(A/N) Welcome back to another installment. As promised this chapter is a little longer than the last and a little more informative. Uploading on Tuesday again because I won't be free to upload on Wednesday. Enjoy!

Chapter Four

Medical deck

The medical deck was arguably the cleanest part of the Dauntless free from dirt and grime. Though it wasn't surprising in the least; medical staff were obliged to keep the area clean to perform their duties at the best of their abilities. The medical staff were generally cleanliness freaks, throwing a fit whenever anyone tracked dirt through the deck. It often meant a protocol of attempting to hose down any one from the engineering deck. Though the bridge was the newest area of the Dauntless, the medical deck was pristine with chrome and white areas. In terms of size, it was rather spacious, encompassing operating theatres, wards and even a zero g therapy room. Floating holograms would often be produced for doctors and nurses to consult when performing procedures. Jason had been to the medical deck a few times, mainly for stupid injuries he picked up away from the engineering deck. He always found it ironic that he broke his leg on his break in the rec room and later dislocating his shoulder by falling down a set of steps. His recovery was thankfully brief, but it still required some time in the zero g therapy rooms. Jason was always disconcerted at the absence of gravity, something he found strange since he served aboard ships with artificial gravity. He could always tell when the gravity was fake, as if there was some completely noticeable difference to the normal gravity of a planet. Currently, the medical deck was quiet with most of the nurses and doctors being in preparation mode in case of any injuries or accidents. Part of Kate Mera's job was to prepare her staff for emergencies so they could respond in minutes. So far, her training had been needed with the recent murder with the medical staff responding within minutes. She was proud of her staff but horrified at the reason they were needed. Daniels was now being held in the hastily quarantined war at the rear of the medical deck. It was mostly used for cases of viral infections that could spread through the crew but surprisingly it was rare. From her initial scans, Daniels didn't seem to be contaminated but he was still a frenzied nutjob that hacked apart a woman. Quarantine seemed the safest place for he and the crew. She glanced over at Jason who was leaning against a wall, with his arms folded. His thunderous gaze hadn't left Daniels since he'd arrived, in fact, he'd barely said a word. Daniels had been brought up on a gurney and had to be strapped down but even so, he continued to writhe in agony as if being tortured by unknown forces.

Kate walked over towards Jason and whispered into his ear. "I've never seen anything like this before. I've given him enough sedatives to knock out twenty men yet here he is, still awake. It's impossible."

Jason spoke, his eyes still focused on Daniels and his voice barely above a whisper. "Yeah, we'll I would've said what he did would be impossible." He gave a nonchalant shrug. "Guess we need to revaluate our barometer for weirdness."

"Maybe so but conventional medical science- "

"Medical science be damned, Kate, you didn't see what he did." Jason said finally raising his voice and cutting her off. He noticed her shocked expression and quickly softened. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off."

Kate shook her head. "No, it's okay. I know you're stressed."

Jason rubbed his face wearily as he slumped against the wall. "I need answers, Kate, I need to know I didn't miss something and condemn a poor girl to her death."

Kate nodded. "I don't know what you'll get from him, his ramblings have been mostly incomprehensible. Something about wanting to be made whole and listening to the marker."

Jason's ears pricked at mention of the marker. "Daniels wasn't a unitologist, what's he know about the maker?"

Kate shook her head and said nothing. Jason continued to frown as he returned his gaze to Daniels. Though he hated to admit it, he was afraid, of what he didn't know but he was very afraid. There could be something out of his control that was threatening to hurt his engineers, his family. It sobered his thought processes but ultimately scared him.

He glanced over Kate. "You don't have to be here if you don't want to?"

As if noticing his fear, Kate took his hand and shook her head. "I'll stay with you. I need to hear this as much as you do."

Jason squeezed her hand and touched his forehead against hers. After a moment of silence, he approached the still writhing Daniels. "Daniels?" Daniels! Can you hear me, buddy?"

Daniels' head violently jerked to focus on Jason, his eyes crazed and twitching. "Chief, oh god, Chief, is that you?"

