Once more a big thank you to bjlu0900 for beta-reading this thing. Many thanks!
Chapter 7
Shit happens
''Come out, Janice! JaniceJaniceJanice! Good Janice! Good girl'' When Bowski heard those words behind him, he stopped and turned around.
"We are looking for a woman, not a dog." he growled.
"What's a... doug?" Paula Kerrigan asked, which caused the Marshal to frown.
"A dog? Seriously? It's a... ah, okay, I get it. Making fun of me again." he sighed and turned away.
"No, seriously. What's that? Some kind of...animal?"
"Forget it, Kerrigan." Bowski sighed. "It stopped being funny ages ago. No, wait. It had never been funny to begin with."
"I mean it! What's a doug?"
"Dog, Kerrigan. It's called "dog". And you know damn well what a dog is." Bowski mumbled.
"Is it like a kriecher? Kriechers are awesome! I have a pet-kriecher. Her name is Moby!" Paula said as if she was only three years old. When Bowski heard that, he shook his head and decided not to continue this conversation. Of course he knew what a kriecher was. Damn pests, that's what they were! Calling a kriecher your pet was like saying that you could speak to Zerg.
Wait...
No, nevermind.
Bowski and Kerrigan had entered the wreckage of the Hyperion and had checked out the bridge first. When they hadn't found anyone there, they had decided to check all the corridors leading from the bridge to the entrance point. On the way there, they had also checked every room they came across. A tedious task, sure. Unfortunately, they had to make sure that they hadn't missed anything.
Like a lost student, hiding inside the wreckage of an enormous battlecruiser.
The longer Bowski thought about this whole situation, the more he came to the realization that this could be the plot of a cheap horror movie. This setting had everything a cheap horror-movie needed. A scary location, a group of young people-
"A hot girl that will survive until the end and save everyone." Paula suddenly mused and Bowski stopped immediately. He turned around and looked the young woman straight into the eyes.
"I do not appreciate it if you look into my head."
"You were much funnier when you thought that I was just weird." Paula replied.
"You are weird." Bowski shot back. "Stay out of my head."
"Suit yourself." she mumbled and raised her hands in defense. "It's not that there's much going on up there anyway." Great, and now she was dissing him. Could this get any worse?
"Oh, there are plenty of things that could happen and-" Kerrigan started.
"Zip it, Kerrigan!" Bowski snarled at her.
"I will, if you call me by my first name...Dan." she teased him in the most obnoxious way possible.
"I'd rather drop dead."
"You know, you are aware that the cop usually dies first in those horror movies, right?" Paula mused.
Fun-fact: Bowski hated horror movies.
They continued to walk through the empty corridors and for a while Paula stayed quiet, something the Marshal was truly grateful for. Alas, such a moment wasn't bound to last for very long. And so...
"Just so you know, I never looked into your brain." Paula mused after a while. There was an awkward moment of silence and then... "On purpose."
"So much better." Bowski growled.
"I take it you don't like people with psionics?" she asked.
"I don't like it if people ignore my privacy."
"What makes you think that your privacy is so wonderfully fantastic that people feel obliged to check it out?" Paula replied, which caused Bowski to stop yet again and look at her in bewilderment.
"What are you talking about?" he demanded to know and Paula shrugged her shoulders as she walked past him.
"All I'm saying is that people always act as if their own thoughts were the most precious thing in the universe. Let me tell you, your thoughts aren't any more special than that of every other creature in this galaxy." she explained while taking the lead.
"That's not the point." Bowski shot back.
"It isn't? Then what is it?" Paula wanted to know while looking over her shoulder.
"It's about valuing someone else's privacy!"
"Why?" she asked. The tone in her voice was completely oblivious. It was as if she was truly not getting why he was so angry.
"You're making fun of me, right?" Bowski snarled. "One's privacy is not negotiable. That includes one's thoughts."
"Then why do you shove your thoughts into everyone's face if they're so darn important to you?" Paula asked.
