A short female with almond eyes and a shaved head came forward and put a hand on his arm in comfort. The name patch on her chest read ‘Chao’. “It’s okay, Mike. I’ll hold your hand if you want.”
The doctor shook her head. “No, you can’t hold his hand. The current will pass through him and into you.”
“I’m not doing it!” Mike’s voice rose higher.
Ontarii thought hysteria was right around the corner for this human.
“I agree with Smith,” the short woman with red-gold curls who had whispered in the captain’s ear earlier said. “No thanks on the offer of electro-shock therapy.”
“This isn’t up for discussion,” the captain said. “Line up.”
“Maybe it should be.” This was a new voice. It belonged to a tall, pale blond man. His eyes were light blue, lines around them indicating his anger.
“Weitz, we don’t have time for this. It stings, but you’ll be fine. Let’s get this done so we can carry on the mission.”
Weitz folded his arms over his chest and refused to move. “No.”
“Look, everybody, I know you’re upset.” This was the one the captain had called Lieutenant Brunt. “But the sooner we get this done, the sooner we get Dr. Cohen and go home.”
“Shut up, Lieutenant Cheerful!” Mike Smith was shaking, his face red. “You can sunshine and rainbows your way through this. I’m not doing it.”
“Me neither.” Weitz was firm in his resolve.
The crew erupted into chaos, their voices echoing down the corridor.
“Can it!” Captain Brooklyn’s words silenced them all, except for the one called Smith, who was now openly whimpering.
“I’m afraid of electricity,” he said. “When I was a kid I grabbed the cord of a lamp that had been stripped and it shocked me so bad I had to go to the hospital. I’ll never put myself through that again.”
“I understand it’s difficult,” the captain said, heading toward the man. “But we’ll all be here for you. Dr. Nguyen won’t let anything happen.”
“I can’t promise that,” the doctor muttered under her breath, earning a sharp look from Brooklyn.
“He shouldn’t have to do anything he doesn’t want to.” This was from Weitz. “Why should we submit to some alien test when they won’t even prove to us that Cohen is alive? Just because they zapped the captain and nothing happened doesn’t mean it will be the same for the rest of us.”
“Weitz, you’re not helping,” Lieutenant Brunt responded.
“I disagree,” Weitz said, puffing out his chest.
“Let me out of here!” This from Smith, who had started a high-pitched moan. The man struggled away from the bald woman’s grip and was waving his arms around like mad.
“Calm down,” the captain said, trying to get closer to Smith.
“Why should he calm down?” Weitz said, the volume of his voice climbing. “You’re trying to force him to do something he’s deathly afraid of. He’ll be lucky not to have a heart attack if they zap him.”
“Heart attack?” Smith was nearly shrieking.
“Stop it,” the lieutenant said, getting closer to Weitz.
“You stop it,” Weitz replied, then shoved the man who was trying to close in on him.
There were gasps and general commotion. Ontarii nodded to his men, and the three of them started to charge up their bioelectricity.
The short curly-headed woman pointed in their direction. “They’re getting ready to attack!”
The captain turned and started heading toward Ontarii.
Smith let out a scream and started barreling toward the door. He knocked into Brooklyn’s back, causing the female to tumble.
