Chapter IIa: Absolute Disaster

Waking up in the tube isn't itself a terrifying experience. Being a pilot means you have a better-than-decent chance of ending up in an escape pod once in a while, and some of them aren't much bigger than this. No, it's the possible reason for waking up in this tube that sends Cass into a panic, once she's taken stock of the situation.

She remembers the pirate lunging at her with those strange pointed teeth... the impact of his body crushing her to the cargo bay floor... the unexpected searing pain as his acidic saliva (seriously, who has that?!) eats away at her face and neck...

What she doesn't remember, doesn't know, is what more might have been done to her.

Frantically, she begins to yell at the silent movie happening all around her. "Hey, Marbo! HEY!" When no one reacts, she tries pounding on the side of the tube. "Hey, somebody talk to me! Marbo, Belka! I need to know. Have I been wormed? Am I a parasite?"

Cass finds herself unable to reconcile Marbo's casual cheerfulness with her panic, especially since he completely avoids giving her the only piece of information she's currently interested in. You're alive, you're inside a tube. No shit, fishboy! I know all that already.

"The parasite!" she says. Belatedly, she seizes on the fact that he referred to a "risk of infection." "Look, Marbo," she says urgently, "if there's the slightest chance that the parasite got inside me, I need to go through the transporter. Now. Right now. I don't care about any risks involved. The safety of the crew is at stake!"

Kendall starts the ship, and then messages the bridge again. "Bridge, this is Kendall F’brei, in shuttle bay X2, requesting permission to engage the enemy.

"Awaiting authorization."

This is all too familiar, reminding her of her Space fleet days.

Moira buzzes back into the bridge muttering curses.

Twenty-three minutes. Sonofa - Oh. Lieutenant Commander. Tha Commander's gonna be fine. Tha nurses kept me there longer than ah wanted, an' ah apologize fer tha delay. They want yoo there next. What've we got?

Moira lets herself smile.

She's back...

"No parasite. Just a bit of burnt skin and a case of the angries, apparently." Marbo hits a button, filling the tube with a low dose of a sedative. Not enough to knock the commander out, but enough for her to relax.

"Cassano must stay in the tube. As long as possible. Skin graft is rejecting, slightly. Must medicate and keep sterile to prevent full on necrosis of the external cutaneous layer of the dermis. Could be worse. Messenger who assaulted you did not carry any juveniles. His body was secured inside its own shielded coffin after Miss F'brei eviscerated him."

Relief floods Cass' mind as she realizes she wasn't exposed to the parasite. One thing, just one thing that didn't go wrong today. She takes a deep breath, the first since she woke up. "Okay, good, that's good. But I can't stay in this tube, Marbo. You have to release me. We're in the middle of a pretty tricky situation."

"Marbo can not release you from the tube yet. You risk necrotising fasciitis of the face and neck if you leave too early. Marbo would feel responsible for ruining your face."

Marbo pauses, staring at cassano for an uncomfortably long minute.


"Marbo can be your eyes and ears outside of the tube though!"

He shrugs comically, all four arms rising as he cocks his head in sort of a "its the best i can do to prevent you suffering medical complications" smile.

During the minute when Marbo is doing nothing but staring at her, Cass is seized by a strange thought: This must be what going mad feels like. It's strange because it almost feels like it comes from another universe entirely.

At his offer to be her "eyes and ears," Cass smiles patiently and says, "That'll be great, sure. Tell me the minimum amount of time I need to be in here. The absolute bare minimum, Marbo."

"Marbo could theoretically release you, as soon as he has some portable way for you to move about in a sealed environment. Marbo has done research. Old terran movie about a man in a synthetic polymer spheroid, to prevent bacteria and germs from reaching him.Marbo could make one. Replicators should be able to create a seamless environment."

"It wouldn't need to surround all of me, would it? Just my head and neck area?" Cass isn't sure she's really into this idea, but anything would be better than being immobilized in this pod.