5. Karvex
Silence takes over the space between us as the seconds tick away. Despite the temptation to grab and take her right here, there's something just too unusual about the moment. Too familiar. Then there's the look on her face.
Alana's gray eyes pierce me with curiosity that has me shifting from the bed. If I didn"t know better, I'd say she wanted me there. But that wouldn't make sense. In no universe can you kidnap a woman, make her your slave, stalk her in her sleep, and expect her to make room for you in her bed.
The cross of her arms and the drop of her brow says she wants me gone, but she isn't screaming. She hasn't demanded me to leave. If anything, sitting together like this feels sort of natural. Too natural.
I can't stand this awkward, unfamiliar closeness. It's itching at me. The sensation pulls me to my feet. I stumble some words together on my way to the door. "Sleep, now. You. We have work in a few hours."
"Okay?" She pulls strands of her jet-black hair from her face. "You came in here to tell me to sleep?"
"Never mind what I do." My gruff voice cuts through the confusion on her face. "If I want to check on my human, I will. The last thing I need is a carcass stinking up the place because you die in your sleep."
Fear returns to her face, and she lies down again on the pillow. Her eyes cut into mine as I leave the room. She's searching for meaning she won"t find.
First, I have to make sense of it myself. She didn't hear the words coming from her lips while she slept. I did.
I was on my rounds for the night, checking the sensors on Bay 4, as they'd been faulty in the past few days when I heard her. Her voice rang in the still air, and one word said over and over again pulled me to her like a magnet. I came to her bed and found her tossing the word in a fevered dream. "Ishani. Ishani."
It was curious then, seeing the sweat on her brow, so I climbed in next to her to watch it unfold. Something about it felt almost haunting, and for a moment, I pictured myself with the glittering gold skin of the Ishani rather than my own coal-black complexion.
It's something I don"t have time for. Haunching through the shuttle, I make my way back to Bay 4. While clinking my tools away with the control panel on the bay doors, I'm pulled back into the vision of her resting on her pillow. At least she looks healthier now, though I'm beginning to wonder if humans have the endurance to live here on the shuttle for long.
"Hmph," I muttered to the faulty wiring. "Get a grip, Karvex." She's my human, nothing more. Her well-being is only a practical concern, and with that, I rattle back towards rationality. Something had gotten a hold of me, but it could be dealt with. Like this faulty wiring, I can simply ply it with centripetal tape, and the cracks will be gone, just like that.
As I put the wiring back into place, I feel a sense of relief that she did make it through the night. I shrug it away, chalking it up to her decent grasp of shuttle work and the fact that she's grown useful around here. That's all it is, I tell myself. Who wouldn"t want a useful crew member? Slave or not, she's part of the crew now.
She probably won't last long anyway, no matter how useful she's turned out to be. Humans are easily the most fragile species in the known universe. I could hardly get attached to something so flimsy as a human. Maybe it would be better to find the next available atmosphere and drop her there.
The click of the panel back into place feels like finality over the whole idea. Humans are a sickly liability. It's too much to think she can ever truly adjust to life with the Reapers.
I walk back to the control room, switching off the beeping sensor on Bay 4. The control panel blinks in front of me, waiting for a command. "LIP, give me a search, 20 clicks in any direction for the closest atmosphere acceptable for a human."
"Readout suggests Asteroid D4319 is habitable, 7 clicks. Shall I set a course?" the AI responds quickly. Easy as it would be to say the words and drop Alana, I can"t form the picture of it in my mind. I could see the asteroid, the rugged terrain, and the emptiness of space beyond. But to actually leave her there alone? I just can't see it.
"Karvex! Where's your head?" Renari is shouting, but I can"t gather what it"s about. "What is going on with Bay 4? I thought you fixed that panel. We're leaking air!" I look down and see the sensor is blinking. I reach down and flip the switch back on only to hear it buzzing like hell.
"I fixed it, but it must be broken somewhere else on the line."
"LIP, give me an assessment."
"Cargo Bay 4 shows systemic damage to the hull." I rush around the room, flipping sensors and adjusting controls in the hope that inspiration will strike. Finally, I realize, there's nothing for it but to try to fix it myself.
"Can we go in?" I ask Renari.
"No, the door's been compromised. I have to close compartment C and lock the rest of the shuttle down."
"The human is on C, you know that." A picture of ice-gray eyes and jet-black hair comes to mind.
"Who cares?" he protests, coming across the bridge to meet me face to face. The red in his eyes glows hot with rage.
"The gold is on C, too, idiot," I remind him. I don't expect the civilian lives to matter, but the gold ought to tug at something, if not his heart.
"Captain, we need orders," a crewmate wails from beyond him. I'm focusing on his eyes.
"Ever since you stole that human, you"ve been off your game." He glares, challenging me. It isn"t like him, but I don"t care. I'm not losing that compartment or that human.
"I need six minutes to lock down compartment C."
"Sirs, even if we lock down C, there's still a 76.3% chance of hull breakage," LIP responds automatically.
"LIP, aim for D4319."
"Aye aye," LIP responds. "Redirecting to asteroid D4319."
"Karvex, what the fuck!" Renari yells, his temper rising.
"Six minutes!" I demand, grasping my multitool on my way out. Alarms are blaring throughout the hatch as the sound of running boots fills my ears. In the heat, I want to rush to Alana, but if I don't lock down compartment C, I won't be able to do anything for her or anyone else.
I double-time it back to Bay 4 and see that the latch hanging off the hinge of the doors on Bay 4 has buckled under the weight, revealing a massive hole in the door. By the looks of it, I don"t have six minutes. I have six seconds.
On instinct, I rip the control panel door off of Bay 4 in a massive pull of strength and hurl it at the open gap. It blocks the hole with a hiss as the vacuum of space pulls at it from the other side. Grabbing my centripetal tape from my side, I grip it into place.
Within seconds the tape seals over the hole and the sensors stop beeping. It's a quick fix, but will it be enough? I'm back on my heels toward the bridge to see what else I can do when I hear a buzz.
"Karvex!" Renari hollers through my wrist comm. "You're little stunt just lost us time! LIP says the hull won't hold, and the controls aren't responding due to sensor overload. You've just cost us everything!"
A second later the main alarm starts again, signaling the entire ship to brace for impact. Reapers are running in every direction, looking to strap in wherever they think is least likely to take damage. I head back toward the bridge to see what I can do with the time we've got left.
Then I remember. Most of the crew will know the drill, and since I've aimed the ship at D4319, anyone strapped in tight enough should be able to withstand the g-force we're all about to endure. Anyone, that is, except Alana. She won"t know what to do, and no one else here will help her. If I don't get to her, she won"t make it.
Fuck it, I tell myself, turning my heels back in her direction. If she's going to die anyway, the least I can do is give her her best chance.