Among Us: Legacy

by hillak29

All Sage Korbel wants is to make her late grandfather proud. After dying in a mysterious accident twenty years previously, George Korbel left traces of his old life behind for Sage to find. By joining a ragtag team of crewmates on a spaceship bound for the elusive planet known as Polus, she hopes to retrace his steps and uncover the truth behind his untimely end.

4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: The Among Us universe belongs to InnerSloth LLC and PlayEveryWare. This is a work of fanfiction and is not intended for profit or copyright infringement. I do not own the rights to Among Us or its setting/universe.

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The rest of my rounds are uneventful. Nobody needs help with anything and if they do I'm unqualified to assist. I don't feel like sitting around and sanitizing surgical tools while listening to hours of Dr. Barnett's classical jazz so I hunt Quill down instead. I find him in Lower Engine, where I make myself comfortable, chatting casually with him as he works. I really want to tell him about the journal (After all, George Korbel was his grandfather, too), but Lower Engine is a traffic-heavy area, so someone from patrol passes through the room every ten minutes. Quill's face is hidden inside a maintenance hatch, anyway, so I decide it's not the best place for a heart-to-heart.

Eventually, my stomach announces that it's time for supper. I ask Quill if he wants to come with me but he says he's going to have to work late tonight so I dejectedly make my way to Cafeteria alone.

I wonder what's on the menu tonight? It's Wednesday, which usually means tofu stir-fry. Maybe with a side of curry chickpeas and peppered rice? My stomach growls greedily at the thought.

Thump.

The noise comes from behind me. I turn expectantly, hoping to see Quill walking down the hallway, but no one's there. I'm all alone.

Did I imagine it? I glance around with a frown, listening.

Thump.

I definitely didn't imagine it. This time it came from my right. I swivel to face the metal wall but I'm still utterly alone.

It's probably nothing. It's an old ship. Old ships make all kinds of weird -

Thump. Thump. Thump.

I'm used to the distant creaks and groans of the ship settling and tilting every now and then but I've never heard anything like this before (apart from my hear threatening to burst from my chest). The sound is even and repetitive, like footsteps. Like someone tapping on a door.

I'm surrounded by closed cabin doors. Did someone lock themselves in their room? I consider checking when I hear it again. Thump. Thump. It's quieter this time and seems to be coming from somewhere up ahead.

It's moving. My first instinct is to follow it. Unbidden, images of giant monsters and glittering fangs rush through my mind like a tape on fast-forward. The bloody, mutilated corpse of Commander Warrick burns painfully in my vision. Could it be his killer?

If I don't follow it I'll never know. I can hear it getting farther and farther away, and I make a split-second decision that could very well get me killed if I'm not careful.

The noise leads me into the Cafeteria. Dinner isn't scheduled to start until another fifteen minutes. The smell of Kenzo's famous sweet and spicy sausage wafts out the open kitchen door and my stomach complains loudly. I long for food but I hear a particularly loud thump directly overhead and I completely forget about eating.

I crane my neck to glance at the ceiling. There's nothing but mottled ceiling tiles and a tiny air vent. It's probably just rodents...

An infestation needs to be addressed immediately, and not just for the sake of the wiring system. Rodents living in the vents are a health hazard to everyone breathing the air. So I follow the sound as it leads me toward Storage.

The doorway to Storage is dark and sinister, looming at the end of the hallway like a gaping maw. I shiver and pretend not to notice, praying the rats won't lead me into its depths. I pause in the spot I last heard it, right outside the Admin office. To my surprise, the door to Admin is closed. Not only is it closed, but the red LED light above the door indicates that it's also locked.

Strange. Admin is never locked.

Under normal circumstances, the closed door might have escaped my notice. But the commander has been slaughtered. The wiring and lighting systems are faulty and Communications to MIRA and the surrounding space stations are down. Now a strange noise is coming from the walls.

Clearly these are not normal circumstances.

I'm feeling jumpy. For a second, I consider walking away and forgetting I saw or heard anything. In fact, I'm about to do just that when there's a loud BANG and something heavy hits the other side of the Admin door with the force of a battering ram, making the walls shudder. I shriek and clap a hand over my mouth. What the hell was that? I should probably investigate, but what if whatever killed Commander Warrick is waiting for me? I imagine a horrible, slimy beast with razor-sharp teeth and putrid breath, strings of sticky blood and gore coating its lips...

