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Chapter Twelve

Serge?

~

After a few hectic minutes the crew had managed to get Josh into the medical pod. His shirt, socks, and shoes had been removed, and he himself lay unresponsive on a cold metal table. Beck worked frantically to make sure his heartbeat had stabilized. Serge held an oxygen mask over his mouth and nose so as to guarantee a full amount into his weakened lungs. Beck checked his eyes to see if they had come back to their original position. She frowned and shook her head, glancing worriedly at Serge who's gaze had not left the young man's expressionless face. Zimsky, Braz, and Iverson were standing there also, ready to help when needed. They weren't about to let one of their own go just yet.

Beck turned from the table, frustrated and fearful. If Josh didn't pull out of his condition soon, who knew what might be wrong with him? She could barely bring herself to face the others. Situations were bad.

Serge sat focused on his job. The oxygen was flowing smoothly, but Josh's heartbeat was irregular, and that meant his breathing was irregular. He wasn't receiving the gas in healthy amounts, and if that continued then there was nothing else they could do for him. He sighed, heavy hearted and fearful. He looked up once at Braz behind him, then turned his face away. His eyes revealed all too well that he was more than a little concerned. Braz nodded his head in silent understanding. The crew knew how close these two were, almost as close as Zimsky and Braz, only without the negative tension. Perhaps as close as Bob and Beck, only without the air of one's superiority over the other. No. Of all the compatible pairs, Josh and Serge were the closest, and they knew the loss of one would heavily hinder and pang the other. None were willing to let Josh go more so for Serge's sake than their own.

Suddenly, Josh's body went rigid and then relaxed, giving the impression that an electric shock had just spiraled through his spine. His eyes shot open, and with a look of utter confusion he bolted up into a sitting position.

"You okay?" Beck asked, slightly amazed but relieved all the more. Josh suddenly fell backwards as swiftly as he came up, but he caught himself on his elbows. "You're going to be weak." He nodded. "You're okay." she pat his shoulder.

Zimsky and Serge exchanged happy smiles as Braz nodded his head in satisfaction.

"Good job." Zimsky smiled. "Good job. Good man."

"I'm fine. Thank you." He told Beck, rocking his head a little to ease the dizziness.

"Well done, well done."

Iverson pat his shoulder from behind. "We've got some good news, Doctor Keyes."

"Yeah?" He looked up, smiling.

"You saved the shuttle, and all our lives."

"That's g...that's good news." Josh laughed. "Oh," he sighed, rubbing his face. "It is hot in here."

"Yeah, that nitro we flushed out of the cooling system, it's...it's causing things to heat up a little." Braz explained. "I'm going to go back and just make some adjustments."

"I'll lend you a hand." Zimsky offered with a smile. The others seemed slightly surprised at the offer, but no one objected. Zimsky and Braz worked their way toward the edge of the pod, each patting Josh's shoulder as they went on.

"I'm going to check your heartbeat, okay?" Beck stated, rubbing her wrist. Josh nodded, still struggling to keep the room from spinning. Iverson left the room as well with a glance back, leaving the three to talk or do whatever it was they needed to do. Beck ran around, lost in thought and business. Serge took this opportunity to talk.

"You're going to be okay." Josh, nodding once more, finally sat up fully. "You gave us a good scare though."

"Did I?" he asked, smiling and beginning to put on his missing articles of clothing. "Sorry about that."

Beck left soon after, smiling fondly toward Josh once more before finally disappearing outside. The two suspected that all others had left in order to give the friends some time alone. Both were appreciative.

"Yeah." Serge sniffed and nodded his head. His gaze didn't meet Josh's. The young scientist frowned.

"You okay?"

Serge blinked a few times, rolled his eyes and shrugged.

"Just a little tired, I guess."

"You should go rest then."

Serge shook his head, objecting. "Not that kind of tired." Josh's brow furrowed slightly. The Frenchman laughed idly, then shook his head. Running a finger under his nose, he knew he probably had to explain himself. But not now. He smiled and pat Josh's shoulder.

