"Captain! Do you ever sit in your quarters and look out the window? Do you ever stop and watch the darkness out there? It's very, very dark in space. Looks so empty. But there are terrors lurking all around us in the infinite shadows. You can't see them but they're there." - Dr. Claire Finn 1x10 Firestorm

This quote will actually be a driving force throughout this fic, and was a big inspiration, along with a couple of other sources that (I hope) will become clear as time goes on. There's a hint in this first chapter for keen-eyed readers, so let me know if you spot it!

There was a loud crash of voices from somewhere in the middle of the room that turned his head from the wall of synthesisers, the subsequent laughter drawing his eyes to the source effortlessly. Ed smiled, unable to help himself, as he watched Gordon wave an arm in the air, raising his voice in the same instant to tell everybody to hold up, wait just a second, he had an idea. Not just an idea, either, but an idea. There was a big difference.

Scooping his coffee from the synthesiser - the thing knew just how to make it for him now; had someone programmed it that way or was that just how the thing worked? - he headed across the room, closer to the group huddled around the table. At the centre of it all sat Gordon, hunched over something now that Ed realised after craning his neck to see was some kind of pad that he was working at furiously. Dann was sitting to one side of Gordon, leaning in close and talking furiously, at a frantic pace, but he wasn't doing it loudly enough for Ed to hear what was being said. Clustered around were various members of crew from all departments, wearing all colours and emblems, some of them clearly off-duty from the looks of their civilian clothing. Even Yaphit was there and Ed had to ask himself how exactly he hadn't seen the Gelatin Lieutenant before: he was on the table, taking advantage of his size and shape so he could get even closer to whatever was going on. He extended his body forward, forming an arm from his overall mass, and gestured at something, but before he had even finished Gordon was cutting him off: "Yeah, yeah, I got it. Don't worry, man!"

It was Yaphit who saw Ed first, and it was as the Lieutenant reacted to his presence that he had to ask himself how exactly that worked. He felt the crease form in his brow, the frown - equal parts curiosity and confusion - forming briefly on his face before Gordon looked up and spotted him too.

"Captain! Hey!" Around this many people it was no surprise to Ed that Gordon didn't call him by name. They might have known one another for what felt like forever at this point, they might be best friends, but there was a point where familiarity just became a little too familiar. Apparently this was it. "How's it going?"

Ed smiled. "It's going." He nodded towards the table. "What's going on?"

Several of the crew gathered glanced almost nervously to one another, a few of them muttering or giggling, and that only made Ed all the more curious. None of them spoke directly to him though, not even Yaphit, someone who wasn't exactly known for his shyness. They were leaving it to Gordon, apparently, and the pilot picked up on the cue. With a wave of his arms that told Ed he was trying to find the words he chuckled a little and said, "It's not finished, and hey, it's just spit balling and brainstorming, all that stuff, but—" With another vague gesture, a physical screw it if Ed had ever seen one, he retrieved the pad from the surface of the table and lifted it, holding it out. It was far enough out that Ed could reach over and take it, holding his coffee in one hand now, quietly grateful that Gordon had handed it to him the right way up so he didn't have to worry about fumbling anything trying to turn it.

It didn't take him long to figure out what he was looking at and he could see past the illuminated pad that Gordon was watching him expectantly, almost a little nervously now. Ed couldn't help but crack a smile, and a genuine one at that. Ed found himself wondering which number smile it was in Kelly's little catalogue but the thought was out of his head almost as quickly as it had entered, his gaze moving past the pad to his friend's face. "No rainbow unicorn?" he asked.

The nervousness was gone from Gordon's face almost instantly and he shook his head with a laugh. "I mean, which side do you put it on? And then it's like 'oh, well what about both?' But then that's crazy because two? That's too much, you know?"

"Oh, yeah," Ed said, wishing he was close enough to the table to set his coffee down so he could rotate the image on the screen in front of him, wanting to see how Gordon had decorated the Orville on all sides and from every angle. Did the flames extend all the way around? Was there anything on the underside of the ship? "We wouldn't want to go overboard."

