Interrogation

After reporting their findings regarding the unknown ship, the vessel was tractored into a position alongside the Lorelei – its unconscious occupant taken to the medical facility for treatment and study.

"There's no mistake, " Spea stated as she read the information displayed on the monitor before her, "It's Solnoid all right, right down to the DNA. Some of the chromosomes are arranged oddly, but otherwise it's a perfect match."

"But, how is that possible?" Shildy muttered, "Sure, the basic form might be the same, but there has never been a Solnoid that looked like THAT!"

"It gets stranger – it doesn't have an implanted datatag... and look at this." Spea informed her, pointing to the internal scan. "See these objects embedded in the brain? There's no record of any Solnoid tech of a similar nature – I can't even begin to guess at what they're for. Musculature and bone density don't match Solnoid norms, there are discrepancies in the size and arrangement of some of the internal organs, and don't get me started on what that weird growth between its' legs is supposed to be!"

Shildy nodded absently at that remark, her thoughts elsewhere. This thing LOOKED like a Solnoid, it TALKED like a Solnoid – but it was most definitely NOT a Solnoid.

And yet...

Something about it had stirred something in her – something she didn't understand. She first noticed when she heard its' voice for the first time, it was rough, but oddly comforting at the same time. Before it passed out at her feet, its' eyes had held a glimmer of some emotion that was as compelling as it was confusing. And now, looking at it lying on the scanner table, those feelings resurfaced stronger than before. They were feelings that she could almost remember – something... long lost, instinctive, primal.

"SHILDY!"

Speas' voice snapped her back to reality. "Oh, um... I'm sorry. What were you saying?"

Spea groaned, placing her hand over her eyes and pulling it down over her face. "Ugh! I was SAYING that we likely won't learn anything more from the scans. Aside from being exhausted and slightly dehydrated, it seems to be in good health. We should move it into a recovery room and let it come to naturally. Since it speaks our language, it can answer questions directly when it does."

"Good idea, but let's use the Isolation Protocol – we still don't know what it is, and we can't risk it getting loose on the ship. Continuous monitoring, it doesn't so much as twitch without being recorded."

"Roger that." Spea acknowledged as Shildy spun on her heel and strode out the door.

Once the door slid closed, Shildy leaned her back against the corridor wall and let out a breath. What is that thing doing to me? - she silently pondered – Why does the mere sight of it make me feel so strange? Strange, and... nice?

She shook her head to try and clear it, her hair billowing around her. NO! I'm a soldier, and my duty is to my ship and my crew mates – I will NOT let this thing get to me!

She straightened herself out and headed off to brief the Captain.

When Marcus drifted back to awareness, the first thing he realized was that he was not aboard his own ship. Even before he opened his eyes, he could tell that the entire feel was different.

As the fog lifted from his mind, he began to recall the utterly bizarre series of events that had recently transpired – beginning with the rushed evacuation of the star system and culminating with the supernova explosion that had overloaded his mind-link with the ship. What had happened after that point was difficult to figure out - he seemed to remember working to repair the damage to the main control console, and then seeing...

NO! - he thought as he replayed the scene in his mind – it couldn't have been Steph that I saw. There's no way she could have escaped that awful disaster... even if she had gotten to a ship, it would have been too deep in the system to avoid being caught in the shockwave of an exploding star.

"Steph... no..." he muttered, his breath ragged as he nearly sobbed the words.

"Steph?"

His eyes flew open upon hearing another voice beside him. He turned his head to find a girl – no more than ten years old, wearing round glasses and sporting a ponytail of light brown hair – regarding him with intense curiosity. "Ummm... hello?" he ventured as he lifted himself to a sitting position.

"Oh, you're awake," the girl responded. "I'm Amy, Med-Tech on duty this shift. You've been unconscious for twelve hours. How... how are you feeling?"

Marcus swung his legs off the bed and stood up in one fluid motion, stretching his arms over his head as he did so. "All things considered, I'd say that I'm in pretty good shape. Thank you for your timely help, Amy – my name is Marcus, by the way..." He paused as he noticed that she was focused on a location that was significantly lower than his eyes. He looked at himself, and realized why she was flustered. "Why am I naked? And what's with the stare?"

Amy shook her head violently, her eyes tightly closed. "Sorry, sorry!" she managed to blurt out. "Your uniform is on that table over there – we had it repaired and cleaned for you while you were out."

Marcus walked over to the table and inspected each piece before putting it on. As he slid on his boots, he looked over to Amy, who still had her eyes squeezed shut. "It's okay – you can look now." As she opened her eyes and let out the breath she had been holding, he eyed her curiously. "Why are you acting like that? Have you never seen a naked body before?"

"NO! I mean... YES! I mean... not like yours!"

This situation is getting stranger by the moment, Marcus mused. How could a Med-Tech not have experience with basic anatomy? He decided to set that thought aside for the moment. "Never mind that for now. Can you tell me where I am?"

"Sure!" Amy responded brightly, "You're..."

"AMY!" a voice bellowed from behind him. Marcus turned to see the woman he had mistaken for Steph in the doorway, glaring at the pair. "You will answer no questions from this creature – DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"

"Yes! Yes, Ma'am!" Amy responded, cringing at the outburst as she ran past the tall woman and left the room.

The new occupant pressed a button on the wall panel, and the door behind her slid closed. "Now," she addressed Marcus with ice in her voice, "You are the one who has some questions to answer..."

A scowl crossed Marcus' face as he folded his arms over his chest. "Oh? And just what makes you think I'd be in any mood to answer your questions at this point?"

"It would appear that you don't understand your situation here," his long-haired inquisitor commented, "as of now, you are a prisoner of the Solnoid Defence Forces..."

Solnoid?

"... and you WILL answer any questions put to you, or face some rather harsh consequences."

She didn't even bother waiting for Marcus to acknowledge the threat that had just been put to him. "Now – how do you explain your appearance?"

Puzzled by the question, Marcus responded with a raised eyebrow. "What about my appearance?"

"Don't play dumb! Our tests on you indicate that your DNA is Solnoid, but you are unlike any Solnoid in recorded history! Your ship is unlike anything we have in the fleet! And we can't identify the things implanted into your brain!"

She gave him an accusing glare. "You're a spy, aren't you? You were created by our enemies to look like us, and placed at the edge of a battlefield where they KNEW we would find you so that you could report our activities back to your masters!"

Marcus could take no more, and snapped at her. "LOOK, lady! I don't know who you think you are – but I'm here because my ship got caught in a supernova! I was running from two groups of ships that invaded our system and started SHOOTING at one another! They..." He paused as he started to connect what he had just found out to earlier events. "It was YOU who did it!" He returned her glare with equal venom. "YOU were one of those invaders who thought nothing of blowing up a star! Do you even realize what you've DONE? There were two MILLION people in the inner system!" He lunged forward and grabbed her arms. "Don't you even CARE about that?"

She stared at him, wide-eyed and uncertain, as his fury died down and he relaxed his grip on her. "I won't answer any questions." He muttered. "Get out, before I do something we'll both regret."

She unlocked the door and backed out.

As Shildy re-locked the door, she paused to evaluate what had happened just moments before. I could have knocked that thing flat on its back when it grabbed me... I SHOULD have done that. Why didn't I? Why did I leave when it asked me to?

She pondered what it had said. "Two MILLION dead! Don't you even CARE?"

Her training told her that casualties were part of war, and that winning the war was worth the loss.

And yet...was it? Was it really?