"You can stimulate every response from a clone except normal brain activity. root a simple AI into the spinal cord, I'm certain a hungry crawler would go after it, and once it takes hold, the resultant mutant would more than serve our purpose. And what do you think will happen when we give them such spectacular results as you're suggesting, out of the black? How do you propose to give them proof of our findings without explaining the circumstances they were created in?" She replied evenly.
"You -know- I have been pressing for live subjects, but this is simply not the way to go about it. How would you feel if it was you down there?" She asked, nodding towards the monitor again, and noting that the angle had shifted, depicting a different room, with a cerulean she recognized from earlier on a bed. Her eyes tracked back over to Jane at the revelation, widening in surprise. "You two will not be dissuaded, will you? How many others on the station are aware of this?"
When her captain opted to disrobe to the skin as the terms of their bet required, Athryn was torn. On the one hand, she was fairly pent up, mildly intoxicated, and the tanned woman had a fantastic body. On the other hand, however, this was her commanding officer and not only off limits according to the regs but to her own personal morals. In the end, Athryn decided that she wasn't quite drunk enough to let her interest in Elise's nudity show explicitly, and so after a single quick roaming gaze as the tanned woman opted to take her body shot off of Nicolas as she took a swig of her beer, Athryn opted to turn around and head over to the bar, sitting against it next to her jacket and watching the rest of the card game from afar. She made no mental note that her move was in character with the aloofness that she'd held since their journey began, though it no doubt was to anyone that even noticed her silent departure from the assembled group.
Judith's eyebrows rose in surprise. What the heck was Ausel doing in here? And why the heck was he sans-pants? This area was restricted, right? Looking around for a man with a video camera or something hiding behind a piece of equipment as she were Candid Camera - this must've been a prank or something; space-cabin fever did weird things to people - she eventually strode over to the scientist and slapped him on the cheek gently a few times, to rouse him.
"Hey. Heeey. Ausel. Ausel!" she half-whispered. "What the heck are you doing sleeping in your shorts in this restricted area?"
Judith's slaps on the Cerulean's face were gentle, but the science officer - who was clothed only in tight, green boxer-briefs - didn't seem to be rousing with such a light touch. Perhaps Judith would need to put a little more power into her strikes, or find some other way to awaken him.
Knowing Ausel's personality, Judith could be certain that the Cerulean would be more than a little embarrassed that a female had seen him in such a vulnerable position.
Somewhere in the hallway behind her, Judith could hear some sort scratching noise. What could that be?
----
The whole lounge group stood in awe of their captain as Elise slid out of her clothes and unashamedly paid up on her part of the bet. The tall engineer, Tammie, glanced away as if the embarrassment Elise should be feeling was instead on her own shoulders. Next to her, the smaller girl, Rachel, looked on at the whole scene with fascination and a perpetual grin.
Kenneth was genuinely impressed. "I'd have lost to you all, but damn. If I'd known it was the captain I'd be drinking from, I'd have called no problem. Hell, I'll do the shot still, if you'll let me."
Meanwhile Nicolas lay down on his back over the side of the card table.
"Ami, be a dear and pour the captain her drink," he said. "And don't worry captain, I'll keep my hands to myself."
Ami smiled and went to the lounge bar, grabbed a new bottle and some limes and returned, squeezing the juice of the lime down the center of Nicolas' torso, before tucking the remains of the citrus inside the hem of his briefs' waistband. "Don't forget to grab the lime too, captain," the logistics officer said with a smirk.
Ami then waited until Elise was ready, and then poured the alcohol across Nicolas' abdomen, giving the captain the all clear to drink.
Assuming she did so, there would be a bit of hooting and cheering as she did so. To his credit, Nicolas remained mostly still during all of this, not balking much unless Elise went out of her way to make him too uncomfortable (or too comfortable).
When done, the diplomat sat up, smiled and then turned to Odessa and gestured that it was her turn to lie down. Ami would once again line up the body shop, repeating the process with the lime, only this time using three, tucking one just under the front of Odessa's underwear (her bottoms would be loosened up enough to allow this, unless Odessa argued the point) and then an extra lime wedge was tucked into either side of the empath's bra.
