T-Plus 17

There wasn’t much left to gather in the surrounding rooms available to them. The most important supplies to secure were food and water, and there was always a shortage of medical supplies. Regardless of the expiration date, they couldn’t be picky at this point. The more they gathered, the better off they were in the future.

Esther had all of their group’s key cards in her possession, including those who were still upstairs. Of those, there were five that unlocked rooms in Sections 3 and 4: hers, Vaughn’s, Audrey’s, Bacon’s, and Aaron’s. She had already taken what she wanted from her own room, leaving only the rarely used medicines in the cabinets. Vaughn’s room held a myriad of chemicals and substances, most of which the room’s owner had already used or brought over. They were situated in Bacon’s room and had easy access to what she had left. That left two rooms they hadn’t sorted through: the two Navigator’s rooms.

Although the mysterious Navigators were allocated rooms within Sections 3 and 4 like the researchers, scientists, and doctors, their rooms were quadroned off in a corner. Navigators usually kept to themselves due to the secrecy of their department, but if any researcher with normal clearance wanted to catch a glimpse of one of the elusive Navigators, the easiest location would be right on the border between their residential areas.

Leaving Hensley to watch over Lucky’s condition, the three, Bacon, Esther, and Audrey, headed over to the secluded wing of Section 3A where the low ranking Navigator quarters were located. Although there wasn’t a partition marking the area, there was a slight difference in decor between the two areas, if it could be considered that. The nameplates of standard personnel were white text on a dark blue background, while ARCNAV members had white text on a royal purple background.

Esther stepped past the last blue nameplate, heading further down the hallway where Audrey directed. Her room was located five doors from the intersection, placing her directly in the middle of this section of the hallway. Acting as warning signs just past her room were Bacon’s blockade. As they arrived in front of Audrey’s door, Esther caught sight of the slight glimmer that seeped from beneath her neighbor’s door. Catching her glance, Bacon explained, motioning for her and Audrey to stay a bit further away.

“Here was where I encountered the first water aliens,” the assistant explained, gesturing at the same traces of water stains covering the floor and bottom portions of the wall. “I managed to lose them since there weren’t as many back then as there are now, but it certainly caused a mess.”

“Are we going to be okay with them next door?” Audrey fretted.

She paused in the middle of her panic, sliding her keycard in a frenetic manner. She shoved open her door, scrambling to get inside to inspect her room for the first time since they arrived on this floor. Like the other rooms they’ve entered, the Navigator’s room had been tossed into disarray. Unlike the other rooms they’ve entered, there was a faint layer of dust that covered some of the more obscure corners that wasn’t touched by the frenzy of items being tossed around. There weren’t many personal items strewn across the room nor were there many paraphernalia scattered anywhere. Other than the bare essentials and the sheets from the bed, there wasn’t much to see.

Audrey, on the other hand, had dove straight for the closet on the other side the moment she set foot in the room, rummaging for something out of their sight. After a moment, she straightened up, hugging what looked like tubes in her arms. The Navigator plopped herself on the couch that’d been shoved up against the wall, opening the canisters and peering inside them.

“What’re you checking?” Bacon asked, glancing over at the Navigator who was fervently checking the contents of each and every tube she pulled out of the closet.

From what Esther could see, Audrey was pulling out sheets of paper. No, rolled up sheets of paper. No, the correct term would be posters. The rest of the room was bare of decor, but the young Navigator kept rolled up posters in her closet.

“Th-this?” Audrey shrieked, covering the posters when Bacon and Esther peered closer. She leaned forward, hugging the posters in her hold. “Um, they’re my family pictures. Yeah! Family pictures!”

“So you keep them in your closet?” Esther asked with a laugh and a shake of her head.

The Navigator nodded, shoving the intact posters into her closet again. She turned after composing herself, dusting the dirt off her knees when she kneeled to retrieve her posters. Settling her posters, she leaned further into the depths of her closet, fishing out several tote bags. Some of them were filled with snacks, which Audrey pulled out to check if they were still edible; others were filled with bottles of tea or water.

“Oh, these were souvenirs I brought back for a friend after a mission,” Audrey exclaimed as she sifted through the tote bags. “Well, since she never saw them, it can continue that way.”

“How often are you away from the Station?” Bacon asked, glancing around the bare room.

Their cold and simple surroundings answered the question itself, but Audrey still gave a reply.

“I’m still a low rank, so they don’t send me outside too often,” the Navigator explained as she handed a few of the bags over to Esther and Bacon. “Just, every mission tends to last for a few months at the very least, and a few years at the longest. Although, since I’ve only recently arrived here, I’ve only been on three missions, the longest being a two year round trip. Richardson, the other Navigator that’s with us, has probably been on more complicated routes. I don’t doubt that he’s been on light year length trips before.”

Esther nodded in response. Aaron, being a higher ranking Navigator, was usually slotted with the longer business trips, and the only times she used to be able to catch him were when he was tasked with helping with some dimensional experiments or those days in between his flights. It wouldn’t be a surprise if Aaron’s room was similar to the state of this one: empty and unused. If anything, she was surprised there was something that could be considered usable in Audrey’s room, even if it had been stuffed in the closet for who knows how long.

They kept a wide berth of the bathroom and faucets, leaving the room in a quick manner. Esther glanced behind them as Audrey’s room closed, watching as the puddle that had kept within the boundaries of the neighboring door, slowly seeped out to reach the edge of Bacon’s warning signs. The doctor turned and caught up with the other two, pushing them forward out of the current hallway. They hurried out of the hallway, rushing out into the main corridor before they slowed.