"Right?" Gordon scoffed. "There's a line."

"Definitely." Ed took another look at the pad, aware that everyone was watching him, waiting, and he smiled again.

"It's still a work in progress," Gordon put in quickly, holding up a hand as if to excuse any sloppiness or inconsistencies.

"Well," Ed said, offering the pad back, noting the way the female ensign closest to his end of the table bobbed her head down so she wouldn't be in his way. He hadn't noticed her height before then, or the fact that she was seated and her head still came up almost to his chest. Jeez, how tall was she? "Keep me posted? I want to see that when it's done."

Gordon beamed, taking the pad back eagerly, giving a decisive nod. "You got it, boss."

And then, just like that, they were all back at it, bending over the table again and chattering over one another to give Gordon their input. Ed watched them all for a few moments more before excusing himself, able to do so without any sort of fanfare given their distraction. Heading for the door he raised his brows at Olix to get the bartender's attention. As soon as he knew he had it he jabbed a thumb over his shoulder, saying as he did so, "Make sure someone wipes down that table once Yaphit's gone."

Olix followed Ed's gesture and made a show of sighing before waving the cloth he was holding in the air. As Ed passed through the door of the mess hall he thought he heard the bartender laugh to himself but he couldn't be sure, at least not without ducking back in, something he knew from experience was never not awkward. So he kept on going, the sounds of enthusiastically raised voices and the odd burst of laughter following him all the way down the hall and around the bend.

Kelly was in the command chair when he reached the bridge but before he had even crossed the threshold she was looking back over her shoulder at him and vacating the seat. "Hi," she said, a greeting that might have sounded a little too plain for anyone who didn't know them but Ed knew better. He saw the way she smiled, the easy way she moved, that quiet fondness in her gaze that he was constantly trying not to read into too much.

"Hey," he returned, smiling back, making his way around to the chair and setting his coffee down before taking his seat, getting himself comfortable easily. "What have I missed?"

"Oh, the usual," Kelly said to him with a hint of amusement in her voice. "Ensign Babcock was just telling us all about his cats."

"All seven of them!" Ensign Babcock clearly wasn't done, chiming up from the Engineering station and looking all too keen to be included. "You want to see pictures, Captain? I have pictures."

Ed glanced quickly back towards Kelly who gave the tiniest shake of her head, such a small motion that no one else could have seen it. "Oh, you know, I would, but—" Oh, no, why hadn't he thought of an excuse? Already he could see Babcock shifting in his seat, ready to get up, far too eager to come on over and share those pictures. Ed felt a flash of panic. "I'm allergic."

Babcock hesitated, blinking. "A-allergic?"

"Yeah."

"But—" Babcock looked like he wanted to laugh but there was a doubt there. He wasn't sure if he should. "They're just pictures."

"It's a bad allergy," Ed said, shaking his head, doing his best to look grave.

"The worst," Kelly chimed in from his other side. Ed made a note to buy her a drink later. "He gets all puffy and breaks out, he doesn't stop sneezing. It's nasty. You don't want to see it." She made a show of shaking her head, screwing her face into an expression that was suitably disgusted. "Trust me."

And apparently Babcock did because he hadn't left his seat. "Oh." He glanced around. "They're not actually on the ship, though? I mean, it's just pictures."

"Best not to risk it, huh?" Ed slapped his hand lightly on the arm of his chair and quickly turned away before the ensign could carry on, tossing a look to Kelly that was equal parts alarm and gratitude. Before he could say anything else a voice from the other side of the bridge sounded, Talla turning from her station to look towards the command chairs as she spoke. Maybe he ought to buy her a drink too.

"Captain, you have a message coming in from Admiral Halsey."

"Already? Is it even nine yet?"

Talla smiled at that, laughing a little before she went on, "Not quite, sir. Do you want me to patch it through to your office?"

