Jane had continued to do her rounds all morning, the Commander compliantly following along and occasionally participating in the conversations she started up with her crew. He seemed content to stand back and watch as she conversed with her crew, ever the silent observer. They were walking side by side in their matching uniforms as she lead him back to the elevator lift.
"Would you be willing to have lunch with me?" Jane asked, turning her head to the side to look at him as they continued down the long hallway.
He took long steps, his dark hair bouncing against his head. The curls were better managed today than they were the day before, and Jane couldn't help to see how striking of a figure he made in his tight suit and gelled hair.
"Of course," he responded in his sultry baritone voice.
Jane kept her face emotionless as she forced back a smile and moved her eyes away from him to watch their progress down the hallway. She had been looking forwards to spending more time alone with him. She was intrigued and mystified by him, and though she had spent all morning with him she still had no idea who he could be or why he had come to be on her ship. He gave no clues to whether or not he was from the same universe as her or was from the other one. She was hopeful that once alone she would be able to unravel the mystery and learn more about the quiet, tall, insanely handsome man she found herself walking next to.
As they approached the lift they watched as a crew member waved her hand over the sensors for the lift to arrive. She was wearing a pink shirt; a technician, her large ears twitched as she heard them arrive and turned to face them. Her face was covered in brown fur and a small pink triangle of skin represented her small nose, her wide purple eyes blinking as she recognized them. She snapped her heels together and gave a salute as the two captains approached.
"At ease Elsa," Jane commanded as the short crew member bowed as she stepped back from the elevator, allowing them to go first. Jane nodded her thanks as they stepped by and walked onto the lift, alone.
Jane pushed the button leading to the level directly beneath the control room, the same floor where she had taken the commander for their first private meeting. The doors slid shut.
"You have quite the range of dialects at your command, Captain." The commander remarked, staring straight forwards.
Jane smiled at the subtle compliment. "I like learning the different languages," she replied honestly. She knew that it should be nearly impossible for someone to know all of the different languages he had witnessed her use to converse with her crew, so he had every right to be amazed by her talent. Though as she thought about it, she really wasn't that talented, considering the fact that she didn't look her age. She had spent dozens of years learning the languages and everything about the different cultures across the planets, sometimes even spending centuries on the planets she liked most. Learning the languages was easy over time, and she was easily capable of recalling them to mind, her memory perfect though it was swarmed with billions of years worth of information.
The doors slid open and they stared down the abandoned hallway. This floor was considered the "silent level," several of the doors opened into large meeting rooms, though the rest of the rooms contained couches and library areas, offering a respite for the crew to relax in privacy. Though today the floor was abandoned as the crew members not currently on shift were preparing for the games.
She lead the commander down the hallway, past the room that she had lead him into for their first meeting. She stopped in front of another door, this time on the left, and waved her hand over the sensors as the doors slid open. This room resembled a small café, the walls were holographically colored to appear like wood and small tables filled the area. At the far side of the room stood a long counter, which Jane immediately walked towards.
She waved her hand over the metal counter and suddenly a screen appeared in front of her listing the menu for the day. She scrolled through the list as she felt the Commander step to her side. He watched her as she chose what she was going to eat, a small salad and a side of galorp, which was a type of blue goo from the planet Neptoid that was very sweet to the taste and high in protein. She typed out her order and pushed send. Above the counter on the wall was a large metal box, which Jane knew was a lift leading directly to the kitchens. A few moments later with a click the box popped open and a tray containing her food was revealed, so Jane reached in and grabbed the tray. She turned and started walking to a table, the Commander stepping in her place and following her lead by picking his own meal.
Jane admired him as he walked towards her with his tray, he looked extremely handsome his form very tall and slender, and his aquamarine eyes appearing more blue. He sat down across from her at their small table.
"It's strange, isn't it?" Jane declared as she prodded a few leaves with her fork, "how the universe is about to end, and all we can do about it is sit and wait as we eat our lunch."
He peered at her silently, ignoring his food.
"Is there anyone else who knows about the colliding universes?" She asked, thinking of the Admiral's late call, he was the one who had sent the commander to her so he must be somewhat aware of what was happening.
