Chapter 3: Conversations and Explanations
When Eli arrived at the observation deck he saw Dr. Grey sat in the middle of the bench. Her hands were gripping the edge of the bench so tightly that her knuckles turned white, she was slouching forward and her head was lowered. Eli didn't hesitate to sit next to her and just stare out at the colours that the FTL drive created. However he did hesitate when thinking of what to say to the young woman next to him, he'd only just met her after all and he didn't know anything about her only that she was English and very smart.
As he stared out at the colours a question popped into his mind and he figured that getting her to answer them would help distract her from what Rush had said to her. He still didn't know why it was so offending to her and he was curious of her background but that could wait until she was herself again.
"How come the FTL drive creates all those colours and lights?" Eli asked turning to look at her.
Grey sighed deeply and relaxed her arms and sat up straight and smiled weakly at him. "Is this your idea of keeping my mind off Rush and his cold-heartedness? If so then it's working."
"Hey, you're so supposed to be teaching remember? If it keeps your mind of things than that's just a bonus." He returned her smile and awaited her to explain.
"Basically FTL or hyper drives work in a similar way to the Stargate network. A spaceship's navigational computer works based on the star constellations exactly like the Stargate. These star constellations work like points on a map and you always need to know where you are before you say where your going to, much like the point of origin." She paused as she turned her gaze to the lights shimmering in front of them. "Stargates are the entrance device to wormholes in space, they're naturally created and the Stargates just force the closest one to create the bridge between the two points, these lights are the wormhole that the ship is passing through, a barrier between space and subspace as it were."
"It's beautiful." Was all Eli could say as he absorbed that information and it described the sight in front of him perfectly and also the young woman next to him, not that was he was going to say it to her.
She smiled earnestly this time as she said "Yeah it really is." Her voice had so much awe in it that anyone could tell that this is what she lived for. Glancing at he kind man sitting next to, keeping her company even though she'd only just met him, she got the feeling that they would get along well. "Hey Eli? You want to be friends? I don't have any and besides Rush you're the only person I know."
"Seriously? You're the last person I'd suspect of being friendless. Yeah I'd love to become friends with you!" He chuckled and couldn't stop smiling at her. "What is your first name, and how old are you anyway?"
"I'm Amber and I'm twenty-five." She clasped her hands on her lap and enjoyed the comfort that Eli was giving her.
Loosing themselves in the comfort and normalcy of just sitting on a bench talking about places on Earth, movies, hobbies, funny childhood moments and anything that came to mind. They sat there talking for hours and only realised that it was lunchtime when Eli's stomach grumbled.
"I guess I should eat something as I skipped breakfast." He stood up and extended his left hand out to her. "Would you like to accompany me?"
She chuckled and shook her head as if dismissing a thought and accepted his hand. "That sounds like a good idea."
Smiling like idiots at each other Eli lead Amber out of the observation deck, towards the food hall where quite a few people were gathering together. On the way to lunch Eli couldn't help but notice that her hand fit perfectly into his and that she genuinely wanted to spend time with him and not because Young had assigned her to him. Everything was fine until Amber started crushing his hand with surprising strength. He looked at her concerned when he saw that her body was shaking, her face contorted in pain and her eyes were glazed over as if she was seeing some horrific ordeal in her mind.
"Amber?" He asked softly, unsure what to do or what had caused her sudden panic.
She just shook her head slightly side to side and her knees buckled and Eli almost stumbled over trying to catch her in his arms. Amber was shaking violently now taking small shaky breaths and if she wasn't pressed right up against his chest he wouldn't of heard her whisper "Rush."
Almost as if he had heard her which would have been impossible as they had left him on the other side of the ship, Rush came walking round the corner and raced towards them when he saw Eli sat on the floor with a clearly distressed Dr. Grey in his arms.
"What happened?" He demanded as he knelt down next to them. He took in Grey's appearance and position and knew without Eli answering him exactly what was wrong with her.
"I don't know. She was perfectly fine one minute then she was shaking and crumpling to her knees. She keeps whispering your name over and over again." Which Eli wouldn't admit out loud but was annoying him, after all the man had offended her only a few short hours ago. He was the one cradling her when she needed the comfort not Rush.
A few seconds later Chloe and Scott came round the same corner Rush had and stopped in their tracks when they saw the two men trying to care for the crumpling young woman before them.
