I woke up one day with a crazy idea (something rather usual for me!) and asked a friend of mine to write 10 sentences. The deal was that I had to write a story with them. The conditions were so special that it took me nearly three months to write the first part (rolls eyes and thanks Jimmy!).

I went completely nuts with this story so... enjoy while it last!

I don't own them, they just decided to use a part of my brain as their private playground.

Among the stars

Part I

The black emptiness of the space enclosing them was making him dizzy. His stomach turned up into a knot as he felt the slight pull of the acceleration. The doctors from the agency had told him it would happen. He had just never expected it to be so strong, so real. Up until the moment they had boarded the specially built space craft, he had been unable to fully realize what was going on. And now more than ever, he was responsible of his team. Void… . It extended all around them over light years. The thought made his heart beat a little faster. If anything happened, they were alone, truly alone… His mind was racing, calculating probabilities, rehearsing every possible scenario like they had taught them during the training sessions. 'Just in case something happens'. Still it wasn't enough to calm him.

Looking back at the young adults he considered like his children, his mind did a small trip back in time. The probability to have a contact with another civilization had been so low, 1 to billions. He had never thought he would witness it. When the first echo appeared in October 2010 it became the best kept secret on earth. Another secret he would have rather ignored. But being one of the president councilor, he had been among the first to know. That was one year ago; only one year ago. Yet it seemed like yesterday. The expressions of his teammates were unreadable. As much as he hated to admit it, he didn't want to know what was going on inside their heads. It would be too much to handle.

His eyes went back to the small window on his right. The ship was quickly gaining speed, moving away from the international station and he couldn't help but wonder why he was here with his team. He snickered slightly as he recalled what the president has said. "People I can trust and who will be able to handle each and every situation." They had been trained for months to get ready for that mission. Memories of the last two months flashed through his mind. The training in the swimming pool to get used to work in low gravity environment, the exercises in case of fire in a closed space. It had taken their toll on them all, pushing them to their limits. The proximity, the isolation, the emotional strain had changed their perception of the others. Many times, he had pacified a conflict between Jesse and Brennan. Some budding relationships had been broken only to be replaced by others. Their life had changed drastically and he was not sure they were in the best mood to face that peculiar mission.

Jesse settled deeper in his seat before switching on the main engines. His hands were gripping at the controls and he had to remind himself not to be so nervous. He had done it at least hundreds of time in the simulator of the agency. Yet the slightest mistake would cost them their lives. A dreadful expectant sensation took hold of his soul; what if he made a mistake? The spatial station was quickly vanishing as he maneuvered the ship away smoothly, like they had taught him. The hull was no more than a little point lost in a black emptiness. It was their last hope to go back to earth safe. Not that he could not handle technical incidents, should they arise. But still, they were alone. The display on the computer holographic screen finally indicated that they were far enough from the space station to switch on the hyperdrive. One look at his right and he knew that Shal had already started with her part of the procedure. He smiled at her lightly to indicate that it was ok. The feral didn't smile back. She was too worried.

An unnatural sensation in the pit of her stomach replaced the hurt and anger she had felt the last few weeks. The feral had lost all her landmark since the third week of training. Everything had started smoothly. They had moved from Sanctuary to a military base in the middle of a desert with a new mission. Unlike any other mission Adam had given them the choice and they had all agreed to go, thrilled by the challenge it represented. All except for Emma. The psionic had tried to talk them out of the project as if she had known something was wrong. They should have listened to her. Maybe Brennan and she would still be together. She shook her head. It was not the time to think back about their mistakes. She had to focus on the mission.

Breath in, breath out… His heart was drumming at a maddening rhythm in his hears, controlled by his growing anguish. He couldn't help but think that he was the only real danger in that ship. Two weeks after they had left Sanctuary, things had started to change. He couldn't come close to a computer without having the machine crashing. At first it was only the computers he came close to. Then it had touched each and every computer in the base, including those from the planes. It had taken a week until they realized it was a new evolution of his power. The thought still frightened him. Being able to use EMP was not something trivial, especially when he couldn't perfectly control it. It had taken him nearly a month to be able to shield that part of his mutation. Without Emma, he wouldn't have made it. She had been the only one to understand his anguish and guilt. But above all, she had trusted him when the others didn't even come to see him when he was in isolation. She had been his solid ground when he couldn't even believe in his abilities. Through all their meditation sessions, their link had strengthened and amplified. The psychic bond had been enough in the start. But with time, it naturally extended until it became physical. Those changes were among his fondest memories; for once he was complete.

Thinking of Emma made him look back at her to see how she coped with their little trip. She had not wanted to come and he trusted her enough to know that there was a reason behind her doubts. The psionic was unnaturally pale. Her eyes were closed but he knew better than that. The slight twitch of her lips, the movements of her eyes beneath her eyelids were contradicting her peaceful appearance. Knowing that his fear would only worsen things, he tried to block out all negative emotions, focusing instead on pleasant memories of their last two days before their departure in that little bed and breakfast.

Probability calculation, fear, feeling of loss, focus, and bitter disappointment. The mix virtually occupied all her senses. She wanted to scream at them to stop the emotionalcarousel going in her mind, to leave her alone. She had closed her eyes a few minutes ago, hoping it would help her focus and block them. But the more she tried to isolate herself, the stronger the feelings engulfing her became. They wrapped around her mind, crushing it, tearing apart her sanity. The sensation soon became overwhelming, making her head spin madly. She could not separate her own feelings from those of her team-mates. It was unusual for her not to control her abilities.

In the back of her mind she knew that something was wrong. It had started when Adam had asked them to be part of the mission. When their leader had mentioned the apparition of the space ship close to Saturn, a part of her had wanted to get away as quickly as possible. It was an irrational fear, something further fuelled by the constant dangers they had to face on a daily basis. The feeling had been nagging at her mind, relentlessly since that moment. And now that they were getting closer, it was getting stronger. The next few days would be more than exhausting. They would have to spend a week there but with the strain it put on her mind, she doubted she could do it.

A warm calloused hand gripped hers, sending a peaceful and loving wave up her arm. The feeling grew until it engulfed her completely and partly blocked the anguish. The young woman didn't need to open her eyes to see who was holding her hand. Brennan must have felt or guessed what was going on inside her head. She squeezed his hand back, giving him the reassurance he needed.

xXx

A massive dark space ship silently went past Europa in a deafening silence. In the dim light of the distant sun, the hull shone, revealing strange writings for the first time in decades. Inside, the air had turned poisonous long ago, destroying the hydroponic cultures; the sterilized atmosphere had prevented the usual dust layering. Only the faint humming of the central computer could be heard in the deserted ship. The radar was still active and searching for any signs of life, cataloguing, storing the data. As soon as the Helix II went past Venus, the first signs of activity appeared, the strange ship started to come to life.

TBC