"It all seems to big, doesn't it?" he asked in a gentle whisper. "I think you were attempting the impossible." he stood. "You were trying to save the world and...it's overwhelming." Josh nodded, agreeing. "I came here to save my wife and my two children and...six billion lives..." he blew a sigh, "It's too much." Serge suddenly leaned in closer, a knowing and wise smile on his face. "I just hope I-I'm smart enough and brave enough to save three." Josh's eyes gazed sternly back into Serge's, and he saw the man's point. Serge smiled then, more easily and pat his shoulder. "You did a nice job, Joshua." he commented, rubbing his shaking hand through the young man's hair. "Very nice. Great."

Josh shook his head and laughed. "You'd have done the same thing."

"Well maybe, maybe." he cocked his head, winked, and then left Josh alone in the room for a few moments to ponder over his actions, or other things.

~

Mission Day Two

Beck sat in the commander's seat while Iverson slept for a few hours. They took their positions in shifts now, as they got later into the mission. It was part of the reason why they had two terranauts to drive Virgil and two geophysicists. If one was sleeping, the other was surely awake to fill the stead of the missing person. She was proud to say she was doing rather well. Zimsky was in his seat, doing something concerning no one else. Her eyes gazed with wonder into the screen, they were nearing their target.

"Hey guys," she announced with a smile. "We're close to the mantle core interface. Where are you?"

~

"Keys in, Dr. Brazzelton." Serge stated as they checked the condition on the nukes. "Ready."

Josh heard Beck's voice over the coms and decided to respond first. "We are in the..."

"Okay, the code, 0-1-3-1-9-9-5."

"...luxurious, beautiful weapons control...checking the controls on the nukes."

"This is the birthday of my daughter." Serge concluded proudly.

"0-1-3-1-9-9-5" Braz repeated.

"Chantel?"

"Yeah." he smiled to Josh. "Ready? Three, two and one..."

Josh leaned in close to get a good view, but Braz had to pull him back. "Thank you. Green. All green." he confirmed.

"Great. So we have to synchronize the babies now." Serge stated, switching a few more buttons and keys. A distinct buzzing was heard. Josh watched with interest, like a kid, Serge noted with an inner smile. "Wait a second." he urged. A click resonated through the pod. "There." Serge confirmed. "All right, now lets put them to bed."

~

Beck's eyes were hard set on the monitors before her. But as she gazed into the seemingly endless abyss, she noted something that disturbed her greatly.

"Zimsky, could you please come up here for a second?" she asked with some concern in her voice.

He left his seat and walked as though very perturbed with the interruption toward the front of the cockpit. "Yes?"

"We're not supposed to go through anything black."

"Yes, so please don't."

"What is this?"

A great field of black mass came over the screen. Large chunks heavy and thick enough to squash Virgil between the two and destroy the ship for sure. Zimsky stared long and hard into the monitor, trying to sort out the mess before his eyes.

"Oh my God," he exclaimed in realization. He grabbed Beck's shoulder in excitement. "They're diamonds!"

"Great." Beck sighed in frustration. "You might want to sit down and buckle up. We're on a collision course here."

Zimsky didn't waste a second getting to his seat. Beck turned on the coms again. This wasn't going to be easy. Virgil soared straight into the diamond field, with the only way out just ahead. Unfortunately, it wasn't a direct path, and Virgil was not made for direct turns.

~

"All rightie. Careful." Serge warned, taking one of the nuke timers and handing it with both hands to Josh who received it both excitedly and concernedly. He stuck them back in their proper containment units as Serge released the others from their settings.

~

"Guys," Beck came in sharply. "We're dodging diamonds here the size of Cape Cod, so bear with me. Not exactly nimble here."

She did all she could to make smooth turns, but she knew sooner or later they were going to be meeting up with one of those floating assassins.

~

"Diamonds?" Josh asked with interest over the coms. "I want some."

Serge laughed.

"Can I help?" Braz offered. The ship was shaking now, and not to anyone's comfort. Iverson was wakened in his bed and was now carefully making his way to the cockpit. He'd heard Beck's call and decided that any help she would need would be a great benefit.

~

Virgil dodged left and right, surprisingly a smooth flight for the conditions she was under. Beck maneuvered her beautifully, and Iverson stood in the back of the room deciding now was not the time to say anything that might distract her or make her lose confidence. A few thuds were all that were heard.

