Nomad Chapter 3, a doctor who fanfic

Okay, so notsomuch guns and violence yet, that will be in the next chapter. First, I had to set up the horror. I blame the end of this chapter entirely on H.P Lovecraft.

- Four Years Later -

"Dayna!" Fayden called from the console room, and soon after she heard the thumping of rubber on metal that signaled her first mate running up from the engine room, "Is my hearing going, or did I just hear a cooler explode?!"

"Little bit of both?" Dayna tried, poking her head into the room, "Sorry Captain, it's an old cooler, it'll sputter a few times like that while it's getting acquainted with the ship, but it 'aint exploding or doing any damage, I promise."

"This is me, putting my utmost trust in you." Fayden grumbled, sitting back in the cockpit and crossing her arms. Dayna only laughed, sitting down in the chair opposite the older woman,

"That's why you hired me!" The black-haired, blue-skinned girl reminded her brightly, leaning back and enjoying the sea of stars swimming past their eyes, "Half-Noridian. Not very good at lying."

"Have I mentioned lately how brilliant I think your mother was?" Fayden noted back, punching a few buttons and levers on the console before relaxing in her seat as well, "Marrying a man whose species is incapable of telling non-truths? Brilliant."

"That she is," Dayna laughed, resting her boots on the panel in front of her, "You know I'm really surprised at how well this run is going. Transporting thousands of credits in spice, and not a single unfriendly blip on the screens…"

"…And just like that, she damns us all!" A voice from below sang.

"This enterprise does not condone superstition, Frank!" Fayden called back to her other crewmate, "To prove my point, nothing could possibly go wrong, could things get any worse, and I'll have what she's having!"

"We're all going to die," Frank Green joined them at the console for a moment, also enjoying the view of the stars. He ran a burly hand through his graying brown hair, sighing dramatically, "I'll message my husband and let him know that he's never going to see me again."

"Such melodrama," Dayna laughed, "Nothing's going wrong this trip." She maintained firmly, "It can't, fate won't let it. Today's Captain's birthday."

"Had to blab," Fayden grumbled, but couldn't hide her smile. Frank reached out and gave her a hug.

"How old now?"

"Twenty-seven years young." Fayden replied, adjusting another lever on the console, "And don't you two dare surprise me with anything involving cake." She grinned, "However, if you'd like to buy me a round of drinks, I'd be fully supportive." The screen under Dayna's feet started beeping then, and the girl sat up.

"Coming up on Woman Wept," She called out, and Fayden started punching in codes as Frank ran back down to the engine room.

"Sending in the transport codes," Fayden replied, "Aaaand The Nephilim is cleared for landing in the city of Where." As she spoke, the coolers down below gave another explosive-sounding lurch, "That had better end soon."

"Does our customer speak Basic?" Dayna asked, pointedly ignoring the jab at her cooler-repairing skills. Fayden nodded. "Good, my communicator is rubbish with Wherish."

"It's all the teeth-chattering," Fayden explained, "Makes it hard to hear what they're saying…"

Despite the warnings of her male crew member, Fayden delivered her cargo on time and without a hitch, completing yet another transaction. After a few rough starts in the beginning, she'd built herself a very successful, if small, private shipping business. She liked keeping things small, people trusted small personable shippers with more expensive cargo anyway, you never knew who was handling your goods with the big corporations. Plus it allowed Fayden her freedom to pursue what was still her biggest hobby.

"Right then, pay day," She told her crew as they stood on the loading docks in the massive city of Where, bundled up against the harsh cold of winter on Woman Wept. Frank and Dayna handed her their credit cards, and Fayden stuck them both into the credit stick in her hand, punching in a code. She waited a few seconds, and then handed them back. "Don't spend it all in one place now!"

"I'm off to send a wave to Rami and the kids," Frank informed them, pulling his hood up over his head. "Little expensive but Jamie has a birthday coming up,"

"All right, meet us at the pub in three hours?" Dayna asked, and Frank nodded,

"Wouldn't skip the Boss Lady's birthday!" He assured her, hopping off into the wintery afternoon. Fayden rolled her eyes, but couldn't help smiling. She'd never get over it, how nice it was to have friends, even if she was technically their employer. Four years sharing a living space did that.

