I am not a morning person.

I don't like to wake up, I like even less to get up, and I normally require a sacrifice of ham, eggs, and potatoes, with a cup of steaming coffee to pry me from my slumber.

Apparently, all of that becomes entirely unnecessary when I wake up inside something that the only word I think of to describe is "coffin."

I blinked. What the hell? I'm dreaming. Yup, I'm dreaming, I'm not awake, that doesn't make sense. But when I'm dreaming and know it, I wake up. Um ….

Something on the other side of the coffin-thing's semi-transparent surface moved. I couldn't make out details though. Apparently I hadn't bothered to bring my glasses to this dream. And being nearsighted, blurry turned into indistinguishable within a few feet. That was smart.

The interior felt cramped but I could still bring my hand up to press against the orange-tinted surface. To my surprise, heat met my hand, and it made me think of a piece of machinery that had just been turned off to cool. The whole capsule-thing shivered like someone had just flipped on a massage chair, and the air around me began to grow warmer.

A shriek echoed through the confines of my strange, tight prison. The first, a woman's, grated on my ears in an agonized yowl that sent a shiver of cold settling in my stomach, a cold and tight block of condensed fear. Her voice echoed hollowly through my amber-colored prison. Then another; a higher thinner scream. Next a man's voice joined in, adding to the cacophony with a horrified baritone. And just when I didn't think I could be more frightened, the first voice stopped, choked off in a sickening, wet sound.

What the HELL kind of dream is this? Out. I have to get out. Out, out, out.

I started banging on the inside of the pod-thing's glass and shouting, hammering my hand against it with a hollow thump. Someone must have heard me, or heard the others screams. "Get them out, now!"

The voice sounded strange, coming through the coffins outside, and muffled by something else on top of that. There was a flicker of movement as someone ran past, and then another. Blood pounded in my ears and my heart raced as I clawed at the inside. I am not claustrophobic, but this was getting to be too much.

"Come on, somebody, let me—"

Even without my glasses and through the amber barrier, I could see the thing on the other side as it moved and pressed against the side. Its head tilted to one side, a single reptilian eye staring at me. Boney armored plates ran across the top of its head, and it … smiled? Its mouth contained dozens of shark-like teeth which I found absolutely riveting. The way a deer tends to be frozen in place my headlights of the oncoming semi. My fascination lasted right up to the point it grabbed the pod on either side and heaved.

Shark-man was apparently strong. Very, very, very strong

I tried to brace myself in the small confines as a series of snaps and hissing noises echoed through my impromptu prison. The coffin shuddered, and I had a sickening moment of weightlessness as the coffin—with me inside it—was peeled away from the wall by the sheer monstrous strength of...whatever he was. Or she was. Or it.

The pod came down with enough force that the only thing I could compare it to was a low speed car crash. Somewhere in between the sound of metal grinding on metal and the snapping sound my brain associated with that of cracked glass, I rebounded off the inside of the coffin's interior like some kind of human-shaped bouncy ball. Pain lanced through me in half a dozen places, and I dimly felt something warm trickle down the side of my face and into my ear.

There was a sharp crack, then the hiss of pressurized air escaping as the pod opened, the top falling to the side. I tried to focus, but in general I am not at my best when treated like something out of Looney Tunes. I did manage to make out a woman's voice, the words bearing an accent made me think of kangaroos and the Outback. "He's alive, but he's hurt. Grunt, get the next one. Go!"

I blinked as I looked up at her. The woman who knelt over me was beautiful in a way that was hard to exactly describe. Waves of jet-black hair fell around her face in sheets, framing her strong featured face. Her eyes were dark and hard as they met mine in the instant before she wrapped her hand around my wrist and pulled me out of the coffin. My heart sped up, and a small part of my mind decided this was much more dreamlike. I could like this dream. A lot.

Though as she pulled, my legs didn't support me. What the hell? This is a dream, I can do whatever the hell I want, and I can't stand?

"Easy, hang on," the raven-haired goddess said as she lowered me to the ground. She was stronger than she looked, and didn't waver at all as she set me back, and I'm not exactly made of feathers. "You're alright, just stay here a second."

"Staying. I can do staying," I managed to mumble. As she turned away, I finally had a moment to try and make some sense of my surroundings. In both directions from where I was sitting, I could make out the shape of more capsules like the the one I was in. I watched as Shark-man tore another pod from wall about ten feet away, and set it down without dropping it like had happened to me. Note to self: do make Shark-man angry. You wouldn't like him when he's angry.

