New Additional Warning: The rest of this fic will reference pregnancy and related subjects, which I appreciate may be triggering for some people. These sections will be limited to scenes with Teyla…for the time being.
Notes: I had intended for this chapter to have a bit more in it, but after a week of training new staff at work and then attending a conference this weekend, I have had very limited time. Also, I've been told that an old issue has arisen again with this website, where new chapter alerts are not being sent out to everyone. Apparently this is a particular problem for anyone using outlook for emails (including hotmail accounts), so apologies if anyone has been missed. I do try to post each weekend, but there's never a specific day I'm afraid.
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ACT 2 – TRUTH
Chapter 24 – In Cold Isolation
The light steam hung around Teyla as she stepped out of the shower and wrapped her largest towel around herself. The thick softness of the towel felt strangely comforting around her this morning and helped break her a little out of her turning inner contemplation as she worked methodically to dry herself.
Since the Healer had delivered the news of the babe, the rest of yesterday seemed to have passed in a haze of shock and constant turning thoughts. After her treatment in the Healing Bay and a short sleep, she'd finally gone up to Central Station later in afternoon and had heard the news about Nalla's discovery of a mysterious consciousness in, or near, the asteroid field. Having missed all of that, she'd read through all the reports and had talked with Si about his discussion with Nalla about the new consciousness. However, almost all those actions yesterday had felt very automatic, motions she'd gone through so frequently in her life that she had been able to perform her duties while still feeling quite shocked inside.
Si had asked if she was alright though, so clearly she had not looked quite herself, so she had taken the opportunity to tell him and Jobrill, who had been Lead in Central Station at the time, that she was going to take herself of night shifts for awhile due a slight flare up of her stomach upset. She had assured them that she was fine, that the Healer had undertaken tests and had declared her as well but had given her some medication.
They had accepted all of that without any suspicions, though Si had looked a little surprised.
She had remained up in Central Station for the rest of afternoon, undertaking usual duties in a bid to keep herself busy and not dwell on the sight of the swirling lights of hyperspace out the front view.
Taking her and the babe further away from Alliance space, further away from John.
After plenty of time on duty, she had gone with Si to have Late Meal in the Canteen, and then had picked up Ketra from the Hydroponics Bay and retired to her quarters for the rest of the evening. It had actually felt nice to return to the more standard daily routine and her earlier treatments in the Healing Bay had made her feel considerably better. She had changed into her night clothes far earlier than necessary and had settled down on a sofa, her largest blanket wrapped around her, and Ketra leaning against her leg. In fact, Ketra had not moved more than a few inches away from her all evening.
Sat quietly together in the stillness of the quarters, Ketra's recent clinginess and wide, almost worried, expressions of late had suddenly taken on a new light. Was it possible that Ketra had already known about the babe? Perhaps could detect a change in scent, or even hear the babe's tiny heartbeat somehow?
Teyla had pondered the questions out loud to Ketra as she'd stroked her pet's velvety soft head, but, of course, Ketra had no way to answer her. And with those questions spoken out loud into her silent, empty quarters, other considerations and worries had started to rush forward in her thoughts.
She was with child and on a dangerous mission far from home; and as intent as she was to see the hunt mission complete and return herself and the babe safely to John, she had no idea how long that could take. And the fears and anxieties had not let up since, occupying her thoughts all evening and through her dreams to this morning.
She reached out and wiped her hand over the steamed up bathroom mirror, wishing it could be that easy to wipe away her preoccupied worried thoughts. As her face appeared in the reflection, there were faint dark circles under her eyes and she looked a little washed out. Still, she felt better than she had in awhile. The nutrient and electrolytes treatment yesterday had given her more energy, and the new medication she had taken as soon as she had woken up, was noticeably working better than the meds she had been taking before. She was still faintly aware of an unsettled feeling in her stomach, but it certainly wasn't the nausea of before.
It was at least one piece of relief among the sea of worried thoughts and feelings.
A babe…
She glanced down at her naked belly, laying her palm over her lower stomach as she'd found herself doing repeatedly since she'd received the news yesterday. The babe was tiny and nothing outwardly showed it was in there, but she felt profoundly changed but its arrival.
The babe was growing everyday and in a couple of months her pregnancy would become more visible. But what if the mission took many months to complete?
What if the babe had to be born on the Sythus?
Was she going to have to go through it all without John, without him even knowing?
Just the idea of it taking that long to see John again, let alone tell him that he was a father…
She could not imagine how shocking that would be for him, for her to step off the Sythus with their child in her arms.
Though a small burst of amusement struck her as she imagined what he might say in that situation; that he would likely say that it would be 'typical' of her to have their babe while on a military mission.
Though she had no idea if he would be pleased.
They had not talked of children, as they both knew her life was so very dangerous, as was his own. But now the future was shifting around her so dramatically that there were too many new considerations.
She tried to picture herself returning to Athos with a newborn babe, seeing Father and Zabetha's shock…
And what would she do after that? To be a Mother and an Elite warrior?
Though some female Elite did have children, often they were brought up in the Training Facility or adopted away to others who were unable to have young of their own. She knew of two examples in the Facility currently, of married staff members who were raising Elite born children as their own, the babes' Elite Mothers occasionally visiting when returning from battle.
