It was a sleepless night aboard the sealed up Spacecraft. Everybody took the risk of sleeping. That is of course what everyone hoped for. Only Cameron Scott and Elle Franklin had given in to slumber.
Malcolm Brand sat up on watch. He felt the need to keep an eye open just in case. Sitting alone wouldn't last long.
Ruby Goddard joined him on looking the horizon through the massive cockpit window.
"Who needs sleep anyway." She frowns sitting down in the seat next to him and slouches.
Malcolm barely awake nods, "All the time in the world for that. Funny that way."
Sighing she kicks off her boots and props her socked feet up on a console.
"I need a hot bath dammit. Lots of suds."
"Burger and fries. Chocolate shake."
She huffs, "Cam would have a rude comment for that wish list."
"Racist bastard." Malcolm chuckles cracking his knuckles.
"Seems to me you two have become best friends." She raises a questionable eye brow.
"He's alright. Makes the time go by faster when we crank on each other. I know he's just joking. Same with him."
"Safe to say he would take a bullet for you I'm thinking."
"He better. Cause I'm running like hell if I'm being shot at."
Soft laughter helps the uneasy night.
"So, Ruby. What was life like for you before all this? Tell me a story."
"Story, huh? Alright. I'm an Army brat. Dad was a Colonel also. Retired just in time for me and my four brothers to enlist. Spent our entire younger life training to go in for more training. I was a black belt before I turned thirteen. Boxer for fun. Scuba diving off Baja. Ran six miles every day until I joined up. Didn't have the time after that. Once I breezed through basic I was moving up in rank by the day. Saw battle in Iraq alongside Jack. Got pulled out when my brother Deuce got ambushed in Kuwait. Died a hero."
"Sorry to hear that Ruby. Lost my buddy Roscoe in Afghanistan. I know the grief well."
She sighs, "Yeah! Anyway strangely enough I got promoted up to the REGION Alliance. Special unit which made me a retriever. Young kids the age of James. Prodigy's they were called. Somehow I think I was working for the bad guys. This side trip might have been a blessing."
"I can't say I'm stressed by the peacefulness here. My loved ones are few and far between. Pretty much just me and my Dad. Grew up on the bayou of Louisiana. I signed up just to escape that hell. Hunting and wrestling gators got old."
"You wrestled an alligator?" She smirks.
"Don't seem so surprised. I'm tougher than I look."
"Oh, I never doubted that Big Guy. I just never pictured you wrestling a lizard."
Ruby yawns and glares out into the darkness. Something suddenly catches her eye. Leaning forward in her chair she squints.
"Is that a light?"
Malcolm joins her in piercing the distance, "Faint but yeah I see it too."
He reaches back for a pair of infrared binoculars and attempts to catch a glimpse of the light's source. As soon as he narrows it in his sights the light vanishes.
"It's gone." He growls.
"Ball lightning maybe?"
"I'll stay up and keep my eyes open."
She nods patting his shoulder as she stands up, "Let me know if it comes back."
Leaving Malcolm on watch Ruby casually strolls the halls of the ship toward her room. Having belonged to one of the Ganthorian crew it made her skin crawl being alone in it. The darkness itself made her uneasy. Almost as if she was being watched.
"Boo!"
Ruby jumps at the sudden intruder and moves into a defensive stance. She then realized the voice.
"Jack? You scared the life out of me."
"You're breathing awful hard. Looks like you're pretty healthy to me."
"Ohhh right. Heightened senses. You see in the dark now?"