By E. Christie
"I still can't believe you're here! I'm here! We're both here!" Catalina skipped just slightly ahead of Suzee in the corridor, her green eyes wide with excitement as she allowed her hand to tap the Christa's veined purple walls. They were actually contacting, too, each occurrence creating a pleasing thwap noise. And also, as Suzee's boots touched the floor, they made a somewhat annoyed, though partially amused stomp.
Suzee did, to her credit, try her very hardest not to smile or show any true interest in the conversation. Out of the two, she was the older, after all. She'd been designated as 'Senior' engineer after Catalina returned. After some debate, Catalina had been given the same title, with the understanding that if any more invisible friends (or otherwise) showed up on the Christa, they would be the 'junior' engineers. A bit ridiculous, yes, and as Suzee thought about just how ridiculous it was that they, as students, even had titles, she cracked a smile.
"See? Ha. Gotcha."
Catalina stopped skipping, crossing her arms over her chest. Suzee eventually dropped the stoic act all together, and allowed a true smile… It was admittedly nicer to be able to talk to your best friend while she was in the same dimension. "…It was two weeks ago, Cat. I can't believe you're still going on about it!"
"And soon we're gonna pass the Rigel Star System, and I can show you where my ancestors came from. I hear it's really beautiful… Or was, at least. Until the Zillorites got to it." Cat turned, opting to travel next to her friend instead of skipping along in front.
Suzee noticed the Saturnian's sudden silence, and turned her attention toward her. "…Look. It's probably cleaned up a bit, you know? It's been… what? Two, three generations? I bet they've started to rebuild by now."
Catalina shook her head. "There wasn't anyone left behind to rebuild. Not even guards or anything…" One of Cat's interests was the study of where her people, the Rigelians, had come from… Though more adept at engineering, she did have a bit of a side-hobby of studying texts all the way from her homeland. The Zillorites, upon realizing they were losing a war that they'd already been fighting for decades, had decided to use what technology they had left and literally throw it all at the planet of their enemies – a small planet and its many moons in the fourth orbit of the star that was now called Rigel.
"The air was unbreathable, the atmosphere got too hot. One of the moons was completely destroyed." Cat shook her head. "…Most everyone got out on time, but there were… There were whole moons whose entire population was lost. I mean, you look at Rigelians like me… And Rosie, and Bova… People don't even realize that there were so many more."
Suzee laid a comforting hand on Cat's shoulder. "Hey. There's nothing you, personally, could have done, right? I'm just glad your ancestors got their asses out of there when they did." She smiled, shrugged, and walked on ahead. Cat was left behind, momentarily speechless before she rushed to catch up.
"You have no compassion, you know that?" she scolded.
Chuckling, Suzee replied, "I try."
---
"We're only about a days' voyage away now," said Commander Goddard. "I'm impressed. We've actually gotten along through here quite well, without any major incidents."
"You mean, besides Bova's mishap with the food wheel?" Harlan interjected.
"Hey. I was hungry. And if you keep saying stuff like that, you're gonna jinx us, Commander." Bova, as usual, had this sinking feeling that something was wrong, though he couldn't quite place what. He'd said as much, but as usual, the crew chose to ignore him. Not uncommon, though Bova advised using extra caution.
The commander placed his hands on his hips, looking at the viewscreen with a sort of detached aire about him. His lips wore a little smirk to show he was vaguely amused… A coverup. He couldn't let the rest of them know that he was somewhat worried about Bova's concern. Usually, when the Uranusian was tense about something, there was reason to be… And Goddard took pride in the fact that he was well-versed in reading his crew.
"You're going to have to adjust about three degrees port," Radu droned boredly. Harlan, equally bored, steered the ship to Radu's specifications, though he looked back for an explanation. The Andromedan shrugged. "…It's just that we were on a crash course with a moon circling the seventh planet. This way, we avoid it altogether. …I did some extra checks…" His eyes turned momentarily to Bova. "…Just in case."
Harlan chuckled. "You happy now, Bova? Looks like the danger's come and gone."
Despite himself, Bova smiled. "You just keep telling yourselves that."
For a long time, no one spoke… Some, perhaps, were pondering Bova's boundless negativity, though Commander Goddard was busy mentally running checks through his mind… Suzee and Cat were monitoring the engine. Radu was watching the navigation system like a hawk, and he trusted Harlan at the helm more than he trusted himself sometimes. But he also trusted Bova, and the fact that Bova was not happy made Goddard unhappy. Thankfully Rosie hadn't spoken up yet. Usually her well-meaning conversation introduced more variables into the problem at hand.
"Do you think there's anyone still alive in the Rigel system?" she asked.
…Shit, Goddard thought.
Harlan turned to her. "…Alive? Last I heard, the entire system was fried. Sad story. But I really don't think we're gonna be meeting any stranded Rigelians. Sorry." Smirking, he turned back to the controls, while Rosie shrugged.
Don't say anymore, Rosie, Goddard mentally urged.
"…Well, were the Rigelians the only race there? I mean, in the whole system? Because I heard they were at war with…"
"…Yes. At war with a race from another galaxy, that wanted the planets and the ore-rich moons in the Rigel star system for themselves," Goddard cut in. "But they're long gone now."
"How do we know?" Bova asked, his brown eyes lidding slightly as his eyebrows arched. "How do we know they're gone?"
The smile became harder to maintain as Goddard realized that it had never been proven whether or not the Zillorites had truly left.
---
Night, or rather, the artificial night, fell early on the Christa that evening. Davenport wanted all the cadets wide awake for what she called the "Cultural Opportunity of a Lifetime" tomorrow… It was a well-known fact among the Christa's crew that no human had ever seen the Rigel system, and none of the current generation's Rigelians had seen it either. No one really knew what to expect… Rosie was certain that some other race would have colonized the system by now, while Bova was expecting – anticipating, even – a horrid, uninhabitable wasteland.
Goddard, as he sat next to the helm, wondered why none had ever gone back. Why, if the Rigelians had come to the Sol system nearly three generations ago, had they expressed no interest in returning? It seemed like something interesting to ponder, as he worked on rearranging the helm's internal crystal indicators. He was bored, and when he was bored, and alone on a starship, there was only one thing to do… Take things apart and put them back together. Whatever system that kept him locked out of the Christa's controls didn't prevent him from actually working on her… Which was good. It kept him from going totally out of his mind… Not that it was always a good idea, especially because this little mission left the sharp crystals scattered about on the floor… At least their removal wouldn't affect flight if he didn't get everything back together by morning. They were simply the auxiliary auxiliary supply… For some reason, the Christa had two backups…
"Commander."
Goddard jumped about a foot as Thelma expressed her presence. How long had she been standing there? "…Thelma…?" he asked, as he attempted to lower his heart rate back down to normal again. When thinking about what creatures could be inhabiting a long-forgotten star system, it generally wasn't a good idea to allow someone to sneak up on and surprise you. Had he been older or in a less-than-healthy condition, it's quite possible that Goddard would have suffered a heart attack.
But then again, it was Thelma.
"I was just… curious as to why you were sitting here in the Command Post while the others are already asleep," the android answered. Her crystal blue eyes blinked expectantly, as her lips drew back into a rather disturbing smile. Goddard simply shrugged the question off.
"Oh, you know. Can't sleep."
Thelma blinked again. "…Mmm. No, I'm afraid I did not know that. But I do now! If it is any consolation, I cannot sleep either."
Goddard's eyebrows arched in interest. "Oh, no?"
"Androids do not sleep, after all." She paused. "Unless I was to remove my crystal. Then I could most assuredly emulate sleep!"
The commander shook his head, turning his attention back to the viewscreen, which he'd left on. "Thelma, I have a very bad feeling about stopping in the system for the kids to look around. A really bad feeling."
"You don't have to worry about stopping, commander."
Goddard's shoulders slumped. He expected something non-sequitur from Thelma, and was thusly ready for it. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how one would look at it, he was not disappointed. "I don't, huh?"
"No. The ship has already stopped. If I were to be worried, I would be worried about what might occur now that we are inside the Rigelian system." She paused, her eyes shiftily looking left, then right. "I do not have to be worried about worrying, however, as androids do not feel. Thus, I am not worried."
