Completion of this chapter once again owes greatly to beta, cheerleading, suggestions, ideas bouncing etc from Kimmy4eytj and CleanWhiteRoom. *hugs Kimmy & CWR* Thanks also to everyone that have left reviews (I always forget to say this!)
Shots whistled over his head, the ground smelled of dust and metal, the sweet smell of burned flesh, the copper sour smell of blood and a sudden ammonia smell of urine. He had bound the wound on Sawyer's head, it had bled like crazy even though it was small, but even he could see that this was hopeless, the minor wounds were nothing against the staff weapon burn to his stomach and the fact he wasn't moving his legs at all.
He stood, scrabbled up the side of the crater and lifted up over the edge of the rock rim just enough to fire a couple of shots back then gave up sliding back down to where Sawyer lay in the bottom, and crouched against the wall of the crater. He could hear suppressing fire coming from elsewhere, more regular than him, and having a more significant effect on the shots that had them pinned down where Sawyer had landed in the bomb crater.
He moved back down to Sawyer, reaching out to grab his jaw and turn his face towards Young himself. "Hey Steve, I'm here."
"Hurts." Sawyer replied, voice tight with pain, unable to suppress a whimper. "My head hurts." Not the giant burn on his stomach, severing the webbing of his gear, scorched through the combat pattern of his fatigue jacket. "It hurts sir."
"I know." Young said.
"Gonna die." Sawyer's voice was quiet, despairing. "I can't feel my legs. Tell Rachel I love her."
"'S alright." Young reassured him. "I will."
"You're gonna be…here…right?" Sawyer asked. "Don't leave me. Gonna be..." His voice faded out, but his eyes were still fixed on Young.
Young could see tears falling on Sawyer's face and knew they were his own. "Not going anywhere." Young reassured him.
Sawyer gave a slight pained smile, then the light faded from his eyes and they went unfocussed.
"Not leaving." Young said uselessly, "not leaving," hunkering down close by him, pressing his cheek to the other man's then pulling back again, to see the unconscious face of Rush laying in the dirt and rocks, bleeding, so much blood...
"Young!" The body's eyes opened and glared at him.
He threw himself backwards, scrabbling, trying to get away, trying to force himself away from the body in the dirt...
"Young!"
The voice was quiet and urgent, not matching the baleful look on the face of the corpse...
"You're dreaming."
The body lunged for him. Hands on his shoulder grabbing, shaking…and a hand on his back rubbing firm circles.
He flinched wildly his eyes slammed open, staring directly into Rush's face, hearing himself yell in shock. The arms around him tightened, containing him and he collapsed into Rush's chest burying his face in Rush's neck. Rush's hand was still smoothing over his back as Young shuddered against him, still terrified, wondering if he was going insane from his reaction to the dream.
There was a noise at the door, Young took a deep breath and tried to calm his breathing. Rush pulled back a little and looked up from where they lay face to face on the pillow. Young let his head fall sideways onto the pillow, though still tucked towards Rush's chest.
"You okay?" Calvos' voice was quiet, concerned.
"Nightmares." Rush said in a low voice. "Bad dreams."
Young squinted sideways without moving; Calvos had poked his head through the curtain and was nodding in comprehension. "Okay. You want a cup of tea?"
Young felt Rush nod. "Yeah, good idea."
There was more than one set of footsteps moving away and Young struggled to extricate himself.
"Calm down." Rush's voice was firm and just a little sharp. Rush's hands shifted and he helped them both to sitting, arm still round Young's shoulders. "You okay?"
Young scrubbed at his hair with the heel of his hand. It was damp and sweaty. "Yeah, okay now." He shifted uncomfortably. "A bit embarrassed that I've woken up the whole of the camp."
"I don't think you were that loud." Rush said. "You only shouted twice."
"Yeah, great." He looked away from Rush.
Rush snorted. "Not like you can do anything about it."
"Yeah, but you aren't the one waking up the camp screaming."
"Not this time." Rush said. "But there's more than enough times I get night terrors."
Young looked up at Rush, who was looking at him. "I didn't know."
"No reason you would." Rush's voice was curt, but his expression was softer.
"Does anyone know?"
