Beka hurled another storage unit out of the Nietzschean ship with an
audible grunt. Pushing the lid off with her foot, she inspected the
contents. It was another box of scrap metal. Beka put the lid back on and
pushed the storage unit away.
"You'd think a research vessel would have more researchable things on
board," Beka said, walking back into the ship.
"You sound disappointed," Harper called, his voice echoing. The
engineer was toward the back of the ship, examining a black box attached to
the wall.
"I am," Beka said, standing a few feet away from her friend. "I
thought there might be something we could use against the Nietzscheans.
Something important, ya know?"
Harper faced Beka, smiling sympathetically. "I know. And I might be
able to deliver on that one."
"How?" Beka asked. Harper faced the black box. Feeling the edges with
his fingers, he paused a moment in calculation before hitting the left side
with his fist. The box's lid popped open. Harper peered inside the box, and
then looked over at Beka in confusion. "What?"
"It's a." Harper reached into the box and pulled out a flower
sprouting from a pot of soil, "flower."
"A flower?" Beka said. The flower was long stemmed, leaves of dark
green pouring over the sides of the pot. The petals, five in number, were a
soft pink with black spots. Stemming out of the petals were three pollen
pods.
"It must be important if they kept it locked up in a box," Harper said.
"Must be rare," Beka said. "Why don't you take it to Hydroponics?
Trance can take care of it when she's done curing our guest."
"You sure you don't want me to stick around?" Harper asked. Beka
smiled.
"Don't worry, I'll have all the scrap sent to the machine shops so
you can work your Harper magic," Beka said.
"Hey, that magic works in places other than the machine shop," Harper
said, waggling his eyebrows.
"Out," Beka said, her smile never fading. Harper walked past Beka. He
was practically out of the ship when curiosity got the better of him. He
leaned in and took a quick whiff of the flower. He coughed immediately.
"Phew!" Harper exclaimed, waving his free hand in front of his nose,
his eyes squinting.
"What?" Beka asked.
"This flower reeks something awful! No wonder they kept it sealed in
a box," Harper said.
"You only have yourself to blame," Beka taunted.
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Harper chimed, exiting the ship. Beka laughed
to herself before sighing when she noticed another cargo unit she hadn't
seen before. She didn't bother to open it, already knowing what was inside.
* * *
Trance ran another scanner over the unconscious Nietzschean. His heartbeat was barely registering and she'd attached a respirator to help him breathe, but she was sure, even if he did wake up, there would be no chance for a full recovery. He'd gone for too long without oxygen. Dylan stood on the opposite side of the bed, watching Trance work and watching the growing frustration invading her usually calm features. "How's it going?" Dylan asked. "It's not," Trance said. "What do we know?" Dylan asked. "There are no penetrating wounds, but there's massive damage to his vital organs. His entire body is shutting down.but I can't figure out why," Trance said. "What about the others?" Dylan asked. "The same thing; their bodies just stopped working," Trance said. "I- I don't understand, Dylan. I should be able to fix this." "Trance, it'll be okay. Andromeda is processing the log from the Nietzschean ship. With any luck, we should be able to figure out what happened," Dylan said, trying to give some comfort to his medical officer. Trance offered a weak smile. The alarm went off. The Nietzschean's body shook violently, the bed vibrating because of the force. Trance rushed to get the defibrillator. She clamped the box-like device over the Nietzschean's heart. "Clear!" she shouted. Activated by her voice alone, the defibrillator shocked the Nietzschean. His body jumped and fell limply back on to the bed. His heart still wasn't beating. "Clear!" Trance shouted again. Again his body jumped from the shock and fell on to the bed, but his heart showed no signs of life. Trance stepped away from the body and pressed a button on the medical console. The monotonous sound of the flat lined heart stopped and the respirator ceased to work. "Trance." Dylan said. "He's dead, Dylan. And I couldn't save him," Trance said. She detached the defibrillator and respirator before walking out of medical. Dylan sighed. He looked down at the dead body. "What happened?"
* * *
Trance ran another scanner over the unconscious Nietzschean. His heartbeat was barely registering and she'd attached a respirator to help him breathe, but she was sure, even if he did wake up, there would be no chance for a full recovery. He'd gone for too long without oxygen. Dylan stood on the opposite side of the bed, watching Trance work and watching the growing frustration invading her usually calm features. "How's it going?" Dylan asked. "It's not," Trance said. "What do we know?" Dylan asked. "There are no penetrating wounds, but there's massive damage to his vital organs. His entire body is shutting down.but I can't figure out why," Trance said. "What about the others?" Dylan asked. "The same thing; their bodies just stopped working," Trance said. "I- I don't understand, Dylan. I should be able to fix this." "Trance, it'll be okay. Andromeda is processing the log from the Nietzschean ship. With any luck, we should be able to figure out what happened," Dylan said, trying to give some comfort to his medical officer. Trance offered a weak smile. The alarm went off. The Nietzschean's body shook violently, the bed vibrating because of the force. Trance rushed to get the defibrillator. She clamped the box-like device over the Nietzschean's heart. "Clear!" she shouted. Activated by her voice alone, the defibrillator shocked the Nietzschean. His body jumped and fell limply back on to the bed. His heart still wasn't beating. "Clear!" Trance shouted again. Again his body jumped from the shock and fell on to the bed, but his heart showed no signs of life. Trance stepped away from the body and pressed a button on the medical console. The monotonous sound of the flat lined heart stopped and the respirator ceased to work. "Trance." Dylan said. "He's dead, Dylan. And I couldn't save him," Trance said. She detached the defibrillator and respirator before walking out of medical. Dylan sighed. He looked down at the dead body. "What happened?"