“A parasite?” said Dorian, his suit exhaling his Ox nebuliser “Well then you'll need my help, after all I'm the only one here currently in a hermatically sealed suit my guy”.
Reggie looked at him with a strange look in his eye, almost pitying before saying “I think you're best off sitting this one out, but I appreciate you offering” as he read the data coming off of the ships computer screen next to the airlock, checking the lock down controls. “I think it may be a case of Sarlan Rage, I'm hoping I can get it treated before… That stage” he said his eyes drifting into the middle distance briefly.
The Dracorlix flapped it's wings in a clear display of discomfort and anxiety “That can't be… I've… I've been so careful!” said Dorian, clearly upset by the news “but as you wish, I will stay confined to quarters until you tell me it is safe” he conceded as he turned to walk back to the research bay.
Reggie turned away from the screen, content that the lock down was in effect and sprinted back to the bridge, hoping that Ju'ut would manage to bring the antiparasitic shot back in time.
He arrived at the bridge to the worst possible sight, Sarlans lying on the floor, their fluids leaking from them and the Captain standing in the middle of the room, his face contorted in a way that Reggie couldn't even describe. It was like rage but far worse, pure, unadulterated avarice personified. The Captains limbs had clearly been elongating a while, unnoticed and his neck, shoulders and chest had become thicker and more sturdy. This was no longer the Captain, this was a being hell bent on destruction.
Reggie tried not to attract it's gaze as he communicated over the net to the crew “Captain compromised, Sarlan Rage, assuming temporary command, initiate levels 5 downwards lock down with one exception. Bring the human to the bridge.” Reggie made sure to include Jamie in the transmission no matter how much he wouldn't like it, he needed Jamie's help.
—------------
Jamie heard the transmission rattle through his brain breaking his peace and immediately setting off his survival instincts, something was very very wrong.
As he was getting his bearings and trying to work out what Sarlan Rage could be he saw 3 Sarlan’s come running through the door to his cargo compartment.
Jamie almost lost it then and there as they were clearly here for him and they were armed “I'm not going down that easy!” he said jumping over the boxes until the Sarlan’s all threw their weapons on the ground and faced the floor where they stood. This made him pause… Was this… their non threatening posture?
“Please. You're our only hope! If the other human goes in alone he'll die!” said what was clearly an officer to Jamie.
“What the hell is going on?” asked Jamie, still wary.
“Our Captain, he will kill everyone, please come, I will explain on the way” he pleaded, gesturing to the door.
Something about his mannerisms made a feeling rise in Jamie he hadn't felt in years, duty. They had asked for help and Reggie was in danger according to this guy.
“Lead on and explain” said Jamie gruffly.
Back on the bridge Reggie used a moment that the monster that used to be the captain wasn't looking to slip behind the edge of the door, but he daren’t try anything else for fear of sending the monster into a frenzy again. From the looks of it he'd already been set off once and was beyond reasoning and help.
“Fuck. This is bad” he breathed almost silently, his heart pumping with what felt like the force of a supernova, sending blood coursing through his body, his muscles pumping furiously. He hadn't felt like this in years, the raw fear of staring down an enemy that could seriously hurt him, he had thought those days were gone.
As he was trying to come up with some sort of plan in case Jamie was uncooperative he heard through his neural implant “Coded message to medical staff, Feral is inbound, preparing cell for new visitor, wait out”.
Oh thank god, he is coming. Thought Reggie, breathing a sigh of relief. His heart swelling with hope, knowing that underneath all the trauma, all the distrust, he was still good at heart. This made Reggie almost smile in spite of the situation. Then he heard it, a grating noise that sounded like metal on metal. It was close… Too close.
As he dared to look up, he stared straight into the face of madness. A haunting visage of what used to be the Captain staring straight at him with eyes that looked like they were bulging out of his distended head, a mouthful of aluminium blaster casing as it chewed on it. Noticing him move to look up the creature screamed, a bloodcurdling screech that sounded like it was from the depths of hell, peppered with clicks and snarls.
Reggie didn't even think, he just blasted it and attempted to move to gain some distance, succeeding only in annoying it and catching a clawed foot to the chest, bowling him backwards off his feet. Blasters would be no use now, time to put his long forgotten training to use.
As he hit the ground he rolled to his feet in a maneuver that belied his age, moving nimbly despite his size and obvious lack of fitness, the creature rushing him in a frenzy, it's elongated arms swinging wildly. Reggie managed to duck under a swing and catch it with a left hook, dancing clear of a follow up blow to counter with his own in the form of an uppercut, making the ghastly creature stumble, fluids leaking from its face.
It screamed and rushed him again, this time attempting to grapple Reggie. He had two choices, a throw potentially unleashing the creature further into the ship or trying to redirect it backwards. He tried the latter and felt a searing pain bloom along his shoulder as the creature managed to bite him during the maneuver.
Ah crud, he thought, this could go the wrong way if I'm left to deal with this much longer.
Reggie changed tack and rushed the creature as it regained it's feet, hoping to catch it off guard, jumping and bringing his knee up to try and deal some damage of his own. Yes! He thought as he connected with a flying knee that could probably kill most sentient races. Then the pain caught up with him as he saw the creature go flying back into the command deck, looking down some of the metal that had been in the monsters mouth had become lodged in his leg, causing it to bleed profusely.
Seeing no other course of action Reggie pumped himself up one last time screaming at the creature “Come on then my little beauty! Let's have it then!”
—------
As the Sarlan’s explained the situation Jamie merely listened intently, his whole body becoming flushed with adrenaline as they described what had happened to the captain as a result of the parasite.
