Title: Uninvited Guests

Genre: Drama
Author: Phoenix Fangor
Summary: Destiny drops out of FTL and an incoming wormhole raises a number of questions for her crew.
Pairings: Rush/OC
Rating: T

A big thank you to my beta readers TheSoliloquy and Anne McSommers.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything besides the plot, and Callista.

When Callie found Camille Wray, she knocked gently on the door jam, because the door had been left open to Wray's quarter.

"Miss Wray, is this a good time?"

"Callista, come in. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Callista closed the door behind her, piquing Wray's interest and caution. Callista's explanation of what happened upset Wray quite a bit, so much so that she was flushed red in the face when Callista finished.

"You think it was Colonel Telford?"

"I cannot be sure, nor do I wish to implicate him explicitly, but he's been escalating in his attacks against my uncle."

"What else has he done to your uncle? I've not been informed of any transgressions."

"To start, he nearly killed Colonel Young by overtaxing his body. But Miss Wray… Colonel Telford told my aunt that Colonel Young was having an affair with one of the crew. He's been undercutting Colonel Young's decisions since the first communication. Last time I went to visit my aunt; I had to throw him out. I don't know what his agenda is, if it's his own, or if he's working for someone, but he's out to discredit Colonel Young in every fashion, and this would be another step of escalation."

"Callista, I'm going to do everything I can get to the bottom of this. One way or another, we'll find out what happened and it will be dealt with properly," Wray said straight faced and uncompassionate.

"That's all I can ask for, I suppose," Callie said.

Callie sighed heavily and left as quietly as she had come.


After having lost her appetite and skipping lunch, Callista found herself back in the command center. With another sigh, she sat down at her preferred console and began digging through files.

"Callie!" Eli said joyously. "I've been lookin' all over for you!"

"Eli, you startled me!" Callie said as she turned to face the young man. He stood in front of her with his pet KINO and usual smile.

"Sorry about that," he said sheepishly. "You startle pretty easy."

Callie gave him an awkward smile in reply. "So what did you need?"

"Well, you've been M.I.A. since you got back. I wanted to see if you were okay."

"Why wouldn't I be?" she asked.

"When you were gone, Colonel Telford was acting strangely over your disappearing act. He demanded to see your medical files. It was weird, I'm telling you."

"Really? That does sound weird..." She didn't comment further as the KINO bobbed restlessly in the air, just next to her MP3 player. Eli sat down at a nearby console and started to work.

"Hey, Eli?" Callista said, snatching and turning off the KINO.

"Yeah?"

"Was there a KINO in the room when Colonel Telford was acting strangely?"

"Um… I think so. Let me bring up the feeds, I'll see what I can find."

"Thanks," she said before putting on her headphones and tuning out the world.

Hours dragged on, with Callie scrawling notes in notebooks, and reading intently. Her stomach growled for about the fifth, and she ignored it yet again.

"Callie? Your stomach is communicating with the outside world. Go eat something," Eli said loudly, above her music player.

She pulled out her ear buds and looked at him, confused about his over concern. "I'm really not that hungry, Eli. I don't know why my stomach is making such a fuss."

"Come on! It's dinnertime. Come down to the mess hall with me. At least keep me company."

"Sorry to be a killjoy, but I'm going to turn in early."

"Okay," Eli said, clearly confused by her avoidance.


Callie woke up sometime in the early morning and wandered to the control room. Once again she found Doctor Rush there as well.

"Nicholas isn't it a bit late?" she asked as she entered the room, sitting down at her console, picking up her ear buds.

"Callista," Doctor Rush nodded at her.

Suddenly there was a gunshot that startled them both. Callista jerked and she stared down the hallway. She looked at Nicholas with surprise.

She ran down the hall, and found Sergeant Spencer's quarters open. She walked in, and saw him there, shot in the temple. She turned away in horror, and found Doctor Rush was right behind her. He held her closely.

"Oh my God! He shot himself… Why would he do that?"

"You have to ask?" Doctor Rush said acerbically.

"Yes. I do," she said defiantly, pushing him away.

"Apparently, he left a suicide video," Doctor Rush said, gesturing towards the KINO.