Smiling, she shuffled off to do whatever it was that she did after hours.
A low groan escaped from Goddard's throat. It had been just about two years now… He really should have learned to expect the "Thelmaisms" that constantly crept up on the Christa. Sometimes she was a wealth of information, and other times, talking to her led to one frustration after another. Yet out of all that time they'd spent together, the crew could rarely be angry with her… It wasn't that she was comic relief, even though that was partially true… It was more along the lines that Thelma was a lot more human than she gave herself credit for. Even Goddard considered her somewhat of a walking miracle. Then again, unlike most androids, Thelma really had been given the opportunity to feel what it was like to be alive. He, himself had been unconscious at the time, but stories circulated that the Christa's resident android was just as loopy alive as she was when she was a machine. Still, it had given her the opportunity to process feelings and react to them without venting them through an artificial emotion emulator, and that had to count for something.
"…Don't have to worry about stopping. I suppose she's right…" Goddard looked out the viewscreen toward the blue supergiant, Rigel . They'd been stopped for at least an hour now, so it was probably too late to beat a retreat without being noticed. "I just hope you don't cause us any trouble," he muttered, speaking to that star. "You know, I'm responsible if…"
The Christa had really helped formed some long-lasting memories for the crew… among the times Goddard would never forget were the ones he told Catalina to stop talking to her imaginary friend, Suzee.
And here he was, sitting alone near the helm of the ship, talking to no one but Rigel. He chuckled. "…Maybe it was never so bad, after all. But we'll just keep this conversation between you and I, alright?"
Feeling a tugging at his eyelids brought on by the fact that some of his fears, at least, were alleviated, the commander decided it really was time for him to get some sleep. If anything even tried to dock, the Christa would surely let them know.
Abandoning the pile of crystal, the commander headed off to catch some much-needed rest.
---
The darkness momentarily congealed, a tendril reaching out to touch the foreign object that had so recently appeared in their sector. It withdrew in confusion, knowing full-well that nothing like this had been spotted here for a long, long time. Years didn't really matter to the darkness, mostly because years only applied to corporeal things, and it only had to be corporeal once in a while. This was, as far as others were concerned, a rather young anomaly, one not to be confused with those senior creatures that could use the very stuff they were made of to construct shining starships and explosives and a whole range of wondrous objects and gizmos and gadgets that one so young could only dream about. But even an upstart had a little bit of talent, and could access the memories of the colony that now dwelled in darkness on the planet. This one was just a bit of an adventurer, and having wandered away from the safety of his home pool, he was quite assured that he'd made the discovery of a lifetime.
And as all young things were bound to do at least once in their lives, this one acted on impulse.
The tendril withdrew, and became nothing again, before the nothingness seeped through the surface of that which it had just touched. It was not a long journey, though when it was over, the creature found itself in a rather hostile environment, bogged down with artificial gravity and an abundance of that stuff known as oxygen. It was uncomfortable to remain puddle on the floor as a mass of nothingness, and so it had to choose a form.
Years ago on its home planet, there had been Others. In a marvelous victory, the creature's people had driven those Others away… And in their haste, the Others left behind all their beautiful flora and fauna, which eventually succumbed to the new lack of atmosphere on the planet's surface. With nothing to decompose them, the dead creatures remained perfectly preserved beneath the floating sea of blackness above them. Of course, this particular adventurer had experimented with becoming these creatures. One in particular that it liked was a thin, almost stick-like creature with spindly arms and legs, and a long, tapered head. Delicate, but fast. Thin, but inconspicuous. This creature could go anywhere and do anything without being noticed. At least, that's what this creature imagined in his mind. He added a little more mass to the animal's middle so it wasn't so ridiculously scrawny, and decided that he would walk upright as opposed to on all fours.
Lastly, he removed some of the shadowstuff from his arm to create a weapon… one he'd only been able to create out of the memories of the rest of his pool. It was a firearm, and he would use it to kill those who were on board. He didn't view killing as being wrong, because where he was from, there was nothing to kill. This was to be a new experience, one of which he would share with his pool in the fantastic memories he was about to create.
---
"…Mrph."
"Huh?"
Suzee reached next to her, retrieved the spare pillow she had stored there, and launched it across the room for a perfect attack directly on Rosie.
"Hey, what was that for?" the Mercurian asked, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. Blearily, she looked down at the pillow and picked it up. It looked awfully comfortable, and it was still really early in the morning. Shrugging, she propped it under the one she was already using, and once more lay down. One extra pillow wasn't going to hurt.
Suzee rolled over, eyes opening just a bit to look across the room at Rosie. She was greeted by a rather smug mental projection of Catalina, who was, judging by the Saturnian's vague surroundings, already in the galley having breakfast. Despite the fact that the two now existed in the same dimension, they had, for some reason, maintained mental contact… meaning they could still see and talk to each other wherever they were, even if it was on opposite sides of the ship. A little spooky sometimes, especially for the others.
"…Nothing," she finally mumbled, grudgingly sitting up and placing bare feet on the cold floor. Suzee shivered a bit, which accomplished two things… First, it woke her up a little. Second, it made her want to curl up under her blankets and fall back asleep.
"Davenport's coming to wake you up anyway," Catalina said. Suzee blinked some of the sleepiness out of her eyes, finally rising to her feet. Smiling, she offered a mock STARDOG salute to her friend, who rolled her eyes and went back to eating her breakfast.
"Rosie, better wake up. Cat says Davenport's on her way."
Suddenly, Rosie was on her feet, leaving Suzee wondering how anyone could be such a morning person. Then again, she'd heard stories from the others about how morning on Mercury wasn't exactly an inconspicuous ordeal… The sun tended to be a bit "in-your-face" as the expression went.
"…The Rigelian tour is today!" Rosie exclaimed, throwing on a robe, then a couple more for good measure. It wasn't cold in the ship, really, it was just that Rosie's normal temperature was so warm that it was often hard for her to be comfortable at what the rest of the crew considered a reasonable room temperature. Suzee rolled her eyes and wrapped her own robe around herself. Still wishing there was a couple hours of sleep left to be had, she hesitantly trudged after her ever-optimistic Mercurian friend and into the jumptubes.
Seconds later when Davenport arrived to wake them up, she didn't know whether to be pleased that they'd thought to get themselves up, or irate that they'd waited until she'd come all the way down to the bunk to do it. Sighing, she, too, programmed the galley into the jumptube controls before leaping into it herself. At least, she thought, she was already in her dress uniform and wouldn't have to waste time getting dressed as well. They were already an hour off their planned schedule, and though Goddard told her not to worry, she, too, couldn't ignore that horrible feeling that there was something wrong. She told herself it stemmed from the fact that almost everything they did ended up having something wrong with it in the longrun… But what could go wrong this time? Hopefully, she prayed just before the jumptube spit her out into the mess area… hopefully, this time everything will be alright.
"Hey, Miss D. We're been waiting for you forever."
Barely had her feet touched the floor when Davenport looked up to see Suzee holding out a plate of already-hydrated eggs and toast… The girl was actually smiling. The two of them didn't get along as well as they should have, though lately things had been running more smoothly between the Yensidian and the teacher. Smiling back, Davenport took the plate, instinctively inspecting it for something amiss. There didn't seem to be anything wrong, and her initial assessment was confirmed when she decided to chance actually eating the breakfast and found that it was perfectly fine – if not a little bland.
Between bites, she managed to explain the day to the crew. She couldn't help thinking of them still as her students, though she knew they'd grown up far beyond that. Already, the team of six had been through more than any STARDOG ever would, and for that, Davenport was immensely proud of each of them. However, some modicum of discipline had to be maintained, which was why they were still required to attend classes… As she, herself, often told the class, just when you thought all your questions were answered, there was always one more thing to learn.
"As some of you have heard, the star, Rigel, is visible out our viewing monitors," she started as means of calling the informal class to order. For once, she didn't have to nudge Bova to wake up, or tell Suzee and Cat to stop chatting in the back of the room. All eyes were on her.
