Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Are you sure you wanna go with us?”, Ed asked.

“It’s just a headache, Captain”, Raevyn assured him. “I really wanna know what’s going on down there. If it’s a trap, I might be able to tell you early and you’ll be happy you didn’t leave me behind.”

Ed mustered a light smile, then they boarded the shuttle and set off. Throughout the whole flight, Raevyn kept her mind locked with Gordon’s. She found it relaxing to listen to his thoughts while flying. There was a steady stream of consciousness always checking altitude, speed, steering behaviour and other factors, sometimes joined by thoughts about how the planets and stars looked, the shape of a cloud, bits and pieces of songs or just random little ideas. As they dove through the clouds, Raevyn expected a brilliant city. Lights, tall buildings, maybe with greenery along the walls. Instead, there was nothing but trees. A dense forest.

“Gordon, verify landing coordinates”, Kelly ordered.

“Verified, Commander”, Gordon mumbled. “We should be looking at downtown Manhattan.”

“Set us down”, Ed said.

Eventually, they found a tiny clearing in the forest. Raevyn watched in awe as Gordon weaved the shuttle through the trees and landed it safely. She waited until everyone else had left, then kissed Gordon on the cheek.

How did I deserve that now?

Expert flying maneuvers. Plus, you might need some extra energy in case this little adventure gets even weirder.

Gordon smiled and gave her a kiss back.

Extra energy sounds great .

Then, they left the shuttle to catch up with the others.

"So much for landing in a city", Talla sighed as she scanned the shuttle's surroundings.

“This all shouldn’t be here”, Gordon remarked. “Narran 1 is a bare wasteland.”

“This doesn’t look very wasteland-like to me”, Raevyn mumbled.

“Looks like that to the scanners too”, Ed confirmed. “These trees go on for thousands of square kilometers.”

“Grayson to Orville.”

“Lamarr here, Commander. I was just about to contact you.”

“What are your scans showing?”

“The cities are gone, ma’am. We’re reading dense vegetation. Forests all across the continent.”

“Captain, look at this”, Bortus suggested, holding his comscanner out in front of him.

Ed peeked over his shoulder at the comscanner.

“What is it?”, Gordon asked.

He was starting to grow insecure. Everyone had their own kind of insecurity. Gordon’s was softer, less sharp and panicky than others. It was more of a loss of understanding than a loss of control. Still, Raevyn sent him a few reassuring waves. She would have held his hand, but not in this situation.

“Lifeforms”, Ed said.

“Several hundred humanoids, in that direction”, Bortus stated, nodding at the direction he was pointing his scanner.

“Alright. Let’s go.”

“Sir”, Talla interrupted. “Weapons?”

Ed thought for a moment. “Yeah.”

Oh god no , Gordon cursed internally. Please don’t make me have to use it.

Still, he switched on his gun. Raevyn gently rubbed her hand across his back as she took care of her weapon. Just because they had their weapons on, it did not mean they would have to use them. A treaded path curved through the forest towards where Bortus had found the life signatures. Where there was such a path, there had to have, at some point, been life, Raevyn thought. It was too deliberate to be natural. No plants growing in the way, no thorn bushes tearing at their clothes, not even branches that they had to duck under - nothing. Finally, the path seemed to reach its end. Raevyn wondered what they would find. A settlement, maybe? A village or a town? A shelter? Well, in fact, it was neither. It was worse.

“What the hell?”, Gordon gasped.

“Is that…?”, Raevyn mumbled

“Yeah, looks like it.”

In front of them was a large, yellow structure with rough walls, tall windows and a long staircase leading to gates in front of the actual entrance. Next to the staircase, on a patch of grass, stood a blue sign that read in orange letters: Oakwood High. A blue banner above the gates welcomed them to the “Home of the Oakwood Tigers”.

“They don’t really have those big cats on the banner, right?”

“No, that’s probably just the name of the football team.”

None of them had moved. They were all staring at this building in front of them that should not be there, inside a forest that should not be there.

“Mercer to Lamarr.”

“Lamarr here, go ahead.”

“Scan the immediate vicinity of our location.”

“We’re just reading the landing party, sir.”

“Just the landing party, nothing else?”

“Like what?”

“A high school?”, Kelly suggested.

“... Say it again, Commander?”

“A high school”, Gordon repeated. “Like a 21st century high school.”

“Lamarr, are you reading a structure of any kind?”

“Negative, just plant life.”

“And what about people?”, Raevyn asked. “Just us?”

“Just you.”

Raevyn furrowed her brows. She was hearing the thoughts of people inside that high school. Some chaotic, some calm, some focused, some bored… Ed started walking towards the school. The others followed.

“Are you picking up brain waves from in there?”, Kelly asked.

Raevyn nodded. “Might be several hundreds, just like Bortus said.”

“Can you tell what they’re up to? Are they doing high school stuff?”

“Mostly. Studying, listening to their teacher, daydreaming, causing trouble. Seems normal to me.”

The doors behind the gates were small. Too small for a building with so many people, Raevyn thought. What would they do in case of an emergency? The first thing you saw when entering was a notice board to the right and a cabinet of shiny trophies to the left. The hallways were lined with doors and endless rows of lockers.

“What is this place?”, Bortus asked.

“And old Earth high school in the middle of the forest on an alien planet”, Gordon mumbled. “Completely normal, how’s your day going?”

Bortus seemed to regard this as not enough information and took to using his comscanner again. “Captain, we are not alone.”

“Raven?”

“Humans, from what I can tell, Captain.”

“Their signatures confirm that they are, in fact, human.”

“Just normal students. As normal as teenagers can be, that is.”

Ed frowned. He tried to contact the Orville again. But this time, there was just silence. Suddenly, the door snapped shut. Just the wind, Raevyn convinced herself, even though not even a gentle breeze had been blowing outside. Gordon stood there with an open mouth. Nothing made sense to him anymore and he was getting scared again. Raevyn tried reassuring him like she had before, but she knew she had gotten less confident herself. Ed tried to open the door, but it would not move a bit. So, he told Talla to try. One, two, three times, she threw her shoulder against what seemed like simple wood. Raevyn’s eyes grew large. That door should have been in splinters by now. In one final attempt, Kelly pointed her plasma gun at the window. Her first shot dispersed. Her second, turned up to maximum, suffered the same fate. Two things were clear: This was no normal high school and they were not getting out that way. So, with nowhere else to go, they started wandering down the halls.

Chapter Text

Then, the bell rang. Students started flooding out of the doors and into the hallway like water through a broken dam. They seemed to be paying no mind to the aliens standing in the middle of their school. Instead, like a river, they just weaved around them, as if they were pillars that had always been there. That was until one of them, a teenage girl, approached Bortus.

“Um… Do you mind?”

Bortus’s usually calm exterior had shifted towards visible confusion.

“... What?”

“... You’re, like, right in front of my locker…?”

Puzzled, Bortus took one step to the side.

“‘Scuse me”, Ed said to the girl that had talked to Bortus.