As good as that was for those concerned, she could not do that herself. She would want to be part of her child's upbringing. Presumably John would as well? She suspected he would want to be directly involved, but she did not know for certain. On Athos, they had interacted with children occasionally when she had taken John to public events and he always seemed to enjoy those moments, so he did not dislike children. But that was very different from having children of his own.
Then there was the fact that the true nature of her and John's relationship was a secret from his people and superiors, so would he even be allowed to spend time with her and their child?
What if he was punished? Sent back to Earth?
She could not imagine Colonel Carter would do that, but then she knew nothing of the superiors back on Earth. She knew from John that his homeworld was beset by problems of its own, with wars and political battles between different 'countries', and that was not including events beyond Earth in his home galaxy. What if he was recalled to Earth simply as part of his duties?
What would she do? Would he be willing to leave his people and live with her permanently? Or would she go with him to Earth? But then she would need to leave her own people. She did not think she could leave her family, Athos and her work forever. But for John and their child…
And that was if she lived long enough to make such decisions.
What if something happened to John? Even now, for all she knew, he could be in danger somewhere.
She shook her head at such tumbling dark thoughts and quickly turned away from her haunted reflection and triggered open the door out of the bathroom. Ketra was sat immediately outside, having been waiting with her snout practically up against the door.
"Nothing was going to happen to me in the shower," Teyla assured her pet as she stroked the dragon's head, gently pushing past her lizard guardian, and set about selecting her clothes. But, just getting dressed made her start to dwell again. If the mission lasted for months, she was going to need larger clothes as her pregnancy developed. It was not as if there were clothing shops onboard or in this distant part of the galaxy. She'd have to adapt some spare staff uniforms from the ship stores, or sew some of her current tops together to make space for her belly as it grew.
Even her wardrobe felt full of conflict and confusion, so, fully dressed, she headed back to her sofa and pulled the big blanket over herself. The time display showed she had half an hour until her duties started up on Central Station and she'd had First Meal delivered here before her shower, so she reached for the covered toasted sweet-grain bread slices and bowl of fruit.
She was going to have to adapt what she ate as well going forward, as she was almost certain pregnancy required more calories.
She reached for her electronic pad as Ketra's chin settled on her thigh. The Healer had downloaded information on pregnancy to this pad for her yesterday, and she'd started reading some of it last night before she'd finally fallen asleep. She first tapped on the section listing possible symptoms of pregnancy, and wasn't surprised to see that feeling emotional was common.
The further medical information was written specifically for military personnel, so there were some helpful additional comments about adjusting calorie intakes with duties in mind, how to adapt rotas and exercise routines. Though, unsurprisingly, there wasn't a section on how to adapt limited clothing supplies for pregnancy. Maybe she could eventually write that section for the-
Her door chimes rang out, shocking her out of her reading. A quick glance at the time confirmed there was still plenty of time until her shift and she hadn't ended up late due to all her worrying. She closed the pregnancy information on the pad and set it aside, then, gently dislodging Ketra's head from her leg, she headed across the short distance to the door.
She took a brief second to compose herself and relax her shoulders, and then triggered open the door to reveal Halling stood outside.
"Good morning, Teyla," he smiled.
"Good morning," she smiled back, while crushing down the desperate urge to blurt her news to him.
"Have you had First Meal?" He asked.
"I am just finishing it now," she replied. "Would you like to join me?"
"I've eaten, but if you have tea?" he asked, glancing past her, clearly wanting to come in.
There was no way he could know.
"Of course," she smiled and headed away towards where her teapot was keeping warm under its cover, which John referred to as a 'cosy'. She focused on uncovering the pot and not focusing on the rush of loneliness she felt in just briefly thinking of John. "Did you sleep well yesterday?" She asked Halling as she set about pouring him a cup of the well stewed tea.
"I did," he replied with a heavy sigh that told her he was sitting down comfortably.
She set the 'cosy' back on the teapot and turned to see him indeed sat on the other sofa and stroking down Ketra's back, who was clearly happy for his visit. Teyla moved to the table, set the cup in front of him and then returned to her spot, though did not pull the large blanket over herself this time.
"I slept all yesterday afternoon and most of the night," he continued, which she was pleased to hear. He had worked an exceedingly long shift prior and she was glad to see he was indeed looking rested.
She hoped she was looking better than she had in the bathroom mirror.
"Did you read the report about Nalla's finding?" He asked as she reached for her own previously forgotten cup of tea.
"I did," she confirmed as she sat back, trying to act as natural and normal as possible. "And I spoke with Si about his discussion with her. It is indeed possible that it is the Skerti, but he and I were expecting the Skerti consciousness to be more Wraith-like."
"Did Jobrill tell you of her theory?" He asked as he sipped at his tea with a smile, clearly pleased with the authentic Athosian blend.
"That the Skerti may have a group, or hive, consciousness," she nodded. "It is possible, though there is no way for us to know until we actually find the Skerti."
Halling nodded. "Hopefully, Nalla and her team do not encounter them before we get there though."
True concern creased his expression as he frowned down at his cup. He had seemed quite shaken by his discovery of Nalla's old feelings towards him, which everyone, even Teyla, had thought he had known, even in faint passing. But it clearly had been a shock for him, and today she felt even more for him.
