When Every Second Counts

Chapter 12
The Argument

"I'm willing to bet," Ryan said, "That if I went back in there he wouldn't even notice I'd left."

"I wouldn't be surprised," Gray replied. Through the look of weariness was slight amusement showing itself to those who knew how to tell. Ryan was one of those, but to him it only made clearer the signs of fatigue and, worse to the sergeant's mind, despair. He would have asked about it if he felt he should. From personal experience he knew that talking did not make someone feel better if he was coerced into it.

"Either that or he'd be talking to the ovo-pack," Ryan yawned. His insistence that he was not tired had begun to break down in the last hour, even he was starting to think of sleep as a good idea.

"No," Gray said, "Not unless he's trying to get out of the military on insanity." Funny thing was, Gray could quite easily imagine Neil trying to and successfully starting a conversation with one of the energy storing cylinders.

"Nah," Ryan chuckled, "Even if he wanted to, he doesn't even have to worry about it now."

"Don't remind me," Gray said, suddenly grim. He felt that even if Aki's Plan worked, even if they made this trip into hell and survived, there was still the matter of being reinstated. There was part of him that doubted that the Council would bother with assisting the Deep Eyes, or, worse, would completely tear them to shreds over whatever they deemed fit to accuse him and his friends of.

"Sorry," Ryan coughed, "Didn't quite mean it that way."

"So what way did you mean it?" Gray asked, giving his friend a quizzical look.

"Okay," Ryan corrected, "I meant it that way. But it's not your fault is all."

He looked across the rather plain room. Despite the fact that the Black Boa was made for being in space, the room was fitted as though with a gravity environment in mind. The only precaution made against free- floating furniture was to bolt it down. The only furniture in the room was a steel table and three matching chairs. Not that the chairs were in use, Gray had developed a habit of resting on the ceiling in zero-grav and Ryan often just found a comfortable enough wall.

"Yeah, I know," Gray said flatly, "Nothing is ever my fault." Before Ryan could say anything, "I've lost four people this past year. Four. Before Mark, I hadn't lost one."

"You lost two," Ryan stated, a little snappish, "Don't count the 307's, they aren't fucking worth it."

"They were people, weren't they?" Gray replied. He did not let show how his best friend's comment had alarmed him.

"They were people, but they attacked us," Ryan said, "They deserved what they got."

"Peters?" Gray asked, "He didn't live long enough to attack us. Besides, they were under orders. I should have told you before, what our orders were but..." He let the sentence fade before declaring, "Jane wouldn't have done what she did if she'd known."

"You really think that would have made a difference?" Ryan demanded, "You're our friend for Christ's sake. We'd follow you straight into hell!"

"Well then maybe I should have followed my orders," Captain Edwards said, "Put Aki under arrest and hand her over to Hein. No questions, no problems, everything just wonderful and happy."

"Captain," Ryan paused. He felt had nothing worth saying. "Look, I think we did the right thing, okay? I'm afraid to think of what might have happened if you had let him have her." To her or to you, Ryan added mentally.

"Thanks, bu-" Gray was cut off as he heard the door to the compartment open. Craning his neck, he saw Neil doing his best to stand in the doorway under the influence of the environment.

"Oh, there you are Serge," he said, sounding genuinely surprised, "I was wondering where you went, but I have to talk to the captain first."

"Though it is rather rude to just walk away from a conversation," Neil continued before Gray or Ryan could say anything, "I thought it was a nice topic, too, but you left and there was no one else to talk to and it got boring real fast. You know that-"

"Neil," Gray interrupted, deciding it would be best to get the tech to say whatever he had to before he forgot it. He realized that forgetting had never been a problem for Neil, except when it was in his own interest. "What do you need to talk to me about?"

Neil looked up, finally noticing Gray, "I finished with the energy transfer stuff, sir," he said, "I suggest you test it first though, because it might not work. It should, but if it doesn't there'd be trouble if you had to depend on it or something."

"Good," Gray said. He was starting to doubt his use of the meaning of the word. Somehow he did not feel one step closer to hell as being 'good.' He was glad that so far neither of his friends had asked about what was going on. He knew they were trying to guess, but they would not think him as crazy as he felt. They would not guess that the plan was to go into the origin of the chaos in hopes of stopping it, he was sure. By the time Ryan or Neil discovered the plan, it would already be in effect.

Thankfully, they would be safe in the Black Boa. Much to Gray's distress, Aki would be the one to go. At least he would be with her; that was one small amount of contentment.