Chapter 39: A Bumpy Ride

Dee pulled open a cupboard door and promptly slammed it shut. So far, she had found nothing but basic rations and water in the Raven’s galley. She braced herself against the counter and closed her eyes, but all she could see was Nienna on the med bay table, unconscious and covered in black veins. It was of her own free will, but her condition wasn’t. She opened her eyes and searched one more cabinet, hoping it would have what she needed. This one had a couple bottles that looked promising, so she took one out and read the label. It contained a cooking vinegar and definitely was not what she was after. With a sigh, she put it back and plopped herself down in one of six chairs around the roomy dining table.

“Still hungry?” Quint stepped into the galley with Michi at his heels. He flashed her a worn smile. The lines around his eyes were deeper and the shadows underneath darker. He looked down at his red drake at his heels. She flipped her tail back and forth as she went about sniffing around the room, completely ignoring Dee, and then settled down on the floor in the back of the room.

“No, just looking for something to settle the nerves. Can’t find a single bottle that isn’t water, motor oil, or vinegar. This ship is as dry as a Priory envoy at a norn moot.”

“Can’t blame the captain for trying to keep her crew on task.” Quint held up a bottle mostly filled with dark liquor and started searching the cupboards for cups. “Though, it appears she sometimes imbibes. I found this one tucked away in her quarters. Doesn’t look like she’s been drinking it. Figured we could put it to good use.” He set the two cups down on the table and poured some of the liquor into each.

“I don’t think she’s going to be happy to find that gone.”

“Desperate times call for a strong drink,” he replied with a grin as he sat down in the chair next to her.

“I don’t think that’s how the saying goes.” Dee took one of the cups and examined it. “You put anything special in this?”

Putting the cup to his lips, Quint emptying the whole thing in one swallow. His face scrunched, and he slapped his hand against his chest. He presented the empty cup before setting it back down on the table. Confident he hadn’t laced her drink with anything, the norn emptied her cup in one swallow like he did.

“What is she drinking? Airship fuel?” Quint said, coughing. He picked up the bottle and read the carefully scrawled letters on the label. “Spark-fire brandy. Huh, I think that’s accurately named.”

Dee eyed her cup. “Kinda weak if you ask me.”

Quint tipped the bottle and poured more liquor into both of their cups. “How are you holding up?”

The norn silently shrugged.

“It can’t be easy seeing your friend in such a hard way,” he said and then took a sip.

“It’s not,” Dee admitted. Her gaze fell to her drink, and she watched the subtle ripples formed from the vibrations coming through the table from the Raven’s engine. “I’ve never seen her this way before. She’s always been so—capable. And there’s nothing I can do. There’s nothing I can fight to make her better. Nothing I can scare away.”

Quint down his second drink and winced as he felt it warm his chest again. “That’s the hardest part, you know, not being able to make it go away. The best thing you can do is be there for her,” he paused for a moment before hesitantly adding, “and take over her duties.”

She shot him a sharp glance. “You’re speaking like she’s not going to get better.”

“She may not. Someone has to keep the group together and get them through the rest of this.”

“She will get better, and we’ll all get through this just fine.”

Quint leaned forward in his chair. “We don’t know that. We don’t even know what’s going on with her. We can’t expect the best-case scenario when it’s not promised.”

 “Plan for the worst. Hope for the best.” She picked up her cup and emptied it in one swallow.

“Exactly.”

The sounds of hurried bootsteps grew near, and a petite, blonde head peeked into the galley. Her wide eyes darted between the two of them before landing on Dee. “Hi, you’re Dee, right?”

The norn looked up from her cup at the young woman and furrowed her brow. “Yes. Can I help you?”

“Alena wants you to come to the med bay,” Mira Jayne replied. “She said to hurry.” The young woman then promptly disappeared, her bootsteps echoing down the hallway toward the bridge.

“Something? What does that mean?” Quint asked, but Dee had already pushed herself up from the table and speeding out of the galley toward the med bay. Giving a little whistle, Quint called for Michi to come. The red drake’s eyes snapped open, and she scuttled across the room as they made their exit to see what had warranted the messenger.

As soon as Dee stepped into the med bay, she was met with an unexpected scene. “What is going on here?” She looked over at the table where she had left her friend sleeping peacefully sedated before heading to the galley. Alena was now perched on the table’s edge, trying to hold down Nienna’s shaking body. Across the way, Clarkus assisted her by placing his large paws on Nienna’s arm and chest, also trying to gently keep her still.

“She’s still not waking up,” the charr noted.