The commander merely stared at her as she played with her food, his eyes trailing her movements. "There are a select few who understand the consequences," he said hesitantly, obviously not wanting to share too much information on the subject.
"Is there anyone else who is trying to solve the problem? The scientists at the Time Gate, for example, are they already working on coming to a solution?"
"They're dead," he stated stiffly.
Jane paused, not expecting that answer. She watched as the commander continued to stare down at his tray. Realizing that he was not going to elaborate on his declaration, she asked, "Are we the last resort?"
He sighed, then looked up from his meal to stare at her. "Yes. Though, if we fail I'm certain that my- the Admiral will send more after us. Though I fear that by then it would be too late."
Jane swallowed as she realized the responsibility that rested on her shoulders. The Admiral had told her that he did not know anyone else who would better be able to complete the task at hand, though he didn't mention that her task would be to somehow stop two universes from colliding. She wondered what he was about to call the Admiral, cutting himself off. His what?
"Let's make sure to save the universe then." Jane said cheerily, though she didn't feel very confident. She took a bite of her salad as she watched the commander's lips twitch into a smirk at her optimistic façade. He also began to eat, dipping his spoon into bowl of soup on his tray.
They continued to eat in silence for a while, their thoughts revolving around the task that was set before them.
"How do you know so much about the Time Gate?" Jane asked suddenly, deciding that since she wasn't able to learn about his past from merely observing him it was best to just ask him straight.
He paused, holding his spoon halfway from the bowl to his lips. He slowly set the spoon back into the bowl as he contemplated his answer. "I was, involved, for a few years." He replied hesitantly.
Jane examined him carefully. He obviously did not appreciate the direct confrontation on his involvement, his beautiful eyes glancing around the room. "Did you pass through the gate itself?" She asked, pressing for more information.
He peered at her, an eyebrow slightly raised. Jane stared back, daring him to answer. If he answered positively she would know that he was one of the scientists, perhaps even setting out their experiments on the alternate universe. He might not have been the one to pull the trigger, place the disease, or destroy the planets, but he would still be guilty by association. Because of the Time Gate and the selfish actions of the scientists the two universes would soon be destroyed, and he would be partly to blame for the loss of billions of lives.
"You can be assured in knowing that I have an extensive knowledge of the effects of the Time Gate, and that once we arrive I have a remedy planned to stop the merging of the two universes." His voice was deep with conviction and once finished with his declaration he promptly returned to his meal.
He had dodged her question, not claiming his affiliation with the group, but at the same time letting Jane know that he must have been heavily involved. If she hadn't heard of time travel, and she every capability of breaking into any database she found, then the only people who could know of the Time Gate must be the ones who were immediately involved. His affiliation with the Time Gate was made even more obvious with his boast of having an "extensive knowledge" of its effects.
They were interrupted when the door to their room suddenly opened. Triss stood at the entrance looking flustered as she frantically typed away at her e-book, though she finally glanced up at the two of them sitting alone together in the room.
"Captain," she acknowledged, her eyes briefly glancing towards the commander before resting on Jane.
"Hello Triss," Jane replied amicably.
"Captain, if you could return to the bridge, it's time for the games to begin."
"Oh, of course. I nearly forgot." Jane stood and took her tray back to the counter, placing her half eaten food back into the metal box and sending it away. The commander stood as well.
"You can continue eating, if you wish." She said to him as she crossed the room to her second in command. He didn't reply as he picked up his tray and followed her example by walking to the counter and placing his tray in the metal box as well.
Triss remained at the doorway, anxiously watching the two of them. Jane felt slightly guilty on leaving her second in command out of the loop, as she still had no idea who the commander was or why he was here. Once Jane walked to her side at the doorway Triss turned on her heel to lead them back to the control room, the commander swiftly stepping to Jane's side.
The elevator doors opened to the control room and Jane saw her entire crew standing and saluting as she entered, excitement shown on their faces. She smiled as she told them to be at ease and swiftly turned to the left to head to the bridge, Triss and the commander following close behind. Her crew returned to their seats and began working once more with a fervor. Once on the bridge Jane walked to the center of the white platform and gazed out at her crew members below her as Triss walked to her desk and the commander remained off to the side, leaning against the wall at the top of the stairs to the bridge.
