Saturn's Rings ~ f. millstone

Insomnia and Inebriation

Scylla was quiet at night. Quieter than normal. And that fact left Willow feeling uneasy.

The captain needed to take a detour to the asteroid after a short time on Monarch. Max had found a hermit who lived by the abandoned mining post and may be able to give him some of the answers he sought. While she was there, she needed to check on the medical mechanicals for the Groundbreaker and keep an eye out for that science weapon she learned about. They had just wrapped up a job for Felix's old "friend," which went about as well as Willow expected it to go. Just imagining the look in Felix's eyes when he realized Harlow only wanted him as a soldier and not a friend made Willow want to go back to the base and let Clyde know he was missing out on a great man.

Her knee bounced restlessly as she sat on the edge of her bed, staring out the window in front of her. Soft, purple light filled her quarters. After a couple hours of tossing and turning, trying to fall asleep, she gave up. Every time she shut her eyes, she would imagine one of the thousands of things that could go wrong at that moment.

It had to have been the middle of the night when she kicked her feet over the side of her bed and tiptoed up to the kitchen. The crew's doors were all shut so Willow made sure to not make a sound as she snuck through the hallway. Just because she couldn't sleep didn't mean her team had to suffer with her.

She got herself a cup of water and sat down at her usual spot at the table. Max left one of his books out, so she slid it towards her and flipped it open. If anything was going to put her to sleep, it had to have been one of the vicar's texts.

She had gotten a few pages in when one of the crew doors opened and a half-asleep Felix wandered out. He walked towards the galley, yawning and rubbing his eyes, but froze for a moment upon seeing the captain. Willow had been avoiding him since the Harlow Incident because every time she looked in his eyes, she kept remembering the betrayal she could see in them a few days prior. Just as she was doing now.

The receipts. Their very existence was enough to make Felix's blood boil. He gave his friend the benefit of the doubt. Maybe Trask was lying to turn him against Harlow. Maybe they didn't exist. But there they were, plain and simple. Damning evidence that his mentor was working with the very people he swore were the root of all evil.

He held the papers in his hands, gripping them a little too tightly while he read and reread the words, because it was a possibility he misunderstood the first time.

"Felix," Willow whispered softly, putting her hands on his arm and back, "are you okay?"

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" His words came out a little too harsh and quick to be believed.

He rubbed his back a bit, hoping to comfort him. "Come on. Let's go talk to him."

Hesitantly, he handed the receipts over to Willow who hid them in the inside of her jacket. They walked through the rest of the hallway into the back room where Harlow spent most of his time. He perked up from the workbench at the sound of them entering. He wiped his hands on his pants and gave them his full attention.

"What's the word?"

Willow felt around in her pocket and pulled out the ring. She tossed it on the desk with a frown. "It's done. Trask is dead."

"So it is. This ends Rufus Trask. Once a sensible man, by and by a fool, presently a corpse. I hope you never have to discover what it's like, Captain. The relief one feels when a mutiny comes to an end."

"Trask had some things to say about you. And I have my own misgivings."

There was a clear shift in the energy in the room. Harlow's expression fell and his eyebrows dipped and he waited for Felix to continue. Sensing where it was going, Willow stepped in before Felix could let him know that they knew.