She made a confused humming sound and turned around.

She’s shy, Captain, and anxious. Be careful.

“Where are we?”

“We’re… in the hallway?”

“... Who are you?”

“... Ashley. - This is a… fun conversation, but I have to get to Bio.”

That had been little to no help. So, Gordon made a try. He caught a person running past him by the sleeve. A boy with black hair and a grey jacket.

“Hey! Hey, uh, what’s today’s date?”

“Uh… I think it’s the 19th?”, the boy replied.

“No, no, no, the year . What’s the year ?”

The boy stared at Gordon for a second, then chuckled. “What are you, high?”

“Possibly, that’s what I’m trying to find out.”

Then the boy ran along. Still nothing new.
“Could it be time-travel?”, Kelly asked.

“I dunno”, Ed sighed. “Somehow, I don’t think so. … Alright, first things first: We need to find a way out. Kelly, Talla and I will search this direction, the rest of you check those corridors down there. We’ll meet back here in ten minutes.”

The bell rang again as the two groups split up. Raevyn, Gordon and Bortus pulled out their scanners and slowly walked along the corridor. The lockers seemed to go on without end. Posters were hung at every corner and above the doors and lockers. Bortus stopped at one of the doors. There was a voice coming from inside. Through the window, he could see a tall, skinny man with curly hair at a table in front of a green board. He opened the door and stepped inside. Raevyn followed.

“... And the Triple Alliance consisting of Germany, Italy… Can I help you?”

“Perhaps”, Bortus said. “I am looking for a way out.”

“Well, I think you should talk to the guidance counselor.”

Bortus paid no mind to that statement and neither did Raevyn. Who was this guidance counselor anyways? They walked around the room, scanners held out in front of them. Teenagers were watching them from their single tables. From what Raevyn could tell, they were happy yet confused over their disrupted class.

“... This is History 103…”, the man said slowly. “Are you supposed to be in this class?”

Curiously, Raevyn pulled up one of the blinds.

“Hey! Just what in the hell do you think you’re doing?!”

“... I wanna open a window, it’s stuffy in here”, Raevyn mumbled.

Then, she bumped her hands against the glass as strongly as she could.

“Hey! Hey! Knock it off! If the two of you don’t leave right now, I’ll-”

Raevyn didn’t pay attention anymore. Her brain had sprung to full alertness. She could sense panic - panic over a signature that was so familiar to her.

Shit.

“We’ll go talk to the guidance counselor”, she quickly decided and grabbed Bortus by the sleeve, motioning him towards the door.

Whatever the curly-haired man was saying had no importance to her. Now, there was only one thing she was going to worry about:

“Gordon’s in danger”, she quickly explained herself as soon as they were out of the room. “He’s panicking and in pain.”

Raevyn refused to wait for orders. She just walked off in the direction she could feel the emotions coming from. Relying on the tingling in her brain alone, she quickly made her way down the rest of the hallway, towards the next corner. Then, she looked around, trying to orientate herself.

“His comscanner”, Bortus remarked, pointing at the ground.

There it was, one side slightly chipped, possibly from falling. Right next to it was the door to the men’s bathroom. Raevyn couldn’t be bothered to pick the scanner up. She went right for the door… and bumped into it. Locked. Somehow, completely closed off. With the entire force of her body, she threw herself against it.

“Th-they’re drowning him!”, she shrieked. “He can’t breathe!”

“Step aside, counselor”, Bortus ordered.

He rammed into the door, but to no avail. Then he pointed his plasma gun at the lock and fired. Nothing. Suddenly, the door swung open. Three men came out, aggression radiating off of them like fire. Raevyn stared at them in furious anger, then she stormed into the bathroom.

“Gordon!”, she gasped.

He lay curled up on the floor, his breathing only shallow. The skin around his left eye had turned into a nasty bruise, his nose was cut and blood came from his lip. His hair was soaking wet and it was hard to tell wether the liquid on his face was water or sweat or both. Splashes lined the top of his jacket. Raevyn ran her hand across his cheek carefully. Her eyes were widened in horror.

“Lieutenant, are you alright?”, Bortus asked.

“Yeah, I think so”, Gordon murmured.

He grunted in pain when Bortus grabbed him under the arms and pulled him to his feet.

“No, you’re not!”, Raevyn shrieked. “They threw you into walls, they punched you, they almost drowned you, they kicked you in the stomach- Don’t try to play tough, you dumbass, you’re no Xelayan!”

She cupped his face with her hands, then ran her fingers through his hair and kissed his forehead.

“What happened?”, Bortus inquired.

“Those guys jumped me!”

“Who were they?”

“I dunno. They wouldn’t tell me.”

“Whoever they are, they’ll become nobodies once I’m through with them”, Raevyn grumbled.

She still hadn’t let Gordon go for even a moment. Her hands cycled between his cheeks, his forehead and his hair in a worried fashion. How could they have done this? Why was she not there when they attacked? She should have never left him alone. Maybe they wouldn’t have attacked him if he hadn’t been alone.

“The Captain has forbidden you from killing people”, Bortus reminded her.

“Oh, I won’t kill them. I’ll just mess them up.”

“He has also forbidden you from using excessive violence.”

“Then I’ll just insult them until they wish they hadn’t been born.”

“... That is up to the Captain to evaluate. We should return to the rendezvous point.”

With those words, he left. Gordon let out a sigh and rolled his shoulders awkwardly, trying to reassemble the parts of his body into their correct position. Weakly, he pulled Raevyn into a hug, leaning against her. She gently rubbed his back and rocked from side to side.

“It’s okay”, she whispered in his ear. “You’ll be okay. I’ve got you. We’ll find a way out of here and then we’ll have Doctor Finn take a look at you, alright?”

Gordon nodded slowly.

“You’re doing great. I love you.”

“I love you too. … Can I get a kiss before Bortus gets impatient?”

Carefully, Raevyn put her lips on his. She could feel him flinching a little from the cut on his lower lip. But he didn’t pull away. Instead, he pulled her closer. The kiss wasn’t nearly as long as he had hoped, but this just wasn’t the time. They both knew. It was the only reason they weren’t constantly holding hands, or kissing at every opportunity they got. Even though everyone on the Orville definitely knew about their relationship, they still weren’t too open about it, for the sake of professionalism. But now, Raevyn decided, that rule of professionalism could be ignored. The situation called for it. As they walked out into the hallway - where Bortus had been standing and waiting for them - she took Gordon’s hand and squeezed it lightly. A wave of thankfulness radiated from Gordon’s mind, making Raevyn feel a little more at ease. Bortus eyed their locked hands for a second, then gave a nod of approval and started leading them towards the corner where the landing party had split up.

You hurt your head too?

Got shoved into a wall.

Are you sure you’ll be okay?

Yeah, I’ll be fine. It’s just that the throbbing is killing me right now.

I wish I could help, but today isn’t the best day for that.

Is your headache getting worse?

Gradually worse, yeah. But I don’t want the others to know. We have worse problems. Like indestructible windows and doors. Maybe punching some bullies will help.

