Engineering down on the level 6B. We’ve got situation down here I… I need… fuck I don’t know what I need… Security? Medical Bay? Anyone! Just get down here there’s… a fourth of my crew is dead!!!”

“Th-this is Doctor Hendricks. We’ll send someone down right away,” she assured before reaching up and winding a shaking hand through her hair. No one could say anything to break the unease in the air. “Kaiya, stay here. I’m going to round up a team,” she said before hurrying off, leaving her by herself in the empty office.

“This is Cassandra Berg, head of security. We’re heading your way. Sit tight.”

This had to be a bad dream… right? This couldn’t be real… She shut her eyes tight for but a moment before opening them back up and looking down to see the crude splatters of blood still vibrant against the white of her doctor’s jacket. This most certainly was not a nightmare despite her wishes for it to be so. With shaking hands, she gripped the sides of the chair tightly in order to hoist herself to her feet. She had to get back out there… something was happening and she needed to pull herself together…

As if she had suddenly gone blind, she was engulfed in darkness until bright blinding lights began blinking along the ceiling, the emergency lights in case of power outage…. then a deafening siren and she cupped her hands over her ears in an attempt to dull the noise.

“Code Red. You are required to stay in the safety of your quarters. Code Red. This is not a drill. You are required to stay in the safety of your quarters. Code Red…”

The digital voice came through her comm. It was the emergency broadcast…

What… was… happening…?

Verlaine. She needed to get to Verlaine.

Why him specifically she wasn’t sure, but it was the one thing her mind could focus on in that moment. The energy that surged through her seemed to come out of nowhere as she bolted out into the corridor, trying desperately to not run into anyone as she headed for the isolation rooms. It didn’t take long and she was standing before his window, seeing him strapped to the chair and still looking woozy from his medication. Using her keycard, she slid it through the access slot and closed the door behind her before hurrying over to him, her shaking hand gripping his arm. “Verlaine… Verlaine we need to get you someplace safe-”

Deafening screams pierce the darkness mixed with a sound that was nearly… inhuman... and Kaiya’s words falter as her startled body jolted in reaction, her arm bending behind her and coming across Verlaine almost protectively as she stared out the glass window into the inky darkness of the corridor with only the strobing white light to offer guidance.

What…. the fuck….. was that noise…?
 
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“Safe?” Verlaine slurred. “Oooh, nice. That’s… nice…”

When he went to lift his hand, he met resistance in the form of restraints. Restraints, his foggy mind blearily noted, that had been strapped around his wrists, ankles, and across his forehead and torso. That was fine. It was the chair that made him think; it slanted back a bit, letting him rest in a relaxed, upright position that felt quite nice, really. The drugs were doing their jobs by keeping him calm, as he hadn’t so much as questioned why he was restrained at all, or why he wasn’t allowed to move in the first place.

It was fine. He felt good.

Come to think of it, he didn’t want to move. He wanted to stay here. Here it was safe, right? Why the doctor thought he ought to be moved was beyond him, because there was no reason for it. He needed to stay. The other doctor said so, had really been rather clear on the matter. It would give him time to.. To…

He twitched and sobbed when a horrid noise pierced his eardrums, eyes squeezing shut. He was safe. He was safe. The room was safe, the chair was safe, Doctor Torres was safe, too. But that sound sparked something painful in his chest, and it made him tremble. Was he dying? Was this dying? Did he have a reason to die? Or... something wanted him dead. Or it wanted him to want to be dead. It burrowed into his brain and sometimes it spoke, and it wanted him to die.

That was okay. It could want all it liked, he wasn't going anywhere in this soft chair of his. It would have to wait.

“I’m… I have to… I need… need to see... need... what do I need...?”

-

"He wishes. See, Verlaine's got eyes for no one but her. I'd call it a crush if it hasn't been going on for more than a year, if you can believe it. She puts stars in his eyes-- his words, not mine. Problem is that Cass is too strict to give in no matter how heavy he puts on the charm. Security makes you serious. Piloting makes you fun. Verlaine just hasn't figured that out yet."

JD woke to the deafening shriek of the emergency siren. In his confusion, he’d lurched from his bed and tumbled onto the floor, his shoulder stinging with the impact and his heart thudding painfully in his chest. He lay there with his eyes wide and unseeing until the words from the emergency PA came together in his mind, less garbled and more clear as his awareness rose to the surface. He was lying on the floor. He hadn’t changed his clothes. How long had he been sleeping?

The clock at his bedside read 0230. He squinted up at it dumbly as it processed in his head. He’d been asleep for… two, three hours? He felt like shit.

He rolled onto his feet, rose unsteadily, and stumbled ungracefully toward the door, palming it open so he could lean outside.

People were dashing down the corridor shouting at one another, slamming into walls in their panic to get inside. Some refused - they dashed to the end of the hall to the lift, then disappeared from JD’s sight.

“Hey,” JD said, slapping his hand against the wall to the left of his doorway. “Hey! What the hell is going on?!”

The man who lived across from him - Jackson, was it? - looked at him with wide eyes. “Fuck off, I don’t know! There's something in the walls!”

Screaming in the walls. Just like those bad horror flicks Verlaine liked, where the bodies of the dead climbed through the hollow walls of people’s houses only to burst out at the last moment to wrap their teeth around an unsuspecting victim’s throat…

He’d be much better off if Verlaine hadn’t reminded him of them.

Verlaine!

“Shit. Shit shit shit.” JD ducked back into his room to pull his boots on. Jackson was already hiding away when JD came back, shutting his door and sprinting down the hallway toward the lift. He slammed his fist into the call button three times before it arrived, its flimsy chain link doors rattling as they closed. Under the eerie red lighting, he felt as if he were stepping into the Lonesome’s prison sector. Their lifts rattled too, but once you descended in those, you would never hear that rattle again.

The medical bay was usually situated alongside a security depot, supply room, and a separate generator room to keep medical equipment running in an emergency. Past medical was their mining gear, placed in proximity purely because of the number of injured miners who needed immediate medical attention. He went there first.

Inside were a selection of giant cables, mining rigs, vehicles, and an assembly for a gravity tether. Tararui wasn’t a planet-cracker, but she could haul massive loads picked up from the surface. On the left side of the room, a row of lockers, digging implements, and cutting tools. He grabbed an axe off the rack, then ran back for medical.

The lights were still functioning normally here, at least. Dim bulbs flickered along the ceiling, leading him toward the backrooms where the isolation chambers were kept. That was where he’d find Verlaine, no doubt. Luckily there was no security to block his path, as he simply burst through the door into the corridor-- only to be faced with complete darkness.

A few of the chambers were lit at random, with the exception of the first, where Verlaine was kept. And, surprisingly, Kaiya as well.

He felt a rush of warmth for the woman at the sight, spending her time not in a safe place, but there, helping his incapacitated friend. Beautiful, compassionate, and intelligent? How she wasn't noticed more often was beyond him. She looked rather nice with her hair pulled back, too--

He was doing it again. He bit down on his lip hard.