"Extra alcohol for you Nicolas, since you're getting way too lucky with 'losing' this bet."
"Fair enough," Nicolas said with a smile before getting ready to take his own drink, waiting only on Odessa's say so to continue.
---
While all this was going on, Sonya joined Athryn at the bar.
"What's the matter?" the pilot asked. "Not a fan of the card game after all?"
She took a swig of her own beer. "I would have thought something like the captain baring everything would have made you want to play?" she grinned.
Despite the pilot's cheerful nature and all the boisterous frivolity going on around her, Athryn was getting a bad feeling in her gut. It was something inexplicable, perhaps just a side effect of the small buzz she was working up, but something didn't feel right all of a sudden. She was noticing how there didn't seem to be any Fringe 1 personnel in the room with them. Even Tai had left with that one red haired scientist.
---
In the office of Dr. Bernard Tully...
"You're making several strong assumptions about clone viability, but that's beside the point," Bernard said, a dark tone making itself apparent in his voice now as he spoke from behind her. "Clones as research guinea pigs is not financially viable. Your call for convicts had more merit as it would have been far cheaper."
On the monitor, the dark-skinned engineer started moving down the halls in the inner research area, checking all the doors, only to find them locked, save for the last one, in which resided the Cerulean science officer that had been hanging off of Jane's arm earlier in the cargo bay.
"But it's all moot. This operation is in motion. It cannot be stopped. Perhaps after you realize this, my dear, you will return to your usual practicality and realize that this is the only way we will have live, sentient subjects to study. The Cerulean you see here has already been prepared as Subject 0. The female who is currently trying to rouse him will be Subject 1. From each of them, we will be able to record the effects of Tentak subsumation. I have already reconfigured the scanners on the station to record but not raise any alarm. We will have plenty of data, and it will be usable."
He tapped another button, and Caitlin was suddenly presented with a live feed of the containment chamber, where the Tentak crawler was always kept. The chamber was empty.
Caitlin also noticed that there was something odd about Jane. Something about her eyes. They were looking in her direction, but they weren't quite focused on her. It was strange, but Caitlin was a very observant individual and so she couldn't help but notice it.
"Oh I can see just fine from here, and pleasant as the eye candy is, I try not to go for officers," Athryn replied cheerfully, though in truth her feelings were suddenly taking a turn for the worse. Something was wrong... She couldn't tell what, but the marine's instincts were roused enough that the hairs on the back of her neck were rising. Taking another swig of her beer, Athryn added; "You know it's funny... There aren't any station personnel in here with us. Why is that? Where are they? It doesn't take an entire crew of scientists to cook dinner, and didn't one of them come in a few minutes ago and tell us that the kitchen was empty?" The marine set aside her half-finished beer as her expression slowly twisted into a scowl, "Something weird is going on here, and I don't like it."
Odessa felt a tinge of envy upon noticing the immense amount of attention the Captain was receiving, but at the same time, she certainly couldn't blame them--she did possess a surprisingly nice body, especially for someone who actually ran the ship.
As Nicolas was set up for the body shot, with Elise soon to follow up on it, the empath couldn't help but stare in an intense silence, in contrast to the hoots and hollers around her. The sight of it all visibly made her a little hot and bothered, to which she made a fanning motion with one hand. "Okay, well, consider me extra ready for my turn, now," she conceded with a deep breath in, followed by a puff of air outward through puckered lips.
When the diplomat employed his tongue to collect the salt and juice from her midline, the blonde failed her meager attempts to hide her natural reactions, releasing small gasps and squeals as she writhed in place, along with a playful giggle as he picked the lime from her pantyline, tickling her. Though her arms started above her head, she brought one down and across her bra-covered chest to hide any potential signs of her arousal. Odessa wasn't quite sure herself if her high beams were on, per se, but it was better safe than sorry, especially when she was supposed to be the one least exposed in the aftermath of this particular card game.