"I am sure Nalla will be fine," she assured him.
He nodded.
She wondered if this was the reason for his visit. "You are still feeling uncomfortable around her?" She asked.
"No," he clearly lied. "Well, I did find myself…I would always have worried for her safety, as I do all of us onboard, but I feel as if I have harmed her."
"It is not your fault and Nalla does not in any way blame you," Teyla assured him, not for the first time. "It is far more common in life for people not to share similar feelings than it is to feel the same. Nalla understands and she is an Elite, she will be fine." She hoped.
She considered his face as he nodded.
"Unless you are feeling different towards her?" She wondered out loud; perhaps he had begun to return Nalla's feelings, which could explain his ongoing preoccupation.
"No," he said softly as he shook his head, "it is just strange and I feel uncomfortable about having harmed her."
"There is no harm in not sharing feelings, Halling." Or new information of one's life that shook everything up. "Nalla, more than anyone, understands emotions and she knows and understands how you feel."
Perhaps even better than he did in this case.
He nodded but with a frown. "I know, but I…" he sighed slightly. "I think she lied to me."
Teyla blinked, surprised at that.
"I'm not sure if her feelings," he glanced aside seeming uncomfortable, "are all in the past," he winced. "I do not mean to be egoistical."
Teyla smiled at just the idea. "You are never egoistical, Halling," she assured him.
"I have known Nalla a long time and we had, have, a strong friendship and I think I know her reasonably well. I'm not sure her 'old' feelings are gone." His gaze met hers. "What do you think?"
She looked down to her tea, Ketra now having returned to her side. She reached down and stroked over one of Ketra's ears. "I do not have Nalla's abilities, so I cannot ever truly know what she really feels, Halling," she stressed.
He nodded silently, having perhaps understood more than she had wanted to say.
She did not want to lie to him and pretend that she hadn't seen little flashes of emotion across Nalla's face around him, but she could not know for certain. Besides, that was private to Nalla. In being an empath, Nalla had always kept to a strict code of privacy not to share what she detected in others unless it was a military matter, so Teyla felt she owed Nalla the same.
Though, she realised, she was actually rather grateful that Nalla was off the Sythus for these initial days after she had learnt of the babe.
Hopefully by the time Nalla was back onboard, she would be more in control of her feelings, or the mission might have taken on a faster pace so such things would not be Nalla's focus.
But if not, she knew she could trust in Nalla's discretion.
"And how are you?" Halling asked into the pause.
Teyla glanced up from scratching around Ketra's other ear. "I am fine," she replied automatically.
"I noticed in the rotation details that you have removed yourself from night shifts for the next month," he asked, his eyes focusing intently on her.
Not telling him everything was not the same as lying to him. Her oldest friend.
"My stomach upset flared up a little again," she replied carefully, "so I visited the Healing Bay yesterday. The Healer gave me some new medication and advised returning to a more standard routine would help."
Which was all the truth.
He frowned. "But you are alright?"
"I am. The symptoms will pass," she stated confidently.
Halling still looked unconvinced and concerned though.
"She ran blood tests and I am not ill, they are just passing symptoms," she clarified. The nausea symptoms would pass in a couple of months according to the medical information, and then entirely new symptoms would likely kick in, but that wasn't to worry about now. She knew females had varying reactions to pregnancy, and she was at least healthy and in the best shape for carrying her babe.
Her and John's child.
She looked back down to Ketra, stroking between her soft ears.
"If you are feeling unwell, you could take today off rotation," Halling suggested, "we will be in hyperspace until tomorrow…"
She smiled at his thoughtfulness. "If I need to, I will. But the new medication has already done wonders and I too had a good sleep last night."
He nodded with a more relaxed smile now. "Good. It has felt a long few weeks hasn't it." He sighed as he settled a little further into the sofa, lifting his teacup again.
"It has," she agreed. "Though, hopefully once we arrive at the asteroid field we may finally be able to locate the Skerti."
He nodded as he swallowed some tea. "Either way, winter will probably be long past on Athos by the time we return home."
She reached for her sweet-grain bread, a lovely taste of home itself. "I did not think you enjoyed winter that much."
"There is something about the snow back home, the scent of cold air in the forest," he smiled, his eyes glazing slightly, no doubt slipping back to memories of the old camp they had both known as their first home.
"And the clearness to the air," she agreed.
He nodded with a smile. "And Charin used to cook those big batches of tuttletroot soup for the camp."
Teyla grinned at the memories. "It smelt wonderful."
"No one has ever made tuttleroot soup as well as Charin," he mused contentedly.
She nodded, but her smile slipped as she thought of the last weeks before she had left on this mission. Despite how successful the operation on Charin's heart had been, she had been looking noticeably frailer of late. Teyla knew Father and Charin's cousin would both ensure Charin had the best support and care she required, but each time she said farewell to Charin, Teyla feared it might be the last.
And now, she had a new concern as to whether Charin would live long enough to meet the new babe.
If she and the babe lived long enough to return to Athos…
She frowned down at her sweet-grain bread and took a large bite, savouring the flavour she had known all her life; remembered Mother cutting up the loaves and toasting the slices over the family fire.
