Helena felt the buzz of alcohol and the warmth of another body close to hers. She nuzzled into Spencer's neck. The world seemed to spin, was it the alcohol, or something else?
"Whozit?" Mika felt herself being pulled from a sound sleep. What was the noise? "Mika, it's Omar. Uh, the doctor. We should talk. It's important." It was backed up by more knocking. "Hang on, just a sec." Mika reached for some clothes, settling for her top and her pants over nothing and wrapping a blanket around herself. She raked her fingers through her hair, knowing that it probably was sticking out in spite of her efforts. What on earth could the doctor find so important that he'd wake her? She went to the door and slid the lock back before opening it, revealing a very hyper Omar. "Um..." Mika groped for the proper thing to say to a guy who shows up unexpectedly at a woman's door and gave up, "What's up?"
Tentatively and gently, Spencer put a hand on her shoulder. He remembered the last time he had been this close to someone. She had been a refugee that Spencer had rescued from the Van Haar. One of the five that had survived out of a hundred. She hadn't left his side for a week, and he had grown to care for her as well. That night before she had left was one of the few things Spencer could look back on with pleasure. But she hadn't survived the trip back to her home. Reavers raped and murdered her brutally. And now, the feelings that she had inspired in him awoke again in Helena. The warmth of her body on his, her hair falling over her shoulders in gentle golden cascades... No words came to him. None seemed to be of any value. Words never came easily to him anyway. With infinite care, he raised her chin and brushed his lips softly against hers.
Omar raised an eyebrow. He was used to seeing her in a thick parka, which sort of gave the illusion of being overweight. The slim, attractive woman standing groggy before him made him hesitate. Maybe this wasn't such a great idea. "Sorry, to uh, wake you, Mika, it's just..." I need to experiment on you, he didn't say. "Remember a few days ago, in the first attack, when we were in truck two together, and the rocket hit, and... Well, you saved my life, Mika. I mean, I would've died, right there, if you hadn't... I'm just trying to say... Thanks."
She wasn't expecting such tenderness from the Ghost, but melted into it nonetheless. She kissed his back, softly at first then with rising urgency. The need for companionship was strong, the desperate need to feel not alone in this frozen world. She had needed the alcohol to let herself open up like this. She was more comfortable with machines that with people. Machines didn't scream when they die in your arms. Her mind involunraily went back the young man she had once planned to marry, another Orlock she had known since childhood...She forced her thoughts away and back to the man in her arms at the bar. She pulled away from the kiss and looked Spencer in the eyes again. "I know we may both die tomorrow. Will you take care of me tonight?" Her eyes were desperate, pleading, needy.
"Well...you're welcome." Mika replied. He woke me up to say this? "We're supposed to have each other's backs. You'd do the same for me." There was an awkward silence and Mika gave a little nod. She was more awake now and there was nothing wrong with her instincts. Omar practically vibrated with impatience. There was something on his mind. He lingered, apparently hesitant. "Is there something else? Is everything okay?" She glanced down the hall in case the others had run into trouble or something.
I looked around at what I could see which wasn't given the amount of alcohol. I couldn't focus as the room spun like a carousel with some blobs still there and some missing. I closed one eye to try to focus but no luck. Grasping the two bottles of liquor I had in my hands I tried to shake off the dizziness and proceed to drink till I drop. I small the two bottles on the bar table and began to laugh hysterically as I took off my shirt and climbed on top of the bar with grabbing both bottle of liquor again. I howled to get everyone's attention. "AY,..OY,..We got ...er still a....journey long ahead....to go but we are gonna....kick the...a**holes in....Drekk," My words stumbled as I laughed and flexed.
"Is there something else? Is everything okay?" How do you ask someone to risk their life based on your research? To be the first human test subject of a substance that should, by popular opinion, simply cause terminal cancer? "Mika, um, would you... consider yourself a risk-taker? I mean, obviously, we're all risk-takers here, but how much are you willing to risk, for a chance? Would you go all the way?" Omar knew he was being vague, but he couldn't bring himself to confront her with such a serious decision on his part.
