Author's Note: Thanks to Kalshion and SilentStrike'Scy' for being my proofreaders.

Attention: Due to finally finishing this story, we are now on a every-other-day posting schedule. Enjoy the ride to the end!

Disclaimer: I own nothing in the Halo universe, which is the property of Bungie Studios. However, any non-Halo species (and characters made from them) belong to me.

Chapter 37: Rescue?

"Ugh…." Sari moaned as she returned to consciousness: she felt like she had been run over by a speeding vehicle. Carefully, she moved her limbs, feeling the cool metal of the Phantom's interior beneath her. Guess that means I am not dead yet… She thought as she opened her eyes.

"Oh good…you are awake," she heard Telo say and within seconds, he was kneeling beside her. "I feared you would be out for some time…."

"Wha…what happened?"

"The shockwave from the portal closing hit us," Telo explained as he checked her vitals, Sari noticing he had pulled out the vessel's first aid kit. "We both were knocked out: I only woke up a few minutes ago myself," he pointed to the bruise on his forehead. Sari grunted in acknowledgement and reached up to rub her head, only for him to stop her. "Careful, you do not want to start bleeding again," he warned.

Sari blinked, then carefully felt the area where she was about to rub. She felt a sticky substance, a temporary bandage, on the brow ridge above her right eye. "I must have hit that console pretty hard…," she muttered.

"Yes, it is fortunate it was not a serious bleeder," Telo said. "You would have bled to death before we even woke up otherwise."

She looked at the console where she had been sitting before and saw the bloodstain, an involuntary shudder passing through her body when she realized just how lucky she was. "How long were we out?"

"An hour, give or take," Telo replied with a sigh as he returned to the pilot's seat. "The good news is that we did not hit anything while this ship was…um…pilotless. The bad news is that the shockwave knocked out our engines. Worse, the power core is damaged."

"Wha…what does that mean?"

"It means the power source is likely unstable and could go out on us at anytime," Telo said grimly as he worked on the console. "I am shutting down non-essential functions and keeping only basic communications and sensors online. Have you experienced zero gravity before?"

"N…no…."

"Well, I hope you have a strong constitution," he hit a button and suddenly Sari felt like she weighed nothing. She tried to stand up, only to find herself propelling upward, forcing her to raise her hands to stop herself from hitting the ceiling. That resulted in her going back down: it was as if she had no control over where she went and it was very disorienting. She finally managed to grab a hold of the co-pilot's seat and clung to it. Looking toward Telo, she saw him just hanging in mid air with a slightly amused smirk on his face: she wanted to smack him.

"It feels like my insides are trying to rearrange themselves…," she grumbled.

"You will get used to it," Telo said with a shrug. "It will take a bit to get the hang of it, but only use as much force as you need to get around in zero-g. It is similar to swimming underwater actually, only you do not have the resistance of the water around you so much less force is needed."

"I think I will stay right here…."

Telo simply shrugged again before adding. "I have activated the distress beacon; hopefully friendly forces hear it before we lose power completely."

"What happens if we lose power?"

"Well…without power to the life-support systems, we will eventually suffocate or freeze. How long it will take for either I do not know."

"Lovely…," Sari grumbled. "You know, you sound a lot more confident now then you did back on the Righteous Justice."

Telo seemed to blush a bit, turning his head away. "Perhaps it is because I no longer have Kesi and his threats hanging over my head anymore…."

She could agree with that logic.

"Any sign of the object?"

"No Shipmaster, it either moved out of the probes range or was a false reading."

Rtas tapped a claw on the arm of his chair, a part of him wondering if this was going to end up being a waste of precious time. "I doubt it was a false reading," he muttered, barely loud enough for the others to hear. "Keep searching. I want to know what it was the probe picked up, even if it turns out to be nothing but trash!"

"One man's trash is another's treasure," Zeno quipped, earning him a glare from Rtas. "Well Commander, if it is trash there may be useful info found within it after all."

Rtas sighed and shook his head, realizing that Zeno was right: as a Recon specialist, Zeno knew that sometimes the most unusual source could yield critical information. Debris from the Righteous Justice may yield clues as to where Kesi had been, or possibly even where he was going. At least possibly confirm the destroyer-sized ship the probe detected previously was the Righteous Justice.

After a couple of moments Rtas noticed Zeno was making odd head movements. He'd tilt it one way, then another: at one point, he looked like he was going to twist his head off with how extreme he had tilted it. Rtas rarely saw him do this, but he knew what it meant. "Do you hear something Zeno?"

The SpecOps held up a finger, Rtas nodding in acknowledgement to give him a moment. The bridge fell silent as everyone respectfully allowed Zeno time to work it out. Granted, it was rather silly of him to be contorting his head as he was, since he was listening to something in his ear piece, but Rtas knew it was just a habit he got into. "Commander," Zeno finally said. "I think I hear a distress signal, but it is weak."

"From where?" Rtas asked.