"Whew... way to make me want to lose, Nic," she commented after he finished. "But I can't let myself do that when both of the boys here still have their bottoms."
“Of course convicts are an easier solution. I was speaking in terms of morally viable, since you stated your issue was the bleeding hearts in the bureaucracy.“ Caitlin replied evenly, her gaze passing between Bernard, Jane, and the monitor in equal measure. The woman‘s eyes seemed glazed over, or something similar, which caused her even more concern. The Cerulean had gone with her, and now he was Subject 0. Was it possible she came in contact as well?
The scientist was silent a moment, her gaze roaming between the three focuses of her attention. “the station isn‘t built to contain subjects with the range of freedom you seem to be implying. If you wish to see how they react as a group, i suggest that before any other are infected, we strip down the ship and convert it into a habitat. I‘m in, but I want it in your records that i am opposed at your methods.“ she said finally, her gaze fixing on Bernard.
“I take it you have recordings of the initial infection, as well as the one in progress? I will have to review them later, unfortunately. There are two minutes remaining for me to return to the the kitchen, or we‘ll be eating glue for dinner, instead of stew. Next time Bernard, please inform me of your plans before you act on them, I do not appreciate being left out of the loop.“ she finished curtly, turning to leave.
The whole lounge group stood in awe of their captain as Elise slid out of her clothes and unashamedly paid up on her part of the bet. The tall engineer, Tammie, glanced away as if the embarrassment Elise should be feeling was instead on her own shoulders. Next to her, the smaller girl, Rachel, looked on at the whole scene with fascination and a perpetual grin.
Kenneth was genuinely impressed. "I'd have lost to you all, but damn. If I'd known it was the captain I'd be drinking from, I'd have called no problem. Hell, I'll do the shot still, if you'll let me."
Meanwhile Nicolas lay down on his back over the side of the card table.
"Ami, be a dear and pour the captain her drink," he said. "And don't worry captain, I'll keep my hands to myself."
Ami smiled and went to the lounge bar, grabbed a new bottle and some limes and returned, squeezing the juice of the lime down the center of Nicolas' torso, before tucking the remains of the citrus inside the hem of his briefs' waistband. "Don't forget to grab the lime too, captain," the logistics officer said with a smirk.
Ami then waited until Elise was ready, and then poured the alcohol across Nicolas' abdomen, giving the captain the all clear to drink.
Assuming she did so, there would be a bit of hooting and cheering as she did so. To his credit, Nicolas remained mostly still during all of this, not balking much unless Elise went out of her way to make him too uncomfortable (or too comfortable).
Even as bold as she was, Elise still began to feel a bit awkward with all eyes in the lounge pouring over every inch of her naked form. She fidgeted as Nicolas undressed and got into position, but never lost her smile. Elise even laughed at Kenneth's disappointment, and decided to tease him just a bit. "Sorry, Ken, but you lost your chance," she said, feigning heartbreak, while the hand covering her breasts lifted just a bit to give off the tiniest of peeks, "Now you know what you're missing when you fold." Moving closer to the table, she winked to the marine, and added, "Maybe later, though."
Once Nicolas was down on the table, Elise stood over him, and smirked at his promise of good behavior. She couldn't resist teasing him as well, and after a quick glance at Ken, jokingly responded, "Don't say that, you had a better hand than mine, you should get to use yours." Elise threw in a wink to let him know she was only kidding, though as she stood over him, she leaned in just a little closer as Ami began to pour the ingredients. The normally quiet and reserved woman's placement of the lime brought a surprised look to Elise's face, but she smiled and nodded eagerly. Even with everyone watching, the captain was more interested in having fun than being 'proper'.