"I know we may both die tomorrow. Will you take care of me tonight?" There was a need, a deep and profound hunger in her eyes that was beyond the effects of the alcohol. Like him, she was alone. Like him, her work had become her life, and she knew very little outside of it. "Yes." He said. It was then that a very drunk David clambered up on the bar and began to yell incoherently. "Though maybe we should try and find somewhere quieter." He said with a smile.
"Your bunk or mine?" She took him by the hand and pulled him to his feet. She suddenly felt off balance and leaned heavily on him for support. "You may have to steer...and maybe be on top." She blushed and giggled girlishly.
Mika turned her head a little and gave him a suspicious look from the corners of her eyes, clutching the blanket around her. "Obviously I took the risk to come here," she said, "but I think you'll have to be a little more specific." She sighed and opened the door wider, flicking on the soft glow of a lamp. "Why don't you tell me a bit more?"
Omar noticed her cover up a bit more as he spoke. He chuckled. "Mika, darling, I'm not hitting on you, if that's what you think..." The doctor took her opening the door as an invitation. He hesitated a moment. Her neck was exposed; one jab and it was done. Didn't the saying go 'better to beg forgiveness than ask permission'? But he couldn't bring himself to do it. He stepped into the room. It smelled vaguely of lavender. He sat down on her bed, sighing. "I'm committing a serious crime by saying this to you..." he began. Probably not the best way to begin. "The reason I was chosen for this mission isn't because of my medical expertise. I'm the foremost expert on Xenobiology. You see, the Drekk are -- genetically -- very similar to humans. They have 46 chromosomes, like us, with the X-chromosome holding most of the genes which make them different from us. Uh, anyway, the reason I'm telling you this is because I've found a way to isolate some of the genes which give them their telepathic abilities, and, also, the materials necessary to reconstruct the same crystalline neuro-psyiaticmethylbromide... Basically I can give you the ability to hear a Drekk's thoughts. In theory. Or, it could give you a brain tumor, which'll kill you in about a week. Painfully. So... what do you think?"
Mika closed the door slowly as he sat on the bed and nudged the door closed, the latch clicking softly. Her eyebrows shot up when he prefaced his words by explaining that what he was about to say was illegal. It also piqued her interest. Skarrens operated on the edge of the law quite often, more pragmatists than legalists. "...Basically I can give you the ability to hear a Drekk's thoughts. In theory. Or, it could give you a brain tumor, which'll kill you in about a week. Painfully. So... what do you think?" "You're asking me...you're asking to experiment on me?" Mika was dumbfounded. Her thoughts raced. Did this mean that he'd seen special potential in her or that he saw her as an expendable guinea pig? She ran back over everything she knew of the doctor. He saw her as an expendable guinea pig. She took a few deep breaths and figured she might as well ask. "Why me?"
"Why me?" The doctor had dreaded that question. He couldn't imagine what might be going through her head, but he was sure that this was the moment when she was going to make up her mind, one way or the other, despite whatever arguments he made. "Look, Mika, if you're not interested, I understand. It's just, you seemed like the best candidate. You're strong, physically and mentally, you haven't received any grievous injuries, and most importantly, you're a woman. Which means you have two X chromosomes. Which means I have two chances to achieve genetic dominance. And, you... well, I remember you saying you had no family." The graveness of Omar's tone frightened himself. He'd never spoken so soberly in his life. What he was asking this still-young, pretty woman to do for him was beyond anything he could imagine. It made oral sex look completely trivial... He smiled at his own inappropriate thought. Guess he wasn't entirely grave. "I'm not going to insult you by saying this isn't a risk. There's a 40% chance you'll die, and even if you don't, I can't even begin to determine the effects of having mild psychic abilities. It could destroy your mind; drive you insane. Or it could be pretty cool. I've... really never done this. Test on humans. I'm sure it's unethical. Thank god the Ethics Committee was frozen over, eh?"
Drake had gone to the seat at the corner of the bar. He had just heard the news of the Reaver's activity. He wanted revenge against Jermiah. He was full of rage. He didn't order anthing and in the lone seat he remebered his past. He decided to have something. He went to the barman and ordered for a soft drink. He picked the can which he was given and opened it and started gulping it.