"Now, we won't actually be landing, but we will be passing close enough to the fourth planet in the system for you to hopefully see its geological features, and the features of the moons that orbit it. The moons were very much an important part of the planet as the planet itself, because the Rigelian people lived on them."
At this point, Harlan interjected. "…Miss Davenport, why did they call their planet Earth? Isn't that a bit of a coincidence?"
Davenport was about to respond, when she was quite pleasantly surprised that Catalina spoke up before she could.
"…We didn't have any reason to call it anything else. It was where we lived… Earth. It's what we stood on, so that's what we called it. It was… translated from Rigelian, of course."
Miss Davenport smiled. "That's right, Catalina. And I wouldn't be a bit surprised if there were many other planets in the Galaxy that are also named Earth. Often in the early stages of history, people seek out a name for the land upon which they live, and that usually ends up being some translation of the word 'earth.' Even the Spung call their home planet a derivative of "Earth."
Everyone shifted uncomfortably at the mention of the Spung. Though there were a few instances of Spung being not so hostile, it seemed like bad luck to mention them here, and now. Wisely, Miss Davenport changed the subject.
"I believe you've all had plenty of time to finish your breakfasts… I expect you dressed and in the Command Post within the hour." She paused, sensing the enthusiasm for this endeavor. They were actually excited about learning, and the prospect of seeing an ancient star system with their own eyes had them all quite animated. Offering them a smile, she nodded, "Dismissed," before they all disappointed her and continued eating breakfast.
Apparently, the prospect of food was much more tantalizing than the prospect of exploration and discovery. Goddard raised his eyebrows and glanced in her direction… She pretended she simply didn't see him, before sitting down to work on her own meal.
---
It was a miracle, but an hour later, the crew was dressed and assembled in the ComPost, all facing the viewscreen. Though Davenport complained about the mess that Goddard had left the night before, the argument was settled by reminding the students to be careful not to step on the sharp crystal, and the discussion was left at that… There were more important things to think about, after all! Christa had parked herself about two Astronomical Units from the blue giant sun, meaning they were just outside the orbit of Rigel-Earth. At this point, the planet was at the other end of the solar system, but that had been the plan from the beginning. It was to allow the crew a little acclimation time before they actually say the remains of a deserted civilization. Catalina, especially, seemed to be on-edge, though Davenport understood her concern. Cat was as close to a history buff as the Christa got… And all the studying she had done was just about to really pay off.
"Mister Band, take us ahead at half speed," Goddard said. Harlan couldn't hide his smile as he pushed the Christa into motion. Everyone else, who had been milling around the helm, finally tore themselves away from the screen and hesitantly made their way to their posts. Rigel grew slightly larger, though Harlan kept them at a safe enough distance so that they didn't overheat the ship.
"Look, there's Alg-Fi," Rosie said, looking at the screen and pointing out a tiny, densely vegetated planet that drifted by. "I think that's the… fifth planet in the system?" She looked to Davenport, who nodded.
"So we're getting close," Suzee wondered aloud.
"Not quite yet," Rosie responded. "Alg-Fi's and Rigel-Earth's orbits were always completely opposite. We've still got a way to go, I think."
Davenport re-centered the screen on the vegetated planet so that everyone could get a good look at it. There was little water on the surface, so the roots of the plants went quite deep to reach what was thought to be a watery mantle. It was said that the Rigelians imported exotic vegetables from the planet at times. It was one of Rigel-Earth's delicacies.
The viewscreen panned back to its original position, which would theoretically center it on the correct planet as soon as it was in range. Radu read off various coordinates, reassuring the rest that they were still on the right track. As they neared where the planet should be, they all watched the screen expectantly, only to be sorely disappointed when there was simply nothing there.
"…I knew it. Something ate the planet," Bova droned.
Harlan rolled his eyes. "Leave it up to you to think about eating at a time like this. Whole planets don't just disappear."
"Scanning…" Rosie mumbled.
Catalina stood up, approaching the screen and leaving Suzee to work out the engineering specifications herself. "No… Look. You can still see the moons. See? It's as if they're still orbiting…"
"Magnify times one-hundred," Harlan ordered. The Christa was quick to respond.
To everyone's astonishment, the planet was still there, but was surrounded by a thick black haze… Almost like a swirling, living pool of darkness.
"So much for studying the surface," Bova quipped. Almost everyone ignored him.
Catalina neared the screen, brow furrowed, and pressed her hand against the view of the planet. "…This isn't how it should be at all… It was green, and there was water on the surface… Just like…"
It was Rosie who approached next, and for once, she had few encouraging words to offer. Finally, she settled on, "Maybe it's storming or something."
Everyone was so involved in the strange condition of Rigel-Earth, that only Bova, who'd been allowing his eyes to wander a bit, noticed the thin black creature that crawled out of the jump tube.
He said a very, very interesting word, which the rest of the crew didn't even realize he knew. At least it got them to turn around.
It stood, staring at them through eyes – at least, everyone assumed they were eyes – that were as black as the creature itself. It was almost like a blurred version of something living… The shape was there, but the features were obscured. Nobody spoke, partially because they had no idea what the thing was or how it got on the ship, and mostly because it appeared to be pointing some sort of weapon at them. It didn't move for the longest time, as if it was just as surprised as everyone else. It was Goddard who spoke first.
"That's one of them. That's a Zillorite." He looked pointedly at Bova, but the boy's eyes were focused on the creature. He did, however, hear Goddard, and idly wondered to himself why he always had to be right.
Standing before them was a creature that everyone knew to be the ultimate in hostility. A creature from a race that totally destroyed the life on an entire planet. Everyone from the Galaxy respected that, because everyone knew what they could do… Especially Catalina, Rosie, and Bova – the three actual Rigelians among them. Displaced from their homes, however indirectly it might have been, to them, the silent, black creature represented all they feared. They weren't told stories of mythological bogey men or monsters under the bed. The creature of their nightmare was real, and it was in the command post.
There was, however, one among them that did not quite realize the severity of this situation, and that person was from Yensid. Raising her arms, she stepped down from her console. The motion caused the Zillorite to look in her direction. To level the weapon at her.
"Suzee!" Goddard hissed.
Suzee didn't say a word. Instead, she continued approaching the creature, slowly. It emitted some sort of clicking noise, slightly lowering the weapon… To this, Suzee smiled. She was the ultimate player in the game of the mind, and as soon as she was close enough, she would make this thing do anything she wanted it to do. She would be the hero this time.
Not being from the Sol system, Suzee had never heard the term, "Don't count your chickens before they're hatched."
Stopping several feet away from the Zillorite, she cleared her own mind, initiating that slight, precise mental command that would allow her to enter the creature's mind. Seconds later, a familiar purple haze appeared in front of her eyes as she watched he spirit float from herself into the body of the intruder.
The pain was slight… Distant. She couldn't exactly feel it, but she knew it was there. She continued searching, even as she heard Radu scream her name… Felt something jostle into the body of the Zillorite… It was sent flying, though her spirit was wrenched from it. Oddly enough, she hadn't been able to find its mind, thus, she hadn't been able to control it. Suzee shook her head, somewhat dazed and disoriented from being thrown from the body she was trying to inhabit. It felt as if the room was spinning, like she'd suffered some sort of incredible pain. Reorienting herself, she turned to come face-to-face with a sight that no person should ever have to see…
---
Perhaps the most suspicious of everyone was Radu. The Andromedan's eyes narrowed as Suzee approached the unknown visitor, and as the Zillorite's eyes were on her, he was already stepping down from his own console. He knew what she was going to do, and felt quite assuredly that Suzee was just a little too confident of her own powers. This alien had entered the Christa undetected. There had to have been more to it than what they all saw.
Everyone else was watching as Suzee's spirit drifted from her own body into that of the creature. It never ceased to amaze them, how she could transfer herself into another person, scan their thoughts, or even, should she desire it, take over their mind for a short time. None of them wanted to ever make Suzee mad… Yet at the same time, despite the Yensidian's awful temper and huge ego, she was trustworthy, and they knew she would never pitch her consciousness without permission. Even with permission, she was hesitant to do it, as she considered it an invasion of privacy.
