Futuristic Star Ascension

[sugakookie]

Apollo grins. "You'll have to find me before you can punish me." He turns and walks away from the small group, disappearing around the corner of a hallway.

 

[Dragongal]

Adira rolled her eyes, but in the end she let him walk away and turned to face Doc. "Well,notify me wheen he wakes, I guess." To Max she said, "You're feeling better, I assume?"

 

[sugakookie]

Max nods. "Lots. Thank you for taking care of me," Max says.

In another room, Mason is sleeping not so soundly. He stirs, then suddenly starts screaming with a wave of a night terror coming over him.

 

[Dragongal]

"It was her, not me," Adira said as she nodded to Doc. "Anyway, I'm gonna go to the bridge. I'll see you." With that she left.

In the hall, a young engineering girl heard screaming from visitors quarters. She was small, only about 5'4", her hair was long , straight and brown, and she had soft features. Unsure what to do, she knocked on the door to the room she had heard the screams fun.

 

[sugakookie]

Max looks to Doc and smiles gently. "Thank you." He says.

Mason is sweating and screaming, writhing in the bed with the sheets tangled around him.

 

[Dragongal]

"You're welcome," she said, then walked back into the medical bay.

Amala used her security card to override the lock on the door. For all she knew, someone was being murdered. The scene inside stopped her in her tracks, though. All she knew was that she shouldn't touch someone when they were like that, so she called, "Hey! It's okay, you're safe."

 

[sugakookie]

As soon as Mason hears the voice he gasps and sits up, scooting away from the source of the voice. "Don't!" Mason yells, eyes teary and red.

 

[Dragongal]

Amala held up her hands. "It's okay, I'm not gonna do anything, it's okay. I'm Amala, I'm in engineering. It's okay...."

 

[sugakookie]

Mason stares at the girl, then suddenly realizes the situation he's in and blushes. "Shit. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to... uh, I was disruptive, wasn't I?" Mason asks shyly. He tugs his covers so they aren't tangled around his legs anymore.

Max wanders near the medical bay, not having anything better to do and hoping he can see Doc again.

Epicot eats food in the silence of his solitary confinement. Wasn't anyone going to realize that he spoke their language and felt their feelings, too? It was only because he's half Tia that he's so secluded. The Captain... he should talk to her. He hasn't gotten to see her yet. When a worker comes to pick up his empty tray, Epicot says, "Excuse me, could I maybe get a chance to talk to your Captain?" He says this gently, calmly, so he doesn't alarm the person or sound like he has bad intentions.

 

[Dragongal]

Amala shrugged a little and stepped a bit closer. "I mean, you screamed, but you weren't disruptive. It's fine. Are you okay, though...?" Typically people didn't snap out of episodes like that that quickly.

One of the nurses sees him and smiles. "Are you looking for Doctor Jones?"

Adira got the message moments later. She had half forgotten about Epicot, with the recent ruckus. Immediately when she got to his cell, she began, "I'm terribly sorry we couldn't speak sooner, I realize this was sudden and all."

 

[sugakookie]

"I, I'll be fine... thank you," Mason says, not really sure what to say but not wanting to be alone either. "What's your name..?" Mason asks.

Max looks at the nurse. "Y-yes. Well, I mean, no, I'm just kind of waiting until she has some free time," Max says. He felt stupid. Why was he trying to see someone that he doesn't even know? She didn't seem super fond of him, either, but he still wanted to see her.

Epicot immediately stands when she comes in. "It's okay. I just wanted to ask, though, do my leaders know I'm in here? Why am I in here?" He knew the reason why, but he didn't know why they haven't even given him a chance. They didn't even know that he was not dangerous. He hated the Tia as much as everyone else.

 

[Dragongal]

"Amalie." It seemed like he didn't want her to just leave, so she asked, "What's yours?"

"I'll just see if she's free," the nurse said. She poked her head into Doc's office and said, "Doctor Jones...? Chrice...? DOC!" The final call received a response of, "WOMAN, WHAT DO YOU WANT?!" and the nurse politely replied, "If you're not busy, Max would like to see you." There was some words from Doc that were lost, then she walked out of her office. Immediately she looked to Max. "What's up?"

Adira sighed and walked over to his bed to sit down. "Be at ease, have a seat." This was going to be hard for her to explain. "When we discovered what you were... well, you were one of the later people that we woke. From the sentiments we were, well, rather vehemently told by the rest of your people so far about the Tia, we thought it would be safest for you to put you here for the moment."

 

[sugakookie]

"I'm Mason," He says, bringing his sheets up to cover his shoulders. "I'm one of the leaders of Capath. Well, of the people, at least." Mason wipes the drying tears off his face with his sheets. His nightmare didn't have anything to do with his planet, but thinking about the destroyed home made him feel sick.

Max stares at her, surprised. He didn't think he'd have to directly talk to her. "I just.. was wondering if you.. will have a break? Maybe we could eat together." Why was he so pathetic all of a sudden?

"But I'm part human, too. And I've lived with my people for years. Isn't it a bit unfair of me to be stuck here?" Epicot asks as he sits down. "I'd like to prove that I'm not dangerous. I might even be helpful to you."

There are thuds heard near the door to outside. Thuds like gunshots. Apparently the Tia they killed earlier wasn't the only one attacking the human they saved. Now they were attacking Adira's ship.

 

[Dragongal]

Amalie had heard all about the Capath tragedy. "Oh, I'm sorry for what happened." After a second of looking around, she found a box of tissues and brought it over for him.