JD pounded his fist against the glass of the observation room, as he didn’t have the key to get in. “How’s he doing? You guys alright? What the hell is going on?!”

It wasn't until then that he noticed the wet, gurgling moan coming from his left. The scuffle of bare feet on the ground didn't mask the sound of scraping, snapping bones. The sound reminded him of their mining tech reshaping itself for better pull, except less visceral. Not as wet. JD swallowed down the rising bile and backed up toward the door leading back into the medical bay.

"I can hear 'em. Calling. W-we deserve this, JD. We shouldn't have... Make us... make... make... us..." Verlaine groaned and strained against the restraints. His fingers spasmed against the armrests. "Where's... Doctor... I need, mmm, more water. Some more. Now."

A figure was approaching from the end of the corridor, wreathed in blackness and the occasional flash of light that gave him no more than a brief outline. "Verlaine, no, we've got to get you out of here. Someplace better."

"Safe."

"Yeah, yeah, really safe. Kaiya please, there's... I think something's out here."

His mind went straight to zombies. When that was tossed aside, he thought of escaped mental patients, someone high on medical drugs not intended for casual use. Then, he ruminated on Verlaine's words. His insane ramblings hadn't improved one bit, it seemed. That alone was worrying and made JD feel sick as his brain tried to make the connections. It started with the artifact. Did that mean...?

He couldn't even complete the thought. A heavy, wet, and warm mass into him from the side, knocking him flat and forcing the air out of his lungs. He gasped and writhed as the form pressed down on him, and when he opened his eyes once more, he thought he felt his heart stutter, stop, and start again. The eyes of a dead man stared down emptily at him. A pale, deformed face, torn and shredded into pieces around a gaping mouth of mandibles and displaced teeth hung open in front of him, bloody saliva and black ooze drooling from its fangs.

He wanted to puke. He wanted to scream. The rational part of him reached for his axe, and hoped it was still there.
 
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And then it was gone and Kaiya was left with nothing but sounds of the wailing siren and Verlaine’s slurred mumbling, but she was feeling far from at ease. They needed to get out of here… now. “Verlaine..?” Her voice was but a whisper as she turned to the man whose expression probably matched her own. Fear, anxiety, confusion… it was all there in his eyes as he stared through the glass into the darkness of the corridor. Her hands went to his cheeks, gripping his head firmly in an attempt to get his attention. “Verlaine, listen to me… you need to stay quiet.” She spoke this slowly, each word uttered with a heavy sense of importance. She didn’t know what kind of trouble they were in, but the danger was gnawing at her insides, taking over the natural instincts that were in every human being and telling her to run.

Her hands frantically began to pull at the restraints to loosen them, but she would not get far when she heard a sudden harsh thudding against the glass, the sound nearly making her already panicking heart stop in its tracks. With a startled yelp, her body once again took up a sort of stance that had her standing in front of Verlaine protectively, but it was unnecessary as her alarmed doe-like gaze settled on the form that was outside the window. Recognition finally reached her eyes and she moved to the glass, her hand reaching to rest upon the cool smooth surface as she stared at him in obvious shock as he was the last person she thought she would see in this moment.

“JD…?” She gasped as if unable to fully comprehend that he was actually there. “What are you doing here??” Her voice came a little more surely this time as her shaking hands fumbled for her keycard that was in her pocket… well… where it was supposedly in her pocket. Where the hell did it go?

Frazzled, she reached up to smooth her hair back as she looked to the ground. Perhaps she had dropped it? “W-we… he’s fine. I’m fine. I… f-fuck...JD, I have no idea…” She felt like she couldn’t form a complete thought as her eyes searched the darkness for the little card that would let them out. Where was the fucking thing?!

She paused. Every muscle in her body tensed as her ears picked up the same grotesque wet crackling from somewhere nearby. Her blood ran cold, goosebumps rose on her body, and the hair at the back of her neck stood on end. “JD… what is it…?” a whisper at first before becoming more frantic as she dropped to the ground, moving her hands over the smooth surface of the floor in an attempt to find the key as her eyes picked out an additional figure in the darkness that wasn’t the pilot. “… JD…. JD, what is that-?!”

She screamed as the thing barreled into his body and they were both knocked out of her line of sight. “JD!!!” Her heart pounded viciously in her chest as her hand finally ran across a rectangular object on the ground by Verlaine’s chair. She must have fucking dropped it after coming into the goddamn room! She stumbled to her feet and without thinking slid the card through the reader, the door sliding open.

The image her eyes took in was something out of her darkest nightmares.

A being… although it was far from being the correct word to describe the thing… was hovering over JD’s form, screeching, gurgling, spasming as wicked grotesque appendages stabbed at the ground, forming divots in the flooring where it missed JD’s wriggling body. Her body told her to run… to run as far as her legs would carry her… she had to get out of here…

…but not without JD and Verlaine.

His hands would not find the axe only because her hands were what grabbed it up first. Wielding the hefty tool like a golf club, she forced the overwhelming sense of panic in her head behind her desperate need to save JD as she let out a vicious anguished yell that seemed to come from deep within her being.

“GET OFF HIM!”

With a surprising amount of strength, she reared the axe up and behind her and swung it through, the flat blunt side of the axe smacking the creature square in the face and away from JD’s. It bought seconds, stunning the creature as it gave off another ear-piercing scream. Kaiya’s foot then lifted to stomp into its side like a kick from a horse, forcing the wriggling thing to roll a good couple of feet off to the side.

“JD..! Get up!!” She cried and knelt down to grab at his arm, not having the luxury to be able to see if he was alright. However, the fact that his body scrambled up with her own was reassuring enough. She tugged him toward Verlaine’s isolation chamber and dug in her pocket for the key which was thankfully right where she thought it was this time. “Inside… quickly- Augh-!!!

As if in slow motion, her eyes glanced downward to see an ugly looking point sticking out of her shoulder and the searing pain didn’t hit till a millisecond later as a tormented cry ripped itself from her lips. “GO-!” She swiped the card, the door hissing open. The point was removed, seemingly from the creature as it raised the appendage for another stab, but not before she could swing the axe, sharp end first this time, right into the creature's face.

It let out another gurgled screech as it stumbled backward, the handle of the axe slipping from her fingers as it stuck within the slurping mass of human flesh. It's arms and appendages all flailed wildly about, but she would not stand around to watch. She threw herself into the room with JD and Verlaine, her body colliding with JD’s as they tumbled to the ground, the door hissing closed behind them. Her breathing was heavy and sweat began to bead at the crown of her forehead as the metallic smell of her own blood began filling the air within the small room. The white of her jacket began to turn red in the spot where the dagger-like appendage had ripped through her shoulder as if it was mere paper.

“A… A-are you okay…?” She gasped as wide frightened eyes took in the features of his face that were so close to hers, a trembling hand reaching up to trail along his face as if her touch would reassure her that he was unharmed. However, a frantic pounding against the door would make her wind her arms around him and pull him close to her pounding heart as the creature crashed against the door in desperate attempts to get in.

“N-no no no no… P-please….” She didn’t know who she was saying this to, but whatever God was out there, she prayed for the thing to leave them as her fingers curled into JD’s shirt, her eyes shutting tight. They were gonna die… it was going to rip them apart…. they were all going to die….

