T-Plus 9

Waking up was a weird sensation. There was that awareness when waking up, hazy and confused at first. Was it still a dream or not? Then the realization that it wasn't, followed by the opening of eyes to see a dim room, sometimes with light shining in from the nearby opening. Sometimes it was pitch black, and the sound of light snoring filled the ears. Some days, waking up happened in a panic; some days, it happened in a calm, orderly manner; other days, everything still felt like a dream after even after slapping cheeks and pinching arms. Oliver had one of those mornings. Although, for him, waking up any morning sucked. That didn't change even during an alien invasion.

He woke up in a daze, his head fuzzy and his eyes still heavy from sleep. It took rapid blinking and a few shakes of his head to jog his brain. He stretched his spine. The popping jumpstarted more of his awareness. Blinking a few more times, he squinted around him. In the cot beside him, he could hear the soft sound of sleep. A glance revealed the back of Emerson's blonde head. The rest of her was hidden under the thickest blanket they could find. The other cots were empty, save for haphazardly tossed blankets and jackets. The light that brightened the room congregated in the corner around Daniel. He was leaning against the supply tables, sipping on a mug of coffee as he took stock of their current inventory. With the creaking of Oliver's cot, the other technician gave a nod of greeting.

Oliver swung his legs over the edge of his cot, almost missing the twinge of pain he had gotten used to. Yesterday was the last day for those pesky bandages and doses of antibiotics. The doctor had finally given him the clear to move out of the vicinity of their base last night. He stood, his knees popping from unuse. Another stretch of his spine and twisting of his waist gave another satisfying crunch of bone joints.

"That's more like it."

"Good to see you up," Daniel laughed, beckoning him with a second mug of coffee. "Here."

The locker room floor was freezing beneath his feet. He slipped on socks and boots, tightening the laces around his ankles before accepting Daniel's offer with a nod of thanks. The coffee was steaming still, just the right temperature above lukewarm. It was bitter, without an ounce in cream. It wasn't quite his preference, but it was still drinkable, and most important of all, it was warm and woke the rest of his lagging brain out of the vestiges of dreamland. He didn't know how Emerson and Soup could drink straight black with a straight face though. Apparently, anything that dimmed the effects didn't work for them.

Daniel had returned to sorting out the table of supplies. Like when he first arrived, there was an assortment of necessities, ranging from snacks, batteries, to medicines. While he was ordered to stay in bed, the others had widened their search radius and gathered more to add to their stockpile. They had grabbed what he left from the clinic, adding some supplies they filched from some of the lockers and nearby supply closet. Batteries and lighting equipment were everywhere in the Engineering Bay, and their exclusive storage was just down the main corridor. The three technicians had found some of the Engineering Bay's spares, from lights to helmets and vests, and stored it under the table for excursions down the outside corridor. Anything that didn't fit was stored in the other locker room across the hall. Their only main source of concern was food, especially their dwindling supply of coffee.

"We're going to need to go further soon," Daniel muttered.

Oliver nodded, eyeing the table. There was no choice. Sharing a coffee pot between four people, two with addictions, was difficult. Combined with a growing glutton, their food stash had come down to just enough packs of MREs and souvenir snacks from Triton to last until tomorrow. At least the water had remained running, and they had saved the few water bottles they had for emergency uses.

"Where do you think we should head?"

His fellow technician ran his fingers through his hair, roughing up the blacks strands. Daniel stared at the wall as he thought. Oliver already knew the man was viewing a map only he could see. Oliver might've been around since the beginning of this Station, but Daniel had been one of the few selected to help draft the blueprints before orders to recruit technicians had been sent out.

"We'd need keys to access any of the other labs up here," Daniel answered after a long train of thought. "We'll have to go down to the second floor where we actually keep food."

"Let's hope everything hasn't already rotted."

"Probably has," the other technician chuckled. "What I wouldn't do for some veggies, man."

"Or some meat," Oliver mourned. Even vat grown chicken was sounding nice right now. The thought sparked another. "Don't they keep canned food in the pantry?"

"They should, in case of a power... outage," Daniel replied, already reaching under the table for the empty backpacks along with a bit of heavier gear."I'll get the packs ready then."

"I'll go tell the other two."

Daniel waved him away as he began packing batteries. Oliver grabbed his dirty jacket, which was what he was using as a makeshift blanket since the only other two blankets had gone to Soup and Joey. Grabbing the flashlight beside his cot, he squeezed through the tangle of lockers out into the hallway. There were hanging lanterns installed above each entrance. Even without the use of flashlights, they could navigate this area.