Doc raised an eyebrow at his question, then shrugged. "I typically have someone bring my lunch for me, but sure." She didn't think of it as anything past getting lunch, and perhaps he was scared of eating alone.

"It's not you we're scared of, Epicot. The concern is that one of your people will lash out at you and kill you. I believe that you're not dangerous." Adira spoke slowly and gently to him. At the sound of gunshots, though, Adira got up and opened her communicator to tell the defense master, "Give them one warning to knock it off, if they attack after that, hit them with a quick missile barrage." If it was a Tia ship, it wouldn't last. "Oh, and grab any escape pods you see, if you hit them."

 

[sugakookie]

"Thank you," Mason says. He takes the box and uses it to wipe his eyes and blow his nose. "I probably look like a shitty leader, don't I? Crying like a baby," Mason chuckles then his expression turns grim.

"Okay," Max says, smiling and feeling a bit relieved. He's not sure what to do after that, though.

The defense master nods and runs to do his work. Epicot furrows his eyebrows. "What's going on?" He asks.

 

[Dragongal]

"No. It's good that you can cry. If everything that happened didn't upset you, I'd say then you're a shitty leader." Amalie slowly sat down on the edge of the bed.

Doc started walking away, then glanced back at him and said, "Cmon, I'm on break jow, if you want food."

"We've been shot. Don't worry, though, it takes more than a little thing like that to damage our ship. But if my guess is right, the Tia are shooting at us. And if they don't stop, they're going to be blown to bits." Adira shrugged. The Tia had performed an act of war upon her. They weren't even in the neutral zone, they were in their proper territory.

 

[sugakookie]

"Yeah, except that's not why I started crying in my dream," Mason says. He toughens up and tries to force his tears to stop.

Max nods. "Alright. Let's go, then." They start walking to the food area together.

"Why do they do these things to innocent people?" Epicot says with a frown.

 

[Dragongal]

"Why did you, then?" Amalie put her hand over his and cocked his head to the side. She figured that maybe if he could feel that someone else was really there, he'd be okay.

Doc checked her tablet, then put it back in her pocket. "Oh hey, we've been hit. They won't last long."

"The Tia are a very violent people and always have been. Records show that ages on ages ago they made a deal with some planet and they were betrayed and now they don't make treaties with anyone, ever." Adira shrugged. "The treaty with them is rocky, and it only promises that they not attack us and we won't attack them."

 

[sugakookie]

Mason stares at her for a bit, then shakes his head and puts on a poker face. "It doesn't matter."

"What? Like, attacked?" Max asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Well they just broke their promise, didn't they?" Epicot says.

 

[Dragongal]

"I think it does." Amalie said softly. "It's okay, you can tell me, I'll keep it a secret."

Doc nodded. "Yeah. Don't worry, Adira designed this ship. It can take more than a few shots. And if it's a Tia ship, it's outgunned."

Adira nodded. "If it is the Tia, then yes they did. And the potential fallout of their decision scares me."

 

[sugakookie]

Mason is quiet for a long time before speaking. "When I was younger, I was abused. Raped. Beat. I still have nightmares about it," Mason says grimly. "I know I should grow up and forget about it, but I just... I can't. I don't know if I'll ever be able to."

Max nods. "I never did understand why people felt the need to attack others," he says simply. That's why it's his twin in charge of the military and not him.

Epicot takes a breath and looks away from Adira. "Maybe it would be a good idea to just flee," he says.

 

[Dragongal]

Amalie stayed quiet for a few moments, then moved closer and hugged him around his neck. "You oughtn't expect that of yourself. It's not that easy."

"I can. It's easier for me, though, when I want to attack anyone I can just sedate them passive-aggressively." A loud beeping sound came from her pocket and she pulled out her communicator. "Seems our newest guest woke, and rather violently. I best go check on him."

Miles woke up in a complete panic. The last thing he remembered was hearing the medical transport he'd been on ripped apart by a missile. After the air locks did their job, the bombs on board finished off everyone but himself, who'd gotten shrapnel through his left leg. He was supposed to have been their security guard - their only guard. How had he failed so miserably?

"Too late. They started the fight, the damage is logged. Even if we fled, they chose to start this." Adira shrugged. War was a normal thing for her.

 

[sugakookie]

Mason freezes for a moment then hugs Amalie back. He feels himself relax as his heart simultaneously speeds up. "Thank you," he says quietly.

Max chuckles at Doc's comment. His smile falters when she mentions the guest. "Okay. Good luck," Max says, and stops walking when Doc turns around to go back.

Epicot grips the mattress underneath him. "I wish we'd just blow up their planet already," he says.

 

[Dragongal]

"Hush, there's no need to thank me. Just relax." Amalie held the hug and slowly brushed her fingers through his hair.

Miles was somewhat calmed by the time Doc got to him. He wasn't throwing punches anymore, but he wasnt relaxed. "Well good morning. Can you tell me your name?" Doc already knew it was Lieutenant Miles Moss, but she needed to know how oriented Miles was.

Adira stared at him for a few seconds, then said, "You're talking about mass genocide. We need to succeed through education, not battle. It's just difficult to get them to allow us to even try."

 

[sugakookie]

Mason does as he's told and tries to steady his breathing and calm down. He gets so calm, in fact, that he starts dozing off a little. Why am I so comfortable with this stranger?

Miles stares at the doctor. "Lieutenant Miles Moss." He says in a guarded, careful voice. He still wasn't completely convinced he was safe.

Epicot chuckles bitterly. "So mass genocide in our planet's case was allowable, but we can't attack them with the same force?"