If life provided her the chance, Teyla promised herself that she would take her child and John on a camping trip to the old forest campsite, toast sweet-grain over a fire together, and she would tell them stories of Mother.
She had always missed Mother since that fateful culling so long ago, but today, almost to the point of physical pain, she wished her mother was here.
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The small screen flashed to life on Seeal's right, alerting to her another test.
She turned on the tall stool to face the small pad, shifting her arms in a now practiced motion to shift aside the long thin wires running down from the sensors attached along her arms. The latest test glowed on the pad so she tapped the screen to start.
The 'cold tolerance test' had turned out to be more interactive and useful than she'd expected. She wasn't sure how long it had been since she'd been sealed inside this transparent temperature controlled cubicle, but all she'd needed to do was take these randomly timed tests and the rest of her time was taken up with some reading.
The tests were simple too. This first series of questions always displayed the name of a shape in colourful letters and below it were various coloured shapes. She simply had to tap on the correct corresponding shape of the right colour. Tapping through those questions quickly, next up was a series of jumbled words she had to move around to form a simple sentence, and then the final set of questions were always short very basic math calculations. She tapped through them easily and the final usual questionnaire followed; she had to pick the description that she felt best described how she felt temperature-wise in the cubicle. She tapped on 'comfortable' and then it asked her to estimate how much the temperature had changed since the last test. She wasn't at all sure on these questions, but she could tell it was faintly cooler now in the cubicle, so she tapped in a half degree drop and the screen went dark, the latest test complete.
Turning away from the testing screen, she focused back on the reading pad set in front of her stool. This pad was on a mechanical arm so she didn't have to hold it and it was encased in a box to protect it from the temperature changes in the cubicle chamber. She had been allowed to pick what she wanted to read while she was in here, so she had selected the latest journal articles on the techno-organic circuitry the Project team were currently reading through, so her time in here had been very useful. The chamber was about the size of her quarters' wardrobe, tall enough that she could stand up from the stool if she wanted, but there wasn't quite enough room for her to stretch out her arms. Completely sealed in here with its own air supply and temperature regulation, she couldn't hear anything outside the thick glass walls of the cubicle, but she had a button she could press to talk to the research scientists outside.
Glancing up from her reading, she ran her eyes over the occupants of the Research Lab studying her. They were all familiar faces to her now, a team of six, sometimes a seventh, and though she was sat in this chamber in nothing but a pair of tiny shorts and a crop top – ignoring all the sensors attached to various parts of her skin – she had quickly gotten over the sense of exposure. That was mainly because all the scientists had their attention absolutely fixed on the screens of readings, data or whatever it was they were getting from these sensors and the tests. To reduce her awareness of the test conditions, which apparently could alter how she reacted, all the lab tables were set facing towards her in the cubicle so she could only see the backs of the display screens and the faces of the scientists studying them.
However, the seating arrangement did mean that she'd spent some time doing some people watching, observing expressions and body language among the research team. She was pretty sure two of the team were in a relationship, but she wasn't sure if the others knew. There was also an interesting dynamic between the team and the Lead Researcher, a mature male who was the one who occasionally came up to the cubicle to speak to her through the communication speaker and check she was okay. She would bet some decent currency that he was pretty important in research circles as it seemed the whole team were very keen for his approval.
Currently though there were no interesting interactions going on as they were all sat at their individual lab tables, tapping away on their large display screens. She wondered if they were working on other things, because it was only faintly cool in the cubicle, so she wasn't entirely sure what they could be detecting that was so interesting.
Without much to watch, she returned her attention to her project reading.
After awhile, the testing pad lit up again, so she turned to it, again adjusting the long sensor wires aside as she turned on the stool. She tapped on the screen and quickly worked through the series of questions again, all only faintly different each time. When she came to the final question about how she was feeling, she considered the temperature around her. It did seem noticeably cooler now, but she'd not rate it as 'cold' yet, but there was an option of 'slightly cold', which seemed the closest, so she tapped that one. On the guess on the temperature drop, she noted it as a degree lower than last time. The screen went dark, so she returned to her reading.
The engineering journal entry she was on now was fascinating. The more she read about the newly developed techno-organic tech, the more interesting it was becoming, and she'd found it an interesting mental exercise to consider possible weak points in the new tech that hackers might try to exploit. How she might go about it. Of course, it would be far easier to work that out if she could try out a running system with the new tech.
Could there even be a way to use an organic virus to attack the organic components? She let out a breath as she wondered about that and noticed that it formed a misty cloud in the air of the cubicle. It was definitely a little cooler in here now. She scrunched up her bare toes and fingers to test how they felt, but there was just a faint chilliness in the air, so she concentrated back on her reading.
The testing pad lit up though, so she turned to it and tapped it awake, but as she did she felt a faint layer of frost over the protective case around the pad. Ah, definitely getting colder in here now. Still, once she'd answered the questions, she decided to still rate it as 'slightly cold', but selected another full degree drop since the last test. That done, she turned back to the reading pad.
She found where she'd left off, which was an interesting section on how the engineers had formulated the gel in which they held the organic matter in the circuitry. Partway though, she became aware of movement outside her cubicle and glanced up, her breath now very noticeably forming little frosty clouds around her, and saw one of the scientists walking quickly down the central aisle of space between the lab tables towards the door at the far end of the lab. The female scientist disappeared through the door, but, as it closed shut, the small sliver of a window set into the door revealed someone stood in the entrance room outside.