"We should call for help!" She snagged the radio off Rush's belt clip and called for help. Meanwhile, he rewound the KINO.

"Callista, I've got it queued up."

"This isn't entertainment—" she said, but fell silent as the video started.

"It's been about a week since I ran out of pills. I'm sorry I hurt Doctor Young. When I had sex with Doctor Wurdner, I was just… I don't know. But Callie almost died. I—I can't think. These people don't even realise they're inside a big floating coffin. I'm sorry. I wish I had something better to say."

"What? That doesn't make any sense…" Callie sputtered.

"This afternoon… Wray spoke with Doctor Wurdner, through the communication stones. The doctor was forthcoming with the fact that she and Sergeant Spencer were intimate," Doctor Rush explained.

"And then what? How'd Spencer find out that I had a miscarriage?"

"I believe Colonel Young had a word with him."

"Oh no," she said. "Why didn't anyone tell me? Why didn't you tell me?"

"You were asleep," Doctor Rush said simply.

She stared at him as several other members of the crew arrived.

"Why was he even allowed access to a gun?" Wray asked.

"He was a highly trained N.C.O..." Colonel Young started.

Wray angrily interrupted him, "No, he was unstable and you know it."

"... for duties that required him to be armed," Colonel Young finished.

"Oh, it was required of him?" Wray asked.

"His psych eval indicated that he was coping."

"Lt. Johansen is not trained to be doing evaluations."

"The I.O.A. didn't complain when the evaluations were given. Nor did you disagree with the reports she gave. You had full access to those files!"

"He was having trouble sleeping…" Callista said absent-mindedly.

"Wray and the Colonel continued arguing, but the statement caught Lt. Johansen's attention.

"What?" T.J. asked.

"Um, I didn't get it, but he mentioned he was out of sleeping pills. I told him to talk to you, but that was the extent of our interaction. It was weird… In retrospect, it makes more sense."

"Why does that make more sense?" T.J. asked.

"What the K.I.N.O. footage…"

Doctor Rush placed his hand on Callie's shoulder reassuringly.

T.J. interrupted the colonel and Wray as she started the K.I.N.O. again.

"Callie, this is important, when did he say he ran out of his prescription?
"Last week, maybe?"

"If he's been without sleep for a week or more, any extra stress would have easily precipitated a drastic reaction."

"You should have told Lt. Johansen right away!" Wray said.

Callie sputtered at the confrontation.

Doctor Rush squeezed Callie's shoulder and spoke for her, "What's done is done. There's no use in belaboring the past. Right now," Doctor Rush emphasized, "We should be assessing how to prevent this from happening again." He took Callista by the shoulder and led her from the room. A few steps from the room, they ran into Eli approaching the room.

"Eli," Rush said, catching him by the arm. "Don't go in there. Take Callista to her quarters, or to the observation deck."

Doctor Rush faced Callista, tipping her chin up gently, and looked her in the eye. "This is in no way your fault."

She nodded numbly as Eli led her away.


The ship dropped out of FTL a few days later.

"I want to be on the team for this mission," Callie said, as she sat down across from her uncle in the mess hall. Doctor Rush sat down next to her, looking at her quizzically.

"Absolutely not," Colonel Young said.

"Why not?" she asked.

"Callista, you aren't in any shape to go anywhere," Doctor Rush reminded her.

"I feel fine."

"Regardless of how I feel on the matter, it's not up to me. You're not going anywhere until Lt. Johansen clears you for duty."


Doctor Rush and Doctor Young sat in the command center, studying the medical bay's system further.

"So why aren't you out there? You're usually the first one to volunteer for gate travel," Callista asked.

"Keeping you company, of course," Doctor Rush said, smiling at her.

"Oh, okay," she said sarcastically. "No, really?"

"Yes. Really."

"Well, Thanks."

"Doctor Rush, we've found something on the planet, an alien spacecraft of some sort. You're going to want to see this," Brody said over the radio.

"How long until we jump back into F.T.L.?" Doctor Rush asks over the radio.

"Just over two hours," Brody said.

"There goes my company…" Callista sighed.

"Sorry, Love," Doctor Rush said, pausing to kiss her on the forehead before dashing out.