"Chloe." Rush looked away. "We have...similar dreams." Damn, thought Young, the direct route to a guilt trip, particularly after that dream. He felt his breath begin to quicken in his chest again but Rush continued. "We used to end up drinking tea in the mess late at night for quite a while. It's not so often now. Comes in fits and starts. You want a cup of tea?"
Young was very glad at the change of topic. "Yeah. Let's do that."
They crawled out of the shelter. Young instantly looked around, but the only people visible were Barnes and Calvos at the fire, watching a pot of water boil and readying four cups. He made his way over and sat down on a log pulled up close for that reason. Barnes was adding something to the cups from a canteen and Calvos was building up the fire, adding more logs around the glowing coals he had piled up to heat the water. The log shifted as Rush sat down next to him.
No one spoke while the tea steeped and it was passed around. He blew on the surface of his tea to cool it a little then took a sip and started back in shock, moving his hand so as not to spill the drink. It was sweet, really sweet.
"What…?" he asked, gesturing with his free hand at the cup.
Barnes laughed. "It's sap, from those plants with all the beetle things. Sugary sap. Greer found it by accident, fell over one and got covered in the stuff from broken stems. Inman was saying something about a symbiotic relationship. Anyway, it's edible, practically pure sugar syrup. Becker was going to keep it as a surprise, but I thought you could do with something nice after a shock."
"How do you get it out?" Rush asked, sipping it his own sweet tea.
The taste was almost decadent, the sweetest thing Young had tasted since they had arrived here.
"Tap it like maple syrup apparently, she's using sharpened reeds at the moment and canteens, but she's going to get better supplies from Destiny when we go back. She's taken seeds too, hopefully it'll grow when the hydroponics is back up and running."
Young nodded appreciatively sipping at the drink. He stared at the fire for a while finishing the drink.
"Well," Barnes said, "I'm going back to bed." She rinsed out her cup with a bit of water from a crate with a cloth over it and put it back with the others.
"Me too." Calvos said quickly.
They stood and wandered off. Once they had retreated into their shelter Young turned to Rush who was looking after the pair.
"Wonder what's going on there."
"Your guess is as good as mine."
"I thought Calvos was into Eli, and gay."
Rush snorted. "Doesn't mean he doesn't like girls too. But I'll agree, he does seem to still like Eli."
Young tipped back his head to drain the last of the sweet tea from the cup then rinsed it.
"What's the time?" he asked Rush.
Rush shrugged. "I'd guess a couple of hours to dawn."
"Bed?"
Rush nodded in response and pushed himself to his feet. In the shelter Young slid into bed, but before he had got to the awkward thoughts of how to position himself, Rush was shoving him onto his side and spooning up behind him. A little glad that the choice had been made for him, and leaning back a little into the warmth of the other man's body, Young fell asleep.
xxxoooxxx
The gate grated and Young waited with the others while the wormhole flattened back into place and steadied. Hefting his kit he made for the gate aware Rush was only a couple of feet behind his right shoulder. Back to Destiny. Back to normal again, he supposed. Or maybe not as normal as before, they seemed to have settled into the agreement about sleeping in the same bed here. Maybe it wouldn't be so awkward on Destiny as previously. It was weirdly reassuring knowing that he had somewhere to go, someone available, even if it was Rush.
Courtesy of the planet's slightly longer days they arrived back on Destiny in time for lunch and Young made himself eat a small portion, even though it hadn't been more than an hour or so since breakfast, not wanting to wait all of the way through till dinner. He followed it with a handover meeting with Scott and Camile and then a short meeting with TJ about the crew (approximately half of those sent there) who were allergic to one of the common plants on Down Below. By the time he had had dinner and retreated to his quarters he was surprisingly tired. Almost tired enough not to notice the fact he was alone for the first time in three nights.
xxxoooxxx
Watching via kino was annoying. Rush was itching to be there, frustrated that he couldn't be getting this done quicker. It would be quicker if he was there. The working party of Greer, Atienza and Brody weren't even close yet but he was already sat at the screen. The bridge door opened behind him and he jumped as a hand landed on his shoulder. It was Camile.
"Nicholas, I hope you've been keeping safe. That last set of cold on the ship did you no good at all."
Or maybe not Camile. "Susannah." From somewhere he found a smile for her.
