CHAPTER SIX : GROWING SUBVERSION

  Krista looked down at herself; her boots shined a dull black in the pale light of the corridor. She was wearing her dark blue bodysuit and she paused to remove a piece of lint off of the green stripe that ran down her side. With a long finger she curled her hair behind her left ear and looked up at the door to the Shuttle Bay.

  Alyssa's plaque lit up next to it.

  "Bio-scans are clear sir. Besides a thin layer of cigar smoke, they are free of communicable contaminates."

  "Thank you Alyssa, open the doors."

  They hummed with life and swooshed open; standing behind it was Ramirez with her plasma rifle in one hand and a solid black case in the other. She held it up to give to her first officer.

  "Tapes of our ... little expedition."

  "Anything exciting you want to report?" Krista raised an eyebrow, "maybe you'd like to tell me why you found it necessary to knock Gryphon unconscious?"

  "He was trying to break protocol. It was the best, and only, way to keep us all safe."

  Krista just nodded.

  "Thanks for the emergency evac."

  "Report to Medical for an exam, Vanessa should be waiting for you."

  "Yes sir." She handed Krista both of her weapons. "Make sure Gus gets those and the others for cleaning and storage." Ramirez plodded her way down the hall.

  Gryphon came up next as he was holding on to his thigh and hobbling with a slight limp.

  "Commander." His eyebrows were set in a straight line over his cold eyes.

  Neither of them liked each other. Krista because she became increasingly suspicious of his incompetence; Gryphon just because he didn't like anyone he thought disliked him.

  "Medical." He turned his body while still looking at her as he followed Ramirez.

  "God! I love flyin'. This shit gives it to me everytime!"

  Krista turned her head and forced a smile; Heather was walking with their guest. He was a large man, most people would call him swarthy when mentioning him in their logs or diaries. His face was a mix of stubble and engine grease and looked like it deserved a cigarette to complete the stereotypical picture.

  "Darlin', I tell ya', never leave the ship that you love." Heather smiled as he talked. "Once it's gone, there's nothing left to live for."

  "Heather," she looked up at her commander, "welcome home. I'm sorry for our loss."

  "Yes sir, thank you sir."

  "Would you and our guest, Mr. ...?"

  "Fleetwood, Mac Fleetwood at your service." He looked at her appraisingly, thoroughly impressed by the way she filled out her 'uniform.'

  "Would you and Mr. Fleetwood please report to Medical. Mr. Fleetwood..."

  "Please, call me Mac."

  Krista stared at him for a fleeting moment.

  "Mr. Fleetwood, you are not required to, but I recommend you submit to a medical exam for your own safety."

  "How can I refuse the words of a lovely lady?"

  "Yes. Your sidearm please Heather."

  Heather handed her pistol over without comment.

  "Come on Mac, you can tell me more about the asteroid belt."

  "Oh yeah," they began to walk down the corridor together, "each of those rocks gives off it's own gravity field and it can play havoc with our instruments. It's because of that that I like to make supply runs between us and Earth."

  They turned a corner and were gone. Krista bent her arms at the elbows and walked towards the lift to drop off the heavy load of weapons and tapes.

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  The door to the lift opened and the Captain took in a quick breath. His steps echoed through the hallways and he marveled at how hollow they felt. It always seemed that way at times like these; the joy and wonder were masked, hidden and only the metallic clomping remained.

  He had reviewed the tapes of the mission. He saw Matthew again, felt the stirrings of recent pain; but he knew that his decisions weren't influenced by the loss. The large doors that marked the entrance to Medical loomed to one side. He paused in front of them and sighed. Before he could act, they opened and Robert was there giving his best effort at a smile.

  "I'm ... just heading back to the bridge sir."

  "Get to it soldier."

  Robert nodded and walked down the hall. Inside the Medical Bay Kim was spinning test tubes filled with bodily fluids in a small centrifuge. Gryphon was gripping his arm as he flexed it and tried to relax the pain from a removed needle. His leg was heavily bandaged and he kept his weight off of it. Heather was sitting on the diagnostic table and had her eyes closed as she submitted her body to Vanessa's tests. Ramirez was rubbing her temple as she was forced to listen to the, rather large, pilot of the rescuing cargo ship. She looked up.