I won’t tell Ed if you do. But when I’m going to Doctor Finn, you’re coming with me, okay?

She won’t be able to help if it’s a telepathy problem.

Just to make sure it’s not something else. Let me be the one to take care of you for once.

Chapter Text

“My god, what happened?”, Kelly gasped when she saw Gordon’s face.

Gordon sighed. “I’m okay, Commander. I just had a little run-in.”

“With who?”, Talla asked.

“Bullies.”

“What did they want?”, Ed grumbled.

“Money. They said I have till 3:15 to pay some guy named Randall.”

“His injuries are real, sir”, Raevyn said through gritted teeth.

“Counselor Maumahara has, after I discouraged her from violence, elected to ‘insult them until they wish they hadn’t been born’ as punishment”, Bortus reported.

“Permission granted”, Ed said.

“You can punch them too, just don’t beat them up too hard”, Kelly added. “And try to get some answers from them. Maybe they know stuff we don’t know."

In search of answers, they made their way to the cafeteria. Raevyn furrowed her brows. Unconsciously, she gripped Gordon’s hand a little tighter. Her headache had gotten even worse. Something about these people's thoughts was loud, harsh and incredibly obnoxious. Almost unnatural even. Gordon rubbed his thumb across her skin slowly, even though he was clearly still tense and scared. Most of his energy and liveliness had left his body. He was tired. Exhausted, almost.

"Now what?", Talla asked.

"Find someone who looks friendly", Ed suggested.

Bortus's interpretation led him to a very unfriendly group of girls. Luckily, Gordon had the right insult up his sleeve for payback. Kelly then found a table that was still mostly free. The people who sat there looked harmless. Luckily, they were. Throughout this little search, Raevyn just let herself be pulled along. She was hardly paying attention to where she was going or what she was hearing anymore. The voices streaming into her head had gotten way too loud. Gordon glanced at her worriedly and tightened his grip around her hand.

Raven, baby, you need to go see Doctor Finn as fast as possible.

I need to get out of here as fast as possible.

And then you'll go to Doctor Finn.

Probably.

Raevyn paid little attention to the conversation happening at the table, even if it was about Randall. She tried to look as normal as possible while doing so, but seemed unsuccessful. It was pretty clear her crewmates had some suspicions about what was going on.

“They’re saying that he’s gonna come looking for you after school unless he gets the money”, one of the girls at the table explained.

This Randall was starting to sound oh-so-lovely the more Raevyn heard about him. By now, all she cared about was where he was. Headache or not, she would make him regret what he did to Gordon.

“Where do we find this guy?”, Talla asked, glancing over at Raevyn as she did.

“He hangs out behind the bleachers.”

“What happens if I don’t pay him?”, Gordon asked.

One of the boys at their table frowned. “... You should pay him.”

Raevyn squeezed Gordon’s hand.

You won’t pay. He’ll pay.

The next school bell rang. It was 3 o’clock. Fifteen minutes until this Randall would come to try and make Gordon’s life hell. He would try, but he wouldn’t succeed. The doors of the school stood open.

“Come on, this could be our way out”, Ed said.

The crew moved into the stream of students pouring through the doors. But instead of the forest that had once been outside, there were hedges, paths, benches and a large playing field for some kind of sport in the distance. School grounds, it seemed.

“There’s no sign of the shuttle”, Talla remarked dryly, already very displeased about the hijinx they had gotten themselves into.

Communication with the Orville wasn’t available.

“Ideas, anyone?”, Ed asked.

“Perhaps this Randall could give us some information”, Bortus suggested.

Gordon looked at him with wide eyes. “Wait, wait- The Randall who just had me beat up? The guy who wants to kill me?”

“It’s the only lead we have”, Kelly said as calmly as possible. “Maybe we can talk to him.”

“Do I get to engage in aggressive communications, Commander?”, Raevyn asked through gritted teeth.

“Would me saying yes convince you to go see Doctor Finn about your headache?”

“Yes.”

“Permission granted.”

“Alright, let’s find the bleachers”, Ed decided.

“Great”, Gordon snarled.

Raevy gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, then pulled him along with the rest of the group. “I’ve got you, don’t worry.”

They soon made their way to the large sports field - a football field, according to Gordon - and kept their eyes open. Raevyn could feel a spike of tenseness poking Gordon’s brain. She turned to look in his direction and scowled. Those were Randall’s minions. She recognized them. Three tall boys, one skinny one in a jeans jacket, a more muscular one in a jacket made of wool or cotton and a third, the leader of the pack, of heavy build and an aggressive attitude. They came to meet them on the football field.

“We’re looking for Randall”, Ed said severely.

“You found him”, the leader announced, his voice sounding weirdly disfigured.

He nodded behind Ed’s back. The crew turned around. Gordon’s panic got worse. Instinctively, Raevyn pulled her hand out of his grasp and moved in front of him a little.

“Oh shit!”, he exclaimed.

Running onto the field was a creature of gigantic size, barely humanoid with large muscles, thick legs and long arms. Spikes ran along its back and it carried a large weapon of some kind. Randall roared at them from its monstrous mouth. Raevyn could feel the bullies behind her soaking themselves in happiness over the massacre they were going to watch. Randall came storming at them as the bullies cleared the pitch. The crew of the Orville pulled out their guns. A barrage of plasma shots rained onto the creature, but it showed no reaction at all - and no thoughts at all. Its aggression was empty, without reason and without the feeling of aggression there. It swung its weapon, a gigantic battleaxe, and split the crew apart as they dodged to different sides. Raevyn’s heart that had been pounding like a drum came to a sudden stop. That monster had Gordon. For one second of shock, she stood still. Then, she ran at the monster, ignoring the shouting from her crew. That thing may be strong, she thought, but she was faster and it was busy yelling at her boyfriend. Quickly, she slid across the grass beneath its legs, then jumped onto its back. Randall turned around, disoriented, but Raevyn clung on to the spikes on its body while also trying not to impale herself on them. She jumped up and reached its shoulders with nowhere to stand. Half willingly, half from falling, she landed on its outstretched arm. Gordon was squirming in its hand but his efforts were stopped when he saw Raevyn, his heart coming to a stop. With all her strength, Raevyn clung on to Randall ’s arm. All at once, she shot all of her electricity into the muscle. Randall screamed in pain and let Gordon go. But that was all the shock did. Terrified, Gordon scrambled to his feet and ran away. Raevyn thought she heard him call her name, but she could not be sure. She climbed atop the arm in an attempt to flee. Before she could react, the monster was back to its senses. It swung the back of its weapon at her. Within a flash of its dirty metal, she dodged, but could not be fast enough. The edge hit her, launching her off into the grass. This time, as she was paralyzed for a second, she heard her name for sure. Only a blink of an eye later, Gordon was at her side, with fear in his eyes.

“A-are you okay? Please be okay!”, he stammered.