“Almost human speed, above human durability, madness and rage… oh and a hunger for anything aluminium” explained the Sarlan “especially Dracorlix if they are unfortunate enough to be in the vicinity. This is because that is the parasites preferred symbiote, so the monsters can literally smell them due to the changes in their physiology”.
Jamie nodded in acceptance, pondering the last part until eventually he said “can I just carry you? This is too slow, point in the direction we need to go”. Running alongside these guys was like trying to rush a toddler, the pace felt so slow that it was driving Jamie mad.
“Uh okay” said the Sarlan trepidation dripping from his words as Jamie picked two of them up and started sprinting for all he was worth, leaving the others to catch up. As he ran, the ranking Sarlan communicated directions to him. This was impressive considering the g-forces and air pressure from moving so fast were probably a lot for him to deal with. So frail, thought Jamie as he saw the pained expressions on their faces as he rounded a corner to be greeted by an elevator. Diving in the Sarlan punched the button for the bridge corridor and took a steadying breath, communicating to his subordinate “I never want to go through that again”.
As they waited for the elevator to rise through the ship, being the only one cleared to move at the moment due to the lock down, Jamie paced back and forth, flexing his muscles and thinking about all the times he'd fought animals before.
“Anything about this thing that I can use? Reach? Weapons? Preferred attack methods?” grumbled Jamie, parts of him that had been dormant for decades suddenly mingling with his recent learned behaviours in a deadly mix of military training and raw, animalistic fury.
“They are bigger than we are, similar physiology, but stronger, they grow claws within the first 8 hours and their muscles begin to take in aluminium to bolster their durability” the Sarlan officer gulped, his face turning a lighter shade of purple as he spoke “I am not sure why but they always go for the bite, rarely using their extended reach unless defending a kill from… Others”.
Jamie knew the type, jaw-dependent killers that only use their limbs to immobilise the prey, predators in the purest sense, probably based on speed and strength. But how does that happen to one of these weaklings? Thought Jamie, the mystery of the situation irking him in a way that he couldn't quite place.
Then Jamie remembered that they had mentioned the other human. So he was already there, probably being an idiot and deciding to fight it alone. That'll hurt, thought Jamie, realising that he was feeling dismay at the thought. “Damn it, first human I see in 15 years and it was a guy I'm still not sure I like” muttered Jamie to himself, still there would be time for them to work on getting to know each other.
Reggie would be fine till he got there right?... Right?
The elevator seemed to take an age to reach the level the bridge was on and Jamie had almost begun to come down from his adrenaline rush. He was still working himself up, getting pumped as the doors opened and he looked at the Sarlan Officer, who had turned an interesting shade of pink, his fear and the recent traumatic journey courtesy of Jamie no doubt causing a biological reaction within him.
“Straight down this corridor, then to the left when you see this sign” he said showing Jamie a pictogram of Sarlan writing under what looked to Jamie like a picture of Saturn “the bridge will be at the end of that hallway, about 40 of your metres”.
Jamie merely grunted in response as he gripped the edge of the elevator door, every sinew in his body tingling and ready. He belatedly noticed that from just his grip he had dented the doorframe but had no time to wonder about that as he crept into the corridor, ears pricked for the slightest sound.
The he heard it, a bloodcurdling screech the likes of which he'd never heard, followed closely by the sounds of a fight and profuse swearing.
That's Reggie, thought Jamie, picking up the pace. Following the noises, his earlier directions from the young Sarlan completely unnecessary, he eventually rounded the corner to a grisly sight and a different scream entirely.
Reggie had been downed by what looked to Jamie like a Sarlan that had been fed on a diet of nightmare fuel and it seemed to be attempting to finish him off, the juices and blood mingling on the walls and floor making a horrific contrast to the normally pleasing eggshell blue of the metal corridors.
Reggie was fighting for his life, barely keeping the snapping jaws of the Alien at bay, swearing and grappling with it as Jamie began running towards them, his powerful muscular frame propelling him forwards at breakneck speeds in the low gravity and thin air.
The creature looked up from its quarry, noticing the new threat and screeched again, small chucks of metal still stuck in its maw as Reggie took this opportunity to try and roll away from it, gaining a new slash along his back as it attempted to prevent his escape.
It was at this moment that Jamie slammed into the side of the creature with a flying punch, the noise of which reverberated through the corridor loudly, no doubt at cracking at least one of the monsters sub-cutaneous plates and sending it flying through the air, screeching and scrabbling wildly.
With no time to exchange words of any kind Jamie glanced at Reggie, both nodding in an almost extra sensory display of understanding as they separated to either side of the corridor, Reggie still bleeding heavily from cuts in his leg, shoulder and forearm but clearly determined to put an end to this abhorrent creature.
The creature scrabbled to its feet and rushed them, it's madness palpable, any semblance of a mind clearly gone as it tried to attack Reggie once more, sensing his weakness and the fact that he held far more aluminium than the barely clothed newcomer.
As it rushed Reggie, just as they had known it would, Jamie caught it's midriff from the side, adjusting slightly so that he was behind it, lifting it off the floor easily. Reggie adeptly dodged the legs and arms flailing haphazardly in the air and aimed a hammer fist at the creatures head, missing narrowly as the creature thrashed around in Jamie's grip.
“We need… To… get it… To cargo” panted Reggie, trying desperately to land as many blows as possible and dodge it's limbs as Jamie struggled to keep his grip on the thrashing monster.
Jamie had a sudden thought, hearkening back to his days on 487-B. “Rope!” he bellowed, startling Reggie, as he continued to wrestle the beast. Reggie give him a quick look and communicated “I need 2 minutes, okay?”. As he looked into Jamie's eyes the look in them all he needed as affirmation.