Jason nodded, trying his best to remain affable. "It's me buddy." He paused. "Look, I know you're stressed right now but I need to know, do you remember what you did?"

Daniels strained inaudibly. "I, I remember boss." He licked his lips. "I killed a monster. I tried to call for you, but they said you were busy. So, I took my saw and killed it. I stopped it from getting out." He said flatly.

Jason's eyes widened slightly but he took a deep breath relaxing himself. "Daniels, you killed a 22-year-old junior engineer. Her name was Emily Benton and she had a bright wonderful future ahead of her." He paused briefly, steeling himself. "She was a kid, Daniels and you killed her. The Captain has to write her parents a letter, I have to speak to them. When we get home, you're going to prison for a long time."

Daniels suddenly shrieked in terror, furiously shaking his head almost breaking his own neck as he pulled against the restraints. "FUCK YOU, Chief. All my life, I never hurt anyone and the one time I listen to my instincts to protect myself, my ship, I get persecuted for it! That fucking thing was going to that girl, the one you should have been watching. I saved her, I put my own life on the line. I should be given a fucking medal."

Jason lost it as he almost lunged for Daniels. He stopped himself and slammed his fist against the wall. "Fuck you, Daniels. I saw what you did, I saw what was left of Emily. You killed her for no damn reason." He shouted.

"NO! I saved us." He shouted back. "You, fuck, you have no damn idea what's coming, Chief." He sobbed. "Fuck, we're not getting out of here alive."

Jason suddenly calmed down and noticed Daniels was almost being sincere. "Daniels, what is coming?" Daniels was suddenly quiet. "Please, Daniels, if you meant to save us then give me that chance."

Daniels finally focused on Jason, tears beginning to fall from his eyes. "The voices Chief, you don't hear them?" Jason shook his head to which Daniels ruefully cried. "The fucking voices in my head keeping telling me what happens next, boss. We're all going to die, death is the only way forward." He jerked against the restraints. "WE NEED TO DIE!"

Daniels suddenly began to hyperventilate as his EKG shot through the roof. He jerked against his restraints so much so that he started bleeding from his wrists and legs. Kate pulled a small cart near to Daniels and grabbed a sedative. She injected him, but the sedative had no effect as Daniels began shaking violently. Kate's eyes darted from left to right rapidly as she considered her options. She needed to calm Daniels down before he killed himself. She looked back at Jason with an imploring look.

"Please, Jason, knock him out. It's the only way."

Jason moved to strike Daniels, but his convulsions suddenly got worse and he thrashed against his restraints. His eyes suddenly rolled up inside his head as Kate desperately tried to control him, but it was no use. His EKG suddenly flatlined and Daniels went limp. Kate started compressions while the defibrillator charged but it was too late. Daniels lay dead on the gurney with an almost serene expression on his face. Kate stepped back and slumped against the wall, her mouth open in shock.

"Shit, he's dead." She gasped softly. "His vitals were a little sporadic, but he was stable." She wiped a few tears away. "I've never lost a patient before."

Jason rested his hands on her shoulders and pulled her close. "You okay?"

She nodded as she rubbed her forehead. "I'll be okay. I mean they train you for it in med school and you do expect it, but I've just never seen it before. Something out of the blue like that." She shook her head. "I was surprised he could speak through that broken jaw. The pain must've been immense."

Jason rubbed his face wearily as he leant against the wall. "Guy was convinced he could save the ship by killing a kid." He shook his head. "His file show any history of mental health issues?"

Consulting her RIG, Kate read through Daniels' file carefully. "No, other than a few minor problems with his leg, he's never been in a hospital for more than an hour. This was out of the blue."

Jason sighed heavily. "Was it?" Kate gave a confusing frown as her boyfriend eyed her uneasily. "Was this something I couldn't predict?"

Kate took his hand and squeezed it softly. "Jason, you couldn't see this coming, none of us could."

Jason nodded solemnly as he focused for a minute. His RIG suddenly beeped, alerting him to a vid call. "What?!" He answered indignantly.