Once the alcohol was poured, Elise quickly leaned in over Nicolas from the side, bringing both hands up to the table to steady herself, and began lapping up the juices from his chest and abdomen. The lime, alcohol, and Nic's natural taste all mixed to a flavor she had never experienced before, and she moaned softly as she slid her tongue down his stomach. Once everything was cleared, she quickly turned her head towards his underpants. Even though the man had attempted to remain still, he had still fidgeted just a bit, and the lime slice had slid just a bit further under his hemline. Resting her head against his skin, she laughed self-consciously then slowly moved towards it. Gingerly she bit down on the hem of his underwear and rolled the fabric back until the lime was fully revealed, along with half of his pelvis. With a wide grin evident on her face, she quickly bobbed down, releasing her hold on his underwear and grabbing the lime between her teeth before rearing back, standing tall and turning back and forth to show off the citrus to all the onlookers. After a few moments, she brought a hand up to grab the lime, then laughed as she tossed it to the side and returned her arms to covering her naked form. "Hope you enjoyed it as much as everyone else did, Nic" she said, winking at him before stepping away from the table.
Having been focused on her own shot, Elise had not noticed Odessa's enjoyment of the act. When the empath announced her eagerness, though, the captain smirked at her, and moved around the table to get a better look at the spectacle. And what a spectacle it was. Compared to the restrained diplomat, Odessa was almost writhing in pleasure. Moving to get a better view, Elise ended up next to Kenneth, and she decided to return to teasing the marine. Leaning down closer to him just as she had with Tai, she whispered in his ear, "Looks like she's really enjoying that." She leaned forward, allowing the side of her chest to move into the marine's field of vision. "Maybe I should take you up on your offer after all," she added, before laughing and moving away, joining in with the hooting and hollering of the rest of the crew before Ken could respond. Once Nicolas was done, Elise whistled and yelled, "You two want to finish this game up in your quarters?"
"Alright, shows over, for the moment," Elise said, grabbing her panties and bending over to quickly slide them up her legs. "I'm sure Odessa will come up with some more fun bets if you all want to keep watching, or join in?" she added eagerly. "Speaking of, do you want to start off the next round, Odessa?" Pleased at how jovial the mood had become, Elise kept a wide grin as she began to slip her clothing back on. She slipped her bra on, smiling mischievously at any of the crewmembers who might be watching as she did so. She didn't need all the alcohol she had downed so far to be 'open', though it was certainly not making her any more reserved. She slipped her uniform top on, but left it unbuttoned, leaving her cleavage exposed, but easily concealable should she need to look more proper for the Fringe staff.
Suddenly wondering where their hosts were, Elise looked around, noting Tai still absent, as well as the red headed scientist from before. She had jokingly intimated that he might find some 'company' on the space station, but she never thought the uptight marine would actually do so. Judith hadn't shown up to the party yet, but she supposed the engineer might still be at work with Fringe's reactor problem. She hadn't seen Ausel either, though, and Elise prided herself on keeping track of her subordinates. "Anyone seen Ausel?" she asked calmly, not yet concerned, but curious. Standing next to the table, she surveyed the area. "The food should be ready soon too."
Oh goddammit. What was that noise out in the hall? Was one of the scientists coming or something?
Taking her flashlight out of her toolbox, she peeled open one of Ausel's eyes and shone it into his pupil, to check his responsiveness. She'd taken a few courses on the side when she was in the Academy, and she'd learned enough to feel fairly competent in both the medical and scientific fields in addition to her primary training as a technician. She was pretty confident that if something was wrongre out what it was... and if not, she could at least narrow it down...
Though, if the light just woke him up, that would be fine, too.
If he didn't wake up, Judy would lean down and call for him to wake up again, this time directly into his ear. "Ausel! Dammit, wake up!" She said a little louder, shaking him by his shoulders. Hopefully she could rouse him and they could locate his pants before whoever that was decided to look inside here. I mean... they probably didn't even know they were in there, right?
Odessa made a motion with her hand as if fanning herself, in a mock attempt to diffuse the sexual tension that had built up from the bet's completion.
"Oh, I'm just getting started," said the psion with a grin. "One more, then? As much as I enjoyed that, perhaps it would be fair of me to give you guys another chance to get those bragging rights. Although, I'd say our current bet is pretty safe--unless you want to take this back to Academy days with the proper use of some storage closets," she added, chuckling.
