Sara Ryder, the reluctant human pathfinder of the Andromeda Initiative paused mid stroll, her eyes fixed themselves on the door to Liam's private quarters, a secluded storage bay within the cargo bay she was currently standing in. Something wasn't right. She took a step toward the door and put her ear against it, listening intently.
A commotion, unfamiliar voices. Stowaways? Sara retrieved a pistol from the small armoury that was the Tempest cargo bay. The M-3 Predator felt natural in her now experienced hands. It wasn't a Carnifex but she could make do with it. As confident as she was in her skill with a firearm she realised the folly of going into a situation like this alone. Sara decided shock and awe tactics may be necessary to neutralise any hostile intention her stowaways may have.
Bringing up her Omni-tool, she called for help. A low, rumbling voice responded to her hail. "You need me for something, kid?" Sara smiled at the elderly Krogan's deep tones.
"Hey, Drax. It looks like we have a stowaway problem. Meet me in Liam's room ASAP."
"Oh this should be fun." Drax responded after a hearty chuckle. "I'll be right there."
"I swear, I have no Idea." Max pleaded weakly.
"Bullshit!" Chloe shouted, more in exasperation than a rebuttal to her friend. "Come on, Max. Did you go forward in time or something?" Chloe gestured to their new surroundings. "And how come I'm here with you?!"
"The last thing I remember was collapsing on you when we were on our way to the lighthouse." Max explained as she attempted to prop herself up and into a comfortable sitting position. "And then… being here." At least the storm seems to have disappeared. She thought to herself upon noticing the lack of ambient thunder and rain crashing against the roof.
Chloe surveyed their surroundings once more and sighed wearily. "Where the fuck are we…."
"I don't know." Max responded. "Looks almost like some kind of space ship."
Chloe allowed herself to laugh. It was the first happy sound Max had heard her make since they had found Jefferson's dark room and discovered Racheal's fate. "You know I probably wouldn't be surprised if that was true, the amount of shit we've witnessed this week…" The punk felt a twinge of guilt on her conscience as she recalled what Max had admitted to her outside the vortex club.
"Hey, sorry I lashed out like that. My selfish ass keeps forgetting what happened to you, what you went through for me. I just hope we haven't gone back to Prescott's bunker."
Max shuddered at the suggestion. Her experiences in the dark room with the psychopath Jefferson were among the many of the past week that she wished she could forget.
"I don't think so, I could hear the rain from the storm when I was… when Jefferson…" Damn it, Chloe if you knew what happened to me…
"Max." Chloe attempted her best reassuring tone, but her voice faltered. "You don't need to say anymore. You're safe from him now. And I'm armed."
You were armed the last time too.
The room they found themselves in had almost a Star Trek aesthetic. A large window that made up a generous portion of the back wall gave view to what looked like a core of some sort, metal crates littered the room, some of which had been arranged neatly to serve as a table, on top of which was a bottle. The bluenette punk stepped forward and picked it up before giving the open rim a sniff. "Yep, that's beer, too bad it's empty. Interesting bottle design though."
"Eww, Chloe." Max reprimanded.
Chloe had no time for a retort, both teens were startled as a section of the wall, a door, slid open. A young woman in a white utilitarian uniform stepped into the room with a mean looking pistol at the ready. Chloe wasted no time drawing her own weapon, the meek in comparison revolver she had stolen from her step-father.
"Put that relic down, please." The newcomer commanded, her voice more frustrated than concerned.
"Hell no, who the fuck are you coming in here like that aiming a gun at us?"
"Who the fuck are you stowing away on my ship and hiding in my storage bay?!" Sara retorted harshly, allowing her anger to become more apparent. "How the hell did you get in anyway?"
If you die on me again, Chloe…
As if the universe was in tune with Max's thoughts, another newcomer stepped into the room. A very big, armoured, scaly, lizard like newcomer brandishing a gun that would look comical in the hands of a human.
