Damian entered the control room and headed straight for the bridge. After his little incident earlier that day he had headed straight for his room to shower. Now, fresh and clean, he expectantly looked up at the circular area of the bridge to see the captain swiftly skimming through all of her screens. He went up the white stairs, noticing that the captain's hair was hanging down her back in a loose braid, recently wet.
The scent of roses lazily drifted through the air, its flavor very faint yet distinguishable. He took in a deep inhalation of air, the sweet scent wafting towards him. Glancing at the captain's damp hair, he put two and two together, realizing that the scent was from her shampoo. He wondered if he should mention the change of shampoo, perhaps making a complement in her choice, as he preferred the scent of roses rather than the previous aroma of lemon. He immediately dismissed the thought-it was much too personal, it would be indecent for him to mention that he had remembered what she smelled like. It wasn't something a stranger, an intruder, like him to mention.
As he approached he knew that he should probably say something as an introduction to his arrival, his thoughts primarily caught up on her scent and the fact that she had showered. The last time he had seen her she was perfectly clean, so something must have happened to warrant the change. She wasn't the only one forced to take a shower recently, he thought morbidly, thinking about the way the water had blended with blood into a crimson puddle around his feet as he washed the remains of the crew member out of his hair.
"Did you have to shower off human body parts as well?" he blurted as he came to her side, immediately biting his tongue. He felt the tips of his ears begin to burn as he realized how insensate and inappropriate the question was.
She gave him a sideways glance, her eyes full of mirth as the corners of her mouth pulled up slightly. "Not exactly." An impish smile spread across her lips as she continued to motion towards her screens, apparently nonplussed by his obscene question.
Damian felt the flame spread to his cheeks, and he desperately hoped that his blush wasn't noticeable. He hadn't ever been so clumsy around anyone before; he never faltered or stumbled through any actions, let alone simple introductions. Something about the captain was making him feel tongue tied, causing his stomach to do twists and turns like an acrobat as he watched her slender hands move rapidly in the air.
"We did have an attack up here," she began to explain, her attention focused ahead, "but it wasn't as bad as your encounter. Luckily there are no weapons here in the control room."
He held his arms behind his back and shifted his weight on his feet. "So you saw that then."
She stopped moving through the screens and turned to face him. "Of course." Her expression was unreadable, her eyes sparkling sapphires of blue as she gazed at him.
Damian felt as though he couldn't breathe as he stared into her eyes, all of his thoughts turning to mush. In the very fringe of his mind a small idea began to spread, like the Lilliputian chime of a bell, barely distinguishable from the orchestral chorus of thoughts. She cares about you, it rang, the idea small but formidable as it crowded out the rest of his thoughts. He did his best to shove it down, reasoning with himself that the captain had merely been checking up on her crew, not watching after him and worrying about his safety; her only intention was to examine the results of the attack.
"Thank you, by the way, for taking care of the affected," the captain said appraisingly. "You did an excellent job, though you left quite a mess..."
"Hey," he defended, feeling affronted; "not all of the mess was my fault. As I recall, I mainly got myself splattered, everything else was the affected's doing. However, picking flesh out of my hair was never my intention in order to spare your ship's walls and floors."
The captain laughed, the pleasant notes tinkling through the air. "You and I are one and the same. I also submitted myself in order to keep the ship clean, though it was mainly due to being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The affected up here began attacking one of the crew, and after he was detained his poor victim vomited all over me."
Damian chuckled. "I never thought I'd say this, but I'm envious that you got vomited on. I would have preferred that."
The captain smiled as well, making the acrobat in Damian's gut do even more elaborate twists and leaps, his eyes drawn to the captain's parted lips. They were smooth and full, revealing perfectly straight and blindingly white teeth, her smile genuine. Quickly he turned his gaze away, cursing himself for becoming attracted to her especially during such a disturbing and disgusting conversation.
Damian's attention was drawn to the large window at the forefront of the ship, the only thing separating them from the space beyond. What he was accustomed to seeing was pitch black space spaced with a few white stars and omni colorful planets, but now as he looked out the window something was off. The coloring was different; space had always been black, but now it almost seemed purple.
"Do you notice anything different?" Damian asked, changing the subject as he looked out the large window that expanded the entire width of the control room.
The captain followed his gaze to look out into space. "The coloring is off, it has been for the past few hours," she affirmed. "Which is strange, as 'space' isn't really an object, so how can it be possible that it changed color?"
He clenched his fingers, a feeling of dread settling deep within the pit of his stomach. If the color of space itself was beginning to change, there was no telling what else was happening within the universe that would have drastic repercussions. He hoped that due to the fact that they were almost near the Time Gate was the reason why the coloring was different, hopefully it hadn't spread throughout the rest of the universe. "We must be getting close."
She turned to raise an eyebrow at him. "I can accept the fact that colliding universes create anomalies where people suddenly start killing each other if their timelines had become affected in the alternate realm," she claimed sardonically, irony tilting her words, "but changing the color of space? That's a little bit over the top," she stated incredulously.
Damian shrugged. "Don't ask me, I didn't know this would happen."
"Oh well," the captain sighed. "At least I like the color purple."
He grinned at her naivety as she began scrolling through her screens once more. He loved her sense of humor, the way that she was able to take in their drastic situation and dismiss the impossible, focusing on the bright side. He certainly was blessed that this captain had been the one he had been assigned to. Perhaps he would thank his brother later for sending him to her, though he couldn't recall a single time when he had thanked his older brother for anything he had done for him before.