Fear welds my feet to the floor. I can neither run for help nor open the door. For a few seconds, panic blinds me. I'm convinced my heart will burst from my chest. Soon I will pass out and it will all be over...

I am a professional. The small, familiar voice echoes in the back of my mind. I am a professional. I can do this. Just...breathe.

I force myself to take deep, cleansing breaths. The seconds tick by. There's no noise. No one comes out of Admin. No one passes through the hallway. After an entire minute of nothing, I collect myself.

It's now or never.

Everyone aboard The Skeld possesses an ID card that locks and unlocks all doors on the ship, apart from Medbay and other crewmate's cabins. I keep my ID on a keyring clipped at my hip. I pull the card off and approach the door, swiping it through the chip reader on the wall.

It beeps angrily at me. Too fast. Try again.

My hands are shaking. I can't do this if I don't calm down. All card swipes on the ship are finicky. If not executed at just the right angle and speed the machine is unable to read the card properly. One day it took me fifteen tries to open my own cabin door.

I try again, slower this time. Too slow. Try again. I try again, changing the angle of the card. Too slow. Try again. Feeling my pulse rising, I press the card into the slot and firmly yank it through as fast as I can. Too fast. Try again.

"It's all about the wrist movement."

The voice isn't loud but I scream like someone erupted out of the bushes revving a chainsaw.

"Mother of MIRA!" Osiris's hand jumps to the gun at his hip. "Calm down before someone thinks you're being murdered!"

"Osiris!" I'm relieved and embarrassed. "Oh, thank MIRA. I'm so sorry, I just...you came out of nowhere and I was just..." I pause, listening to my heart pounding in my ears. I almost tell him about the strange noise I heard but Osiris's dark eyes land on the door to Admin.

"Why did you lock the door?"

"I didn't. I found it this way. I'm trying to open it."

"Strange. It was open a minute ago."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I passed it not that long ago during my rounds. I was just about to finish up and head to dinner. Is someone in there?"

"I'm not sure. I think they might be. A moment ago something heavy collided with the door, but it's been quiet ever since."

"Huh. O'Connell's probably messing around in there, doing MIRA-knows-what." He approaches the wide metal door and raps smartly on it three times. "Professor, it's Osiris. Are you in there?"

Nothing. He knocks again, this time with his open palm. "Professor! Why is the door locked? Is everything okay?"

Still nothing.

"Maybe he fell asleep?"

Osiris grunts. "Wouldn't surprise me. The man's been working himself like a dog. Picking up the slack Warrick left behind, no doubt. Still, we shouldn't keep these doors locked." He pulls his ID out of a back pocket and approaches the scanner. "Watch and learn." He swipes his card confidently through the sensor. It beeps. Too fast. Try again. He frowns and tries again. Too fast. Try again.

"Like hell I'm too fast!"

"These things can smell fear," I warn.

"No way. The thing must be broken..." He tries again. And again. And again. With each failed attempt his face turns a slightly deeper shade of red. Finally, on what I count as the ninth attempt, there's a pleasant beep and the LED turns green. Card Accepted.

"Damn straight," Osiris growls. "See?" He turns to me, grinning as the lock clunks and the metal door slides open with a hiss. "All in the wrist."

"Sure. Whatever you say, door-whisperer."

I didn't expect the lights in Admin to be on. Even stranger, the room appears to be in order and untouched. Accolades and award plaques from previous commanders line the walls. Stacks of papers and folders cover the long rectangular table in the center of the room. The floor is covered in threadbare burgundy carpet that is extremely outdated and likely the source of the musty scent.

"Screens are off." Osiris glances at the cubicles and computer monitors along the wall. "The holo-map is off, too. Weird. Warrick would never have permitted that. He liked to know where we were at all times..."

I've never actually been inside Admin before - I've never had a reason to - but something definitely isn't right. I'm positive I heard something get thrown into the door - it rattled my entire skeleton. But everything here seems to be in its place.

If no one's here, why was the door locked?