“What was that for?” Audrey asked, holding her chest as she caught her breath.

“I hope your neighbor didn’t keep anything out,” Esther said, leaning against the wall as she rotated her ankles to ease the tension. “Everything’s probably waterlogged by this point.”

“Probably not?” Audrey said, glancing back into the still empty hallway they just exited.

“Let’s check Aaron’s room and see what news Vaughn and Johnson bring back.”

Bacon and Audrey nodded, and the trio did a quick check of the advanced Navigator’s room. As expected, his room was as bare, if not even emptier, than Audrey’s. Other than a half full closet, stuffed with casual clothing, there was nothing else in the room. A quick search gave them nothing.

“I expected this,” Esther sighed, rubbing her head as they closed the door behind them. “If it was possible, Aaron usually slept in the ARCNAV lounges anyway. I always said him having his own room in the Station was a waste.”

“At least Miss Zimmerman had snacks in her room,” Bacon said, raising the tote bag she was holding.

When they returned to Bacon’s room, the two that had gone to scout had gotten back before them and were stretched out on the couches. Hensley had moved to the single couch, leaving room for the other two.

“We’re back! How was it?” Bacon asked, dropping the bags with the rest by the door.

Vaughn sat up with the sound of Bacon’s voice, yawning and stretching as he scooted over to make room on the couch. Johnson did the same, letting Audrey and Esther take a seat before they reported their findings.

“We checked the way we came first,” Vaughn said, counting off his fingers as per usual. “I think as long as we don’t walk into Section 5A, the aliens won’t come out on their own. Hensley and I cleared out the rock nest before that, which leaves the first mega nest we ran into. Johnson here wouldn’t let me go in and count how many eggs were in there, but we could see two more from this side. For sure, one of them was really shiny and was spitting metal fragments at us.”

“Almost like bullets,” Johnson added.

“There were at least two of the metal sort,” Vaughn confirmed. “As for the other route, we didn’t see any eggs, but there was the metal alien that Bacon mentioned running into. I think,, with two injured people, it’ll be easier to break through Bacon’s route, but we have no idea what’s past that. While, our route is basically clear except for the big nest.”

“If we give it a day, Hensley’s fever should die down if nothing goes wrong,” Esther said, glancing at the technician’s complexion. “Lucky... shouldn’t be moved, but she can’t be left here either. I vote that we go Bacon’s route.”

“How long do you think it’ll be before Hensley is allowed to walk?” Vaughn asked, leaning forward in his seat.

Esther estimated the time based on the state of the technician’s bruised foot, giving an answer after a thought.

“As long as he doesn’t put too much pressure on it, he can walk around either tomorrow or the day after. It’ll take longer for a complete recovery. Personally, as a doctor, I wouldn’t suggest taking on an operation like this until his foot makes a complete recovery, but we don’t really have a choice.”

“So we head out tomorrow?” Vaughn asked, looking around their circle.

“Let’s aim for that then,” Audrey said, standing from her seat and grabbing the contents of one of the tote bags they brought back from her room. “It’s time to feast and sleep!”

The group went to sleep, waking up one at a time the next morning. Esther held the back of her hand against Hensley’s forehead, scrunching her brows together as she tried to objectively judge his temperature based on her own. It was obviously lower than the previous times she checked, and while changing the medicine on his foot, the swelling and bruising had eased up. According to the technician himself, putting some light weight on it didn’t send cold sweat down his back like previously.

Johnson volunteered to carry Lucky, and they settled her on his back gently. They secured her with sheets, making sure even if the technician needed to make some wide movements, she wouldn’t fall off. Audrey was to keep beside him, in case she needed to warp Lucky and herself to safety. Vaughn was to keep beside Hensley’s side alongside Bacon, and the two researchers were in charge of making sure the technician didn’t get left behind.

Each one of them had a backpack except for Johnson. They split the contents evently between the rest of them, although Hensley had a fraction less weight to carry around. They shuffled out of Bacon’s room, heading out into the corridor. They took a moment to readjust Lucky and let Hensley sit down for a moment. The technician’s face was one full of discomfort, although he still looked fine for the moment.

Once Hensley felt okay again, they truly headed out. They kept a slow pace down the corridor toward where Bacon, Vaughn, and Johnson first reported the location of the alien nest in this direction. Once they got near the area, Johnson, with Lucky on his back, and Hensley stayed behind around the bend within earshot as the rest of them continued to clear the path. They rested at the edge of the area where the emergency lights still lit. Those venturing further in took out their flashlights, clicking them on after so long.

“The best way is to completely clear the way completely, so we don’t have to worry about the others,” Vaughn said, peeking out from behind the rubble and pointing his flashlight down the corridor. “Otherwise, at least get rid of the more troublesome ones.”

At the end of the flashlight’s range, they caught the glimpse of a clump of rocks. As the scientist reached his arm out further to light up more of the corridor, they saw waving arms. Bacon pointed her flashlight alongside Vaughn’s, and the two beams illuminated more of the corridor. Within the light were two rock aliens, which Esther had become very familiar with in recent times. As they raised their lights, a glint of light reflected back at them, and the sight of an alien that had a different texture from those around it came into view.

A lighter gray than the rocks and rubble surrounding it, it was the same color as some of the metal beams that littered the corridor alongside the rest of the broken walls and ceilings. It wasn’t completely reflective, and only a few parts of its body were shiny. It was larger than its rocky brethren, had longer defined arms, and shuffled around with a scraping noise. So this was a new variation.