Dee ran to the table to help Alena hold Nienna down. “What in Bear’s name is happening to her?”

The asura flashed her a panicked look. “I have no idea!”

Being as gentle as she could, Dee wrangled Nienna’s arm that had flung free from Alena’s grasp. The bare skin on the norn’s wrist brushed up against something rough on her friend’s arm. She looked down and found something dark and strange on her skin. She brushed her index finger over the spot. It felt like newly formed ice crystals and flaked off as such. Examining the rest of her exposed skin, Dee saw there were other similar spots forming along the rest of Nienna’s arm as well as her neck and the side of her face.

“What is this?” Dee pointed to one of the spots.

“I’m not sure. It started growing on her body just before the convulsions began,” Alena explained. “It seems to be coming out of her skin, and it’s spreading everywhere. The composition isn’t too dissimilar from a chrysalis.”

Michi let out a sharp hiss as she and Quint entered the room and began waddling in a protective circle around her master. “What happened?” he asked.

Dee looked over her shoulder. “We don’t know yet.” She turned back to Alena. “Does that mean she’s going to turn into some kind of butterfly?”

“I don’t know!” Alena threw her hands up in the air and then promptly put them back down on Nienna’s shaking torso. “We’re stepping into unexplored territory here. Could she sprout wings? Maybe! Could she turn into a pile of goo? Also a possibility! I’m just—I never studied for this kind of situation. I went to the college of Synergetics. Alchemy! I’m a theorist, not a medical doctor!”

“Maybe you can still do your thing here,” Clarkus said as he leaned over Nienna. “Theories can still be useful. Whatever is happenin’ to the commander over there seems to be magical, right? Magic scythe, magic goo. You have some information to go off of already. Can’t you theorize something so we can come up with a plan?”

“I see I’m starting to rub off on you,” Alena said with a smirk. She took in a deep breath and let it out as she started to think out loud. “We know whatever is in her body is attaching itself to her on a cellular level, so one could say this shadowy, black stuff doesn’t want to kill her but rather change her into something else. These growing crystals forming a possible chrysalis on her skin backs that theory up. Now what exactly she might be turning into, well, that’s anyone’s guess at this point.”

Before Alena could continue, the ship suddenly lurched sharply to port. The asura let out a shriek as she lost her hold on Nienna and started to tumble off the table. Dee reached out an arm and caught her but sacrificed her ability to hold onto Nienna, and she started to slide off the table. Clarkus reached out a mighty arm and grabbed her torso, careful not to scratch her with his claws. With a grunt, he pulled her back toward the center of the table as the ship righted itself.

“Alchemy, that was close,” Alena said. “Quint, get in here and help hold her steady. We don’t know if the Raven’s going to have a repeat performance like that.”

Quint nodded and stepped up to the table. He placed a hand on each of Nienna’s shins to hold them steady. “We should get those straps back on her, for her own safety.”

“I hate having to put those things back on, but I guess you’re right. It’s for her own safety.” Reaching under the table, Dee grabbed one of the leather straps and handed the end to Clarkus who secured it on the other side.

Danae’s disembodied voice came over the loudspeaker mounted above the desk. “I’m sure you all felt that. Everything under control down there? Mira let me know what’s going on.”

Clarkus gave Alena a little nod, and the asura quickly shuffled over to the desk and picked up the comm. “Um, sort of.”

“We’re coming up on Wayward Climb, but everyone should hold on. The northern wind is starting to pick up, and it’s going to make our arrival a bit bumpy.”

“Captain, take a look at this.” Someone else said over the speaker.

“Who said that?” Alena asked into the comm.

A heavy sigh came over the comm. “Looks like we’ve got company at the Climb,” Danae replied. “Things might get a little more—aggressive. Hang on!”

The ship lurched again, and everyone hung on to whatever they could grab. Everything that wasn’t bolted or tied down scattered upon floor.

“Will do!” Alena tossed the comm back down on the desk and returned to the table. “I might need to call on Gordo for a little extra…” Her words trailed off as her eyes fell upon the table.

The room had fallen silent and still. Nienna had stopped convulsing, but the dark crystals nearly covered every inch of exposed skin now. Everyone stood quietly around the table, staring, unable to look away from what was happening.

Clarkus finally looked over at Alena and said, “looks like your chrysalis theory might be right.”

“Get her parents,” Dee urged. “They might have some insight on what might be going on that we don’t. There’s also a book she has. She had me get it from her storage. I don’t know what’s in it, but it might also help.”

“A book?” Alena perked up as she wrung her little hands together. “What kind of book?”