We move farther into the room. The floor is recessed in the center where the holo-map sits on a table and we descend the two shallow steps to stand in front of it. Osiris taps the surface gently and a holographic display of The Skeld materializes before our eyes. Bright yellow dots scattered across the map indicate where the crewmates are. The dot in Oxygen has to be Ebba. The one in Upper Engine is Quill. The dot in the kitchen is likely Kenzo, while the dot bouncing around Navigation is either Lenna or Zale. There are four dots in the Weapons room. Minka's self-defense lessons are still going strong. Then, of course, there are two dots in Admin, belonging to myself and Osiris.

"Wait a second..." Osiris narrows his eyes at the map, mouth slightly open. "I'm only seeing ten. Aren't there eleven of us?"

I count the dots again. And again. I come up with ten each time.

It doesn't make sense. The map is synced with all human lifeforms on board, identifying our whereabouts by locating heartbeats, pulses, and heat registers. I move slowly around the table, my eyes glued to the map as I search for the missing dot. If someone's heat register isn't showing up, it either means the technology is bugged or -

I stop moving. My sock-clad foot just trod on something soft. I peek under the table and feel my blood turn to ice.

I stepped on the back of a human hand. The hand is attached to an arm in a purple uniform.

Maybe he's just napping, the voice in my head tries to reason. Maybe he broke into the beer supply, got drunk, and passed out under the table. I bend to take a closer look and these ideas are horribly and utterly squashed.

I try to make a sound - any sound - but nothing comes out. Professor O'Connell lies on his stomach, his right arm bent awkwardly beneath his torso while his left splays out. His face is pale as a sheet and his eyes are wide and staring. His mouth hangs open, stained with a thin trail of blood trickling from the corner. His glasses hang crooked and broken off one ear. Twisted flesh and severe bruising turn his head at an unnatural angle.

His neck has been snapped clean in half.

I don't bother checking for a pulse. The break is so severe he's nearly decapitated. I do him the courtesy of closing his eyelids before breaking the news to Osiris.

My expression gives it away. He takes one look at my face and his hand is back on his gun. "What's wrong?" He strides over to my side of the table. "Did you find -?" The words die in his throat as he looks down and sees the hand sticking out from beneath the table. I watch the realization sink in. He bends to look under the table and swears loudly.

"Shit. Shit!" He slams his fist on the table, making me and the holo-map shudder. "God fucking dammit!"

I debate our options. Osiris pulls his walkie-talkie from his belt and speaks into it. "Del, this is Osiris. I'm in Admin. Do you copy?"

Del's deep voice responds almost immediately. "Copy that. I'm in Weapons overseeing training."

"Who's in there with you?"

A pause. Then, "Minka, Lenna, and the doctor. Is there a problem?"

Osiris grimaces. "Listen. Sage is with me and we found something you need to see. Bring Barnett with you."

Del doesn't question him. "On our way."

They arrive in a matter of seconds, their footsteps hurried and urgent in the hallway. When they appear in the doorway their faces are masks of calm. Del has a hand on his gun as he and Dr. Barnett join us at the table. Dr. Barnett halts when he sees the body, a flicker of disbelief passing over his face. He bends to inspect it and I look up to meet Del's eyes.

"I don't know what happened," I whisper. My hands are shaking and I stick them in my pockets. "I heard something. Then the door was locked and I tried opening it and...I just...he was gone." I can barely string words together. The information tumbles from my mouth as my brain tries to comprehend it.

Dr. Barnett removes his glasses to wipe them on his shirt. "The body is still warm," he says somberly. "This just happened."

"SHIT!" Osiris turns and kicks an empty trash can full-force, sending it spiraling across the room with a loud clatter. Dr. Barnett pinches the bridge of his nose, thinking.

"Sir, what...what do you want me to do?"

I was the one who followed the strange sound, which led me to the body. I feel responsible to take action. What would have happened if I didn't follow the sound? How long would the professor have been lying here, waiting to be discovered? I assume his absence would have eventually been noticed, but it's impossible to say.

"No one is to call a meeting until we can get him to Medbay," Dr. Barnett says sharply. "Sage, I want you and Del to get a sheet and gurney and come back as quickly as you can. In the meantime, we're going to close off Admin and Medbay. Osiris, tell me everything you know..."

It's difficult to tear my eyes away from the professor's twisted, purplish face. What happened here? What could have possibly done this?