All Seeal could see from this distance was the top of a shoulder, part of a neck and the lower part of a male jaw. Despite how little of him she could see, it was very obviously Oneakka.
What was he doing here?
Had something happened?
Though, he had asked her yesterday what time this experiment was…
The female scientist opened the far door a crack and peered back inside the lab, looking down the room towards Seeal. Seeal nodded to her, assuming the female wasn't sure about letting Oneakka into the lab. The scientist seemed to the get the message and the door opened a little further and Oneakka peered around it into the lab. She watched his head move as he quickly tracked around the lab, assessing it in his Elite way, and then his attention focused on her.
She could tell instantly that there was nothing wrong as he looked relaxed, curious in fact.
She lifted a hand and waved at him, making sure to smile so he would see she was fine, which was presumably the point of his visit. She was having Late Meal with Smee tonight, so she hadn't been expecting to see him today, but here he was.
She lowered her hand back to her lap, and was suddenly aware of how cold the sensor wires felt as they brushed against her bare legs. Mmm she wasn't wearing much in here, showing far more skin than ever before in front of Oneakka, but it was fine, he was down the far end of the room. She ran her fingertips around one sensor wire and, again, felt the faintest crunch of frost over it. Definitely colder in here now.
She looked back up, only to see that Oneakka was now inside the lab and appeared to be upset about something. She watched as he gestured down the lab towards her, while saying something to the scientist. The female in return had both her hands up, palms turned outwards, and her face suggested she was trying to reassure Oneakka about something.
Oneakka frowned at the female and pointed down the lab at Seeal again.
The other scientists were now all turning and watching, one male heading down the Lab to help, presumably.
Seeal watched as the two scientists talked rapidly to Oneakka, who now had his strong level glare in place, the casual curiosity of before gone.
Then he started down the aisle, striding through the two scientists, heading this way. His attention was directed up above her though…perhaps to where the time and temperature inside the cubicle was displayed? He was saying something, looking even more annoyed the closer he got. She really wished she could lip read Alliance languages, but all she could hear was the faint fan turning somewhere in the ceiling of the cubicle, her constant background sound the entire time she'd been in this cubicle chamber.
So she just watched as Oneakka progressed down the aisle, getting closer until the Lead Researcher abruptly appeared, stepping into Oneakka's path. Pretty bravely in Seeal's opinion. She watched the Lead gesture, again it looked like calming motions, but with his back to the cubicle she couldn't see that well.
What was clear was that Oneakka was making a scene, which he seemed to have a natural talent for, in her opinion.
He also stood out in the Lab, the scientists all in the same white uniforms, hair tied back off their faces, and several wearing glasses. All looked like average people, while Oneakka was far wider in the shoulders, with his varied scars, tattoos, Mohawk and dressed in another one of his overly tight short-sleeve shirts. Today's choice of shirt colour was dark navy, which made his complexion look even paler in comparison.
Though she'd not seen him today until now, she'd had a few text link conversations with him. He'd sent her his emergency Portal test twice this morning, and they'd discussed going to see the goats tomorrow evening to meet with Neligan to talk about starting to wean Splodge and the other goatlings off Belka's milk. It had all felt very normal again after their big fight.
But he'd apologised for that yesterday, shockingly well in fact, and he'd taken her to the Armoury after Late Meal yesterday to try out the taser and chemical spray options he'd told her about. She'd never used such weapons before, though they would have been amazingly useful on Dream. Oneakka had explained that the Elite had developed the chemical sprays to irritate the eyes of an opponent mainly to deal with Wraith Worshippers rather than Wraith themselves, and apparently every Elite Warrior carried a vial of the spray in one of the many pouches on their holsters.
There had been a testing area in the Armoury, so, with guidance from Oneakka and the very knowledgeable petite stocky male Lead Armourer, she'd leant how to use the new weapons. In the end, she'd chosen a taser with a chemical spray concealed in the handle. That way she had two weapons in one and she could easily carry it on her belt when she went off-world. Oneakka had gotten her a pouch to put it in, explaining with clear experience where was best to secure it on her belt or in a pocket.
After that they had walked together to the Hydroponics Bay to see the goats, despite the fact that she'd only seen Belka and her goatlings a few hours before. But it had been nice. Things had been repaired between them and it had been clear that Oneakka had been making an effort, so she'd done the same.
Though, he didn't appear to be making any kind of similar effort with the scientists outside the cubicle.
It was almost amusing to watch the ongoing scene, Oneakka gesturing and glaring at the Lead scientist, while the other male was talking away, both hands held up.
Oneakka pointed up to the top of the cubicle again, so she suspected that he was either objecting to how long she'd been in here, or he wasn't happy with the temperature.
The scientist's hands lowered, seeming to calm Oneakka a little.
Oneakka looked away from the male, still frowning, but now the frown was directed towards her.
She lifted her hands in a 'what's wrong?' gesture, the sensor wires definitely feeling cold as they brushed against her thighs again.
He frowned at her like she'd asked something stupid.
The testing pad glowed to life.
She held up a finger, telling him to wait, and turned to the testing pad.
