Rico awoke without a sound. For a second he didn't know what woke him, then he heard muttering from below his bunk. He stuck his head out and looked down at Skipper.
What he saw shocked him. His leader was whimpering and begging in his sleep, kicking out and curling up, then kicking out again. "Please..." he was moaning near-silently, over and over, a tortured look on his face.
Panicked, Rico looked up to the other two bunks. "'Walski!" He hissed.
"Right here, Rico."
He turned his scarred head and saw Kowalski and Private sat at the table, in shadow. They both looked tired and scared. He garbled quietly for a few seconds. Private nodded. Rico hopped out of his bunk to join them.
"Leave me alone..." Skipper's whisper made them all jump. He covered his face with his flippers and moaned. "Leave... me..." Skipper cowered at the back of his bunk. His toes scraped the shelf as he kicked out again. "No... leave... me..."
They sat in silence until dawn, when their leader suddenly jumped out of bed and, upon realising they had been awake all night, treated them to a harsh scolding, followed by a lecture on sleep regimes, twenty punishment laps of the zoo, and the promise that if it ever happened again it would be fifty more.
They were all awakened again the following night. Private was rocking back and forth with his flippers over his ear holes and his eyes tight shut, pretending he couldn't hear Skipper's agony; Kowalski had his notepad and pencil out, writing down everything Skipper said and did in his nightmare state, and trying to establish patterns to compare with past data and hypotheses; Rico was staring at his leader with something between revulsion and blank awe, mouth open and tongue lolling.
"No... I never would have... you don't understand." Skipper covered his face again. After a few seconds, the unmistakable sound of weeping came from him. The others were in shock, Kowalski even too surprised to scribble out what he was hearing. Skipper continued between sobs, "I ne-never... meant to... I, I'm so sorry..."
There was more silence between the three at the table until Rico, shaken the most by what they saw, quietly suggested they return to their bunks to avoid laps. Before they could Skipper spoke again.
"Love you... never wanted... hurt... you..." His body gave a shudder and then was still. After a tense few seconds Skipper started to breathe easier. His muscles relaxed and the flippers fell from his face. His eyes were open.
The commanding officer sat up and glared at them after hastily wiping the lingering tears from his eyes. "What?" He snapped self-consciously. They looked away and headed for their own bunks. "Fifty laps at dawn. Next time just wake me up and get back to sleep."
Ten minutes later, Kowalski and Private were sleeping peacefully. Rico heard once more the sound of crying come from below his bunk.