The gentle touch of Del's hand on my elbow prompts me to move across the room and out the door into the hallway. I move slowly, using my hand as a guide along the wall. The world swirls with color. Each step I take reverberates in my ears like a drum. At some point (I don't know where we are) I stop and slide down the wall, placing my head between my knees as I squeeze my eyes shut and will myself to be anywhere but here.

The warmth on my left announces the presence of Del as he sits on the floor next to me.

"What did you hear?"

I squeeze my fists so tightly my fingernails dig painfully into the fleshy pads of my palms. I lift my head, looking at him without seeing him. "Huh?"

"You said your hear something. When you found the locked door. What did you hear?"

I can't look him in the eye. I choose my socks instead, fiddling nervously with a small hole near the pinkie toe. Just tell him, the reasonable part of my brain urges. Why are you hesitating? You heard rodents in the walls, that's all. There's nothing weird about that.

But the more I try to convince myself of the rodent theory, the less I believe it. Could it really be the thing that killed the professor? Is this somehow connected with Warrick's death? Would Del believe me if I told him?

"I...don't know," I say. "It sounded like something crawling around inside the walls. Then..." I pause as I remember the shuddering crash of something heavy hitting the door. My throat tightens, closing off any more words. I sniff heavily and look at Del again. His expression is inscrutable at all times and rarely betrays his true thoughts. Right now, I think I read something new in his eyes. Fear? Sympathy?

"Did it sound like something big?"

He knows. At least, he suspects. I might as well tell him what I know. He's here to protect us, after all.

"It thought it was rats," I admit, feeling foolish. "But the sound was way too loud for something that small."

A subtle crease appears between Del's heavy eyebrows. "You said you heard it in the walls?"

"Yes. And above me, like it was climbing through the ventilation system."

"Impossible. Those air vents are way too small for anything bigger than a rat."

"So you're saying we shouldn't worry about it?"

"That's not what I'm saying. Whatever it was you heard, it's clearly dangerous. Might even be what killed Warrick and O'connell."

The last thing I expect is to feel Del's hand cover mine. I stare at it, bewildered, like I've never seen another person's fingers before. He gives my hand a gentle squeeze and I find myself staring into his eyes again. "Thank you for telling me, Sage. You made the right decision."

Not for the first time, a wave of calm washes over me in his presence. I'm fully capable of retrieving a gurney from Medbay myself, but Dr. Barnett sent Del with me to protect me. Right now, he's doing more than that. He's giving me the courage to keep going.

"Something hit the other side of the door when it was locked," I tell him. "Whatever it was, it was big and really loud, like...like a body being thrown from across the room."

This information has a much bigger impact on Del than I expected. His eyebrows shoot up so far they almost disappear into his hair. "Something like that would definitely leave a mark. We'll have to inspect the door for traces of evidence. In the meantime, we need to get that gurney. Can you stand up?"

"I'm...not sure."

"Can I help?"

"Sure."

I sling an arm around his shoulder and he steadies me with a hand on my waist as we slowly stand together. The world continues to swirl but not as badly as before. Both of my feet are planted firmly on the floor but Del's hand doesn't leave my back. My chest tightens and I struggle to breathe.

"I'm sorry this happened to you." His expression is uncharacteristically tender. Neither of us needs to hold on to each other anymore but neither of us pulls away. "You're being brave. I'm sure you don't want to talk to people right now."

I don't feel brave. Nauseous, mostly. But I don't necessarily want to be alone. There is, however, another feeling gnawing at the pit of my stomach. Fear. For the first time, I realize that I am downright terrified for my life and the lives of everyone on this ship.

"Honestly, I -" I stop short. Something registers with me in that moment that makes me pause. The hand that's holding on to Del's shoulder is no longer cold and shaking but warm and wet. I pull my hand away, stunned to find it coated in a thin layer of what is unmistakably blood.

I'm panicking now. All I can do is look in horror from my hand to Del's face and back again. Blood doesn't bother me. What bothers me is the fact that Del has a gaping wound on his shoulder and he's walking around like it's nothing.

"Del, what the hell is this? What happened?"

"It's okay," he says quickly. "It looks a lot worse than it is - trust me. Just an accident in Weapons. I turned my back for a second while they were practicing knife-throwing and someone grazed my shoulder."

"We have to get you cleaned up!" Something inside of me snaps at the sight of his wound and suddenly I'm firing on all cylinders. Dizziness and panic are gone, replaced with professionalism. "Come on, let's get you to Medbay so we can take a look at it..."