"I'll go get TJ." Scott said before anyone could acknowledge that they were there.
Eli looked up then and saw Chloe and just nodded his head to say that he was alright and they didn't need her help at the moment.
Without turning round Rush ordered, "Chloe go get Colonel Young as well, he needs to be appraised of the situation."
She ran off in the same direction as Scott and told people to go the other way round that there had been an 'incident' but that they shouldn't be concerned.
"Rush." She whispered again, barely audibly for them to hear and her shaking was only getting worse.
Upon hearing his name, Rush knew exactly what to do. He slowly reached out and clasped both her trembling hands with his left hand and that immediately stopped her shaking. Then gently moving his right hand he placed it under her chin and moved her head so that she was forced to look at him. "I'm here Amber, everything's alright, trust me."
She just nodded her head before her eyes fluttered closed and her head rolled back and leaned on Eli' chest as she fell asleep.
Completely taken aback and utterly confused as to what just transpired in front of him Eli almost screeched out "What the hell was that all about?"
"I'll explain once we've gotten her back to her quarters and both Young and TJ are with us." Was all Rush said as he stood up and waited for them to arrive.
When Young and TJ arrived at the same time, Rush explained briefly what had happened and suggested they got Amber back in her quarters, he would explain everything. They reluctantly agreed and Eli carried her the whole way, refusing everyone that offered. He gently placed her down on her bed and pushed the hair away from her face so that she could breath easily without discomfort.
Assured that no one else was around and that Amber wasn't going to wake up Rush started explaining while TJ checked her vitals and doubled checked that nothing else was wrong with her.
"For what I've been told and seen for myself is that Amber has the ability to sense other peoples emotions. It wasn't always this way, you've all experienced times when something bad was going to happen or something wasn't right with those around you." He paused as he took in all of their expressions and knew they were taking him seriously and not making jokes, especially Eli who seemed the most interested and concerned. "Well according to the reports back at the SGC, Amber has always had a knack for knowing when trouble was heading to her teams way. About four years ago, back when she was still new to the Stargate programme, she disappeared off-world and there was no sign as to what happened to her, she was announced M.I.A"
"Then several months later she was found by SG-1, held in what was described as an laboratory. SG-1 saved her and got her back to the SGC where it was discovered that she had been experimented on countless times. They had messed with her brain the most, apparently whoever it was discovered Amber's talent for sensing trouble and enhanced it with some sort of DNA manipulating machine." Rush finished with a grim expression on his face that mirrored everybody else's in that room.
"That's terrible, did they ever find out who did it to her, or why?" Eli asked unable to hold his silence any longer.
"No they didn't. I guess they weren't satisfied or had learnt everything they needed from her." Rush answered solemnly. "It took a few months but she was eventually able to adapt to her new ability and it has helped keep many more people alive because of it. What Eli saw earlier was a severe case that rarely happens when she is submerged in intense emotions that she loses her place with reality."
"She sees whatever it is that someone's intensely feeling? Going into their thoughts? Is that even possible?" TJ asked as she looked down at the sleeping woman next to and felt pity and sorrow for her.
"Generally in cases with anger and hatred." Rush replied automatically.
"That's all fascinating but I don't see why this appears to be so important." Young retorted as he crossed his arms over his chest and looked incredibly impatient and uninterested.
"It's important because they want to kill Rush." Amber's voice weakly spoke. "I watched him die."
Everybody's eyes widened and swiftly turned to meet the young woman's gaze. "You saw that?" Eli asked bewildered as he moved to stand next to TJ and gently took her hand in his and gave it a comforting squeeze. "I thought it was only emotions you sensed?"
She cleared her throat and propped herself up on her elbows. "If it's intense and I'm close enough then I can get images and words, and if I get physical contact with their head then I can get a clear reading as it were. But it works differently on everyone."
"Do you have any idea of who it was that you felt this from?" Young enquired as he scrutinised Rush's reaction, as he hadn't said a word about his plotted demise.
"No, I- I barely got out of there intact, I can't tell who it was." Her voice cracked and Eli instinctively pulled her into a hug and gently rubbed up and down her back.
"So we have someone onboard that wants to kill Rush and we have no idea who it is."
A/N: I hoped you enjoyed it, I know it's not what people were expecting. I wanted somebody that wasn't entirely normal, someone that would stand out yet not be distinctly set apart from the others. Anyway please let me know what you think and if you want me to continue.