"Coming antiquing with me, then?" She asked Dayna, as the two of them wandered in the opposite direction, toward the busy shopping district. Fayden buried her hands in the fur-lined pockets of her coat, dipping her head against the wind. Snow stuck and clung to her dreads without melting.

"Of course!" Dayna said brightly, very much at home in the cold weather. Her father's people were from an arctic world, thus she ran a bit colder than most, "You always find the best used crap on this planet…"

"Well before we dive into the crap," Fayden laughed, "I'm meeting a seller I've been in touch with. Her husband was a merchant who used to stock up on my home planet," She divulged, her breath a halo around her head in the frigid air, "They're retired now, and she's willing to sell me all of the Boe fabric they've got in storage." Fayden smiled, "There's a good chance that some of it was woven by my mother."

"Brilliant!" Dayna skipped, "Happy Birthday to you! …Um," She waffled, "We'll still be crap-diving though, right?"

"Of course," Fayden assured her.

"Awesome," Dayna rubbed her hands together, "I found this coat while crap-diving."

"If I hadn't been there, I never would have guessed…"

A few hours later the skies had darkened and the women met up with Frank at the pub they frequented whenever work brought them to Woman Wept. It was a dodgy old place, especially compared to all the loud clubs that lined the streets of Where, but it suited Fayden. She wasn't exactly one for all the noise and Earth music and grinding. Luckily, neither were her crew. Frank was a family man and Dayna was, well, just odd for her age.

"Ah here are my gorgeous dates!" Frank called to them as they entered the mellow, dark-walled bar. "I ordered your birthday special," He informed Fayden, as she took off her heavy coat. "Booze, booze and more booze with a booze chaser."

"Excellent," She sighed, sitting down. She'd long ago put away the shapeless desert ware for things that worked better in space, and at the moment was about as dressed up as she ever got in leather pants, corset and leather jacket, with a few chains and bobbles here and there and in her hair. It was nothing compared to the spangly silver thing Dayna had put on, but it was as celebratory a look as Fayden could pull off on her own. "Suppose we can toss in some food while we're at it, so we don't all die of alcohol poisoning…"

"Probably a good idea," Dayna squinted at the bar menu, trying to make sense of the scribbles, "Damn Werish. Waiter! Bring us something dead and thoroughly fried!"

Another hour later found the crew of The Nephilim quite buzzed, popping fried prawns into their mouths and working their way through a bottle of imported Alpha Centauri vodka. Fayden was completely relaxed and in good spirits. And the night only seemed to be improving.

"I'm not telling you guys that!" Dayna giggled, a bit too loudly but nobody was sober enough to be bothered.

"Oh come'on," Fayden slurred, grinning, "The whole point of this game is covering topics we're usually too sober and professional to cover."

"E'zactly," Frank agreed, "Come'on baby, if you tell us your story, I'll tell you mine and then you won't feel sooo exposed."

"Okay fiiiine," Dayna sighed, dramatically, "I was 14, he was my boyfriend, he was 15. Gorgeous human boy from school, brown eyes, long brown hair, ugh he was beautiful…" She paused, and then snorted, "And oh goddess, rubbish in bed." All three of them burst out laughing, "Seriously! I didn't have anything to compare it to then! But now that I do, damn," Dayna snorted, "That was awful. It was like a ten second sonic compression in my parents' bedroom. A DRY sonic compression!" More laughing for a minute, then, "Okay okay okay, your turn Frank."

"University, we were both 21," He informed them, raising his glass, "Rami, in our student housing."

Silence from the two women. Then, "Seriously?!" Dayna shrieked, "With your husband?!"

"Well, we weren't married THEN," Frank grinned, "He was my first! And only."

"That's romantic, good for you, especially these days, I'm old-fashioned," Fayden approved drunkenly, but Dayna was not pleased.

"Well yeah, it's romantic and all," She consented, "But! But you just got me to share my torrid teenage escapades and yours is like, like, the fade-out scene in a romantic film strip. A PG-rated film strip."

"So sorry my love life is disappointing to you," Frank laughed, taking another long drink, "But now we all know a little something about you!"

"So not fair!" Dayna protested, as her Captain and Crewmate laughed, "You two always pick on me! Pick on the youngest. I say nay!" She looked pointedly at Fayden. "Your first time, go!"