"We will, but right now we have more pressing matters. O'Connell is dead. Let's deal with that first."

He's right. From what I can tell, he's not in danger of bleeding out. But I keep an eye on him as we hustle to Medbay and collect the sheet and gurney as fast as possible, rolling the lot swiftly back to Admin to load the body onto it. None of us speak as we work. I'm the last one out of the room and I'm about to set the Admin door to lockdown when I catch sight of a discoloration on the carpet near the small air vent on the floor. I bend down to investigate, touching my finger to the stain. It comes away sticky with something darker and thicker than Del's blood. I smell it cautiously, wincing at the strong pungent scent that stings my nose.

"What's that? Blood?" Osiris squats down next to me.

"I have no idea. It's still wet but it's almost black and smells a lot stronger than blood." The stain is larger around the vent and tapers off to a few drops closer to the door. "I'll tell Dr. Barnett and clean it up later."

We stand and make our way slowly back to Medbay. I expect the hallway to be empty but there's a scrum at the doorway to Cafeteria. Del and Dr. Barnett stand in front of the gurney, trying to block the view from Quill, who stands there shellshocked, looking from one face to the other, trying to process what he's seeing. He catches my eye and makes an odd strangled sort of noise. He's tall and skinny with very little muscle but he manages to shoulder past both Del and Dr. Barnett to get to me. He grabs my arm, pulling me into a rough hug. His grip is vicelike and he's shaking like mad.

"I'm okay," I whisper into his shoulder. "Quill, look at me, I'm okay." I pull away and he lets me, but only a little. His hands find my face and my shoulders and hands. When he sees the blood on my hands he pales and immediately scans the rest of my body. "It's not mine," I say, hiding them behind my back.

"I was on my way to dinner," he says hoarsely. "I finished work early and thought maybe I could find you and we could go together, but I - I didn't expect -" He glances at the gurney, keeping an arm wrapped protectively around my shoulders. "Who...who is it? And...how -?"

"Professor O'Connell," I whisper. "I found him in Admin. Quill, we need to get him to Medbay as soon as possible. Without drawing attention to ourselves. Go wait for me in Cafeteria while -"

"Absolutely not. I'm staying with you. In fact, I'm not leaving your side again." There's a note of finality in his voice and I know I won't be able to argue with him. To emphasize his point he keeps his arm slung around my waist as the group somberly wheels the gurney to Medbay and closes the door. Dr. Barnett and Osiris change into medical scrubs and move the body onto an examination table behind the privacy curtain. Del, Quill, and I move to the other side of the room and I silently and robotically begin prepping a clean table for Del to sit on. Quill is never more than a foot away from me at all times, breathing down my neck as I work. What he thinks he's going to be able to protect me from, I'm not sure, but I allow it because I know it reassures him to know that I'm safe.

Naturally, he wants to know exactly what happened. I do the best I can to recount the events of the last half hour. I explain how I followed the noise, found the locked door, and discovered the body with Osiris. Del jumps in here and there to fill in the details I miss but when we're done Quill appears satisfied, if not a little green around the gills.

I help Del remove his shirt without getting blood everywhere or making the wound worse. The fabric around the wound is soaked through and it takes me longer than I expected to clean the skin around the cut. It's about three inches wide and half an inch deep. "I thought you told me it wasn't as bad as it looks!" I complain, ordering him to press a clean cloth against it while I retrieve the suturing kit from the cupboard.

"I guess my shirt soaked up the worst of it."

"Are you in any pain?"

"Not really."

"Well, you're lucky. You didn't hit anything important, just muscle. You'll need stitches."

"Okay."

He's taking it well. As is typical, he offers up very little conversation as I get to work. He makes no movement or sound as the needle works its way back and forth through his flesh. By the time I'm done the bleeding has stopped and Dr. Barnett and Osiris have completed their inspection of the body. Dr. Barnett rips off his rubber gloves and hairnet with a sigh, tossing them in the trash can.

"Our commander and mission specialist are both dead," Quill says hollowly. "We're in the middle of space, months away from any planet, with no communication back to Earth and something menacing lurking in the walls." He presses his palms into his eyes. "How the hell are we going to break this to the others without causing mass panic?"

