Stripped Bare

We Live in Another Time Zone

Observer POV

"Mama, what's wrong with Damien? Why isn't he regaining consciousness? I thought for certain we would be able to wake him up?" Dante was frantic, as Sam continued to monitor Damien's vital signs.

"He wasn't attacked prior to your finding him, was he, Dante?" Zack asked.

"No, not that I know of. The small room was a storage area for supplies. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Why?" Dante stared at Zack.

"I'm just trying to deduce a theory as to why Damien isn't getting out of the coma, even though Sam had already decreased the medications in order to bring him out slowly. But he may have come into contact with a substance that could be blocking his receptors from initiating the process" Zack pondered, while checking his tablet.

"I noticed nothing unusual...Wait! There were a couple of blue vials underneath him, broken, but I didn't see any wet substances except for a few on the back of his shirt..." Dante broke off unexpectedly.

"Where's that shirt now? We've got to test it!" Zack informed the medical wastes and rubbish department to retain Damien's shirt for testing and bring it into the on-board lab immediately.

"Even our energies are not reviving him. Something is terribly wrong" Mara wept.

"Where are you going, Dante?" Darius held onto his soon-to-be son-in-law.

"I've got to go back. Maybe one of those vials is still intact. It could be our only hope!" Dante dashed down the corridor and up to the surface, as the sub was still topside.

"I'm coming with you" Darius insisted, and Dante had nothing against that. This was his son.

The two men approached the near-pulverized remains of the lab, and began looking for any vials that resembled Zack's description.

"BINGO! I found two!" Dante exclaimed, as Darius rushed over, carefully picking them up with gloved hands and placing them in a metallic, cushioned container so that they would not be crushed.

Back at the lab, Zack went to work analyzing the contents of those vials, which led him to discover another virus, meant to inhibit the body's receptors and dupe them into thinking that the body should remain in stasis.

"What are you going to do now?" Darius asked, eyeing his unconscious son, sleeping peacefully on the bed.

"I'm going to try to reverse the process, and hopefully get him to wake up" Zack noted.

"Please, Zack, please..." Darius sighed.

"Yessir, I know" Zack nodded grimly.

"D, there's nothing more you can do. Go and get some rest for a bit. I'll stay here with Dante and Zack. We'll notify you of any changes" Bryant patted his arm.

Darius glumly left the room, walking towards his quarters below deck, but as the man entered his room and closed the door behind him, he sank to his knees in a sobbing fit, weeping for his beloved son.

"Dad? Can I come in?" Bron, Darius' other son and Damien's younger sibling, quietly knocked on the door.

Darius let his younger boy in, patting the seat beside him. Bron could not help but notice the worrying look etched upon his father's face.

"He'll pull through. You know he always pulls through..." Bron offered what little solace he could, sensing his own grief come to the surface, as the two men bonded under such duress.