Chromium

Chapter 18.1

First draft

In the following days, time seemed to slow to a crawl. The atmosphere amongst the crew was tense - not a surprise, considering what they were up against - but the real problem was that Dia's drug supplies were dwindling. Unfortunately, Sarah still hadn't found a solution, so the only thing Dia could do was to halve the dose.

And as if things weren't bad enough, she also had to endure Omen's spartan training. The breathing technique Omen had taught her was the only thing keeping her from exploding. But although Dia didn't like his methods, she had to admit they were effective. In such a short time, she had made remarkable progress in controlling machines. Her physical augmentations, on the other hand, were another story. No matter how hard she tried, she was still unable to use them freely. 

All in all, it had been a hellish week. The only upside was that Dia had been so busy, tired and cranky she had no time to brood over the event of the last few days. Still, when they finally reached the nebula outer region, and Omen was forced to interrupt the training, Dia was overjoyed. Excluding Dia and Omen, who were in the engineering room, everyone else was on the bridge when Mitchell announced that they were about to leave the nebula. 

"Attention all personnel. We'll leave the nebula in thirteen minutes."

"Hyperdrive?" Omen asked through the comms.

"Powering it up now." Mitchell answered. "All systems are green." 

"Which doesn't mean anything in this case." Sarah commented in a gloomy tone.

"What is she talking about?" Willis asked.

Rodriguez shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal. "Nothing much. It's just that the Nostromus may not be space-worthy, in which case the ship will break apart once we make the jump to Hyperspace." The merc gave him an encouraging smile. "But don't worry. It's a remote possibility."

"Great." Willis muttered darkly. Then his eyes narrowed with suspicion, "Wait, why didn't I know about this?"

"Because I didn't want to hear you whine." Rodriguez said matter of factly.

Willis shot her an annoyed glance but his friend wasn't looking at him anymore.

"There is no need to worry, Mr. Willis." Mitchell interjected. "In the case of structural failure, we'll all be dead within seconds. You will feel no pain."

"Thank you." He sneered. "Very reassuring." Unfortunately, his sarcasm was wasted on her.

"No problem." Mitchell said seriously. "I'm here to serve."

Willis started to say something, but Dia couldn't hear him anymore. Omen had muted the transmission and was looking at her.

Dia took a deep breath. "I guess it's my turn."

"You don't have to do this." Omen's tone was steady, professional, but there was an undertone of protective concern in his voice. "You know that right?"

Dia nodded. "I know."

Omen stared at her for a long time, trying to test her resolve, but when she just stared back at him, unblinking, he released a resigned sigh. "Alright. Anything goes wrong, I'm pulling the plug. Do you hear me?"

She nodded again, if nothing else because she wanted to reassure him. They both knew that if something went wrong, there was nothing he could do to save her. Dia felt a bit of trepidation as her eyes fell on the Chair. She half winced as she laid down. The Chair was cold, hard, and uncomfortable. It looked exceedingly normal - a bit like a high-tech dentist chair - except for the odd spherical metal box atop the headrest, of course. 

That must be the Birdcage.

 From what Omen had told her, that box was essential for the Sync process.