Chloe screamed, she pointed David's revolver at the creature and fired. The Lizard shrugged off the round like it was nothing, and Chloe was promptly executed by Sara. The top of her head erupted like it was a watermelon, showering the room in broken fragments of skull and brain tissue.
Max screamed the punk girl's name as she held her arm out, her vision became a familiar haze as she witnessed time reversing itself, the shattered remnants of Chloe's head came back together like a jigsaw, and the creature backpedalled out of the room.
"-the fuck are you coming-"
The punk was startled as Max threw herself at her with enough force to make the taller girl stumble.
"Chloe, please!" Max begged, her voice choked with tears. "They'll kill you, just drop it! Please!"
The punk gazed into her assailant's tear wracked face for seconds painfully longer than necessary.
"Alright, I'm sorry." The gun was finally lowered before the newcomer stepped forward and seized it for herself.
Max's grip on Chloe tightened as the next newcomer entered the room. To her credit, Chloe did not scream this time. She simply let out a quiet albeit horrified string of curses. "You seeing this too, Max?"
"Yes, please, just don't overreact."
"How do I not overreact to something like this?" The punk hissed back. "This is fucking insane."
The large lizard vocalised at them, as though it was speaking to them. The creature laughed after a short but intense staring contest with the two terrified girls before stomping away to mind its own business.
"Have to say, the two of you have quads sneaking aboard the Pathfinder's ship like that."
The pair in question offered Drax no response. Instead they elected to simply stay huddled together and stare at him, their faces read a mixture of both awe and terror.
Drax laughed heartily before stomping away from the interaction whilst mumbling something about "Crazy ass exiles".
Feeling as though the pair of stowaways were duly chastised, Sara beckoned them to follow. "Alright, let's get the two of you to the med bay. Then we'll figure out what to do with you." The pathfinder began walking out the door and into the cargo bay proper but stopped and turned around as she realised they weren't following. "Come on, Drax doesn't bite. Not unless I tell him to anyway."
"Can you stand?"
"Barely."
"Here, hold on to me." Chloe brought the smaller girl's arm around her shoulder and used her own free arm to hoist Max up by the waist and support her in an upright position. She then began to follow the armed and pissed off woman as she was instructed.
"I died again?"
Max nodded her head solemnly in response. "I can't keep doing this, Chloe. But I'll keep you safe until it kills me. I promise." Tears threatened to once again cascade down the fragile time traveller's face, to mix with the blood flowing freely from her nose. "I'll never leave you, never again."
The punk's guilty conscience tugged at her once more. "Max, I don't want you or anyone else to die for me. I've been selfish enough. It's time I gave something back."
"Then let's just… co-operate with them, alright?" Max suggested. "We've been through so much shit over the past week. I'm not eager to add to that."
"Alright." Chloe conceded with a sigh. "I'm not exactly eager to add to our troubles either. But if they try to hurt you…" the punk trailed off, her voice low and laced with venom.
Chloe supported the smaller girl as they walked into the cargo bay, staring in wonder and disbelief at the various contraptions around them. A sleek, white, six-wheeled truck caught the attention of the punk while another strange bipedal reptilian creature caught the attention of Max. It was leaning against the railing of an upper deck, its yellow alien eyes assisted by a visor observed the pair of stowaways as they followed the Pathfinder to their destination.
As the weary time travelers exited the cargo bay, they were greeted by yet another surprise.
"Chloe, look!" Max's eyes lit up at the sight before them. A window on the ceiling played host to a beautiful canopy of stars and nebula. Part of her wished Warren was with them to see it too.
"Shit, looks like you were right about the whole spaceship thing." The punk was conflicted at this revelation. Part of her was almost ecstatic to be very far away from Arcadia Bay. The other part, like Max, was scared and confused.
"This is all so fucking… strange." Max lamented, allowing her frustration at the hands of destiny to show.
"We'll pull through though, together." Chloe reassured as she planted a kiss on the top of the smaller brunette's head.
"Together." Max agreed with a smile. "Like partners in time."