Children of Sol

XII. On the Outside

Shay's eyes fluttered open as the world slowly came back into focus. She was staring up at a dull grey ceiling offset only by a poster of a smiley face with gavari script beneath it. The alien lettering boldly proclaimed that everything was going to be alright. Slowly, sensations started to add themselves to her consciousness. She was laying in a bed, still fully dressed but not wearing her boots. The faint smell of disinfectant and sharp spices that she associated with Namaah lingered in the room. An air recycling system hummed on and off as the vents shifted their flow. Somewhere nearby, a gavari hummed two notes at once in their strange throat. Even fainter was the sound of an argument.

She was on board the Desperado again. Shay tried to sit up and her head responded with a wicked stab of pain. "Naamah?"

"Ah, you are awake. Excellent. I was beginning to become concerned." The gavari smoothed one small, delicate hand over their luxurious, dappled grey fur as they approached. They started tapping away at the control panel for the cot she was laying on, examining the readings of the biomonitors. Shay could feel the adhesive lead attached just below her left collarbone. Someone had pulled her shirt out of the way enough to connect her properly. The cranial lead was below her left ear, just behind her jaw. "How do you feel?"

Shay rubbed at her eyes. She felt better than she had felt in a long time, as though she'd actually gotten a full night's rest. "Good, actually." Phantom fragments of a song she could only remember fractions of played at the edges of her hearing. "Though I can still hear the qif'yhn."

"Minor auditory hallucinations are to be expected. They should subside quickly, now that you are conscious. The qif'yhn provided you with a most generous gift, one you were in need of most desperately: a good night's sleep." Namaah flicked a lock of Shay's hair out of the way and began removing the two leads. "Your fellow zho'zhala is still unconscious. The Captain decided it would be most prudent to leave her sedated until you were awake and able to detect her intentions. He expressed some skepticism at the veracity of her claims that she was here to assist us."

"Where's Alyssa?"

Naamah made a small piping sound that Shay knew was equivalent to a snort. "She is preoccupied with being cantankerous. Your decision to advocate for the newest passenger on the ship has met with some opposition from our engineer—not unreasonably. The last zho'zhala acquaintance of yours nearly killed her and then you. Regardless, she and the Captain will be arriving shortly to discuss our plan of action, now that they have finished shouting at each other."

As if on cue, the door slid open to admit Kgosi and Alyssa. The engineer seemed a little calmer than she had been, but still deeply unhappy. Their cyborg captain was in a better mood, though his expression was still serious. Bug scuttled in after them and took a seat in the corner. It was a bit cramped in the room, but they fit. Kgosi cleared his throat. "ADDie, are you listening?"

The AI's reassuring voice was disembodied, coming over the ship's intercom system. "Affirmative, Captain."

The Captain crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall. "Right, well, since the gang's all here, we should probably wake up Sleeping Beauty. Naamah, if you would?"

Namaah bobbed their whole body in a nod and then added a syringe of something to Leraje's IV line. It only took a few seconds to have an effect. The rogue zho'zhala's eyes opened and she tried to get up. Flexcuffs holding her to the medbay cot stopped her. Her confusion didn't seem to throw the gavari off in the slightest. "Welcome back to the world of the waking, Zho'zhala Leraje. Please do not strain yourself. You have been restrained as a precautionary measure. The cuffs will be removed if you are cooperative."

"Shay?" Leraje's voice sounded thick and groggy.

"Here." Shay readjusted her shirt, looking over at her former comrade. "How are you feeling?"