Revival

Derek and Erica watched as the ships' doctor gently lowered the mysterious redhead into one of the treatment chambers and closed the lid. Indicators lit up immediately as the chamber automatically performed a scan. "What's the prognosis, doc?" Erica asked nervously.

"I'd say that there's a good chance she can be resuscitated – she's in quite good condition," replied the doctor as she brushed a wisp of lavender hair away from her eyes. "There was something that looked like a tumour in her lower abdomen, but it's been de-atomized already. I'm warming her up slowly, and I'll start a miralon infusion when her temperature reaches normal. Neural revitalization and rehabilitation will follow, once she's stabilized."

"Any guesses for a time-frame?" wondered Derek aloud.

"I'd say eight hours, ten on the outside, and she'll come around naturally. I don't foresee any complications stemming from the procedure, so you two can get some rest yourselves." Derek started to object, so she spun him around and pushed both of them towards the door. "OUT! I'll let you know if anything develops." She winked and waved at the pair as the door slid closed behind them. Once she was confident that they wouldn't return, she turned back to the treatment chamber while her expression changed to one of grief. "So you're one of them," she whispered as she gently placed a hand on the cover of the chamber, "I am so, SO sorry..."

As they walked down the corridor, Erica turned to look at Derek with a bemused expression. "Okay," she said, "Out with it."

"Out with what?" Derek asked, puzzled.

"Don't give me that! I've seen that look on your face before – you have the hots for the dead girl, don't you?" She poked him in the side for emphasis.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Derek protested as he rubbed the spot where Erica had jabbed him. "I'm just curious, is all. Why would she have been left like that? Where would she have been from, that her own medics couldn't help? What was she doing here in the first place?"

"Uh-huh," Erica smirked, "totally smitten."

"Oh, be quiet," Derek scolded her as he took a quick glance back down the corridor. "Maybe I could do something to help the doc..." he started.

"OH, no you don't!" Erica scolded him. "Doctor C told us to stay out of Medical for at least ten hours, and that's what we're going to do! If you're not going to take her advice and get some rest, then maybe you can continue my observations of this system."

"Mapping magnetic anomalies at the stellar bow-shock? No thank you! I think I'll head back down to the receiving bay, and see if I can get an accurate estimate on how long our new friend has been out in space. That might give us a hint at where she's from, at least."

Erica could tell that she was fighting a losing battle. "Okay, fine. I'm going to get some sleep. Don't you DARE go anywhere near Medical for the next ten hours."

"Okay, Mom..." Derek said with a sigh, so Erica elbowed him in the ribs.

Nine hours and fifty-five minutes later, Derek stood outside the door to the Medical bay and wondered whether or not he should go in. The time he had spent examining the pod had resulted in more questions than answers – he had managed to tease out some markings from beneath all of the damage from the constant micro-impacts that would happen to an unshielded object drifting through deep space, but they didn't make a lot of sense. He understood that languages change over time, but...

He jumped as the door in front of him slid open to reveal the doctor on her way out. "Oh, Derek, there you are," she said, "I was about to call you."

"You... you were?" Derek stammered. "Then she's...?"

"Alive and well. I was going to move her from the treatment chamber into one of our spare quarters until she wakes up – perhaps you could help me with that?" She pointed to a hovering transport platform that their guest was already resting on.

"Sure thing," Derek agreed as he rushed to grip the control handle. "Lead the way," he said.

It only took a few minutes for them to reach their destination – a fair-sized room that contained a bed, a desk with a built-in computer terminal, and two chairs. Derek lowered the platform to match the level of the bed, and the two of them lifted their unconscious cargo over and onto the mattress... the doctor lowering her head carefully onto the pillow. "Now, all I have to do is set the computer to monitor her vitals and alert me when she wakes up..."

"Can I stay?" blurted Derek. "I can keep an eye on her for you, and I can use the terminal here to keep track of everything that I have to worry about aboard ship."

"I don't know," she objected. "It's not exactly standard procedure..." she saw the look on his face and hesitated. "Oh, all right. Just this once, and don't breathe a WORD of this to your sister!"

Derek beamed at her. "Thanks, doc! You're the best! I'll let you know as soon as she comes to!"

As Derek dropped himself into a chair in front of the computer desk and began typing away eagerly, the doctor backed out of the room. The door slid closed, and she closed her eyes and shook her head. "Kids," she muttered under her breath, "the way they behave at times, you'd never guess that they were thirty years old."

She whistled softly as she pushed the platform back to the Medical section.

Derek watched the results of his search scroll by on the screen projected in front of him.

The odd differences between the markings on the canister and the language he was accustomed to had been bothering him ever since he had managed to uncover them, so he asked the computer to look through the ancient-languages archive to try and find a match. So far, however, it could find nothing that came close to the variations he was looking for. Frustrated, he waved the projection away and sat back in the chair.

Lost in thought, he didn't notice when the unconscious form on the bed started to twitch her arms and legs. Imperceptibly at first, her movements began to take on an intensity that made it seem as though she was fighting off something that nobody else could see. It wasn't until she started to moan that Derek turned around and saw her frantic thrashing. He touched a button on the desk to summon the doctor, and then stood up and walked over to the bed.

As he got closer, what he thought was simple moaning became loud enough for him to make out the words she was mumbling. "No... won't... let me go..."

Thinking that he should try and calm her down, Derek bent down to place his hand on her shoulder and whispered, "It's okay, there's nothing here that will harm..."

The moment his hand made contact, her eyes shot open. She jumped off the bed with a look of sheer terror on her face as she shrieked.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!"