Dr. Barnett hangs his head. Del remains quiet but I feel his eyes on me. Osiris lets his hands drop to his sides.

"We'll just have to tell them, won't we?" I say. "Either all at once or one on one, but either way everyone's going to find out and they'll react how they react. If Zale can't contact MIRA within the next couple of days, we'll just have to focus on getting to Polus as fast as we can."

"And then what?" Osiris frowns at me. "If there's a killer on board, those of us left alive will be stranded with nowhere to go!"

"If you have any other bright ideas, I'm all ears," I snap.

"That's enough!" I've never heard Dr. Barnett raise his voice but he gets dangerously close now. "We can't jump to conclusions. I'm sure there is an explanation for all of this, but we need to address the matter at hand, which is another dead body. With the commander and professor gone, that leaves one person with high enough rank to lead..."

No. He can't be serious...

"Sir? You don't mean -?"

"Sage, whatever your feelings are about the man, I ask that you put them aside." Dr. Barnett gives me a stern look over his glasses. "He is the only one left."

"But he's...he's..." The word ridiculous comes to mind. So does petty and hopeless. I make a frustrated noise, unable to express how I'm feeling. For a fleeting moment Dr. Barnett's expression is pitying. But it disappears as he addresses Osiris.

"Go and fetch Lieutenant Zale - Lenna, too, while you're at it. I need to speak with them. Do not tell them anything until they are in this room. If they have questions, they can ask me."

Osiris leaves without a word, his movements stiff and jerky. Dr. Barnett studies me carefully. I refuse to look back as I feel his eyes burning into the side of my head. I focus on cleaning and bandaging Del's shoulder, offering no further remarks to anyone. When Zale and Lenna arrive with Osiris a few minutes later, concerned and confused, I avoid looking at either of them as Osiris leads them behind the curtain. I don't even roll my eyes when I hear Zale emit a high-pitched shriek, followed closely by a few well-chosen swear words. Lenna's strangled gasp constricts my heart but I force myself to focus on the task at hand.

One thing at a time.

"Okay, you're all set," I tell Del, stepping back to admire my handiwork. Not too shabby. "You'll want to use that arm as little as possible and come back every couple days to change the bandaging. Eventually your sutures will dissolve and everything should be back to normal. If you want I'll even convince Dr. Barnett to set you up with some painkillers."

"I'm fine. Thank you."

I smile, not sure what to say. Now that I have nothing to concentrate on to keep my mind busy, it wanders back to Professor O'Connell as I scrub my hands in the ceramic basin.

He died two days after Warrick. This can't be a coincidence. They must be related, but how? Clearly they were both murdered, but they both died in completely different ways. Does this mean there are two killers? If so, I'm right - we're never going to make it to Polus in time. Even if we do survive by some miracle, we'll be stranded. Maybe I should go to Minka's self-defense classes...

And on and on my thoughts go. I allow them to spiral until they threaten to overwhelm me. My hands are bright red and itchy but I don't stop scrubbing. Whether I'm inventing it or not, I still see the blood under my fingernails. It doesn't matter that it's Del's blood - it's only too easy to imagine it belongs to O'Connell.

I suck in a shuddering breath and turn off the faucet, gripping the sides of the sink. I stay like that for a while, frozen like I'm made of stone as my mind whirs.

"Sage." Quill is at my side in a matter of seconds. Del hasn't left, either. He hasn't even put a shirt on. The two of them watch me intently.

"Huh?"

"What are you thinking about?"

What a weird question to ask. "Everything...and nothing." It's a stupid answer but it's true.

Quill doesn't like it. "There's something. I can tell. Your knuckles are bleeding."

Sure enough. I look down at my hands to find the parched skin cracked and bleeding. Quill pivots to stand directly in front of me. His shoulders are level with my eyes and I have to tilt my head to see his face. "It's okay, Sage. You can tell me. I won't judge you or anyone, I promise."

Del rises from the table and comes to stand next to him. "It's about the noise you heard. Isn't it?"

My throat works furiously as my brain scrambles for words.

"It could have been me," I whisper. "It...it was right above me. In the vents. I was alone and vulnerable. I...why didn't it kill me?"

"I don't know. We don't even know if whatever you heard is the thing that killed O'Connell."

How could it not be? "Maybe, but...what if it is?"

"I already told you, nothing that big could -"

"Sage!"