As Reggie jogged away to head to the nearest locker, Jamie continued to wrestle the beast as it swung wildly one way and the other, with some swipes of its clawed arms ripping holes in the thin metal skin of the corridor. Succeeding eventually in turning enough to sink it's jaws into Jamie's shoulder and neck.
Realising the danger of this Jamie stopped grappling it and punched it as hard as he could in the face in an uppercut, then brought a hammer fist down onto it that would have turned most creatures into pink mist, causing the monstrous ex-captain to stumble backwards, momentarily dazed.
Wasting no time and not expecting Reggie to come back for a while Jamie launched himself once more into the fray bellowing as he flew at the creature, knocking it to the floor and managing to get a grip on it's neck and using his free hand to try and bat away the lethal claws on its forelimbs at it tried to battle him on the floor.
He was unsuccessful though and caught a claw to the chest as he was trying to regain its back, rending him open like a scalpel and causing blood to pour from the wound. The adrenaline the only thing keeping Jamie in the fight, he gripped it from behind around the neck and grabbed one of the creatures arms, attempting to pin it face down against the floor as it bucked and screamed like a wild bronco.
Just as Jamie was beginning to marvel at its endurance, Reggie rounded the corner carrying a large silver case, much to Jamie's relief.
As Reggie approached the creature thrashed with renewed vigour, causing Jamie's muscles to strain and making him pant. Busting open the case unceremoniously, Reggie pulled out what looked like handcuffs and grabbed one of the creatures arms shoving it in to the sound of a metallic hum as it tightened like a snake around its wrist. Then quickly reaching under Jamie grabbed the creatures other wrist as it wriggled and thrashed, screeching like a banshee, pulling it in behind the creature to meet it's other wrist effectively disabling it's arms.
As Jamie repositioned they restrained the creatures legs in a similar way as Reggie said “In 3 we'll move it to the elevator, I'll clear the path” as he used the comms link sending the message “All crew, remain in lock down, special care, clear route in red shown on ship schematic” as he mentally drew a line for their path to the cargo bay.
Jamie and Reggie panted as they carried the creature, still fighting hard and trying to bite them through the corridors towards the elevator to be greeted by the terrified Sarlan officer and crewman “Get out of the damn way!!” shouted Reggie as they seemed to shake themselves slightly and dart out of the elevator and around them, narrowly missing bites from the restrained beast.
The rest of the journey went without incident, the two men wrestling the creature into Jamie's former room in the cargo bay as Reggie signalled engineering to envelope the room in a stage 1 forcefield.
Reggie turned to Jamie and his warm face finally broke into a weak smile as he said “I knew it…” passing out mid sentence.
“Reggie!” Jamie shouted, catching him before he hit the floor. “Ju'ut, come to the cargo bay! Reggie is hurt” Jamie tried to use the communicator, unsure if it made it through.
Ju'ut, along with all the other junior medics, was rapidly assigned to the bridge to care for the injured crew the moment the danger was contained, all of them working frantically to stabilise the injured crew.
“I need some gauze and something to splint his arm!” she called to the medic that had been assigned as the runner. Nodding and dashing back to the breakout kit the young medic searched for a straight splint amongst the chaos and quickly ran back holding a ruler and a roll of field dressing shrugging apologetically before dashing off to provide kit for another medic.
Ju'ut lashed the rudimentary splint to the crewman’s arm, muttering to herself “How the hell did nobody realise or even bother to do a bloody scan…” working hard to put the crewman in a position that would alow him to respire effectively despite his injuries and checking his vitals one last time before turning to help with what appeared to be the young pilot. She had finally stabilised all the worst of the injured and the pilot seemed okay, if a little dazed and bruised.
“You were lucky, how are you feeling now?” she asked him, looking at him closely, assessing him for the major signs of plate and organ damage. “Like I've just been thrown around the room” he replied shakily and to be fair, if nothing else, it was an accurate assessment.
While Ju'ut was finishing up with her assessment of the pilot she and all the other medics heard a booming voice ring through their heads, the volume all over the place, causing them all to clap their hands over their heads in pain at the unbearable emotional transference.
“Oh god no…” said Ju'ut as she realised what must be going on, she grabbed an emergency first aid kit out of the crash kit and began running out of the bridge, ignoring all the other medics questions, her mind focused solely on the security feed that showed the cargo bay entrance.
The feed became clear in her mind, the security team allowing her temporary access to the lenses that showed the sorry sight of Jamie and Reggie. The human medic being cradled by the muscular human, blood seeming to be pouring from the both of them onto the floor. Ju'ut’s heart fell as she saw Reggie’s eyes were closed.
“Apply pressure to the worst wounds!” she communicated to Jamie “I'm on my way! Do you still have that knife with you?” as Jamie looked up and shook his head, pointing at his makeshift home in the cargo bay. Damn it, she thought and then added “Try and rip his clothes before I get there and if you can, use the strips to stem the bleeding! I'll be there in a few cycles” she panted hard as she entered the elevator, partially from the exertion and partially out of shock, the image of the downed human burned into her mind. She would never have thought it possible until today.
As Jamie cradled Reggie, he laid him down and set to work on the clothing around his wounds, tearing it with ease. “These clothes ain't very good” he muttered, but was glad that he would soon have lots of strips to plug the wounds. As he worked, he tried to make sure the worst bleeding was stopped, making sure not to push any of the aluminum shards into them further.
