Chapter 8- A Matter of Etiquette
Peter smiled as he surveyed the full dining room. The nurse who had been blatantly undressing him with her eyes was still shooting him occasional glances, but it seemed as though her crush had run its course and was now more curiosity than lust. As it appeared there was something between her and Jim, he thought it best to just steer clear of the whole mess. Jim seemed like an amicable kind of guy, but just under the surface was an intensity that reminded him of someone who would not hesitate to mess your day up if you crossed him. Not that Peter couldn't defend himself, in fact it would be quite easy, but that was no way to thank the man who had agreed to let him stay on his spaceship until the Nathan thing could be unraveled.
"Can you believe it?!" Mohinder gushed with a look of awe on his face. "I just made lamb pasanda from a machine! I pushed a few buttons and it just materialized. What a wonderful thing!"
Ando looked at his plate of noodles and frowned. "Yeah, but how does it taste?" He just couldn't get up the courage to put the frankenfood in his mouth. That kind of thing just couldn't be good for you.
"Not bad." Noah answered swallowing a bite of his pulled pork sandwich. "I've had better, but not bad." He scooted over toward Mohinder to make room for Matt, Chekov, and Sulu. He made it a point to remember their names because you just never knew when it would come in handy.
"Kinda like high school, 'eh guys?" Matt laughed digging into his mashed potatoes. "All the freaks sit together."
"Then I think we are at the wrong table, Chekov." Sulu stated. Matt began to apologize for his off the cuff remark, but he waved him off with a smile. He got it and it wasn't like he and Chekov weren't considered a bit odd for being overachievers anyway.
"So, I spoke with Dr. McCoy and he wants to begin testing first thing tomorrow." Peter announced. His spaghetti was less than satisfactory, so he abandoned it and decided to spend the time talking with the others. It was a shame because he really was hungry, but it seemed rude to insult the dinner the machine had made and worse yet to ask for seconds. If there was anything he had learned throughout the many black tie soirées he had attended with his family among New York's elite it was to never insult the host. Perhaps he could force himself to eat a few more bites to keep up appearances and hope his stomach didn't growl too loudly.
"Yes, I am also meeting with him to share what we know so far." Mohinder added. "I hope that with his advanced technology we can look deeper into the genome for clues as to how your powers work. I just feel so antiquated, I hope I can be of some assistance."
"I am sure you will, Mohinder. That is why I asked you to come. I knew this opportunity would be too good for you to pass up." Noah smiled.
"Whoa, whoa." Matt protested. "Testing us? We came here to be guinea pigs? I didn't agree to that!"
"Relax," Peter laughed, "thanks to you I can read minds too, remember? They won't need to test you."
"That's right." Noah agreed. "I actually had a much more useful task in mind for you. We really could use your investigative skills to help sort through the databanks of information to try and figure out what Nathan was doing so we can stop him."
Matt smirked, but he didn't know which was worse: reading or being experimented on. "Uh...sure. I guess." He mumbled into his mashed potatoes.
"So, how is Hiro doing?" Sulu asked sensing the tension at the table.
"He will be fine." Mohinder answered simply. "How rude of us to talk shop with two uninformed guests at the table."
"Sorry guys." Peter apologized. "You must be a little confused."
"It is fine." Chekov shrugged. "The Captain has not briefed us yet, but I am sure he vill."
"Yeah, it isn't like we aren't used to completely random and bizarre things happening out of the blue. You kinda just get used to it after awhile." Sulu sighed.
"I know what you mean." Peter stated. "Even though we can do all these strange things ourselves, sitting here right now still feels impossible. At least to me it does."
"Me too." Matt agreed. "I can read people's minds, but I can't believe I am sitting on a spaceship in the future. How bizarre is that?"
Mohinder was listening, but his mind was preoccupied with spinning theories about potential places to look for anomalies within the strands of DNA and trying to run correlations between powers and mutations. He was excited about having the chance to complete his father's work, but a little nervous about collecting the data from Sylar. He had Sylar's blood in his hands at his lab when he was developing a vaccine for the Shanti virus. He should have ran tests then, but he didn't. Now he had a second chance and he wasn't going to let this one pass him by. He suppressed a smile as he imagined himself pushing a needle deeper into Sylar's vein than necessary. He wouldn't be conscious to suffer, but it would make him feel better. He snapped to attention when Matt's fork fell to his plate with a loud clatter.
Matt's eyes were wide and his face pale. "Sylar is here?" He almost whispered. He felt a knot clench in his stomach. "You brought him on this ship? Have you lost your friggin' mind?!
Mohinder was never a good liar and apparently even worse at shielding his thoughts. "Hasn't anyone told you it is rude to read other people's minds without permission?" He retorted sharply.
"I wasn't!" Matt defended. "I wasn't sifting through your head, it was so strong you might as well have been yelling!"