"Ooh!" She exclaimed with a wince, as though she were feeling the beating she was now putting the ship through.

~

Serge looked up in panic as the roof seemed to explode above them.

"Okay. It's okay." Braz encouraged, his faith holding strong with his baby. Josh looked up in concern as Serge wiped some sweat from his brow.

~

"Okay!" Beck yelled happily over the coms. "It looks like we're in the clear!"

Iverson smiled, knowing well that his confidence and trust was well placed still. He started back toward the living quarters when Beck shouted out in anger. A loud explosion like sound was heard from the weapons control module, and all looked up as they knew death came for them. Beck had scraped a perfect gash along the side of Virgil, and there was no lasting it.

"Breach!" She screamed through the coms. "Guys! Weapons control, get out! Get out now!"

~

Beck didn't have to say it twice. Braz flew from the compartment, followed by Josh with Serge taking up the lead. Iverson cursed and ran to the back of the ship, knowing well they'd need help.

The distinct hum of the compartment doors reached Serge's ears, and he turned with a dawning realization. If they left the setters in there, they would be lost, and with them all hopes of saving the world. With only one a look back he returned to the already collapsing pod. He grabbed the nuke controls and started to place them as gently as possible into their containing boxes.

"Serge!" Josh screamed from the opposite compartment. "Serge! What the hell are you doing? Come on!"

Serge took the nuke setters and handed them to Josh who passed them idly to Braz. He took them and turned to see Iverson running toward them.

"Bob!" He yelled. The commander pushed past the engineer and fell into Josh, knocking him into the weapons room.

"My notebook!" Serge yelled. "You'll need it!" He ran around frantically for the violey, sticker covered notebook that held within it all the component information and directions for setting off the bombs. Josh, dazed from the sudden force exerted on him, looked up and saw it hanging from a shelf.

"Here!" He yelled, tossing it to the Frenchman. "Go! Go!" Serge fled from the compartment and into the adjacent pod. His eyes flew back in time to see Josh crawling under the last door. Braz and Iverson pulled him up just as the bulkhead door closed for good.

Serge was leaning heavily against the opposite wall, breathing and panting, his eyes not leaving the time setter box until Josh fell into position beside him, panting and trying to blink back tears at the realization of what they all could have lost. Serge placed a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder and pulled him into an embrace.

"You okay?" he asked at last. Josh smiled.

"Yeah, just tired."

Braz and Iverson laughed. Serge turned his head around and pointed at the box. "You can probably just put those in navigation for right now." he stated, looking to Josh. "Is that okay?"

The man nodded. "Yeah, yeah." Iverson rubbed his hand over his face.

"I trust if there are no other interruptions..." he started with a mock air of annoyance.

Serge waved him off. "Yes you can go...thank you..." Iverson smiled, nodded his head and left. Braz took the time setters and left behind Iverson, once again leaving Josh and Serge alone. Both were now on opposite sides of the pod, breathing heavily.

"I've been thinking." Josh breathed, rubbing a hand through his hair.

"Yeah?" Serge breathed, his face pulled up in an exhausted frown.

"I'm going to go to Paris." Serge's brow raised in interest. "And we'll...we'll go out after this." Serge smiled. "After this is all said and done. All right?"

Serge laughed, nodded his head, and smiled broadly.

"I think I might like that."

Josh smiled, nodded, and stood. "I think we'd better get back."

Serge nodded and started back toward the cockpit. He ran a hand over his mouth and looked back as Josh made his way after him. Serge smiled, shook his head and continued forward. Josh smiled inwardly, knowing that this time he was keeping his promise.

All right, well, that was incredibly painful to watch three times over. I hope I didn't misspell anything, but I had to fight off tears as well as grammatical errors. The first was more of a problem. Am I oversensitive? Overemotional? You know how hard it is watching someone you can easily relate to die? It's frustrating, and it hurts. [sticks her tongue out]. So there. My purpose for writing this story has been accomplished, but I'm having too much fun to end it here. ^_^ I will complete it, don't worry.