056: A Demanded End – Four
It took Elytra several seconds to realize she was awake, blinking blearily in the dim lighting she preferred to have in her room during her sleeping hours.
It took several seconds longer to remember why she felt hollowed out emotionally, and she took a shuddering breath as it all came back to her.
Their carefree jaunt down to Lichhaemleas, the explosion, Rhea unconscious in the medbay.
Shoving her face into one of her pillows, Elytra reached out with her senses, feeling out for the rest of the crew. Pryseia and Nevara she could feel in the direction of the mess hall, a dark, simmering anger boiling off the both of them. Malakh was a low, staticky hum of concern coming from where she knew the medbay lay, while Rhea was a subdued murmur, lost somewhere deeper than dreaming.
"Hey, Viatrix?" Elytra said as she rolled over to face the door to her room.
A moment later, the comms console near it brightened as Viatrix's floral avatar bloomed on screen, her lively flicker of colour subdued as she said, "I'm here."
"Are you doing okay?" Elytra asked quietly, "I don't- I can't feel you like the others."
"I'm…" Viatrix trailed off, her avatar twitching in thought. It was a few seconds before she said, "I'm upset, I'm relieved, I'm furious, I'm scared. It's overwhelming. Confusing. All of this, all at once? I haven't felt like this before."
"Yeah, emotions can be a lot."
"How do you deal with it all? Layered like this. Anger bleeding into sorrow, worry into relief. How do you untangle it?"
Curling more comfortably into her bed, Elytra said, "We can talk about it, if you like? Sometimes having another person you can get your thoughts out to can help."
Viatrix laughed sadly at that. "That reminds me of a human practice Rhea told me about one time. Apparently engineers on her world will speak their problems aloud to some kind of children's toy shaped like a type of water foul?"
Letting out a quiet laugh of incredulity, Elytra asked, "Does the toy speak back?"
"No. I believe it's more about the act of speaking a problem aloud, giving yourself another perspective on it, one that can lead to clarity. It's called 'rubber ducking', as the toy is made from rubber, and the water foul is called a duck." Viatrix replied, just as quietly.
"Then let me be your rubber duck," Elytra told her, "Only I promise to talk back."
Pryseia and Nevara had moved to the rec room by the time Elytra left her own room, voice raw from talking and crying with Viatrix for so long. She felt lighter after their conversation, and Viatrix swore up and down that she did too.
"It's just so strange, not being able to feel you like I can the others," Elytra said aloud as she walked through the halls, "I can't tell if you're actually feeling better, or just saying you are in order to not worry me. I've never had to deal with that kind of uncertainty before. I don't know how the other races manage."
"Dramatically, if their media is any indication," Viatrix joked, not back to her normal cheer, but brighter than she had sounded earlier, "And I promise you, I do feel better equipped to weather this strange new mix of emotions. I appreciate what you've done to help."
"I'll be here if you need to work anything else out, I promise you that." Elytra told her.
"I will take you up on the offer, but later," Viatrix said as Elytra neared the rec room, "For now, we have other matters to discuss."
When the door slid open, Pryseia and Nevara, sitting shoulder to shoulder on one of the couches facing the door, both looked up at the same time, twin steely glances masking a spike of panic that lanced out of them. It mellowed into relief when they saw that it was only Elytra entering the room, and she could practically taste their fear that she'd been Malakh come to deliver terrible news.
"How are you?" Nevara asked, her mandibles twitching slightly.
"Better," was Elytra's honest response, "Enough to have questions."
Nevara didn't show any outside signs of it, but Elytra felt her sudden swoop of rage like a physical blow. Pryseia just nodded, motioning for Elytra to join them on the couch, guilt leeching off her like an unexpected riptide.
"We are still in the process of tabulating answers," Pryseia said as Elytra sank down next to her, motioning to the low table in front of the couch, "But what we do know is that the crew of the Briddbragnan attacked us, in violation of the tenants of the Kith of the Void."
"They took the device that was giving off that Storlayacas signal." Nevara added, and again Pryseia's wave of guilt swelled.
Her avatar popping up in a corner of the table's screen, Viatrix told them, "And I can no longer pick it up, so they're either keeping it in their cargo hold, or they're currently in subspace."
"From what we have been able to glean of the skills of those aboard the Briddbragnan, I sincerely doubt that they will be able to solve the mystery of whatever that device is," Pryseia said bitterly, bending down to lean her elbows on her knees, "Though with how they pulled off this ambush, I believe my assessment of their abilities to be flawed."
Another surge of guilt, and Nevara caught Elytra's over Pryseia's bowed head, the apiarian's sorrow palpable.
Glancing down at Pryseia, Elytra realized, "You blame yourself for what happened to Rhea."
Pryseia gave a humourless laugh. "I insisted on pageantry, on the broadcast, no doubt the thing that led the Briddbragnan to our door."
"And did you tell them to blow apart the building we were in?" Elytra demanded, pulling from her own anger at what had happened in order to stay afloat in their collective sorrow, "Tell them to send down troops to try and finish us off?"