  "Captain!"

  "Lieutenant."

  She smiled, looking down in mild embarrassment.

  "I don't know why, but I love to be called that."

  "Who's your friend?"

  "Sir, this is Mac Fleetwood, he pulled our asses out of the fire down there."

  "Then I owe him a debt of gratitude." The Captain held out his hand; it was small, but it wielded great power.

  "It's an honor to finally meet you. The boss talks about you all the time."

  "Does she?"

  Mac nodded happily.

  "And very highly I might add."

  Kim walked back over with a pad that she was taking notes on; she smirked as she poked the Captain in the ribs with her pen. He just gazed down as his face started to turn a light shade of red.

  "Mr. Fleetwood, can you please give me a moment with my crew."

  "Oh, sure. I'll just stand over here." He waddled off towards one of the tables in the corner and busied himself with looking at the various tools that were strewn about.

  "Thank you, I was getting kind of tired of listening to him drone on."

  "C'mon Ramirez, he's our guest."

  "I know, and I appreciate what he's done. But..."

  "Understood Lieutenant. Have you gotten a clean bill of health?"

  "Yeah, Vanessa said I'm okay. A scratch or two but nothing to be worried about."

  "And the energy pulse?"

  "She hasn't found any ill effects. She's still running some tests; but I'm free to go in the meantime."

  "Take all the time you'd like. Consider yourself off duty until you feel fit to return."

  "Thank you sir." Ramirez turned away, as if to walk out the Medical Bay, but she stopped. Her body began to tremble and the Captain wrapped his arms around her; she returned the hug slowly and began to cry. Everyone else watched in their own sorrows and nodded in tempered understanding. Gryphon just shook his head, Mac looked up at a piece of artwork that Kim had been fond enough of to hang where she worked. When they separated neither said anything, then Ramirez calmly left the room.

  The Captain turned to Gryphon and put a hand on his arm to lead him away to a secluded corner. Gryphon reluctantly followed with a bandaged leg. He looked at his commander and watched as he scanned the rest of the room and tugged on his small goatee.

  "What is it sir?" His impatience did not go unnoticed, but it did little to make what he had to say any easier.

  "Gryphon," the Captain clicked his tongue in his mouth as he tried to formulate his next words, "I've viewed the tapes of your mission." Gryphon didn't say anything; he just cocked his head. "What you did was reckless, and irresponsible."

  "What did I do?"

  "The core Gryphon. You knew Ramirez was right and yet you disengaged the safeties anyway. And now because of your carelessness, the three of you have been exposed to an unknown energy source and a fellow crew member is dead."

  "How is that my fault!?! We needed a core sample and that was the best way to get it! If I hadn't come back with one than you would still be busting my chops."

  The Captain stared at him with a cold expression, Gryphon huffed and folded his arms.

  "Besides, Matthew was the one who crashed the shuttle, why don't you go yell at him."

  "I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT!"

  Everyone in Medical went quiet, they stopped their tests and conversations and looked at the two. They knew that the Captain was slow to rile and hardly ever became angry or raised his voice. To witness such an occasion was rare. Mr. Fleetwood watched with particular interest as he fingered another cigar in his coat pocket.

  "Mr. Gryphon, you are hereby confined to quarters until further notice."

  "But I..."

  "Mr. Gryphon."

  Gryphon went quiet, his jawline visibly trembling.

  "You will be allowed to attend the services planned tomorrow morning, but you are not allowed to attend the reception. Is that clear?"

  Gryphon just stood clutching his fists in frustration, his eyes wavered back and forth in their sockets.

  "I said, is that clear?"

  "Yes ... sir."

  "You are dismissed Mr. Gryphon."

  Gryphon took one look around the room and felt the weight of everyone's stare before he limped out and down the hallway.

  Heather looked back up at Vanessa who whistled.

  "That was tense."

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