Seafarer, (Part Five)

Mcgivney gave him an evil grin, “Duly noted, Sir. I imagine we all hope nothing like that will happen.”

The three of them approached the Captain's cabin with a sense of regret. No one likes fucking up a Captain's career and this one was now dead in space. There was no way back, not after allowing all this shit to happen under his watch. It was going to be a rough day for him in every sense and then he was going to lose his ship.

The Avatar hesitated and then reached out to the Engineer, “Are you sure I’m needed? I may upset him more when he realises that I’m AI.”

Dave shook his head, “Sorry Seafarer, but you are the only reliable witness on the Ship. No one will dispute your testimony, no one can allege you were under the influence of drugs. Just stand back and watch, I’ll do the rest.”

They reached the door and the Second pressed the access button. Nothing. Mcgivney raised an eyebrow at the Avatar and she looked blankly at him for a moment.

“Oh. Right. I guess I don’t need to hide in Engineering anymore.” She looked at the door and it slid open. She activated her sensors, “He’s asleep, or stoned. I can’t tell from here. This might be easier than we thought.”

The room was as gloomy as ever, small lights flickering the only thing breaking up the shadows and making them dance. The Engineer stopped for a moment and thought, then he turned to the Second, “Just how nocturnal is the Captain? I mean does he have to live in the dark like this?”

The Second seemed to consider it, “I have never seen it like this. He used to keep the room at sixty percent of Galatic normal when he was working. It was only this dark when he was off duty and alone. I often joined him here for an informal chat and he never seemed bothered by the light.”

Mcgivney looked around at the room, remembering the state of the Medbay, “Seafarer, please put the lighting up to that level and let us see how bad things really are.”

The sudden increase in light was merciless in what it revealed. The Captain was crashed out in his chair, his cowl a filthy mess. The room was littered with debris. Old food, soiled cloth. Stains and spilt drinks covered the desk as forgotten paperwork formed piles in odd corners. The Second cursed in some unknown tongue that made the Avatar's eyes widen. “I have never seen the Captain live like this. Where are the cleaners?”

Mcgivney was confused, “You have cleaners? I’ve never seen them.”

The Second snapped, “I don’t. He pays a little extra to the Cargo crew to look after the cabin, just as an excuse to chat and make sure they are doing okay. I use Decom like a normal person”

The Engineer shrugged, “Well, I’ve been here a month and I’ve never met them. Anyway, let's do what needs to be done and find out the rest later. Ready?”

The two of them approached the unmoving Captain and Mcgivney looked at the Second. “I need you to hold his arm for me. This is going to feel really cold to him, so don’t be surprised if he flinches. The XCC says it might take an hour or more to work so they included a sedative but we need to keep him secure until it kicks in. Okay?”

The scaly arm of the Captain looked filthy, and the two men looked at each other. This was not going to be fun. As the spray hit his arm the Captain began to shudder and pull away but the Second simply reached across and locked him in place. It took another few moments before the med spray spluttered and died and they just held him down until the sedative kicked in.

Seafarer stepped forward, “His sleeping quarters are over there. Let me check them out before I call up a Decom in here.” She walked to a door that obligingly opened up for her and stepped in for a moment. She turned to the others, “You don’t need to see this. Give me a moment.” The door slid closed and audibly locked. She spoke for the benefit of the men, “Decontamination Level Three.”

In the room the bed was stripped and sterilised, the waste that had piled up around it was removed and the nanobots cleaned all the fabrics and surfaces. The air itself was displaced and filtered. Then the room was set back into pristine order and the bots retreated. The door slid open.

“You can bring him in here. I’ll strip him down and see to his hygiene.”

The Second looked like he was about to object until she raised a hand, “Despite appearances, I am in fact a three hundred thousand Kilotonne machine. Organics don’t bother me and I need to take a medical record, something neither of you can do. I will alert you when he wakes up. Please close the door when you leave and I will finish the Decom.”

The Engineer grinned. His little girl was growing up. He lifted the Captain easily and brought him to the bed and laid him down softly. He nodded to the Seafarer, “Thank you. I’ll be in the Medbay, I need to see what needs to be done.”

The Second was gone by the time he stepped out of the bedroom. Probably gone on that little walk. He decided to Decom his suit before he went to the Medbay, just in case he saw something he didn’t want to.

There was no sign of the Second or the slug when he reached the Medbay, this time carrying a full diagnostic rig. He began with the bed itself and struggled to restore its basic functions. After a couple of sweaty hours, he was tired of cursing out the Engineer that had stolen the parts and had been forced to admit to himself that the fucker had done an excellent job of raiding the tech from every damn machine. The only question he really had left was why the bastard wanted it. No point in selling it, the XCC would throw it at any species that wanted it for the PR if not some nobler purpose. In any case, he was fucked. There was no way he was going to get his meds ready in time. That was going to be a fun conversation.