Raevyn only gasped as a response. Holding her head, she got to her feet. Gordon held her by the waist and did not let her go, shoring her as they ran. Randall cried in pain. A large, white board had been thrown into his eye. Ed, Kelly, Bortus and Talla joined Gordon and Raevyn in their escape. They ran off the football field, towards the school. For a few seconds, they thought they were getting away, but Randall followed, turning the chase into a rollercoaster of gaining some distance and falling into panic at every roar that announced Randall nearing again. The crew sprinted through the school gates - and ended up somewhere completely different.

Chapter Text

A sharp pain shot through Raevyn’s head as soon as she stepped into this new place, so much so that she yelped in agony and had to cling on to Bortus to not fall to the ground.

“Counselor, are you in pain?”, Bortus asked.

Meanwhile, Gordon wrapped his arm tighter around her waist and pulled her against him to give her stability.

“... Yes”, Raevyn grunted. “Slowly getting better now.”

“What happened?”, Gordon stammered. “Is it the headache?”

“Well, yes- no- I don’t know, I just- I had this shooting pain in my head all of a sudden, the moment I crossed over from that high school to wherever this is. Like a bomb exploding in my skull, it was horrible!”

“Wait a minute”, Kelly mumbled. “Since when do you have this headache?”

“I don’t know. Sort of just slid into it. But I think the moment I really started noticing it was when we came out of quantum space.”

“And it’s gotten worse since then?”

“A little.”

“A lot”, Gordon threw in, giving Raevyn a worried look.

“Okay, a lot”, Raevyn corrected. “At first I thought it was only because there were so many people at that high school, but that shouldn’t have such a strong impact on me. Something about those students was… off. I can’t place it. They just had a much stronger impact on my brain than they should, like… like the difference between hearing someone’s voice normally and hearing it through a bad communications channel turned up to full volume. Twisted and warped and weird.”

“Excuse me”, a voice interrupted. It was forcefully friendly and high-pitched.

“Or like that”, Raevyn murmured.

“I’m gonna have to ask you folks to please take your seats”, the woman who had approached them said in an obnoxiously clear manner. “We’ll be landing soon.”

Landing?

We somehow ended up on a plane , Gordon responded.

A… a what?

Old Earth aircraft.

First a high school, now an ancient aircraft… What is this place and how did we get here?

“What do we do?”, Bortus asked.

Ed took a deep breath. Raevyn could sense his brain working at top speed trying to understand what was going on. “I guess we sit.”

Kelly led the group, the others followed. Raevyn observed this airplane with all the focus she could muster. People were sitting in rows of three on either side of a small aisle, sleeping or reading or doing other small things, their thoughts very absent. Two rows in front of each other were still free. Kelly, Ed and Bortus took the one further to the back, whereas Talla, Raevyn and Gordon sat down in front of them.

“Captain”, Gordon said, turning around to the other row. “Something happened when that creature had me in the air.”

“What do you mean?”, Ed asked.

“It was like… my whole brain froze. You know… I was there… but I wasn’t.”

“Were you in shock?”, Talla asked.

“No, no, no- I mean, yeah, I was, but… I’ve been in shock before. But this was something different.”

“Perhaps whatever is causing these hallucinations is affecting our minds in other ways”, Bortus suggested.

“We don’t know if these are hallucinations”, Ed said. “Gordon’s injuries are real and I think until we get to the bottom of this, we have to assume everything is. But maybe you do have a point. It would explain why it’s affecting Raven so badly. - Raven, how are you?”

“Not good but better than I was in the cafeteria and that huge spike is gone. I think it’s helping a lot that there aren’t so many people here.”

“Okay, but… If it suddenly gets a lot worse - or better - you should tell us, okay?”

“Yes, sir.”

Now, all they could do was sit there and wait. Gordon turned around in his seat to face forward. Tiredly, Raevyn rested her head on his shoulder. Usually, she hated doing this while he was in uniform because the rank insignia was uncomfortable, and she generally did not show weakness like this in front of other people often, but she was just utterly exhausted.

Raevyn woke up with a shock. She must have passed out. Gordon had wrapped his arm around her waist. Only this time, it was not only because he wanted her closer. The plane was being shaken by something. Confusedly, Raevyn looked out of the window. The sky had gone dark. Bullets of water shot past them. Every now and then, a flash of light brightened the grey clouds, accompanied by a menacing growl.

“Wh-what is that?”

“A thunderstorm”, Talla explained, worry wearing on her voice as she looked out the window.

“Oh Lord, that’s what that looks like?”

“You’ve never seen a thunderstorm?” Kelly asked.

Raevyn shook her head. “Back at home, there are a lot of thunderstorms, but I’ve only ever experienced them from underwater. We don’t go near the surface when we notice one passing by so that we don’t get shocked. It wouldn’t kill us immediately, but there is the chance of it absolutely wrecking our telepathic or electrokinetic organs, which would kill us long-term. As for my time in space… Never.”

Raevyn, who was easing back into her telepathy now, could sense Gordon worrying. She moved closer to him again, placing a hand on his thigh. The blonde woman from before passed by them.

“Um, excuse me”, Gordon said quickly. “Ma’am? Hi. Uh, I’m a pilot and I just wanted to let you know that, if the folks in the cockpit need any help, I’m here.”

“You’re in good hands”, the woman replied passive-aggressively, “but… I’ll let them know.”

“Thank you.”

“What’s wrong?” Ed asked, immediately catching on.

“Well, these old planes were generally at the mercy of the atmosphere”, Gordon explained. “But it feels like they’re going outta their way to hit the rough stuff. Everytime we hit a smooth patch of altitude, they climb or they dip.”

Again, the plane rocked pretty harshly.

“What happens if we get hit?” Talla asked.

“Planes used to get hit by lightning more often than you think. Even old ones like this were designed to withstand it. That’s not what’s worrying me. … Raven, can you check on the pilot?”

“Sure. Where do they sit? At the front?”

“Yeah, at the-”

This crash was really the worst. Not a second passed before the plane was whipped about again. Pieces of luggage were falling out of their places. A glowing sign lit up.

“Flight attendants, please take your seats”, a voice sounded through the speaker.

Then, the plane was seemingly hit with a wrecking ball. The lights flickered. People started to panic. Raevyn closed her eyes, reaching out for the front of the plane.

“Gordon, what’s going on?” Kelly asked.

“I’m going up there”, Gordon said decidedly.

He pulled his arm away from Raevyn but she followed directly after him.

“Excuse me?! Hey! You can’t go in there!”

It was that woman again.

“Sir?! What are you doing?!”

The door to the cockpit would not open. Raevyn’s eyes widened in shock.

“I… I don’t sense anything”, she stammered.

“Talla, get this door open”, Ed ordered.

Talla tore the door out of its hinges as the blonde woman kept complaining. She sounded like a recording of different complaints stuck on loop. The entrance was clear. There, the cockpit… with nobody in it.

“I need you to take your seats!”, the woman squealed. “Sir! Excuse me!”

“Are you outta your mind?! There’s no-one flying the plane!”, Ed snapped.