She went through the questions as before, making sure to ignore what she suspected was Oneakka still causing problems out the front of the cubicle chamber.
There was definitely a more noticeable frosted layer over the testing pad, and her toes were starting to feel chilly for certain now. Plus her breath was making larger clouds, so she selected the 'cold' option on the rating and guessed that the temperature had dropped by another two degrees this time. The pad went dark, so she turned back to the front.
Only to find Oneakka was now stood immediately outside the cubicle, watching her intently as he reached up and pressed the communication button on the outside.
"Do you know how cold it is in there?" Oneakka's voice echoed out of tiny speakers above her.
"Honoured Elite," the Lead Researcher's voice added sharply through the speaker as the male stepped up next to Oneakka's shoulder, the two males filling her view out of the cubicle chamber. "Please do not tell her the temperature, it will ruin the experiment and all the work we have done and she has endured."
Oneakka turned just his head and gave the scientist a silent heavy look.
The other male backed away several steps.
Seemingly happy with the distance the male had retreated, Oneakka returned his full attention back on her through the glass. "You've been in here for hours," He said, surprisingly keeping to the scientist's rules not to tell her the temperature.
She reached out and pressed her side of the communications button, which definitely felt cool to the touch. "I'm fine, I've got loads to read and I take a test every now and then, it's not difficult."
"You look cold," he added next, his voice tinny through the speakers, his expression openly concerned.
It seemed that his excessive protectiveness from the other day hadn't gone away.
It was kind of nice though, him worrying about her.
She pressed her side of the button again, deciding best to keep her finger on it. "It's a little chilly in here, but I'm fine," she assured him.
"A little chilly?!" Oneakka repeated like she was mad, which presumably meant that it was colder in the cubicle than she thought.
The Lead Researcher moved forward again towards Oneakka, clearly about to repeat his pleading with Oneakka not tell her the temperature. Oneakka saw him moving though and waved the male away with a nod. The scientist backed off again.
"I could do with a jacket and some trousers," she told Oneakka, especially considering how much of her he could see right now. "But I'm fine."
"This is an experiment, not an endurance test," Oneakka told her, still frowning.
"No, it is an endurance test," Seeal pointed out. "To see how long I can be in here and rate how it feels, while they take all their readings." She gestured to the sensors attached all over her.
"Cold can be damaging, Raven," he stated back.
"Yes, we've been over this before," she reminded him calmly, remembering Massa's warning about why Oneakka could react like this. "I'm a Glisi; I know about cold."
The testing pad lit up.
"Hang on, I need to do the next test," she told him, released the button and turned to the testing pad. On the first question about the shapes, she realised a fraction too late that she'd selected the wrong answer, which had clearly been due to Oneakka's distraction. Not that her fingers didn't feel colder now. She scrunched them and her toes up to test how they felt, but she still wouldn't rate it as 'very cold' yet, so stuck with the 'cold' answer, but estimated the temperature down another half a degree.
She turned back to the front to see that Oneakka had stepped away and a female scientist was talking to him, showing him something on a pad. He was listening, paying close attention, but he still didn't look happy.
She had thought that his reaction to the incident on Saoka's station had been because it had been such a dramatic event, but clearly the over-protectiveness was continuing today. Unless, she wondered, if her having told him that she knew this about him now had perhaps given him permission to show his concern more openly.
Still, she took the opportunity while he was focused away to adjust her crop top a little, feeling a little overly conscious about how low it was sitting. Fortunately, the top had a padded layer and some sensors inside it, so her bust had a smoothed line and didn't show her nipples through it in the cold.
She noticed that the cloud of her breath looked denser now and her reading pad definitely had some frost on it, but she held back from reading just yet. She instead watched Oneakka nod to the scientist showing him whatever was displayed on that electronic pad, which appeared to have calmed him down a bit.
He glanced round at her and started back towards the cubicle. She watched him approach and reach up to press the communication button.
"You need to be honest in how you rate how you feel," he said.
She pressed the communication button on her side, silently reminding herself to be patient with his protectiveness. "Yes, I am being honest."
"You're not 'very cold' yet?" He asked, the Lead Researcher hovering close to Oneakka's shoulder.
"No, not yet," she told him.
He frowned, seeming unhappy with her answer. "I'm going to sit over there," he indicated a random chair to the right. "If you starting turning even faintly blue, I'm ending this experiment."
She worked not to roll her eyes at him. As if the scientists wouldn't notice her 'turning blue'!
"I don't need an overseer, Oneakka," she told him calmly, her words breaths of cloud.
"Think of me as your representative on this side of the glass," he replied.
This time she didn't hold back from rolling her eyes, but mostly in amusement at his carefully worded argument.
"I'm going to be over there," he repeated like it was a warning.
"Yes, I heard you," she nodded. "Be nice to the scientists," she told him firmly before releasing the communications button.
He pulled a surprised expression at the order, but headed off to his promised chair from which he was clearly going to watch her and the temperature display.
She turned her attention back to the reading pad, though first had to use the edge of her hand to brush away the frost crusted over it. She tried to concentrate, but Oneakka was in her peripheral vision and she was aware of him repeatedly glancing up at the temperature display. If he had an issue with people being too cold, maybe he should wear thicker tops with longer sleeves.