Radu's attention was on something else, though. He was watching as the Zillorite's arm – the one holding the weapon – slowly rose to point at Suzee's chest. It didn't know what was happening, but it didn't like it…
"Suzee!" Radu screamed. He was too far away to really be of any help, yet he broke into a run anyway. The yell distracted the creature, and it turned, though everyone heard the almost silent mechanical firing of the weapon. Suddenly, everyone reacted at once. Radu's momentum carried him directly into the invader, sending it flying, while Harlan stepped forward to attempt to catch Suzee, who hit the floor anyway. He kneeled down next to her, pressing his hand over the hole in her abdomen, which was now bleeding profusely all over the floor.
Goddard turned to deal with the Zillorite, only to find that it had impaled its thin body on the crystals that he'd left next to the helm the night before… And was now very much dead. Radu looked on in horror, undecided as to which was worse – the fact that he'd indirectly killed the thing, or that he'd let the thing get a shot off before he could reach it… The Andromedan tore his eyes away from the grisly site to an equally disturbing one… Suzee, now unconscious on the floor, with Harlan and Rosie desperately trying to control the bleeding.
"Suzee?!"
Catalina slipped on the now-slick floor, barely managing to catch herself before she blundered into Radu. She, too, kneeled down next to her friend, frantically shaking the Yensidian's shoulders in an attempt to revive her. After a moment of this, Bova grabbed her arm, pulling her away with such surprising force that she landed in a heap on her backside. In a rare moment of compassion, Bova sat down next to her, wrapping his arms around the Saturnian's shoulders and turning her head away. Davenport fought not to pass out at the sight of the blood, succeeding only because she convinced herself that the crew needed her right now. Kneeling down, too, she wrapped her arms around both Catalina and Bova.
"…Guys…"
No one heard the voice at first. It spoke again, a little louder, though it contained within it a minute tremor, almost as if it were on the verge of tears. The all looked toward Suzee's body. The voice was unmistakably hers… A thick silence hovered in the air for far too long before the voice came again.
"…I think I'm… behind you…"
Everyone's eyes turned to see the Suzee's violet spirit, hovering just above the ground. Her eyes were wide, focused on her own body. Not once did they meet the gaze of anyone else.
They all must have sat there for a full minute before Davenport spoke.
"Can you get back in?"
A million thoughts raced through Suzee's mind. If her body died with her spirit in it, would she die as well? Could she even go back? What had even happened? Her eyes traveled down to the wound to which Rosie was still tending… If she went back, would she feel that pain…?
"…No. No, I don't think I can…"
"Her vital signs seem stable," Rosie commented, finally chancing a look up at the floating spirit. She did her best to smile, which Suzee found, oddly enough, to be extremely reassuring. "…I mean, your vital signs seem stable." She continued. "Which is odd. I'd expect your heart rate to have changed, or something."
"Should we get her down to Medlab?" Harlan offered as he removed his coat, and pressed that into the wound. The bleeding was not letting up.
There was not one person that had any idea what to do. Seconds passed before anyone offered a decision. "…Radu, Harlan, Rosie… I want you to take Suzee to Medlab," Goddard began, looking toward Suzee at the same time. "…But Suzee, I don't… want you getting lost or anything, so you stay right here. Bova, I need you to pilot the ship. You can do that, right?"
No one minded that Goddard's voice was slightly condescending, as it reassured the others that he was in control, and more than anything, that's what they needed right now. Bova nodded, and Davenport moved aside to allow him to stand; shakily, he took the helm. The commander continued, crouching in front of Catalina. "…Cat, I need you to keep Suzee calm." They both looked up at the Yensidian, who was following halfheartedly after Radu as he carried her body out the door and into the corridor that would lead to the medlab. With some prompting from Harlan, she stopped at the door. Goddard gently placed a hand on Cat's cheek, directing her attention back to him. "…She's probably really scared right now."
It was how Cat was used to seeing Suzee… Across dimensions, they were, to each other, simply projections of their own minds. Suzee's had always been purple, and Cat's, to Suzee, had always been blue. Perhaps that was why Catalina wasn't totally taken aback by Suzee's spirit hanging around the ship – except for the fact that now, everyone else could see her, too. Suddenly realizing that Goddard was still talking to her, the Saturnian turned her eyes back to him and nodded a little. It would be just like old times, right? Nothing to worry about. Except for the fact that everyone knew that Suzee was actually unconscious in Medlab.
Nothing to worry about.
Catalina stood, finding out the hard way that her knees were just about as supportive as water. Commander Goddard caught her by the shoulders, steadying her until she could stand on her own. Even then, it wasn't easy… Red blood mixed with a strange, dark, viscous material that was oozing from the alien; it made the floor slick. Davenport was already attempting to clean some of it up, though she had the collar of her jacket pulled up around her nose, and her eyes were watering. Goddard said something to her, which Cat couldn't hear, and she hastened toward the jumptube where she disappeared from sight.
"Cat…" Goddard prompted, nodding toward Suzee, whose eyes were fixed on the dead Zillorite.
Finally finding herself, Catalina was finally able to tear her own eyes from the scene. Carefully making her way through the blood, she approached her friend, automatically reaching out to touch a shoulder that simply wasn't there. It wasn't just nothing, though. It was cold, like ice. People always told stories about how ghosts gave off a certain coldness that was both chilling and frightening. The thought that her best friend was a ghost…
Spirit, Cat reminded herself. Her mind detected a brief flash of images and pictures… things and events that were too distant for her to place…
"Suzee… Let's head to the bunk room, alright? Just to talk for a bit."
"But… but the…"
"The commander's gonna take care of it, okay? C'mon." Steeling herself, Catalina reached out for Suzee's shoulder again. It was slightly substantial, and with a bit of prompting, the Saturnian was able to get Suzee to turn toward the door. They'd have to walk, as Cat wasn't exactly sure whether a spirit would survive a trip through the jumptubes.
As Suzee floated next to Cat, her head was down, hands nearly motionless at her sides. No one had ever seen her like this before. She was supposed to be confident, outgoing… Even loud and, for lack of a better term, rather bitchy at times. "…Rosie's really good with medicine, you know…" Catalina offered, to break the silence.
"…I know," Suzee snapped. Good. At least she wasn't entirely gone.
"And I'm sure everything will be alright."
This time Suzee didn't say anything. She merely looked up from the floor toward the other girl's eyes, nodded once, and turned her attention back to the floor. Catalina leaned in toward her a bit, to let her know that, if nothing else, at least she was there. The cold sensation was uncomfortable, though… Not like a cold mist, but dry. It was like a pocket of tangible cold air, and it caused Cat to shiver as she fought not to pull away.
"You don't have to do that, you know," Suzee said, looking up again.
"Does it help?"
She didn't respond for a while, and then, "…A little."
Catalina then continued down the hall with her shoulder slightly brushing Suzee's.
The Yensidian glanced at her friend. Catalina looked straight ahead, and was quite obviously uncomfortable. Every now and then, she'd shiver, her steps becoming forced as she fought to remain in contact with the spirit. Suzee has always thought it to be slightly entertaining – the fact that people were so surprised by the coldness of her consciousness added a little bit of fun to an otherwise boring pitch. In reality, it was a sort of precautionary numbing sensation, which, in theory, helped keep the subject calm during what was a traumatizing ordeal. Now, though, she didn't find it very entertaining at all… Not when she really wanted to be close to her friends, and her very presence made them shiver.
A hospital room. The girl, bandaged and alone…Suzee shook her head to clear it, drawing a rather odd look from the Saturnian. It was just a brief glimpse of something. A fragment of a memory that Suzee couldn't quite place…
It was stupid, what she'd done. Lately, pitching her consciousness had been relatively safe… Her friends weren't going to hurt her, and Suzee only ever did it with their permission. Sure, there had been a couple creatures she'd pitched into, like Eaty… And the computer AI, Pezu, among others. All of them had a mind to read, though. The Zillorite was so… unfocused. Her year way from home had caused her to throw caution to the wind… She'd gotten overconfident, and now she was paying for it. Hopefully she wasn't going to pay for it with her life.