As he waited, he kept checking Reggie’s breathing, hoping that he could hang on until Ju'ut got here, dressing some of his own wounds in the meantime. Until he heard the soft patter of feet approaching, his heart lifting. It wasn't Ju'ut but the security team, pushing a hover stretcher. Better than nothing, thought Jamie as he lifted Reggie onto it and glanced at the security team. One was Sarlan, but the other two were some other race, looking like overgrown raisins with four arms and six spindly fingers per hand, but Jamie would deal with this new development later, more pressing matters were at hand as he asked them “Where is the medical bay?”.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
They gestured for him to follow, as they started running, painfully slowly. Jamie told them “Get on the damn stretcher and point the way” his patience officially run out for the day. As the aliens got in the stretcher with Reggie, they all held on tight as Jamie started to push it and run, the air whipping his wild hair off his face, his wounds slowing him down and making him curse. The aliens still seemed to struggle with the speed and g-forces as Jamie rounded the corner heading towards the elevator, almost running over Ju'ut in the process.
He stopped and merely pointed at the stretcher for her to get on with the others and as soon as she was seated he began running towards the elevator, throwing them all towards him, the four mismatched crew members almost pinned to Jamie as he ran, entering the elevator and Ju'ut punching the button for the med bay level.
As Jamie breathed hard, waiting for the lift to get them up to the appropriate level, the Sarlans and Taleaens looked at him, a mixture of fear, awe and motion sickness colouring their faces. Eventually, Ju'ut broke the silence as she was inspecting Jamie's handiwork on Reggie “You did well, these wraps are surprisingly good” she said reassuringly while trying to remove some of the aluminum debris from the wounds, discarding them onto the floor as she worked.
Eventually the doors opened and the four jumped back onto the stretcher, bracing themselves as one of the Taleaens at the front pointed the way and Jamie took off again at what to them was breakneck speed, Jamie cursing and swearing the whole way as he began to lose momentum, the blood loss starting to affect him too. They rounded a corner and Ju'ut waved at him to slow, reaching a doorway she gestured to excitedly.
Entering the med bay Jamie panted hard, his large muscles rippling and glistening with sweat as he stumbled and sat against the wall. His vision becoming blurry he swept the matted hair from his weather beaten face, watching the medics work on Reggie “Anyone got any water?” he asked weakly, the effort of the day finally settling on him, making him woozy.
As the medics worked on the two humans, more crew members from the bridge began to arrive, until the med bay was buzzing with activity, Jamie started to feel drowsy and began slipping into sleep. Reggie is in good hands, they care about him, he thought before sleep took him, exhaustion claiming him.
In the med bay it was all hands on deck as the medics worked tirelessly to tend to the wounded. Most patients grateful for the ministrations of the medics, except for a singular young pilot, Y’vre, who was desperately attempting to hurry them along so he could return to the bridge.
“You don't understand, there's no one up there!” he said, attempting to detach as many of the various infusion lines as were being put into him, succeeding only in garnering a furious look from the medic attending him.
“You will lie down this instant or I will wake the human to hold you down” she said without a single iota of doubt or debate in her voice. This made the young pilot stop squirming for at least a second until he remembered that there was work to be done and he was the only one capable at this exact moment, then the argument began anew.
“Crud and barf! Will you get off me!” blurted out the young Pilot, prompting more huffs from the weary medic.
“Right. Fine. You can blasted well go! But only once I've patched you up enough so that you will continue to heal on the bridge, it's in a bit of a state. The last thing you need is some pathogen getting into your blood… We've seen how that ends” she said, her voice trailing off and clearly hitting its mark as the young pilot, seemed to agree to the terms with a barely noticeable nod and a pale, clammy face.
Among the chaos, the humans, one on a gurney and one on the floor were being tended to, the synthesiser had already began to create a safe transfusion for them both as they had both lost a lot of blood. Their wounds were patched and sealed, now it was just a case of waiting for their bodies to catch up to the medicine, although it was fairly obvious to all observing them that the older of the two would recover slower.
Ju'ut breathed a sigh of relief when their colour and blood pressures returned to normal levels. She had found it fascinating scanning them and seeing a heart for real. Such a fragile method of fluid movement and yet so resilient, much like the humans in general, she thought to herself as she moved on to another patient to let them rest.
The commotion seemed to be enough to stir at least a couple of officers into taking a roll call of commanders, hoping to bring some order to the chaos. There were just 17 left, which on a ship of this size was bordering on being unable to set course. Luckily the First Officer was still here, even if he was barely clinging to consciousness most of the time, he would still be able to sign off on official courses of action.
—--------
A few hours after the fight, the ship was coming together again due in most part to the tireless technicians efforts to get all the systems on line once more. She was still battered and showing a lot of dents in the areas the fighting was fiercest and where Jamie had run down the corridor, but looking almost space worthy again.
It was at this moment that Reggie’s eyes snapped open. He was hyperventilating and attempting to get off the gurney when one of the Sarlan medics ran over and held her hands up in front of him “Slowly human! Please, slowly! Are you in distress?” his face full of concern as Reggie began to register where he was.
He'd been dreaming again, he hated dreaming, it brought back all the memories but somehow even worse. “Sorry” Reggie muttered as he rubbed his face “You got anything to drink?” he said as he worked his shoulders, almost still feeling the ghost of the creatures maw on his shoulder the cold touch of death a little too close for comfort this time.
Suddenly Reggie’s eyes snapped into focus “Where's Jamie?” he glanced around frantically, worried that Jamie was unfamiliar with most of the races and layout of the ship. Jamie could do real damage by accident, he thought.
“The other human was taken to officers quarters, we felt it fitting given that the two of you made an effort nothing short of heroic to save us all and at great personal cost” said the medic, his face drooping slightly.
Reggie was taken aback, personal loss? What did we lose? He thought and quickly checked himself over, quickly discovering that nothing was missing he asked “What loss do you mean?” a raised eyebrow denoting his confusion.
