Cassidy tapped her foot on the floor. She couldn't believe what she had done. She felt Tim's judging eyes on her back before she heard his footsteps. He rested a pitiful hand on her shoulder.
"How are you feeling?"
"Awful," Cassidy said. "Why did she make me do it?"
Cassidy looked through the one-way mirror. Sara, or what used to be Sara, was sitting in the interrogation room. Cassidy held her head low.
"I couldn't even do it," she said. "I broke my promise. I'm a loser."
"No, you're not," Damien approached. "You did what you thought was right."
"Because of that," Tim said, "I was able to keep mine. Thank you for sparing her."
She had missed on purpose. Cassidy thought for sure she would be able to do it. It was a split-second decision she chose. Now, she wasn't sure if it was the right one.
"I don't know if I did," Cassidy said. "She might not even be alive."
"If she's walking and breathing, then there's still a chance," Damien said. "We need to find out what it knows. See if it has a weakness."
"I can find that out," someone else approached.
It was Thelma. Cassidy stood up and crossed her arms.
"Uh-uh. Not happening, lady."
"I know you have every reason not to trust me," she said. "None of you do. I made... terrible errors in judgement. I let my brother manipulate me into believing what I was doing was right. It wasn't. I don't deserve your forgiveness or empathy. But none of that matters right now. Sara needs help, and I'm the most qualified on this ship to give it right now. Please. Let me help her."
Cassidy looked at Damien. He shrugged.
"I think it's worth a shot," he said.
"Tim?" Cassidy said.
"I believe she wants to help," he said. "I say we let her."
"Well, it's two against one. Aw, heck. Alright. See if you can get the gunk to talk."
When the door opened, the creature didn't even blink. Thelma stopped to look at her for a moment before closing the door.
"This is an unexpected surprise," it said. "They sent the traitor in to interrogate me. How interesting."
"Save it," she said.
"No, just think about it. The poetic irony."
"I'm nothing like you."
"Really? So your sacrifices were not for the greater good?"
"What greater good do you serve?"
"The one that wins, of course. You see, we are both the same inside. We just have different shells."
"You truly believe that, don't you?"
"What else is there to believe, Thelma?"
"I never told you my name," she said. "Which would suggest either you have been listening to our conversations for a while, or... you have access to Sara's memories."
"Yes, I can see the female you call Sara in her memories. She relives them often enough that recall is easy. I could see how you were able to escape."
"What are you talking about?"
"Humans are elusive creatures, taking advantage of their environment to hide from predators. It's no wonder why you spark the curiosity of other species. Your DNA is simple, but your minds are... unique."
"What? Other species? DNA? What are you talking about?"
"Oh, Thelma. There's so much that you don't know. It's amusing."
"You find it funny that you took over our captain's mind and are using it to toy with us? You're the disgrace to your species."
The creature folded Sara's fingers and put her head on them.
"What is funny is you think I'm the only one that thinks that way."
The door flew open. Cassidy came rushing inside. She waved a fist.
"You get out of my friend, you piece of poo!"
"Your English accent does nothing to intimidate me," the creature said. "You are all talk and no action. You couldn't even end me because you see your friend's face instead of what lies behind her eyes. She's enjoying the show."
Damien grabbed his sister.
"Come on," he said. "Don't waste time on that thing."
Cassidy went back out. Thelma stood up.
"I think that's enough talk for now," she said. "Do you want anything? Food? Water? A conscience?"
"Comical. Although, I wouldn't mind some food. This human rarely eats, it seems."
"I'll find something," she said.
She left and shut the door.
"What were you thinking?" Damien argued.
"I'm thinking that creature is using my friend's body, and I don't like it!"
"Actually, I'm glad you came in when you did," Thelma said. "I was about to give up and try again later."
"What? You mean I helped?"
"Yes. I assumed you did it on purpose."
"What did she do?" Tim asked.
"The creature made a slip. It was trying to deflect my questions with nonsensical rambling, but Cassidy coaxed it enough to tell us. It talked about Sara in the present tense, and that's good."
"Oh, thank the stars," Cassidy said. "It means she's alive."
"As for how long... I don't know. Meanwhile, we need to give it time to think. We don't know what it needs to feed or if there's some sort of timer that it's watching out for. Give it some time. It'll tell us something useful."
"It said something to me earlier," Cassidy mentioned. "About Sara and Maria not being the first."
"This isn't the first time it has been inside a human host. I don't know who or where it came from, but it has to be somewhere local. Maybe someone on this ship."
"If that's true, then we're in more trouble," Tim said.
"It's just a theory. It could have been a stowaway, as well. We'll know more later."
She looked at her comm.
"It's getting late. We need some rest. Come morning, we'll try again. Let's see how well the creature does against hunger."
Thelma looked at Sara. Her eyes were still full of black, no flinch of recognition in them anywhere.
"As for Sara," she finished, "God rest her soul."
~~~
Mark put some alcohol on the wound on his wrist. He grimaced from the burn. He took some of the last bandages and wrapped it around sparingly. He flexed his fingers. He could feel the nerves in his hand send small blips of pain. He was worried on the way over about being poisoned, but it would have affected him by the time he got back to the ship.
He gave Blaez and Edon reassuring pets. He went to his room and grabbed a brush from the closet. He went back to the infirmary and brushed out his wolves' fur. He looked over at Dominic, who was still unconscious.
"You look better today," Mark said. "You've got color back in your face."
Dominic didn't respond. Mark brushed a tuft of fur out of Blaez's coat.
"Austin and I had a... disagreement. He thinks it's my fault that people are dying. I know I shouldn't, but... I'm starting to believe him."
He looked at Edon and scratched his ears.
"Everyone keeps getting put in danger because of me," he said. "Am I doing something wrong? Should I have made different choices? Maybe. I don't know how Dad did this every day, deciding the fate of everyone else."
He looked at his ring. The running wolf pulsed in blue.
"How did he know if I could do the same?"
He wanted answers, but Dominic's gentle breathing didn't offer any explanation. He sighed.
"I didn't know what else to expect," he said. "You're not in a chatty mood, and I don't like the quiet, so I'll just keep talking. Um... James sent me a message earlier. They found the cable we needed. We'll be able to contact other ships tomorrow, get you a real doctor. Then maybe this nightmare will finally be over."
Mark sniffled.
"Please, just wake up... I can't keep doing this... Please..."
He cried. He put the brush down and put his head down on Dominic's bed. Mark could feel his soft breathing in his hair. James's father was still alive, hanging in there. Mark held onto that hope. He wished silently that Dominic would open his eyes. He needed someone else to tell him what to do. Everything choice he made was somehow the wrong one.
Mark cried silently. From outside, Kole looked through the condensated window. He wiped the water away and peeked inside. He heard talking but didn't know who it was. When he saw it was Mark, he immediately walked away and shook his head.
"Talking to someone that's not awake," he said. "What a weirdo."