At the mention of the blue scientist, her face shifted to a more thoughtful expression. "Ausel? Hmm... nope. I thought he took off with Jane? Poor kid's so easy to read. He looked pretty nervous just earlier, considering how lucky he's probably getting right now."
Thankfully for Judith, her flashlight intrusion on Ausel's sleeping eyes managed to do the trick. While she was mounted on top of his half naked body, shining a light directly into his eyeball, the Cerulean made a sudden start and attempted to bolt upright into a sitting position. This had the unlucky consequence of bonking heads with the engineer, sending the science officer back onto his back and knocking Judith back a little herself, rubbing her head in the process.
"Buh! Guh! Wah, Judith!? What's going on? Where's Jane? Where are my clothes!?"
Ausel clutched his head and tried to turn away onto his side while Judith backed away and gave him room to get up.
"I was just looking at what Jane had been working on in her research station when I suddenly... I don't quite remember. I think I fainted." He looked up apologetically at the engineer. "I don't normally do that, I swear. It's really weird."
The scuttling sound seemed to get louder then, and Ausel noticed it too.
"What's that?"
Just as the question was asked, the scuttling stopped, and it was eerily quiet in the inner research area.
--------
(In Bernard's Office)
"I'm glad that you're beginning to see things my way, Caitlin, but in light of your protest, I'm afraid your finishing dinner is out of the question. As is leaving this office."
Bernard moved in between Caitlin and the door.
"Besides, I was intending to feed the guests personally. Ingestion has proven to be a sufficient vector for neurospore infection - and it is notably less traumatic than the sexual aggression normally displayed by the Tentak. From here you will be able to monitor the first two subjects - Ausel and the engineer... I believe the Urania manifest lists her as Judith. The Cerulean has already been infected while unconscious. It is now only a matter of time until his body and mind submit to the neurospore fluid, then he will take care of Judith himself. The crawler meanwhile has a different target in mind."
There was a touch of pride and glee in Bernard's voice as he talked so easily about unleashing a Tentak plague on board the research station. It was hard to believe that Bernard would ever have acted so recklessly. This mad scheme was nothing like him at all. The science was all wrong. The methodology was shabby and haphazard. Desperation? A psychotic break? Possibly, but even still, how had he drawn Jane into this? She was a sly charmer true, but she was still a scientist.
Bernard had a stun gun at his hip, but he wasn't holding it or making a move to it. Overconfidence?
"I've already been making alterations to the ship's inner research area. The final overrides could only be made today, when the reactor was down and being repaired. Now I control this station's security clearances, the auto scanners are down, and the emergency signal feed to the rest of the Federation requires my personal authorization code. But don't worry, Caitlin, once I have contained our new experimental subjects, you'll be given all the necessary access you require to do the research."
----------------
(In the Lounge)
The card game's bet had produced a lot of smiles, a handful of blushes, and more than one risque thought in the minds of the participants and onlookers. Ken and Nicolas were both giving Odessa and Elise new looks of appraisal. It was clear that if there had not been a mild attraction before, due to the taboo of fraternizing with either a commanding officer or a psychic, these facts were now being overlooked.
"Ausel?" Ken said, running a hand through is hair. "Never saw him after he left with that Vulpar lady."
"Come to think of it, someone should probably go in search of our hosts," Nicolas added.
"Me and Athryn can do that," Sonya said from the bar area. "Why don't you guys finish your game. This sorta thing shouldn't be interrupted." The pilot grinned and watched as Elise put her clothes back on.
"Oh, if you're going to look for the others, I'll go with you." Rachel, the youthful looking medical officer said to Athryn and Sonya.
"In the meanwhile, I guess I'll join the card game," Tammie said, sitting down in between Nicolas and Kenneth, eyeing each of the men with a knowing smirk.
"Good idea," said Odessa to Nicolas' suggestion. "It's a shame they didn't stay around for longer. Might have scared them off with this pretty risque form of play, but hey, it's not everyday we get to do something like this. Well, time to get this over with." She raised a brow, giving a knowing look towards Tammie as the other girl sat in between the men at the table, but didn't fail to keep her usual grin on in the meanwhile. "I figured you weren't about to let us have all the fun," commented the psion, folding her arms under her bust while leaning back in her chair. "But there's plenty of it to go around for everyone, I'm sure. Alright, deal me."