"That's not how this thing is working. You are the mind-reader, not me and-"
"It's that simple, yes?" the young woman stopped and turned around. She faced Bowski and stared him straight into the eyes. Suddenly she seemed to be a lot less goofy and a lot more serious. The Marshal hadn't seen this side of her before, and he was actually impressed. "It's always the fault of someone with psionics, right? We have to make sure not to read anyone's thoughts, even though you don't even try to keep your own in check? Why? It's not like we have a choice in that matter, do we? I was born this way. No one ever asked me: "Hey, Paula, you want to be like this?" No. I don't complain. I am who I am. I never asked to be able to read someone else's minds, yet I don't really feel unfortunate either. But putting all the blame on me just because you think I'm a threat to your privacy? Seriously?" Bowski wanted to reply something, but Paula didn't even give him a chance to say anything.
"What are your thoughts telling me that your actions don't?" she continued. "Ever since we met, you tried to ditch us. I don't even have to look into your head in order to realize that you want us to be gone. If anything, then looking into your mind would actually tell me why you are acting like an asshole. And honestly, wouldn't that make things easier? That way I could see that you are not just a jerk, but someone who doesn't like people because they don't make sense to him." When the Marshal heard that, his expression turned sour.
"So, now you have figured me all out, huh?" he growled.
"Newsflash, Dan." Paula told him. "People aren't that complicated. None of us are. We have simple dreams and hopes, including me. The only complicate thing is that we like to believe that we all are oh-so-special and unique. Your distaste for social interaction isn't more important than that of any other random misogynist-"
"I'm not a misogynist." Bowski defended himself, yet Paula didn't even pay attention to that.
"...and my quirky way of acting doesn't mean that I'm oh-so-unique and special. There are plenty of people out there that are like me. What makes us unique and specials isn't the fact that we believe it." she told him and the Marshal crossed his arms in front of his chest.
"Oh? So, what makes us special then?"
"The fact that we are." Paula replied. "Seriously, why do people always need to come up with explanations? How about this: Paula Kerrigan is an awesome human being because she says so! Everyone who disagrees might say so, it will be firmly ignored."
"That approach to life seems to be a tad bit simple." the Marshal mused.
"So?" she shot back. "What's the problem with looking at things like a simpleton? Everyone's is just acting as if they were the center of the universe, and whatever they are doing is oh-so-important." She then pointed with her finger upwards. "Take the Professor, for example. When he realized that this wasn't the Rebel Heart, he was ready to give up and leave. He didn't even think for a second to dig deeper! Everyone has these weird expectations, and they all focus on just that. And if these expectations fall short, then everyone just acts as if it is the end of the world. They don't even think about looking at the stuff that's right in front of them!" And then Paula sighed and dropped her shoulders.
"Like those two..." she whispered with an annoyed and hurt tone in her voice.
"Is this rant serving any purpose?" Bowski asked after a while. He noticed how Paula clenched her hands into fists and gritted her teeth. Clearly, she was agitated.
"It means that I don't like it if people act like assholes for no reason."
"Like me?"
"Like you." she confirmed. "You know, there are people here that need your help. You have nothing better to do, admit it. The Professor and his team really could use your support. I wouldn't be bothered by it if you had a darn good reason for not wanting to help them. Like, I don't know, a pregnant girlfriend or someone who's sick and you're worried about them. But no. Your only reason for trying to sabotage this is because you want to be left alone. And that's ticking me off."
"Some humans just want to be left alone. I prefer my privacy." Bowski shot back.
"Humans are social beings." Paula replied. "Maybe there are times when we want to be alone. But if we stop helping people if they need help, then we stop being humans."
"My..." the Marshal chuckled. "...seems like little Miss Sunshine over here is quite the humanitarian."
"You're damn right I am. And if you don't accept that, then I'm gonna force my humanitarianism down your throat! Wait, that came out wrong..." Paula looked around and seemed as if she wanted to say something, but then she just frowned. "How did we end up with this conversation again?"
"I think you tried to lecture me on-" Bowski started when suddenly...
Clank!
Both of them turned around and looked down the corridor.
"You heard that?" Paula asked.
"Yes. You stay here, I check it out." Bowski said.
"Fat chance. Follow me!" the young woman declared and moved forward. The Marshal shook his head, but otherwise he decided to not say anything anymore. This conversation had told him more about Paula Kerrigan than he had wanted to know, but now he had a clearer picture of that person who had decided to become his personal bane of existence.
Oh, he still wanted to get rid of her, most definitely. And all the stuff she had just told him? To Bowski, it was nothing but childish gibberish. Thankfully they left this conversation behind the moment they decided to follow that strange sound.