The other direction was more of the same, though I could see the hall open into a much much larger cavern that looked to be completely lined with those pods. I shuddered as the scene registered on my mind. People in all of those? That's a stadium at least of people. More? I don't ….

"... Hey, come on, look at me. Eyes right here."

My attention snaps back in front of me as as pair of almost fever warm hands cup my jaw, turning me to face someone new. Her red hair was a tangled and matted mess that fell just below her ears. Her eyes were a bright green, but the effect was dimmed by the tired circles under them.

"Are you alright?" she asked in a tone that made me suddenly wonder if that was the first, or even second time she had tried to talk to me.

"Fine. You're fine. I mean, I'm fine," the words tumbled from me. I feel my face crease in a frown. Was I slurring my words?

The worry lines on her face deepened, and she looked around a moment before she brought her attention back to me, biting her lower lip as she continued. "Come on. We can't stay here."

I pushed off the wall as I tried to stand, shaking my head to clear the mental cobwebs. That was a mistake. Pain hit me like a charging Mongolian horde and proceeded to run rampant through my head. I sagged, nearly pulling her down with me.

"Doctor Chakwas! I need you!" Red shouted, her voice ringing. I shut my eyes, pain zipping through again, though to a much lesser degree. Instead of a horde, I had a raiding party. That was progress, I guess.

A moment later I felt someone else's touch. How many people were going to manhandle me in this dream?

"What's wrong with him?" demanded an older woman's voice, the syllables clipped and proper sounding.

"I don't know. He grabbed his head and nearly pulled us both down."

Someone started touching my head, hands run over my scalp, gently searching for damage. Cool fingers found just the spot with a surety of a trained professional.

"He's taken a good knock, and he's probably got a concussion," the older voice said as she withdrew her touch, "He can walk, but he might be unsteady. Can you do it, or should I find someone else to help him?"

"I can get him," the red haired girl answered as she slipped under one of my arms. I tried to focus on her for a moment, needing a reference point. She was thin, but not emaciated. Stress and fear clouded bright green eyes, and tried to hide just how cute she actually was.

"Sudden movements, bad plan" I mumbled, as I tried to kick the mental cobwebs free, this time without sending me to the floor in a heap.

"Probably a good idea not to do that then," Red agreed as she tugged me along. I lost track of things for a moment, pieces of time blurring together like a night of partying, drinking, and other shenanigans. I didn't snap back into focus until Red asked me a question.

"You aren't one of the crew, I mean, I know everyone on the crew, so where are you from?"

I blinked, trying to put the question into focus and finally managed kick out answer from my mothball-ridden brain. "Chicago."

"On Earth? How did you get here? I thought they only had hit colonies."

I frowned. Colonies? What was she, British from the 17th century?

"No idea where here is," I managed finally instead, suppressing my inner wise-ass. My words were still slightly slurred and it pissed me off. Anger, however, seemed to have no bearing on my tongue's ability to enunciate. Stupid body parts rebelling.

"Uh, I think near the Galactic Core, if what we were told before the ship was attacked is right." Red answered, not looking at me. She just kept pulling me forward, in a awkward half walk/half stagger that just barely kept pace with the others in front of us.

Galactic Core? Did I fall into a freaking Star Wars movie or something? Shark-face doesn't look like a damn wookie.

"Right. Pulling my leg. Have to be pulling …." I felt my throat tighten and my voice trail off as we passed a gap in the wall, showing thousands and thousands more pods.

Not even thousands. Millions.

"My god…."

Red looked over and shivered so violently that it ran through me as well and my arm over her shoulder gripped her tighter, both of us just needing the human contact to feel safe. "Come on. We're falling behind," she managed, and together we hobbled after the other stragglers.

The hesitation saved our lives.

The pair in front of us, two men, screamed in horror as the floor suddenly opened just to one side, and long clawed hands reached out, slashing and grasping. They went down screaming, vanishing from sight. Next to me, Red made a little gasp of horror, and I dimly noted that the next group after them fell under a similar attack.

I looked down at the metal grating we were standing on. The lightweight and very easily shifted metal grating. Sickly looking blue eyes flickered to life and blinked just below us with malevolent intent.

Author Note: Hope you enjoyed this. This, and all the rest of my stories, are currently on a "as i finish" publishing schedule due to...well, life, and everything that goes with it. Update: This has now been beta'ed and as a result, updated due to, the wonderful efforts of Mizdirected, aka Kim.