Author's Note:

Seems my reviews have trickled off. I hope people are still reading. I have 4 more chapters to upload before I run out of pre-written material (and main characters). Please bear with me. Thanks so much to those who have already contributed.

Chapter 6: Matthew Scott

The corridors Matt jogged down were far more deserted than they usually were. Moreover, they were eerily quiet. He regretted that his iPod had not made it with him aboard Destiny. He'd borrow Chloe's but her taste in music was far different than his. The only sound was his boots on the bulkheads and his own even breathing.

Usually, exercising had a way of putting life and problems on hold. Normally, he didn't think about things while he was actively working out. This time, things were different.

Everyone on board was thinking about Rush. Despite himself, he was one of them.

As much as they couldn't stand Rush's acerbic personality, he had been their best hope of getting home. Now that that hope was gone, everyone seemed subdued.

The scientists had ceased their endless prying through the ship's systems on Colonel Young's order after the Franklin incident. But they weren't truly anxious to get back to work either. The combination of their scientific leader's death and Franklin's injury had taken them all completely aback.

The military officers who were no longer escorting the scientists about Destiny's corridors were not in the mood to do much of anything besides sit in the mess hall and chat at each other in conversations filled with pregnant pauses.

No one knew what to do.

Matt thought back to the footage Eli had shown him. He had been so pleased to find the evidence that would put Colonel Young back in command that he had immediately called the colonel the second he watched Spencer shoot himself. He'd never been so pleased to watch someone commit suicide in his life.

He wished they could have figured out who had taken the gun and tried to frame the colonel. He wished the kino footage hadn't been damaged beyond repair. If anyone could have repaired the footage, Eli could. Apparently, some things were beyond even the genius Math Boy's scope. Chances were, having gotten away with this, that same someone who tried to frame the colonel would try it again if given the chance. Or worse, he would come directly after Young without pretense for cloak and dagger.

He wondered who it could have been. Who would have been closest to Spencer's quarters at the time of the shooting? Given that Spencer's chosen quarters were so far from the other crew, it was difficult to figure out why anyone would have been in the area at all.

Obviously, everyone with alibis was safe from suspicion. Those without alibis would have to be watched more carefully. Not actively, of course, just in a keep-an-eye-out kind of way. Maybe he could enlist Eli's help with his kinos. Maybe they could cross-reference who could delete the kino footage with who didn't have alibis.

Now, that was a good idea. He'd have to run that past Eli. Math Boy would have to help him with the cross-referencing. Matt glanced at his watch. Tomorrow, maybe. Too late to mess with it tonight. Whoever had framed the colonel wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

With the death of Rush, none of them were going anywhere soon. Certainly not home.

Matt slowed to a walk as he reached Chloe's room. He reached the open doorway in time to see the first of Chloe's tears dampen her cheeks. He stopped. She hadn't seen him. He hesitated, unsure whether to continue or leave her to think. It was obvious her thoughts were a trillion light years away. Of course, on this ship, that wasn't too difficult. All you had to do was think of home.

"Hey," he said, deciding to enter the room.

Chloe wiped away her tears. "Hey," she responded in kind. "You've been running," she said, noting the sweat pouring off him.

He smiled at her statement of the obvious and sat on her bed beside her. "Yeah," he said. "Thought you might want to come with me. Clear your mind. The halls are pretty open. Plenty of space for two runners," he offered.

She shook her head. "Not in the mood."

"Come on!" said Matt. She shook her head again. "What is it?" he asked, wondering if he'd stumbled on yet another girl danger zone where the guy has no idea he's in trouble until it's too late.

She sniffled. "We're not going to get home, Matt. Not anymore!" she whined.

So she was thinking about home. He couldn't say he was surprised. "We will," he said, reasons why failed him, "just, you know, not anytime soon."

That was apparently not the thing to say. She burst into tears again. "How could the universe do this to us? Why did a freak rockslide have to take away our only hope of getting home? Of me seeing my mom again? The real me! Not some body I'm using through those idiotic stones! Why wasn't someone there to help him?"

"The colonel did all he could," Matt told her gently and believed it. He swept away the hair plastered to her cheek with tears. "He just couldn't get to him in time."

Chloe seemed to attempt to stop crying. "I know," she said.

"You are glad the colonel made it back aren't you?" he asked her.

She nodded. "Of course! And I'm glad he got his command back. I was such a poor defense lawyer. I wish he'd never asked me."

"Hey," Matt turned her head by her chin so she would look him in the eye. "You did your best."

"But I wish Rush had come back," she whined.

"I thought you hated Rush," Matt said absently.

She laughed and it came out as a choked sob. "Me too." He put his arm around her and held her for a moment before she pushed him away. "You're all sweaty!" she said through her tears.

"Fine," said Matt, standing. "I'll go take a shower and change and we'll go get dinner in the mess hall. 'Kay?"

She nodded and smiled up at him through her tears. The light from FTL reflected off her tearstained cheeks. She was so beautiful. "It's a date," she said.

He grinned at her. "Well, if it's a date, I'll make sure to put on my best and only other set of clothes."

She smiled weakly at the joke. Well, okay, it wasn't that good anyway.