"There, down the staircase." Paula said and before Bowski could even say something, the young woman slipped through yet another reinforced door and vanished in the darkness.
"Kerrigan!" he hissed but followed her immediately. "Stop running off on your own!"
"I'm not alone, I got you breathing down my neck!" her voice chirped from the other side of the dark door, and suddenly the Marshal felt the urge to strangle that woman. Again. And so Bowski sighed and decided to simply follow Paula, even if every part of his body was telling him that he shouldn't.
"Let's go back." Bowski muttered when they stepped through the door that was leading to deck 5. After making their way downwards, both the Marshal and Paula had checked every possible location for Janice. The doors to deck 2 to 4 had been sealed shut, and there was no way that a mere history-student would have been able to force those doors open. Deck 5 had been the deck where Paula and Sirella had found the quarters of a certain man called Matt Horner, so they had checked the entire deck once more, but to no avail.
No Janice anywhere.
"I have a slight feeling that this whole search will be one fruitless exercise." Bowski growled. By now he had taken the lead and was stomping down the staircase like a, well...
...like someone who was pretty mad.
"At least we don't have to check every deck." Paula mused. "I have the slight feeling that we are getting closer, Dan."
"Stop calling me Dan."
"Start calling me Paula, and I might consider it."
"No, you won't."
"No, I won't." Paula confirmed with a big, fat grin on her face. As they reached the next level, Bowski checked the door, only to see that it was firmly shut.
"No way she got past this door." he mumbled and turned away. "Just how many decks does this ship have?"
"27 primary decks. But there are fourteen more secondary decks and sub-levels. Also, not all decks are the same size. Below deck 9 they become much larger since they span through the entire ship and include the engine room. Deck 13 also houses the main hangars both port and starboard side. We should hope that Janice didn't make it to deck 15, though."
"Why's that?"
"Because that's where the storage rooms are. Trust me, searching for a person in one of those is not fun." Paula explained. That's when Bowski stopped and looked her into the eyes once more.
"For someone who pretends to not know what a dog is, you sure know your way around with ancient battlecruisers." he mumbled.
"Eh, everyone needs a hobby." Paula replied and shrugged her shoulders.
"Some hobby that is." And then the Marshal started to move again. Even now the massive size of this vessel was almost impossible to comprehend, at least for him. People like to say that things were better in the past. Bowski wasn't so sure about that, but they certainly were bigger! And when they reached the next level...
"What the hell?" Bowski mumbled and pointed his flashlight at the door. Or what once had been a door. "That's not ominous at all." The door leading towards deck 8 had been sealed off. Someone had used a welder in order to make sure that this door couldn't be used without brute force. And even then, it would require some powerful tools. "You know, if this were a movie, then this would probably be the place where they did illegal experiments." Bowski placed his hand on the door and...
The door sprung open and Jim and Matt entered the deck.
"Did he tell you what was so important to wake me in the middle of the damn night?" Jim growled. He was only wearing shorts, slippers and a shirt. What good was it to have your very own battlecruiser if you couldn't run around in your pajamas?
"No, he didn't. But I do hope it's something truly fascinating." Matt sighed. And then he added: "For his sake." While Matt wore his uniform, he looked tired.
"You look tired, man." Jim mentioned the obvious and Matt threw him a glance.
"Yes, well, that happens if you work thirty plus hours coming up with a somewhat decent plan on how to storm the most fortified prison in the entire sector." Ah, yes. New Folsom. Jim knew that Matt had mixed feelings about this mission. On the one hand, he really wanted to crack that egg and free those who had been put away by old man Mengsk because they had dared to speak up against his tyrannical rule. On the other hand, Matt wasn't really looking forward storming that particular castle.
"I'm worried, Jim." Matt mumbled.
"You are...*aaaaaaah*..." Jim yawned and wiped some drool off his chin. "You are always worried. What is it now?"
"It's...Tosh and his people." his second-in-command said. "I'm not sure if we should include him in this mission. And, to be honest, I'm not certain that we should get involved in this."
"Matt, if I wouldn't be practically be sleepwalking right now, then I would yell at you for saying something like that." Jim muttered. "Seriously, first you can't stop yapping about busting New Folsom open, and now you have second thoughts? You've been talking about this for years now!"
"I know." his friend sighed.