"Of course. TJ asked me back to look at some allergic rashes and to go over some more training. I thought I'd catch up with you, look at your hands, but TJ said you were up here being irritated watching the repair work. Now while you're still waiting for them to even get there, let me take a look at those hands."
Rush scowled and she smiled at him, reaching round him for his wrists and lifting both hands away from the console gently. Rush stiffed, stopping her from pulling his hands any further.
"No messing around." She chided him. "We can get this over and done with now or I can order you to the infirmary for a full check up." Rush scowled at her again. "Which you don't really need, I just need to check your hands."
He relented and let her draw his hands towards her, turning them over to examine them, bending his fingers and pressing at the skin gently.
"They're looking good." She said, patting the back of his hand. "I was a little worried about the effects of the cold you experienced a couple of weeks back, but TJ said you managed to stay as warm as possible."
"I was sharing with the Colonel and Chloe made me some gloves." Rush said. "It coulda been better, was damned uncomfortable, but once we warmed up my hands seemed to go back to normal."
Susannah nodded. "Good to hear. Well, I'll let you get back to work, but do you want to meet up for dinner? Catch up with the gossip? I stocked up on gossip before I came, even some scientist gossip. And I want to ask your advice on universities for my granddaughter."
Rush smiled. "I'll see you at dinner."
"I'll come and get you." She contradicted, laughing. "I'll be waiting a long time if I wait for you to remember its dinner time."
Rush glared, but it was softened by the smile. She patted his shoulder and left.
Rush watched the screen as Young and Scott manoeuvred the shuttle around the sheet of hull plating floating slowly out of the massive manufactory hatch. The kino was floating over Young's shoulder and the sheet was clearly visible in the front window of the shuttle. They moved the underside of the shuttle closer and closer, extending the undercarriage of the shuttle as if landing. It was only centimetres away when they engage the docking magnets in the feet and the hull panel snapped onto the feet of the shuttle, locked in place by the magnets. The shuttle rocked a little under the impact, then took off for the breach on the upper side of Destiny.
"Rush."
He looked up to see Airman Dunning walking onto the bridge, checked the posture and frowned.
"Colonel Telford." He turned back to the screen, but continued talking. "You're here to see our first hull repairs to Destiny."
"Of course."
Rush brought up the kino feed from the shuttle and from where Brody, Greer and Airman Atienza stood on the hull in a holographic display. Telford came down the steps to look at the display, leaning on the rail at the edge of the chair.
"What are they doing?"
"They've used the magnetic clamps on the feet of the shuttle to lock on to the panel and they are flying it round to where the team are waiting to attach it to the hole in the hull which has already been cut back to the shape of the panel."
Rush could see Telford nod in his peripheral vision.
"You're attaching the whole panel?" Telford queried.
"We'll be attaching eight in total. Two today. It's the largest of the holes we are planning to patch while we are here."
"Why didn't you try out the technique on a smaller hole first?"
Rush scowled. "We have very limited time while we are here and of the resolvable damage, this hole is the highest risk to Destiny's structural integrity. Any patch here is a benefit, even if we have to replace it again later. It will also allow us to undertake much needed interior work in the future."
"What work?"
Rush turned to Telford. "The cold area. Colonel I'm sure you have been briefed about this. If you require a further briefing I can arrange for Doctor Park to go over the project plan with you again."
"Doctor Park, isn't she still blind?"
"Yes, but strangely enough being blind hasn't affected her ability to think or retain information, and my other scientists are either out there" he gestured at the screen "Or on one of the planets. Now, if you'll excuse me I'm trying to monitor the area in which the repairs are taking place." Rush snapped. "Feel free to watch."
Telford shut up, allowing Rush to go back to watching the monitors and the internal sensors under the patch area.
"Back off, back off!" Greer's voice came clearly through the comms feed.
On the kino Rush could see the three on the hull back pedalling to get out of the way of the shuttle. He caught Telford's inhalation behind him. "There's a spare console over there Colonel." He gestured without looking up. Footsteps behind him indicated Telford was taking the spare console. Rush scowled, it was a pity he had not just left.
xxxoooxxx
Young put his hands on his hips, facing Telford who had cornered him in his quarters within twenty minutes of him getting back off the shuttle.
