Chimera 🌈 [ONC 2024]

13: Arrhythmic

Stefania looked far less menacing tucked into the little cot in the medbay. With Valkyrie's direction, Leanne had found it hours before, dragging the commander's weight. Leanne had cleaned her diligently, wiping off all the clammy, thick fluid and dressing her in warmer clothing which she found in the ward. In her slumber, Stefania's severe features softened and she appeared more as another victim of this madness rather than a threatening woman.

Leanne felt a curious sympathy for her. By her own words, she had been put in a position she had no choice in. The BASE had made life-altering decisions above her head, just as they had for Leanne and Cliff. Leanne found she did not blame Stefania for the ugly things in the centrifuge and all their moral questions. And more than that, Stefania was a vulnerable person now, ill, unsteady, obviously bewildered and confused.

"Ideally, reversing the process of cryosleep is a slow one," Valkyrie explained as Leanne watched over Stefania's vital signs with the AI caretaker. They were gradually stabilising. "The procedure is dangerous and needs great precision. Those who undergo it feel unpleasant effects for some time afterwards, up to seven days."

"Did you wake her up?" Leanne asked.

"I did. I felt it was needed."

"Why?"

Valkyrie did not have an answer. Leanne wanted to ask more but she felt she would get better information from the commander herself. Over a course of hours, Stefania slowly came around, coaxed with the help of Valkyrie's drugs and stimulants. Time still ticked, the moment of the Arcadia's destruction creeping closer, but Leanne forced herself to be patient. In any case, neither she or Ryan had heard from the BASE or Nerio yet after their update to them. She imagined the corporations locked into endless meetings, discussing the best procedure.

By the next day, Day Five by the BASE's countdown, Stefania was awake. Leanne made her eat, copying Ryan's recipe from their first meal in the canteen. Ryan did not come to the medbay and when she eventually spoke, Stefania was glad.

"Mars hates us," she said. "Every day, we creep closer to war."

"War? With Mars?"

"With Mars. On Mars. This ship is..." She paused and shook her head. "I suppose they know now."

"Know what?"

Stefania did not continue with that train of thought. "Ryan," she said instead, "was particularly angry about the Arcadia's cargo."

Leanne nodded. "She has her reasons."

"She is transhuman, isn't she?"