"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened." – Dr. Seuss
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The world is freezing, stealing whatever dream of warmth that might have saved them away and into the whipping winds. Angry, this force of nature was distraught at the menace that was man-kind, and the destructive influence they had on her precious resources. She should have known from the very start that it was a bad idea, a terrible idea in fact, beyond reason of a doubt. Seeing the triple suns and twin moons should have been the first clue, but of course it was just another planet. Another scapegoat for the Federation to conduct 'unsafe' experiments, God forbid they take responsibility for things on their own shores.
She gasped against the onslaught, teetering over despite the path being plowed on ahead. There was no strength left to carry the weight of her legs, numbness racing in to assure no hope of forging onward. She tried to cry out, tried to make her voice work, but the sound was caught on the edge of her throat, tongue moving desperately (don't leave me!). Already he had moved so far ahead that she had lost track of him, (The rope!) she looks down and grasps the brittle cord between shaking hands. Frayed, broken, she dragged and dragged until the end flew up to strike her across the jaw, but there was no pain. All sense of feeling had drained into the snow along with her last shred of survival. "No…" The wind howled, a gale of such fury that she had never seen before, not on Earth, not on Mars, not anywhere. "NO!" She did not know for sure if she was actually screaming or if the strangled noise was a part of her imagination, either way it did little in the way of helping things. She was going to die here; she was going to die here and she did not want to die. "No-!" The strange voice against her ears choked, desperate, hopeless, frail.
"You are not going to die here," Despite the shrieking gusts she knew, even if she could not feel the sensation of his hands against her arms, the barely-there heat of another body, she knew. "Not here, not today." His voice was a – surprisingly – welcome whisper against the frosted shell of her ear, deep, gentle, almost comforting in a way. For the first time in forever she felt safe enough in that moment to give-up. There was not enough energy for her brain to care about who the re-assurance came from, only to register the veiled hope of a future forming faintly before blurry eyes.
She would live.
She would live to see tomorrow, and maybe… maybe even the next day. She would live until they found a way off of this planet, and when she did, she was going to exact the nastiest revenge she could think of.
Eyelids fluttered as tired hands rubbed irritably at the crusty chunks dried onto her eyelashes. Her heart was pounding, viciously so, an angry animal trying to escape its cage. It had been so real, just like the one before it the night before. Everybody had lucid dreams, it was just a part of life, realistically they were no more than figments of your imagination that your brain concocted in a spiritual setting. There was none of that 'exiting your body' nonsense that remained popular, even in the 23rd Century, and that is if you actually believed any of it to start with. She, did not. Therefore, it took more effort trying to remember the damn thing than it did to forget, sitting up with a hard yawn.
"George!" She moans, falling back into the pillows with an exaggerated flourish. "GEORGE!" Said 'George' took his sweet time making it down the hallway, in fact she had nearly eclipsed back into sleep when a wet nose pressed into her palm. "GEORGE!" This time she swatted, gently shoving his face away from hers with another hearty moan. "That is not at all what I meant," The fat cat licked his lips and settled at the very edge of the mattress, tail switching with thinly veiled impatience. "Oh don't look at me like that, you're fat enough, you won't starve!" The digital clock blinked 9:08 from across the room, meaning she was very late to work, on a normal day. Thankfully it was Saturday and for once she had the day off, after almost three months of steady work-hours, it felt strange to still be sitting in bed. Unnerving almost.
"Get up, up!" The covers fell back and her feet complained all the way to the bathroom, after which they complained even more until stepping into the hot shower. Definitely not used to the time off. Twenty minutes later and easily the most uncomfortable shower one can claim to have ever had, she finally made her way to kitchenette. An unhappy feline shadowed every step, not once letting up in his blatant dissatisfaction, leading her to question just how well insulated the walls were.
This particular building housed three different apartment complexes all squeezed into one, and despite being fairly pricey they still managed to be full on a regular basis. People were always coming and going, she, technically being one of them, having only just moved in six months ago. Their newest, and closest, neighbor was a nosey woman prone to gossip and fond of bringing home strange men. She wrinkled her nose at the thought, distributing a cup of 'starfish and chicken!' flavored bits into George's bowl, successfully quieting his incessant yowling.
