()()()()
By the time Elizabeth had reached the observation deck, she felt as though her heart was ready to burst out of her chest… she hadn't pushed herself so hard in such a long time… Adrenaline was flooding her system and she skidded to a halt before the immobile figure of David, frozen in his seated position…
"David," she panted, leaning on his shoulder, "We're docking with an alien space station and I need you! Wake up!"
Nothing.
He had to be kidding!
Elizabeth rounded on him, gripping his shoulders and levelling her face with his, "I forgive you, David… now wake up!"
She waited, trying to slow her breathing…
Nothing.
"David!"
Silence.
Elizabeth gave him a sharp shake, but was cut short by a sudden lurch of the deck beneath her…
She stood and turned to the window in the room…
Against the blackness, she saw a dark, spider-like construction hanging in the orbit of a white satellite…
It looked like a long-forgotten planet, abandoned by atmosphere, resembling the cratered and pitted appearance of Earth's moon… but for the hazy lavender colouring of its earth…
The scientist in her speculated it was an outpost… a staging area for the seeding race to reach out amongst distant stars…
Then she remembered the space station the great ship was drawing to and angled her chin to the ceiling… "Computer… what was that drag?"
There was a moment of chiming as the program translated back and forth and the interface answered, "The ships engines engaged reverse to initiated docking procedures."
A panic fluttered through her heart… "How long until we dock with the station?"
"Approximately eight hours."
She closed her eyes… eight hours…
"And can you read any life signs over there?"
There was a moment, "We are currently out of range."
She breathed, Great. "Update me as soon as a scan can be taken."
"Confirmed."
Silence again…
She turned back to David… at least some machines did what she wanted…
If the ship truly was on autopilot and the docking procedures were designed to be unmanned, then Elizabeth supposed she had nothing to do but wait and see what would face her when she reached the alien station.
She had never been a patient person.
And before she knew it she had grasped the closest inanimate object and smashed it across David's placid, unmoving face!
The information tablet shattered on contact, the screen cracked beyond repair… and her android remained…hair slightly agitated and a slight cut on his forehead that now spilled a milk, white substance…
Elizabeth cursed and rushed to stem the bleeding.
It was only a slight cut, easily halted with the cuff of her top.
Elizabeth shook her head, sinking between Davids legs to kneel before him.
She hadn't meant to hurt him… she just needed a reaction out of him… something… anything!
"You bastard!" She realised, "This situation is entirely different."
But he continued to look on through the observation deck windows as the computer announced, "All docking procedures in the final stage."
"I don't even know what the final stage means!" She cried to the air.
Elizabeth looked out from the observation window in dread; she could see the station their ship was on course to dock with, could hear the engines change pitch and feel the slight drag as they shifted from acceleration to reverse.
It hung in the orbit of a violet planet with swirling white/grey clouds, black and dark as the ships the Engineers had used on their military base.
The planet was smaller than she had imagined… but having no sense of perspective, she couldn't compare it. Elizabeth could only process the feeling that this couldn't be the home planet, not so close to their equivalent of a nuclear testing facility.
If the weapon they were developing on the planet that she and David had now left so far behind them had gotten out of control… if the creature they were building had overpowered its very creators and escaped the planet…
She closed her eyes; there were so many things she still didn't understand. Perhaps that was the way it would always be. They had created so much only to destroy it; like children building sandcastles on the beach before smashing them back down into the sand again.
And she wasn't sure when she had begun to dream… but there was something about the unreality that seemed so normal and peaceful that she knew in her heart she was sleeping.
The dream was warm and welcoming; the crew were there, celebrating as she stepped into the communal area of the USCSS Prometheus. They welcomed her with such joy and laughter that she almost wanted to stay in the moment…
But the dream broke, as was its nature, and Elizabeth looked up to the body that had been her pillow, momentarily confused to his stillness before remembering…
David had 'switched himself off'.
He was 'on stand-by' until she needed him.
Elizabeth's tears had dried hours ago, so she stood and looked out to the dock drawing her ship closer and closer…
She had had the time to contemplate the decisions that had led them to this moment.
Perhaps she should make her way to the ships docking port and await the inevitable discovery of her by the aliens who had created these ships and stations… even humanity itself.