He and Gordon rushed into the cockpit. Talla and Bortus followed. Kelly was boiling with stress and annoyance. Meanwhile, the woman continued her pre-rehearsed lines.

“I'm sorry, but I need all of you to go back to your seats and fasten your seat belts right now. Sir?! You need to return to your seat immediately!”

Quickly, Kelly gave Raevyn the nod of approval.

“Sir, I need you to g-”

Raevyn grabbed the woman by the mouth and sent a jolt of electricity through her hand. With a short yelp, the woman dropped to the floor, unconscious. The people in the cockpit turned around.

“Sorry, it was distracting”, Kelly said curtly.

The plane shook heavily, starting to sail around in the air.

“You know how to fly one of those things?”, Ed asked, having taken the co-pilot’s place.

“We’re about to find out”, Gordon said.

Raevyn hushed into his mind, listening to it work. She tried her best to block out the fear, sending him all the calm and confidence she could gather together in her mind. Gordon’s eyes fleeted across the hundreds of controls in the cockpit, fast to find the ones most important to him. Then he took the helm into his hands.

“Fuel gauge light’s on”, Ed told him.

“Oh man… Fuel’s low.”

“How low?”

“... Low.”

They were flying towards pitch black mountains with white, gleaming covers on them.

“See if you can spot a patch of open space.”

“It’s all mountains out there”, Kelly said.

“Better hope not, ‘cause if it is, we’re dead.”

The panic of the passengers was getting louder and louder in the back of Raevyn’s mind, but she pushed it away as best as she could. She had to focus on Gordon. As much as she wanted to support all of her crewmates, she had to focus all her strength on him. It was not that she didn’t trust him to handle stress. She did. But if she could help him, she wanted to help him.

The plane shuddered, then made a suspiciously exhausted noise.

“Oh no”, Gordon mumbled.

Panic rose up in him.

“No, no, no, no, no!”

It’s okay. I’m here. You’ve got this.

“Engines are out!”

Gordon’s hands tightened around the helm. The fear around Raevyn became harder to control, as did her own. She gritted her teeth together. Her headache, she noticed, had been getting a lot worse. The panic of the passengers was as unnatural as the students’ thoughts.

“There!”, Bortus called, pointing through the windscreen.

A patch of even, free space, covered in white! Meanwhile, the plane kept losing altitude. Gordon’s focus became laser-like. His eyes were glued to the windshield. Raevyn dared back away from his mind slightly, immediately opening herself more to the barrage of panic coming from the passengers and the fear of her crew. Closing her eyes, she tried to spread calm and ease, even though she knew it might not help at all in the face of potential death.

“Grab onto something!”, Gordon warned them.

Raevyn dug her hands into the edges she could find along the entrance, clinging on to the hinges that had once been holding the door. Now, she was really getting scared, but she swallowed it down, focusing all her thoughts on supporting the crew. The plane scraped across the tip of a mountain. This was worse than a ship getting hit in battle. A lot worse.

“Hang on, this is gonna be rough!”

The ground was not far away, racing closer. Suddenly, Raevyn felt something. A change. A disappearance, but also a presence. Then, the plane hit the ground. Raevyn almost fell over. The lights gave a panicked flicker. One impact was not enough. Skimming and sliding across the ground, the plane kept shooting forwards. There seemed to be no stopping it. Friction seemed lost, only being proven existent by the sparks flying around. Raevyn’s eyes went wide, her bubble of brain waves collapsing and shooting back into her mind. They were headed right for a cliff. Raevyn noticed her vision blurring, the pain in her head drilling into each nerve of her body. She felt herself getting weak. Still, she clung to the hinges with all her strength. Her hands felt like they were going numb. Then, everything stood still. A gasp of relief echoed through the cockpit. Suddenly, the plane made another jump forwards.

“Come on, let’s go!”, Kelly suggested.

Raevyn forced her eyes back open and turned around to leave. Her breath got stuck in her throat.

“We’re… we’re alone”, she stammered, moving forwards to make space for the others. “Everyone’s gone.”

“What the hell?”, Kelly mumbled.

Bortus opened the door to the side of the plane. Thankfully, it let them exit. What was behind it was pitch black night.

Chapter Text

This time, there was no shooting pain. Everything was tinted in a brown-ish, red light. The walls were tall and covered with panels.

“Where are we?”, Gordon mumbled.

He tried pushing against the wall in the direction they had come from. The plane door was gone. On top of this, the walls gave no hints of wanting to move. Talla could not convince it either.

“Captain. Your head”, Talla remarked.

Ed had an open wound on his forehead. Scarlet blood tinted his skin around it. He must have hit his head in the plane crash. He sighed heavily.

“I’ll be alright.”

“Are you sure?” Kelly questioned.

“There’s not much I can do about it. - Raven, how do you feel? Seemed less rough for you this time.”

Raevyn chuckled, out of breath. “I, uh, I’m still calming down from that mass panic just now. Trying to process the sudden emptiness after it too. But no sudden spike of pain this time.”

“That’s good at least.”

“I think I know why. There’s nobody here. We’re alone.”

“So the headache is like an old video game?” Gordon asked. Raevyn raised her eyebrow at him. So he explained: “Way, way, way back when, video games would have lag spikes when loading in large areas or complex systems. So when you passed the loading trigger for the plane, basically, all the people around the high school disappeared and the people on the plane popped into existence, all at once. Does that make sense?”

Raevyn stared for a moment while the rest of the crew exchanged confused glances.

“Yeah…”, she finally mumbled. “Yeah, that could be what happened. It’s entirely unnatural and not supposed to happen. People don’t just come into existence and disappear again. I never get the entire load of emotions all at once. That has to be it.”

“There is an open chamber”, Bortus announced, having once again pulled out his scanner. It was one of the many qualities that Raevyn liked. He was calm, practical and straight-forward. “That way.”

Bortus started leading the way and the others followed. Kelly and Talla, then Ed, Gordon and Raevyn. Gordon brushed his fingers along her hand, prompting her to take his hand again. It was stupid and impractical, really, to hold hands during a potentially dangerous situation. But it made Raevyn feel safe. Odd again, because she was definitely the fighter out of the both of them, the one to take care of danger, to take the hit, to draw her weapon faster. However, this was not about physical safety. It was mental safety. Gordon’s mind was a mess at any and all times, but it was a familiar mess. Even when he was scared, it still gave her a form of comfort, just through familiarity. By now, it had become such an instinct to connect minds with him whenever they touched that she did it unconsciously.

You hurt your hand, Gordon thought, rubbing across her palm gently.

Raevyn felt the friction against her skin. Worriedly, she looked at her other hand. If she started bleeding… Thankfully, at least some layers of her skin were still intact. So, she would not bleed and she wouldn’t accidentally shock someone to death.

“You know that feeling you said you had when the creature attacked you?” Ed mumbled as they walked.

“Yeah”, Gordon said, looking at his friend with worried eyes.