Another scream pierced the air, except this time it was not her own. The pounding at the metal door abruptly stopped…. silence… and then a loud screech as the creature began lumbering away toward the new noise, dragging its feet along the ground as the crackling wet sounds of its moving body faded into the distance... although if she strained to listen, she could still hear its blood-curdling shrieking from afar.

"W-we need to get to my room...." her whisper was barely audible as if she was afraid of speaking too loud and drawing the creature back to them. Her room was not far away... and it would be safe for at least a little while. Long enough for her to patch herself up as, if she did nothing for the wound in her shoulder, she would surely pass out from the loss of blood...
 
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The useless arms on its front clawed at him as the greater, hooked appendages sought purchase. It pushed all of its weight into reaching for him, mouth gaping and mandibles extended to deliver a bite, and likely would have had Kaiya not acted then - he could hear its breathing near his ear, arms trembling but failing to keep it away, when suddenly it tumbled off and wailed in rage. JD didn't think. The chamber was his safest option now.

Shock drained his face of color. He managed a shallow, shaking nod, breath stuttering in his chest and catching in his throat. He coughed once, swallowed, then sagged back on his forearms, utterly exhausted. "I'm alive," he said shakily. "You saved my life. I, uh... thanks... W-what the hell was that? Are you...?"

JD leaned forward to get a good look at her, thumb under her chin. Beyond the bleeding wound in her shoulder, she looked just as bad him - shocked, traumatized, but alive. He sat back to inspect her bloodied arm and, carefully, peeled back the clothing there. Whatever that creature had, it was sharp enough to slice straight through human tissue like it was nothing. As if the strings had snapped, JD slumped forward and curled one arm about her shoulders. Another human made it out, and that was good enough for him.

He didn't want to be alone in here.

"RIG's yellow. We... should probably get that fixed up. Your room, right? Let's... Help me get Verlaine out of that chair."

Like hell he was leaving Verlaine strapped in and drugged up with that thing wandering around. JD stood and clutched the chair's armrest, then started fiddling with the restraints. Right arm, then left, then his forehead and the tighter strap around his middle. His ankles came last and, once Verlaine was freed, he slumped forward. The drugs were still thick in his system, apparently. The two of them may be forced to drag him along, at least until the drugs wore off.

"That sounds good to me. We'll head to your place." Verlaine's knee buckled. "Stand up, will you? We're not running, but maybe if we're quiet...? Sound caught its attention before."

He extricated the key from Kaiya and returned to the door. It slid open quietly. JD stuck his head out to make sure the corridor was clear and when he was satisfied, he return to collect Verlaine from where he was leaning on the wall to his right. He wrapped the man's arm around his shoulders and hauled him up before dragging him, slowly, to the door.

They'd have to take it slowly in case that thing was still lurking around. Given by the lack of noise, it may have already moved on in favor of easier, noisier prey. He could still see the bloody footprints it left, a vomit-inducing mixture of blood, pus, and some other fluid streaking across the floor. And the smell-- he'd smelled awful things before. Survey teams in the same small ship for several months came back smelling of decay and bodily fluids, but this... JD pinched his nose as he stepped over it.

It couldn't be described. Maybe it was better that way.

JD had some knowledge of the medical crew's quarters. He dragged a responseless Verlaine along through the corridors, wishing they'd clothed his friend in more than just the tag around his wrist and a pair of starchy pants.

"Which one's yours, Kaiya?" he asked, letting Verlaine rest at his feet. "Once we've got him in, I think I might head down to mining. They might have a few things. For... defense."

He'd seen a line gun or two. Ore cutter. Incredibly powerful and, according to the list of hazards every miner had to read before use, extremely deadly to human tissue. He'd find one and they'd be safer than any other poor asshole on this ship. The red alert was still blaring in full force, the hallways bathed in red. Nothing had changed. What the hell was security doing? How had this not been resolved already? Tararui was an organized ship-- people didn't get lost.

"Then we can figure out..." He breathed deeply. His heart was still pounding hard against his sternum. "Where to go from here. Maybe I - shit, I don't have my suit. Maybe I can contact Morley..."

The man was alive, without a doubt. Captain Morley wasn't the toughest, or the smartest, or even the most tech savvy. But he was resilient as all hell, creative when it came to getting out of tight situations. He'd been a survivalist at one point, or so his dossier had read. He hoped that survival training extended to ships. Morley, conveniently enough, lived three doors down from JD, in a Captain's suite. He played music late at night, classical shit to piss off the rest of the block and flung cigarette ashes into the faces of anyone who tried to confront him. An asshole, to be sure, but if anyone would get out of this in one piece....

He pressed his back against the wall and connected a call to Morley. The screen in front of him fizzled before it formed a more recognizable shape. Morley was alive - thank god.

"O'Malley? What are you-- HEY! LOCK THAT DAMN DOOR DOWN!" He gestured wildly to someone off screen. "I'm down in the lower mining decks. Deck... 3B, right below 3A. Did you know they've been keeping frozen foods down here all this time? Confections, frozen fruits. They had an entire freezer full of beer down here! Real, genuine colony-brewed and transferred."

"That's... It's good to hear you're doing well, Captain."

"So you've heard?" He was biting into something soft. A pastry? "The morgue's been having trouble. Seeing things in the walls, in the body bags, in the halls. Nothing's staying still. Haven't heard from them in a week and with the rumors these boys are telling me... Shit, I don't want to know."

"I don't want to either," JD said honestly. "Y-you have medical supplies down there?"

Morley wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Bandages mostly. Splints. Morphine for the broken bones." He snorted. "Miners."

"Have room for three more?"

"Twenty more. It's just me and about... ten other guys. They're the miners I got all this from. Head on down where we can regroup and figure this shit out. Morley out."

JD sighed, running his hands through his hair. "We can stay here a while, and if things heat up, Morley says the mining decks are mostly secured." It wasn't too far, either. They could jog right back past the medical bay, into the mining supply vault, and take its lift down to where Morley was. Easy. Once Kaiya's wound was looked after and Verlaine's drugs left his system, that is. That could take a few hours.

He turned back to Kaiya, eyeing her wound. "Let's take care of that, alright? Just... show me what to do."
 
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In an attempt to calm the inner turmoil that swirled within, Kaiya deepened her breathing, trying to ignore the harsh sting of her shoulder as the pounding in her chest began to soften if ever so slightly. She eased herself back against the ground just to give herself a moment… nothing like death literally knocking at your door to make you feel drained of all energy. Her head bobbed tiredly to the side to look at him, a shaky lift of the corner of her lips appearing. “You… came here for Verlaine…. couldn’t let that thing get you…” she said through breaths that were more like pants. She reached up with her good arm and ran a hand down her face wearily. “I-I have no idea. He…” She closed her eyes for a moment, the grotesque face of the creature coming into view instantly against her wishes… yet there was something important there. Fighting against the nausea that came about in the process, she thought she recognized that face… although it was too distorted to be sure.