The high-pitch squeal of the communications system fizzed through the ship, followed by a quick succession of beeps and high-pitch notes before a brief sound of static ended the comm.
Heart pounded in her chest.
More than anything she knew it was the time to run… time to hide.
The ship pitched it aligned with the station and banked as it adjusted rotation and acceleration about the planet.
Elizabeth imagined the two computers syncing in order to lock with each other.
A small spark of light fired from the station.
It didn't seem right…
"Computer… what was that?"
"Station has launched a probe to scan for alien life on board this vessel."
Run! She thought. Hide!
But run where?
It didn't matter… had to be somewhere…
Another burst of sound flooded the communication system.
"Computer," she called again, "track the probe in relation to my location."
"Probe is three floors from your current location, Elizabeth Shaw."
Run!
So she did. There had to be somewhere… or perhaps she could stay ahead of the machine somehow.
She just had to move faster… think faster…
"The probe is one floor below your location."
Elizabeth gulped in painful lungs of air, pushing her legs to move faster and praying the machine behind her was slow and thorough.
Light sparked like a border of her vision as she tried to move faster, uncertain as to where she was heading… a life pod… were there life pods on these things? And if there were where would she go from there?
"The probe is on your level."
Shit!
She had to think clearly… thing wanted life signs…
Life signs…
"The probe is in your quarter."
What the hell did that mean?
Elizabeth rounded a corner, racing through the reservoir, trying not to slip on the damp floor as she headed into the arboretum and slammed into a hard chest.
Fear crawled down her throat; she couldn't scream, but ricochet from the strong figure she had impacted, almost falling but for the large hands that caught her arms.
Her eyes focused…
It was David!
She wanted to throw-up.
He looked down to her, blue eyes wide as he smiled, "I am happy to see you, Elizabeth?"
Really? She thought, now, of all times?
But then, Elizabeth allowed, he is learning what it is to be human… as she was learning what it is to be Engineer…
"The probe is three corridors from your location."
Davids expression changed. Bending to lift her, he moved to the dense part of the arboretum where the hanging garden flourished level upon level of flora and fauna… of insect and microbes and life in abundance.
David pressed her into the small space, not crushing her but hardly giving her room to move, folded as she was in his embrace.
"Thank you for coming to my rescue, David," she whispered, keeping her voice low to save detection.
"I am sorry," he paused, his eyes fixed on the only entrance into the room, "I should not have stayed away so long."
Elizabeth wriggled further into his hold and felt his lips lightly kiss the top of her head.
It was such a mess… but her heart pounded and she couldn't deny that in those moments he was the most wonderful thing in the universe to her.
The unmistakable hiss of the door as the arboretum was opened…
"The probe is at your location, Elizabeth Shaw."
She held her breath.
The room was still as the probe hovered into view; a small disc that looked the size of a Frisbee.
She tried not to think of it… had to concentrate on not letting her heart race… she closed her eyes and thought on the stillness of the chest her cheek pressed against.
Elizabeth tried not to think on the outside world… just had to slow her breathing and concentrate on her heart… she was safe and she knew that was the first thing and the only thing she had to focus on.
Cracking slightly, she looked up to David… his expression faultless as a green laser passed over his face, down his neck and over their bodies.
Time slowed.
This was it.
Had to have found them.
This was it.
She held her breath…
The sound of the door hissing as it closed sounded in the calmness of the room.
No… way…
"Is it gone?" She asked, feeling ridiculous in her vulnerability.
But she was tired and she needed to feel safe.
"For now," David said, not looking at her but moving to lay her on the ground.
"Where are you going?" Elizabeth asked, alarmed at his leaving and reached out to catch his hand.
David tilted his head, regarding her with those damned placid eyes, "I was going to check the probe had completed its scan and see if I could hack it's programming to feed a signal back to us."
When he went to move again, she tightened her grip and pulled him back to her, "What if it's still out there?"
Again, the android tilted his head, this time, allowing his confusion to furrow his brow… "Then I shall lead it away from you."
He was going to sacrifice himself so they would not find her…
"Aren't you afraid, David?"
A small smile curled the corner of his lips. "My fear is my concern," he said, before reaching to tilt her chin upward so he could deliver a gentle kiss on her lips.
"Never leave," she ordered.
"Never." He confirmed. "But allow me this one grace."
And with that she let him go.
()()()