When Every Second Counts
Chapter 3
When Fate is Almost the Same
"... and what about Mark, huh? They said he'd be fine, too," Neil complained, "I'm telling you, doctors can't be trusted. Well, you two are alright, but you know what I mean!"
"Neil. Shut up," Gray said sternly from the cell across the isle, "Sit down. Jane will be fine. We have bigger problems at the moment."
"Gee, thanks," Neil curled up in his corner and sulked, "Take their side."
"Neil, Mark was infested by a phantom. Jane was shot. There is a difference," Ryan tried to soothe his friend's nerves, or maybe his own. Mark had been the secondary technician of the Deep Eyes, and it had been common for he and Neil to be found conversing about things no one else could understand without a dictionary handy. He had died eight months before. Having been one of those people that everyone got along well with, he was sorely missed.
"Oh, and that's any better? Not because of the enemy, but because of one of our own friggin' men?" Neil sat up straight and continued his argument with himself and anyone who would listen.
"I'm sorry," Aki said quietly to the man seated next to her. It was not very comforting to her that she was all right while Jane was injured. The only thing that kept Aki from having been in the same situation was the phantom infection. Without the chest-plate, she could have been even worse off.
"It's not your fault," Gray replied in the same tone, and squeezed her hand gently, "But we need to figure this out. And he's not helping." He stared at the tech with a meaningful glare, "Neil! She's a lot better off than us, so quit worrying and be quiet!"
Neil stopped talking and stared at his hands. It was true; Jane was probably a lot better off where she was. But there was still that sense of concern, and the image of the strong woman so helpless lingered on in his mind.
"We need to get out of here and find the last spirit before Hein makes any more terrible mistakes," Sid, almost the image of reason, said. He spoke quietly, but the words made a good impact.
"Wait, if we leave," Neil said, "What happens to Jane? Williams is a sadistic jerk, what if he tried something, huh?"
"He won't do a thing, he doesn't have authorization," Gray said, "And if we leave, they need her to tell them where we went."
"But she doesn't know-"
"That's the point," Gray replied, "If they find out she doesn't know, they might not think of her like they think of us."
"Oh," Neil supposed it made sense. He tried not to think about what could go wrong and pretend that the captain knew how everything was going to work.
"If we can get to the 'Boa," Aki said, "We can get away and start searching. It has all we need."
"You know I'm still not sure if I believe in any of this?" Gray said, smiling softly at Aki.
"You don't have to," the young woman replied, "Just have faith in me."
Ryan softly nudged Neil with his boot, and gave the tech a knowing look. Neil lowered his head to hide his smile. Hey, if nothing else, at least that plan had worked. The two began laughing quietly, much to the annoyance of Gray.
"What's so funny?" he asked, annoyed by the behavior.
"Nothing," Neil choked, "Nothing at all sir."
"Good, because we need you to get us out of here," Gray smiled wickedly.
"Sir?" Neil said, suppressing the last of the laughing fit, "I don't think I can help there..." He trailed off as he looked up, as the pulsonic lasers that served as cell bars flickered and faded out. The stunned expressions in the room turned to ones of anxiety as the sound of alarms began to reach the inside of the brig.
"Oh man," Ryan moaned. He hoped it didn't mean the worst, like it had in San Francisco when the Barrier had failed. It was not a memory the sergeant wanted to recall.
"Let's go!" Gray exclaimed, though it was barely necessary. As the Deep Eyes, Sid, and Aki rushed out the door and towards whatever was ahead, Captain Edwards tried to bring to mind the ideals needed by a good leader. They would get through this. They had to. There was simply no other way.