“I… I thought I recognized it-” Her words were promptly cut off as he began to fuss with her, clenching her teeth tightly when he peeled back her white coat to unearth the gash in her shoulder. It looked quite nasty… but far from life threatening if she could get it taken care of. A hitched breath left her as he moved his arm about her shoulders to help sit her up, giving a short nod of her head. “I’ll… I’ll be fine once we get there.”

She managed to shakily get to her feet, having to utilize the wall as well as JD’s aid to do so before coming over to help him with the restraints on Verlaine. She still felt sick and rather weak, but it was something she was able to get used to once she managed to stand on her own. “It’s the medication… it’s supposed to keep him knocked out for a few more hours…” Well, that certainly wasn’t going to make this easy. She swallowed hard and nodded toward his right side. “Let me take this side.” So he would be leaning into the shoulder that wasn’t currently busted. “It’s definitely our best bet,” she agreed although she seemed rather apprehensive about going into the hall where that… thing had been. If it started running after them… she didn’t know how far they would make it before her body gave out on her.

They wandered out into the hall cautiously, their steps slow and methodical. It was nothing but a slow shuffle and the anticipation was nearly driving her mad. She was expecting any moment for one of those things to burst out from the darkness and kill all of them in one fell swoop. Her foot nearly slipped on the sludge that coated the floor and she clapped a hand over her mouth, forcing the bile that threatened to rise up her throat back down. Oh God… that was absolutely putrid

“D-down this way…” So far so good. She honestly thought they’d never make it this far. Her eyes strained through the darkness, the coast looking clear enough, and when they came to the third door on the right, she shakily typed in the code on her door, the light turning green and allowing them entry. “You’re not going by yourself,” she responded quickly although this was hardly the place to argue about such things. She ushered them into her room quickly. “Let’s situate Verlaine in my bed…” He would need to sleep off those drugs before he was going anywhere again. It was too dangerous to be dragging him about. “We’ll… we’ll figure something out,” she assured although she could hardly think straight with the irritating pain running through her system currently.

They managed to sit Verlaine at the edge of her bed and she looked up to JD, giving a nod toward the comm in his pocket. “Why don’t you give it a shot? I’ll take care of Verlaine… after your finished though I’m going to need your help.” To sew up the hole in her shoulder currently still oozing blood.

She eased Verlaine back against her pillow and adjusted his lower half to expand the length of her bed, bringing the covers up and around him. She was envious of him, just the smallest bit, in his current oblivious state. Although it was a rather silly thought as soon enough he would be experiencing the same living hell they just had.

She rose then and wandered to her bathroom. She kept her quarters rather tidy, although she did see in the corner of her room her pile of clothes that she must have discarded last night, frilly things and all. Even though it should not have mattered in that moment, she kicked them beneath the bed with the smallest blush gracing her already flushed cheeks. Stupid. Why was she even worried about that??

Because there was a particularly attractive male just in the next room.

“Fuck off…” She muttered to herself and began hunting for her bag from the previous mission. That should have just what she needed to take care of her wound. She found it in a heap in the corner of her bathroom, dragging it out into the open room along with a few towels and a bucket of warm water. Her quarters were an open floor plan with the bathroom being the only area that had a door separating it from the rest of the room. Her bedroom was in one corner by her closet, her kitchen in a little nook on the opposite wall, and the middle being a simple living space with a small dining room table. It was… cozy and would probably be exactly how someone would picture her living space to be just by her personality.

She set up the medical station on her dining room table before going to the kitchen and rummaging around in a cupboard on the ground, glasses clinking and shuffling until she dug out an intricate looking bottle filled mostly to the top with a brown tinted liquid. Grabbing a couple glasses from the cupboard, she came back over to the table and sat down, her face looking rather white and drooped from exhaustion. Couldn’t this shit have happened after a single night of good rest?

Her ears would vaguely pick up the conversation JD was having with Morley as she got started with her prep work. First thing was first…

She popped the cork on top of the intricate bottle and filled the bottom of one of the cups. Even though there was a bar down by the mess hall, they really weren’t supposed to have any sort of alcohol stashed in their private quarters… but she couldn’t have been the only one doing it. Not to mention, sometimes after a long stressful day… she really just needed a drink. It wasn’t anything too fancy… a simple whiskey that could numb her insides with a couple shots of which she had snuck in on their last dock. It would appear that she had already indulged in a little bit of the bottle… whether by herself her with someone else JD would not know. Although she would be able to confirm that she was indeed a lonely drinker.

She downed the shot quickly and grimaced at the bitter taste as it stung her throat on the way down, but within seconds she could already feel the pleasurable warmth settle in her stomach and blossom outward. Her eyes rose to JD once he wandered over, hoping for good news… although the fact that he was alive should have been good news enough. “Strength in numbers no doubt… it is at least an option,” she said softly and poured herself another shot, giving a quick nod of her head. “I can take care of the front… I’ll show you what to do. I’m just going to need help with the other side.” Her eyes flickered over to him and she bit the inside of her lip before nudging the other empty glass toward him and setting the bottle beside it. “Help yourself… if you’d like.” She knew she needed something to calm her nerves… and dull the pain she was about to inflict on herself.

She then shrugged off the stained white doctor’s coat that looked like a gory mess, tossing it to the ground, although her silky night tank top looked to be in no better shape. She wet a towel in the warm water and carefully cleaned the front of the wound although she would leave the other side for JD to do later. “Have you… ever had to suture up a wound?” It was really rather simple even if he hadn’t. She would just talk him through the steps.

Digging through the bag after the wound was clean, she pulled out a pair of scissors, thread, a curved needle, bandages, rubbing alcohol, and a few syringes already filled with some sort of medicine. She took the scissors and cut the strap of her tank top to leave her shoulder exposed. “Antibiotics…” she said as she used her teeth to tug off the cap of one of the syringes before injecting herself near the wound with a small wince. “Lidocaine…” she would do the same thing except this syringe she injected directly into the wound and had to bite her tongue to keep from crying out. “Shit,” she muttered and closed her eyes for a moment, allowing the medication to numb the area of where the stitching would need to go. “And then the stitching,” she said and prepped the curved needle with the think black thread, beckoning him near. “You’re just… connecting the two edges,” she said softly as she inserted the needle into one side before using her index finger and thumb to wriggled it through to the other side and then giving it a slow pull to bring the two sides together. “And repeat..” She did this a couple more times to show him, the needle feeling like a small pin prick… but otherwise the Lidocaine was doing a sufficient job of numbing the area to lessen her pain.

“Would you… want to finish this one out so I can help you if you need it?”
 
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“Thanks.” JD poured himself a drink and downed it at once. He didn’t question how she’d smuggled whisky aboard when most of what was aboard this ship was cheap fleet-brewed beer or rum and whatever the miner’s had hidden aboard. Wasn’t his business.

When this was all over, he was visiting the nearest planetside bar. He had some savings he could part with to forget this whole debacle for a couple of hours.