Athryn glanced at Sonya as she issued her offer, and then set aside her beer and nodded. "Alright, yeah lets go and find our hosts. The kitchen seems like a good enough place to start, but if it's still empty we can go and look around the station."
The marine was still feeling very uneasy, but when Rachel offered to join them Athryn gave the medical officer a smile. "Come on then, lets see the sights!" she said with a bit of forced enthusiasm, and then immediately started her search in the kitchen attached to the lounge.
"Jane?" Elise asked at first, though she smiled and nodded when the words 'vulpar lady' and 'lucky' came into the conversation. "How selfish of him to get a party started without us," she said, a sly grin on her face. "I'll have to remember to ask him for details."
With one mystery 'solved', Elise was glad to hear her crew so ready to work on the next. She gave Sonya a wink when she caught the pilot watching her dress, then nodded as she, Athryn and Rachel started heading out. "Just remember you three, Fringe is a special research facility, and all it's projects are highly classified," she called to them, her voice stern and serious for the first time since they had docked with the station. It didn't stay that way for long though, her grin returning as she continued, "So if you find anything interesting in some of the labs, you come right back here and let me know so I can check it out too. Alright?"
With the table filling up and the players ready to start again, Elise took her seat again. Odessa didn't seem interested in dealing, so she passed the deck over to Kenneth. "Alright, big boy, give us a good one."
"Owh!" Judy exclaimed when he rushed to sit up, smacking their heads together. She pushed her glasses back up her nose and re-set them, the knock having jostled them out of place, and her vision out of focus momentarily.
"Who's Jane??" she answered once he gave her the space to speak into. "And how would I know? They're your clothes, not mine!"
While he sat up, she took a step back and got to her feet, too. "You were looking at her research?" She asked. "That seems... ...well, I wanted to know, too, so I guess I can't say anything. We're in a research area... I was helping the Fringe's engineer with something when he buggered off and left me in here alone, and then I found you in this room, like you are now. ...You know... pantsless."
"As for that sound... I dunno. I thought it might be a scientist, but... it doesn't really sound like one, does it? Should I check...?" Judith went over to the door, wondering if she should poke her head out to look. She didn't want to get in trouble... but, at the same time, she was curious.
Caitlin crossed her arms at Bernard's statement. frowning slightly. "I do not approve of your methods, and I will continue to do so. That does not mean I will waste the opportunity. I suggest you hurry, I don't think they will be amiable to ingesting burnt foodstuff." She replied in an annoyed tone. "Reduce the heat when you arrive, then ladle some of the stew into a seperate pot for us to eat later, we don't have the supplies to be completely wasteful, with the amount of different things we put into it."
She paused a second, then continued. "What is the crawler's target? You don't have a camera feed on it, from what I've seen. We need to fix that for proper documentation. And tell me what is really going on with Jane." She said, her tone not wavering the entire time. Her gaze glanced down to the stun gun on his hip, apparently and fortunately ignored by the man. Her own was in a holster at her back, out of the way but hard to get at in a pinch. If it came down to it, he'd have his in hand first, so she tried to keep that possibility from occuring.
Ken dealt out the cards then slapped them down upon the table with emphasis. He gazed from side to side, sizing up the opponents as they plucked up their hands, before sliding his own five cards towards him and giving them a read over.
"Okay. Here's how it's going to go. The winner of this hand gets to choose a person at this table to kiss. And the person who stays in and has the worst hand has to kiss Commander Soude the next time he walks in this room. Full on the lips. With tongue if possible."
Nicolas arched an eyebrow. "That's a bold loss condition. Yet you don't seem worried about it."
Tammie smirked. "Heh, Spartan men bat for both sides. That's what I hear."
Ken grinned wolfishly. "I'm not worried because I'm not going to have the worst hand. I'll take two."