“I felt it too. It was right before we crashed. It was almost like… like I was somewhere else.”

“Yes! Exactly!” Gordon gasped. “Like your mind wasn’t your own.”

“So that’s what I sensed”, Raevyn mumbled.

“You sensed it?” Ed asked. “So- What did it feel like to you?”

“Odd. It’s… hard to pinpoint since there was so much going on, but it was different from regular feelings. Feelings blend into each other. In this case, your brain waves just cut off and- and someone else was there. Though only for a moment. Then we hit the ground and I lost focus.”

Ed nodded slowly. “Wish Claire were here”, he said. “We could use a brain scan.”

They had reached the large room Bortus had been speaking of. It was tall, deep and spacious. Inside of it, large pods floated above the ground, going up to where Raevyn could no longer see them. Smoke crawled across the floor.

“What is this place?”, Kelly asked.

“It is a Moclan morgue”, Bortus replied.

Raevyn furrowed her brows. Something had changed about him. She parted her mind from Gordon’s to try and make sense of the Moclan brain waves. She was still unsure of why, in fact she really did not care why, but Moclans were very hard to read. Still, she felt like she had some practice with him and what she sensed now worried her: Fear. It would be reasonable for him to be unsettled, but for him to be scared was rare. As to not have him notice she was reading into him, she eased herself back into her bond with Gordon instead. She trusted he would ask questions that would give her answers - and she was right.

“Wait, so… those pods…?”

“They contain the dead”, Bortus stated.

“We never should’ve left the ship”, Ed murmured. “I should’ve smelled something was wrong at the start. - Raven?”

“Yes, sir?”

“Next time you get a headache, we don’t go down to the planet we were planning to go down to. Seems like a bad sign.”

“I get headaches all the time, sir, that would be very inefficient.”

“Let’s look for an exit”, Kelly suggested.

They spread out across the room. Gordon stuck to Bortus’s side, pulling Raevyn along with him.

“Why do you… hang them like this?” he asked.

“We honour the dead by raising them for a period of nine days”, Bortus explained. “Traditionally, it is to allow them to resolve any unfinished affairs on Moclus before moving onward.”

“Oh, that’s considerate.”

“So if I was Moclan”, Raevyn pondered, “and I died, they would bring me to a morgue and I could stab those damned tribunal members before going to the afterlife?”

“You are being particularly aggressive today, Counselor. You should, as Lieutenant Malloy would say, chill.”

“And see a doctor”, Gordon added.

“That as well.”

Raevyn rolled her eyes. Suddenly, a ringing sound echoed through the hall and the pods’ top parts split open, revealing the corpses inside. Their skin had lost the rich warmth typical for Moclan skin. Instead, their skin had lost its saturation, looking like soil after a long draught.

“Bortus!”, Kelly called tensely.

Dutifully, Bortus followed her call. Gordon and Raevyn stayed in place, holding each other’s hands more tightly, immersing themselves in their thoughts and trying to find balance again. It was only when Raevyn felt a spike of disturbance coming from Bortus’s direction that she turned her attention away from this exchange. Bortus looked shaken to his core. Suddenly, the disturbance turned into fear. Only a blink of an eye later, hands emerged from the pod, grabbing Bortus by the neck and easily lifting him off of his feet. Raevyn tore her hand away from Gordon and sprinted to his aid. Kelly was pulling at one arm, so Raevyn jumped up and took hold of the other, putting all of her body weight into trying to get it to let go. When she glanced over at what was attacking Bortus, her heart froze. It was the corpse in the pod. It looked like Bortus, down to the tiniest detail, but- Before she could finish her thought, there was a sudden change in brain waves to her left. Bortus’s strong signature of fear was gone. It had fully disappeared. Instead, there was something else there. Something entirely confusing, feeling like a completely different person. His eyes had turned completely white, glossy, and cold. Ed joined in and grabbed the corpse’s hand, trying to get it to let go of Bortus’s throat. Suddenly, the corpse’s arms snapped back and it returned to its still, stiff form of rigor mortis. Bortus gasped for air, his proud, stern posture having curled up in exhaustion.

“Bortus, are you okay?”, Kelly asked.

Bortus growled and looked up at the corpse in anger, but caught himself in a matter of seconds.

“I… f-felt it ”, he said, putting so much effort into his voice to keep it firm.

“Felt what?” Talla asked.

“That feeling!” Raevyn threw in. There was a fire in her eyes, her blood boiling with anger. “Oh, this place is making me go insane! Someone’s messing with me!”

Her crewmates tried to calm her, but Raevyn kept rambling on.

“That thing, that corpse, should be dead! It is dead! It has no thoughts, no will, no nothing, it should not move on its own! And this stupid feeling, this fucking awful feeling, whatever is causing it, whatever is possessing people around here, it better beware when it shows up again, because when it does, I will-”

“Raven!”

With a cry of anger, Raevyn punched the pod next to her, shrieking with pain as her knuckles crashed against the metal. Her aggressive growling mixed with a whimper as she cradled her hand.

“Raven!” Ed repeated. “You’re becoming a danger to yourself and others - what’s going on?!”

“That feeling you get”, Raevyn hissed, “that’s someone else taking over your brain. Don’t ask me why or how or even what they are, but I know for a fact that, just now, I suddenly had clear access to Bortus’s brain but it wasn’t his thoughts, he wasn’t even there and there was another signature entirely that I was able to read but completely unable to understand which has never happened to me before and-”

“Okay, okay, stop”, Kelly interrupted. “Raven, you’re on timeout.”

“What?! Commander, I’m telling the truth, I-”

“And I’m not saying you’re lying. But Ed’s right. This is becoming dangerous. Don’t take this the wrong way, but I think you might be out of your mind.”

“... Pardon?”, Raevyn’s aggression mixed with betrayal and despair.

“Like a fever. Whatever is going on with you, it’s starting to affect your behaviour and I don’t want to risk you or anyone else getting hurt.”

“But… Commander, why would I hurt-? I mean-”, Raevyn stammered, trying to make sense of her words. Gordon reached out for her hand and rubbed his thumb across her skin.

“I know you would never hurt us”, Kelly said calmly. “But in this state you’re in, I’m worried you accidentally could.”

“This is for your own good, Counselor”, Bortus said, looking into her eyes with that same look of parental instinct he always would.

Raevyn sighed and she let her head drop.

“She said timeout, not suspended”, Ed said, placing his hand on her shoulder. “This won’t show up on your record, or in any other file. It’s just until we can have Doctor Finn take a look at you.

“Very well, sir”, Raevyn said.

She felt the anger return to her. As did Gordon. He squeezed her hand lightly.

It’s okay. We’ll be out of here soon, I promise.

A door suddenly appeared at the end of the hall. The away team followed Talla towards it. Gordon and Raevyn let themselves fall to the back of the group, but Bortus insisted he be the rearguard. Gordon kissed Raevyn’s temple. Her skin felt warm. Maybe warmer than usual. Her hand was shaking lightly.

