Vanessa yawned and rubbed her sore eyes. The body of Mac Fleetwood lay naked on the cold metal table before her and she pulled a white blanket over the legs and up to the bloated stomach. She looked at his blood-drained face and shook her head; the lower jaw had sunken back into the skull without the support of the dentures that she had removed while cleaning him for the autopsy and the whole was open in a never ending and silent wail. The stubble that lined his face was a black contrast to the pale and blotchy skin of his distended throat; something that hadn't changed much with the passing of his life.
The apron she wore was splattered with drying blood and had the mild scent of embalming fluid. Vanessa carefully took it off and removed the latex gloves that coated her fingers. She wiped the leftover powder on her palms over the white coat that tightly wrapped around her thin figure. The doors to Medical opened and the Captain walked in as she looked up.
"Hi there sir."
"All right Vanessa, what can you tell me?"
She shrugged her shoulders and sighed.
"He's dead."
"Is this what I pay you for?"
Vanessa smiled at him through her fatigue and he did the same in return.
"It's worth it."
She slumped onto the table, her hands and arms on either side of Fleetwood's head; the light impact sent a small wave through the thick layer of fat in the corpse.
"Unfortunately, I have no idea what happened this man."
"So how do we find out what killed him?"
"Well, he died of a brain hemorrhage."
"I thought you said," Vanessa scowled at him and he frowned, "I'm just going to stand over here and listen."
"As I was saying, while he died of a brain hemorrhage, but I can not find the cause of it. The autopsy showed fatty deposits in most of the arteries surrounding his heart and a number of the ones supplying his brain. But none of them were severe enough to cause this." She picked her clip board back up and began to go over her findings. "There was no sign of a blood clot or internal damage to the nervous tissue. His lungs and liver showed decay from smoking and alcohol; but again, not enough to substantiate either as a cause of his aneurysm. It's like his Ophthalmic Artery just decided to spontaneously burst."
The Captain sighed.
"Well, that's just ducky."
"I don't know; maybe there's something I missed."
"No, you're pretty thorough. I trust your expertise. I'm just not looking forward to telling his commander what happened."
"What do you mean."
"She's coming here tomorrow to claim the body and pick up his ship."
Vanessa raised an eyebrow and smiled.
"Is that all she's coming for?"
He shook his head.
"Is that all you guys think about?"
"I'm just jealous that's all. I'm still looking for that one person to share my life with."
"Gus always had his eye on you."
"Gus? That guy's a meatball. Besides, I've got a thing for Krista," she looked down to hide her saddening expression, "but I don't think her gate swings that way."
"There's no shame in trying."
"Tell that to David, he's still crushed that Robert chose Ramirez over him."
The Captain laughed and shrugged.
"Heterosexuals, what can you do with 'em?"
"Well, if you don't need anything else, I'm going to bed."
"That's fine, just have a copy of the autopsy report sent to my office."
"Psi?"
The AI plaque on the wall glowed a faint red and then began to lighten with Psi's expressionless face. He sat there without saying anything. She shifted the weight from one foot to the other in uneasiness.
"Uh, make copies of autopsy files Fleetwood One through Fleetwood Three and send them to the Captain's personal office."
"Authorization please."
Vanessa looked at the Captain puzzled.
"Uh, it's a simple transfer Psi."
"Authorization please."
"Uh, okay. Authorization Vanessa Pi Beta Phi."
"Authorization approved. Initiating transfer." Psi's face slowly faded away and Vanessa started chewing on her lip.
"That was freaky, you know Psi's been difficult all day today."
"He's probably just in one of his moods. Go to sleep and I'll see you in the morning."
"Good night Captain."
- - -
Brian yawned as he handed his report over to Krista. She reviewed it and kept nodding as the results kept getting better and better.
"The new engine checks out. We should still get both damaged ones replaced in port, but it will hold up perfectly for the time being."
"Good work Brian, go get some sleep."
"Gladly Commander. Oh, and have Alyssa clean up the Galley; somebody spilled something in there and the floor is all sticky," he yawned again and walked away up the corridor. Krista turned as she heard something strange rolling up behind her.
Her Captain was pushing a twenty-four speed mountain bike loaded with light camping gear. He wore a tight pair of bicycle shorts with a t-shirt tucked into it and a helmet under his arm. He waved a gloved hand at her as he passed.
"Captain, I thought I was the only one that wore spandex. Going somewhere?"
"I'm spending the night on the holodeck Krista. It's been a rough past couple of days and I want to get away for a while."
"Camping in the mountains," she nodded, "good call."
"You're in charge while I'm gone."
"How long are you going to be away?"
"Just till tomorrow afternoon. The colony Executor will be here by then to collect her officer and ship and..."
"You want to be here to greet her. I understand sir."
He frowned.
"But until then, I don't want to be disturbed. I don't care if the Earth explodes, I trust you to handle it." Krista smiled uncharacteristically.
"Have a good time."
"Thank you Commander."
- - -
Gryphon smiled to himself. He had felt so rotten that morning and now he couldn't remember when he had last felt this good. He was sitting on his bed and flipping through the last of the channels on his television. He was wearing a clean set of boxers, his old pair with a drying Hershey stain on one leg, and no shirt as he couldn't get his other one back on comfortably. He didn't care.
It was well after 1:00 in the morning, ship standard time; he talked with Heather for a little while over a snack after they had finished riding each other. Afterwards, she couldn't button up the top two buttons on her shorts and she eventually left disgusted with herself for eating so much. He smiled again. The television clicked off and he called for the lights to dim as he lay atop his blankets with a tired body. As he settled down on his soft mattress, he became increasingly aware of his manhood beginning to awaken once again.
Gryphon frowned, he was tired and had already masturbated a number of times that day, not to mention his romp in the Galley. Yet, it continued to swell; the firm head ballooned and squeezed against his leg and the already tight confines of his shorts. He rolled on to his back to relieve the pressure and it began to press upward against the material. It pulled the cotton taut against the back of his thighs and he clenched his eyes as he tried to ignore it. Blood pumped into it, the rush was incredible, and he began to feel something give. There was the light sound of something tearing and he opened his eyes just as he heard a pop. A plastic button scampered along the floor after being flung from the front of his boxers.
"Lights!" Gryphon sat up as the room began to brighten. Hovering before him, towering through the vent of his underwear, was his erect penis. It was obviously longer and thicker than it was before, gently bobbing with each beat of his anxious heart.
- - -
Vanessa set down her book and clicked off the small lamp by her bed. She felt herself quickly drifting off to a well-earned slumber as her pillow carressed her in it's softness. Her communicator beeped and her reddened eyes cracked open. She sighed.
"Yes?"
"Uh, doctor?"
"What is it love?"
"Um, I need to see you right away. It's kind of an emergency."
"It can't wait till morning?"
"No."
"What is it?"
"This is ... this is something you need to see for yourself."
Vanessa turned her lamp back on and sat up.
"All right, meet me in Medical in a few minutes."
"Thanks Vanessa."
"Sure thing kiddo," she shuffled into her nearby boots and tried to find her way to the door.
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