"I'm having the same problem that my scientists reported before Everett, your crew are being consistently unhelpful." Telford frowned. "We are here to take back as much detail on Destiny's systems as possible, particularly the areas you're just opening, before you go back into FTL."
Young took a deep breath trying to remember this was David, who was his friend and had a tendency to be over focussed and a little obsessive which had stood him in good stead in the past, despite the fact that it was damned irritating at the moment. He tried to put it in a way that would get through to him, sometimes you just had to say it the right way.
"David, I know you find this frustrating, but we've got a very tight window here and a lot to do with rapidly changing priorities. I've given you access to all the reports, I suggest that you and your science lead sit down and familiarise yourself with what's going on, then you can listen in on the afternoon briefing to bring yourselves right up to date."
Telford looked at him brows furrowed.
"What else do you want David? I'm giving you unrestricted access to my command briefings when you have no actual authority on this ship, I can't be more helpful than that."
"I can't believe that no-one has the time to work with my scientists."
"Every available crew member is either working on maintenance or working on harvesting supplies. I spent the morning shuttling hull panels from the seedship, and I'm spending the afternoon welding deck plating and replacing burned out squingies in door controls.
"You are more than welcome to join me David. I have 36 crew on board and everyone is busy with the exception of the four crew I have sacrificed to allow you and your science team on board. And I know you can use an arc welder." Young tipped his head to regard Telford and saw the point that David caved. "Come on David," he said with a grin, "roll your sleeves up, get stuck in and get grubby. It's been years since we've worked together like this. Not since that Teltak..."
Telford sighed, rolled his eyes and gave a grin back. "Fine, you got me Everett."
"It's not entirely wasted time on your part David, the welder is Ancient and you'll get a grip of how the systems are built when we start on the doors."
David laughed. "I'm sold Everett, you got me."
It was actually enjoyable working with David. Young took him with him when he went to collect his work allocation from Brody, to Brody's intense surprise, and they walked through the ship to an area on the route to the cold area which had been prioritised for repair.
They got to work companionably and it didn't take long for Young to remember exactly why they had become friends as they fell into a routine of working, one supporting the sheet, the other welding, turn and turn about, securing the insulating panels and decking and bulkhead sheets inside of the recently patched hull.
"Honestly that guy can never keep them on."
"He really did it, with no...?"
"Yep, and that's when the damn gate opens, just as if it had never..."
Young was trying not to laugh so hard the panel he was holding in place would move, muscles shaking with laughter. He looked up as Telford stopped talking, seeing Telford's eyes focus on something over the top of his head. Young looked up grinning to see Eli standing in the doorway.
"I think we've made good progress." Telford said. "We're halfway down this corridor, which is further than Brody expected."
Eli was looking more than a little surprised, looking from one to the other, particularly at Telford who was smiling as he held the welder where he had been securing a sheet of wall panelling in position.
"One moment Eli." Young bumped Telford's hip with his knee "I can't hold this up forever David." Telford laughed and finished welding the panel in place.
Eli walked up to them. "Hey guys, um, I've got the squingies and whatever for the doors and the sensors."
Young nodded. "You need our help?"
Eli shrugged. "If you've got the time. I can be checking the squingies while you do another panel, then you guys can start replacing the ones I've marked." He waved a piece of chalk at them. "Same with the replacement connectors. It's quicker to check 'em than it is to get them out and put a new one in." He shrugged. "But it's pretty much the same two jobs over and over."
They agreed, and while Eli started checking, put up another panel.
xxxoooxxx
Rush collected his helping of food, stir-fried meat and vegetables with steamed buckwheat-plant-grains and sat down. It was surprising edible, he noted as he started to eat, the benefits of three planets worth of flora and fauna to forage. With a clatter of plate and mug on the table, Eli sat himself down opposite Rush. Rush looked up as he sat, taking in the young man's confused expression.
Eli sat there, not eating the food on his plate just stirring his dinner with the spoon in his hand. Rush waited, but whatever it was he desperately wanted to say, Eli wasn't going to start the conversation.
"What is it Eli?" Rush asked the expected question a little curtly.
"Uh, do you think that Colonel Young and Colonel Telford…? I…well…"
"Is there a point to this Eli?"
"They were like, working on my corridor this afternoon, putting up panels and then refitting squingies with me."
