Examination
With the mysterious ship securely contained by a mooring beam, the strange creature that turned out to be the sole occupant had been brought back to the Valkyrie and was now lying on a table in a sealed room while instruments scanned its body. In the adjoining room, Spea typed instructions to control the scanners while Shildy stood by silently and considered her actions.
What's wrong with me? Shildy thought as she watched the machines slowly perform their function. I've never hesitated in a combat situation before – so why did it happen now?
The console in front of Spea beeped for attention, snapping Shildy back to reality as they both looked at the information being displayed for them.
"It's Solnoid, all right." Spea stated as Shildy looked over her shoulder. "The computer is giving it a ninety-nine-percent match, even the DNA comparison is almost perfectly identical."
"But... how is that possible?" Shildy wondered aloud. "It might share our basic shape, but there's never been a Solnoid that looked like that."
"That's not the only confusing thing about it," Spea noted as she pointed to an internal scan of the creature's chest. "See this spot here, just below the upper tip of the sterna where the ribs meet? A Solnoid would have her datatag implanted there – it's missing. And here," adjusting the image to center on the head. "There are nano-scale fibres woven throughout the brain, but their purpose is a complete mystery. There's nothing like that on record – experimental or otherwise. Its overall appearance can be accounted for by the odd layout some of the chromosomes have... even that weird-looking growth between its legs. But the differences in technology can't be ignored like that – whatever this thing is, it's definitely not a Solnoid... but at the same time, it is."
"This is getting weirder by the minute," Shildy muttered softly. "A ship with Solnoid markings that looks like it wasn't built for combat, piloted by a creature that is unlike any Solnoid in history, yet it not only speaks our language but closely matches us genetically?" She closed her eyes and shook her head. "I don't like it – there's too many coincidences here."
"You're thinking spy?" Spea suggested.
"Or worse," Shildy corrected. "Either way - it'll need to answer questions, but we can't let it have the run of the ship when it wakes up. How long will it take to get the Quarantine section online?"
Spea typed a few more commands into the console, giving Shildy the answer as it popped onto the screen. "Thirty minutes, give or take a few. I've already started the process."
"Good," Shildy noted her approval. "Have the creature transferred there as soon as it's ready. Full monitoring, but no contact without my express approval. I'm going to give the Captain an update of the situation, find me and let me know when the transfer is done."
"Will do," Spea said as Shildy left the room. The door closed swiftly behind her, leaving Spea to turn back to the creature in the next room and mutter "Just what are you?"
Her meeting with the Captain didn't take as long as Shildy expected. A few questions answered, a commendation for her thoroughness, and she had been dismissed. Finding herself with some unexpected free time - she wandered the corridors, oblivious to the greetings of her shipmates, lost in thought.
Could that thing have the power to affect the mind? She wondered, thinking back to the events that took place on the enigmatic ship. If so, why didn't it seem to affect Spea the way it did me? She didn't hesitate – why did I?
Her absent-minded stroll soon took her to the door of the shooting range. Curious to test her suspicions, she went in and selected a pistol with several reloads for a reaction-time-assessment session. When the signal told her that the timer had started, she made her way through the maze while scanning her path for threats. By the time she had emptied her magazines, she had shot each 'dangerous' target at least twice in the designated 'kill' areas, and had avoided shooting any of the 'friendly' silhouettes – earning her a score of ninety-eight percent.
"Figured I'd find you here," a voice called out from behind her. Shildy turned to see Spea grinning at her. "Impressive score."
"Thanks," Shildy replied as she placed her weapon back into its slot in the storage rack. "You're here with an update, I'm guessing?"
"Exactly right. The Quarantine room is online, and the prisoner has been moved there. It's resting comfortably."
"How long do you think it will be until it can answer questions?"
"Well... between the Immobilizer I hit it with, plus its own dehydration and exhaustion, I figure it'll be lights-out for at least two shifts."
"That's fine," Shildy noted as she added her signature to the logbook. Looking up, she uttered a non-committal "What?" when she saw how Spea was grinning at her.
"Since you have some free time," Spea began, "Sergeant Darla from Ordnance has been asking about you – this would be a good opportunity for you to spend some time with her, get to know her better."
"I don't know why you keep doing this to me," Shildy said with an exasperated sigh. "It never works out the way you expect. What makes you think this time will be any different from the hundred-odd others you've set me up with?"
"To tell you the truth," Spea answered without losing her grin, "I don't. But that doesn't mean I'm going to give up. After all..." she paused and gave Shildy a wink, "you never know until you try, right?"
Another sigh, followed by a shake of her head, and Shildy accepted her defeat. "All right, all right," she conceded, groaning inwardly at the prospect, "I'll talk to her. Just promise me that this will be the last time?"
"No promises," Spea admitted with a snicker, "I'll get you out of that shell of yours one of these days – it's just a question of finding the right one for the task." Noticing Shildy's angry glare, she hastily added "But I'll keep it to a bare minimum."
"I'm going to hold you to that," Shildy half-threatened, rolling her eyes for effect.
Three hours later, Shildy stepped into her quarters and leaned back against the door when it slid closed behind her. As she had expected, her 'date' had ended in disappointment for both herself and Darla – who had been understanding enough to not make a fuss when Shildy chose to leave early.
What's wrong with me? - Shildy thought to herself. Why can't I seem to develop any kind of interest in anyone who expresses an interest in me? No matter how hard I try, I can't seem to make it work.
After loosening her belt and throwing it casually onto the floor, she followed suit with her tunic – pulling it over her head and causing her blue-black locks to cascade over her shoulders. She then pulled off her boots and slid her slacks down to her ankles - stepping out of them as she sat on the side of her bunk and, slumping down to rest her arms on her thighs and stare at the floor, recalled her disturbing encounter aboard the alien craft.
My reflexes are still good, she pondered as she thought back to her session in the training hall, so it has to be something about that creature that made me reluctant to shoot it. What could it be? The grief-stricken tone of its voice? The look of sorrow in its eyes? Would that really be enough to stop me?
Lifting her head, she stood up and walked over to her work-station desk. Dropping herself into the chair, she typed a series of commands into her terminal that caused an array of images to be displayed on the monitor in front of her – images of the Quarantine room where the thing she considered to be her prisoner slept. As the images cycled through the different camera angles, giving her an all-around view of the room and its occupant, she found the same discomforting feelings welling up from within her. The longer she looked at it, the more powerful these feelings became. Feelings that she could neither identify nor understand, but still thought they were somehow... familiar, instinctive, primal.
Even the simple act of looking at it makes me feel strange, Shildy admitted silently. Strange and... somehow... nice?
She dismissed those thoughts with a shake of her head. NO! I can't let it get to me! I won't! I'm a soldier, and I'll do what I was trained to do! I'll find out what that thing is, and what it's doing here, and that will be the end of it! I'll do my duty, to ensure the survival of my people!
Sliding into her bunk and pulling the covers to her neck, Shildy rolled over to face the wall as she tried to put the day behind her by drifting off to sleep.
Only to be met by some very disturbing dreams...
