Episode 3: Pest Aside

The night grew eerie.

Even within the impregnable isolation of their shared alien aircraft the survivors were on edge. Not just from the crash or their physical condition, but from the unknown. Convinced they were safe from the outside world was balanced by the uncertainty of their current residence. Here they were forced into taking the word of a fifteen-year-old genius. Not only did he know entirely too much about the aliens that once inhabited the ship but how to use their scientific equipment. As likeable as he was the kid certainly made them uneasy.

Colonel Ruby Goddard had shed her uniform shirt in favor of her Army green wife beater. Comfort made her think more clearly. The obvious drawback was the fact her breasts were an enormous 36E. No male could resist their approach. Only her rank and commanding attitude kept them from glaring. Not that she didn’t appreciate a few hardcore glances. She was regardless, all woman.

“How’s Jack?” She nudges next to James Ian and Lieutenant Eleanor “Elle” Franklin. It took Elle to snap her fingers in front of the boy’s eyes to contain his focus away from Ruby’s chest. Nipple amazement was hard to avoid. At the moment Ruby didn’t even care but was thrilled by Elle’s defensive respect.

“He’s resting.” Elle offers.

“I contained his blood flow by placing him within this gravitational crib.” James shook off his perversive wiles, “It was designed to hold the functions of its inhabitant safely during long trips. I’ve been reading up on the ship’s medical journals. Luckily these collars help me read their language.” He points at his worn collar around his neck that was a dialect manipulator.

Ruby nods, “Just keep him alive James. Please.”

“His vitals are steady. He’s tough.” Elle adds.

“I’ll make him better than he was before. I promise.” James salutes Ruby if not incorrectly. She overlooked it and palmed his face playfully diverting his eyes from drifting to her nipple erections. She couldn’t help it, when stress arose so did, they. Smirking Ruby stepped away from the medical bay, heading to the ships command center. The deck had a huge crystal window on looking the distance, one that from the outside looked like the alloy the hull was made of. It was obviously designed to protect the crew from not only radiation in space, but from prying eyes looking in. That was a comfort to all of them once it was realized. Here sat Pilot Cameron Scott and Sergeant Malcolm Brand.

“Pitch black out there.” Cameron looks up at Ruby as he holds a bottle of opened Vodka.

She nods faintly peering out, “No signs of light anywhere?”

“Not yet at least. Only been dark a short time.” Malcolm puckers.

“Wonder what the area around us is like? We can only see maybe 20% of our landscape?”

“Good question Ruby. I don’t think any of us want to venture outside to check.” Cameron offers up his bottle. Shockingly she claims it and takes a swig. As she tilts the bottle back both men risk a glance at her chest. Ever growing nipples had ill-fated attention even on respect. She lowers the bottle and swallows before wiping her mouth with her wrist.

“Keep staring at the guns and I’ll show my rank and force one of you mugs to check the perimeter.” Both men shrink into their seating as Ruby passes the bottle to Malcolm.

“Where’s Sophia? I haven’t seen her in a while.” Ruby squints.

“Probably cringing in a corner. I had to spank her earlier. Kid’s hormones needed checked. Grabbed my Johnson out there.” Cameron shook his head.

Ruby rolled her eyes but understood just the same, “Kid’s grieving the only way she knows how. I’ll have a talk with her.” Turning away Ruby decided to dare the halls of the ship. Dimly lit due to James Ian’s tinkering of the remaining power grid she could view enough to keep from stumbling. Her journey went from what appeared to be one laboratory to another. Finally, she comes across what appeared to be a museum of sorts.

“Biology class all over again. Frogs in jars.” She grunts. Peering more closely she found a critter that blinked. It made her ease away slowly.

“That’s a Tantalorian bullfrog. Don’t ask! Not from our solar system. Highly poisonous. They can live thousands of years if I read correctly.” Ruby jumps at the voice behind her.

“James! Don’t sneak up on me like that. I could have shot you on instinct.”

“Sorry! Like you I felt like exploring. I want to catalogue what could be useful in my noggin.”

“More labs than leisure in this boat.” She attempts to calm her nerves.

“The Goranthians are a scientific race. To them everything had benefits. Medicinal or weaponized. I think their studies was their leisure.”

“So, what’s helpful here?”

“Well! I know in the morning I can attach Jack’s arm as if it had never been severed. No scar even. Every nerve perfect.”

Her eyes flare, “That’s good news. Isn’t it?”

“Of course. I’m not the universe’s best neurosurgeon although I did perform brain surgery on Xander when I was 12. In my reading, I did locate a simulation surgery this race performed. They used an insect called a Weaver translated into our language. Placed within the wound it connects everything as it was.”

“Insect? What?”

“I know. Sound’s crazy but it works.” He shrugs, “It’s like the bug just can’t help itself wanting to help.”

“What happens to the bug?”

“Dies within, I think. Honestly, I don’t know. But if it saves Jack, I’ll gladly say a prayer for Jitterbug too.”

Ruby sighs heavily then reaches over to pull the boy into an awkward hug. She hadn’t even considered her chest was in his face. She was merely hopeful, if not grateful that he was a pretty decent guy for a punk. “I’ll join you in that dance. Prayer that is, not a real Jitterbug. Two left boots I’m afraid.”

“Ummm! Is this where I yell, MOMMY?”

Her eyes flared at his drool on her cleavage, yet she found it in her to chuckle over her error, “Traumatized you, huh. Sorry Kid. I’m just glad you have a pretty good soul in you.” Releasing him his face was beet red.

“I’m loveable like that. Hug me any time.”