Rush looked at him trying not to let any particular interest show on his face. "And? I hardly think Colonel Young helping with repairs is new or novel and Colonel Telford is no doubt bored as there is no one for him to pester." He turned back to his food.
Eli shook his head in frustration. "No that's not it at all, it's just they were like, friendly, like when I turned up they were laughing together."
Rush paused a moment, abruptly irritated by Eli's sudden disturbance of his dinner.
"They've known each other for some years." He said brusquely. "They were friends. It's not unlikely that they should be getting on is it?"
Eli shifted in his seat. "Yeah, it's just I didn't think they were getting on."
Rush shrugged, spoon half way to his mouth. "No accounting for taste is there?"!
Eli laughed. "Which one are you talking about though?"
Rush snorted but didn't reply.
xxxoooxxx
Telford and his scientists stayed the full four days, but thankfully Young's discussion with Telford appeared to have resolved their sulking about lack of access and they attached themselves to various working parties. Gutierrez and Eli actually managed to fix another one of the recharging plates which had been discovered in the newly explored area.
When he wasn't covering his bridge shifts, Young found himself largely working with Telford. Mainly the shared work consisted of either welding panels, or, when Scott went on shore leave on Thick Woods with Chloe and a large party, on the shuttle. With his basic grasp of Ancient assisting his learning curve and his existing pilot training, Telford quickly mastered piloting the shuttle. For his part, for some reason Telford appeared to be trying very hard to be pleasant and things were almost like they had been before all of the disaster with the Lucian Alliance. Young guessed it was Telford's guilt over that that was the reason for his current efforts to camaraderie.
Repairs appeared to be progressing at a reasonable rate, supplies were building faster than they had hoped, and Young was finally beginning to relax a little. The only irritation was Rush, who once again appeared to be randomly, certainly inexplicably, pissed off. Their last conversation had been very brief, starting with Rush walking into his quarters without asking when Young and Telford had been discussing internal politics at Homeworld Command.
"Colonel Young?" Rush's tone was sour as he strode through the open doorway.
Young looked up. "Rush?" He reassessed his greeting in the face of the glare directed at them. "Is everything okay?"
"It's fine. Chloe and Eli have concurred with my figures on a parallel jump with the seedship."
Young grinned, more good news. "Excellent. We can focus on the repair schedule."
"Yeah." Rush agreed, without his demeanour softening. "I want to make use of the seedship in the interim."
Young looked at him with interest. "What for?"
"If we don't need it to remain attached there's no reason why we can't ask her to be undertaking a little more mining. There's some minerals we need as additives to the glass for the dome. I can programme the seedship to track some down and retrieve it."
"Is that a good idea?" Telford queried. "Letting the seedship go when you need to take it with you?"
Rush scowled. "The seedship can't do the mining when we're attached to it. And in the unlikely event that something goes wrong with the seedship, we can get Destiny to collect it before we leave. That's if you want a hydroponics dome again?" He added sarcastically. "I was assuming that was still a priority?"
"Rush…" Telford started.
Young waved him to silence before it broke into an argument. "How risky is it?"
"It isn't." Rush said. "The seedship can't leave the system, and if it did fail, we could collect it."
"Could we live without the minerals?" Young queried.
"Not if you want a dome. The manufactory needs some specific additives if you want it to make dome panels. It can't make something from nothing." This last was sharper and directed at Telford.
"Okay." Young agreed. "Is the day after tomorrow a good time scale? With any luck it'll be done and back well before we need to consider leaving."
"Works for me." Rush said. "It shouldn't take long to program what we need into the seedship. Eli and I can do it before he goes on his shore leave tomorrow."
"I'm still not sure this is a good idea." Telford said.
"I'll take that under advisement." Young said. He turned back to Rush. "You'd better get programming. I'll get Camile to alter the work schedules, increase the foraging parties with the freed up working groups."
Rush, still looking surly, nodded and walked out.
"I don't know why you fold every time he asks for something." David told him.
"I don't," Young said irritated, "and this is something that we have already discussed." Young raised his eyebrow pointedly. "And he's right a lot of the time."
Telford looked frustrated. "Yes, but letting the seedship wander off."