Jane held her hand out in the air and waved it to the right as her many screens appeared in front of her. She found the video recording controls and set it to record her on the bridge, she then began to open up transparent screens in every room of the ship. Her message would automatically appear at the corner of every screen throughout the spaceship as live footage. After altering the settings Jane began the recording and swiftly swiped her screens away.
"Hello everyone. This is your captain speaking." Jane said with a smile as she looked forwards to a camera that was floating directly in front of her. From the corner of her eye she could see the screens below her suddenly change as she appeared on the top right corner of every screen, allowing them to continue to work while she relayed her message.
"Today we will be hosting the games, and I know that all of you are extremely excited about them so I will keep my message brief. The shooting range and the fight arena will open first, and once those two are concluded 'Last Man Standing' will begin. Now I want all of you to remember the most important rule of these games: stay safe. These games are highly dangerous, dealing with powerful weaponry and combat, and I don't want anyone getting seriously hurt." Jane paused as she stared at the camera, furrowing her brows in concern. She knew that at every game there were always minor injuries, especially in hand to hand combat, but so far they had experienced a rather good streak of healthy games without any major injuries. Jane held her hands on her hips as she continued.
"Now I'm going to tell you the rest of the rules, so listen up. Show respect to the challengers. I will not allow cheating on this ship. At the shooting range your goal is to maneuver through the obstacle course and hit all of the targets, you will be scored on accuracy and speed so shoot straight and try not to rush.
"In the arena the hand to hand combat should be kept clean. No biting or scratching or breaking bones, and you have to be barefoot. Your goal is to knock your opponent off their feet and keep them on the ground for ten seconds. Any style of fighting is fair game, but I don't want concussions or any serious injuries so play nice.
"And lastly, but certainly not least, is Last Man Standing, which I know is the most anticipated game of the day. This game is a combination of the two other games; where your shooting and fighting skills will be put to the test as you maneuver through the maze and eliminate your competition. Your weapons will be set to stun. If you are stunned or you are on your back for over ten seconds you will be eliminated from the game.
"Not that you need any more incentive, but there are prizes given to the winners of each game. Ten thousand tokens to each winner, second and third places will also receive some money." She paused as a smirk filled her expression. "Oh, and if you beat any of the top records you will receive an added ten thousand tokens, and then I will personally destroy your record the next time I play." Jane winked into the camera as she heard chuckles across the control room. She quickly became serious again as she finished her messages.
"For those of you not participating, you can find a live stream of every game broadcasted throughout the ship, or you can go into the arenas and to watch in person. Alright, now that everything has been explained, now is the moment you have all been waiting for." Jane smiled brightly, "Let the games begin!" She waved her hand to the right and cut off her live stream as the sound of cheering reverberated throughout the entire ship.
Jane continued to smile as her crew clapped and cheered below her, though the applause quickly ended as they continued to work. Several of them brought up the live feed and the games began to be broadcast on the corners of their screen, though most of their attention was left to their controls as they continued to work. She didn't mind letting her crew multitask, she knew that the games offered a relief to their work centered life. As long as the ship was able to function and run smoothly she liked to see her crew happy.
She turned to look behind her as she saw the commander leaning against the wall, staring out at the crew with a bemused expression on his face. She thought back to the conversation they had while eating lunch, about how strange it was that while the universe is on the brink of collapse they could do nothing about it until they reached their destination. The games offered a great distraction from the oppressing secret they shared. Once he caught her eye she waved him over to her side.
Jane turned back to face her crew as she waved her hand in the air and brought up her screens. On one of her screens she brought up the live feed of the shooting range and on the other she brought up the arena as the commander stepped to her side. She watched the feed for the shooting range as the first contestant stepped into the starting room. The contestant was a tall human, wearing a green uniform shirt and his long brown hair was braided down his back. He stood in the center of a small room, a door directly in front of him. A gun sat on a small table to his right, which he quickly picked up and held loosely in his hand. A timer on the door ran down as the first contestant of the day slowly breathed in and out.
"That's Adam," Jane said to the commander who was now standing by her side, pointing at the screen. "He's one of the janitors, and he's an amazing shot." The commander nodded as he watched the screen.
