By SilvyrWing
…Bad coordinates? No, there wasn't any way. As an Andromedan, he should have had a perfect directional sense. There wasn't anything as strong in the Andromedan mind… Feeding on wave patterns of other sentient beings, the directional sense was nigh perfect. There was just no way the coordinates could have possibly been wrong!
Radu sat with his back to one of the ion collectors, his eyes wide, terrified. They were looking for him again, and there wasn't anything he could say or do that would change their minds! Trapped. He was trapped. Why wouldn't they trust him? Was it so much to ask for to be part of a team? Why wouldn't Harlan just…
And then he remembered. They weren't looking for /him./ They were looking for Suzee. That wasn't exactly a comforting thought, though… Since he considered Suzee one of his close friends, one within his circle of protection, so to speak, it hurt him to think that she'd gotten herself into trouble. And to make matters worse, they thought it was Radu, himself! How were they going to convince them that it wasn't?
The first step was, of course, telling them the truth. It was something Radu would have done right away, though he felt an unmistakable sense of pride and fear that made him second guess his initial instinct to go right to the commander. The Yensidian mind… He felt totally out of his league.
There was a whoosh from one of the jumptubes, which made Radu start a bit. Normally, he'd be able to hear all the way back to the beginning of a jumptube journey, and by the footstep pattern each person on the Christa made, he'd be able to tell exactly whom it was that was approaching. It would take a lot of getting used to, to live in the moment, so to speak. The Andromedan still wasn't used to it.
Peeking around the ion collector, he saw a rather frazzled-looking Miss Davenport. She was doubtless troubled by the broadcast Harlan had made over the com, and wasn't likely in any sort of condition to be told something as insane as the fact that Radu and Suzee had switched bodies. Still, he didn't make any move to hide himself again. Despite the fact that Suzee had asked him not to tell anyone, plus the fact that the Yensidian mind itself was screaming at him to at least keep his dignity, Radu felt it was time that someone knew.
"Miss Davenport?" He said. She looked toward him, forcing a smile.
"Suzee… I take it you heard the broadcast about Radu." She paused, composing herself slightly by brushing some residual static out of her hair. "You were the last one… with him, though. Are you alright?"
Radu had to think about that for a moment. How would Suzee respond? "Just… fine," he offered lamely. It lacked the self-confidence Suzee would have had. Plus, he couldn't seem to get out the words he wanted to get out.
Miss Davenport didn't mention the fact that Suzee had never defiantly met her eyes during class or the talk afterward, nor did she bring up the fact that Radu seemed to be uncharacteristically bored and tempermental while she was asking questions. It was almost too much of a coincidence. T.J. of all people knew that the Christa had interesting morphing capabilities when it wanted to… Though they were usually used to fix parts of the Christa herself, they were also used occasionally on the crew. The healing chamber could literally create and repair damaged tissue, and the Christa could actually rearrange DNA… it was a well-known fact that even T.J. Davenport had been subject to an interesting transformation or two in the past. She knew. She sensed it. But she couldn't quite tell why or what she sensed.
Suzee was staring at her, an expression in her eyes that measured halfway between insecurity and boredom. Had Christa added a bit of Radu's compassion to Suzee's mind? Had the ship given Radu the ability to be stronger in his convictions?
…Had the Christa made Radu more dangerous?
"Why are you back?" the Yensidian finally asked.
Something had happened in the engine room. T.J. was certain of it. But she was also sure that it wasn't what Commander Goddard thought. It had been a ridiculous theory from the start. Still, the best way to get someone to talk was to accuse them of something, and it was certainly worth a try.
"Well, Suzee… I…" She actually fumbled for a moment, and noted the concern in Suzee's eyes. It wasn't right.
"Are you okay?" the cadet asked.
T.J. nodded, gathering her thoughts before she continued. "There's a lot going on, isn't there? With Radu's supposed defection and all." She noted the slight challenging expression on Suzee's face… That was more like her, however, would she be so concerned about the others on the crew? Perhaps she underestimated the girl.
"I don't think he meant to do it," she responded, her voice small. Radu could not, for the life of him, figure out why Suzee had entered the coordinates wrong. There was no way she could have, with an Andromedan sense of direction. Not unless she meant to. But that didn't make sense, either, unless she had a theory that the aliens they were approaching could actually help them. That was suicide, though! Not even Suzee would subject the rest of the crew to death in an attempt to solve a problem like they had. Besides, it was a well-known fact that Andromedans weren't exactly on the Spung best friend list… And Suzee was currently Andromedan.
It had to be something else.
"I need access to the ship's navigation system," Radu said. T.J. narrowed her eyes, confused. Radu closed his eyes, and searched through his mind for something to say that would be satisfactory to both the Yensidian mind and his own conscience... Something that wouldn't give him away outright, but would lead Miss Davenport to draw a rightful conclusion.
He opened his eyes, but could not meet hers. Smiling, or trying to, he finally decided on saying, "I'm not quite who you think I am."
And then T.J. got it.