Suzee did her best not to cry, though holding back tears only resulted in her emitting a choked sob. Cat turned to her, nearly stumbling on the steps Suzee hadn't even realized they'd been walking down.
"I'm alright," she assured. "Just thinking."
Cat offered her friend the best smile that she could. "You know, that was…"
"You don't have to tell me it was stupid. I already know." A wispy violet arm reached out, as if to push past the Saturnian. Suzee continued down the stairs now slightly in the lead.
"I wasn't going to say that," Cat said, slightly disconcerted by the fact that Suzee's feet made absolutely no noise as they stomped on each metal step. "I mean, you probably saved us back there, you know? You kept it… distracted… I guess."
Momentarily, the violet spirit came to a stop… Then continued as if nothing at all had been said.
"Suzee…"
She managed a smile as she turned back around. "Cat, don't worry about me. Really. I'm fine." Her arm reached out to signal the automatic door to open, but it went right through it. After pondering this phenomenon for a second, Suzee stepped the rest of the way through. Catalina followed after soon enough.
In their bunkroom, Cat rifled through a drawer to locate something else to wear, as her uniform was currently spattered with black and red blood. Suzee winced as Cat threw her jacket on the floor, realizing for the first time that it was her blood, a fact she'd previously chosen to ignore.
Finally, Cat found a clean jumper, and as she headed toward the lavatory to change, she needlessly reminded Suzee that she'd be right out.
As soon as the door closed, Suzee phased through the wall and into the Christa's corridor. She was going to the Medlab.
---
"…Everything is normal," Rosie mused, as she handed a stethoscope to Radu. She took one of the various scanners off the wall, and did another quick scan. Except for the bloodloss, Suzee's systems were functioning as expected.
"Well, that's good, right?" Harlan asked, standing up from his leaning post on the wall and taking the few steps it took to get to the table in the center of the room. His eyes narrowed as he looked down at Suzee's face. All the color was gone from it.
Rosie placed the scanner back on the table. "No. It's not. I mean, she's stable, but she should be in shock… or something. I don't know. This doesn't make any sense. Look, the blood isn't even clotting around the wound, but she's stopped bleeding. It's like… she's frozen or something."
Radu shook his head, peering sidelong at Rosie as he kept his main attention on the Yensidian stretched out on the table. If Rosie was upset… If Rosie had nothing positive to offer, then…
"But I'm sure she'll be alright! I mean, there's gotta be a reason…"
There it was. Radu relaxed tenfold. Despite the fact that Rosie's cheerfulness could get on people's nerves at times, it was certainly welcome to think that there was still hope. Granted, Suzee was Yensidian, and the crew of the Christa, to say nothing of the UPP, knew next to nothing about them. The only one that really understood the extra-dimensional traveler at all was Catalina, and she was no medical expert. As far as anyone could tell, their physiology was quite similar, except one had to take Yensidian mental talents into account when assessing a problem. In this case, the form in front of them was really nothing but an empty shell.
As Radu turned away, evidently lost in thought, Harlan continued to stand by Rosie, handing her whatever she needed as she just kind of droned on, talking to herself. Maybe it helped… He didn't know. Or maybe Rosie had an invisible friend, too. One thing Harlan would never forget was the first time he saw Suzee… A girl he'd thoroughly convinced himself could not possibly exist. It defied all reason. It defied logic, and senses and whatever else because not only was it scientifically impossible, but, damn it, it was socially unacceptable, too! Perhaps then… That first time Suzee'd come into their lives, was the first time Harlan really admitted to himself that he didn't know everything.
But he wasn't going to let the rest of them know that.
"Of course she'll be alright," he smiled, reaching out to lay a hand on hers. Her fingers were already cold, which was quite surprising. He pulled away, involuntarily thrashing his hand around a bit only to find that it had brushed up against another… Another cold something.
"Hey. Watch it."
As if on cue, everyone looked up. When no one said anything for a while, Suzee's resolved stare melted. She turned her eyes away.
Rosie was the first to break the uncomfortable silence. "…We didn't see you come in. Sorry. How are you, though? Are you feeling all right? I mean, considering…"
Suzee waved off her questions with an interesting salute that involved an arm, which didn't actually seem to have a hand on the end of it. "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Actually, I was hoping you could tell me about… You know." The handless arm gestured to her own unconscious body. Harlan couldn't help thinking how surreal it was… Or, he would have thought it was surreal had he thought to study the word once upon a time. To him, it was just plain weird.
"Oh, she's… I mean, you're fine, Suzee," Rosie assured, though Suzee, who was somewhat talented in interpreting what was going on in peoples' minds, wasn't entirely convinced of Rosie's well-meaning sincerity. Her translucent arms crossed over her chest, and though there was no reason to, she shifted her weight to one leg while turning an accusatory stare toward her friend. It was all about the gesture… People would cave under it. If Rosie was hiding something…
The Mercurian shifted uncomfortably.
"Suzee…" Radu's hand brushed through her shoulder, which made both of them cringe. Odd, that it would hurt so much… And yet, the Yensidian felt a pull, almost as if the slight touch was drawing her inward, toward Radu. It was a dizzying, sickening, detached feeling that she wanted so badly to correct… And a comforting darkness. And warmth. And…
A brief flash of a huge room. At least… it seemed huge. All around were ovals of various shapes and sizes… Not that he knew what they were, but he could easily see they were there. Really, that's all he needed to know. Some of them were cracking open, and others were simply sitting there. Finding no comfort in the sea of ovals, he started to cry… It wasn't long after that he found himself being lifted up, up, up… Above the sea of ovals and into the arms of another. Words were spoken, but he couldn't understand them… Except for the name that would become forever imprinted on his memory…
Radu cleared his throat, drawing Suzee back to her current reality. She was surprised to find that she was mere centimeters from Radu's face. He was smiling, though the expression was admittedly somewhat forced and embarrassed. Hastily, Suzee drew back, shaking her head. "W… what did you do that for?"
The Andromedan tilted his head. "…Do what?"
"You touched me." That sounded lame. "It… I don't know…"
Harlan was quick to needlessly interject: "Hey, I just want to know what that was all about!"
Suzee waved her hand at him… The hand that wasn't there. Her arm just sort of ended in an obscure bluish haze. "Radu, why?"
"I was just going to say… I… I think it… might be better if maybe you weren't here right now. You know… To let Rosie work."
They all looked at her, watching as she silently seethed, mentally determining her next course of action. On one hand, this was her body they were talking about! They were telling her to just leave herself behind… Leave herself and depend on the knowledge of others? It was absurd. Suzee raised her arms, about to go into a tirade about how she knew exactly what was best for herself, but she dropped them again. Then she raised them, thinking perhaps she should say something. Again, they fell to her sides. Radu's gentle words were suddenly in her mind… She lifted her arms again, but this time it was just a shrug… Ultimately, she turned to leave without saying a word.
Though she heard footsteps behind her, she casually walked through the Medlab door without even batting an eye. Seconds later, it opened, providing a brief glimpse of Harlan and Rosie still hovering near the table… and standing in the doorway in front of them was Radu. He stepped out, and the door whirred to a close behind him.
"What happened back there?"
Suzee rolled her eyes. "Boy, you just get right to the point, don't you?" Again, she crossed her arms over her chest, looking away from Radu…
The Andromedan found himself unable to answer that. Sure, he'd gotten right to the point, but what else was there to say? How are you, Suzee? Obviously, she was miserable. Besides the fact that they were on a Starship and asking mundane questions about the weather was rather pointless, Radu was horrible at smalltalk. It was weird enough that he was holding a conversation with a girl that he could look straight through, but she'd just gone and done something really out of the ordinary – even for her! "That… What was that all about?"
Her eyes lidded a little, in defeat, and she finally faced him. "I don't know. I think I saw one of your memories… It was… There were eggs all over the ground."
Radu chuckled. "I've only been in a hatchery once. And that's when I was born. I doubt I'd remember it."
"They gave you your name," Suzee replied. "…Some things… Just imprint on people. You might not consciously remember it, but it's there."