My least favorite voice cuts rudely into our conversation. I close my eyes, fighting the urge to snap at Zale as he strides up to me. I open them to find his handsome face wrought with fear. "Terribly sorry, but I need to speak with you right away. Erm...feel free to tag along, Quill. You too, Dale."

Del glares at him but says nothing.

"Zale, I'm not sure if you've noticed, but now isn't really a good time." With Del's wounded shoulder, Quill's vicelike grip on my upper arm, and the dead body behind the curtain, I would have thought this was obvious. Then again, Zale has never been good at reading the room.

"I'm not sure you've noticed, Sage, but apparently I've been...promoted."

"Congrats," I say drily.

"As I am now first in command..." He allows the words to sink in for a few seconds before continuing in quavering voice, "...it would be best for you to do as I say."

I stare at him in disbelief. "Is that...an order?"

"What?"

"You're in charge now. You said it yourself. So did Dr. Barnett. If you're going to take on the role of commander you'll need to learn how to give orders properly."

Zale's left eye twitches. His upper lip is slick with a thin sheen of sweat. He wipes at it with his sleeve and sniffs heavily. "I didn't ask for this," he moans, rubbing his forehead. "I mean, what the hell am I supposed to do? Yesterday I was a popular, roguishly handsome flight lieutenant with incredible talent, and now I have to lay down the law and...give orders and...do stuff."

It's like watching a toddler on the verge of a tantrum. His forehead is wrinkled in distress, his lower lip wet and quivering. He wrings his hands together nervously and I'm tempted to say, "Well, good luck," and leave the room.

It's what I would have done a week ago, back when we still had twelve people on our crew. Now our crew is shattered and we're ten very scared, mistrustful misfits on a giant hunk of metal floating through space, eons away from all communication. Dr. Barnett was right - I may not be able to stand the guy, but I have to cooperate with Zale for the sake of the mission. Perhaps, even, for the sake of our lives.

I place a hand on his shoulder and shake him gently, ignoring the drip of snot dribbling from his nostril. "Pull yourself together, commander. If you're going to lead, you need to be strong, even if it's all pretend. No one's going to take you seriously if you start crying on us. We're in the middle of a crisis and what we need is a leader - someone strong, helpful, and smart. Someone with brains and brawn to help guide us through this. Is that you or not?"

The quiver in Zale's lip weakens. His jaw clenches. A determined look flickers across his sculpted face. He sniffs again and throws his shoulders back, looking like a fraction of his old pompous self. "I am all of those things."

"You are," I agree.

"And more," Quill adds. Zale offers him a curt nod.

"Right. Well, I think it's safe to say, given the pattern of the killings, those in charge are in the most danger. So I will accept the position under one condition: I am to be protected at all times, twenty-four-seven, even when I'm sleeping. As Commander Zale, my first official order will be for Dale and Osiris to abandon their current posts and act as my personal bodyguards."

I inhale sharply to respond and end up choking on my own spit. Eyes watering, I turn away to let Del handle things.

"Commander, my name is Del,' Del says tightly. "If you want to garner respect, I recommend learning the names of all of your crew before stepping up to accept the position. And your condition is neither fair nor feasible. We are all in equal danger here and thus need all the protection we can get. If you want my opinion, perhaps you should enact the buddy system. We pair up and continue life on the ship together. No one goes anywhere alone. And everyone should be trained in some sort of simple weapon for self-defense. What are your thoughts?"

"My thoughts are that you should be commander instead." Lenna's voice is thick from crying as she joins us, sniffling and wiping at her tear-stained face. "All due respect, lieutenant, I feel like Del has a stronger skill set when it comes to leading a group of people."

"My skills are self-defense, strength, and protection," Del replies, not unkindly. "Zale possesses the charisma and organization needed to lead a group of people like this. He is fully capable - he just needs to believe in himself and he'll do just fine."

Zale wilts, looking back and forth between Lenna and Del, apparently unable to decide if he believes in himself or not. He doesn't have long to think about it. A heavy fist pounds on the door and Lenna jumps. Dr. Barnett's head peeks around the corner of the privacy curtain as Osiris strides over to the door. "Whoever it is, don't let them in. Don't tell them anything yet. Commander Zale, I recommend you accompany Osiris and take the lead in the conversation."