After a short while, the testing pad flashed alive again, which was a fortunate distraction. She went through the questions, after brushing a thin layer of ice off the pad, making sure to focus a little more this time, the pad feeling very cold against her fingertip as she pressed on the screen.
On the questionnaire, she debated how cold she felt. It was noticeably colder and her eyelashes felt heavier, which was an old thing she remembered from the Glisi world. She wiggled her toes and decided they definitely felt cold now. She selected 'very cold' after a small debate on it, but it wasn't yet at the 'uncomfortable' option still available. She put the temperature estimate down a further couple of degrees, but, as she lifted her finger, she felt her skin briefly stick to the pad's surface.
Ah, that was a sign of how cold it was now.
The Glisi called it the 'grippy-ice', a first sign of danger that you could lose skin to a frozen surface.
As the testing pad dimmed, she turned back to the front and lifted her palm up high; the sign that she was calling an end to the test.
Several of the scientists had already been watching her and reacted immediately. Oneakka shot up out of his chair as the Lead Researcher stepped up to the cubicle and pressed the communication button.
"The test is now ended," the male announced as she heard a loud beep above her. "We will raise the temperature in the cubicle and repressurise the air before you come out," the male smiled at her.
She nodded her agreement and noticed that Oneakka was now the one hovering behind the scientist.
She felt the air shift, heard the fan start moving faster and a soft warmth began to filter down through the air.
As the air grew warmer, her breath starting to show less and less in the air, she rubbed her palms together, wiggled her toes and rotated her bare feet in the growing warmth. She'd almost describe it as 'toasty' now in here.
Outside the cubicle there was a lot of motion, one scientist placing a mat down just outside the front glass, and a female scientist was stood holding what looked like a large fluffy robe in her hands; oh, that was going to feel good.
The Lead Scientist appeared again with a smile and pressed the communication button. "Almost at temperature. We'll open the front of the chamber and you can step out onto the mat here. We'll remove all the sensors from you while you're stood there and then you've got a nice warmed through robe to put on."
Seeal nodded and smiled through the glass at them.
A few seconds later and two scientists stepped up to either side of the cubicle's front and started undoing the bolts and clips that had sealed her in here. She watched out of interest, not feeling cold at all anymore. The warmth was lovely, she'd be happy to sit in here all day now.
She heard the seal release around the front and the air temperature shifted again as the front of the cabinet was removed. Strangely cooler air rushed in around her.
She stood up from the stool, her legs a little stiff from having sat down for so long, but they felt fine otherwise. She stepped down and out of the cabinet onto the waiting nice fluffy matt.
Hands immediately began reaching in around her, detaching the sensors from her.
"How do you feel?" the Lead Researcher asked from her left.
"Fine," she answered from within all the activity as each wire was unplugged from its sensor, the wire rolled up and the sticky sensor then gently detached from her skin.
"More detail, Raven," Oneakka instructed from outside the semi-circle of working scientists.
She considered her answer as two scientists took the sensors off the backs of her hands. She rubbed the tips of her fingers together. "Everything feels fine, honestly."
"How would you describe your fingers and toes temperature-wise?" The Lead Researcher asked, electronic pad in his hand.
"Warm now," she answered.
Oneakka abruptly reached in between scientists and caught her hand in his. Shocked at the sudden touch, she looked round at him, but instantly understood what he was doing as he loosened and tightened his hand around her fingers a few times.
"Slightly cool," he reported with a frown, his hand tightening. His hand certainly felt very warm around hers before he let go.
She lifted her hands to her face, testing the temperature of her fingers against her cheeks. "They're always that cool," reported to the Lead Researcher.
Hopefully her face wasn't looking flushed at the unexpected brief hand-holding.
As the final sensors were removed from the tops of her feet, the female scientist holding the robe stepped forward and opened it up, one sleeve held forward for her. Seeal turned and slid one arm into the lovely warmed through thick fabric, then it was wrapped around her back and she slid her other arm into the waiting soft sleeve. It was like being engulfed in warm fluffy comfort.
"That is nice," she grinned as she closed it around her front and tied it closed at her waist.
"Here are some warm thick socks too," the female scientist added as she handed across more warmed fabric.
Seeal pulled them on quickly, the circle of scientists now having stepped away. "The whole experiment is worth this part," Seeal smiled as she wriggled her toes in the thick toasty warmth of the socks.
"You can keep the socks and robe," the female scientist smiled at her with a wink. "Now come sit down."
Seeal headed to the chair Oneakka had vacated.
"We just need to run through some post-experiment questions," the Lead Researcher smiled at her as he drew a chair up in front of her as she sat down.
A faint shadow fell over her though and she looked up to see Oneakka stood beside her chair. She gave him a look, which he clearly saw but was ignoring. She didn't mind though; there was nothing wrong with having a personal Elite protector, a fact which had been proven very recently on Saoka's station.
The Lead Researcher asked her a short series of questions about how she had felt in the cubicle, and then it was done.
"Thank you for your help with this, Seeal," the Lead Researcher smiled as he stood up.
"Happy to help," she replied as she stood up too, hands buried into two lovely big pockets she had found in the robe.
"We will send you the results of these latest findings," the scientist added and then nodded politely at Oneakka before heading away.
