Origins of an Icer

Chapter 16

12 days earlier...

"Captain, we have a signal coming in from an empty quarter and it's organic... there's a life frequency coming from the object!" The navigator pointed at the screen, seated in a pool of holographic maps with gear over her eyes and ears as the captain walked over, wrapped in her large cloak.

"What is it? Nothing should be out here, it's pure dead space..." She leaned forward, furrowing her brows as she watched the screen, pressing on the frequency, pulling up a strange, arrhythmic heartbeat.

"Ma'am, I've tried looking up the heartbeat, none of our classified species match this frequency. What do you want to do?" the navigator asked, looking up as Ravyn narrowed her eyes.

"Bring them in... they're alive and needs medical aid as fast as possible. They might be helpful too in our search for the Maiden," she ordered, walking away as the navigator sent out the order, sending out a small squadron to look. She tapped quietly at the screen, pulling out a guide for matching the beacon as she traced the manufacturer of the signal.

"Captain, the items that are broadcasting the signals are from an inventor known to cater to the Iron Maiden, should we put the organic being into the brig?" she asked, listening to her earpiece as Ravyn hummed softly.

"Send them to the infirmary first but put a guard on them. They should be coming up on the object soon, the squadron shouldn't take long to get a visual at least," she commented, turning off the earpiece as she went to her office, pulling up reports of her scouts, disguised as the Earth's Alliance drones. The ship had acquired a massive amount of vendors and fighters that had always attacked her drones, taking them down one after the other faster and faster as her "pilots" had taken more data. Thankfully, it seemed their best pilots had seemed to have disappeared, letting the drones get a better look at the ship, and currently, it seemed a little odd.

Passenger ships were seen fleeing the mothership, most filled with vendors and dependents of pilots living on the Maiden, until the last wave, where the ship had suddenly turned its guns on the fleeing ships, committing a terrible war crime in destroying its own people's ships. She grew concerned as she noticed the drones taking images of damage forming around the ship, leaks of videos and recordings coming out over her feeds to reveal a hidden trash chute, missing deaths, and more. She frowned, leaning back in her chair as a screen appeared, showing a helmeted pilot that spoke.

"Captain, we've got the floater. They're unconscious, but terribly injured and deep frozen. They'll need immediate medical attention, possibly some time in a rejuvenating tank," he mentioned, showing a picture of the creature as she whistled low. The creature had no wings, but the skeletal remains on their back, the jumpsuit frozen so thick, it stuck like a second skin. The tail lay in a broken form, odd angles in what should be a smooth circular motion, and injuries all over.

"Strange... I've never seen anything like them. Is the bio-scanner trying to identify them to help us narrow down what they might be?" she asked, the pilot pulling up a list.

"All I got is reptilian, or amphibious. It's having a hard time trying to identify exactly what the species is. All I got is it's a male, and he is very injured. Not to mention he's been out here for hours, and somehow still alive!" Ravyn whistled low, glancing over as the screens changed to the hangar's video-cams, revealing the squadron's fleet coming in. The medical team waited patiently as they went into the craft carrying their new patient before rushing back to the medical wing, immediately syncing him up to life support and various medical devices to help identify him.

"Any idea what he is, doctor?" she asked, her earpiece syncing to the head medic who glanced at his screen, finishing up hooking the devices to the patient before plunging him into the tank, sealing the door.

"I have no idea... and the testing has him dated at least 600 years old, most spent in cryo-stasis, he still has quite a bit of ice built up in his blood stream. I have a feeling he might be a little edgy when he wakes up, realizing he's in a tank again. For now, we have him heavily sedated, helping him rest and heal faster inside the tank. It should also help clear out his body of the ice in his blood streams, and help revitalize his organs enough to clear the ice on his body. For now... I'm not entirely sure what this is... He's old, but young? His brainwaves are about maybe a twenty to thirty year old person, and he's bonded to someone, very powerful too. He's got a telepathic connection to that person, and it's currently communicating," he mentioned, sending the captain the information before turning back to his work. Ravyn sighed, looking through the information as she started going through an ancient written tome, flipping through the parchment depicting a small amount of species and aliens in the universe.

"Ah... here we go. White, scaly, wings, tail... so he's an Iscerian, a creature of water and ice, able to withstand more pressure and extreme temperatures than the other races in that time period. Very fascinating..." She smiled brightly, clapping the tome shut as she got up, going to the infirmary room. Swiping a card, she entered the locked tank room, going over as she sat next to the rejuvenating pod, looking over the specimen inside with a slight frown.

"He definitely doesn't look so good. That tail will never heal right either. His wings are looking much better," she muttered, watching the stumps suddenly lengthening and growing out five long structures, the membrane in between creating a beautiful, stained-glass crystalline material that glittered and shone through the tank's liquid. His skin quickly healed the wounds covering him, recovering some minor broken bones, a couple fractures, and the cryo-stasis ice completely flushing from his blood stream.

"Much better, and he'll be happy to be among friends, thank you so much for taking us in, captain."

"Ah, my new co-head of the Medical Ward, Lunestra, was it?"

"Just Doc, Captain, please. I went by that for so many years, I can't possibly do it again. I was his therapist during his time on the Maiden, so I'll at least be a friendly face for him when he wakes up. I'm afraid he might be in bad shape... he bonded very strongly to a pilot he was with during that time, one of the original pilots that discovered and recovered him from the broken down museum. Last I heard, they were in bad shape... he was expelled from the ship, and Akifa was being dragged into the brig, supposedly getting "re-programmed" to follow her commands like gospel. Makes me sick..." the medic growled, placing a hand on the tank as she sighed, watching Wren recover slowly inside.

"We'll do everything in our power to try and recover the pilot, and to help them reunite while dealing with that nightmare of a ship. It could use a good purge and I have more than enough time and energy to do that. Besides... don't they say every child should seek closure from its birth parent?" she mused, grinning as the medic chuckled softly.

"If you and your mother ever teamed up, I would be afraid for my life. You two are a hell of a team as it is, but as enemies? I think I definitely chose the right side. I'll do everything in my power to try and help your crew, and to make sure they're in top shape, but my first priority is my friend and patient..." Doc leaned back in her seat as Ravyn went into her desk, pulling out a bottle of red liquid, pouring it into two glasses.

"Cheers to that. Here's to overthrowing that sanctimonious wench and claiming what's really been mine all along."

"I'll drink to that, I like you more." Ravyn laughed at that as Doc toasted her glass with the captain's, not noticing the sudden heartbeat monitor accelerating, the tank cracking under a piercing glare. Wren was awake...and pissed.