"Also, it's not like we have much of a choice." Jim continued. "You said it yourself. Without Tosh's help, taking New Folsom will be pretty pointless."
"I know..."
"And if I remember correctly, then you were pretty happy with the fact that I didn't accept Nova's offer."
"I know..." By now Matt's voice was more a whining. "...it's just...the longer I think about this, the more I have doubts about Tosh. About who he is. About what he wants to do."
"The same as we do; get rid of Mengsk and free the people." Jim explained.
"His people." Matt corrected him. "That doesn't necessarily mean that we will fight on the same side."
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend." Jim mused, which caused Matt to groan.
"I always hated that saying. How many times have we been double-crossed so far? I stopped counting after the sixteen time." Matt gripped. "I think that from now on we should say: "The enemy of my enemy is just another jerk I have to be worried about". It's closer to the truth anyway."
"Man, who pissed in your coffee?" Jim wanted to know.
"Want a list?"
"Not really..." the older man sighed. "...let's just see what Stetmann is so excited about that he can't even allow his commander to get some sleep."
"And his XO not even to take a hot shower after a long day of hard work." Matt agreed. The two men approached a room that wasn't Egon Stetmann's lab or his bunk. As they entered it, they spotted Stetmann immediately. And not only him.
"-that I will blow your sorry ass out of the next airlock!" Chief Engineer Rory Swann barked while throwing a big wrench at Stetmann, who ducked just in time in order to avoid the heavy object.
"B-but Rory! I thought that you were okay with thi-this! I even a-asked for your opinion on it! A-and you said i-it would be okay!" There was a lot of panic in the skinny scientist's voice. For good reason.
"What the actual hell?" Jim muttered when he looked around.
"I said that it might work. Might! Not "Go ahead and turn my ship inside out!" I'm gonna squeeze the life out of you, boy!" the short engineer howled.
"His ship?" Matt muttered in disbelief. "And I didn't shower for this?"
"You sure love your hot shower, don't'cha?" Jim teased him. "Say, I never asked that, but do you shower with your uniform still on?" While he was asking that, he and Matt stared at Swann that was chasing Stetmann through the room while screaming profanities.
"No." Matt replied. "I have a uniform just for that."
"Thought so." Jim muttered before he straightened himself and decided to end this madness. "Okay, enough fun and games, you two. What's going on here?" However, neither Swann nor Stetmann were listening to him.
"Get over here, you little weasel! You are nothing but bad luck!" the short engineer shouted.
"Eeeeeeep! I'm sorry! Please, not the face! NOT THE FACE!"
"Boys..." Jim moaned. He was tired. So damn tired. All he wanted was to go back to sleep.
"Come here, you little piece of-" Swann screamed in rage.
"I always respected you! You were like a father-figure to me!" Stetmann squealed in a poor attempt to pacify the angry engineer. "An abuse father-figure with a serious alcohol-problem!" Well, he probably had to work on his compliments...
"Okay, enough fun and games..." Jim moaned. Unfortunately, being the Commander of the Raiders usually didn't mean that he could call upon their sense of professionalism. Because let's face it; the Raiders were anything except professionals. Unless you considered the skill to stomach large amounts of booze a sign of professionalism. In that case, they were all professionals.
Except for Stetmann. That guy could get drunk from a glass of milk.
However, there was at least one member among the Raiders who knew how to behave like a professional.
"That is ENOUGH!" Matt barked and suddenly both Swann and Stetmann froze.
Well, Swann froze. Stetmann continued to wiggle like an eel while the older and shorter chief engineer was trying to squeeze the life out of him.
"Swann, let go of Stetmann!" Matt orderd.
"But-"
"NO BUTS!" the XO of the Raiders screamed in barely contained rage. "If you don't want to spend the next three weeks in the brig, then let go of him!" Swann didn't release Stetmann immediately. It almost seemed as if he thought wherever three weeks in the brig were worth hurting the skinny scientist.
"Swann, let him go." Jim yawned again. "I'm too tired for this shit."
"Hmpf..." the short engineer grunted and did as he was told. He made a step backward, but first he smacked the younger man with his prosthetic arm on the head. "This fool will be the death of us one day!"
"Noted." Jim mumbled. "Now, what exactly is going on here? And please, don't make me repeat myself. In easy words."
"Co-Commander, I only wanted to show you what I have-" Stetmann whined and got back on his feet.