The timer suddenly rang as the doors slid open and Adam swiftly stepped out of the room, holding his gun out in front of him. The camera then switched to another angle, revealing a long hallway, transparent screens hovering in the air broadcasting bright red targets. Adam swiftly aimed down his gun and shot the targets as he moved forwards, his aim pretty accurate as he hit all of the targets but he did not get any bullzeyes.
Jane thought back to the last time she had done the shooting range, setting the maximum record, which no one had been able to beat. She had hit every target dead center while sprinting, and as far as she could tell Adam wasn't going to even get close to beating her score. Though there were several very talented, fast, and accurate shooters on her ship not one of them had even gotten close to beating her record. It wasn't really fair to them, she supposed, as she had centuries of practice under her belt.
Once down the hallway Adam quickly turned to the right to reveal another long hallway with floating targets. He walked briskly forwards, clipping each target, a door to his left suddenly opening. He peered through to see three targets in the small room, he quickly shot them before turning back to hurry through the hallway.
She glanced over to the commander who was watching the live feed with interest, but he turned to look at her as he caught her gaze.
"Would you like to have a go at the shooting range?" Jane asked, curious as to what his score would be should he compete.
"No," he replied, glancing back at the screen.
"Pity. I suppose that I'd rather just watch in order to see the skills of my crew, but I have participated myself once or twice." Jane held her hands behind her back and shifted her position as she watched the screen, wondering how she could convince the commander to participate in at least one of the games. She desperately wanted to know what his skill sets were and whether or not he could handle himself with a gun or was a good fighter. She had no idea what would face them once they arrived at the Time Gate, and she'd like to know that the commander would be able to handle himself should something arise.
The hallway lead into a large open room on the screen as Adam stopped walking in order to accurately hit the targets. Large obstacles lay throughout the room, tall pillars, large boxes, waist high walls. Behind the obstacles were several floating targets that moved back and forth or up and down, a few of them moving from one corner of the room to the other. Adam stayed rooted to the spot as he aimed down his gun and accurately hit each target before moving forwards, walking around each obstacle carefully as more targets popped out in front of him. Once he was finally out of the room he sped up once more down the hallway that lead to the finish line, the screens flying rapidly back and forth. He hurried down the long walkway, his accuracy less than perfect as the targets quickly moved through the hallway.
"Who holds the record?" The commander asked suddenly, motioning towards the screen as Adam crossed the finish line at a time of a minute and fourteen seconds, a total score of 6, 784 points.
"Let's see," Jane said, knowing the answer, as she pulled up another screen and dug up the records of the shooting range. Finally a long list was shown of all of the participants who had tried the shooting range, so she quickly scrolled to the very top:
Name Time Score
Captain 0:26 10,000
Zach 0:51 7,750
Susan 0:52 6,760
Kevin 0:54 6,330
James 0:59 5,870
Jane peered at the commander to see his reaction.
A bemused expression crossed his face as he saw the top score, a smile split his lips as he turned to Jane. "Impressive," he stated, "it appears as though you cheated."
Jane scoffed in denial, "I don't tolerate cheating on my ship."
He raised an eyebrow. "How do you explain your perfect score, or the fact that your time is twice as fast as the next competitor? It simply isn't possible to achieve without cheating."
Jane laughed, completely agreeing with his statement. She was impossible.
"Here, let me show you," she said as she tapped on her time and brought up the video of her achievement. The commander crossed his arms as he began to watch the video.
On the screen Jane saw herself standing in the starting room, picking up the gun that rested on the table to the side as the timer above the door counted down. On the recording she bounced up and down on the balls of her feet, the gun hanging loosely in her hand. The timer suddenly ran down and she bolted out the door. By the time the camera switched to the other screen the targets had almost all been hit, the last one disappearing as she sprinted down the hallway and took the turn sharply. She hit several of the targets in the next hallway before glancing into the open room to her left and hitting those targets, hardly breaking her stride.
She entered the wide room and instead of stopping to carefully aim at the targets that popped out from behind the obstacles and moving all over the place, she continued to run. Her arm swung wildly all around her, hitting each target dead on. She cut a diagonal course towards the exit, leaping over a small wall and hardly breaking stride as she continued to shoot the targets. She dashed into the last hallway, where the targets swiftly moved all around. Again, instead of slowing her pace to aim for the moving targets, she streamed headlong down the hallway, hitting every target as she sprinted forwards. Once she reached the end she dove into the finish line and tightly rolled until she rested on her knee breathing heavily, her time of twentysix seconds flashing across the screen.
