I do not own Stargate Universe, I only created Claire
Chapter 4 - Solving the problem
When Claire returned to Destiny she discovered from Hunter Riley much had happened in her absence
Senator Armstrong had sacrificed himself to save everyone and Colonel Young had woken up, and the ship had now dialed a planet where they might find vital minerals to fix the life support system.
She immediately went to go to the control room when as she entered the corridor she nearly collided with a flying ball of some kind piloted by Eli with Scott watching
"Watch it" Claire yelled at Eli as she ducked her head to avoid the floating device
"Sorry" Eli said sheepishly "This is a Kino, sort of a floating camera I thought we could use them to explore the ship" he explained his recent discovery to her and now it wasn't trying to give her another concussion she looked closely at the camera ball
"Fascinating" she concluded and Eli went 'ohhh' in amazement
"What?" she asked him somewhat impatiently
"You so just had a Spock moment" Eli exclaimed
"Get real" Claire said disbelievingly as she walked past him but turned around when she felt his eyes on her and put her hand up in the 'Vulcan' salute with a mocking smile and said "Live Long and Prosper" before resuming her journey to the control room leaving a spluttering Eli and a howling with laughter Scott
She arrived in the Control room to find it deserted, Claire went to her laptop, still wired up to the apple core as Eli had decided to call it and she opened it up to see if the search program she'd set up before she left had found what she'd been looking for in the cargo manifest
She opened it up and saw the list of materials in the ship's inventory and highlighted one specific compound and symbol
Quickly grabbing her note pad from the back pocket of her jeans and drew the symbol with her pen and once she had it down she ran out of the room, colliding with Lisa Park who was coming in and sent both women falling to the floor
"What's the rush?" Lisa Park asked, getting to her feet a little dazed by the unexpected collision with the younger woman
"I got the symbol for crates of the chemical we need and the bay they're in" Claire said quickly almost jumping to her feet
Lisa Park just stared at her in silence before grabbing her by the arm and asking "Seriously?"
Claire just nodded and ran down the corridor with Lisa in hot pursuit
Vacuum sealed containers preserved everything brilliantly, even better when combined with Ancient Stasis technology, Claire and Lisa went through any of the marked crates which had the symbol on them. The number of strange substances and materials inside was incredible and both women would dearly love to study but their survival took priority and they only took the cylinders filled with the correct white liquid they needed and ran to the gate room
They arrived when the team was getting ready to go planet side and Colonel Young stood there to bid them off and turned to face the out of breath women who held up the container and immediately told the team before they entered the wormhole "Stop" and limped over to Claire
"Is it what we need?" he asked, eying the white cylinder they were carrying and they nodded "How much?" he asked
"Enough containers to refill every atmosphere processor on this ship and each will manage for a few hundred years" Claire told him excitedly
Young did not show any enthusiasm in his expression but his stance relaxed when he heard the good news "Replace it and get the life support system working, shut it down" he told Riley who manned the gate console who immediately shut the wormhole down
Rush looked over at Claire who met his gaze, his eyes burning with resentment and hers burned back with hatred
The atmosphere filters were being refilled with fresh fluid and the crew settled in to their new surroundings reluctantly, Young and Chloe had returned to Earth via the stones while the science team worked on unlocking the secrets of Destiny. Claire sat in her new quarters and unpacked her belongings, a feeling she had told her she'd be here awhile; for now at least they were all safe. Colonel Young had told her to get some sleep but she couldn't. Her body was buzzing and wake awake
So she got up, changed into a black tank top, matching sweatpants and laced up her military issue boots. She went to a small box in her backpack and opened it revealing a small gold locket in the shape of a heart, she opened it and looked at the tiny picture inside, a woman in her early thirties with brilliant red hair a shade or two darker than Claire's own, but their faces were the same shape and the woman's face was lit up with a great smile frozen in time. She placed a finger delicately on the image and her eyes watered but no tears fell
She closed the locket and placed it around her throat and secured its lock. She let her hair loose from its ponytail and walked out of her quarters towards the control room. On her way she ran into TJ who looked to be giving Young and Chloe a tour of the ship and explanation of the situation
"Hey TJ what's going on?" Claire asked and she took a closer look at the Young and Chloe when she noted how they were acting, Chloe seemed to have a sudden weight lifted from her shoulders like she hadn't just seen her father die and Young looked at her in a way that was almost predatory
A shiver went up her spine when she recognised that look, the same one Telford had given her back on Icarus every time they were in the same room
"Just giving Colonel Telford and Dr Mehta a report while we fix the life support system, Telford wants us to try dialing the other planets in range" TJ told her with some resentment clear in her voice
"Its a waste of power that we don't have, we need to conserve our resources" Claire with concern over his reckless decisions
"That's the same bull shit answer Brody gave" Telford told her and Mehta looked at Telford with full agreement on her face but before Claire could answer back, Telford started to kneel over in pain as the injuries of Young made themselves clear once again
"Right let's get you sat down while I give you something for the pain" TJ told him while she and Mehta held him up and walked towards some vacant quarters with Claire opening the door for them. They put the Colonel on the bed and TJ went for her medical kit and the blond caught Claire's eye and a glint of mischief was there
"Hold there" TJ told Telford who braced his arm while she pressed a needle into his arm and released its contents. The effects were almost instantaneous as Telford started to lose focus
He managed to get out "What did you..." before falling backwards unconscious on the bed
Dr Mehta looked startled "That was supposed to be for the pain. What did you give him?"
TJ answered while she and Claire lifted the unconscious man's legs onto the bed "A strong sedative, which we are desperately short on and I should not have had to use just so that Colonel Young can return to a body in working condition"
Mehta looked outraged "You are out of line Lieutenant" but TJ countered with her own statement
"Disregarding the health of another human being is out of line. I am well within my rights as ranking medical officer. He'll be out an hour or two" before both she and Claire walked out leaving the stuttering doctor and unconscious Telford behind
While TJ went to attend to the wounded, Claire went to the control room and started working on the database and almost didn't notice when the returned Young came into the room
"Sir" she said looking up from her work when she saw the Colonel enter, they were alone in the control as everyone else was off either exploring the ship or resting up
"At ease Claire, this isn't a reprimand" he told her in his normal low but strong voice "Well done on finding the mineral, we might not have found it or had to gone to the planet for it. You saved everyone on this ship, I can't give you a medal but I can give my thanks and those of everyone else on board"
"I only got us past the hurdle, there will doubtlessly be others and I doubt that Rush will thank me for going against him" Claire in a serious tone and Young looked straight at her and nodded
"He's going to a problem but we need him and I need you to keep an eye on things anything suspicious" Young told her and she gulped but but answered a steady
"Yes Sir"
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