Chapter 14

And once again, I apologize for leaving this story to long without an update. My health problems have been kicking my ass lately, and I've pretty much been too tired to do much besides work and sleep. I'm so sorry for leaving everybody waiting, and I really appreciate how patient everybody's been. Once again, thanks for being such great readers.

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Elizabeth bolted to her feet, staring stupidly at the doorway. Had…had Olunnhar gone outside? No, that was a stupid question. Of course Olunnhar had gone outside…after all, there were only three of them in the escape pod, and she and David were still in the infirmary. No, the real question was why had Olunnhar gone outside?

"Elizabeth?" David's voice seemed to come from far away.

She ignored him. Why would Olunnhar leave now? What could he possibly be planning to do? Go back to his ship? Was he planning on trying to get in touch with his people again? Try to fix the spaceship? Try to get rid of some of those awful centipedes so the ship would be safe to fix?

All of those things were plausible, she supposed, and yet, none of them seemed like something he would be up do doing after falling into a fit of depression and self-loathing over his horrific crimes.

A sudden fear seized hold of her. Maybe he was planning on doing….something…to himself. She knew his sanity had been hanging by a thread even before this newest revelation, and now, perhaps…he had simply had enough. Or decided he deserved an even worse punishment than what he had already gone through.

"Elizabeth?" came David's voice again.

She ignored him. Would Olunnhar really abandon her like that? Even if he thought she hated him, she still didn't think he'd do it. After all, killing himself was essentially killing her too. She couldn't hope to fix his ship and fly it on her own. His death would leave her stranded for good, with nothing to do but wait for the end. Of course, perhaps he had reached the point where he considered such a thing to be merely one more sin added to an insurmountable pile…but she still couldn't make herself believe it. Even if he no longer cared about himself or his morals, he had made it clear he still cared about her. He wouldn't just leave her to die.

"ELIZABETH!" David's voice finally broke through her terrified mental ramblings.

"WHAT?" she snapped at him, feeling tempted to smack him again. "I'm trying to think!"

"Elizabeth, you need to go to him," David told her, and there was a sinking feeling in her belly when she heard the urgency in his voice.

"What? Why?" she said, her voice sounding unnaturally shrill in her panic.

Maddeningly, David didn't answer her right away, but was silent for a long moment, his eye drooping a bit as though he were having trouble formatting his response.

"David?" she said, fighting the urge to reach out and shake him. That wouldn't accomplish anything but scrambling his circuits even more. "David, what is it?"

"He asked me if I could fly the ship," David finally replied. "When I told him I could, he was relieved."

Fly the ship? How can David possibly fly the ship? When did he learn how? How can he fly it with no body? How can he fly it at all, in the condition it's in? Her mind was a jumble of confusion as she stood there and waited for him to elaborate.

"There are other ships, Elizabeth," David told her, as if sensing her questions. "He told me how to reach them."

"Oh no…" Elizabeth whispered, beginning to understand.

"I believe he wishes for me to take you back to Earth myself," David told her. "Which likely means-"

"-he isn't coming with us," she finished in dismay.

"He didn't say as much, but that is my understanding," said David.

"But…why…I…I mean…what could he be-?" she gave up, knowing the question was pointless. She had already figured out what he was planning to do.

"Why didn't you tell me this right away?" she asked instead.

David's expression told her that that question was also pointless. She knew why. With Olunnhar dead, Elizabeth would be alone with David and forced to rely on him to survive.

"I'm sorry, Elizabeth," said David, his eyes fixed on the tabletop.

She wanted to tell him exactly where he could stick his apology, but realized there wasn't time. She dashed back toward the living area, glad that Olunnhar had left her spacesuit and equipment in a heap beside the coffee table when he'd removed it several days ago. Elizabeth forced herself to dress carefully, however, despite her desire to rush, since a single missed zipper or clip might prove fatal in the toxic environment outside the escape pod.

Finally ready, she sprinted to the door of the escape pod, looked out…and gasped in horror.

There was no sign of Olunnhar outside. He must have made it to the ship and gone inside while she was getting ready. But that wasn't what horrified her. No, it was the thick cloud of swirling dust that completely filled the southern horizon. A storm was coming.

