I was on the floor with my hands over my ears, when Mack wrapped himself around me, and Tens kicked her out of my head. It still took him a while to turn the memory off, or for me to register Mack’s presence.
“You’re not going anywhere,” he said. “Not out an airlock, and not off on your own. Not until we fix this.”
I didn’t argue, and I didn’t raise my head. I just leant into his warmth, glad he was hiding my tears from anyone else using the corridor, and still feeling the echo of terror running through me. I was grateful for that... and then I heard him sniff, and felt his lips close to my ear.
“And you really need a shower,” he said, “because you reek.”
I wanted to tell him that he didn’t smell so good himself, but I realized I would be lying, because... and I cut that thought off with a firmness born of desperation. Tens snickered, but Mack just unwrapped himself from around me, and stood up. I had just started to straighten, when his hand tapped me on the shoulder, knocking me off balance, before grabbing my arm to haul me to my feet and steady me.
Honestly! He could have just asked.
“And you’d have said no,” he told me, and I had to agree. I really would have said no—and then I’d have gotten to my feet under my own steam, and done my best to get myself to my quarters, before the almost overwhelming sense of fear caught up with me.
“I’m going to murder Delight,” Mack said, but Tens intervened.
“Not yet,” he said, “but I think she’s earned an indefinite Time Out.”
“What do you have in mind?”
Tens directed our attention to our implants, and the security feed showing Delight’s room.
“I thought you were making a suggestion,” Mack said, as the feed highlighted a colorless gas rolling down around her from the vents.
Tens shrugged. He sounded completely unrepentant as he replied.
“Nope. Just hoping for forgiveness. She’s going into stasis as soon as it takes effect.”
“What do you mean?’ Mack wanted to know, and I was just as confused as he was. We could both see Delight lying motionless on the floor of her room.
Tens didn’t say anything, just showed us her vitals, including the brain activity that revealed Delight was very much awake. Well, dayum, I thought. The door to her quarters opened, and three, suited figures entered.
Delight bounced to her feet, and the figures ducked, letting a fourth figure fire over their heads and into Delight’s torso. I held my breath as Delight folded mid-leap, and hit the deck much harder than any conscious person should.
“Approach with caution.” Even over the security feeds, Doc’s voice was unmistakable, but I could see from the scan that Delight’s brain was heading for oblivion. No doubt Doc could see it, too; he just wasn’t taking any chances. Delight wasn’t an Odyssey legend for nothing.
This time, though, she was proving to be only human. I watched as Doc and his team lugged her down to the medical center and dumped her in a quarantine pod. When he’d arranged her carefully inside and sealed the pod, tight, Doc turned and looked up at the camera.
“You want her in stasis, or conscious enough to realize how much trouble she’s in.”
I tensed, but Mack was already aware.
“Put her into stasis,” he said. “I’m not playing around here. I don’t want her thinking up any creative bastardry and trying to implement it through the pod’s interface. I need her to not be a complication until the next part of the mission is over.”
22—After Shock
With Delight tucked securely away, I headed to my quarters, Mack hovering at my side until I reached the door. To my surprise, he didn’t just barge in, like he normally did, but stopped and propped himself on the doorframe. When I stopped and looked back at him, he asked, “Are you okay?”
Tens, standing behind him, had the same question written across his face.
“I’m fine,” I said. “When do you need me at the briefing?”
“Half an hour. Get something to eat on the way over.”
I was about to ask where, when Tens sent me the location—highlighted on a handy map.
“Thanks,” I said, and closed the door in their faces.
Honestly, you’d think I was breakable or something.
I was late to the meeting.
Very late.
Apparently, I am breakable.
I collapsed in the shower, and woke up back in the med bay, in bed.
Mack wasn’t very impressed with me, but Doc said flashbacks, especially those with sensory augments could do that. He also mentioned the san unit was a confined space—like the airlock, only smaller—and we were both idiots: me for going in there in the first place, him for not thinking of it, and Tens for not calling him when Delight hit me with the memory to start with. Okay, so the three of us were idiots. Whatever.
As far as Doc was concerned, we all had ‘shit for brains.’ Yeah. Thanks a lot, Doc.
“Don’t we have a briefing?” I asked, sitting up, and then hastily pulling the sheet around me—because I was dry, but I was still as naked as I had been when I’d stepped under the water.
“You missed the briefing.” Mack sounded annoyed.
“So, you’re going without me?” I asked, and Mack smiled.
“Oh, no,” he said. “You’re still going. You just get to follow my lead.”
I frowned.
“Wouldn’t it be better if I had a briefing?”
Mack backed up a step, and cocked his head.
“Oh, I don’t know. I think it would be more interesting to see you go in blind.”
I swung my feet over the edge of the bed.
“In that case,” I said, trying to maintain my dignity, as I adjusted the sheet so it wouldn’t fall off, “I’d better go and get changed.”
Mack reached out to grab me, and I twisted under his hand and skipped out