The slight smile that had been on Radu's lips faded a bit. She seemed so sure… yet at the same time… "You never entered my mind, though. You were just kinda standing there in front of me."
It didn't really seem fair too keep something like this from Radu, especially since it was his privacy she'd been invading. However, it didn't really concern him. Besides, she didn't even know if it was true or not…
And she had to know.
Smiling playfully, she reached out and batted Radu's arm…
More words he didn't understand. And he cried, and cried. It was so cold, and there was no one at all around to comfort him…
Suzee drew back again, clutching her hand close to herself in pain. As she regained focus, she noticed that Radu was reacting in a similar way, one gloved hand over the point on his arm where Suzee had touched him. Her eyes widened considerably, before she simply sidestepped through a wall, leaving Radu wondering what the hell was going on.
He didn't get too long to wonder, though, as his ears picked up the faint tapping of Starcademy-issue boots on the Christa's floor. It was a familiar pattern of steps, and one that he was just getting used to hearing again. "…Cat…" Usually Radu would wait for the person to appear before calling their name. Often, it unnerved people that he could tell who was there before he could see them, but Andromedan hearing was absolutely spectacular. When one heard every little thing, it was child's play to recognize a person by the pattern their footsteps made, or the unique rhythm of their heart.
The footsteps paused as the person on the other end heard her name. That was to be expected – she was likely surprised. Radu called out to her again. "Catalina, I think there's something really wrong with Suzee."
She finally appeared from around a corner in the corridor, her pace quickening. "You saw her? She was down here?"
"Yes." Radu looked toward the closed door to the Medlab. "She… touched me. And it hurt. Do you know why?"
Catalina shook her head, multicolored strands of hair falling into her eyes. "I don't really know much about Yensidians. I… never really bothered to ask… And now I can't even find her. She's shut me out…"
"…And she said she saw memories. Of when I was born."
At this, Catalina's eyes widened. She reached out to grab Radu's wrist, and he was very relieved to find that the contact didn't hurt. She looked up at him briefly, before tugging him farther into the corridor. "We've got to find her. Now."
---
It had been disposed of in the normal way. Left within the confines of the airlock, it would be purged when the ship next opened the outer valve to equalize the pressure in the ship. Left for dead, it sat and waited for mobility to return. Yes, it was tangible, and yes, it had "died" in one sense of the word, though Zillorites never truly died. They couldn't, when their natural form was nothing at all.
Slowly, the body of the creature melted into that comfortable nothingness, which then reached out a tendril to touch the inner airlock door. It would not make the same mistake again… Now that it had something new to emulate, something bigger and stronger, it would surely prevail.
The tendril pushed through the door, dragging the rest of itself with it. Soon, it was once more inside the Christa proper, and it began to reform. It began to reform into the shape of that which had killed it.
---
It wasn't that she needed to… Nor did she feel any comfort from it. Sitting on the bed was merely a mental projection. Something she was familiar with. Something she could really relate to and use to hold on. Because if she let go, that would be the end of it.
There were tears on her cheeks, which no one could possibly wipe away, because she was imagining them. It was all part of the act that really wasn't an act at all. Suzee was actually quite frightened, though she, unlike most, didn't seek out the company of friends. She was quite comfortable alone, and preferred it to remain that way. Of course, on the Christa, when someone wished for one thing, they nearly always got another. The Christa was a sentient being; a ship that was partially alive and could feel for her crew. Which was probably why at that moment, the door to the girls' bunkroom opened to admit Thelma.
Suzee looked up, hugging her knees to her chest. The android, for once, didn't wear a smile at all, but a look of concern. Whether it was genuine or not, Suzee couldn't say, though Thelma was closer to her than anyone on the ship. Suzee was the only other crew member that knew what it was like to be part of the Christa… It was a trait they both had in common, and the common ground between them. Sometimes, she felt closer to Thelma than she felt to Catalina. Right now, in fact, she'd shut Catalina out. Not because she didn't want to be found – that was hardly the case. It was just that she didn't want to be found right away.
Thelma stood in the doorway for a long time before approaching the bed upon which Suzee sat. Her eyes blinked expectantly, as she seemed to wait for something.
Suzee's now invisible hand reached up to wipe the tears off her face. "Hey, Thelma… You wanna sit down?"
Thelma did so. Despite her thin frame, she was rather heavy, and the hideaway bed creaked slightly under her weight. It would hold, though, mostly because Suzee herself was adding no weight at all to it.
"I could not help thinking that perhaps you needed someone to talk to," Thelma began. She paused. In the silence, Suzee could hear her mechanical operations and the almost musical whining of the android's advanced computer systems. Yet despite all that, she was at least partially alive – at least as much as the ship was. "Mmm. The Christa is… worried about you."
Suzee shrugged. Thelma noticed that her facial features weren't as clear as they used to be. And while she usually recognized her friends by a series of ones and zeros, she did have visual input as well, and things were just really not as clear as she thought they should be. Odd. It was yet another variable in an equation that she already had no hope of solving. Her creators knew nothing of Yensidians, thus, nothing about them had been programmed into her memory. All she knew came from Suzee herself, and before that, from what Catalina said about her.
There was the possibility that she could access the Christa's Infocore to gather up some information, but the UPP, from which the crew hailed, would have nothing about Yensid. The Lumanians likely knew nothing either, as far as Thelma knew. Again, she could check, but with a real live Yensidian right here, the Christa thought that perhaps it would be better to simply ask Suzee herself.
"So, what do you want?" the girl asked more irritably than she'd meant to.
What would a human do in a situation such as this…? Thelma wondered idly to herself, then decided that living things enjoyed physical contact. It was odd, but it did seem to help. She reached out a hand to the girl, and Suzee, horrorstruck, drew back as if she'd been hit. It was too late, though. Thelma's hand passed through her back…
It was a shuttle. A very old shuttle, which perhaps originated in the Sol System. A horrible heat. An intense, biting pain, and then there was nothing.
A tired mind, not willing to give up. A race of people that took pity on this lost soul…
She was born again.
"Don't!!" The Yensidian backed up on the bed until she was nearly through the wall. Thelma emulated a look of surprise, which might have actually been real. She, as an android, couldn't feel pain, but there was definitely an interesting sensation that went along with it. She looked at Suzee, tilting her head a little bit.
"Just… D… don't touch me…"
Her head tilted the other way. "…Alright, Suzee. If that is what you wish." She stood up to go.
"No, Thelma. Don't go… I need to tell someone." Suzee reached out a hand, quickly drawing it back. It seemed to Thelma that there was less arm there than there was before. And it was becoming increasingly difficult to even see the girl at all. The android stopped, turned.
"…Alright. I will stay."
Suzee looked at her feet. "I just don't want to be alone right now." That was a lie, right? Hadn't she come up here to be alone? Away from the others? "Sorry, Thelma. If you have to go, you can." Thelma nodded, though didn't move from where she was standing. Suzee offered her a puzzled, questioning look.
"I do not have to go," Thelma answered. "So I will stay."
Offering nothing but a nod, Suzee allowed her eyes to move back to her feet. They were actually quite interesting, mostly because they simply weren't there. If she looked hard enough, she could see that her legs were likewise fading away, bit by bit. Finally steeling herself enough to admit what she'd been fearing all along, she looked up to Thelma, opening her mouth to speak… When suddenly the door to the bunkroom opened to admit Catalina and Radu.
When they saw Suzee, they stopped. Stared.
Radu wanted to know what Catalina was so worried about, and Cat wanted to know whether or not Suzee shared her fears. Suzee just wanted to say what she'd been about to say before she was interrupted, and so, she said it.
"…I think… I'm dying."
If she expected the silence to end, it only grew heavier. What did you say, when a person said something as horrible as that? Mentally, she begged them all to say something. Anything. She looked at Cat for help, and finally that Saturnian approached. Careful, Suzee noticed, not to get close enough to actually touch.
She knows, Suzee thought.
"…Yensidian Death Ritual."
Suzee nodded.
"There is an intruder in the Command Post," Thelma offered helpfully.
