T-Plus 10

There was a silence that followed the two voices. Esther couldn’t tell if it was from shock, disbelief, incomprehension, or just sheer awkwardness, or perhaps it was a mixture of all of the above. Regardless, she kept her focus on anybody but the other Navigator, although she could feel his piercing stare prickling at her skin.

“You know each other?” Audrey asked.

The sound of her voice broke the ice, and it seemed as if everyone took a breath, only then realizing that they’d been holding it in the first place. And of course, once the ice broke, water would flow through.

“Of course we know each other,” Aaron said, a tone of ridicule in his voice. “Why wouldn’t we?” He paused, glancing at Audrey’s uniform, his eyes pausing on the two stars. “Oh, that’s why you don’t know her.”

For once, Audrey didn’t have anything to say. The girl took deep breaths, ready to huff something out, but couldn’t really find anything to argue about. In the end, she puffed her last huff and averted her gaze.

“Doctor, you know him?” Joey asked, leaning over to whisper into her ear. He looked at the two of them, looking at both of them in confusion. “Wait, who is he?”

She gave a nod. And she thought they had already established that much. The doctor turned her gaze back toward the other young man. It had been almost a decade, and although she herself had gain some wrinkles, he looked the same as he did in her memories.

“Rank Six Navigator, Aaron Ferguson, one of the few high ranking Navigators we have in the UEA,” Esther introduced. “Although, the last time I saw you, there were only four stars on you.”

“I’m glad you remember me,” Aaron said. “I heard that you hadn’t left the Station after the accident, but I didn’t expect to see you here again, especially in this mess.”

“It’s only during a mess like this that I would bother coming back around here,” Esther said, crossing her arms.

“Come on, Dr. Emerson, you make it sound as if you didn’t like it here,” Aaron complained, pouting.

Seeing a grown man who was likely a lot older than he looked pouting was not a sight she wanted to see, especially not from him of all people.

“Look, Aaron, stop your sappy monologue. Do you know what caused all of this?”

Esther waved at the door behind them, flicking her hands at what was beyond.

“Ahh, that’s Dr. Emerson all right, always cutting straight to the point,” Aaron sighed. “Loved you for that.”

The Navigator hopped onto one of the tables, swinging his legs as he sat. He beckoned for them to find seats around him.

“Might as well sit down. It’s going to be a long story.”

No one moved. Esther only stared at the sitting Navigator, waiting for him to speak from where she stood. Audrey stayed by her side, refusing to look at her fellow Navigator. Only Joey was standing between the two parties, looking at both of them before being the first to move.

He sat on the table across from Aaron, releasing his shoulders from the constraints of his backpack. The intern unclicked his flashlight from the shoulder strap, setting the light between him and the Navigator. He looked up from his seat, finally noticing that neither she nor Audrey had moved from their spots. She didn’t know what thought he had in his head when he patted the spot next to him for one of them, but she suspected maybe he didn’t have any.

With a sigh, she approached them and sat down, throwing at glare at the Navigator now sitting closer than she appreciated. Audrey, seeing that she was outnumbered, also took a seat beside Esther. The three of them waited for Aaron to speak first.

“Now where do I start,” Aaron began. He patted his chin in thought, his gaze resting on Joey’s blue technician uniform. “Oh, I guess there. Lad, do you know what we Navigators do?”

“You’re an important feature for our ships’ warp functions!” Joey replied with a huge grin.

Esther glanced at him, internally rolling her eyes. He was being cheeky for having only learned that yesterday. Well, at least he managed to remember it.

“Bingo. Guess it’s becoming common knowledge. With the help of some psionic enhancers, we Navigators can warp more than just ourselves through space. We can take giant spaceships with us, and whatever’s on it. Granted, there’s a limit to that. You know what it is?”

Joey shook his head. Just as Aaron was about to open his mouth to explain, Audrey beat him to it.

“Mental capacity. Even if you have a high enough aptitude for psionic powers, if you don’t have the mentality for it, it’s a wasted talent.”

“Correct,” Aaron said, smiling. He spread his hands out before him. “It’s why we can’t warp too often, but that’s where our equipment comes into play. The better they are, the more often we can warp, and the faster we’ll move through space. Sounds easy, right?”

“The study of warp technology is a science as delicate as the organ it messes with,” Esther said with a sigh. “What were you testing in the lab?”

“We were testing some new prototypes to see if we could extend the warp distance of our current equipment. The math and theory checked out, so they moved to the testing phase, but it kept failing. Still not sure why, actually. If anything, we caused disturbances in the space around the Station.”

“Ah, the stuff that Doctor Vaughn and Mr. Kuznetsov was talking about. And here Mr. Jiang and Mr. Hensley thought they were just making up excuses,” Joey exclaimed.

"So the ordinary scientists of the Station discovered it too, huh," the older Navigator muttered, rubbing his forehead. "We hadn't realized it had spread that far."