"Easy words!" Jim told him, and the skinny scientist blinked in surprise.
"But...I haven't said anything yet."
"I know." Jim replied with a grin on his face. "This is preventive. So, Stetmann, why did you decide to tear my ship apart?"
"Uhm...you see..." the scientist muttered and looked around. The room they stood in was chaos incarnated. There were pipes and cables everywhere. It looked like the workshop of a madman. Then again, this was Egon Stetmann they were talking about. So yeah...
"That fool wanted to reroute the water-purification through the reactor cooling!" Swann barked. "I could stop him just in time!" When Matt heard that, he pulled his brows up and looked at Stetmann.
"Is that true?" he wanted to know.
"Well, yes, but that isn't the whole story. You see-" Stetmann tried to defend himself.
"I don't want to hear it." Matt cut him short. "No one hooks the water-purification-system to the reactor cooling. Never."
"Glad that we talked about it." Jim yawned. "Can I go to sleep now?"
"B-but Sir! The system is ready to be tested. I wanted you to show it to you!" Stetmann whined, which caused Jim to frown.
"But...didn't we just hear that Swann stopped you before you could turn our reactor into a toilet?" the Commander mumbled.
"That was only an attempt to boost the efficiency of the modification!" the young scientist defended himself. "I still managed to implement the other changes."
"Other changes?" Jim asked and looked over at Matt, who just shrugged his shoulders. "What other changes?"
"But Commandeeeeeeeeer!" Stetmann whined. "I wrote you a 300 pages long explanation of what I wanted to do! I even marked the things I wanted to modify on a three-dimensional map that I included in the file!"
"Wrong approach, Stetmann." Matt snickered. "You should have drawn a picture. With crayons." That comment earned him an annoyed glance from Jim, but apparently this tiny piece of insubordination had been worth it.
"Ugh...all I heard was water-purification and reactor cooling." Jim moaned. "Just what is this all about?" And when Stetmann was about to tell him, the Commander had one more thing to say. "In five sentences or less." There was an awkward moment of silence when Stetmann wanted to say something but then fell silent in order to count the words he would need to explain his idea to the Commander. However, as the minutes passed, it was Swann who grew impatient first.
"This enormous blockhead wanted to hock up the water-purification to the waste to the sewage system." the short and blocky engineer growled.
"Wait, there are two different systems?" Jim sighed. "And what's the problem?"
"What the problem is? WHAT THE PROBLEM?!" Swann screamed in rage. "You want to drink the same water you used to flush your turds down?!" When Jim and Matt heard that, they both shuddered at the same time.
"Thanks for planting this very graphic image in my head, Swann." the Commander mumbled. "So, I get your point." And then he turned towards Stetmann. "And why exactly would you want to mix drinking water with toilet water, Stetmann? Remember, the last guy who tried that ended up with his head down the toilet."
"Hehehe..." Matt snickered. "Gosh, I still have the letter you wrote to his mother. Pure gold." But Jim simply decided to ignore his second-in-command.
"Sir, I swear that I had the best intentions!" the skinny scientist whined. "All I wanted to do was to help!"
"By making faucets produce feces?" Jim mused.
"No, by lowering the energy consumption of the life-support-systems by more than 15 percent!"
"Say what?" Matt asked and blinked in surprise when he heard that.
"Don't listen to that fool!" Swann interjected. "He's just trying to honey mouth you guys. There's no way that you can lower the energy consumption that much. Trust me, I know this baby better than anyone else, and I tell you that-"
"You told me my numbers were correct!" Stetmann protested. "You even told me that it could be done!"
"Could be. As in "Maybe." I didn't give you permission to do it! And I'm still the Chief Engineer on this boat! My ship, my rules!"
"Seems like everyone owns this ship 'cept me." Jim mumbled and then he rubbed his temples. "Listen, fellas, that's all cute. But I don't like the idea that I brush my teeth with sewage. So no, Stetmann, you cannot do that and-"
"Uhm..." the scientist interrupted him. "...I already did."
"Why do you think I'm so angry, Boss?" Swann gripped. "This little squirt decided to just wreak havoc and see if he could do it himself!" Jim wanted to tell both of them to just shut up and leave him alone. He was tired, so damn tired.
"Okay, I'm gonna tell you guys something-" he started, but then he was cut short by his second-in-command.