The Sarlan medic looked at him aghast “You have lost large chunks of fur and skin! Even the ends of 2 fingers Sir! Not to mention litres of your precious blood!” he said, his face incredulous and seemingly confused at the length of such a list being met with such stoicism.
“Right… Well, to be fair, I've had worse” laughed Reggie, trying to lighten the mood. This however, achieved the opposite response and many of the Sarlans stood stock still in shock, with one even instinctually going into a crouched guard stance (a similar neurological phenomenon to fainting in humans).
Reggie picked this moment to test his legs unimpeded. They still work at least, he thought with a wry smile crossing his face. As he stood up and stretched a little, wincing as his tight grafted skin settled in his wounds, he bowed slightly to the still dumbfounded medics, some of which seemed to have completely given up and left him to it, the rest too shocked to move.
As he traversed the corridors towards Jamie's new room Reggie sent a message to Dorian to check in. They must feel terrible, even if it's not really their fault, poor thing, thought Reggie. Receiving a message just moments later with a very stressed looking Dracorlix on the screen.
“Hi Reggie, I'm so glad you messaged and sent such kind words, I have been so nervous that I am probably over Oxed, but I could not rest without knowing you were okay, please let me know if there is anything I can do. Also please visit soon, it has been lonely being stuck in quarantine” Dorian seemed distressed, but that seemed to ease a little with Reggie’s message.
Soon enough Reggie passed into the Officers quarters at the nose of the ship, searching the door cards as he went until he found one that read Jamie Human. Reggie chuckled at that, though unsure as to why it tickled him so much. Knocking on the door and also trying to send that noise through comms to Jamie.
Jamie's eyes snapped open as the knock was heard from the door and within his mind, the sensation jolting him awake and sending him leaping to the darkest corner of the room. This caused Jamie some discomfort, as his chest still burned slightly from the grafting the medics achieved in the Medical Bay.
Reggie hobbled through the doorway, not even waiting for a reply, looking almost immediately in Jamie's direction and saying “Well? You gonna offer me a brew or what?” he groaned as he sat at the small table to the side of Jamie's room and then gestured for Jamie to sit opposite “We've got plenty to go over and not a lot of time lad, hurry up”.
Jamie was a little shocked to say the least, the last he had seen of this man he was on death's door, now he was demanding coffee in a room that Jamie had no idea how he'd gotten to and acting like nothing had happened.
“Crud. Fine, I'll make it” grumbled Reggie as he slowly stood up, groaning and moved gingerly towards a machine that Jamie had never seen before and seeing his wide eyes explained “Suppose you never seen one of these. It's a universal fountain. Anything water based, it'll make it… Or at least a close approximation of it. You gotta ask it specifically to add caffeine otherwise it gives you decaff sludge” he said his face scrunching in disgust.
Jamie slowly began to take in his room, calming down as he identified things that he could recognise and began to move to the table perching on the chair, still not at ease in Reggie’s presence. The walls were the same bluish silver metal as the rest of the ship, but there were small touches here and there to make it habitable. There were small shelves built into the wall next to the strangely ovoid shaped bed, the table and chairs were plain but functional and comfortable and cupboards either side of the door Jamie supposed was probably a wash room of some kind. He noticed that everything large seemed to have buttons on a screen, with characters in a language he couldn't understand.
Reggie returned with two cups of coffee from the machine and, noticing Jamie's interest in the screens “They're for changing the shape to suit the species” he said, groaning as he sat opposite Jamie, sipping his coffee and sighing with the same tone that you'd expect from someone who hadn't had a drop of water in 3 weeks suddenly drinking a mug of pure glacier water. “Here, watch this” he said as he leaned over and used the slider bar to shuffle through the characters on the screen on the bed until the characters changed to silhouettes, then pressed the largest button.
The look on Jamie's face must have been priceless as the bed immediately began to shift and ripple, the bed widening and lowering into a flat mat on the floor, barely 2 inches thick, seemingly made of a spongey material. “That's the bed those wrinkly Thaleans prefer” he said laughing as Jamie's mouth hung agape. Jamie, stood up and stretched out a hand to test the new bed, his hand immediately hitting the floor as he applied pressure.
“I can't sleep on this” he said, still clearly amazed but now with a hint of concern in his voice as he looked at the screen and replicated the movement that Reggie had done until he found an approximate likeness of human proportions, then pressed the big button, jumping back to observe the bed, rippling and shifting once more until it resembled something more akin to a giant beanbag. “This is standard now?” he said looking at Reggie, who just chuckled and gestured to Jamie's coffee, inviting him to sit.
“Not quite, you're an honoured guest now, so you get the good stuff” Reggie replied, sipping his coffee once more, savouring the rich, earthy flavour. “You got any idea what we just did?”. Jamie merely shook his head as he sipped the hot coffee. “Well, let me tell you, everyone here is safe now cause of us”.
“We took out a monster. Done it loads of times” replied Jamie, eyeing Reggie, noting the new scars up his neck. The thing had nearly killed him and here we are sitting in a room having a coffee, this is insane, thought Jamie.
“Well I'll clue you in. What we just took care of was a Sarlan like all the rest you've seen here, but infected with a dangerous parasite” said Reggie, chuckling as Jamie's eyes widened and he checked himself “It don't affect us! It's something that only affects Dracorlix and Sarlans for some reason. Apparently it's the Aluminium content of ‘em. Sarlans that are infected go insane and eventually become tough as nails to kill, whereas Dracorlix have more of a symbiotic relationship with it. But the result is the same to a degree, they both need aluminium to create their inner structures. Bones to you and I”.
