Radiance: Part One

L4: A Coffeepot Overflowing

After steeling herself in the knowledge that it might be difficult to get the rest of the skeleton crew to peacefully submit to being refrozen, Lyda found herself surprised with the task's ease. Jora nodded, unfazed, and Thwarta, though tearful, also understood. Javien was the only crew member to push back.

"Lyda, please, I would never knowingly betray you like that- we've been best friends for as long as I can remember. Please...I don't want to go back under..." He'd begged her, his eyes glassy with unshed tears.

Though internally she was wrought with emotional turmoil, having had a crush on the man early on in their friendship, Lyda shook her head.

"Javian, I have no choice- as much as I might believe you, or trust you, you know why I have to do this. I don't think anything bad will come of this as long as we can 100% prove that this is all Vanessa, okay? None of us think that any of you are guilty." she kept her face neutral as she internally soothed her temper.

Javien's eyes darkened, glaring at her. "If you know that we're innocent- which you should- then why put us back under? Hell, she fucking attacked Marnie- she may even have killed her, you saw their conversation with the rest of us!"

"Perhaps I should rephrase." Lyda sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. Javien had always been a manipulator- anything to get his way, regardless of whom it troubled. "As your captain, I am commanding that you be put back into cryogenic stasis for the remainder of our journey. Upon our landing, you will be reawakened and there will be a trial to prove your innocence. Do you understand? To disobey these orders is to commit treason and may be punishable by death."

"I-" Javien balled his fists and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, okay. You- you're right. You're right...but if you're gonna make me go back under, then I need to....I-"

He leaned forward, kissing her abruptly on the lips with no time to react.

When the wherewithal finally hit her, she pushed him away, rage pooling in her gut.

"Javien." She spoke through clenched teeth, "Get in the fucking pod, now." She pointed at the stasis chamber and took a deep breath.

Javien clammed up, nodding. If she didn't know any better, Lyda would have thought he was scared, but she doubted anything could scare him, if he was ballsy enough to kiss his captain after she threatened him with his own demise.

Before she closed him into the pod, she spoke one last time.

"Nice try- I know how you are with women, we're just friends and I intend to keep it that way unless you want to try that shit again."

He didn't respond so she sealed him away, glad to be rid of his antics.

She guilted herself through her quiet dinner with what remained of her crew- they'd all agreed that she shouldn't have to take ALL of her meals by herself, so she would have to eat something for their sake and punish herself later on. She had learned early on not to let others see her abstain from nutrition, whether or not she felt she deserved it. Tonight, she would eat, but she would do an extra hour of exercise the following day to make up for the unwanted calories.

After dinner, she retired, alone to her new quarters. Through all the fuss, she'd not really paid much attention to her bedroom, but upon entering a second time quickly realized that her new space was basically what amounted to an expensive apartment. She had a fully stocked kitchen-i.e. the only one with real dishes.- and private bathroom, her own workout space, living area, and computer setup for the entire ship- and she'd not soon forget the aforementioned observatory. It was like some crazy dream she'd just stepped into. Her bedroom door whooshed open in front of her. There was a queen size bed in the middle of the room, against the wall. The layout was as it had been in the blueprints she'd seen prior to boarding, but to see it in person was quite different.