"You read the briefing David, it's been mining for four years. It can't get out of the system, there's nowhere we can't retrieve it." Young stared at him. "What's the problem? It's getting materials we need to fix the dome."
Telford frowned but let the conversation drop. "It's getting close to lunchtime." He said. "You want to go find out what's cooking?"
Young nodded, relaxing. "Good idea."
Telford and his team left on the fourth day. Whilst renewing his friendship with Telford had been pleasant, it was a relief to get them off the ship. One less thing to worry about. Somehow he still could not quite begin to trust them, particularly Gutierrez. Eli seemed to have made some common ground with him, but then Eli could get on with practically everyone. However, Gutierrez just rubbed Young, and to be honest practically everyone, up the wrong way. Even Telford apparently.
And that was another issue. Despite their renewed goodwill, Young still found himself watchful in Telford's presence, relaxing for a while then suddenly catching himself and second guessing what was happening. The sudden jumps were wearing on his nerves.
He saw them off in the stones room.
"I'll see you at the next briefing David." Young clapped Telford on the shoulder. "Maybe we can go for that drink you were promising me. It's got to be better than what Brody makes."
Telford gave him an apologetic look. "Not the next one Everett, I've got leave owing. I'm taking a few days off, going to visit family and friends. Gutierrez will be giving our report."
Great, Young thought. "Well, maybe next time David."
"Yeah, we'll do the next one."
They disconnected the stones and were gone. Young went to find some peace and quiet for a few minutes to decompress before trying to find Rush to ask about the progress of various projects.
Rush hadn't helped Young's stress level at all over the last few days. He had spent the intervening days since they had returned in a foul mood. Young was guessing that this was down to the presence of Telford's scientists but he had not had a chance to catch Rush alone to find out what the hell was going on. Rush once again appeared to be avoiding him. With Telford aboard, Young had not risked being caught in a compromising position with Rush, the risk of being caught leaving or entering Rush's quarters at night by crew was bad enough. Young still hadn't worked out what to tell the crew if he was found leaving Rush's quarters at night, but he trusted his crew much more than Telford and his Homeworld Command scientists. He was certain the crew would protect one of their own over Earth interference and politics, and he could always pass it off as needing to have a conversation private from the Homeworld Command team.
Having taken a half hour with a cup of hot sweet tea in the mess hall he went looking for Rush, who apparently was once again failing to answer his radio. Young found Volker, recently back from shore leave with a very pink sunburned nose in the core interface room and who suggested Rush was on the bridge checking on the seedship's location. Young decided to leave it, with the mood Rush was in the conversation was liable to become volatile and the bridge was really not the place for that sort of a conversation. He settled for getting an update on projects from Volker and Brody.
The following day was another non starter on the conversation front. Rush had the early bridge shift and Young the late. Rush was as surly on the handover as he had been the previous days. The bridge was on minimal staffing as they were stationary, one member of the command team, one crew member who could read a console. Young sat bored through his bridge shift, nothing happening except the shuttle, piloted by Scott, ferrying people to and from the planet Down Below. By the time Volker and Barnes arrived to take over Young was practically asleep.
He checked the core room, mess hall and observation lounge then made for his quarters. He looked around thoughtfully, then going via the showers for a quick wash and to clean his teeth, made quietly for Rush's quarters.
The room was dark, not even lit by FTL light, but Young was familiar enough with the layout by now. He walked carefully to the bed and sat down on the edge, pulling off his shoes.
"What are you doing?" Rush asked quietly.
"Coming to bed." Young said.
"Why?" Rush sounded a little confrontational.
Young slid his pants off. "You seemed to be pissed off about something. You've been avoiding me."
"And you getting into bed with me is going to resolve that?"
Young paused, crawling into bed, sliding up against Rush and throwing an arm over him. "It might. You wanna discuss what's pissing you off?"
"No." Rush replied flatly.
"Then shut up and go to sleep, Rush." Young curled closer against his side.
There was a long pause, then Rush snorted with laughter, relaxed and leaned into Young. "And sleeping together will fix it will it?" Young did not respond but shifted to wrap his arm around Rush's waist. "A little egotistical Colonel? This isn't going to fix every disagreement we have."
"Shut up Rush, I'm trying to sleep."
With another chuckle Rush curled into Young's body and settled himself. "Good night Colonel."