Jamie sat, brow furrowed as he thought back to the fight, remembering how the creature seemed to have a mouthful of metal even as it was fighting the two of them. “That's why it ate the blasters” he mused aloud, his face framed by his long, lank hair, concentration written all over it “I thought it was just smart, getting rid of the danger”.
“Unfortunately not, they just eat any and all aluminium they can, it rapidly replaces their inner plates and becomes their teeth as they regress through their evolution” said the old medic forlornly “That one was what used to be our Captain. Was hoping I could get to him in time, must have gotten infected with it a while ago though as by the time I got to the bridge ‘the turn’ had almost taken place completely. We were lucky he hadn't had a few more hours chewing on stuff” he said sipping his coffee thoughtfully.
Jamie sat there, the news of this not really settling on him at all. He wasn't sure if he should feel bad, he'd never met the guy and last he'd known of it his kind were his sworn enemies. He settled on the fact that he'd taken care of a monster, it was simpler and Jamie liked it simple.
“Now, I was hoping you'd say a bit more, maybe have some questions for me? Feel like I'm rambling on here” said Reggie, with a raised eyebrow. He had to get through, he needed Jamie to be, at the very least, on board with him for his plan to work.
“I… Uh… is Ju'ut okay?” said Jamie finally. His demeanor hard to read.
“She's fine, very busy for the moment but fine. As are the rest of the folks on the ship to be honest, fixing the damage we caused and making her space worthy again” shrugged Reggie, with a warm smile “But all alive thanks to the two of us”.
Jamie nodded, glad to hear that she was okay “You mentioned Dracorlecks, what are they exactly?” he asked, his brow furrowing once more.
“Dracorlix” corrected Reggie off handedly “Was wondering if you'd ask about that, why don't I show you instead? My friend Dorian would love to pop by, but they are quite fragile, so I'd have to ask you not to touch them. Does that sound good?” said Reggie, with an almost parent-like tone in his voice. He seemed to be enjoying chatting with Jamie like this. “Don't stress, he's friendly and a decent guy besides that”.
Jamie grew slightly tense, but resolutely nodded and replied “Fine. Where?”.
“Well he can be here in a couple of minutes if I call him or you want to clean up a bit first?” said Reggie, eyeing Jamie's unkempt hair and long beard “Plenty of cleaning stuff in the bathroom and I've seen my fair share of bunk rooms to not be intimidated by another man's nakedness” he laughed jovially.
“Wash… Please” said Jamie, the me rest hint of shyness creeping into his voice. Or was he ashamed? “Could you help me?” Jamie suddenly didn't look like a 6 foot tall, muscular gorilla of a man, he looked like a man who is lost. Reggie couldn't do anything but nod and help, saying nothing, realising that this was a huge step towards Jamie trusting him. Once they had cleaned Jamie's hair and beard and he'd had a shower he looked like a new man.
“There are probably a couple of different styles of clothes in that cupboard over there son, find something you like” said Reggie, studying his mostly empty cup of coffee as Jamie changed, smiling internally at the small victory.
Jamie turned finally and said “Not sure they fit”.
As Reggie looked up he couldn't help but burst into laughter at the sight that greeted him. Jamie stood there, 250 pounds of angry muscular man, wet hair framing his rugged face, his wet, bushy beard still slightly damp and shining in the light with what could only be described as shorts that looked as though they were attempting to choke the life out of Jamie's buttocks and thighs and a crop top that barely covered his hairy belly button.
“Very funny, new clothes please” said Jamie as the seams began to rip on cue, prompting more guffaws from Reggie.
“Sorry bud, but that was incredible” said Reggie, tears streaming from his eyes as he stood up to help Jamie programme the cupboard. A couple of minutes later Jamie had picked out a loose fitting shirt and shorts, with a belt and Reggie had even managed to source a code for a scabbard that would fit Jamie's knife, assuming they could get it back.
“Right then, I'll call Dorian” said Reggie, to a stern nod from Jamie.
As Jamie and Reggie sat in the room, cups of coffee steaming in the simulated afternoon light streaming in from the holo display on the wall, the conversation lulling gently from idle chat to Reggie telling stories to a rapt Jamie, there was a soft voice that rung through their communicators.
“Good Afternoon, would it be okay if I enter?”.
Jamie tensed slightly at the sound and stood to face the door, his guard still high to new people. Reggie just smiled and replied “Please come in Dorian, mind your head on the low ceiling”.
As the door opened Jamie looked at the entrance, taught like a bowstring, but trying not to show it. Then the Dracorlix walked through the door, to Jamie's eyes looking like a gigantic, draconcic robot, causing his eyes to flick from the huge dragon like being to Reggie and back. Reggie calmly placing a hand on his shoulder, reassuring him.
“Please sit down Dorian, I'd like to introduce you to Jamie, the hero of the hour” said Reggie with a flourish and a smile, gesturing at the chairs and then to Jamie.
“Crud. I'd heard you were a specimen, but I'd never dreamed this was possible” said Dorian, walking slowly to one of the chairs at the table and taking a seat. “I thought Reggie was something to behold but you are a literal biological marvel!” he gushed, looking Jamie up and down, clearly at a loss as to what to say or do in that moment.
“Uh… Dorian… Didn't you have some things you wanted to talk to Jamie about? I know he has questions too” said Reggie, with what sounded a bit like a sullen tone.
“Sorry friend, you're not jealous are you?” teased Dorian “You know I value your mind as well as your resilience. But yes, of course, ask away bud” he said a slow rhythm to his words, while appearing to take a long toke on a pipe-like apparatus.
