Starship: Resistance - ON HOLD

Chapter One

 It might have been late at night, but the hidden base the Rangers had appropriated was never asleep. At one o'clock in the morning, people were still training, shuttles and jets were coming and going as often as during the day, and one of the three starships they'd managed to seize before the government was readying for departure, so its crew, though a fraction of the size the crews had been, was milling about the halls, getting everything they needed in order.

The lab, too, was a hive of activity. It wasn't just the Science and Medical Officers off the Rogue anymore, it was all the Science and Medical Officers they'd been able to recruit. And the lab wasn't just one room, anymore, it was an entire three-story building outside the main base.

But the Rogue's scientists had their own wing of the building, two stories, several BSL-4, or biosafety level 4, labs, where the most dangerous substances could be kept without risk of infection, as well as a handful of regular labs, too, one for each discipline they specialized in.

Carter peered into the microscope, studying the sample, confused. What she was seeing didn't make any sense. Abruptly, she straightened, taking in the empty biochem lab. The world outside its wide windows was completely dark, and the lab's lights could only do so much.

Her eyes stung after squinting at samples all day, so she blinked to clear them, glancing around. Through the glass dividing wall, Carter could see that Tess was still at work in the next lab. Carter rolled her neck from side to side and pulled off her protective glasses.

Her back gave a painful twinge, and she groaned. Yup, time and past to quit for the night. Slowly, because she was tired, and tired people made mistakes, she tidied the lab, putting everything away, cleaning the glassware, and so on.

Finally everything was neater than a pin, and Carter pulled off her gloves and lab coat. Time to go, and to take Tess with her. And anyone else still working at this hour.

Carter slipped out of the biochem lab, locking the door behind her. Tess was bent over a tablet, hard at work, and Carter knocked softly on the door to her lab. Tess jumped, knocking the tablet off the worktop, and hurried over to the door.

"What?" Tess asked, a bit annoyed.

"It's nearly two o'clock in the morning," Carter told her flatly, a bit amused. "Only five hours before we have to be up and back here again."

Tess blinked. "Oh," she said. "Crap. Is it, already? Okay. Let me just lock up. I've already tidied up, so..." She rushed around the lab, putting things away and throwing her lab coat and protective wear onto various surfaces. Finally, she rushed out of the lab and locked up. "Okay, now it isn't almost two, it's actually two," she muttered. "Sorry it took so long."

Carter grinned. "Hey, I get it, girl. Come on. I need something sweet, and I need sleep."

"Darcy made cupcakes," Tess said cheekily, wrapping her arm around Carter's waist. "The really good red velvet ones."

"Oh, god," Carter said, salivating a bit. "They'll probably be all gone, by now. It's like a feeding frenzy whenever she makes anything."

Tess shrugged. "We won't know until we try, will we?"

Arm in arm, they left the lab building, running across the grounds to the main compound. It was raining, a light, driving mist that soaked everything it touched. The wind was strong, wet and cold, and it drove them mercilessly in every direction.

A particularly strong burst of wind buffeted them, and Carter tripped and felt against Tess, knocking both of them down into the mud. For a second they both lay there, the wind knocked out of them. Then, after a long silence, Carter let out a startled, "Ha!"