Chapter Text

The door lead to a long staircase. A staircase above a bottomless pit. The descent was slow. Gordon was not so scared anymore by things like this. By now, he was expecting anything. It would be more of an inconvenience than frightening. So, he focused on trying to keep Raevyn calm instead, even though he knew he was far worse at this than she was, being a non-telepath. But their shared mindspace gave him a chance. Her behaviour was worrying him. What was usually calm waves inside her mind had turned into a mixture of pain, aggression, betrayal, sadness… Finally, they emerged through a portal and stepped out of a forest into the night, towards a lake. Lake Ruell. On Xelaya. Well, the real place was on Xelaya. If this really were Xelaya, anyone except Talla would be dead because of the gravity.

“What is that?”, Gordon asked, pointing into the distance.

In the mountains opposite of them, a light blinked on and off rhythmically.

“It’s a pattern”, Kelly said. “Repeated intervals.”

“Communication?” Gordon asked.

“Possibly.”

“My people communicate like this at a distance where telepathy gets hard”, Raevyn said. “Speech doesn’t travel underwater but you can see the electric glow of our bodies pretty well the deeper you go. It’s an art form or a form of communication.”

“Would this mean anything?”

“Come.”

“But your people can’t breathe above land”, Talla said. “Also, shouldn’t the light be blue? Or is the color you glow genetic?”

“No, it should definitely be blue”, Raevyn confirmed. “Both Aquatic and Terrestrial Tehiko have blue blood. We might have different colored eyes, but we can’t change the color of our blood.”

“So who is that signal from?”

“Whoever is behind all this?” Ed suggested.

“Or someone else in the same boat”, Gordon threw in.

“Or a trap”, Bortus reminded them.

That was when Talla spotted something in the murky water. It was a raft with a helm and paddles. Carefully, the crew made their way down the rocky shore towards it. It looked sturdy enough, even had a slightly elevated edge around it.

“Alright”, Ed said. “Talla, you, Gordon and I will take it across the lake, find out what that is.”

“Permissions to come out of timeout, sir”, Raevyn said through gritted teeth.

Ed sighed. “What for?”

“It’s a deep lake. There’s something in it. Feels like enough of a reason to have someone on that raft that can breathe underwater in case someone goes overboard. No matter how scrambled my brain is, I can still save someone from drowning.”

“... Permission granted. - Wait, did you say there’s something in it?”

“Some large marine animal”, Raevyn said with a shrug as she took off her uniform jacket and shoes. “Doesn’t seem very hostile but you probably shouldn’t disturb it.”

“Would paddling across disturb it?”

“How would I know? We’ll just be very gentle.”

They started to get onto the raft. However, before Ed could do so, Kelly interrupted. She ordered him not to because of his injury and switched places with him. Then, Ed ordered Kelly to be careful. Gordon and Talla pushed the raft off the shore. Slowly, they started gliding towards the light. The moon was gigantic in the night sky, its glistering reflection making the water sparkle. Raevyn knelt down at the side of the raft, staring into the cold waters. The urge to just jump in was incredibly high. She felt like she had been out of water for years, decades even, like her entire skin was drying up. What did she care if there was something down there? What did she care if it might be hostile? She knew she could kill so many creatures with just as much as a twitch. That was when something large and glowing swept past the raft. Raevyn’s eyes sparked with excitement.

“Uh… guys?” Gordon said slowly.

“I saw it”, Kelly confirmed. “Let’s keep moving. - Raven, stay on the raft.”

“It has bioluminescence, Commander!”

“You glow too”, Talla reminded her.

“I know, but- My people live deep under the ocean, this thing lives in a lake! And- Oh, do you think I could teach it our language?!”

“Stay on the raft, Counselor, that’s an order.”

Raevyn pouted. “Look, it has antennae! It’s an underwater-bug!”

“Wait. Look”, Kelly said.

She pointed to the other side of the lake. The light was gone. Suddenly, a thick tentacle burst out of the water, wrapped itself around Kelly and pulled her into the depths. Raevyn whirled around. Stay on the raft , as if she would! Without a second thought, she jumped head first into the water, chasing after Kelly. The creature pulled her further and further. But just as quickly as it pulled her down and Raevyn descended, her eyes adjusted to the darkness. The tentacles belonged to a creature that looked like a horrific fusion between a snake, a snail, an octopus and some kind of horrifying orc. It pulled Kelly closer and closer to its mouth, no matter how strongly Raevyn pulled at its tentacle and swan the opposite reaction. Kelly locked eyes with Raevyn, terrified. Brain waves travelled so much easier in the water. Raevyn felt herself getting immersed in Kelly’s fear. Then, her eyes turned white and Kelly’s signature was gone. A fresh burst of rage filled Raevyn’s veins. She dug her nails into the tentacle and kicked and pulled with all her strength. Finally, the creature let go. Raevyn grabbed Kelly - who had regained consciousness - by the arm, then by the waist and swam upwards at full speed, yet in spirals, halfway to make sure the creature would have a harder time grabbing them if it tried, halfway because she knew Kelly’s human physique would not take lightly to a sudden change in water pressure. Once they crashed through the surface, Raevyn immediately hurled Kelly onto the raft. She herself, however, stayed in the water.

“Get back to shore, now”, she said sternly as Kelly was still gasping for air. “I’ll swim under the raft and act as a decoy.

“Raevyn, you’re not immortal”, Talla hissed.

“Shut up, Talla. You know exactly what will happen if that thing grabs me. Who do you think would be better off, any of you or me? At the very least, I’ll be able to make it flinch back. Its bioluminescence is chemical, not electric, otherwise it would’ve shocked Commander Grayson to death.”

“Raven!”, Gordon called after her, but she was already underneath the raft. “She’s officially gone mad”, he whispered.

“Let’s get back to shore as quickly and as carefully as possible”, Talla suggested. “The faster we get off this thing, the faster she’ll come out of the water… I hope.”

“Yeah, I’m not so sure anymore. We really need to get her Doctor Finn. Fast.”

Kelly slowly got up from the ground. They started steering off, back to where they had come from. A few seconds later, the antennae of the monster were once again visible under the raft. Gordon held on to his paddle for dear life while simultaneously begging the universe for Raevyn’s survival. A sudden flash of black light emerged underneath the raft and the antennae disappeared. Gordon almost dropped his paddle. Still, they made their way back to the shore. Talla supported Kelly as they got back on land. Meanwhile, Gordon waited at the shore.

“Raven!” he called. “Raven, come on out, we made it!”

Nothing. Suddenly, Raevyn burst to the surface in a fit of laughter, spraying water in all directions.

“There you are”, Gordon chuckled nervously, however filled with relief. “Come on out now.”

“No!”

“Wh- what do you mean ‘no’?”

“I mean no! I wanna stay in the water, it’s really nice.”

“Nice?! Raevyn, there’s a deadly octopus creature in there!”

“I named him Kevin!”

“Huh?”

“Kevin! Reminded me of Chris and Devon ! Isn’t that funny?”