“What are Dracorlix? Why does the parasite like Sarlans?” said Jamie, a wrinkle forming on his brow as he sat on a chair opposite the visitor, his mannerisms still cagey.
“Well would you be opposed to a little bit of a reorganise in here so that we could talk face to face?” said Dorian, another wisp of pink smoke coming from the pipe “you might feel less on edge and it's easier to explain things. I can't handle your gravity you see, so I'd need to access the room pad” he explained.
“Fine, go ahead” grunted Jamie, his gruffness a cover for his nerves. As he fought every instinct in him to try and remain seated the Dracorlix stood up and turned to the pad on the wall, tapping it at speed, a few aspects of the room moved almost instantly, then a large frame emerged from where the bed had begun to ripple as the bed gave way to that and a large chair. The light in that space had also changed subtly, giving it a reddish glow.
As the Dracorlix moved into the space, they seemed to heave a sigh of relief as they plugged the frame into their robotic suit, the suit hissing as it opened along the seams. The suit continued to lock into place on the frame, with each component part of it opening up to reveal the alien inside of it.
Standing around 7 feet tall with dark grey skin, bordering on black, Dorian stepped out of the suit, revealing wings that sprouted from the upper middle of his back, the wings sporting a shiny, metallic look to the leading edges along with his shoulders and the crest on their head. Their Draconic look was not lost on Jamie as he eyed the two metallic claws that ended each limb and the rows upon rows of sharp looking teeth in their mouth, oriented similarly to a sharks.
“Please don't be alarmed pal, I could no more hurt you than turn into a bedding nest” chuckled Dorian “But now you can see me and hopefully my vulnerability will reassure you that you needn't worry about me my dude” he said warmly, stretching his tail and seeming to perk up by the second.
“Oh, you're probably wondering what all this is?” he said, gesturing at the changes he'd make to the room “Well I have very brittle supporting bodily structures, due to having very thin air on our home world that is high in oxygen. That's why I have to wear the suit in the ship and top up my Ox levels with that pipe, plus it tastes good that way, so always a bonus!” he chuckled, as he seated himself in the chair.
Jamie seemed completely confused, how could something so terrifying looking be harmless? He thought to himself. “What you mean brittle?” he managed to grunt, the thoughts of what this guy even was still swimming in his brain.
“Well like I said, thin air calls for light weight to fly. Our prey is insects and we evolved aluminium honeycomb to replace our structures over time with a symbiotic relationship to an organism on our home world that is found on those same insects. It's lightweight but strong in specific directions, so it works, but leaves us vulnerable to more… Robust types” he said gesturing at Jamie “however, after we left our home world to join the council we encountered a species that the organism that benefited us took a shine to, Sarlans. It consumes them” he said, his face betraying nothing, but his wings shifting and flapping at the mention of this.
Jamie was rocked by this news. His mind was in turmoil, nothing about this situation made sense! Here was the most dangerous looking thing on the ship, supposedly infested with the most dangerous parasite on the ship, unfazed by it despite it having literally turned someone into a monster less than 24 hours ago. But it thinks I could crush it easily?! Thought Jamie, has mouth agape at the whole scenario, totally unsure what to do. “Why have you told me this?” Jamie managed at long last “Reggie nearly died fighting the monster”.
Dorian shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “That's why I'm here and disrobed” he seemed to grow small “If Reggie chooses it, I shall walk into the great void. I failed and people died” he said, a sombre tone in his communications and Jamie felt the emotional transference of deep remorse that leaked into it.
“Don't be ridiculous” cut in Reggie, a note of annoyance in his voice “You're always so dramatic Dor, how the hell could you have known, not even the scanners picked it up” he scoffed, clearly not entertaining the idea of his friend offering his life as recompense.
Dorian flinched slightly at the outburst, but nodded and sat in silence while Jamie processed the interaction. For a moment they all sat, drinking from their respective cups and thinking until the silence was broken by Jamie of all people.
“What do we do now? Can we help the Captain? Figured you'd know” he said to Dorian.
“I'm afraid not, there's only one course of action now that we have an infected Sarlan aboard. We have to take him to Deathworld 211, he will live out what's left of his life among others like him if there are any alive” said Dorian with a sigh “I'm sorry you two had to be the ones to be involved in this, but we should probably meet what's left of the crew being as we three comprise the ranking officers and only pilot that still has both arms”.
For the third time in the last 20 minutes Jamie looked totally stunned. His jaw gaping he looked at the two of them, back and forth until he finally said “uh… You're kidding right?”.
Elsewhere on the ship, the highly classified information regarding the shortage of ranking officers, being a closely guarded secret, was of course well on its way to being known by the entire crew. The only exception to this rule were the patients that were still in a comatose state. Understandably, the crew were beginning to envision more shore leave at the substation they were still docked with.
The crew that had finished their duties had begun to hear of a different rumour though and with each one that returned to their workplace it became more substantiated. They were stuck on the ship. The Captain being overtaken by the parasite had forced the entire substation into lock down as well seeing as the ship was still docked when the lock down had been called. Meaning that the Control of Contagious Diseases team would have to come out and deem the ship clean before the crew could do anything further.
This news, coupled with the fact that nothing had been brought in in terms of fresh food, seemed likely to cause a riot amongst the already stressed crew. The news seemed like it couldn't get any worse, until it did.
“So how are we going to get the ship… Well… anywhere now?!” said Y’vre, a panicked note in his voice “What the crud am I supposed to do now? I'm a crudding pilot!” he said as he stared at what was left of his arm. He had passed out on the bridge earlier in the day while he was monitoring the systems and running the tests on all the controls to ensure when they were released the ship would be space worthy from a piloting and navigation perspective, waking in the med bay to an amputated limb.