Quite rudely torn away from the dramatic moment, three sets of eyes rested on Thelma. The android continued. "My scans show that it is the Zillorite from before… The one that… previously and inexplicably breached the Christa's hull." Her eyes rolled back slightly in thought. "I believe Miss Davenport and Commander Goddard are in danger."
Suzee stood, starting for the door.
Catalina instinctively reached out, closing her hand around her friend's arm. It was intangible, though the fact that Suzee was in contact and anchored to something physical held her in place. Again, the dizzying, horrible feeling that she was falling, and the promise that if she just let herself fall, she would be alright…
"What are you going to name her?""I think we should give her an earth name. They're so exotic."
"Earth?"
"Yes."
Many names were suggested. Ultimately, they settled on one they both found pretty, and suitable for their daughter.
"Catalina!"
Cat found herself being yanked backwards, the horrible pain that had been throbbing in her chest suddenly ending. Suzee stood in front of them, rocking back and forth slightly, one arm stretched out and leveled where Catalina's heart had been. Her eyes were open, but unseeing, her visage more translucent than it had been before.
"…It's not… The end… yet…" she breathed, struggling with a great deal of difficulty to pull herself out of the trance. Her eyes still remained focused and unblinking, though the rocking had stopped. Finally, something seemed to snap, and Suzee came back into focus, losing whatever artificial balance she had, and fell to the floor.
No one moved. No one wanted to touch her.
"…I'm alright," Suzee said. "And I have to get to the ComPost."
---
"Her heart rate is slowing, but it's in increments. Like… Like she's just slowly fading, or something."
Harlan nodded a little as Rosie spoke. He wasn't much help… Really, he was just there to offer moral support, and wasn't even really doing a very good job of that. It was Rosie that was doing most of the reassuring, though, reminding Harlan that she thought everything was going to be alright.
…Which was sort of a lie. None of the treatments she'd tried were working at all. No matter what she did, Suzee's physical self slowly got worse. Her systems weren't shutting down, thankfully, but her heart and brain activity were starting to fluctuate more than Rosie liked.
Then, suddenly, it came to her.
"She's only half a person," Rosie said. Harlan looked up at her.
"What?"
"That's why she's getting worse. She's not all here… We have to get her spirit back in here."
Harlan looked at the monitors and wires and all the things he really didn't understand. "What happens if we don't?"
Rosie smiled. "Let's just get to the Command Post."
She was a lot more worried than she let on. Then again, now that she knew what the problem was, Rosie was sure everything was going to be fine.
---
It was difficult to not drift too far ahead of them. Suzee didn't really have any limits on how fast she could travel in this form, and her urgency was lending her speed. Now and then, Cat or Radu would shout at her to slow down and wait for them… Eventually, she listened, and found herself flanked by both of them… Thelma was only a few more steps behind.
A glance out the corner of her eye told her that neither Radu nor Catalina was making any sort of effort to touch her. In fact, they were going through great pains to make sure they didn't come anywhere near her at all… This was a bit disturbing, of course, and frustrating. She was causing them pain with even the slightest contact…
"What were you talking about back there?" Radu asked, looking at Cat. He leaned over, hands on his knees, in an attempt to catch his breath. Catalina, meanwhile, was leaning against one of the walls, red-faced and panting. Had they been running…?
"I can't explain it," she said, brushing sweat-streaked red and yellow hair out of her face.
"You guys, Thelma said that Miss D. and Commander Goddard were in trouble. Why are we standing here talking about this now?" Suzee's invisible hands rested angrily on her hips.
Catalina turned to her, eyes wide, and Radu thought, perhaps, angry. "…Look, this isn't just about losing you, Suzee! It's… It's…"
"Yes it is," Suzee returned. "And I can save them."
Radu opened his mouth to say something, but was instantly cut off by Catalina snappy retort.
"Suzee! I know enough about you to know what you're trying to do! Okay, so maybe I'm being selfish, but there's gotta be another way out of this other than you dying."
This sounded like one of those earther Soap Operas, Radu thought, as he tried – and failed – to interject again.
Suzee's laugh was… morbid? Defeated? "You said it yourself, Cat. You know about the Death Ritual. It's just somethin' that happened. And I'm dying. Why else would I…"
"Wait a sec," Radu finally managed. "Dying?"
"We don't have time now," Suzee snapped. Radu looked into her eyes… All they seemed to be were blurred sockets. Was she really fading away? Dying? Of course, Suzee didn't give them time to ask, as she turned and headed off again at a pace which Radu and Catalina had to run to match.
---
"…He looks like Radu," Miss Davenport observed. Her voice carried an edge to it. A panic that Seth Goddard was all too familiar with. The two of them were crouched behind the Helm, watching the Zillorite as it slowly crept from the jumptubes to each of the consoles in turn. Its Andromedan visage – totally black, even its eyes – bore an uncanny similarity to Radu's face. It seemed to be sniffing for something as it methodically performed its search. The weapon it had created before was back, clutched in the creature's hand.
"Stay quiet," Goddard cautioned, guiding T.J. farther around the Helm as the Zillorite moved. It didn't see them, and seemed to have rather poor hearing – ironic, considering the form it had taken.
"I'm scared," T.J. complained. Seth chose to ignore her. His hand wrapped around one of the crystals… He'd try to stab it again, but this time, they'd be sure they overrode the Christa's system to get it off the ship for good, and right away. Whatever it was, it didn't die.
They thought they'd killed it, though…
It turned its back. Seth reacted almost instantly, springing to his feet. It would have been quiet. The Zillorite probably wouldn't have even noticed the commander moving… Except for the fact that Davenport had chosen that very moment to have a panic attack and scream.
The dark creature turned, focusing its eyes and the weapon on Goddard. It was disturbing how closely it emulated Radu… Of course, the features were blurred, but it had really done the Andromedan justice. The nose and chin was similar in shape. The hair was even the right length… It was the eyes, though, the black, expressionless eyes, that really separated it from an Andromedan boy. They carried no hate, or confusion, or anything of the sort. Empty, they seemed only to see the surface of things. They showed no depth. No love, no pain. They just were.
Goddard took a step forward, crystal still clutched in his hand.
The Zillorite hissed, and Seth stopped. Unfortunately, the hiss wasn't a warning… It was some sort of battle cry. In the very next instant, the energy weapon was discharged, burying a shot in Goddard's shin. Yelping, the commander leapt back, falling against the Helm. It burned. The pain was terrible. It felt like it had gone right through skin, muscle, and bone only to exit on the other side. It was also cold, and the coldness from the hole in his leg spread upward, enveloping his knees, his back, his shoulders… Even his face. Painful didn't even begin to describe it.
The Zillorite tilted its head, though no curiosity registered in its eyes. One step at a time, slowly, as if it had nowhere else to be, the creature came forward as if to study the Commander, all the while keeping the weapon leveled at his chest.
The next shot, Goddard thought, would finish him off.
Over the shoulder of the creature, Goddard though he could see some sort of light. Perhaps it was the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel… Maybe he was already dying? The pain certainly was enough to make it possible. Then, as he focused on the light, he could see the blurred features of Suzee's face. How had she gotten into the Command Post? The door hadn't even opened!
Suddenly, Goddard heard the sound of the door opening.
Two sets of footsteps.
"Commander!!"
Catalina's voice.
Two shots were fired.
He couldn't see them, though. He had no idea whether or not they were okay… All he knew was that Catalina screamed, and there was another voice… Radu? Radu said something, but Seth couldn't make it out.
In front of him, Suzee reached out, grabbing at the Zillorite's shoulder and allowing her hand to go right through… The contact was made! As if falling into a trance, the creature ceased its movements completely. Likewise, Suzee stopped moving. She had no idea what was going on, as her mind had already fallen into what would, she thought, be its very last ritual sleep.
The planet's surface was green and beautiful. They needed the resources to survive. Despite the incorporeal and intangible form, the creatures decided this planet would best belong to them.
The decision was collective. The rest didn't have any other choice but to agree.