The video turned black as Jane turned to the commander to see his reaction. A look of surprise was on his face, his eyebrows raised, but he soon composed himself and pursed his lips. His eyes flicked over to Jane, and she could see a faint glimmer of respect in his expression.
"Impressive," he finally spoke, clamping his mouth shut tight afterwards.
Jane smiled widely from the compliment and turned to look at her screens. She was glad that she had impressed the commander, perhaps now he would let her actually help him once they reached the Time Gate. Another contestant was hurrying through the shooting range, missing a few targets and progressing slower than the speed Adam had set before. Disinterested, she looked at her other screen, the one capturing the arena. Two contestants faced each other, standing barefoot on a wide blue mat, the camera hovering around to focus in on one of the contestants. His skin was completely black, and he would appear to be a human if not for his blood red eyes. He crouched forwards, his eyes focusing in on his opponent, his mouth slightly opening to reveal pointed teeth. He was extremely tall and as he flexed his muscles rippled beneath his brown uniform shirt.
"That's Justin," Jane clarified as she pointed at the screen, the commander switching from watching the shooting range to look at the arena. "He's one of our security and his fighting abilities are amazing. He's probably going to get far."
The camera then panned over to his opponent, a large hangar worker as defined by his bright orange shirt. He was huge, his chest as thick as a barrell, his arms extending all the way to his knees. He was a Raychan, a sturdy humanoid with a huge upper body and short, stocky legs, his skin a bright blue color. His huge fingers clenched and unclenched as he circled his taller opponent, their eyes locked.
"That's Billy," Jane said, nodding towards the screen. "I don't think he participated in the last games. It'll be interesting to see his fighting style."
Suddenly the fight began as the black humanoid lunged towards the short Raychan, planning on knocking him to the floor. Billy swung his long blue arm and knocked the security guard away, taking a few short steps back. Justin quickly turned and lunged again, towering over the short hangar worker. Again a huge arm swung forwards, but Justin anticipated the attack and swiftly dodged it, swinging his own fist in retribution. Billy took the blow full on in the face and rocked backwards, his top heavy body threatening to topple over. The tall security guard continued in his forwards momentum, shoving the blue Raychan to the floor. With a loud thud Billy fell onto the mat, his lumbering figure unable to balance himself.
Jane was disappointed, it was going to be a short match. She continued to watch as Justin leapt on top of his opponent, pinning the long blue arms to Billy's sides as the ten second began to count down. Billy's short legs floundered wildly in the air, Justin altering his position so that the stocky legs would not be able to reach him as he straddled the Raychan. The ten seconds counted down, until the buzzer sounded and Justin was declared the winner. He jumped off of his opponent and held his hands into the air, his red eyes looking content all around him as his smile revealed his sharp teeth.
"That was surprisingly quick." The commander stated, his hands remaining crossed over his arms.
"Our security guards are normally the best fighters, and normally the winner is one of them in their brown shirts." Jane explained, "though our hangar workers sometimes provide quite a few good fighters, as their job requires a lot of muscle lifting all of the heavy supplies."
The commander nodded, "the hangar workers are strong but they lack the speed, agility, and fighting background that the security guards have."
Jane nodded as well, surprised at how scientific his deduction sounded. The theory of him being one of the scientists for the Time Gate even further cemented in her mind. Glancing to the other screen, her eyes caught sight of the next contestant.
"Oh, watch this one," she said, pointing towards the screen. "That's Zach, he has the second highest score and I expect him to increase his score today."
The commander humphed. "Not like it matters much, your score completely blew him out of the water."
"Their scores always matter to me," she retaliated, "when their score goes up, even just a little bit, it shows me that they want to perform better and do their best. I couldn't be happier when I see them improve."
The commander pursed his lips, not wanting to respond as he focused on the screen.