"How much exactly?" Matt asked with a serious tone in his voice and Jim looked over at his friend.
"Huh?" he muttered, but the younger man ignored his commander.
"How much energy can you save? I want a number, Stetmann. A real number." the XO demanded to know. This time Stetmann had no problem with answering that question in an instant.
"If we shut down the unused parts of the sewage system, then we can save up to 23 percent of the energy we use for life-support." the scientist explained.
"How much is that of the overall energy consumption?" Matt asked.
"During full-load?"
"Yes."
"Huh...probably 7,5 percent." Stetmann mused. "But that only counts if we-"
"Could we reroute the power to other systems?" Matt wanted to know. "Like weapons?" When Stetmann heard that, his eyes widened in surprise. It was as if he hadn't thought about that possibility at all.
"Well...yes. Yes! Yes, I think so!"
"Are you two insane?!" Swann roared. "The power grid couldn't handle such a load! We would have to reinforce the grid in order to avoid a brown-out!" However, Matt simply decided to ignore Swann's ranting.
"That much energy could come in handy." Matt mused. "Think about it, Jim. We could improve the efficiency of your battle-systems drastically."
"Wha*...yawn*...whatever, man. I just want to sleep." the Commander declared. "Can you solve this problem without me?"
"This boy is talking madness, Horner. Madness, I tell you!" Swann told the XO. By now the three men were completely ignoring Jim. It was as if he wasn't even present. "The strain we would put on the power grid is just too much for the girl to handle. Besides-"
"Well, I guess you and your people will have to upgrade the power grid then." Matt replied. "We need every advantage we can get and-"
"Upgrade? UPGRADE?!" the Chief Engineer yelled. "You have no effin' clue what you're talking about, pretty boy!"
"Did he just call you "pretty boy", Matt?" Jim mused while scratching his belly, but no one really listened to him. Why should they, he was only the guy leading this sad bunch of misfits.
"You always claim that you're the best damn engineer out there and that we should be thankful for having you around." Matt explained. "Well, then how about you do something for your money?"
"You don't pay me shit!"
"And I know why!"
"Boys..." Jim groaned. "...please, can I go to sleep now. Also, can we stop yelling? Please?"
"Stetmann!" Matt barked and looked at the skinny scientist, who screamed in surprise when he suddenly heard his name.
"Y-Yes?!"
"The system is ready for a test run?" the XO wanted to know.
"Yes. Yes! I just installed the filters. Everything should be a-ok!" the young man declared.
"Good. Then let's see if this thing works and-" Matt started.
"You can't be serious!" Swann protested, yet Jim's second-in-command decided to ignore that.
"...if it does, then we will talk about upgrading that power grid. I'm not gonna waste such an opportunity and..." Matt explained, yet Jim wasn't really listening anymore. Instead, he leaned against a big crate and closed his eyes. If he wasn't allowed to sleep, then he could at least take a short nap.
"...won't guarantee..." Jim could hear Swann's ranting.
"...on't have to, I checked all the numbers twice..." Stetmann said. As Jim was dozing off, he started to snore while leaning against that crate.
"...my decision stands..." Was that Matt? Heh, good ol' reliable Matt. Always there for Jim.
"Make it so!" his second-in-command ordered. "I'm going to take a shower now. And Stetmann, tell me how it worked afterward. That's an order!" Jim could swear that he heard someone leaving the room, but the Commander was already too far gone by then. Drool was dripping from his chin and there was a stupid grin on his face.
"...you can...call me a pig...any day, Darlin'..." he mumbled. So close. He was so close to seeing her again. At least in his sleep. The sounds inside the room became a blur and Jim's mind started to slip away. Even then he still managed to stay on his feet, albeit leaned against that huge crate. It didn't matter, though. Because inside his mind he was starting to see things...
...things that he missed so much.
Her red hair, the way he remembered it. Those green eyes. And that faint smile whenever she looked at him and...
"Sa...rah..." A single name escaped Jim's lips, and for a second it actually felt as if she was right next to him. He could even feel the warmth of her body and-
BANG!
"WHAT THE HELL?!" Jim yelled when he was suddenly brought back into the here and now. He looked around and noticed that he was still in the room where he, Matt, Swann and Stetmann had discussed something involving poop.
"Stetmann! What is this?" Swann yelled, and only then Jim realized that this was, in fact, no dream.