His comms beeped with a message that the Captain was awake and he was needed back at the cabin so he packed up his tools and sealed the door. That slug was probably never coming back but he didn’t want any more drama today.

The Second was waiting for him at the door and simply nodded. It slid open to reveal a much cleaner and brighter room, the paperwork carefully filed and the surfaces gleaming. In some strange way that reassured them both. Then the Seafarer stepped out of the bedroom and spoke, “He would like to see you both. Please keep it short, I believe the drugs have done a lot more damage than we thought. He is quite seriously ill.”

The Captain looked old in the dim light. Without the filthy cowl, he just looked like a tired and ill Xeno. His scales were washed out and, from the heat in the room, he was weakened. His voice was stronger and sharper than the Engineer remembered. This must be his true voice as Captain.

“Thank you both for your intervention. I am sorry, Engineer Mcgivney but I have no memory of meeting you before. I have little memory of anything recently but the Ship assures me that you are responsible for our recovery. My Second officer, it is good to see you again. I am told you suffered a worse fate than I. I wish you a better recovery than I am having.” the voice weakened for a moment and then resumed, “The Seafarer has told me of the circumstances of our betrayal, although she can find no reason save an addiction. It makes no sense and I am too weak to pursue the question. I will leave that to you both. I have already resigned from my position and appointed the Engineer to get us home. My apologies, Second, but until you have the medical clearance I could not give you that position and it can not wait.”

His voice faded and the Seafarer stepped up and waved the door open, “That's it for now. I will keep my Avatar here in case it is required but he needs rest.”

The men left the cabin and stood in silence. Mcgivney turned to the Second, “Does your species drink alcohol? Because I really want a drink right now.”

The Second looked up at him, his jet black eyes reflecting the glare of the now bright lights, “Fuck yes. Do you have any of that human whiskey I hear so much about?”

They walked in thoughtful silence until they reached the Engineering department and made their way to the bar. The Engineer chose a Jameson from the shelf and poured two Irish measures for them and raised his glass. “To the Captain. May his recovery be swift.”

The Second raised his glass, “To the Captain. May we bring vengeance upon his enemies.”

They drank quickly and refilled their glasses.

“So what happened to the slug? I didn’t pass any dead bodies on my way to the Medbay and I can’t imagine he ran away.”

The Second snorted his whiskey, “No. Fucker was dead when I got to him. I don’t know if he ate his supply when he knew the hatchet was about to fall or the withdrawal killed him. I dragged his sorry corpse to an airlock and froze it, just in case anyone gives enough of a shit to bury him or ask questions. It took a lot of willpower not to just kick him into space.” He sipped at his drink and added, “My guess? Whoever put him on the ship knew he’d never be around to answer questions. Junkies like that are just a suicide waiting to happen.”

That made the Engineer take a thoughtful sip. His people were big on rehab, or he would have died years ago. This species had earned their reputation as hard-ass military, they obviously saw things differently. He ventured a question that he wasn’t sure was polite, “So you seem to have recovered pretty well. I’ve never met anyone from your world before, I have to say I’m impressed.”

The Second swiftly downed his drink and refilled his glass. “No, I haven’t. About half of me died and I‘m going to have to search the ship for them. I’m not really an ‘I’, I’m a ‘We’ if you can understand. A collective will to bind and live. What you land creatures call a family. I lost a lot of siblings to this stupid fucking plot. We shovel fucking shellfish around! Why the hell would you attack us?”

The Engineer put his hand on the clenched fist of the Second, “I’m sorry for your loss. I know answers won’t bring them back but that's what we all need right now. It was one of my people, one of our Engineers that has done this. It’s a betrayal of every ethic, every principle that we hold dear and humanity will crush him for it in the full view of his peers and people. We can be cruel and we will destroy him for this and then hand the broken remains over to you for judgement.”

The Second was about to snap a comment about the ever-helpful, ever-gentle humans until he looked up into the clear and angry eyes of a true predator and it stopped his words. He had been a soldier and he was still an officer and he could suddenly see that this human was probably the most dangerous creature he had ever met. Its body was now poised to attack, even its teeth seemed sharper. Then the cruel light faded from the human's eyes and it became what he would expect from a human. It was like watching an eclipse. Then he decided that it was impossible, just a side effect of his injuries. Probably.

He raised his glass with a shaking hand, “To justice for us all.” and drank again. He felt suddenly sober and had no wish to remain so.

About an hour later his left leg peeled itself off and fell asleep on the floor. He sniffed. It would wake up eventually and he had another leg.