Mohinder sat back in his chair and laughed. "Are you accusing me of thinking too loudly?"
"Gentlemen," Noah interrupted with a tense smile, "let's not be disrespectful guests. Sylar is on the ship, but he is heavily sedated and is not a threat to anyone."
"Bullshit." Matt hissed. "You know him as well as I do. Somehow, someway he will rise up like Godzilla to destroy everything. He always does. I don't care if you cut him up into fish bait and scatter the pieces all over the planet, he would bump into you walking down the street the next day!"
"Really?" Sulu asked with great interest. Rumors had begun to swirl like a hurricane around the ship about the mysterious serial killer that was being held in sickbay. Murderers were exceedingly rare in the first place, but someone who had reportedly killed hundreds was astounding. At least that was what he had heard from one of the engineers earlier. Normally Sulu was not a man to engage in idle gossip, but he just couldn't help himself. "Is it true he can make your head explode if you look him in the eye?" He heard that one from the med tech that responded to his call for Hiro.
Peter hung his head as he laughed. "He isn't a demigod no matter what he thinks. No, he can't make your head explode by looking at him."
"Hang around him for more than three seconds and you will want to blow your own head off." Matt groused. "The man is an absolute dick."
"Don't let him get to you, Matt." Noah encouraged. "He is in a medically induced coma as we speak. Dr. McCoy has been advised to handle him with care and we have to trust that he will."
"You have obviously never had one of his physicals." Chekov laughed.
"Is that what I have to look forward to tomorrow?" Peter asked worried. He was never really a fan of being worked over, but the thought of the whole turn your head and cough thing was especially terrifying.
Spock navigated the hallways with a sense of purpose, causing others to get out of his way. He was not physically intimidating as far as his stature went. He was almost slight in comparison with his slim, yet toned frame and still others nearly tripped over themselves. He had been summoned to his Captain's personal quarters and this was a bit unusual, so he didn't take the time to ponder the phenomenon and instead concentrated on getting from point A to point B as quickly and efficiently as possible. Anything less would be illogical. When he reached his destination, he stood at attention and asked, "You wanted to see me, Captain?"
"Relax, Spock." Jim laughed kicking his feet up on his desk. "We are off duty, remember?"
"Indeed." Spock agreed releasing a slight bit of tension in his muscles, but otherwise remained in the same position.
"Right." Jim sighed defeated. "Anyway, I just wanted to ask you to work with our new guests on the database thing tomorrow. Just get them started and then hand it off to someone else if you have other things to do."
"I do not foresee any pressing matters that will require me to delegate my duties." He replied. Jim rubbed his head to ease the tension that had formed. It had been a very long day; why couldn't he just say 'fine' or 'ok?' Hell, even being flipped off would be easier. "I must admit that this situation is concerning."
"What do you mean?" Jim asked sitting up. It wasn't often that Spock was so forthcoming with his doubts.
"One would have to wonder if their presence is not a violation of the prime directive." He said in a low tone.
Well, at least he didn't beat around the bush, Jim thought. "They asked me for help, Spock."
"Even so, it is a violation to expose pre-warp civilizations to advanced technology or to interfere with the natural course of events." He persisted with his maddeningly consistent logic. "Even if it means extinction."
"But are they really pre-warp when they can time travel?" Jim asked playing devil's advocate. "That is actually more advanced than warp capability! We can only manipulate space when they can jump time. And honestly Spock, tell me that if you could go back you wouldn't change the course of events on Vulcan."
Spock felt like he had been sucker punched in the gut. Even after the intervening years, the pain and horror was fresh in his mind. "I would not." He replied quietly. "Events unfolded as they were meant to and to wish to go back and change the outcome would be an act of selfishness."
Jim nodded and had to admit that Spock was a better man than he was. Selfish or not, if it was Earth that was demolished he wouldn't hesitate to go back. And as he saw it, that was what the evolved humans were doing; they were fighting for their lives and that didn't seem in the least bit selfish to him.
"Additionally," Spock continued regaining his usual business like tone, "the Sylar individual appears to be a potential danger to the ship and the crew. We must have a plan in place in the event a security breach occurs."
"I don't think there is much we can do." Jim laughed sarcastically. "It sounds like he is damn near invincible. You saw it with your own eyes, Spock. He was dead and then he wasn't. How do you deal with someone like that?"
"Everyone, no matter powerful, has a weakness. We must discover his and exploit it if necessary." He persisted.
"It sounds like our only defense is Peter for now. Still, I will talk to Bones and Noah tomorrow and see what we can find out." Jim yawned. "He has to have an Achilles heel, we just have to find it."
"I certainly hope we will not require it, but I think it is wise." Spock nodded. "Rest well, Captain."
"Jim! For Christ sake, call me Jim!" He cried rubbing his face vigorously. Spock smirked as he took leave.