Gordon forced a quick chuckle. “Yeah, uh, absolutely. Listen, I’ve got a surprise for you.”

“A surprise?!”

“Yeah, a really fun surprise, you just gotta get out of the water.”

Raevyn grinned and came ashore, then jumped into his arms, swaying from side to side with him and spinning him in a circle. A plasma blast cut through the air. Raevyn flinched, then went numb in Gordon’s arms.

“Was that an adequate surprise?”, Bortus asked, holding his plasma gun awkwardly in hand.

“Y-yeah”, Gordon stammered, carefully setting Raevyn down against a rock. “Hadn’t thought that far, but… yeah.”

“Good job, Bortus”, Ed said. “It’s for her best.”

Chapter Text

When Raevyn woke up, she found herself back in her quarters, on her bed. Gordon sat next to her. Gently, he stroked her hair, a worried smile on his lips.

“How do you feel?”

“Tired”, Raevyn murmured. “And very dizzy. Like I got shot.”

“You did get shot.”

“By who?”

“Bortus.”

“Say what now?”

“You were kinda going insane and he stunned you so you wouldn’t hurt yourself.”

“Was it really that bad? Wait- That was real? The high school, the plane crash, the morgue, the lake, all of it?”

“How much do you remember?”

“Bits and pieces”, Raevyn murmured as she sat up. “Sometimes just feelings. There’s this one specific sensation I can’t get out of my head. Like someone forcing themselves into someone’s mind, appearing out of nowhere.”

Gordon sighed and nodded slowly. “And what’s the last thing you remember?”

“When we got onto the raft. That’s the last thing I know.”

“When we got on?”

“Yeah. What happened after that?”

Gordon took a deep breath. “Kelly was grabbed by some freaky octopus monster and pulled into the water. You jumped in to save her, then decided to stay in as a decoy. Then we got back to the shore and you were super happy for some reason and didn’t want to get out of the water. You said you had named the octopus Kevin.”

“Oh God…”

“I managed to convince you to come out and Bortus shot you.”

“Oh Lord…”, Raevyn sighed. She thought for a few seconds. “Didn’t you tell me multiple times to go see Doctor Finn?”

“Yeah. - How’s your headache right now, by the way?”

“Awful. Terrible. I can barely see, that’s how bad it is. What did Doctor Finn say?”

“Well, she found no direct cause for a headache, but she admitted she doesn’t have much data to refer to about telepathic species to be able to know. But scans did show a pretty bad hormone imbalance. Lots of stress hormones. She said you’re probably suffering some sort of mania, caused by sensory overload. Might even be repercussions from the whole deal with the Kaylon taking over our ship, attacking Earth, us going into Krill space…”

“Trauma.”

Gordon nodded slowly. Raevyn let herself fall back onto the bed, covering her face with her hands. She groaned in frustration. Carefully, Gordon rubbed her arm. Then, he smiled and poked one of the many freckles on it.

“I think that’s a new one”, he said with a smile.

Raevyn peeked through her hands, prompting him to poke the tip of her nose.

“That one too.”

“Really?” Raevyn mumbled, a smile forming through her pained expression.

Gordon nodded and took her hands into his. “And there’s another one”, he said, kissing her knuckles.

“Why are you so obsessed with my freckles?”

“Because they’re cute! - Plus, if anyone ever pretends to be me, you can just ask them how many freckles you have! And if it’s the exact number-”

“They’re an imposter, because you’d ask to count them all over again”, Raevyn said with a smirk.

“That’s my girl”, Gordon grinned and kissed her nose.

“Just for curiosity’s sake… What number were we at…?”

“I don’t know… I think I’ll have to count again”, Gordon said before showering Raevyn with kisses, throwing her into a giggling fit.

“Grayson to Malloy”, the communications system sounded.

Gordon sighed annoyedly, as did Raevyn.

“Malloy here, what is it, Commander?”

“The convoy is approaching, report to the bridge.”

“... Yes ma’am.”

Gordon got up from the bed and put his jacket back on. Raevyn tried to follow him, but he held her back.

“You’re supposed to rest. Ed gave you the day off. Why don’t you watch a movie or something? Rewatch Mamma Mia! , maybe?”

Raevyn grinned and nodded. However, this plan did not go very far. She had barely started the movie when the ship suddenly went to red alert. Raevyn jumped up from the sofa and stared out of the window, just in time to see a Union convoy decloak into a group of Kaylon vessels. Anxiously, she dug her fingers into the windowsill. Only a few seconds later, communications sounded again.

“Mercer to Raven.”

There was a significant strain on the Captain’s voice.

“Raevyn here, sir.”

“Report to the bridge immediately.”

“Yes, sir.”

Without even putting on her jacket or shoes, Raevyn sprinted out of her quarters, slipping down the hallway, running towards the main stairwell. Multiple times, the ship was shaken by weapon impact. Wires hung loosely from the walls and ceiling. Some of the windows Raevyn ran past were cracked. Finally, she sprinted up the spiral staircase from Deck B to Deck A, almost falling backwards over the railing as the ship trembled. Only a few meters. Now she was on the bridge.

“Captain!”

Ed turned around, completely bewildered.

“What are you doing here?!”

“You called me, sir!”

“I-”

They were interrupted by yet another crash.

“All hands abandon ship!”, Ed ordered. “Repeat: All hands, abandon ship.

Raevyn was terrified and confused. Her head was drilled with pain that sent her close to fainting. She clung on to the back consoles for dear life. Suddenly, her blood went cold. Through the windshield, she was staring directly into the red eye of an Interceptor Sphere. She knew what would happen next. She had seen it. Its engines went to full speed. Then, it zoomed towards the windshield. Right as it should have crashed into the glass, the pain in Raevyn’s head doubled, tripled, quadrupled even as something tried to force its way inside. She screamed in pain and fell to the floor, cowering and curling up into a ball.

Everything was dead silent. The headache was still numbing Raevyn’s skull as she whimpered in pain.

“Counselor!”

Bortus jumped up from his and knelt down next to her. It took only a second for Ed, Kelly and Gordon to join him. Gordon put his hand against her forehead, then immediately pulled it back with a quiet yelp.

“Electric shock?”, Kelly asked.

“No”, Gordon said quickly. “I, uh- Well, our- our mental bond has become pretty strong by now and- and I can slightly feel her thoughts too now when we touch. Don’t think she does that intentionally and, uh, right now- Pain. Awful, horrible. Can’t even describe what kind of pain.”

Carefully, Bortus lifted Raevyn off of the ground. Her eyes had turned white. Suddenly, they turned sparking blue again and Raevyn gasped for air, holding her head.

“Raven, can you hear me?”Ed asked.

“I- Yes-”, Raevyn stammered. “Captain, I-”

That was when they heard steps behind them. Talla had gotten up from her seat. Her expression was stern. Then, with a shower of light travelling down her body, her appearance changed and she stood there as someone else. A young woman, maybe even a girl with purple skin and glowing, sparkling lines, a round face and an innocent smile.