The spiky haired Spartan grabbed two cards but didn't bother to look at them. He just looked directly at Odessa. "Ask the mind reader. Think I'm bluffing?"
"It's not a question of bluffing," Ami said quietly. "You may just be too stupid to realize you've got the worst hand."
Eyes turned expectantly to see what Odessa, and then what Elise would say. After that Ami, then Nicolas, then Tammie would decide if they were going to be a part of this bet.
--------------
Athryn stepped across the hallway and into the kitchen, finding it empty. She noticed the burned first attempt at a meal, and the obvious signs of a new dish being prepared.
"From the smell, I'd say it's just about done," Rachel piped up from behind the marine. "Let me just take this out of the oven to cool."
After placing the newly heated meal up on the stove top, Rachel rejoined Sonya and Athryn to go explore the rest of the station.
Fringe 1 was shaped like a spinning top, with a wide circle forming the main level, with a stretch of outer hallway going around the entire outer ring. There were four "spoke" corridors that headed inward toward the central hallway, where access to levels both "up" and "down" could be found. There were doors going further into the center of the circle, where the "inner research area" could be found.
Athryn knew of the location of the cargo bay, it was located on the outer corridor, near to the airlock connection to the Urania. Everything else was a mystery to the marine and her companions. They could search around the outer ring, or choose to move inward, at which point they could try a different level or explore more of the current level.
-----
"No! Wait."
Ausel placed a hand on Judith's shoulder. His eyes focusing hard, as if he were trying to recall something. Suddenly he winced, as though in pain, and clutched his wispy white hair with his off hand.
"Hnnn.... I think... I think we need to get out of here. Out of the research area. Let's get back to the crew. I remember.... errgh!" The Cerulean stumbled.
"T-tentaks... it's... it was Tentaks! Jane's research! This station has a crawler on it. I remember now, I saw it just before I... hrggh.. before I blacked out."
His eyes suddenly grew panicked. "Judith... maybe it's better I stay here. If Jane comes back, I'll question her about it. You should get out. Tell the captain."
-------
Bernard shook his head at Caitlin.
"I think you know quite enough for the moment, Caitlin. You can rest assured that everything has been taken care of. Just sit down, enjoy the show, and stay put. If you were to leave this room, I can't guarantee that you won't become an experimental subject. And that would be a shame, I think."
The research director, backed up to the door and while keeping his eye on the auburn haired scientist, slid his keycard across the reader and opened the locked door. "Jane, can keep you company for the time being. Play nice though."
Caitlin remained silent, keeping her pose and her scowl until the door had sealed behind the man. Then she was in motion again, striding past Jane to seat herself in front of the monitor and the interface therein, checking to see what access she had to the rest of the station from this room. "What do you think of all of this?" She spoke out loud, casting a glance over her shoulder to the Vulpar.
Caitlin's basic security clearance seemed to have no effect on the system. Bypassing the security software would be an extreme longshot. It seemed Bernard had fully expected she'd try something like this.
"What do I think? I think Bernard is in charge of the situation, so long as you don't interfere. With the crawler already out of its containment zone and the station's autoscanners shut down, it's going to be more dangerous if we try to upset the plan. Just go with it. Bernard's a little zealous about this idea, but it's not so bad. Think of it. Our own little Tentak farm - plenty of breeding material to satisfy an endless amount of test subjects."
Jane went back to filing her nails. "Shame Maria made such a fuss about ethical process when the idea was floated by her last week. Bernard was dubious about her from the start, but her soft-hearted approach was clear. You wanted to know where the crawler is heading? It's being funneled right towards and Egan. Through the ventilation duct you're always complaining about, as a matter of fact."
"This isn't getting any less weird....." Athryn muttered, speaking mostly to herself as her gaze re-swept across the empty kitchen. Turning to Rachel and Sonya, Athryn said; "Where do you two think they might've gone to? I'd say we should start checking the rest of the outer ring unless either of you have a better idea. If we don't find somebody after a while, we'll head to the inner ring."
