Gene Starwind was becoming use to strange things. Taking a few deep breaths, he decided this was the
strangest. He had been dead. Couldn't remember how, just that he was dead. Now.... Well, now he
was alive. In pain, but alive to feel it. Alive as in not dead.
In Gene's mind, if you died and *talked* to dead people, you weren't going to come back without
massive medical intervention. Or Tao magic, something none of his friends could perform.
There was silence. Gene stared at the others, the others stared at him. After the Lazarus act he had just
pulled, everybody's thoughts were scattered.
It was the recently deceased who spoke.
"What the hell just happened?"
***
It took a bit of doing, but the group made it to Fred's mostly unnoticed, even with the blood soaked
Gene and Jim.
Inside the privacy of Fred's personal quarters, sighs of relive were heard. Gene made as to sit down,
then stopped. His hesitation did not go without being noticed.
"Gene, what's wrong?" All eyes looked at Gene at Fred's question. The redhead blinked weary eyes
and wavered. Only two things held him up. Sheer stubbornness and the Jim who had firmly attached
himself to Gene's side.
Making a jerky wave at the chair next to him, Gene answered. "You've got some nice stuff, and, in case
you didn't notice, I'm covered in blood."
Rolling his eyes, Fred walked over to his friend and pushed the exhausted man into the chair. Ignoring
Jim's cry of 'hey', the black haired man scolded his friend. "You are my friend, Gene Starwind, and you
mean more to me that a piece of furniture."
Having the grace to look sheepish, Gene sank deeper into the softness surrounding him. He was tired,
filthy, and still in pain. Returning from the dead, after being killed by several gunshot wounds, left a
person drained.
He wasn't the only one.
Melfina looked at her friends. Gene was nearly asleep in the chair. Leaning against his legs was Jim,
who was afraid to let Gene out of his sight. Suzuka and Aisha were still standing straight, but the bio-
android could see the overload in their eyes. Even Fred, who always seemed slightly hyper, looked
tired.
Drawing their host to the side, Melfina told him what she saw. "Maybe it would be best for us to all
sleep, then talk about it in the morning." Her voice was full of concern. They were *all* tired, and
anything talked about now would be more confusing than normal.
Fred nodded in agreement. Looking at the others, he could see that no matter what they were doing,
the crew of the Outlaw Star was keeping at least one eye on Gene. Even he was doing it. Seeing this,
he made a quick decision on rooms.
"All right everybody," he called, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. "Before we do anything
else, you are going to sleep." Raising a hand to forestall any arguments, he continued.
"I'll have a servant lead anyone who wishes to bath to the tubs. It will take a few minutes, but I'm going
to get the rooms ready."
Sweeping away any comments against his plan, Fred summoned a maid. Melfina herded the other
women, while Jim woke Gene up enough to go wash off the blood. After they left, Fred had fresh
clothes sent, then had the rooms readied.
A plan had come to mind quickly once he had seen how everyone was reacting to Gene's death and
rebirth. What jumped to mind was a pair of suites that connected together. One was his normal
bedroom, the other a guestroom for family.
He planned on putting Gene, Jim, and himself in his normal room, and Aisha, Suzuka, and Melfina in the
one next door. They could leave both sets of doors open, and everyone could check on all the others.
Soon, Gene and Jim followed another maid into the room. It didn't take much persuasion to get Gene to
fall asleep. Jim, use to crashing on the same bed, was soon curled up asleep next to him. Fred stifled a
laugh. He never expected Gene to be in his bed like this.
When the women arrived, he showed them the adjoining doors, and everyone agreed to leave them
open.
Fred had assumed two things when considering room selections. One, everyone would wander in and
out of the room Gene was in, just to check on the young man. Two, after what they had witnessed, at
least one of them would have screaming nightmares.
He was correct on both accounts.
strangest. He had been dead. Couldn't remember how, just that he was dead. Now.... Well, now he
was alive. In pain, but alive to feel it. Alive as in not dead.
In Gene's mind, if you died and *talked* to dead people, you weren't going to come back without
massive medical intervention. Or Tao magic, something none of his friends could perform.
There was silence. Gene stared at the others, the others stared at him. After the Lazarus act he had just
pulled, everybody's thoughts were scattered.
It was the recently deceased who spoke.
"What the hell just happened?"
***
It took a bit of doing, but the group made it to Fred's mostly unnoticed, even with the blood soaked
Gene and Jim.
Inside the privacy of Fred's personal quarters, sighs of relive were heard. Gene made as to sit down,
then stopped. His hesitation did not go without being noticed.
"Gene, what's wrong?" All eyes looked at Gene at Fred's question. The redhead blinked weary eyes
and wavered. Only two things held him up. Sheer stubbornness and the Jim who had firmly attached
himself to Gene's side.
Making a jerky wave at the chair next to him, Gene answered. "You've got some nice stuff, and, in case
you didn't notice, I'm covered in blood."
Rolling his eyes, Fred walked over to his friend and pushed the exhausted man into the chair. Ignoring
Jim's cry of 'hey', the black haired man scolded his friend. "You are my friend, Gene Starwind, and you
mean more to me that a piece of furniture."
Having the grace to look sheepish, Gene sank deeper into the softness surrounding him. He was tired,
filthy, and still in pain. Returning from the dead, after being killed by several gunshot wounds, left a
person drained.
He wasn't the only one.
Melfina looked at her friends. Gene was nearly asleep in the chair. Leaning against his legs was Jim,
who was afraid to let Gene out of his sight. Suzuka and Aisha were still standing straight, but the bio-
android could see the overload in their eyes. Even Fred, who always seemed slightly hyper, looked
tired.
Drawing their host to the side, Melfina told him what she saw. "Maybe it would be best for us to all
sleep, then talk about it in the morning." Her voice was full of concern. They were *all* tired, and
anything talked about now would be more confusing than normal.
Fred nodded in agreement. Looking at the others, he could see that no matter what they were doing,
the crew of the Outlaw Star was keeping at least one eye on Gene. Even he was doing it. Seeing this,
he made a quick decision on rooms.
"All right everybody," he called, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. "Before we do anything
else, you are going to sleep." Raising a hand to forestall any arguments, he continued.
"I'll have a servant lead anyone who wishes to bath to the tubs. It will take a few minutes, but I'm going
to get the rooms ready."
Sweeping away any comments against his plan, Fred summoned a maid. Melfina herded the other
women, while Jim woke Gene up enough to go wash off the blood. After they left, Fred had fresh
clothes sent, then had the rooms readied.
A plan had come to mind quickly once he had seen how everyone was reacting to Gene's death and
rebirth. What jumped to mind was a pair of suites that connected together. One was his normal
bedroom, the other a guestroom for family.
He planned on putting Gene, Jim, and himself in his normal room, and Aisha, Suzuka, and Melfina in the
one next door. They could leave both sets of doors open, and everyone could check on all the others.
Soon, Gene and Jim followed another maid into the room. It didn't take much persuasion to get Gene to
fall asleep. Jim, use to crashing on the same bed, was soon curled up asleep next to him. Fred stifled a
laugh. He never expected Gene to be in his bed like this.
When the women arrived, he showed them the adjoining doors, and everyone agreed to leave them
open.
Fred had assumed two things when considering room selections. One, everyone would wander in and
out of the room Gene was in, just to check on the young man. Two, after what they had witnessed, at
least one of them would have screaming nightmares.
He was correct on both accounts.