"T-that's...that's not supposed to happen!" the skinny scientist whined. "The pressure is already too high! We need to reverse the flow!" Jim shook his head a few times in order to regain some momentum. And when he did...
"The pressure is going critical! Do something!" the Chief Engineer yelled and Stetmann ran over to a terminal in order to, well, do something.
"Too late. We can't vent it into space anymore. We need to reverse the flow now!" the young man screamed.
"No! If you do that, then our freshwater-supply will be-" That's when he was cut short by Stetmann.
"Fear not, Rory Swann, for I have installed a filter to make sure that wouldn't happen!" the scientist declared and entered a new command. The machines inside the room were producing an infernal noise and Jim looked around in terror.
"Guys! If you just wrecked my ship, I'm gonna blow you out of the next airlock!"
"Whoa!" Swann shouted as a pipe right next to him exploded and steaming hot water came out of it. "Stetmann, I'm gonna kill you!"
"Eeeeep!" the scientist screamed like a little girl. "This isn't supposed to happen. THIS ISN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN AT ALL!" The floor beneath them started to shake and more and more pipes burst while steaming hot water filled the room.
"Stetmann, Swann, I don't care what you do, just do something!" Jim screamed in rage.
"I got this! I got thiiiiiiiis!" the skinny scientist screeched and hammered new commands into the console right in front of him. It was as if the whole ship was about to come apart when suddenly...
Wwwwwwwww...
A long whir echoed through the room and the infernal noise suddenly stopped. It sounded like an engine that was turned off, and right now it was the sweetest music Jim could imagine. He placed his hand on the huge crate right next to him and brushed the sweat off his forehead.
"Jeezus..." he groaned. "...what the hell was that?"
"That, Commander, was Mister "I double-checked my numbers!" over here!" Swann growled and threw a wrench at Stetmann, who dodged it with ease.
"I don't know what went wrong, Commander! This shouldn't have happened." he whined.
"Well, it did happen!" Swann barked. "And now our entire freshwater-supplies are probably done for. Great job, you moron!"
"No!" Stetmann replied. "Ha! I installed a filter to make sure that this wouldn't happen. You see, Rory, I'm not completely useless."
"Filter? What filter? You do know damn well that I want to see every piece of tech that people install on this ship!" the Chief Engineer growled and Stetmann pointed with his finger at the crate right next to Jim.
"Don't worry, you can check it out yourself. It's top-of-the-line. There, the filter I installed is the one the Commander is leaning against and..." There was a long and awkward moment of silence. Followed by an "Oh!" by Stetmann.
"Find the mistake." Jim sighed. "Just so you know, Stetmann, you can clean those pipes and-"
BANG!
"What now?!" Swann screamed when another loud noise echoed through the room. It sounded like metal tearing itself apart.
"Oh, that can't be good." Jim muttered and decided to walk backward and towards the door. "Stetmann?" The skinny scientist looked at the console and frowned.
"I don't get it. The pressure is still rising! How? This isn't supposed to happen!" he whined. Unfortunately, it was.
"Turn it off! I mean it, Stetmann, turn that thing off!" Jim shouted.
"I... I can't!" he whined. Swann ran over to him and pushed him away in order to take a look at the console. It was time for the professional to take over. The Chief Engineer looked at the display and then...
"Oh, shit."
Well, that wasn't a good sign.
"Guys? What the hell is-" Jim shouted, but that's when the pipes started to hiss and vibrate. Something was moving through those pipes under high pressure. More pressure than they could handle. And when the first one finally blew...
...there was no water coming out of it.
"HOLY SHIT!" Jim screamed. He didn't even bother giving orders when he stormed out of the room. Swann and Stetmann were right behind him, and when they were all out, all the pipes exploded simultaneously.
"RUN!" Jim screamed. They didn't even try to seal the door, all they could do was to run as if the devil himself was right behind them. An unbelievable stench filled the corridor and Jim held his breath while running for his dear life. Behind them, a tidal wave of all the unpleasant things a human body could produce crashed through the door and started to flood the corridor.
"THAT'S NOT HOW I WANT TO DIE!" Stetmann howled.