---
"I know I entered those coordinates right," Suzee muttered to herself as she crawled through the jumptubes. She'd be untraceable if she didn't actually use them. The problem was, if the crew decided to contact Thelma and ask as to the whereabouts of Radu, she'd likely lead the others right to Suzee.
Tired, she paused at a junction, leaning back against the floor. It definitely felt comfortable here, and she wasn't the least claustrophobic, even with the jumptube walls pressing in on all sides. It felt more homey, almost as if she was in a place where she could spend the rest of her life.
Comfort. The Andromedan mind… It was so calm. So unconcerned with details and pride. It was so opposite from hers. And yet, her own mind was still there, goading her on to find a place to hide. Where she wouldn't have to admit that perhaps the coordinates were wrong. She could let the others fix it. Maybe Radu would be able to discover the problem, and he'd tell them what happened and Suzee would be able to show herself again.
How could the coordinates have been wrong?
"…Radu?"
Her heart must have skipped a beat as she heard the familiar voice. Suddenly alive with adrenaline, Suzee scrambled to climb farther away from whomever it was that had found her.
"No, wait! Radu… Why am I… I don't…"
Suddenly, Suzee stopped fleeing. Frustrated, she sighed, turning around as much as she could in the cramped jumptube to face Catalina.
"Great time for you to show up," she snapped, more harshly than she'd meant to.
Catalina sat there, her face blank.
"Something happened while I was trying to fix the engines. Some sort of surge." Suzee looked away. Seeing another junction not too far ahead, she climbed toward it. At least then she'd be able to turn around.
"…Suzee?" Cat asked. Her voice held a bit of humor to it.
She calmed the urge to verbally lash out at Cat by digging Radu's fingernails into the jumptube, only stopping when she heard them start to crack under the pressure. "I don't need you to laugh at me right now, Cat. They're after me."
Catalina said nothing, and for a moment, Suzee thought she'd left again. Realizing how much she really needed her friend right then, she attempted to turn, smashing her head on the wall. Whimpering slightly in pain, she managed her plea. "Don't leave me again. Please."
"What happened, Suz? Why are they after you?" Cat figured she'd skip asking how Suzee was now in Radu's body, and question instead about why Suzee was apparently in hot water with everyone else.
"…They think I entered the nav coordinates wrong." Finally reaching the junction, Suzee turned so that she could actually face Cat. She was relieved to see that the Saturnian didn't actually appear as if she was about to crack up.
"What were you doing on nav? You don't know…" Pausing, Catalina realized that she likely hadn't told the others that she wasn't Radu. Which led her to believe that Radu probably looked like Suzee at the moment. "You switched places somehow, didn't you?"
"Yes!" The other girl's voice carried a frustrated edge to it. "…And we can't exactly tell 'em who we are. I mean, Rosie figured it out, but that's just one person, right? And are they really gonna believe her?"
"You don't give her enough credit," Cat responded, somewhat hurt. "You should at least go to the ComPost and try to fix what you did wrong."
"I didn't do anything wrong. Besides, Harlan wants to tear me apart."
Cat rolled her eyes. "Because he doesn't know what happened! You have to tell them!"
"And you really think they'll listen to me? They're already pissed enough as it is. They're going to think I'm trying to cover my tracks." Hefting herself up into another jumptube, Suzee continued to pull herself as far away from the others as possible.
"Maybe Radu can show them," Catalina responded, calmly. Suzee turned back to look at her friend, before altering her course to lead her back to the command post. She didn't say anything else, mostly because that would mean admitting she was wrong. She'd already done that enough for one day.
---
Thelma was getting some interesting mixed signals from the Christa. It almost seemed as if the ship was distressed about something, and amused at the same time. The distress Thelma could understand fully. After all, it wasn't exactly fun to know that you were likely going to be blown up in a matter of moments. Well, not moments, really. It seemed as it they had about an hour – standard Rigelian time – before they were to end up as particles of space dust. However, that was still good cause for alarm.
It was the amusement that Thelma didn't get.
So she asked. In a roundabout way, of course. The Christa didn't quite communicate with Thelma in a traditional way.
What the Christa said was very interesting. Very interesting indeed! So apparently it wasn't Radu who had entered the coordinates incorrectly. It was Suzee!
She should tell the crew.
The crew was currently in an argumentive mood.
Thelma was patient. Thelma could wait.
---
"She's just staring," Harlan snapped, gesturing to Thelma. He glanced at Bova, who held a very unreadable expression on his face. "Bova, focus here!"
"I am focused," the Uranusian said. "But it's kinda obstructed by the fact that I just missed second lunch. And I didn't even get first lunch today."
Harlan muttered something to himself that not even he could understand. Really, it was just a place-filler to diminish the silence in the room. Since he'd made the announcement, no one had responded, and he was getting worried. There was no Radu. No Rosie or Goddard. No Suzee or Miss Davenport… No one. Nothing was happening.