Zach stood in the starting room, a thin film covering his completely black eyes before opening again as he blinked. His mouth was a vertical slant in the center of his face, his jaw extending to a point. He had no ears or a nose and from the top of his head extended short, pointy needles. His skin was a florescent yellow as he stood completely still, his body very slim and small, his pink shirt dwarfing his slender shoulders.
"A technician?" The commander asked dubiously, referring to the color of Zach's uniform as he changed the subject.
"Hmm, yes. And a very talented one as well, there's no mechanical problem that he can't fix," Jane said with pride.
"I didn't know that you trained your technicians to be good shots." He replied sardonically.
The timer blared as Zach bolted from the room, swiftly shooting the targets and racing down the hallway.
"We only train the security to be good weapon handlers," Jane responded, her eyes not leaving the screen, "but it doesn't mean that the talent can't be found elsewhere on the ship. Anyone can play the games, which gives me a great opportunity for me to learn of the hidden talent to be found among my crew."
Zach rushed through the next hallway, not forgetting the small room to the side with the three targets, and progressed swiftly into the next area. He continued to press forwards as he shot the targets in the wide room, moving rather quickly, his aim accurately hitting each target.
"Are these the only games you have?" He asked.
"No, but these are the only ones that happen as a large event. Several of are smaller games can be played at any time, the scores are always recorded so you can go see where you stand. They are mainly one versus one and brain games, though the shooting range and arena are always open for practice."
The contestant on the screen quickly passed into the last section and hurried down the hallway, quickly firing shots at the moving targets. His small body almost looked comical as he raced forwards, his black eyes quickly glancing at each target before shooting. Though he was an excellent shot he didn't appear to be very intimidating, especially in his pink shirt. He finally crossed the finish line, the time of 0:46 flashing across the screen, a new record for him. His points read 7, 340, lower than his previous score- mainly due to the fact that he wasn't able to aim as accurately while he rushed through the course.
"Pity. He's still twenty seconds shy of beating your record." The commander stated, a sly smile crossing his lips.
Jane laughed out loud, drawing some attention from the crew members below. A few of them turned in their seats to glance up at her before quickly looking away and working once more, the corner of their screens broadcasting the games. Embarrassed by her outburst, Jane quickly glanced all around her to see who was watching her. Her crew had all turned back in their seats to return to work, but behind her she saw Triss staring daggers into her back. After being caught staring, the reptilian woman turned in her seat to bow over her e-book that rested against her desk.
Her glare confused Jane, was her second in command jealous? Triss didn't like the games and thought them as a waste of time, so she shouldn't be jealous that she was watching them. Jane glanced at the commander, who was staring at the arena screen with interest. She realized that her second in command must be jealous that her captain was spending so much time with this stranger, giving him her full attention, allowing him on the bridge to watch videos after she caught them eating lunch together...
She hoped that the petty jealousy would soon go away. The reason why she was spending so much time with the commander was because she wanted to get to know him better, and let him get to know her as well. They shared a terrible secret, one that could not be passed to anyone else, and were both burdened with the responsibility of somehow saving the entire universe. She felt comfortable in his presence because of their shared secrets, and, she must admit, she was slightly attracted to him. She warmly looked him over as he stood by her side, his crossed arms revealing his muscled biceps, his dark hair contrasting against his pale skin. His handsome face was staring intently at the screen as two more contestants circled each other, his aquamarine eyes following their movements. Suddenly his eyes flicked over to Jane, catching her staring at him.
Jane smiled shyly as she returned his gaze, hoping that he did not realize how admiringly she was staring at him.
"Would you like to watch the fights live? Its much more exciting, and I can promise you good seats," she offered.
His eyebrow raised as he considered her offer. "Are you not needed on the bridge?" He asked, glancing over to the Treshiss hovering over her e-book.
Jane followed his gaze and saw her second in command sitting tensely in her chair, probably feeling the stares on her back. "No, Triss can handle things while I'm away." Jane replied cheerily, looking back at the commander. "I'm not really needed anyways, my crew is basically able to function on its own."
"A ship that's able to run without its captain. I'm not certain if I should be impressed or worried." He replied sardonically, his eyes baring into hers.
"Both feelings are rather accurate," Jane responded with a smile. "Let's go watch the fights," she said, changing the subject as she waved away the screens. She stepped past him to lead him off the bridge and into the elevator.