He looked all around him and noticed that the crew members below him were going about their work in a much slower pace than what he had seen them exhibit earlier, their expressions morose. He couldn't blame them for their negativity, as it would be very disheartening to witness their fellow crew mates start to kill each other for no apparent reason. He felt slightly ashamed for laughing and finding merriment in this situation, especially since he had a deeper understanding than the crew. They only knew of the attacks within their ship, they had no idea that such attacks were happening all throughout the universe and would continue to happen until everyone was dead, their universe completely destroyed. They didn't feel the pressure of that knowledge, they didn't know that they were everyone's last hope. And yet, here he was, buoyed up by the captain's brevity and charm, willing to remain optimistic no matter the obstacles they faced. Together.
The captain swept her arm to the side, bringing up another screen and sending it towards him, drawing Damian out of his reverie. "Here," she said, pointing at the screen. Damian nodded his thanks and positioned the screen more comfortably in front of him as he began doing his own searches, figuring out how long it would take for them to arrive. They were now well into the outer rim of the universe and far away from any civilizations, the Time Gate only a day or so away. He felt a bit inadequate as he was working on only one screen, while dozens surrounded the captain, her attention focused on them all at once.
They passed the time in silence, able to see what the other was working on while doing their own work in companionable silence. A few messages popped up on the screens, informing them of the disturbances on the ship, which continued to increase with alarming rapidity. There was nothing they could do except monitor and watch, too far away to intervene as the ship was so large. The captain had deadbolted the bedrooms the crew members who were off duty were staying in, and on a few of her screens she shifted through the images of their footage to determine whether any of them were experiencing signs of being affected. Damian copied her, searching through each room and monitoring the crew. He felt very comfortable standing by the captain, the two of them doing their best to keep things under control. He began musing about their future, and what they were going to do after they saved the universe, if they succeeded. He wouldn't mind spending more time with the captain, perhaps even becoming a permanent part of her ship.
Suddenly the captain halted, staring through the screens towards one of the crew members below. Alarmed, Damian followed her gaze, expecting to see one of the crew in their red shirts suddenly begin to attack. Instead, everything appeared normal. He tensed, expecting the worst, wondering what could have caught her attention.
"Sara what is that on your screen?" the captain asked in a demanding tone, her voice carrying out through the unusually quiet room.
Damian peered through his own screen at the woman the captain addressed, wondering how the captain had been able to monitor what was going on beneath her when she was already working with several screens of her own. He couldn't help but be amazed at the captain's range of multitasking.
The woman she addressed, Sara, turned in her chair, her expression full of chagrin and fright. Damian peered at her screen, seeing strange markings: circles intertwining with intricate designs that filled the entire screen.
"I- I'm not sure," the woman stuttered anxiously, trying desperately to fix her screen as her fingers flied through the air.
The captain swiped away all of her screens, including Damian's, and she walked to the edge of the circular platform, calmly resting her hand on it before jumping down to the level below and making her way to the crew member. The rest of the crew stopped what they were doing to turn and stare, each of them curious of the interruption.
The captain leaned over Sara's chair to stare at her screen, her expression out of Damian's sight. Suddenly she stood straight and turned to look across the room at another worker.
"Gregory I need you to do a scan of the area and search for anything giving off a signal." She began walking through the rows.
"I've got something, captain, and I'm locking onto its signal." Gregory stated as his fingers flew across his screen.
Damian watched her with interest, noting her calm manner. He wondered if it was all an act, perhaps something was going deadly wrong and the captain was merely acting as if in control in order to keep her crew from becoming afraid. Unknowing what to do, he stood resolute, crossing his arms over his chest and watching her movements in order to determine what could be amiss. There shouldn't be anything this far out in space that would be giving off a signal, unless it was something due to the results of the Time Gate. If things could be disappearing in this universe, the records of the affected just passing out of existence, then could there also be things that appeared into their realm from the other universe?
"Jazmine I need you to bring up the transmission," the captain ordered to a dark haired woman that she approached, walking to her side and peering over her shoulder. The woman began to type across her screen.
Suddenly a loud whirring noise reverberated throughout the room as Jazmine opened the transmission, the distant sound of yelling was heard over the intercom. Damian was stunned. There must be another ship this far out in order to be transmitting, and from the sounds there must be life aboard and they were in trouble, the shouting barely heard beneath the overbearing sounds of grinding and air whooshing.
"Open up communications between us and the signal and send it to the bridge," the captain shouted as an order, turning to run back to the bridge. She easily jumped to the circular platform and vaulted herself up to stand in the center of the platform. She brought up a solitary screen and opened up the transmission. Blurry lines clouded the screen as the whirling sounds continued, the shouting became more distinct and Damian made out at least two people, a man and a woman.
"Doctor!" the captain shouted. Damian looked at her in shock, wondering if she was calling for a medic. The term "Doctor" hadn't been in use for centuries now, either calling those of that profession healers or medics. He glanced around him, noticing the anxious faces of the crew as they watched the two of them on the bridge. Did she want him to go get her a medic? He glanced back at her expectantly.
"Doctor?" she repeated again, peering into the blurred lines of the screen as the picture began to clarify. Finally Damian comprehended that she was calling into the transmission, hoping for a reply. Did that mean that she knew who was aboard the ship? The idea was ridiculous, there shouldn't even be another ship this far out, and there was no way that she could have known about it or even knew who was aboard it, could she? Or was "doctor" a secret code, one that he hadn't heard before? That reality seemed more accurate.
The screen began to clarify, blue and green lights flashing as the image rumbled and slowly began to settle, the whirling sounds diminishing over the intercom. The shouting also stopped as all of the movements ceased, revealing a clear image of an open room and far wall made of strange metal. Damian peered into the screen, realizing that he must be looking at the interior of the ship they had miraculously found.
"Doctor," the captain commanded once more, expecting a reply. Damian glanced at her, wondering what could possibly be going on, but she offered him no explanation as she stared at the screen in determination.