“You knew the risks of going back up there with only rudimentary healing, your fluid levels dropped and your weakened plates couldn't take the strain when you hit the ground, causing profuse leaking and shardage within your arm! You're lucky to be alive considering you were up there for multiple cycles without help!” barked the medic, clearly upset with the young pilots rash decision making, but probably also upset that she believed she'd failed him, allowing him to go to the bridge unescorted.
“But I…” began the pilot, which was interrupted by the medic raising her hand to stop him. “I can't stitch it back on. Even if I could it's been broken twice in the space of a few cycles and would be useless anyway. I will sign off on an advanced prosthetic for you that will suit your role, how does that sound?” she clucked at him, more mother hen than medic at this point, seeing the disappointment and remorse in the pilots’s young eyes.
“Okay fine, but I need to meet with the ranking officer as soon as is practical. Without me, we can't move” said the young Sarlan pilot, sadness dripping from every word.
“Well you're in luck, I believe they are on their way up in a couple of cycles to check on the state of the wounded, so you may see them then. Until then, you rest” her voice left no room for argument, so the young pilot fitfully tried to make himself comfortable.
—--------
Jamie stared at the ground as they walked, his clothing choice seeming ridiculous to him now, how had this happened? All he'd wanted since he'd gotten here was to get away, now this. Some poor young Sarlan had been the only one from the bridge to escape with wounds treatable in a short time and would need some help on the bridge from what Jamie could only describe as a shaved ape, a PTSD ridden medic and a Batchelor of social sciences. This would not end well.
As they walked Jamie's musings were interrupted by Dorian chatting to another crew member Jamie didn't recognise, but knew by now that they were called Thaleans. They were the majority of the other races, second only to the Sarlans, however, he'd begun to notice that on this particular journey there were a multitude of other races dotted around and made a mental note to find out about them.
They rounded a corner and Jamie recognised the corridor as being the one leading to the Med bay, still hustling with activity as medics and patients were passing in and out of the large doors, when he saw a friendly face.
“Ju'ut!” said Jamie, surprised at how happy he was to see her again.
Ju'ut turned and appeared shocked, but walked towards them “I thought they had brought another human on board, you are looking well! Much tidier than the last time we spoke” she chuckled as she looked at Jamie's mismatched outfit “Although the choices could have been better, but still a vast improvement” she chuckled playfully.
“Thanks” smiled Jamie “We're here to see-”.
“Yep, she's over there, tending to bed 4, sorry I can't hang around, too much to do in too few cycles, good to see you!” she rushed off and Jamie felt a small pang of sadness as she went to tend to the patients.
The trio walked over to bed 4 where the head Medic was working on a patient, looking to all the world like a gangly mechanised gangster with his two steadfast henchmen.
“Sirs, I'll be with you in a few minutes” the medic said, heading off Dorians introduction before it got started and waved them to sit in the chairs by the wall, barely sparing them a glance as she worked “Apologies for the delay” she said, a stern quality to her voice that stirred deep memories within Jamie's mind that he just couldn't quite place.
As the three sat awkwardly to the side they watched as the medical bay shifted and undulated like the tide, the medics seemingly keeping pace with the different requirements and pressures of each passing moment with a seamless professionalism. It became clear that the team in here were not only good at what they do, but had clearly had a long time to get used to each other, each having their speciality and bolstering others when their specialist role was up to the plate. They found themselves transfixed.
They were brought sharply out of their reverie by the Head Medic, Tee’la, standing 5’2” with rather more timbre than the average female Sarlan, with a wizened face from years of running a busy med bay and her own tours during the war, who said sharply “Right. I have 5 minutes. What is this about?”.
The three stood and Dorian began to address Tee’la “Madam, we have come under the unders-”.
“Ugh. From him” said Tee’la pointing at Reggie “I haven't got all day, no offense Dorian, but your kind ramble” she said with a look that was the most warm and contrite that they had seen from her since entering the Med Bay.
Dorian chuckled and simply nodded, taking a long drag from his pipe, emitting a small plume of pink mist above their heads as Reggie smiled apologetically to him and then said “We 3 are currently the highest ranking members of the crew on the ship. You being the highest rank, we have to defer to you for protocol on our course. This” he said motioning to Jamie “is the only other trained pilot on the ship and if the message from earlier is to be believed, the only one on the entire ship that has all of his limbs intact” he said hesitantly, as if hoping that this information wasn't accurate.
“Very well” said Tee’la, a short clip to her speech as she considered the implications of the information she had just received “I'd hoped there might be others to be honest, but I did check the manifest twice. So be it, we must head to a planet close enough with adequate facilities to recover our wounded properly” she said, her mind clearly focused on welfare above all else.
“Unfortunately we have to take care of the problem of our ex-Captain first and foremost. Nowhere will allow us to dock, even with an exemption from the Control of Contagious Diseases team. Our first destination MUST be Deathworld 211, then we will head to the nearest planet with both fuel and proper medical facilities. Does that track Madam?” said Reggie tentatively. In the face of Tee’la he always felt like a small boy for some reason, she always wore a face like he'd returned late for dinner and it unnerved him.
She considered the proposed course and finally said “See it done then, we have at most a week before we run out of supplies mind you, so be quick about it” and with that turned on her heel and marched back into the bay to continue her work. Reggie let out the breath he hadn't realised he was holding and Jamie realised he'd been sweating.
“She scares me a little” said Jamie, rubbing the beads of sweat from his brow.
“Me too” remarked the other two in unison and they all chuckled nervously. It was then they noticed Y’vre waving to them from his bed, gesturing for them to come over.
“Time to meet the pilot” said Reggie as they all moved towards him.