“Just once,” he said as he approached, leaning in to get a good look at the wound. Bony, oozing hooks aside, the creature hadn’t left behind any infection and the wound itself looked rather clean cut. He took a hold of the needle with his right hand, turning it over between his fingertips, then rested his left gently on her shoulder, fingers pinching to hold the wound close. He apologized softly before getting to work with easing the needle back into her skin.

He wasn’t squeamish. Never had been, not even as a boy. Despite Kaiya’s obvious reactions to the pain, dulled as they must have been with all those needles, he persevered and, one stitch after the other, slowly pulled the damaged skin closed. What kind of creature could inflict such a wound? What kind of animal had scythes for arms as sharp as knives and as thick as his forearm? And looked so... human? It was a thing out of nightmares and he still hadn't had the time to process it fully. They hadn't let anything on board, except...

No. That was insane. It didn't make a lick of sense. JD scowled and looked back at the stitching and continued.

“How about that?” He tied off the last piece and gentle smoothed a thumb under the closed incision, biting his tongue at how soft her skin felt - bloodied stab wounds and all. He glanced over his shoulder. “You alright in there, Verlaine?”

A groan.

Reluctantly, he pulled his hands away and backed up to give Kaiya space. “If you want, we can see what Morley’s got. Verlaine… You think he’ll be alright? In here? I figured it was best he sleep it off, but.... And your..."

It was nasty from his point of view. She should be able to move the arm, though not as well as she could previous. Just to be sure, he made sure the stitches were even and then backed up further. He politely looked away while she covered herself up again.

“Smells nice in here,” Verlaine mumbled. He rolled over onto his side and promptly fell asleep, drugs be damned.

JD folded his arms across his chest. “Morley might know what’s up. Or he’ll at least know where to go from here. Maybe command’s got some… contingency for this, or…”

Doubtful. He’d never heard, never even seen, something like this before. And if they’d had to lock down the whole ship and send it into ship-wide alert… he wasn’t hopeful. Maybe if they bunked down somewhere safe for a day it’ll all be cleared up by security. He could let himself pretend that much. And if Morley called him just recently, what were the odds that he'd gone dark only seconds later? He was tougher than most; a Captain who lived up to the title, although he could tone down the strictness just a tad.

JD eyed the bottle of whisky, debating. It could dull his senses or his nerves, one he needed and one he could do without. He decided it was worth the risk and poured himself another glass. And then one more. Then he set the glass aside and pushed it away, rubbed his eyes until stars appeared and backed up against the wall, head thudding against it.

"What a fucked in world we're in, eh? Our only refuge is the damn miner's complex." He closed his eyes. "Ever been down there? Dark, damp, full of vents and crevices and tiny maintenance shafts you send the short guys through to fix things. They get stuck all the time. Sorry, that's... I didn't sleep well." He was off on a tangent and knew it, pulling up his knee to his chest. "Command better have a damn good explanation for all of this. If there's... if there are more than one of those things... you think that's why we're in lockdown?"

"So many," Verlaine grumbled. "Big ship, 'n' all."

"Shut the hell up." JD chewed absently on the corner of his thumb, brows furrowed in thought. "There were people screaming on my block. Just... running back and forth like they'd just lost their entire families. It was surreal. They're probably fine..." He stood up suddenly, wavering. "Verlaine, come on, get up. You need to wake up," he said, before heading back toward his friend to prod Verlaine and make sure he as still breathing. He was. "When your head's clear, we can start heading down to mining. We'll get you set up nice and cozy there and you can sleep all you like."

"I'm awake," Verlaine said, pushing himself upright. "Help me get my... gonna stand now."

He only managed a few steps before he collapsed into JD, who slung his arm over his shoulder but was contemplating just fireman carrying him. A drugged Verlaine was like a light sack of potatoes he'd have no trouble lugging around, if he was in the mood for it. He wasn't right now, and much preferred Verlaine to wake himself up faster by walking. That should help. Verlaine got his feet under him and stood, unsteadily, at JD's side, eyes still a little hazy but alert.

"Morley's got... food?" he asked.

JD rolled his eyes. "Yeah. Frozen shit, but it's edible. No mushbowls in sight."

"That's good. Starving."

Because you refused food, dipshit, JD thought, guiding him back toward the door. Morley and his miners weren't far from where they were currently, from what he could recall. Mining was one of the largest sectors on the ship, taking up a total of three decks. Morley was on the second, sandwiched between supply and the control center just above it. Mostly light gear, tools and repair stations for those tools. It was a straight shot from here to there.

If they were lucky, they'd make it there unhindered.

"Since we haven't heard anything official yet," he said as he made his way to the door, "we're on our own. Maybe more will be heading down to mining? Some of the miner's have wives."

JD peeked outside the door into the hallway just outside Kaiya's room. Empty. If he listened carefully, though, he could here chattering through the walls at the end.

"It's clear out here. Or... we can stay, just until Verlaine's got his feet back."

"I'm tryin'!"
 
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Deep breaths, in and out, keep breathing and it would be over soon. She hoped she could say the same of this nightmare. Trying her best to relax, she closed her eyes for a moment and gave a little shake of her head, a puff of a chuckle leaving her lips. “Don’t be sorry,” she said although she thought it… sweet.

She was rather impressed with his work. Slow, but meticulous as his fingers worked the needle through her skin, the action picking up speed after he was used to the feel of it. While he was focused on watching what his fingers were doing, it gave her own eyes an opportunity to flicker to his features every once in awhile. She noticed the changing emotions in his face and figured the same questions she had were probably running through his own mind.

That thing was… well, it shouldn’t exist! It wasn’t an animal… it looked human. Or reminiscent of one… perhaps was human…or rather… was once human. She had half a thought about it all being a hallucination… but JD would verify that she did indeed have a patched up hole in her shoulder from the encounter. Unfortunately, it was real. Her mind went to the whole alien theory and she nearly laughed at herself out loud for thinking of such a ludicrous thought. That planet was dead. Nothing came back with them except…

The thought dissipated as JD finished stitching up her wound and she looked down at the job well done, offering a small tilt of her lip as his thumb brushed against the skin beneath. “Looks like you could have been a doctor instead of a pilot,” she said and eased back against the chair, allowing the tension in her body to untangle. "...Thank you," she added softly afterward as her eyes flickered to the bottle of whiskey before she leaned forward and poured herself another glass. Just one more.

“I think… if he sleeps and is quiet, his chances are better in here than out there.” Especially if they had to drag him along the whole way there. The only thing she figured they had going for them was that it was decently close to their current location. She swirled the brown liquid in her glass slowly before pulling back the shot and downing it quickly with another little twist of her delicate features. “I’ll be fine,” she assured before nudging the glass in her fingers away before she had any ideas at downing the whole bottle. As much as she’d like to… she could not incapacitate herself to let JD handle this all on his own.

She rose from her spot then, vision swimming for just a moment at the sudden movement, but she gripped the back of the chair tightly to support herself and within a moment the dizziness passed. Probably a combination of… well… a lot of things, really, and she didn’t feel like diagnosing herself at the moment. Wandering over to her closet, she rolled her eyes slightly at Verlaine and couldn’t help the small chuckle that escaped. They really were quite the piloting duo.

