0-SA (The Last Ship Series)

Chapter Six: Mixed Up

Raven rested quietly in front of the Irinaut, the detonator for the bombs attached to the being in hand. The woman really was skilled when it came to the equipment. It was one of the reasons they had put her out in this mission.

Part of her, felt bad. She wasn't exactly a fan of the Irinaut. The spores they had brought were killing the planet and the creatures that lived on it. Most of the population had taken to the skies, in hopes of finding another planet they could call home. Though, they didn't know why they were there. Just that they were sick with this disease they brought them. What she didn't understand, was how he wasn't sick like the others. That seemed to be sticking with her.

"You'd figure we would of heard from Jacques and Sage by now." William was doing the same as Raven. His eyes were fixated on the Irinaut as they waited to hear from their crew.

"They can't make to much noise you know. Besides the radios get a lot of static. Unless they were at the truck we'd probably barely be able to hear them anyways. They gave us a timeline. We just have to wait." Raven wiped the spores from her mask. Truthfully though she was beginning to wonder herself.

Suddenly, William's radio went off. He scrambled to grab it. It was obviously Sage on the other end and she sounded frantic, but they only got bits and pieces, "Woah woah, Sage do you copy? We can't understand you."

"Shit.....copy...massive...ucking hoard..us......guns ready....exit...stupid target....kill you both!"

"Sage? We can barely hear what you're saying. You all are being followed? Over." It cut out after that. William and Raven glanced towards one another, a chill going up their spines.

Raven brought herself up to her feet, "Something's wrong. She said something about a hoard." The woman looked around the room before looking back down at the restrained creature, "Do you think we could find a table with wheels, or anything we could use to drag him?"

"Drag him? Heh, with Jacques and Sage probably, but this THING is huge. You really think we could pull him out with our guns ready? Yeah, right. There's no way we're pulling him out on our own while trying to defend ourselves." William gave the creatures leg a soft kick, earning a suddenly jolt from the being's leg, and causing both of them to jump back from the sleeping creature.

Raven sighed. William was right. They couldn't do both at once. They needed the whole team. She crouched down in front of the Irinaut as she began to go through her bag, "We should probably give him another sedative just to be safe. The last thing we need is him waking up in the middle of..what the hell?"

"Hmm? What is it?" William shot his attention down towards Raven, who was holding bullets in her hand that she had pulled out of the bag, "Yeah, what about it? You have extra bullets?"

"N-no this...this isn't my bag." Raven looked over the backpack, it was Sage's, "Sage took my tranquilizers with her. All of them." Raven looked up towards William, before turning her attention back to the Irinaut, who oddly seemed to be coming out of the sleep already. The woman shoved the bullets back into the back, obviously agitated, "He could wake up before they're back."

"Wake up? What do you mean it's gonna wake up?" William moved next to her quickly; sitting down and grabbing the bag, "There's no way he'll wake up right? Jacques said himself we shot him up with enough to keep a elephant down."

"We don't know when they're going to get here. We gave him enough to keep him down but I don't want to push our luck. We've never sedated a Irinaut. It's hard to tell how long it will last. That's why I brought so much." Raven rested the back of her hand against her mask, obviously irritated, "If he starts to wake up, the only thing I can think is maybe we try to communicate."

"Did I hear you right?"

"William-"

"No fucking way we're playing scientists with this thing. We came here to pick it up, and bring it back. That's it." William crossed his arms, rocking a bit on his feet.

"If it's smart enough to cover his neck to avoid the infection then maybe it's smart enough to understand that the bombs will hurt him if he hurts us." She shrugged before standing up, "Right now, we need to get him ready to move. If they're in trouble, then we need to be ready." Raven glanced down each hallway, "Hey didn't we move some rolling tables back there? You think we could put him on one? Strap him down?"

William grunted, "You really think we could get him hoisted on to a table? Plus, it would take two, he's huge."

Raven shrugged her shoulders, "If you're not for the tables then all we can do is wait and hope they can help us in the midst of whatever the hell they're dealing with." She said in a rather not caring manner, "If you have any ideas, I'm all ears."

"Raven, if I had a better idea, trust me, I'd tell you."

"So should we go grab the tables then?" Raven leaned towards William, even giving his mask a flick with her finger, "Since you don't have any better idea, right?" She turned down the hall where she saw the tables, not really seeming to care at this point, "We don't have time to waste figuring out what to do with him. Sage and Jacques need us ready, and if they get here fast enough, maybe I'll be able to get the bag and dose him up again."

William swatted at the woman's hand as she flicked him. He could be heard mumbling in frustration as she made her way down the hall, "You're really going to leave me here alone with this thing?" He glanced at the Irinaut, and back at Raven.

"You act like I'm going to be long. Just yell if you see him trying to get up." And with that, the woman made her way down the hall to grab the tables.

"Pfft. Yeah, no problem." William looked towards the sleeping beast, letting out a low groan, "Guess I'm stuck here with you then."