For a moment she stood there, frozen in indecision. The storm was still far enough away that she thought she could make it to the ship before it hit…but how was she going to get inside the ship? She didn't remember the code for the door, and searching for another way inside was impossible. She'd never find one before the storm reached her.

"Elizabeth!" David's voice called to her faintly from the infirmary.

All at once, hope and misgiving fought an evenly matched battle as she looked back toward the infirmary. David would know how to open the doors. If she brought him with her, she would have a chance. On the other hand, she knew there was no way she could trust him. Oh, he'd probably let her into the ship itself, but he could simply refuse to open any of the inner doors, knowing Elizabeth was too dependent on him to punish him for it. All he would have to do was remain silent until Olunnhar was dead. Then she would be his.

But then, if he wanted Olunnhar dead, why had he told her about the Engineer's plans at all? Had he…had a change of heart? Or was it some part of a bigger plan the manipulative android had cooked up?

There was no time to wonder. If she didn't leave soon, the storm would trap her here, and by the time it abated, Olunnhar would be dead.

Deciding a slight chance was better than no chance, Elizabeth dashed back toward the infirmary.

"I'm taking you with me," Elizabeth told David, seizing the odd stand upon with the android's head rested. "I need you to open the doors." Without waiting for David to reply, she dashed back out into the hallway and rushed to the door.

No sooner had she heard the whoosh of the airlock opening then she had already hopped out into muddy ground. She ran toward the ship as fast as she could, heedless of the slippery ground and the howling wind and the rapidly approaching storm front. She thought she heard David shout something to her, but she could barely hear him over the sounds of the wind and her own labored breathing. He would have to wait until they made it to the ship before she could answer his question.

She reached the ship at last and spent a few panicked moments trying to find the door she had used last time. The ship was so vast and the exterior so uniform that she had trouble remembering exactly where it had been located.

The sight of a familiar group of boulders jogged her memory. They were the ones she'd hidden behind as she'd tried to get close to Olunnhar the last time she was out here. Elizabeth ran to the boulder closest to the ship and stood beside it, trying to orient herself. Still, it took almost a minute before she spotted the dark, circular doorway, blending in perfectly with the rest of the ship's monotonous black exterior.

Elizabeth rushed up to it, knowing there was no time to spare. "David, what's the code to get inside?" she shouted at the top of her lungs, praying her could hear her over the shrieking of the wind.

David was silent, and Elizabeth felt a rush of terror. What if he couldn't remember the combination either? The clouds now covered half the sky, and she wasn't sure they had enough time to get back to the escape pod. If they didn't get inside the ship…

"Touch the bottom symbol twice, Elizabeth!" David finally shouted, a single blue eye looking up at her while the other appeared to have rolled downward into his head. He must have been using ever single spare ounce of processing power to recall the code. She suddenly wondered if he had gotten damaged in all the jostling and bouncing around he had undergone during her mad dash to the ship.

There was no time to worry about it though. Elizabeth did as he instructed and pressed the top symbol twice. He walked her through the rest of the code as quickly as he was able, and Elizabeth followed his instructions, trying to ignore the rolling clouds growing ever closer by the second. Bottom. Bottom. Top. Middle. Bottom.

The final symbol activated, the door began to slide open. Elizabeth squeezed herself though before it got even half of the way up, and when it finally shut behind them, sealing them safely away from the approaching windstorm, she breathed a sign of relief.

Still, as tired as her long, panicked sprint had left her, there was no time to stop and catch her breath. "OLUNNHAR!" she shouted at the top of her lungs, not caring if her shouting alerted every single centipede on the ship and sent them all scurrying toward her at top speed. "OLUNNHAR! WHERE ARE YOU?"

"Are you sure shouting is wise, Elizabeth?" David asked her. The growl in his voice was suddenly much more pronounced. He had gotten damaged somehow. Suddenly terrified that he wasn't going to last much longer, Elizabeth raised David's stand to eye-level so she could speak to him.

"Did he say where he was going, David?" she asked frantically. "Did he…did he give any kind of hint? Do you have any idea?"