A pause in the laughter, followed by absolute silence. And then, "…I'm the captain of this operation, and I refuse to respond."

"Oh, but now you've got us intrigued!" Frank sat up, leaning toward her across the table, "We may not let it go after the alcohol wears off, Cap'n."

"Please make me feel like less of a whore?" Dayna fluttered her eyelashes, leaning on Fayden's arm, and the woman sighed heavily, grabbing the bottle and taking a long drink.

"Fine!" She growled, "I was 16." Nothing followed. Dayna poked her arm.

"How old was heeee?" She slurred her encouragement. Fayden growled again, taking another swig.

"22, barely," Hoots and hollers followed from her crew, "Oh stop it!" She glared, "I'd just left home, he was an old friend who gave me a place to stay for a few days, his mum had just died, the end."

"Oh goddess, comfort sex," Dayna winced, "Was there crying? Did it totally kill the moment? I've had that date…"

"There was, but it didn't," Fayden sighed, swirling the liquid around in the bottle, until a small smile fought with the corners of her lips, "It ended when I caught him screwing his partner from work a few days later," Both Dayna and Frank winced, "Which I thought, okay, so he's not a one-woman…or one-man…kind of guy, I can handle that, maybe. Experimental age and all. Then said partner informed me that he also went after anything humanoid that was still breathing."

"Ugh, manwhores, sounds like Rami's brother," Frank rolled his eyes, but Dayna just grinned,

"Still, as far as first times go it couldn't have been too terrible? An older man with lots of experience, Captain Lolita?" She suggested. Fayden nodded, slowly, knowing that some stoic part of her brain would be extremely angry with her in the morning…along with the rest of her brain, for that matter. But there was currently lots of alcohol in her system, thus, she currently did not care. Another grin slowly worked its way across her face.

"Honestly?" Fayden slurred, and then dropped her voice down to a low, conspiratory whisper, "So far, it was the only time in my life that another sentient being has caused me to come." The resulting laughter filled the entire pub. "Eat that, Aldon Blue…"

'So this is how you spend your time then?' She felt very small.

She had felt like something, ten minutes ago. Sixteen years old, standing in a new dress her mum had made out of her last, best fabric, her smooth blonde hair brushed to shining. Before she spoke, before she showed just how alien she felt in these clothes, in this place, she was the envy of most female humanoids who caught sight of her. But then Fayden had found him, and she had felt small.

'My off time!' He'd said brightly, laughing, stepping closer. Fayden breathed in as he did, and felt a strange stirring deep in her flesh, something that she'd never felt around him before, handsome as he was…she frowned.

'You've had your pheromones done?!' The young girl was incredulous, eyes wide. The young man in front of her laughed again.

'So uptight!' He sighed, setting his drink back down on the bar, then reaching out and resting his hands on her bare shoulders, 'You came all this way, in a dress like that, with those gorgeous blue eyes, just to make fun of me?'

Fayden was glaring now. She looked wildly around the room…half-naked patrons all around, indolent, strangers cavorting…this was as far from home as anyone could get. Pulling herself out of his grip, she turned and stormed out of the club. He followed close behind her.

'Fay, kid, I'm sorry, I…'

'Do you know how much it cost me to get a transport out here?!' She turned to face him again, shouting. 'All of our savings! This dress was the last thing my mother ever made!' His smile was gone, and his face grew pale. 'It's been two years since anyone heard from you! And after everyone was so proud…'

'Look, I really am sorry, I've been busy and…'

'I know.' Fayden said coolly, feeling her burst of courage fading, as she started to sound like the orphan kid lost in the universe again. 'Busy, important Time Agent. Face of Boe. Whatever.' She took a long shaky breath, 'Your mother died.'

It seemed that his breath stopped making clouds in the cold city air then, 'Two weeks ago. I was the only one left on Robeck to send you word. I believe the address I have for you is an old one, though. So I came here.' Still no response. 'She's buried next to your father beyond the dunes. I hope you will visit.' She waited another moment, but he still said nothing, only stared at her. Not knowing what else to do, Fayden just turned and started walking away…even though she didn't have anywhere to go.