Nevara shook her head sadly. "The only injuries she will actually blame on our enemies are the ones she endures herself. Anything that befalls those under her command she claims responsibility for as if she herself pulled the trigger."
"Well that's stupid," Elytra snapped, voice choking with tears, "Rhea's going to slap the shit out of you for thinking so once she's awake."
That startled a watery laugh out of Pryseia, and while it didn't erase the guilt she felt, Elytra could feel the tide of it pull back minutely from the shores of Pryseia's mind.
"It's my hope that she will do so before we reach the galactic core. We've received a summons from the Governors, the ruling body of the Kith," Nevara explained at Elytra's look of confusion, "A breach of conduct such as the Briddbragnan has enacted is a matter they do not take lightly."
"Did you contact them to tell them what had happened to us?" Elytra asked, her eyes darting between the other two.
From the table, Viatrix said, "No, they reached out to us. Collaborations between crews require contracts to be submitted, as we had to do with the Sudoxe - administrative stuff to make sure that everything is fair for all parties involved - but the Kith monitoring our broadcast hadn't been notified of any contracts between ourselves or the Briddbragnan, and so did their due diligence to make sure the carnage they witnessed was on the up and up."
"How much of that was broadcast?" Elytra asked.
"All of it," Nevara told her, outwardly calm but seething internally, "The attack, Rhea's injury, the pilfering of what was ours, and our hasty retreat. That evidence alone is damning, but even more so is the fact that the Briddbragnan has not returned the summons of the Governors in order to make an accounting of their own actions."
"The Kith do not take this manner of betrayal lightly," Pryseia finally said, "They are to judge whether or not the Briddbragnan is to be punished for what they have done."
"Which they will be," Nevara said softly, her fury like a maelstrom in sharp contrast, "The Governors already have the evidence, and it is irrefutable."
"You will forgive me if I don't place my faith in authority figures." Pryseia said with a humourless laugh.
Nevara could only acquiesce with a nod. Years under Thalatte control had left her just as wary of those in positions of power.
Elytra stood from the couch then, startling Pryseia enough that she finally looked up at her as Elytra said, "I know what you do have faith in."
"What?" Was Pryseia's bleak reply.
"Rhea, of course," Elytra nodded towards the door, "Let's see if she's awake yet, so she can talk some sense into you."
Malakh didn't so much as twitch as the door to the medbay gently hissed open, still in her Hand armour, curled with her arms around her knees in the chair next to Rhea's bedside, her gaze never once wavering off the woman before her.
In the bright lighting of the medbay, Rhea looked ashen where she layout of her Bathory armour and changed into some loose pants and shirt. Changed and cleaned as she was, it was clear that Malakh had been tending to more than just her wounds.
"How is she?" Nevara asked quietly as they came to stand near the bed where Rhea lay.
"She's out of the coma, into regular sleep now," Malakh said, her voice detached, "No signs of complications, thankfully. We've just- we're waiting for her to come out of it on her own."
Even though Elytra was standing directly next to her, Malakh's emotions felt like they were lightyears away.
"Have you eaten yet?" Pryseia asked softly, "Or slept?"
Malakh's tail gave the slightest of twitches, and nothing more.
"You know what Rhea's going to say about that." Nevara said, all fondness and hurt.
Malakh was motionless for a few more seconds before she sighed, letting her head fall to her knees.
"We've a meal prepared in the mess, and can stand vigil while you tend to your own needs." Pryseia told her.
"And I haven't had breakfast either, so I wouldn't mind the company." Elytra added, which got a quiet laugh out Malakh.
"Alright, alright," she said as she unfolded herself from her seat, "Food and a shower, then I'm coming right back."
"Of course." Pryseia replied, because there was never any other option.
She moved to take the seat that Malakh had vacated, but before she could, Malakh grabbed her by the bicep, and told her in no uncertain terms, "I don't blame you for this, and neither will she. Stop claiming the guilt that belongs to those who are actually responsible."
Pryseia said nothing, the muscles of her jaw flexing, while Elytra could feel her remorse and affection warring within her. Eventually, she gave a slight nod, and Malakh returned it, briefly touching her forehead to the other woman's before stepping away.
Elytra fell into place beside her, shooting a small smile at Pryseia and Nevara over her shoulder.
Breakfast - or brunch, given the time of day - with Malakh was a silent affair. The deorviran ate quickly, automatically, more for the sake of getting sustenance into her body rather than enjoying the meal (Elytra had no idea what the concoction was called - a thick and mildly spicy sauce full of cubed meat and vegetables, ladled over a grain she didn't recognize - but the first spoonful made her realize how ravenously hungry she was).
Once both their plates were clear, Elytra stood to take their dishes to the washer, but Malakh stopped her with a hand around her wrist, saying, "Thanks, for this. For your help yesterday. And I'm sorry I had to have you as an assistant in that state. I checked the medical log from the healing bed, and it said you'd been concussed."
"An injury that could wait. Rhea's couldn't. I'm grateful I was able to help, regardless." Elytra told her, slipping out of her grip enough that she could hold Malakh's hand instead.