"Sure. Thanks, Lieutenant." Ed snatched his coffee from its spot on the central panel, noting how Kelly rose as well. "Bortus, you have the conn." The Moclan uttered his usual response and made his way promptly over to the command chairs before Ed and Kelly had even left the bridge. As they made their way to Ed's office door he turned his head to look at Kelly as he said, "Gordon's planning a makeover for the Orville, by the way."

"Yeah?" Kelly looked suitably intrigued and endeared by that. "Flames and go faster stripes?"

"You bet," Ed said, finally taking a sip of his coffee as they crossed into his office and he made his way around the desk. Kelly took up her usual spot at his back even as he called up the communication from Union Central. Did Admiral Halsey ever smile? Ed couldn't help but wonder as the older man popped into view and took in the sight of the pair of them waiting for him. Ed thought he had seen it happen a couple of times but now he wasn't sure. Had he imagined that?

"Good," Halsey said almost immediately, giving a small nod of his head. "I was hoping to catch both of you."

"Hey, where else would we be?" Ed realised his joke had instantly fallen flat when Halsey simply fixed him with a stare. Well. Worth a shot.

Kelly quickly jumped in to fill the awkward silence and get the conversation moving in the right direction. "Is everything all right, Admiral?"

"That remains to be seen, Commander," he said to her, appearing momentarily grateful for the prompt. "Outpost 31 has been receiving some strange communications and signals over the course of the last week. No one there can make heads or tails of them and they've become increasingly erratic and unusual as time has gone on. There are no other Union ships in the vicinity and Outpost 31 doesn't have the equipment or the staff necessary to investigate further."

Ed wanted to say something about drawing the short straw but instead he kept his mouth shut and turned his coffee mug on the table, letting Kelly ask from behind him, "What sorts of signals are we talking about here, Admiral?"

"They're—" Halsey went quiet, almost as if he was at a loss for words, an unusual enough state of affairs that Ed and Kelly shared a glance. How bad was it if one of the admiralty was stumped? "They're not easy to describe in the least," he said finally, knitting his hands together on the desk in front of him. "We're having all the information we have sent to you but we've told Outpost 31 to expect you within the next twenty-four hours. The staff there can give you all the data they've been able to collect and analyse." His tone was grave as he went on, "I don't need to tell either one of you to exercise extreme caution here. Whatever these messages are no one has recognised them so far. For all we know it's just background noise, but it could be much, much more than that."

"It could be an attempt at first contact," Kelly said.

Ed gave the smallest shake of his head. "Or a warning."

"It could be anything," Halsey agreed, spreading his hands for a moment before knitting them again. "Take it slow on this one, Ed. We don't know what you'll be flying into and we don't want to take any unnecessary risks." A look crossed his face, one Ed couldn't quite discern, but from the way Kelly laid a hand on the back of his chair's headrest he thought she might have recognised it. "But at the same time," the admiral went on, "we need you and your crew to get to the bottom of this. The sooner the better."

Ed and Kelly shared another look and he saw the way her brows were furrowed, the frown telling him she was sceptical, that on some level she didn't like how little they knew about this. That made two of them.

"As I said we're sending you everything we have. You should have it shortly. Keep us posted." The admiral gave a short nod. "Halsey out." And then he was gone.

For a few seconds Ed sat there quietly before he leaned back in his chair. Just for a moment he felt Kelly's hand brush against the collar of his jacket before she withdrew her hand. "Is it me," he said, "or does that guy really need to get l—" Kelly had moved to the side a little and was looking at him, and it wasn't an amused look either. "Lighten up. Is it me or does he need to lighten up?"

Kelly quirked a brow, watching him for a moment, before she let it slide. "Whatever Outpost 31 has been picking up on it's clearly got people spooked."

"You think?"

"You don't think?"

Ed thought back on what Halsey had said and inclined his head a little. "Okay, fair. But why?"

Kelly lifted one shoulder in the beginnings of a shrug that never really fully formed. "I guess there's only one way to find out."