"I don't think we could ever be friends." She mused allowed, as she typically did, seeing as the only company within earshot was her gorging cat. "I mean, you shoulda seen the guy she was macking on last night dude, it was gross." Which was not necessarily true, but she felt better telling the tale in order to justify her discomfort for the gaudy woman. Plus, it provided some form of, albeit bland, entertainment for the mind. It had honestly been so long since her last day off that she was beyond out of the loop, three months stuck in space on artificial gravity and limited personal hours tended to take its toll. She was briefly reminded of white flowers and bells ringing (Anna!), Anna! The voluptuous red-head had gotten married the previous month, an event she was grievously absent for.
The two girls had been friends for some years, having met during a short stint as glorified waitresses during an important gala between inter-spacial CEO's. Anna had only gotten through half of her Academy years before dropping out to take up work with an architecture firm her 'Father' owned. The only thing it really did was make it more difficult for them to drop whatever they were doing to hang-out, until of course Anna decided to fall in love with some shmuck over-seas, pulling the distance between them to the very brink. Now the multi-millionaire was married to that shmuck and she was stuck playing a mixture of secretary for lazy morons and security for low-rate criminals. Being an ensign had its perks of course, the promise of meeting new beings and creatures was all but cement, as well as having been privy to several confidential meetings and conferences.
Sunlight began its slow descent through the closed blinds, dappling the hardwood floor as the final wake-up call for those late to waking. George finished his feasting with a gluttonous lick of the bowl, turning to gaze up at his girl with scrutinizing eyes. It was not unusual for her to get lost in her own thoughts, which naturally meant that she had less attention to shower on him, traitorous human. He had been fed though and so saw it as an acceptable truce, meandering heavily out of the kitchen and down toward the hallway.
A soft whistle invaded the quiet space and she drew hesitantly back from her thoughts. It could not be Anna, the irony would have been irreplaceable, but there was a sense of dread that filled the pit of her stomach instead. Seeing as it was her scheduled day off she knew it was nothing of terrible importance, not on the weekend that she had all but demanded from both Captain and Admiral. Still, her fingers pulsed with hot tension, straight up to the core of her heart as she tentatively called out to the room's interface.
"Who's at the door Alpha?" If you did not know better, you would think someone was starting a small engine in the next room. For most it was a familiar sound, the gentle whir of technology as the interface 'Alpha' came to life at the command of the rooms occupant.
"Captain Escher My Lady" The voice that spoke seemingly from nowhere was emotionless and clipped, styled to that of an upper-class English woman by no accident. Unfortunately, it was in those brief seconds that she made a note to change that, any kind of remorse would have been heartily welcome at this point. She pictured the Captain, dressed and tailored outside her door, waiting to give her news she did not want to hear. Already frowning lips jerked back into a less than pleasant expression as she waved a hand a no one in particular.
"No." More waving, "No. No, Alpha, kindly remind the Captain that today is included in my weekend off and that I am not taking any visitors." Including – especially – him.
The waspish humming shifted through the walls. Her mind was so firmly made up that when Alpha came sweeping back she actually kicked one of the lower cupboards.
"He said to 'open the door,' My Lady."
Within the confines of her mind she was screaming. Why was she so averse to these conditions when only a couple of hours earlier she had questioned the whole idea of not being at work? Why was Captain Escher coming to retrieve her personally instead of Shayne or Bryant? Perhaps it was the contradictoriness of the over-all moment that lead the onslaught of suspicion to race through her veins. The feeling that gripped her chest was unlike anything she could remember having before, it was a bizarre, alien creation that suffocated whatever snarky response she may have had. With leveled steps she all but stormed to the door, punching the button with such ferocity she was disappointed when it did not break.
"Captain Esc-" And she choked, his attire was heart-breaking and all but screamed the reason for his visit. "Captain- C- Escher?"
"Shiner, finally!" His voice was uncharacteristically high, pitched for whoever might have been listening, all they would have seen was a joyful officer instead of the thunderous expression in his eyes. "Sorry, really I'm sorry about this, on your weekend off too… but. I need you dressed in your best uniform and ready to leave in the next-" He glanced down at a watch he did not have "-ten minutes, can you do that?"
It might not have mattered to anyone else, but in that moment, the silence was deafening for Shiner.
"Yes, Captain, I'll only be a minute."
The door hissed shut and the usual click of the lock felt more like a sentence than the comfort of being home and safe. Shiner stared at the opposite wall, eyeballing the window blinds longer than she really needed to. George meowed curiously at her feet, reminding her that he was still there, still in the house, she was not alone. Not really, the world was still moving. But the moment that she pushed away from the front door it felt like eternity, and she hoped desperately that what was coming did not add up to the fear playing games in her head.