'Where…' His voice sounded so small, so hazy as he stumbled after her, 'Where are you going?'

'I don't know,' She said, not stopping until he caught her arm, halting her. Fayden turned back to him, saw the heartbreak in his eyes, the tears threatening to fall, and relaxed her nerves.

'I…I can't let you just go off in the cold and,' He swallowed, 'Did she…did she have anything to tell me, or…?'

'…Some letters,' Fayden said softly, feeling younger and younger by the minute, 'She gave me some letters for you.' She swallowed, rubbing her arm with her free hand, realizing how cold it really was outside.

'Ok,' He looked down the street, letting go of her arm and wiping at his eyes before waving down a cab, 'Just…let's get back to my place,' His voice was wavering, and Fayden pretended not to notice, out of politeness, 'You can tell me about…about her when she…yeah,' She followed him into the cab that was hovering on the curve, 'I'll send you home in the morning, all right? On me.'

'…Ok.'

Fayden woke up with a groan, and a familiar pounding going on behind her eyes. She attempted to peel open her eyelids, grateful that whoever had gotten her into bed had thought to turn off the overhead light. Slowly she sat up, some of her dreads falling in front of her face as she did. "Lights, dimmed," She murmured, and the lights came on above her, sending a soft glow around the room. Fayden yawned, consulting the clock on her wall with bleary eyes, pleased to see that it was only 9am. As far as hangover mornings went, this was a good one.

She got up, washed her face in her personal loo, and got dressed for the day. After putting on the leather pants and corset that had become her captain-y uniform, she paused only a moment before taking out the gold-embroidered kilt she used to wear all the time and putting it on over her pants, under her cinch. It had once been a cute little teenager's party dress, and was now a little worn and tattered around the edges. But it was her. The last thing her mother had ever made. Fayden put on a scarf and fingerless gloves too, after remembering which planet they were still parked on.

"Morning, Captain Lolita," Frank greeted her brightly, when she had sluggishly made her way to the console room.

"You're breaking the Drunk Revelations code," Fayden grumbled, falling into her chair and looking out on the white-washed city. Snow was falling from the sky, tossed and tumbled in the wind caused by transports passing overhead. "Statements made by the boss while intoxicated are not to be held against her. Unless we're all intoxicated again."

"Oh fine Boss Lady," Frank laughed, handing her a warm mug of something, "I mixed up some hangover juice."

"I was wondering how you were so perky. Thanks," Fayden took a long drink of java, which had a shot of beer in it and some asprin extract, for flavor.

"Dayna will be out for a while, but it's not my fault her people can't process coffee beans," Frank reached over to the screen in front of Fayden, pointing, "We got a message this morning from a development company, I only skimmed it. They just had a corporately owned cargo ship lose half of the farm equipment they were sending to a colony…somewhere. They're hoping we can do a better job."

"Always happy to lend a hand to colonists!" Fayden opened the message and started reading. She'd only gotten two lines in though, when she felt something moving around her ankles. Sitting up straight, Fayden sniffed the air, turned, and addressed her mechanic, "Frank, why is there a ferret at my feet?"

"Jamie wanted a pet for her birthday," Frank shrugged, "She hardly ever asks for anything, I couldn't say no."

"…There's a ferret in my cockpit, Frank," Fayden sighed, and continued reading as the small animal started nibbling her boot laces, "Let's not make this a habit…" Her voice trailed off, her eyes glued to the screen. "No, no, no they can't seriously be…no!" She looked at Frank, eyes wide, "Where are these people based?!"

"Er, they have an office on the far end of the docks, I believe," Frank replied, confused, "Why what's…?" But his captain was already rushing from the console room, grabbing a heavy coat off of the hook next to her cabin door. A moment later, he heard the main hatch open and close. Curious, he leaned over and read the message again, this time more carefully than before, and felt himself get a little bit sick to his stomach as he reached the end. "Well," Frank blinked, sitting back in his chair, "Suppose we were overdue for some drama…"

Fayden found the local office for the corporation that had contacted her ship without much problem. She entered with a purpose, her face stony and her eyes flashing. "I'm looking for Nina?" She asked of the woman just inside the small building, sitting behind an old, cluttered desk.