Frozen over...the bubbles rose until they stopped while she screamed, helpless, kneeling on the..."Lady, are you okay?"...oh God, oh God, oh God... Mika blinked hard and leaned forward, her eyes intense. "Do you have this injection with you right now?" She asked it harshly and before she could take the words back, "Can you do it right now? And," she held up one hand as he began to move, began to say something, "if this goes bad I want you to shoot me in the head. No trying to jolly me along for science. If it goes bad you take care of it, understood?"
"Your bunk or mine?" She took him by the hand and pulled him to his feet. She suddenly felt off balance and leaned heavily on him for support. "You may have to steer...and maybe be on top." She blushed and giggled girlishly. "I wasn't aware I had a bunk yet..." He said as he left the bar and made his way up the stairs to the quarters. Thankfully there was a manifest on the wall detailing which crewers had which rooms. Spencer guided her gently to the one that was assigned to him, and shut the door behind. A soft glow emanated from a lamp on the nightstand. He turned her to him and kissed her again, moving his hand gently down her face and neck.
"Do you have this injection with you right now?" Omar was surprised at her forwardness. He began to doubt this whole thing. He checked his pocket, feeling the syringe there, imagining the crystals bouncing around, trying to react with each other. "If it goes bad you take care of it, understood?" Omar glanced up. "L-look, I don't do that, okay? I mean, you look... a lot like my wife. I couldn't. I'm sorry. But, I mean, if it 'goes bad', you'll be fine for a while. I wont know until your brain cells start dying. It could take twelve hours for the crystals to even fully structure themselves."
When Mika got intense her eyes became almost an acid green. They bore holes through Omar now. "Look, you are stepping outside legality by experimenting on a human being. You have to be willing to see it through. You're a doc, there are tests you can do and observations you can make. Don't tell me you can't take responsibility. If I remind you of your wife you'll do me the kindness of killing me if it comes to that." She bore a few more holes through him, half-expecting to see his shirt begin to smoke. "If I'm going to have to have courage," she said a little more softly but no less intensely, "then you are going to have to as well."
She tore at his clothes, stripping them off and her own as well and pulled him down on the bed. Without quite knowing why. She started to cry. It is a difficult thing to feel.
As they lay there in one another's arms, Spencer saw tears begin to fall from her eyes. He raised a hand to brush them away. He held her close as she wept, feeling her smooth warm flesh under his hands. "It's alright to be afraid." He whispered.
Omar nodded slowly. The woman -- Mika -- exuded a sense of purpose which pushed away his doubts. For the first time in a long while, he found himself respecting someone other than himself. "I'll ask Hawke to bring along as much lab equipment as possible from this station, and I'll make sure we're grouped together. I'll monitor you every step of the way, and if I find even a trace of a tumor, I'll uh... I'll do it as painlessly as possible." He produced the syringe, the purplish serum fizzing and bubbling. "Keep in mind, that I'm not some mad scientist doing back-alley research. The English government knows full well what I'm doing; they're just turning a blind eye. For the good of the world. And now," he sunk the syringe in her neck, slid the liquid inside of her, "you're a part of that."
Mika gasped as the needle burned in her skin and the liquid felt cold in her vein. It seemed to take forever as he depressed the plunger. His face was inches from her, solemn as a dark angel pronouncing judgment. A deep tremor went through her as he finally removed the needle with a practiced flick and a bead of blood welled up at the injection site. She kept her arms wrapped tightly around her with the blanket. "Twelve hours," she said, dry-mouthed, "is that when symptoms might begin to occur? I mean good ones or bad ones, either way."
Helena relaxed and allowed herself to give in to the emotion and hte passion until both she and Spencer were spent and lay in each others arms exausted.
Omar noticed how close he was to her, felt her breath warm against his own neck. She smelled nice. Must have showered before she'd gone to bed. He realised she was talking to him, and moved back. "I can't say. It could take an hour, it could take ten, or it could never happen. You're the first human to ever undergo this procedure. I know the theory and mechanics of what will happen, but it never really goes as planned..."
