He refocused himself, closing his eyes.The facts of the case are these: According to the ship's log, no external hatches have been opened save the one that led to his ship. The escape pod is still attached to the ship. And after searching the ship twice, there is still no sign of the crew or the Hareema agents.
What was to be their next move?
For the first time in his decorated military career, he had no idea.
"We should head back to the bridge. Perhaps re-evaluate our course. I don't think we should land on your planet with our current situation." She touched his arm.
Ontarii opened his eyes and nodded, willing to follow her suggestion since he had nothing to offer at the moment. He'd always been in command and had grown used to everyone following his orders. Even his superiors treated him with a level of respect that was unusual in the service. Yet this little human female had first refused to follow his orders and was now dictating their course of action. It was a tough pill to swallow.
Captain Brooklyn looked over her shoulder at him as she led the way back to the bridge. "You know, I don't think we should discount the possibility that the ship's log has been tampered with."
They were walking through the crew's mess hall. Ontarii placed a hand on her shoulder, forcing her to pause.
"What is it?" she asked, her face confused.
"We should check the compartments here as well," he said, indicating the many cupboards that stored her crew's nourishment. "Some of these cabinets are large enough to hide a human."
The captain frowned but squatted down next to one of the larger compartments and opened it. Inside were packets that must have contained the human's rations. Freeze-dried, from the looks of things.Yuck.
Ontarii walked to the opposite end of the mess and opened a cabinet. Inside he found several containers of liquid. Water, mostly. He moved down to the next. This one held several small containers of thin wafers. Some sort of nutritional supplements.
All of a sudden, his companion let out a gasp. Ontarii hurried to her side just in time to see a shape tumble out of the compartment nearest her.
It was the one she'd called Mike. The one who'd been terrified of being electrocuted. The only other member of the crew that had been confirmed as human.
His face was locked in a permanent scream, his eyes wide and bulging. There was a ring of dark bruises around his neck. Mike had been strangled to death, then stuffed in the cupboard.
"Oh my God," she screamed and moved back quickly, falling on her rear and scooting away from the corpse. Her small hands shook as she held them up to her beautiful face and let out another cry.
Ontarii moved in quickly, putting his hands under her shoulders and pulling her to her feet. Then he wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly out of instinct.
"They killed Mike," she whispered, her tight voice indicating the level of her shock. "They killed him."
"Shhh..." Ontarii whispered, stroking her hair softly. "I know."
"You were right all this time." Her voice broke. "These jelly things are dangerous. I didn't listen, and now two of my crewmembers are dead. This is all my fucking fault."
"It's not your fault. You've done the best you can, so don't blame yourself. These creatures are new to you, Brook."
"They're my crew." She moved back as a trail of tears rolled down her face. "I'm responsible for them."
"Don't," he said, his heart breaking for her. He knew exactly how she felt. "You have to be strong, for the rest of your crew."
Captain Brooklyn sniffled, then wiped her face. She sucked in a deep breath and nodded, putting on a brave face which would likely cripple him.
"You're right." She straightened her shoulders and pulled away from him. “I can do this.”
He started to reach for her again, but decided against it. The fact that he missed her touch already was something he would have to work through later.