"That's me," The slightly older woman stood up, extending a hand. She was wearing a flight suit, and her dark hair was rather disheveled. Definitely not the sort of corporate atmosphere that Fayden had been expecting, "You're Captain Amorisha?"

"Er, yes," Fayden confirmed, surprised. Nina grinned.

"You came highly recommended, how can I help you?"

"I'm sorry, but I have to decline your offer," Fayden told her, an urgent edge to her voice, "And I have to know, who got the suicidal notion in their head to build a colony on Edgit?"

"I…really don't know, I only know we were commissioned by a colonization project based on Mareshka," Nina stammered, obviously surprised at this turn, "We're a supply corporation, we just produce the machinery and the technology, it's in the planet's hands where they want to send people…"

"But you agreed to this!" Fayden exclaimed, "Didn't anybody here realize how wrong this is?!" Met with the blank, perplexed look on the other woman's face, Fayden could have broken something, "Edgit is the fourth moon of Rhone!" She cried, "The greatest plague the Isop Galaxy has ever seen came from Edgit, and now they want to put people there?!"

"Captain, I admit," Nina said slowly, "I started this business having come to this galaxy ten years ago, I don't know the history of Rhone. I do know it was a wonderful commission for our little supply company, most colonization projects look to much bigger corporations."

"…Right," Fayden said slowly, thoughtfully. "Well," She told Nina, in a much calmer state now, "Do your homework on Rhone. And then think about it very hard, whether or not you want to continue with this comission." Fayden left the building without another word, walking off some steam in the cold air as she stormed back to her ship. Something was rotten in the galaxy, and she meant to find out what.

"It'll just be a quick stop," Fayden assured her crew, as they flew through the vacuum later that afternoon, "I'll have us back on Mareshka in 12 hours, but I have to see this for myself."

"Explain to me again," A still-groggy Dayna asked, sitting cross-legged on the floor as her two elders occupied the only two seats in the console room, "Why this is such a bad thing? I mean, weren't the Death-Bringers wiped out? If they're gone, why is their moon off-limits?"

"Well for starters, it's a lifeless rock revolving around a gas giant," Frank explained, "Seriously, there's NOTHING there. No bodies of water, the atmosphere is toxic almost beyond repair…" He shook his head, looking at his Captain, who stared into the abyss grimly. "Are you certain they're talking about the same Edgit?"

"There's only one." Fayden murmured, biting her lip, "It does have a few rich mineral deposits, or so I've heard," She relented, "But that's the sort of situation where merchants send in droids, automated mining systems, why would the committee send people there?" She sounded as if she were asking her questions of the vast nothingness outside, "Plus…nobody knows where those creatures came from. They just showed up all of a sudden on a lifeless moon, as if they'd come from another world. What if they came back from wherever they'd come from?"

"But they were wiped out." Dayna reminded them. She wasn't trying to be argumentative, on the contrary, Fayden caught the edge of fear to her voice. Dayna was 19 years old, and to her, Death Bringers were the things from bedtime stories. Things that had been defeated. "Right?"

"Yes," Fayden had to smirk a little, "Apparently. By a Doctor and a nice man in a red hat."

It was strange, trying to sleep without the sound of the ocean, of the sand. The sheets were too new, too noisy and crisp, the filtered air smelled too artificially fresh, and the sounds of the busy city managed to reach her ears even through the thick, muffled walls, probably because they were so foreign. But then again there were other things too, things that made it less strange, though still foreign, in a different, comforting way. The sheets smelled like him. She could feel a warm, steady heartbeat against her back, a warm, steady arm around her waist. She could feel his breath against her neck.

'I know you're awake,' he murmured into her hair, 'Took me weeks before I could get to sleep after I left…no ocean tides…'

'Do you ever hear them in your dreams? The wings?' She asked in a small whisper, wondering if anything louder would shatter such a pristine, perfect moment. She'd never even kissed a boy before that night…

There was a long pause, and Fayden wondered if he'd fallen asleep. And then, 'Yes,' He admitted, 'Every time I dream.' He pulled her closer, as close as was possible. She shut her eyes again, feeling the brush of his lips on the side of her neck, 'Maybe someday we'll find something else to dream about…'

Fayden hopped down from the hatch, her boots hitting the black, pebbly surface of Edgit with a muffled thud. The gravity was a bit lighter than Earth-normal, and above her the nighttime sky was thick and cloudy with toxic gasses of varying ugly shades of green. She was dressed in a protective flight suit and helmet, and behind her Frank looked the same. There was air outside, but it was full of poison. The two of them gazed out at the landscape, a vast, endless sea of black gravel, with the occasional black boulder or rocky outcropping pointing to the sky. About 100 yards ahead of them some machinery stood abandoned, at least for the moment. They were all marked with the symbol of the Mareshka Colonization Collective.

