Xenos

iii. Discovery: June 27, 2126

Drake finally got his leg free of the suit. They hung them up in the storage unit, the helmets fitting neatly in the box at the bottom, before Drake pressed the button to start the cleaning process. A pale blue light emanated from the boxes as they began to clean the suits.

They left the equipment room and headed into the main part of the ship. A long and narrow hallway, with branches heading to other storage areas and the brig, it was the only way to get to the bridge. The hall was devoid of windows, which made it even more claustrophobic. They had to go through the center of the ship to get to the bridge, the halls leading them past all of the other main areas of the Ekhi. The ship was built in the shape of a cross, with the left and right wings housing all of the facilities that they would want or need while in space. Cin favored the library, where she passed the time studying rudimentary levels of languages that she'd picked up by listening to other members of the ESC forces.

People came from all over to train at the three main facilities on Earth, and while English was a requirement to work together, huge portions of ESC members spoke Mandarin and French, as well as others that weren't as familiar to her. People that spoke the same language tended to stick to what was familiar to them, finding pieces of home in shared languages and customs. Cin's curiosity about other places and people meant that she had picked up fragments of various languages throughout the years. She wanted to keep her mind open to other things, constantly changing her perspective. Besides, the ESC had been founded with the intention to have space travel and discoveries span across countries. She figured she was internationalizing that goal.

They passed the recreation room, where exercise equipment behind a glass dividing wall mingled with video entertainment, different movies and music queued up in lists by genre. The showers were nestled in the corner near the treadmill and weights, and Cin thought longingly of stepping into one. She always felt gross after a spacewalk, like she could feel the salt from her sweat sitting on her skin like a thin layer of unwanted clothing. There wasn't enough water to use for frivolous showers, however, and her thermal sweatshirt would warm her soon enough. It helped that they'd traded bare feet for the protection of the shoes they wore on the ship, thin pieces of cold-resistant fabric that were closer to thick socks than actual shoes.

Cin ignored her reflection in the windows as they passed through the tunnel to the bridge, not wanting the glimpse of herself in the blackness beyond. The star tunnel, as it had been christened due to the massive windows that reached from the floor to the ceiling, was near the bottom of her places to be on the ship list.

When they reached the bridge it was empty of all crew due to the designated downtime. A full crew wasn't necessary when they were in the cruising portion of their mission. The bridge was spread across the entire front of the Ekhi, making it the largest room on the ship. The wide windows allowed for an impressive view of Xenos and the stars that were studded in the black. A long, oval shaped table took up the center of the room, magnetized chairs gathered around it like baby ducks. This table and the area around it functioned as both the meeting and dining area. Smaller storage units were built into the walls, their drawers holding packets and cans of dehydrated food waiting to be reconstituted as well as thin packets full of beverages like tea, coffee, and juices. Water was kept on tap, useful for preparing the dehydrated food or merely for drinking. They didn't have a microwave, stove, or refrigerator, but they did have separate drawers that provided the same function. It wasn't luxurious to heat your food in a drawer, but they were able to make do. Their food engineers did their best to create a flavorful variety of food.

"Hey, Galen!" Drake yelled, his voice echoing across the space.

Galen ducked his head out from the pilot's cockpit, a small room off to the left of the bridge where the pilot and copilot sat when they weren't on a set course. Drake gestured aggressively toward the vid-screen, where details of their call were written across the top of the black screen in green letters. "Why the hell weren't you out here?" he demanded, crossing his arms. His brown eyes blazed with anger.

Galen only looked bemused. He folded himself into the room and straightened. At six feet seven, Galen was almost too huge for their craft. The bridge was one of the only places where he didn't have to duck on their ship. The ESC had made an exception regarding the height limit— limits in place more for the comfort of their crew than because of any regulations—when they discovered just how good of a pilot Galen was.

"We found something on the panel," Cin said, plopping down in one of the chairs and putting her feet up on the table. "I took pictures, but we wanted you to see it out there."

"Someone is supposed to be on the bridge when we go out on spacewalks," Drake cut in.

"There was someone," Galen said mildly.

"It doesn't count when you're not actually on the bridge," Drake retorted angrily.

"If you took pictures I'll be able to see what you saw."

"There needs to be someone on the bridge!"

"Drake, I'm sorry I wasn't here to take your call. I have other duties other than waiting around the bridge when people are on spacewalks."

"It's protocol," Drake said angrily, patches of red giving him a splotchy complexion.

Cin decided to step in before it came to blows. Tensions were understandably high in the limited space on the Ekhi, but it didn't need to be this bad. "You need to get someone to stay here next time someone is on a spacewalk. Especially when you step away."

"Yes, ma'am," Galen said, deferring to her with a nod.

Drake looked like he was about to go into an apoplectic fit.

"Drake is right," Cin said quickly, trying to stave off the explosion, shooting Galen a look of reproach. "It is protocol. And you shouldn't be flippant about it. It's our lives on the line."

Galen sighed. As Captain, he didn't have the luxury to be cavalier about things like this. "I formally apologize for any distress I have caused." He nodded to Drake and then swiveled back to nod at Cin again.

Drake crossed his arms, his mouth a tight line.

"What did you find?" Galen asked, reminding them of the reason they were on the walk in the first place. "You said there's pictures?"

"The pictures will be in the system; Drake has the substance." She motioned to Drake that he should show the vial to Galen. Drake scowled, and for a moment Cin thought that he wasn't going to show it to Galen. With an annoyed jerk he pulled it out of his pocket.

The black material sat at the bottom of the glass, looking unremarkable.

"This." Drake shook the vial in Galen's direction, dislodging the substance temporarily from the bottom before it resettled.

Galen took the container from Drake and looked at it, turning it over in his large hands. He looked back up at them. "You found it inside the panel?" he asked without waiting for confirmation. "How did it survive leaving Earth?"

"That's the curiosity," Drake answered tightly, his voice still threaded through with anger.

Galen peered closely at the substance, his eyes troubled as he shook it slightly. A small frown took up residence between his eyes as he hmmed thoughtfully. She wondered if it looked as unremarkable to him as it did to her, like rock or dirt. "Get Gray to check it?" he finally said, tossing the vial back to Drake, seemingly unconcerned with the fact that they had an alien substance on board. Drake frowned as he cradled it in his hands. Cin caught the gasp that rose in her throat, the fear that it could shatter rising in her. The vials they used were heavy-duty and nearly impossible to break without the help of some heavy machinery, but she didn't feel the need to flaunt that fact.

Drake paused a moment, his hand tight around the glass vial. Cin thought that he was going to refuse to go for a moment. "Yes, Captain," he said after heaving a long suffering sigh. With one last look to Cin, he turned and left the bridge.