Seeal turned to her Elite shadow. "I need to change in there," she indicated a side room where she had left her clothes. "You loom around here until I'm ready," she told him.
He gave her a low level glare, but it was all teasing now.
She headed into the small side room and changed back into her clothes, leaving the shorts and the sensor-filled crop top on the side where they'd been waiting for her initially. A brief look at her electronic pad showed there were still a couple of hours until Late Meal, but Oneakka had been correct, she'd been in that cubicle chamber for at least two hours. She tapped into some newly arrived text links, which included one from Smee reporting he had to cancel their Late Meal together this evening due to a change in his rota. She typed a quick reply, suggesting First Meal tomorrow morning instead.
Dressed and her boots back on, she picked up her new big fluffy robe and folded it over her arm, the socks rolled up in one of the pockets, and headed back out into the lab. Oneakka was waiting nearby in the aisle between lab tables, so she headed towards him and together they headed for the far door.
As they moved through the adjoining entrance room and finally out of the Research Lab, her electronic pad vibrated so she shuffled the robe to reach for it.
"Here, can you hold this for me," she asked Oneakka as they headed out of the lab. Might as well put her Elite protector to good use.
Oneakka took her robe without comment, so she drew out her pad and saw it was Smee confirming First Meal tomorrow and apologising again for his rota change. She didn't mind, besides she still had other meal company. She slid away her pad and looked at Oneakka as they headed through the weird labyrinth like flow of corridors in this part of the Healing Bay.
"Looks like I'm free for Late Meal with you and Massa tonight," she told him, reaching for her robe.
"Smee cancel on you?" Oneakka asked as he handed over the robe.
"He had a last minute rota change," she explained.
"I'm sure Ru would eat any meal with you," Oneakka uttered.
She looked up at him walking beside her. "Are you saying you don't want my company for Late Meal?" She teased.
"Of course I do," he replied instantly, which felt nice to hear out loud. "You know you were in that cabinet in below freezing temperatures?"
"Yes," she shrugged, "there was ice forming on the pads, so I guessed as much."
"You were wearing barely anything," he added.
She felt an embarrassing flush to her cheeks at that reminder. "If I'd been on the Glisi world in proper thick warm clothing, that would have been a normal day for me when I was young."
"They think you have an adaptation in your muscles and skin that gives you improved cold tolerance," he reported.
She had glanced over the report from the last experiment she'd done for the Research Team, which had indeed included their latest theories on how she responded to cold temperatures, but she'd not looked into the science of it all. She usually just read the summary section at the top of each report they'd sent her, as that covered the salient points.
"With an extra thin layer of fat within my skin," she recalled from the last summary, "and the way my body moves blood around. They think the Glisi may have evolved into giants as a natural adaptation to the freezing temperatures."
He nodded with interest and then glanced away. "I think the thicker skin makes sense with you," he stated, a half smile across his tattooed profile.
"Well, I need it spending time with you," she retaliated. "You got another rehab session now?"
"No, I've done it already," he replied, and she glanced up at his hair; she had thought his Mohawk looked a little more spiky than usual, and she was pretty sure she could detect the fresh scent of newly cleaned male skin from him as they moved closer together to fit around a tight corner and finally out into the wider, more familiar hallways of the Healing Bay.
"I've got a treatment here in the Bay in," he pulled out his electronic pad from a back pocket of his black trousers, "an hour."
"One of the scar treatments Meiyo prescribed?" She recalled that he'd mentioned that yesterday evening when they'd been sat with the goats. By the time they'd finished at the Armoury and headed to the Hydroponics Bay, the goatlings had been ready to sleep, so it had been quite quiet and relaxing sitting on the grass with Oneakka, the goatlings all lying contentedly around them. Splodge though had curled up in her lap, well, partly on her lap, as the goatlings were growing so fast.
Oneakka had clearly found it relaxing too, and had shared a little more detail about the results of his failed medical review, seeming far more open about it. His former sullenness from the bad result of the review seemed to have passed, just as Massa had assured her it would, and he had seemed motivated to follow his new recovery plan.
"Yes," he confirmed her recall, "They've got this treatment they do with needles," he added with a faint wince.
"You don't like needles?" She asked, surprised, though strangely keen to hear that there was something in the galaxy he was afraid of.
"I don't mind them," he dismissed though, of course, "it's the itchiness afterwards," he frowned and she saw that one of his hands had drifted to his belly, almost as if he could already feel the itching from the future treatment. "I'll be finished before Late Meal."
"Good," she smiled, pleased at how comfortable this was all feeling with him again. Their fight was in the past, where it belonged, and things were back to normal. Well, slightly different in that he appeared to be more protective than before, not that she was sure what he had thought might happen to her in the Research Lab. It wasn't like the scientists were going to let her freeze to death.
Still, it was nice that he cared, looking out for her. Her own personal Elite protector.
For the thousandth time over the last year, she mused at how strange a turn her life had taken.
From ten years on Dream to being forced to leave it with Creass, to then becoming an Alliance citizen, living among the Elite and helping design their new computer system; having friends now within the Alliance's military personnel that she really did feel she could actually trust, and having Elite Warriors as some of her closest friends!
She truly couldn't imagine that anything else could ever be as surprising as the last year. And, for now, she felt pretty happy with her life.
0000
TBC