Her fingers parted the doors as she sifted through her clothes, grabbing a pair of actual pants and simple black quarter sleeved v-neck. She would then wander into the bathroom, but kept the door cracked as JD spoke and she finished cleaning herself up and getting changed. Her voice leaked out of the crack in the door as she spoke. “Either way… getting to Morley seems like our next step. It’s… kind of just figuring out the matter of going about it.” Do they risk leaving Verlaine here by himself until they can come back? Or do they all leave together right now and risk Verlaine’s life in that manner? Or they could risk staying here in the comfort of her room and wait for more of those things to show up outside her door.

Hell… she didn’t know what the best option was. Although, the thought of remaining in her room was quite enticing… a nice little sleepover to keep the bad dreams away… yeah, sounded nice. Sleep sounded nice.

Sighing softly, she wound the area of the stitching with a gauze wrap before securing it and throwing on her shirt over her head before fixing the gathering of her hair at the back of her head. Her eyes glanced at herself in the mirror and for a moment it was like she barely recognized herself… the paleness of her skin, the crescent moon shadows beneath her dull eyes, her pink lips pulled into a serious frown…

Pull yourself together…

She emerged then to see JD resting his back against the wall, her hand coming to rest on the threshold of the bathroom door, her temple resting against it as her eyes remained on him. His voice came at her… nearly rambling… and she felt her brows come together in sympathy as she figured they were once again feeling much the same way. She just seemed to be more into contemplating inner monologues where as JD spoke freely what was on his mind.

“Sounds like a… lovely place,” she said sarcastically as her feet guided her to him then and she took up a spot next to him with her head leaning back against the wall, her fingers resting in her lap for a moment. “Before the alarms went off… I was called into the med bay in the middle of the night. Everyone sounded so panicked… when I got there I understood why.” She swallowed hard as the image flashed behind her eyes. “A man had tried to kill himself… by sticking a pen through his eye. He succeeded only after being brought into the med bay…” She reached up and cupped her fingers over her mouth for a moment, obviously still traumatized by this incident as well as… much more. She continued. “Shortly after, we heard a call come through that a full team in engineering was dead. It’s like… like people are just… losing their mind.” She took a deep breath and allowed her gaze to fall over to him. “I think that thing is definitely one of the reasons why we are in lockdown.” Maybe not because of the thing specifically, but because of the strange occurrences that were happening around the ship that night… the creature just being one of many…

Her eyes would follow JD as he rose and walked over to Verlaine and tried to get him up and her eyes filled with concern. “Are… are you sure about this?” She bet he wasn’t… but neither was she. She doubted anyone had all the answers in this moment. They were just weighing risk and reward at this point.

Hefting herself up from the ground, she followed after JD who seemed to gain a rather prominent insight of what they should be doing after a few shots of whiskey. To stay…or to go…? She knew what she wanted to do… but she didn’t know if it was in their best interest. She felt safe in her room, but how safe was it actually? Maybe this was their chance…

“Just… thinking out loud… but if we run into those things in mining with Verlaine… we’re absolutely fucked, JD. We would be forced to just run.” Because it wasn’t like they had anything to defend themselves with. She had lost the one weapon they had and it was still probably stuck in the mass of flesh that was that creature’s neck. “But if we stay here… who knows how long it’ll be safe.” Then they were just backed into a corner.

“Let’s go. While it’s quiet.” Time to find some courage. “Let’s get to Morley," she clarified as she disappeared inside her room once more, throwing the supplies that hadn’t been utilized back into her bag hastily before throwing the strap over her good shoulder. For some reason she felt compelled to grab her access keycard as well, stuffing it in the back pocket of her pants and coming back out to where JD stood with Verlaine. This was it… their decision… hopefully it was not the wrong one.
 
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The idea of people simply breaking, of losing their minds enough to attempt to take their own lives was… JD wasn’t an easily frightened man. Gore didn’t bother him much, nor did the threat of bodily harm. But the failure of one’s mental faculties stirred something in him akin to fear. What was it like, to imagine oneself in a world entirely different from reality, thinking that what they were doing was good rather than self destructive?

What had the man Kaiya spoke of been thinking when he killed himself?

Verlaine was more or less intact, as far as he could tell. He could carry some of his own weight as JD guided him through the door and down the hall to the lift. JD was silent and contemplative for the first half of the journey, scoping out all the possibilities. That thing - creature, man, whatever - could reappear at any moment, or a crewmember gone mad just as the man Kaiya described could cause them trouble. Once they reached the Tararui’s mining sector, the faint scuffling in the walls became more noticeable.

Someone was scraping their nails rhythmically against the walls of the vent above them. JD hurried past.

The lift rattled to a halt and JD slipped out quickly, Verlaine steadily gaining strength as they walked. Good. The sooner Verlaine was up and walking, the better their chances of making it through this in one piece were.

THeir path winded. Hallways split and branched until the only way to navigate was by following the signs - which could very well have led them in circles had he not been paying attention.

A quiet thump sounded in the distant, wet and meaty. Adrenaline spiked and tensed his muscles, his arm tightening around Verlaine enough that the man complained.

“Fuck me…”

There was a man in the far corner when they entered the next corridor. He stood with his back facing them, face flat against the jagged metal piping that supplied coolant to the ship’s smaller systems. The man reared back suddenly before slamming his forehead into the piping. He repeated this motion over and over until blood spewed forward to coat the pipe, and then, as if entirely unbothered by the pain, he turned to face them.

A hole sat directly between his eyes, connecting both sockets with a deep, wet gap of shredded flesh and exposed bone. His eyes were swollen or completely gone, but he could clearly still see; the moment he looked up at the trio, he smiled a gentle, nonthreatening smile. A warm smile, like one meant for a friend.

Then he dropped dead.

Verlaine vomited off to the side with great heaving breaths, blackened blood mixing with bile and spilling all over his boots.

“Ver, what the hell?” JD hurriedly dragged Verlaine around the dead body and to the next room leading straight into mining, keeping his friend’s head turned and lowered.

“Sorry,” Verlaine said, spitting. “Dunno where that came from.”

“Just… come on, keep walking. Mining’s straight ahead.”

It was a squat man in a miner’s suit who met them at the door. He stopped to stare at them dumbly before Morley shoved him aside and welcomed them in, sending the man off elsewhere while he guided them to the miners’ makeshift bunks. Verlaine was eased down into one of them and he, still drugged but now more aware than before, glared up at the top bunk with lazy eyes.

“What happened to him?” Morley asked.

“Medbay,” JD said. “Drugged him up and stuck him in a chair.

Morley seemed to get what he meant and nodded, stuffing his hands into his pockets. He walked back toward the main room where the men were gathered.

All of the men were nervously shuffling with tools of varying size and purpose in their hands. Each one could be devastating; JD had seen them in action before, cleaving through solid rock with a single shot and pulverizing stone. They made fine weapons, and no doubt that was what the men had in mind in the first place. Weapons. Something to protect them from whatever was stalking the corridors, if there was anything at all.

He hadn’t seen that creature in a while. Somehow, that made him more nervous than the alternative.

