Chapter Text
Grace had thought she would never see another human being again. She had made peace with it– genuinely, this time. It was something she reflected on in the days it took to reach Rocky following the taumeoba leak. Giving up a chance to return to Earth meant giving up the chance to catch the gaze of another, to share a meal with friends, to ever observe a face other than her own in the mirror. And she would miss it all terribly – she couldn’t lie about that – but it was what Grace had to give up to save the life of her best friend.
Except now, she is here, covered in a dark substance upon the table in front of her. Grace was wrong. About…a lot seemingly.
Grace stood beside the table, absently picking at some loose skin at the side of her thumb. Armando worked around her. She wasn’t really in the way of the Nannybot. When Grace first dragged the unconscious woman out of the airlock and into the ship, the robot had been a frenzy of movement and bandages and programmed speech. Armando had slowed down once the main injury (an amputated arm, yeesh) had been stabilized. Now he made meticulous circles around his patient, occasionally prodding to check for other injuries. Grace was free to study the newest edition to their merry band. She hadn’t been able to tear her eyes away.
Armando hadn’t cleaned away all of the red substance – Grace hesitated to label it ‘blood’ quite yet; that required lab work to confirm – that covered her. Only enough to sanitize her wounds and run any tests on her condition. This meant that much of her skin was streaked in the rusty liquid: dried, dull, and coming off in flakes where it was thinnest. Even her clothes, clearly saturated in the stuff, had dried dark. Grace could feel the stiff garments crinkle even through her EVA gloves as she was rescuing the stranger from that iron vessel. She shook her head, frowning. She didn’t want to reflect on her brief expedition into that…ship? It seemed wrong to call it that. It was barely anything, smaller than an average tanker on gas trucks. No door, no air lock, and no power. She remembered the scrapes and deep gouges in the metal hull. The welds holding the darn thing together were hasty, but undeniably durable; it took ages for Grace to cut through to the inside. And inside…ugh. Every surface her helmet’s light fell upon was red and pulpy, congealing into grotesque organic clumps. Grace’s stomach flipped at the memory, and she brought a hand to her mouth as she grimaced.
After a moment, she let out a sigh. Enough of that. She could get answers soon; she had enough samples. That should shed some light on the whole thing. For now…her. Grace moved her glasses from the top of her head, adjusting them in their proper place, and focused again on the unconscious human. The stranger’s hair – the curls sticky and clumped – fell around her shoulders, or maybe a couple inches further. It was hard to tell currently, but Grace was fairly certain her hair was dark even when clean. She had broad shoulders, a stocky build, with obvious muscles in spite of the layers of clothing. Even in sleep, her face was held tightly, her brows drawn together in stress. Her chest rose and fell in even, but far from peaceful, breaths. Grace swallowed as some heat gathered in her cheeks. This new human, someone that she never thought she’d see…was beautiful. That was the only word for it. She had clearly been through something horrific. Something Grace couldn’t fathom, most likely. Yet, despite it all, there was something ethereal about her. Something Grace had never come across on Earth. Her heart quickened. Grace found herself wondering about the things she didn’t know yet. Like her eyes, the feel of her skin, her language. What did her voice should like? Grace had grown so accustomed to sound since meeting Rocky.
“How is new human, question?” Grace nearly jumped out of her skin. Speak of the devil, jeez! She whipped her head around to look at her Eridian friend.
“Rock! A little warning next time, huh?” Grace exclaimed, her voice a little higher than usual.
Rocky stomped on the floor of his ball in irritation. “Did warn! Said name many time! Grace did not answer!” He was standing in the doorway of the room that housed the human coma beds, which had been mostly unused since their time at Tau Ceti. Grace had made new sleeping arrangements closer to where Rocky could work. Besides, it made her sad to think about her fallen friends and crewmates. Technically, the stranger was lying in Ilyukhina’s bed. She pushed that thought from her mind. Grace exhaled, placing one hand on her hip.
“Yeah, I, uh…guess I was a little distracted,” she admitted, her other hand rubbing the back of her neck. Rocky rolled further into the room.
“New human stable, question?” said Rocky. Grace nodded.
“Yeah, she’s okay. Still unconscious, but Armando patched her up,” she said, turning her gaze towards the various tubes Armando had hooked up to the stranger’s arm. “Radiation levels are mildly concerning—” Rocky flinched and let out a discordant note of discomfort. Grace was quick to ease his worries, adding, “But better than I expected, given how we found her! Her breathing is normal, heart rate is steady. Remember, humans can take a certain amount of radiation.” Grace truly had no idea how much the other human had absorbed, but she wasn’t showing any signs of sickness. So far, so good, right?
Rocky shifted in his ball. “Rocky thought Earth only send three humans,” he said, tapping the xenonite walls to get a better ‘look’ at their unconscious rescuee.
“They did, bud. She’s not part of our project.”
“Yes, make sense,” Rocky chirped. “Other human ship nowhere near Adrian. Somehow worse pilot than Grace.”
“Hey!” Grace shoved his ball, wrinkling her nose. All of that saving-the-world nonsense, and she still got flack! Unbelievable! Rocky stumbled a little in as his ball rolled a little to the side, but those little Eridian whistles escaped from him to show that this was all good fun. Grace shook her head with her hands on her hips before turning her attention back to the stranger. Her smile faded as she spoke again. “Yeah, I…Rocky, I don’t know where she could have come from,” Grace admitted.
The stranger was still breathing. Her chest rose and fell, rose and fell. Everything else about her was so, so still. Grace found herself imitating that breathing pattern; she matched each inhale and exhale in an attempt to close the distance between her and this human. This impossible, beautiful, miraculous human.
“But I think we owe it to her to try to figure it out,” Grace decided. Her tone was confident now. She stood up a little straighter. Rocky shifted so another part of his carapace faced his friend. “For now, we rescued her and we’ll keep her safe. Once she wakes up, then we can get some answers, alright?” Rocky didn’t seem to be arguing. Grace took another long look at the stranger’s unconscious face before nodding to herself. Then she swiftly made her way out of the med-bay. The clattering of Rocky’s ball was on her heels. Grace is a scientist, gosh darn it. She figures things out. There were tests to be done. What’s one more impossibility?