The android took even longer to answer this time. "N-no, Elizabeth," he rasped, eye still drooping uselessly. "He gave me very little information once he'd verified that I was able to fly a ship. He seemed to…dislike…speaking with me."

Forced to try and puzzle out the Engineer's whereabouts herself Elizabeth mentally went over all the places she had been the last time she was in the ship. The cockpit. The medical supply room. That storage room full of broken vases and mutated centipedes. The creepy "church" where Olunnhar had laid her dead children to rest.

Olunnhar could be in any of them, or none of them. Without knowing what exactly he was planning to do, she had no idea where to start looking.

But she couldn't just stand there dithering around, either. If Olunnhar was in danger, she needed to start looking for him right away.

She finally decided to just start up the "leg" of the horseshoe, heading toward the cockpit, just as she'd done last time. As she went, she would keep a look out for any signs of him.

She hurried along, pausing at one point to stick her head into the "church" when she passed it, wondering if she might find Olunnhar huddled within, desperately praying to his gods for forgiveness. But the dark room was empty except for the familiar shapeless mass of decaying flesh, and Elizabeth didn't linger. The odor coming from within was practically visible.

She continued to hurry toward the cockpit, sweeping her flashlight along as she went, but thankfully seeing only a few, regular-sized centipedes. The huge horde that had been after her in that hallway must have dispersed by now.

"Elizabeth?" came David's raspy voice, sounding startlingly menacing in these empty, silent dark halls, to the point that it almost spooked her.

"Yes, David?" she asked, keeping her own voice low, barely above a whisper, although whether that was due to her wanting to be alert for signs of Olunnhar (and centipedes) or her sudden case of the creeps she couldn't say.

"When y-you find him, what will you s-say to him?" the android wanted to know.

Elizabeth hesitated. "I don't know, David," she admitted. "I haven't had time to give it much thought. But I want to try to help him. I don't know how, or what I'll say….I'll just have to…to…figure it out when I find him."

"Are you going to forgive him?"

The question caught her by surprise, and she almost stopped. Forcing herself to keep moving, she tried to answer David's question as best she could.

"Yes," she finally told the android. "He's sorry and I know he wasn't in his right mind when he tried to hurt me. I can forgive him for it." The hallway began to make a gentle curve to the left, ad her nervousness increased, knowing the cockpit was getting closer. "As for the rest, it's more complicated, but-"

She stopped when she hard the noise. Harsh and booming, it sounded like something was howling on the other side of the cockpit door, which now loomed at the end of the hall. She froze where she was and even David fell silent as the two of them wondered just what type of creature could be on the other side of that door.

A centipede? One of the big ones, maybe? None of them had made any noise when she had encountered them before, but that didn't mean they were incapable of it. Or maybe it was some other type of creature…her mind conjured up a huge, monstrous black beast, something that the Mala'kak might use for war. This was a warship, after all. Maybe there were other dangerous things aboard besides that black goo. Other "weapons" to drop on "failed" creations. Perhaps Olunnhar hadn't been the only creature being kept in stasis on this ship…and wasn't the only one who had been awakened either.

And then she had another horrifying thought. What if, while she was looking for Olunnhar….whatever-it-was had gotten to him first? Or he'd actually awakened and released it for the sole purpose of letting it tear him to pieces?

"Oh God…" she whimpered.

For a long moment, she stood frozen, staring at the cockpit door, wondering what to do next. Going in there would almost certainly be suicide. Even if Olunnhar was still alive, how could she possibly help him? Whatever-it-was sounded huge and dangerous, and she didn't even have a weapon with her. If she rushed into the cockpit, she'd probably die right alongside Olunnhar.

And if he was already dead, or wasn't even in the cockpit at all, her death would be even more pointless.

But…on the other hand…she'd come all the way out here to try and save him, and…turning around and leaving him now made it all pointless. Leaving him now assured his death as certainly as if she'd simply stayed inside the escape pod and waited.

She…she couldn't abandon him. Not even if her chances of saving him were practically zero. She had to try to help him, even if it meant her death. She loved him.

"David, open the door," she said.

"Elizabeth, I d-don't think th-that's-"

"Open it."

"Elizabeth, I c-cannot l-et you c-come to harm."