Then, this one was spawned…
The distinction between them was blurring. Compassion? And emotion that was new to it. The concept of friendships. The ability to dream! So many new doors opened…
Suzee found herself once more wrenched from the comfortable sleep. Like last time, her arm was stretched out to where the creature's heart would be, her eyes staring straight ahead, momentarily emotionless and empty. Commander Goddard stood just in front of her, the crystal held in his hand slick with black blood. The Zillorite? It was dead again. Passed out at their feet.
"What did you do that for?" Suzee demanded. Goddard took a step backwards, wincing as pain shot up through his leg.
"It was a nice… distraction…"
Suzee shook her head. "No. I was… I was going to…"
Goddard waved her off, turning toward the doorway where Radu and Catalina had entered before. He couldn't stand the thought of more of the students being hurt… He'd carry the burden of guilt. Their deaths. His leg hurt with every step, but he had to know… It was his responsibility to see.
He was thoroughly relieved to hear Radu's report. "…We're okay, Commander. He missed."
Two black spots charred the wall next to the door. Catalina and Radu had somehow avoided them, and were huddled next to the jumptube control panel. Lucky… But then again, their whole journey seemed to be about luck. One day, perhaps… One day they wouldn't be so lucky.
"We've got to get this creature off the ship," Goddard said, turning back to the Zillorite. "I don't know how it ended up 'alive' again, but if it can do that at will, every second it's on the Christa, we're in danger. Radu, you can lift it, I'm sure. Catalina, you need to override the ship's normal control schedule and flush the airlock as soon as possible. And I need you to do this now. Do you understand?"
Radu simply nodded. There was nothing really to say to that, as the situation was imperative enough without slowing themselves down with conversation. Approaching the 'dead' Zillorite, he leaned down, lifting it easily. It may have looked like an Andromedan, but it was so incredibly light, almost like air…
Catalina offered the Commander a salute, and a worried look at his damaged leg, before hurrying off to the engine room in order to override the system.
Completely spent, adrenaline depleted, Seth dropped like a rock, joining Miss Davenport in unconsciousness on the Command Post's floor. Suzee had never felt more alone in her life. Her last hope to live on had ended. She wouldn't possibly think of burdening the rest of the crew with her spirit…
"Suzee?"
She turned, to see Harlan and Rosie standing by the open door.
"Whoa… We must have missed something major," Harlan muttered, glancing at the fresh black blood on the floor. Suzee smiled sadly, but they couldn't even see it. Her features were too faded by now.
Rosie must have detected it, though, bless her. The Mercurian smiled back.
"Suzee! We know how to help you. You have to go back to your body." …It sounded so weird when she said it outloud. "I know you said you can't, but maybe if we put our heads together, we could think of a way…"
"…I can. I think. But what if…" she shook her head. "If I go back, and my body dies, I'll die, too."
She was going to die anyway!
Harlan looked at her. He didn't even seem to care that she was barley even recognizable. "…Okay, so you're telling me all this…" He gestured at the floor. "Could have been prevented."
Suzee shook her head again. She didn't really care whether or not they could tell that she was shaking her head. "…That thing came back. It was trying to hurt them." She waved a hand at the Commander and Miss Davenport. "So, you know, I thought if I… I was going to do a Spirit Transfer. A Yensidian Death Ritual. That way I would have maybe impacted it enough with my memories that it left you alone."
She expected comfort. Wanted comfort. She was, after all, dying.
"That was really stupid, Suzee," Harlan said. "You could have been killed."
"I'm dying anyway," she said.
"No, you're not! You're gonna be fine!" Rosie reached out to Suzee, but Suzee pulled away. Confused, Rosie continued anyway. "See, your body's just… only a shell. The reason it's not getting better is because you aren't in it."
---
It was stupid, what she'd done. Yet here she was, standing before herself… Her face was pale, but at least her features were recognizable. The monitors displaying her vital signs were weakening, too, according to Rosie. So she hadn't heard the entire truth… She was dying, but slowly. Well, there was nothing really to lose…
Reaching out, feeling both the comfort and pain of her own self, Suzee once again found and embraced that sleep that she so desperately wanted.
---
Rosie was forced into action almost immediately. The recombination caused a sudden surge through all her friend's systems… Some were stabilizing, and others were failing.
"She bleeding again…!" Radu. He pressed a hand to Suzee's side.
"I'm on it," Rosie issued, as she finished hooking the Yensidian up to oxygen. This was all so new to her, really. It was so random. So out of control. Things were happening too quickly… faster than even she could remember. Heart – stable. Brainwaves – stable.
Bleeding profusely!
"Her heart rate's slowing down!" Catalina cautioned.
Heart rate – not stable. It was the blood loss.
She pressed a clean towel into the wound. It was almost as if Suzee's body had gone into hibernation following the attack, and was now showing all the classic signs of gunshot trauma. Not that Rosie had any idea what the signs were… She'd never dealt with this before. Ever.
In fact, as she worked, her memory seemed to blank everything out. She knew what she was doing, could feel herself working, but never once registered it. It wasn't until she leaned backwards into someone's arms that she even realized any time had passed at all.
She forced her eyes to focus.
Suzee lay on the table, the blips and clicks of the monitors stating that everything was once more stable. There was a bandage around her middle – the bleeding had stopped. There was color in her cheeks again, though she was unconscious. She'd be unconscious for a while.
"…What did I do?" she asked, not believing that she could have possibly bandaged the girl. She didn't remember doing it!
"You saved her, Rosie." Radu's arms wrapped around her. Warm. Comfortable. Rosie allowed herself to relax, finally, as she felt herself being lifted. She was asleep before Radu even set her down on the MedLab's cot.
---
Light touched her eyes. It was the deciding factor that brought her back to consciousness, though it was sort of that middle point where she just didn't want to wake up. The pain hadn't quite registered yet… It was distant. In fact, Suzee realize that she could barely feel it at all. Opening her eyes, the first thing she saw was a glass dome above her head.
"Don't panic," she heard. Someone was talking to her through the glass.
"We're hooking you up to the Christa." There was the voice again. Who's was it? Rosie's. Suzee turned her head a bit to look at the girl, who smiled back at her.
Alive!!
"Rosie! You…"
Goddard looked down at her through the glass. "…Your distraction was welcome, Suzee. It gave me the opportunity to dispatch the Zillorite… which Cat flushed out of the ship."
Suzee looked over at Cat, who nodded.
Goddard continued. "But your careless actions very well almost cost you your life. We are a crew here, Suzee. We function together as a unit."
She couldn't believe what she was hearing, though some part of her mind knew that the Commander was absolutely right.
"And… you know, if you have something to say, you can come to us. We could have helped you a lot sooner if you'd told us what was goin' on." Catalina placed a hand on the glass, looking down through it at her friend. Suddenly, Suzee felt the need to defend herself.
"…I thought I was dying."
"Yensidian Death Ritual," Cat said. "Dying Yensidians transfer their memory to someone close to them, so that they can live on somehow. At least… I think that's how it goes… She was trying to affect the Zillorite."
"I thought he'd leave you alone if I did," Suzee stated. She could feel herself growing sleepy…
"A brave gesture," the Commander said. Suzee could tell there was more coming, though. Didn't he realize that if she hadn't shown up when she did, that creature would have shot both him and Miss Davenport?
Then again, it all started with Suzee in the first place. She'd been careless. She'd decided that her power meant more than the talents of the others combined. Maybe if she'd hung back a bit at first, she wouldn't have been nearly killed. Perhaps they could have sorted it out.
Damn. She hated it when she had to admit to herself that she'd been wrong.
And now she was in this tube, looking up at the rest of the crew. The rest of the crew, who'd come to the Rigelian system hoping to learn something about Rigel, had instead learned about the impulsive nature of one Yensidian female.
Just before she fell into the Christa's healing sleep, she thought she heard Miss Davenport say something about Demerits…
---
Space was cold, but it wasn't so lonely anymore - at least, to the creature that now floated within it, watching as the ship that it had encountered head off to other reaches of space. The girl had introduced him to emotion. To love, and hate. To a sense of right and wrong.
This information was, of course, shared with every other creature in its pool.
Things would be a bit different from now on.