Alex's face popped up on the RIG's vid link. "Boss, we've started the botch job on the shockpoint drive and, well it's a piece of shit but we're getting there. Can't seem to keep the temp down though. We should be able to accelerate into shockspace but sustaining it for the 26 hours we'll be difficult. And from our preliminary scans, the deceleration might shake the ship to pieces. Nothing we can do about that."

Jason silently cursed a storm as he cursed Porter, shockpoint drives and the Dauntless herself. "Any other good news?"

Alex smirked but it wasn't smug, in fact it was almost a full smile. "Gravity tether control is reporting initial scans. The yield is good, no, it's brilliant. We've hit the mother load."

Jason rolled his eyes. "Yeah, we'll see. I'll be down in a bit." He closed down the vid and glanced at Kate. "Hey, Kate, be careful, okay?

Kate smiled and gave a slight laugh. "Don't worry, babe, I'll be okay. Go and make sure we can get home."

Jason nodded and made his way to tram station.

Gravity tether control

Situated in the very bowels of the ship, gravity tether control housed all sixteen of the gravity tethers housed in the Dauntless. Unlike a planet cracker, the Hephaestus class engineering vessel folded their tethers away during shockpoint jumps and on long sub light trips. The semi-circle under the Dauntless opened when the gravity tethers were activated. Due to the Dauntless' age and lack of upgrade, the gravity tethers were old and irritable. They could do the job but needed constant time and attention, especially when watching over the coolant banks. Arnold Porter glanced from console to console, watching technicians maintain the load's altitude.

"Sir." One of them, a young man with brown hair and black eyes said. "Hold is stable."

Porter nodded. "Good." He addressed another technician. "How are the coolant banks holding up?"

The technician, a middle-aged woman with dyed blue hair and blue eyes reported. "Coolant banks one through ten are in the green but eleven through sixteen are entering unstable levels."

"Can we hold the load with ten tethers?" Porter asked.

There was a brief conversation between the technicians with the elder of the two arguing against, citing different examples of it not working. The younger technician began to get angry, raising his voice before suddenly shouting.

"Dammit, Vera, why do you always do this?"

Vera looked shocked. "Conner?"

"Every time I have an idea you shut me down. Well no more, fuck, no more." He stood up and lashed out with a thunderous blow to her temple. "You feel that? I'll rip you apart if you ever do it again."

Vera was disorientated and clearly reeling from the blow, but she brought her arms up to defend herself. Conner rained down punch after punch, beginning to draw blood. Porter was amused, a small smirk spreading across his face. He'd have to get involved but still, it was remarkable to see holy artefact's effects from so far away. He rushed forward and restrained Conner, pulling him off the now knocked out Vera.

"That's quite enough of that." Porter hissed as he dragged Conner away. After Conner stopped squirming, he suddenly began crying. "What are you crying about?"

"I, I, just wanted her to stop." He said between sobs. "The voices said she needed to step off and I made her." He looked up at Porter. "You're devout, aren't you?"

Porter raised an eyebrow. "Yes, why?"

"I heard the holy Marker, sir, I heard it whispering in my mind. I can almost feel it." His face took on a pleading expression. "Are the rumours true? Did they find a Marker on the planet below?"

Porter suddenly forced Conner against the bulkhead and choked him. "You will speak nothing of this." He hissed, his voice full of malice. With a single blow he knocked Conner out and let him slump to the ground.

He sighed heavily as he looked at the pair of now knocked out technicians. There were two others that could fill their place bit it was bothersome. Porter wanted scold the young Conner with being so easily take up. He'd started hearing the voices when he arrived in gravity tether control. At first, he instantly dismissed them but then they started whispering the truths of the church to him. While he believed the Eckhardt report, he was skeptical of its source. Warren Eckhardt was a sniveling bastard that always vied for new positions within the church without showing his worth. But this report as cemented he as a martyr, one who paved the way to greatness. Porter almost spat as he considered that Eckhardt could be held up with Altman himself. He dismissed his thoughts and keyed up a RIG link to the medical deck.

"This is the first officer, I need medical officers to gravity tether control ASAP. There's been an unfortunate accident." He didn't wait for them to arrive, he simply departed back to the bridge and continued with his work.