"All right?" Dayna's voice echoed in both of their coms, and Fayden responded inside her helmet,

"All right," She said quietly, "There's nothing here besides clearing machines, and it looks like they haven't done much. The ground hasn't even been leveled for a housing foundation yet. If this is anything like the usual colony building projects, it'll be at least a year before they're ready to put people here. Plenty of time for us to inform people and incite some good old fashioned protests."

"Who would want to move here anyway?" Frank asked the obvious of the cosmos, as they stood looking around at the desolate landscape. "I mean, even if you were hard on your luck, this has got to be the ugliest piece of space I've ever seen. And I've been to Pluto."

Fayden had to smirk at that, and thanked whoever was in charge of the universe for sending her a friend with a good sense of humor, "I still want to check out that structure we saw from the air before we go, shouldn't take us fifteen minutes to walk there."

"Off we go, then," Frank followed her across the vast almost-nothingness, the only sounds in their ears the crunch of their boots and the occasional comment from Dayna, or each other. There was no wind, no movement, no life. It was eerie, and the further they went without movement or life around them, the more they started talking to each other about anything, nonsense, whatever they could to just break the unnatural, alien silence.

At last Fayden saw the great, low structure ahead of them, an almost natural shelf of black stone rising out of the ground. It was huge, but very clearly, perfectly square and as they drew closer, Fayden could see that it was also perfectly smooth. One whole side was open, like the great maw of a mountain cave, only there was no mountain around it. And as far as Fayden could see, no human hands had had any part in hollowing it out. She and Frank grew ever more silent as they came close to the entrance, until the sound of their blood pumping through their veins became almost too loud to tolerate.

The ceiling was low, perhaps only ten feet high, but the blackness inside seemed to stretch on ahead forever. Frank turned on a light in the wrist of his flight suit, and they could easily see a good hundred yards ahead in the dark. At first, there was nothing. Then, after a moment, they passed the first skeleton and Fayden jumped. Catching her breath, she kept on walking, until they found another…and another…and still more. All the while that sound kept returning to her mind. The sound of leather slapping against leather. By the time they reached the pyre, which Fayden judged to be in the center of the natural room, she could almost smell them.

There were hundred of bodies, most of them nothing more than bones. All of them were still in chains, chained to the massive stone pyre. Many of the bodies still had shreds of clothing clinging to them. Fayden let out a strangled, inhuman cry when she first saw the familiar, sand-colored, quilted sort of coat that had been favored by the men of The Boeshane Peninsula. She reached out with a shaking hand, touching the remains. The beating of the wings grew louder, louder, threatening to drive her mad…there were no remains of the beasts. Only their victims.

"We're coming back, Dayna," Frank managed to say into his com, in a rasping voice, as if his lungs were being compressed. He grabbed his captain by the arm, and practically pulled her all the way out of the cave. They were halfway back to the ship before Fayden could walk on her own again.

"They're still here," She gasped, once they reached the ship, "Tell me you felt that!"

"I did," Frank nodded, his normally jovial face grim, "I don't know how to explain it, but…I felt them."

"It's not a feeling soon forgotten," Fayden took a deep breath, carefully regaining her composure. "I'm not going to let them put people here." She said, resolutely, "I'll get whatever help I need to, I'll make a fuss at whoever I have to, whoever got the notion in their head to build a colony here needs to be stopped."

"With you all the way, Boss Lady," Frank assured her, opening the air lock, "With you all the way."

Author's Notes: Hmm, a social cause and potential doom for the universe at large, I wonder who will show up to help out? Next chapter, the promised guns and violence. Also, possessed politicians and familiar invitations. To those reading, thank you! I hope you are enjoying :) Don't worry, we'll see Jack in the present tense soon.