"Yes you can," she told him, remembering their conversation back at the escape pod. "You can't stop a human from taking risks."

"Y-yes, b-but I don't…" the android replied in his failing voice. "I-I don't….don't…want…"

"The HELL with what you want!" she screamed at him, beginning to panic. "Open the door!"

"E-Elizabeth…"

"PLEASE!" she screamed, tears filling her eyes. "HE NEEDS ME!"

"Elizabeth…"

"OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR!" she howled. "DON'T LET HIM DIE!"

"Elizabeth, p-press the middle symbol once and th-the b-bottom symbol twice, then the top s-symbol and then the bottom symbol again."

His sudden compliance with her demands dumbfounded her so much that for a second, she could only gape at him. Tearing herself free from her shock, she turned to the keypad and punched in the code. To her relief, the doorway slid open, admitting her into the small airlock between the cockpit and hallway. David walked her though the combination for the second door, and then, all she could do was wait to see what kind of horror would be revealed beyond.

The door slid open. Elizabeth gasped.

There was no monster on the other side. Only her beloved Olunnhar.

The Engineer was on his knees in the middle of the room, hunched over and howling in anguish, his entire body quaking with sobs. His eyes were squeezed shut, but tears gushed freely from them. His mouth hung open in watery, gasping sobs. Drool glistened on his chin.

Those horrid noises had been coming from him.

Elizabeth stood, rooted to the spot, not knowing what to do. Not knowing how she could possibly try to comfort the very picture of misery and self-loathing. It wasn't like the last time she had found him in anguish. There was no way clumsy tenderness could possibly pull him back from something like this.

Olunnhar continued to bawl, completely unaware of her presence. He likely hadn't heard the door opening over his own noise.

Elizabeth took a single, shaky step into the room, still unsure what to do, what to say. She opened her mouth to call his name, but her throat had gone so dry all she could manage was a small, pained croak.

And as she watched, helpless with indecision and fear, she saw him reach down and pick something up.

It looked like a smooth, black cylinder, made of some sort of polished stone, but when he twisted the top, it slid open to reveal something glowing within, something that shone with a sullen, ruddy glow. It was an ugly color, and something about it held menace. Something about it screamed "danger."

Olunnhar raised the container to his lips.

"OLUNNHAR!" she screamed, finally forcing herself free of her paralysis. She ran into the room on legs so shaky it seemed a miracle she didn't fall flat on her face in front of the Engineer, who was now gaping at her as if she were the absolute last thing he expected to see. His mouth fell open in disbelief. The container slipped from his startled fingers. A sticky red substance from within splattered against the floor with a hiss like water hitting a hot skillet.

She barreled into him, threw her arms around him, seized hold of him, and just held on. She buried her face in the strange rubbery texture of his suit and cried out his name. He remained rigid and unmoving, as though still frozen with shock, and she held him tighter.

"Olunnhar…" she whispered. "Thank God! Oh thank God you're all right." She was suddenly aware that she was crying.

"L…L….Leeza….L…" The Mala'kak struggled to speak as if having trouble comprehending not just her name, but her very existence in this room. He gently pried her arms loose so he could pull her back and look at her, and his wide, tear filled eyes stared into her own, utterly at a loss.

"Oh, Olunnhar…" she whispered again, tears trickling from her own eyes. "Olunnhar, I didn't want….I mean I didn't…" She spared a glance at the spilled poison, which was still bubbling against the floor, sending up tendrils of acrid smoke. She had almost been too late, and the very thought seemed to chill the coherency right out of her. "I never wanted you to…to…" She stumbled again, still not quite knowing what she wanted to say. Or how to say it. Or how to communicate it to him even if she did know. She wasn't going to interrupt the moment to go looking for David's head, which was surely back by the doorway. She didn't even remember dropping it.

She needed something simple, fast, and unmistakable. A gesture that could cross not only the language barrier, but also the gulf of confusion, pain and shame that had opened between them.

Still shaking like a leaf, Elizabeth placed both palms on Olunnhar's cheeks, leaned forward, and kissed him.

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Well, it's been three years, but I finally got to make her kiss him. Hooray! :P