“Mind out of the gutter Genius. Is there even one of these so-called Weavers alive on this ship?”

“Let’s find out. I’m glad these notebooks run on near zero power.” He lifts a small keypad and does an inquiry, “It says here, there is a nest in Galley 12. Map up, follow me.” He turns away as Ruby follows along as he leads her the length of a football field deeper into the ship. It seemed like the place went on for miles. Reaching a chamber with the alien markings for the number 12 they enter with caution. The door was jammed slightly which took effort on both of their part to gain entry. Within the room things were spilled over during the impact but mostly unbroken.

“Anything escape that could harm us?” Ruby lifts a handgun that was tucked behind her in the waistband of her uniform pants. Examining the keypad screen James performed a diagnostic of the room.

“I think were safe. There’s no warning of deadly contamination. Radiation is normal. No contagion risk. No poisonous critters in this wing.”

“No bugs roaming free?”

“Well! There are but luckily none are of a deadly variety. The Weavers are somewhere over there.” He points to the north end corner of the room.

“Too damned dark in here.” She squints against the dimness.

“I can help with that.”

James keys in a sequence that creates a shrill sound. As the vibrations echo a container of bugs similar to fireflies on Earth glow white hot. Almost blindingly so!

“Floodlights.” She covers her eyes against the glare. “Those buggers might come in handy if the power grid goes completely out.”

“Better though. Right?”

“Useful. We can use them to conserve power when we get low.”

“No worries. Power’s low but not a serious problem. Unless were stuck here for ten years.”

“Good to know we have creature comforts. Lead the way.” Ruby encourages. Carefully avoiding debris until he locates a large jar like vessel, James tries to lift it but fails to have the necessary strength alone. It took both of them to stand it upright with effort. Peering through the sealed transparent lid, within were cobwebs that concealed the interior.

“Ok, now what? If we open this jar, we have no idea how many come flooding out.” Ruby frowns.

“Reading up on Weavers, now.” He hums to himself annoying her greatly. He was back on that Jimmy Hendrix song Purple Haze. She wanted to take the mental guitar and break it on the stage.

“Come on James.”

“Hibernation. The webbing is eaten when they wake up.”

“So, they’re asleep and of no use?”

“No. We open the jar, grab one, and place it alone in another jar. Wake it up during surgery. I’ll grab the bug; you use your knife to cut a few strands of silk and put it in another jar.”

She winces at the thought, “Not fond of creepy crawly things.”

James manages to find a pair of unbroken test tube and tweezer style grips from a lab table, “Open the lid. I’ll pluck out Build-A-Bug.”

Crouching down Ruby grits her teeth before cautiously removing the troublesome lid. Once open they both peer inside, Ruby using the barrel of her gun to guide the web like fibers aside. Finding the bugs deeply within the pot they resembled a common cockroach, joining Ruby in her crouch James Ian slowly reaches in and pinches one between his tweezers, trying not to crush it. The nest was dormant and still.

“This was easy.” James lifts it free of the jar and deposits the bug into the tube. Using her boot knife acquired from the cargo hold on the Hercules Ruby slices a few fibers and places them into her tube, handing it to James so that she could close the lid. Just as she tightened the lid, the bug stirred, and James felt a moment of fear. His grip panicked and the bug flew from the tube into the air. No wings just momentum. Embarrassingly it landed in Ruby’s opened cleavage and crawled about under her shirt. She freaked out and tugged her shirt out in all directions looking for it. In the process James could view her bare breasts easily. Areola no problem! Meaty nubs tasty looking. He refused to blink.

“Christ! This thing is evasive.” She frets not even noticing James Ian grinning like the devil in heat.

“I think I see him lower.” He points toward her belly button.

“Where?” Her fingers probe her belly button area. In the search she pulled her shirt out from beneath the waist of her pants. Belly button in view James spotted the bug attached to her lifted shirt. He approached with the test tube and tweezers trying to corral it into the tube. Before he could catch it the bug ran upward and crawled over her left breast. James became embarrassed suddenly as it circled areola as if a racetrack giving her the willies. Without thought he placed the tube over what he thought was the bug until it moved. Nipple in a tube he whimpered at his misjudgment.

Ruby looked up at him bitterly, “WRONG BUG!”

“Sorry. I’m trying to help.”

“I GOT THIS!” Snatching the tube Ruby Goddard goes under her tank until she finally pins it down. Once in the tube she planted her thumb over the entry to keep it isolated in until James could cork it. Once able to breath Ruby glares at James, “Nobody. NOBODY! Finds out about this.” Swallowing dryly at her furious gaze he nodded in agreement. Shaking her head over the humiliation she stands up and pulls James along with her. “Do your magic. I just pray you know what you’re doing.”

“Sorry.” White as a sheet!

“Don’t be. Shit happens! Just zip it.”

Understanding one another quite clearly the two abandon the room sealing it up tightly. Just as they prepared to head back toward Jack’s room, Ruby heard crying from the distance. Immediately she realized it had to be Sophia Ridge. Hesitant she nudges James to head on back to check on Jack. Following the sobs Ruby locates Sophia in another galley.

“Sophia? What are you doing way out here all alone?”

“Stay back.”

“You know you can talk to me.” Ruby attempts kindness.

“You don’t understand.”

“Is it about what Cameron did?”

“God, no. I needed a shower. I thought I found one. I was wrong.” Ruby’s eyes bulge at the unknown and rushes toward Sophia whom she found sitting on the floor in a puddle of liquid.

“Sophia? Where are your clothes?”

“Am I dissolving?”

“What?”