"Having the Allegiance assist in pinpointing it now, Commander," Zeno replied after working on his console briefly. After a moment he said. "Cannot get an exact location, but we got a general area. It is nowhere near where the probe initially detected it either."

The shockwave from the slipspace portal must have propelled it that far, Rtas mused. And a distress signal means a ship of some sort, or an elaborate trick. It bore further investigating either way. "Point us in that direction then," He announced. "Let us find out what this thing really is."

"I am not sure how much longer we are going to last," Telo said grimly as he studied the figures on the console. A couple of moments ago he told her he was shutting off the sensor systems, but evidently, that did not help any. "The power core is starting to fail…."

"Without power…no life support…no life support, we freeze or suffocate," Sari muttered, not liking their chances and panic starting to set in. "I…I do not want to die like this…I want to be with Azu again!" Tears welled up in her eyes and eventually broke away into droplets that floated in mid-air before her. She blinked, surprised and feeling strangely amused by this, reaching up with a finger to poke one of the droplets.

"In zero-g, everything floats weightless," Telo explained, smiling faintly at her reaction. "Even liquids, including tears."

"If that is so, then the blood in our bodies…."

"Our blood is sealed within our bodies Sari," Telo said. "And it keeps moving the way it is supposed to due to the beats of our hearts. Now, if you got a cut or other wound, the blood that escapes will float freely."

"Oh gods…does that mean it will all float out of me if I get hurt?" Sari asked, feeling a bit worried.

To her annoyance, Telo started laughing and Sari glared at him for his mirth, not liking that he was making fun of what she considered a serious question. "No Sari!" He said reassuringly after a moment. "Our bodies will attempt to seal the wound itself still, no matter where we are. Depending on the severity of the wound, outside assistance may be needed of course."

"I see." Sari sighed, realizing that she still had so much to learn. Then again, wasn't it usually only the males that learned this kind of stuff anyway? She felt she would need to pick Azu's brain on such matters later. Azu… Sari thought, suddenly realizing that the conversation of the last couple of minutes was nothing more then a distraction from their immediate peril. Will I ever see you again?

The lights started to flicker and Sari, even with her limited knowledge of things, knew that could not be a good sign. She knew her worries were matched by Telo, going by his expression. "At least we will die free…," he muttered.

"But I want to live…," Sari said, tears coming anew. This time the fact they floated did not distract her this time.

"So do I…," Telo said softly. "But whether we live or die now is not in our hands anymore," He floated to her and hugged her. "If it is meant to be, at least, we are not alone."

Sari found that to be of little comfort, though the power going out completely at that moment was even less so….

"Shipmaster!" Tegs announced. "We found the object. It is a Phantom."

"A Phantom…out here by itself?" Rtas said the confusion in his voice obvious.

"Commander, it appears to be damaged and lost power," Zeno added.

"How long ago did it lose power?"

"Just a moment ago it seems, as that is when the distress signal stopped," Zeno replied. "However, it also bares that pirate's markings."

So that was the Righteous Justice the probe detected…, Rtas thought with a faint growl. But why send a lone Phantom out like this? Two possibilities came to mind: one was that Kesi decided to leave a little surprise for anyone that decided to investigate the probes report. The other was….

The Shipmaster sprang to his feet when it hit him. "Send out a rescue crew immediately!" he said.

"Commander?" Zeno said questioningly.

"We cannot ignore the chance that someone attempted to escape the Righteous Justice," Rtas explained. "However do exercise caution."

"Oh! Of course Commander!" Zeno said as he got to work relaying his command.

Rtas sat back down in his chair, a new question popping up in his mind. Who would try to escape? He pondered. Sari wouldn't know how to pilot a Phantom, so someone else had to have piloted it. That means it was either a surviving human or a traitor to Kesi's cause was piloting. Sari… He thought as he stared at the image of the Phantom on the view screen. Is it possible that you are on there?

The power had only been off for a few minutes, but it was already starting to feel cooler then it was before, or was that just her imagination? Either way, she found herself pressing against Telo even harder, the two trying to share their body heat with each other to extend their lives, even if it was a futile effort. If the dropping temperature didn't kill them, the lack of breathable air will.

Then she felt something odd, though it was hard to pinpoint what it was. Being in complete darkness and zero-g completely negated any sense of which way one was going, yet for some reason she felt their direction had changed. She shook her head, thinking it some trick her mind was playing on her.

"Something is happening…," Telo said suddenly, startling her slightly.

"You felt it too?" Sari asked, comforted that she wasn't going crazy.

"Yes. Not sure what though."

All they could do was wait in silence, a small glimmer of hope swelling in their breasts, though the wait was maddening. Then something unexpected happened: gravity returned. The pair suddenly found themselves on the floor of the Phantom again, both yelping in pain when they landed awkwardly. "Telo…," Sari said hesitantly. "I…I am not sure…but I think we have been rescued…."

"Yes…but by whom?" Telo said grimly. "For all we know, we could have been picked up by the Brutes…."

That wasn't a very pleasant thought at all. Sari may not have ever seen a Brute, but she had certainly heard about what they liked to do with prisoners….