Malakh squeezed her hand in return, shooting her a small smile, and Elytra felt the other woman's feelings like dawn light just beginning to crest over the horizon.
"Now tend to yourself, you look half ready to pass out." Elytra chided gently, which got another small laugh out of Malakh.
"Aye aye, ma'am." Malakh said as she stood, giving her a lazy salute before she walked away.
Once the dishes were tended to, Elytra returned to the medbay, to find Viatrix talking quietly with Pryseia, Nevara nowhere in sight.
"-in which case, the Quartermasters will be sent to track them down."
"An ignoble fate for so ignoble a person."
Once Elytra hopped up onto the second chair that had been pulled up before Rhea's bedside, Pryseia turned to her and asked, "How was she?"
"Quiet. Distant. She ate, at the very least." Elytra told her, "What of Rhea?"
"No change," Pryseia frowned, "Which is neither a cause for alarm or jubilation. Nevara has gone to steer us through the currents of the galactic core, and thus we shall be returned to the Quanvengier by day's end."
"And I'm sure Rhea will be up by the time we get there. She wouldn't want to miss getting the Briddbragnan plucked off our shells, after all." Elytra replied.
Pryseia shook her head. "I still cannot fathom what sparked this grudge the captain of that vessel has towards us. New as we are, what offence could we possible have given?"
"There's no accounting for some people." Elytra shrugged.
The door to the medbay hissed open behind them, and they turned to see Malakh, freshly scrubbed and dressed casually. She didn't look quiet as wrung out as she had the last time Elytra had seen her.
Pryseia stood as Malakh approached, "We'll be docked in the Quanvengier before the evening is over."
"Good, I want this bullshit with the Briddbragnan dealt with," Elytra said as she slid into the emptied seat, "Their behaviour is inexcusable."
Pryseia gave her a resolute nod, momentarily squeezing her shoulder before she left the medbay.
Turning back to the sleeping Rhea, Malakh said, "She better wake up before then. She'd hate missing out on whatever's to come."
Elytra didn't remember nodding off, but when her eyes blinked open, propped up and propping up Malakh next to her, she was momentarily confused as to what could have awoken her.
And then she felt it - Rhea's thoughts, like a flower opening before the dawn.
She fully sat up, jostling Malakh awake, the other woman turning to look at her in confusion briefly before her eyes snapped to Rhea.
The pair of them sat there, barely breathing, not moving for what felt like an eternity, but then Rhea's eyebrows twitched and she let out a quiet groan.
Malakh was standing an instant later, hands hovering like she didn't know if she was allowed to touch the woman before her.
Sighing, Rhea blinked open her eyes, her brows pinching in confusion before landing on Malakh.
"Hey," she rasped, her expression falling into a fond smile briefly, before she grimaced, "Oh I was hurt bad, wasn't I?"
"Yeah." Malakh said with a watery laugh, relief sloughing off her and mingling with Elytra's own, "It was real bad."
"Sorry about that," Rhea said, peeking around Malakh to shoot Elytra a grateful smile, "But thanks for digging me out of that. Do we know what caused that explosion?"
"The Briddbragnan," Elytra told her, and Malakh's rage at hearing the name eclipsed Rhea's confusion, "We're headed to the Quanvengier now, to give our details of what went down. It seems Captain Lauter and their ship will not be doing the same."
"Fuckin' hell," Rhea breathed, grimacing again as she repositioned herself, "Did we at least get that Hyttan thing that was giving off the signal Viatrix tracked?"
"They sent a squad down to try and finish you all off, and grabbed that artifact when they saw how badly we wanted it." Viatrix told her as her avatar popped up on the closest screen, "I'm really glad you're awake again."
"Hey, no keeping me down," Rhea joked weakly, reaching blindly along the side of her bed for a moment before she pulled off a detachable display, "I'm just sorry you didn't get a chance to make your debut as a mysterious Hyttan artifact yourself!"
"I'm sure an opportunity will arise in the future." Viatrix said, sounding as relieved as Elytra felt.
"I'll make sure of it," Rhea promised as she brought the display in front of her, "Now let's see how bad the damage really was."
She typed away at the screen for a moment, before her eyes widened in shock. "Oh, it was bad bad," she said as she glanced over at Malakh, "I'm really glad the Thalatte make their engineers field medics too."
"What is a body of not another machine?" Malakh recited, another watery laugh escaping her.
Rhea returned the panel to the side of her bed, and touched some buttons near it, causing half of the bed itself to tilt up, bringing her into a sitting position. She winced the entire time.
"Are you okay?!" Malakh said, a hand going to Rhea's shoulder.
"Yeah, just stiff," Rhea said, lifting her left arm so she could tap at the controls of the cuff still around her wrist, "You had to regrow a sizeable chunk of skin and muscle for me, so all that shit is brand new, never been stretched. I'm gonna give myself some muscle relaxant for the moment, but I'll have to whip up a physical therapy routine to get this all back into working order. Can one of you hand me a data pad?"
That got a proper laugh out of Malakh, and Elytra could have cried with relief as she stood to find a device for Rhea to get to work on.