He stepped toward the next room, the hangar. The locker room remained their core base, but Soup had sequestered the hangar as his equipment room. At least his experiments were more contained than Toast's. Even if he did do something dangerous, most of the flammable items were far from the entrance, stuck in a massive pile and pinned by drones. They had managed to clear the space out by stacking the lighter boxes against what they couldn't move. Even now, they hadn't completely sorted out the mess. He flicked on the flashlight only to have to turn it off again. The area near the entrance of the hangar was lit up with their extra battery-powered lanterns, illuminating Soup and Joey's dark figures hunched over a table.

"What are you two doing?"

Both of them jerked up, their heads almost colliding in cartoon fashion. Joey turned around first, his face full of surprise and indignation.

"Sir! You could've warned us!"

Oliver waved his protest away, approaching the table. There were a few old solar panels, the spares or old ones they kept in case the ones attached to the Station needed repairs, sprawled out with their innards spread around them. Soup had taken them apart to inspect the mechanism behind it. He said knowledge was power, but Oliver suspected the man was just bored.

"Oh, Hensley, you're awake," Soup said, looking up from his operation.

The engineer set his tweezers down, setting the piece he was examining amongst its brethren. Several lamps were placed at strategic angles to light up his workspace while remaining out of his, and especially Joey's, reach. This was the carcass of the third solar panel Oliver had seen the man take apart and put back together, and there were still several more by the wall he hadn't gotten to yet.

"Yeah, we're running out of food, so Daniel and I were thinking of expediting down to the second floor."

"Oh! Oh! Are we finally getting some meat!" Joey asked, hopping up and down.

The intern was tasked with observing Soup's work with the reason of it would help his technical understanding and foster his appreciation of the inner workings of the machines he would be working with when they finally got out of this situation. Which translated to: stay away from the food. At Joey's cheering, the other two men glanced at the youth. They both decided to turn their bodies, putting the hyped up intern out of their sight.

"When are we leaving?"

"Once we're all ready. Joey, you have to stay and hold the base."

The hyper intern deflated, collapsing onto his knees and reaching out towards the ceiling in despair. Oliver automatically tuned out the boy's monologue. As he played out his own drama, Soup began putting his tools away. He sorted out everything into meat piles, setting them down in a quick and meticulous fashion. Everything was laid out with the items frequently used within easy reach. It was a wonder why Lab 5C was a royal mess despite this man existing. Or perhaps that was a testament to how much Toast was a mad scientist.

Ignoring Joey's continuing antics, they squeezed back into their main base. Emerson was up, although she was still sitting in her cot. A cup of coffee, probably the last any of them would have until they raided the Station's pantry, was in her hands. She glanced up at them, raised an eyebrow at the intern, and rolled her eyes. She didn't look like she was moving anywhere for awhile.

"When you guys are out, could you keep an eye out for a cane or a wheelchair?" Emerson asked as they situated themselves on the cold benches by the entrance.

Oliver nodded, adding it to the tally of what to look out for. Food was the top priority, obviously. Second was more water bottles, just in case. Anything after that was mostly items of comfort. Daniel had already packed the necessities for their trip out: a water bottle for each of them, two sets of spare batteries, a blowtorch, and several bottles of spray paint or colored tape. Nothing made better exploration markers than paint. Well, it was really because it was the most abundant item they could find in the hangar and some of the surrounding supply closets. Oliver didn't even realize they had this many stocked until they walked into a room filled with only bottles and cans of paint. They used it to mark off places they had already looted, alien infested hallways, or places they could come back for more supplies.

"What else do you want us to look for?" Daniel asked, shouldering his backpack.

"Blankets," Emerson added. "My leg gets cold at night."

"Meat!" Joey shouted, raising his hand. "I want meat! My stomach can't go on without it!"

Daniel nodded and chuckled, checking the straps over his shoulders. Soup and Oliver had equipped theirs as well. Oliver adjusted his straps, glad to have the familiar weight on him again. He had missed how it bit into his shoulders, the presence on his back, and especially being able to throw things into it. He was being useful again. Staring at the others busying themselves all day for so long was a mood killer. He was left alone too long in his own thoughts, worrying instead of acting.

Soup and Daniel were taking turns reminding Joey what responsibilities he had while they were gone. Oliver didn't know why they were so worried. With Emerson staying here, she wouldn't let him slack or run off. Even if he did, he was smart enough to take care of himself and come back. They had gotten rid of any aliens in the nearby area, so Joey and Emerson were fine even if they went to look for supplies for themselves nearby. Probably.

"Remember to turn the lights off when you go to bed!" Daniel warned.

"Check the markers every day," Soup added. "And don't go into the hangar by yourself!"

"I know! Sheesh!" Joey complained, waving them away. "Hurry up! Come back with food!"

The intern walked them out to the corridor, paying Soup and Daniel back by nagging them to bring back as much food as possible. Oliver rolled his eyes. Was he this annoying at that age? He couldn't have been, right? Making sure Joey wasn't following them, Oliver led the way to the hole that dropped down to the second floor.