Suddenly the door slid open. Harlan was quite sure it would be Radu, arriving to claim revenge or something similar. Raising his fists to defend himself, he was actually slightly disappointed that it was Commander Goddard and not an insane Andromedan that stepped onto the Command deck.
"Commander!" Harlan said.
"He took off," Goddard said, covering the short distance to the helm in a few short steps. "I couldn't really follow him… He was into the jumptubes before I knew what was going on. He's definitely up to something."
"I don't mean to be the bearer of more bad news," Bova droned, leaning his elbow against his console, "But there's still the issue of the aliens. I'm getting some readings here. Looks like they've launched at us."
"I tried to take the ship to hyperdrive, but Christa's not responding. There's something off on the engines… There was that surge earlier, but that should have been cleared by now." Harlan again tried the hyperdrive controls on the helm, getting nothing as a response. "Suzee's been down there all day. Besides, without coordinates in the system, we could end up somewhere we don't want to be."
"And we don't have a navigator," Bova added needlessly. It was something that was hanging above everyone's head. Why would Radu lead them to the Spung?
Harlan stopped attempting to coax the ship into hyperdrive, and turned his attention to the commander instead. "Radu's leading us to allies of the Spung."
"I heard," Goddard responded, almost boredly. It still wasn't coming together for him, and Harlan's temper wasn't helping him concentrate.
"Commander, this is serious," Harlan insisted. "…I don't think he was ever… I mean… Maybe he was just waiting for this chance. Maybe he's still allied with them."
"Radu was born free, Band," The commander said. "He'd never ally with the Spung."
"And how do you know that?" Harlan asked. "What about Elmira?"
The boy had a point.
"Thelma?" Goddard called. The android broke free of her blank stare, and approached.
"Yes, Commander?"
"I need you to locate Radu for me."
Thelma, seemingly confused, hesitated. Did they mean Radu's physical form, or his mental signature? Humans tended to want tactile proof that something existed, so it would be logical to lead them to Suzee, who was currently emulating Radu. However, if they wished to speak to Radu himself, she would have to lead them to Suzee's physical form. It was quite confusing. Maybe she could just tell them where everyone else on the ship was located. That way, they'd eventually find both.
"Radu is currently crawling through the jumptubes. Suzee and Miss Davenport are in the engine room. Rosie is on a course in the corridor headed toward the Command Post."
Goddard considered this, then nodded. "…Bova, you stay here and wait for Rosie. Ask her if she knows anything about Radu… She was talking to him earlier. Band, you come with me. Thelma? Where's Radu heading?"
Thelma's eyes rolled back briefly. "It looks as if he's on his way to the cargo hold."
"Then we meet him there. Let's go, Harlan."
Bova didn't look back as he heard the rush of air from the jumptubes. He was going to go crazy if he didn't get something to eat, and soon. Perhaps he could make it to the galley, then reach the command post with enough time to actually meet up with Rosie. That seemed to be the most logical course of action, especially where his stomach was concerned.
"Thelma, stick around here and wait for Rosie," he said.
"Alright," she replied, that perpetual smile still on her face.
---
Suzee knew what she was doing. If she could head to the cargo hold, then walk toward the ComPost, she'd actually be able to listen for whether or not people were waiting there. She was pretty sure they were out looking for her… Or rather, they were out looking for Radu. Hopefully she'd be alright. It didn't comfort her that the air rushing down around her made it so she couldn't hear what was going on ahead of her in the cargo hold, but she was going to trust luck that there was no one there.
Finally seeing light, she crawled toward it, sensing that Catalina wasn't too far behind. She heard nothing but the steady flow of air around her ears, plus the hum of the engine somewhere in the distance. "I hope you're right," she muttered to Catalina.
---
It would take a lot of work to knock out an Andromedan. Having fought them in the war, Commander Goddard knew exactly what it took to render one unconscious. Occasionally, they would have to employ various techniques in order to take one alive for questioning. That's how they discovered some of the best-laid plans of the Spung. That's how they discovered that the Andromedans weren't naturally hostile.
That's how they won the war.
Silently, he and Harlan held onto a rope, attached to a crudely assembled pulley that fitted into a crane track that ran the whole length of the cargo hold. Luckily, the track ended just above the entrance tube. Just above the point where Radu would exit, had Thelma's directions been correct.
Attached to that rope was a large box filled with some sort of dried rations. It was heavy enough, and, if dropped with enough force, would knock an Andromedan out cold… At least long enough to secure him.
They didn't make a sound, afraid that the smallest noise would alert Radu to their presence. It was taking a long time. But just as Seth was about to give up, he heard a voice from the jumptube. Idly, he wondered if Radu talked to himself. There wasn't really any time to think about that, though, as moments later, Radu appeared out of the exit tube, and stood up.
"Now," Goddard said. He and Harlan released the rope.
Radu must have heard it, because he looked up just in time for the box to collide with his face.
It fell off to the side, spilling dried rations everywhere. More importantly, though, Radu faltered, ultimately falling to the floor to take what Seth hoped was a lasting nap.