"I TOLD YOU THIS WAS A BAD IDEA!" Swann yelled as well. Since his legs were the shortest, he was soon dead last. The three men ran around a corner and spotted another member of the crew. The woman, a technician, blinked in surprise when she saw how the Commander, wearing nothing but slippers, boxer shorts and a shirt, the Chief Engineer and the most useless scientist of all times came running towards her while screaming like a bunch of idiots.
"Move! MOVE!" Jim screamed and pointed at the door leading to the staircase. She hesitated for a second, not sure if this was just a joke. But when she spotted the brown flood, her eyes widened in shock and she ran for her dear life. When she reached the door, she stopped, turned around and waited for the three men to reach them. Stetmann was the first. He was really fast if he wanted to. Next was Jim. And then-
"GHAAAAA! THESE BOOTS WERE BRAND NEW!" Swann howled when the ground beneath him became wet. You could see the look of anguish on his face. He was so close, so close. The technician had her hand on the emergency button, ready to close the door. And when the Chief Engineer was safe, she punched the button and the door closed within less than a second. A sludge of brown managed to get through a tiny gap and everyone turned away. Thankfully it landed on the wall on the other side. And then...
"Ah...ah...ah..." Jim panted and looked around. "Everyone okay?"
"I think I'm gonna puke!" the technician gagged. "Was that...?"
"Yes." Swann growled. "And I would appreciate if we won't talk about that topic anymore. Ever. For all times." Jim took a few deep breaths and walked over to a nearby intercom. He pressed the speaker-button and took a deep breath.
"Raynor to bridge, you hear me?" Someone answered immediately.
"Bridge here. Commander, what's going on? We are getting an emergency warning from deck 8. Is everything-"
"Seal off deck 8!" Jim interrupted the man on the other side of the line. "Evacuate it. Every door and every hatch has to be sealed. Now!"
"Yes, Sir!" the man replied and then they heard how something behind the door started to move and shift. And then...
"Whew..." Jim sighed. "Remind me to never do that again. Is everyone alright?"
"Oh, someone will be NOT alright once I'm done with him!" Swann growled and stomped towards Stetmann, ready to turn the skinny scientist into a human pretzel. But that's when suddenly the intercom came alive and a very, very, very angry Matt Horner could be heard.
"To the crew of the Hyperion! Find Stetmann! I want him! Dead or alive, I don't care! BRING ME STETMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!" When Jim heard that, he looked at Stetmann, then Swann, then the door leading to deck 8, and then at Stetmann again.
"Co-commander?" the skinny scientist whined and looked at Jim with a pleading expression on his face.
"You know what?" the Commander then said. "I'm going back to sleep now. I'm out." And with that Jim turned around and simply left. Someone else could clean up this mess!
"I wonder what's the story behind this." Bowski mumbled and leaned forward. He looked for something that could tell him why they had decided to seal this door shut. And then he spotted something dark. It was impossible to tell what it was, it had probably rotted away a long time ago. But it still kinda looked like a liquid that had managed to squeeze itself through a tiny hole. Bowski was about to touch it when suddenly-
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Paula mumbled and he looked over his shoulder.
"Huh?" he muttered.
"Just...leave it. Trust me, you don't want to know what this is." the young woman mumbled. Bowski frowned when he noticed the sickly expression on her face.
"Are you okay?" he asked. "You look kinda, well, green."
"Oh, you would look green as well if you knew." Paula replied.
"What are you talking about?"
"Nothin'. Come, Justine isn't behind that door." the young woman said and turned away.
"Janice. Her name is Janice."
"Whatever. If we find a Justine, then I'm cool with that." Paula declared and decided to head further down. Bowski wanted to tell her to not wander off on her own again, but then he just sighed and decided to follow her.
"Frustrating woman..." he growled. The door leading to deck 9 was open and so they knew what to do next.
"I think I sense something ahead." Paula suddenly declared and Bowski frowned when he heard that.
"What?"
"Something. Up ahead. Could be our lost lamb." she told him.
"You can actually sense her?"
"Maybe." Paula muttered. Suddenly she seemed rather tight-lipped. "Come on, I want to bring as much distance between me and that deck as possible."
"Why? What's so horrible that they had to seal it off? You know something, right?" Bowski mused.
"I... don't want to talk about it. And you don't want to hear any details, trust me. Some secrets are just better to stay forgotten." But then she looked over her shoulder and flashed him one of those goofy grins.
"But just so you know: From time to time?" she cooed.
"Shit happens."