"Wait, why didn't I know about this?" Audrey asked.

Aaron shot her glance, a pitying look on his face. "You're a Rank Two. A spare at most."

The girl was shot back into silence. She averted her gaze from the conversation again, crossing her arms and turning her body away.

“We should’ve stopped there,” Aaron continued, his brows furrowing as he delved back into his memories. “Those were the first signs. But the scientists said we were getting closer, so we pushed on. But then... we did manage to succeed, that last time. We succedded, Doctor. We broke through the dimension of space and ripped through.”

“And the aliens came through,” Esther finished.

The Navigator nodded, pursing his lips together. He remained silent for a moment, his gaze pointed at the empty wall their light was focused on. Aaron took deep breaths, holding back something. His form shivered where he sat, and Esther couldn't tell if he was holding back sobs or anger. Maybe both. He spoke his next words with a shaky voice.

“It was... chaotic when the first ones came through. There were only a few of them at first. But then more came, and they started... eating... whoever they could get their feelers on. I don’t know who made it, Dr. Emerson. Emily was still in there. Ben and Justin too. Carlisle and Kasey. All the high rankers were there for this experiment. I-I just bolted. I was the closest to the door. I heard the screams and the shredding even when I warped to the other side. Those slime things shred, Doc. They shred you apart. I could hear it through the screams. I ran and hit the emergency evac button. There were aliens everywhere, Doc. Our experiment opened rips throughout ARCNAV. Found my way here. I’ve been stuck here since.”

“You haven’t been outside?”

Aaron shook his head, his face paling at the thought.

“I tried, once. There were still those things out there, so I just warped myself back in. Luckily, the engineers kept some supplies back here, otherwise I would’ve starved in the dark already.”

“There are bloodstains outside, those aren’t yours?” Esther asked.

At the mention of bloodstains, Aaron paled even further. Evidently, Navigators could turn white as a sheet. He shook his head and pressed his lips together in silent refusal. Whatever happened to the owner of the bloodstains outside would stay only in his memory.

The room fell into an uncomfortable silence again. Joey fidgeted in his seat, exchanging glances with Esther. She nodded and stood, her shoes hitting the ground with a loud thud. The two Navigators looked up from their thoughts.

“If you’ve been stuck in here, then it’s time to leave,” Esther decided. “There’s no telling when the aliens will find their way in here.”

“What do you mean?”

“You two haven’t been to the rest of the Station, so of course you wouldn’t know, but these slimes are evolutionary,” Esther explained. “I’m not sure how yet, but they’ve shown some rapid changes within a matter of days. I wouldn’t be surprised if they grow some legs or even a brain soon.”

Joey hopped off his perch, raring to go. Esther gave him a look, seeing right through him. The sooner they got out of here, the less his seniors would yell at him for going into a dangerous area. Audrey followed, making her way to the door without a word. Only Aaron looked at a loss as he watched their movements. As they gathered by the door, Esther turned back to him.

“Are you coming or not?”

He pointed at himself, finally realizing what they had bothered coming all this way for. With slow steps, he approached them. When he was halfway between his perch and where they waited, Joey stepped out and pulled him toward them.

“Run!”

Esther peered at where Joey’s flashlight pointed. From the vent in the corner of the room, aliens were pouring out through the grates. They seeped out into the room in their usual hoard. From the vent, the sound of gurgling signaled the presence of more still stuck behind their peers.

After Joey’s warning, they didn’t have to think twice. Audrey threw the doors open, and they charged out of the room right as the fastest ones sensed they were there. The rest of the aliens swiveled toward them like a chained domino effect. Soon, the entire roomful was chasing them down the hallway.

Esther could feel her legs giving out on her already. She was losing her ground, and even as she gave it her all, she was already several steps behind the others. The creaking of her legs’ joints were louder than the pounding of her heart. When she looked over her shoulder, she could see the aliens were closer to her than she was to the others. They had attracted the attention of more, especially the ones from the other hallways and rooms. Some even poured out of the vents connected to the hallways. Well, if this wasn’t the time to use it, then when was?

She fished the jars out of her coat pocket and tossed them over her shoulder, summoning whatever strength she had left to catch up with the others. The sound of breaking glass, followed by some shards spreading themselves across the ground, sounded out behind her. She didn’t bother looking behind her again, but she the disgusting sounds of moving aliens morphed into the eerie sound of glass shards rubbing up against the floor.

Up ahead, Joey’s jiggling light led the way forward, beaming straight for ARCNAV’s entrance. The two Navigators ran in the middle, suffering from exhaustion already, but they kept up with each other, refusing to lose to the other. Esther thought, this would’ve been a really nice scene... People, all from different departments and with different specialities, together and working on something harmoniously for once. Well, if running away from a common enemy could be considered such. The sound of crunching behind her and the occasional sliding of glass against the floor reminded her this wasn’t a happy scene out of a cinematic.

***