“The bridge has been totally silent, if you were wondering,” Morley said. “Comms are silent. One of these men wandered out some time before you arrived and hasn’t come back… You didn’t see anyone wandering the halls on your way over, did you?”

JD thought back to the man in the corner, forehead pressing down on the sharp piping until blood spewed forth. He couldn’t remember if the man wore miner’s gear.

JD swallowed. “I think he’s dead.”

“Oh,” Morley muttered, barely even surprised. “A shame. Here,” he passed both JD and Kaiya a tin of dried fruit, “eat. We’ve got plenty. When you’re good, we can talk.”

Didn't even stop to give the man's name. Didn't care to remember him at all. Morley was cold, sure, but not that cold. He cared about the men under his command, yet he didn't bat an eye when one of them died? He clearly assumed responsibility for these miners. Had he been the one to send that man out, rather than it being that man's choice?

JD had a newfound feeling of unease when he looked at Morley. He decided to keep his distance, at least when they were alone. He found that he'd lost his appetite, so handed the tin off to another man.
 
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Suddenly, being out in the darkness of the corridors where they were vulnerable, Kaiya began wondering if they had made the wrong decision. She swallowed hard and clasped her hands tightly together in front of her as if that would help ease the shaking in them. “You’ve got him…?” she asked quietly as JD was still the source of most of the movement that came from Verlaine, the man practically being dragged for a bit of the way. However, it appeared that he soon began to stumble along. Any movement in his legs was progress at this point.

Every creak, tick, clunk, and scratch that pierced her ears made her insides jump and she swore inwardly each time it happened. However badly she did not wish to think of the creature that had attacked them, she kept seeing it in her mind, observing it, listening to it… there couldn’t just be one of those things… no matter how much she wished it so. Then again, maybe it was… but in that case it would be a pleasant surprise instead of her not preparing for the worst case scenario.

The light padding of their shuffling feet and their slow breathing would be the only noise that came from them as if they were afraid to speak and draw one of those things in their path. Almost there… they just had to keep going.

Then another noise came through the darkness and the doctor felt an uncomfortable twist in her gut. “JD…” His name was merely a breath that escaped her lips. Her eyes took in the shape of the man down the corridor and her ears the sickening sounds as his head smashed against the piping. Her heart pounded and she felt her hands clench tightly into fists at her sides. Then he turned and she clapped a hand to her mouth to keep a scream within that desperately crawled up her throat. God…

She was actually quite thankful for the distraction as Verlaine puked up his insides onto his own boots, her eyes ripping from the image of the now dead man and moving to the pilot instead. She came to their side and brought the back of her hand up to his forehead. He didn’t seem unusually hot… probably just shock. “Hang in there, Verlaine,” she encouraged before shuffling around the body, her eyes remaining forward as she refused to look down at it again for the fear of following in suit with Verlaine’s actions.

“Good to see you in one piece,” she commented to their Captain as he allowed them inside. They got Verlaine situated in a bunk and she felt a bit of the tension within her release. Safe. For now. The risk had paid off.

Leaving Verlaine to rest, she followed behind JD out of reflex and moved into the main room with the others. She crossed her arms over her middle and allowed her eyes to flicker up at the men wielding the weapons. She didn’t recognize any of them, yet she wasn’t too surprised about it. She saw plenty of faces during a full trip that not a lot of them ever really made much of an impression. Not to mention even if this ship didn’t have the biggest crew, there was still an abundance of people on board.

“Nothing from security or anything?” She remembered hearing that one woman’s voice… Cassandra… or Cass, rather. They were heading down to engineering at the time. That had to have been an hour and a half or so ago… what was happening down there? At the mention of a missing man, her timid gaze would glance up at JD before looking back down towards the ground. She gave a nod, confirming JD’s words.

With a slow breath, Kaiya nodded her head and fiddled with the tin that was handed to her, pressing her lips together. She really didn’t have much of an appetite either…

“Verlaine said he was hungry… I um… I’m going to go see if he’ll eat some of this.” Hopefully the wave of nausea had passed, otherwise trying to get him to eat anything wasn’t going to do him much good. She turned to do so, but feeling a little prickle at the back of her neck, her eyes would shift over her shoulder to see a few of the men across the way looking at her. It was hard to tell, but with what she took in during that glance, it made her rather uneasy. “Will you come with?” She asked quickly after, biting the inside of her lip apprehensively as she tried to shake off the shiver that moved through her.

Moving back to the room that held the bunk Verlaine currently rested in. she eased herself down at his bedside with her knees resting on the ground. Her fingers gripped Verlaine’s arm for a moment and gave it a squeeze. “Verlaine? We brought you something to eat,” she said and opened up the tin for him before offering it over. “Slowly now… your stomach might still be queasy.”

She looked over to JD, noticing that his hands were empty as well although she hadn’t seen him eat what was given. “Not hungry either?” She asked and raised herself up to her feet once more, wincing slightly as she strained her arm attempting to pull herself up. It was sore, but the throbbing was so much less that she could sometimes forget that she was injured in the moment… especially when there were other things to worry about. She reached up to rub the tender spot lightly, more so working the muscled around the area instead of on the actual stitching job.

Her eyes wandered back to JD once more, noticing his eyes seemed to just kind of be staring into space, obviously lost in his own thoughts…. which she thought could be dangerous at a time like this. “What’s on your mind?” She asked, although surely nothing good. However, she thought it important that they talked about it instead of drowning in their own dark thoughts.
 
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Verlaine propped himself up on one elbow and wiped sweaty hair from his brow, accepting the tin with a quiet thanks. He put on a smile. "I think I'll live, doc, but thanks."

And JD... The same scenario played out in his head of their small group wandering out in search of escape only to be picked off one by one by an unseen force. He couldn't even recall what the first one looked like. A man's head perched on a fleshy mass of twisted bone and muscle and so warped from its original form that it struggled to walk, that its gait was not that of a man at all, but another thing entirely. Nothing could inhabit a man's body and puppet it like that. Nothing they knew of.

He plucked mindlessly at the loose fabric, uncertain of what to say. "A lot of things. Like how home couldn't be any farther away. That the ship might have gone to hell without us knowing about it." He ducked his head. His voice lowered into a quiet murmur. "Morley's bothering the shit out of me. Does he seem distracted to you? I don't know, cold?"

Unless he was seeing things. His world turned upside so fast that he could very well be imagining it all. His own mind felt fragile, webbed with cracks just waiting to shatter. He could end up a blubbering mess, too, bashing his head against the wall in a desperate bid to banish those creeping, itching thoughts bouncing around inside his skull.

He didn't want to die, but got the feeling something else inside him did.

"Got maybe a couple hours of sleep since we left on the Virgo," he said and pinched the bridge of his nose. "With all that's happening now, I doubt I ever will. But, since I'm awake... I'm thinking of taking the Virgo. It's got a working shockdrive..."

The only thing he had to contend with is the possibility of that also being Morley's plan. They both had access codes to the ship's dock, but Morley wasn't a pilot. Not of JD's level.

