Aphelion

2 - SS Atalaya

note: it was a bit silly to call their language english, so I made up a new name for an almost universal language

Her eyes opened to a stark white room, a circular light above her head that left her eyes blurry. A soft beep of a machine to her left, combined with a soft whirling noise. Slowly, but surely, pain began to thrum through her body. She tried to lift her head, but was violently stopped when she felt a wave of nausea rise. Swallowing, she tried to move her arms but felt a strap pull tightly in the skin above her wrist. The same thing happened when she tried sifting her legs. Klyma looked sideways, a striking pain radiated down her neck. Around her was a cleared white room, a medical facility. To her right was a closed sliding door.

She blinks, her vision going hazy. Klyma can feel her eyes welling up, tears starting to slide down her temples. She bites at her lips, pressing her fingernails into her palm. She stays like that for quite some time, attempting to stop herself from becoming emotional to flashing memories of the explosions of her ship crumbling and falling from the sky. As well as the fact she was on an unknown ship, and could possibly be the last surviving member of her crew. With the Voyager damaged, here she was, trapped on the other side of planet, separated from her home and family. She was frightened, there was no way she could get back to Messene - that was if she could ever escape off this ship. There was no rulebook, no guidelines in her training on how to respond when you encounter a ship from another planet.

The design of the bay she was in was clean, a sharp smell, a glass black screen covered the wall at the foot of her bed. She averted her eyes, looking back at the ceiling, slowing her breaths. Surely they could tell she was awake now? What was taking them so long? She didn't know if she should try and speak, call out for help. Klyma was too afraid to act – what if she angered them?

Klyma was almost asleep again when the hiss of the automatic doors startled her. She jerked in her restraints, causing her neck to ache – the panic of being restrained causing her to grow anxious. But that was the least of her worries when she looked to see who had come through the door. Three figures stood in white protective suits, faces covered by a large helmet, a black screen at eye level.

"Please, ma'am. It's alright. You're okay."

Klyma must have looked in a state of fear as the three strangers stepped back, the lady that spoke raising her hands in peace.

"Can you understand my language? Acana?"

Klyma choked out a response, her voice very hoarse, "Y-Yes."

The woman nodded, taking a step towards the bed Klyma lay on. The two behind her stepped forward moving around to the other side of the bed.

"It's okay. We're sorry we had to restrain you, but now you must go through a decontamination process."

"It's just like a shower," said the man to her right.

The woman started removing the ties on her wrists, while anther started on her legs, and the other held a clipboard and pointed a scanner at her body. "After that we can update you on what happened, and where you are. You are very safe, everything will be alright."

Klyma swallowed thickly, and nodded.

She was pulled softly by her arms to standing, and then into the next room. She was surprised she had the energy to walk normally, it seemed as if any bruising she had had already begun to heal.

Klyma was instructed to remove the white clothing that she had been dressed in after she had passed out and been rescued. The 'shower' was a smaller white room, she heard a soft beep and then cold water rained down on her. When the water hit her skin it turned to a mist, like her skin was hot rocks. She waited for the pain but it never came, the water continued to poor over until it touched her skin and ran down the slopes of her body like normal.

She stepped out and the woman that was previously in the white suit, now stood in a grey buttoned up uniform and handed a towel to her.

"Thank you," Klyma said softly, her voice still croaky.

"Now here are some temporary clothes for you to wear, I will take you to one of the staff rooms where there is food awaiting and facilities for ablutions."

Klyma was lead down white corridors by the woman to a small room which looked similar to the small apartment Klyma used to live in back during her training in Messene. On a small dining table was a bowl of fruit, and a spread of bread and cheese. Klyma's mind raced as she was surprised by the similarities between her own world and the world the people on this ship came from. The room had been stripped of anything that could tell Klyma where she was, not even a window for her to look through or a ship manual or signage.

Klyma walked into the bathroom and splashed warm water over her face, she could still feel grime on her neck and in her hair line. The cuts she had received from the landing were now thin lines on her forehead and cheek. The bruising she would have received around her eyes and nose had also completely disappeared. It made Klyma wonder how many days she and been asleep for. Maybe it had been weeks?

She heard the door of the apartment room open, she stood still waiting for the sound of footfalls to head toward her.

"Hello?"

It was a strong voice, and she heard the sound of other entering.

Klyma tentatively stepped from the wash room.

A man stood near the doorway, a guard and a lieutenant behind him. His hands were clasped behind his back, and he wore a simple grey coat over black clothing, no badges or bands on his uniform.

"Hello," he said again, this time looking squarely at Klyma. In response to Klyma's silence he turned, taking a small notebook from the lieutenant's hand and ushering the two from the room.

He stepped forward taking a seat at the dining table, opening the book and holding a pen gently in his hands.

"I am Leo Bassiark, Captain of the ship. I'm here to welcome you, and to assure you that you are safe," he said with a smile. He ushered to the seat across from him, "please."

Klyma said down gingerly and waited.

Leo smiled softly, looking from the girl to his notepad, sitting himself upright in his chair.

"And what name shall I call you?"

She sighed, and with the most formal voice she could produce at the moment said, "Klyma Estra, of Messene, engineer and head science officer aboard the Voyager."