He blinked a few times to clear his head. Had he really been assuming Morley would ditch them on his own? His mind really was playing tricks on him, he realized bitterly. How damn fragile was he really? Part of him hoped Kaiya was faring better - doctors had a stability about them that became more prominent when those around them were under stress, and she seemed to be an understanding sort. He had yet to see her bow under the weight of this mess.

"What about you? You holding up just fine?"

"I should certainly hope so." came the voice of Morley, more exuberant than JD had ever heard him. "We need good people here. Doctors." He stared at JD pointedly. "Pilots. We've got a tech here who says there's chatter from the engineering levels. Might be our security, Doctor Torres. These men just aren't interested in going down there so it's just us three, if you're up for it."

JD swallowed thickly. "I'd rather not, Captain. There's something on the ship, I don't think it's safe to wander until command gives the all clear."

"So you saw them too?"

"... Them?"

"Only caught a glimpse in the hangar. I thought they were a part of the maintenance crew because they were crawling out of the shafts, but they didn't move like any men I've ever seen. Three of them."

There were multiple. Hiding in the shafts and vents. There were more than one of these things likely watching them now, just waiting for them to go out in the open. But how did he know what they thought? If they even thought at all. The one in the medbay acted like a wild animal, not a practiced hunter, so what was he to fear other than its immense strength and the piercing scythes it had for arms? If there were only a few, they should be fine.

Right?

"I'll take that as a no," Morley said. "No shame in leaving a couple men to die to save your own life in a situation like this."

"That's not what I meant, Captain. I don't think it's a good idea for us to go anywhere but to the hangar."

Morley's eyes lit up. "We're sharing a wavelength here, O'Malley. What did you have in mind?"

"Virgo's in one piece. Ship lockdown isn't supposed to last for any longer than three hours before an update, and since it's been more than that without a word, we're better off on the outside."

Just to be safe. If all was well, they'd head right back and no harm would be done. If not, then they were safely hidden away from whatever horrors were creeping through their ship unhindered. Command could give him shit for "stealing" the Virgo later - he cared more about his safety than their protocols. That was, of course, assuming they were alive at all. With the man in the hallway, the man Kaiya mentioned in the medbay, and the creatures themselves, he didn't have high hopes for their survival.

"That might be our only option." Morley stepped back and rested his hands on his hips. "We'll see. I say wait a couple more hours to see how things turn out. We've got this whole place locked down, plenty of food, and enough manpower to watch the entrances. We'll be fine so long as nobody runs off."

He didn't say anything else before he was wandering off again, probably to speak to one of the miners. That left JD alone with Kaiya again, in a quiet part of the room where he could take a moment to gather his thoughts. He'd sleep when he got on the Virgo. A nice, long nap right in his pilot's chair. Normally he'd despise the very idea, but this time he found that pilot chair more inviting than any bed on the Tararui.

"We'll make it through," JD said, if only to convince himself.
 
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Good to see he was finally starting to come around. The sight made a small grin appear on the doctor’s own lips. “Glad to hear it,” she said softly and gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze before she rose and turned her attention to JD. She took a couple steps closer to him as his voice lowered, standing by his side as her brows furrowed in a concerned manner.

She had felt uneasy around the Captain yet had expected to feel the opposite. Although she had the suspicion that it was simply her unease for their situation. With JD bringing up the fact that he was feeling similar though, it made her wonder if this was something she had been experiencing as well without consciously being aware of it.

“He seemed off ever since the mission,” she said quietly, keeping the conversation private between them as she casually crossed her arms loosely over her middle. She didn’t know the man very well, but he was highly respected and seemed like your typical flight Captain when she initially met him. It was like he was slowly changing though, throughout the mission… and even now. Was the anxiety of the situation getting to him…? She did not know.

JD mentioned the amount of rest he was able to get… or rather the sheer amount of sleep he didn’t get. She didn’t like thinking about it as if she did she would feel the dull ache behind her eyes which were practically begging for her to get some rest. Yet, she also had the sneaking suspicion she would not be able to sleep. Not unless she had downed that entire bottle of whiskey back at her room. Perhaps it would have knocked her out cold… would have lessened the fear and pain when one of those things broke down her door and skewered her heart….

She shook her head quickly and reached up to press the heel of her hand to her temple. Since when did she have such depressing thoughts?

“That’s… way on the other side of this level…” She had been spooked enough with the short distance they had to go in order to get to the mining deck… could they really make it all the way to the Virgo? Especially if they had to continue dragging Verlaine’s ass everywhere they went? “I think the whiskey has made you a little crazy,” she said with a slow twist of her lips. Still joking even in times like this… yet it seemed to help the stability of her mind. “I suppose it isn’t the worst idea… especially since we have access to some kind of defense,” meaning the weapons here in mining. It was better than walking around completely vulnerable.

Her eyes flickered over to his own when he asked her how she was doing and she would offer the smallest of grins, yet her own words were drowned by Morley’s as he strolled into the room. She abruptly shut her parted lips and stood straighter as was nearly habit to her when someone of higher rank was around. She tilted her head to the side slightly in curiosity as he mentioned the noise from engineering. Well, that was certainly good… meant they all weren’t dead just yet.

Her elbow gave JD’s arm a light nudge. “I heard Cass on the comm. She’s probably down there…” she said softly before the conversation continued. She bit the inside of her lip and glanced down toward the ground when the topic changed to that of those… things wandering around the ship. And apparently, it was indeed plural now. “Shit…” she muttered softly and rested a hand on her hip as her brows furrowed in thought. Well… good thing she had planned for the worst case scenario. Not that it really helped her safety at the moment… just her mental well-being.

“I… what…?” Her voice held surprise at the Captain’s words, them catching her off guard, but before that became the topic of interest, JD spoke up and Kaiya was rather glad for this. The Captain really was acting odd… what kind of an attitude was that? He was making it sound like anyone was expendable in order to save their own hide… who was to say that he wouldn’t be willing to do the same to them if they couldn’t offer anything of value to him...? She swallowed hard and vaguely listened to the rest of the conversation as her mind was a little too dumbfounded at the actions of their Captain.

As long as he didn’t send anyone off… is that what he meant?

She would say nothing as the Captain left and she felt a new sort of unease growing within her. Was it simply her paranoia…? She had nothing to fear from the Captain, right? But it was JD that had voice the concern first… if the pilot was having concerns—of which he seemed to know the man better than she did—that is what was worrying.

“Yeah…” she said softly although not so convinced herself. She swallowed hard and thought for a moment in silence before lowering her voice once more, sounding rather serious. “I trust the people currently in this room… no one else.” That meant him and Verlaine… right now the Captain was on her suspicion list of as well as the miners who also gave her an odd vibe.

“Why don’t you try to get some rest, JD,” she offered and went over to one of the beds herself just to sit on the edge as she rested her elbows on her knees, clasping her fingers between them. “If Morley says we have a couple of hours, we might as well take advantage of it… don’t you think?” Besides, she’d rather be tucked in here than in the other room with the strange men. Other than that, they didn’t exactly have a lot of options as far as things to keep them busy.
 
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