0-SA (The Last Ship Series)

Chapter Eleven: The Professors

"William! Up and at 'em'!" Jacques gave him a light shove.

"Huh? What?" The male sat up quickly in his bed. He groaned out before rubbing his face, "I'm up I'm up. Any sign of Raven?"

The team had made it back to their home. An air tight bunker called the Sphere. Thousands lived without the walls cultivating, producing shops, and even livestock. It was one of the largest facilities left holding people that weren't infected by the spores. William and the team had returned after the failed mission, and hoped to get back out to find her.

"No sign. Not even any of her equipment has been recovered." Jacques was changing into his uniform, "We have a meeting today with some of the professors."

William rubbed his eyes, "I don't understand why we aren't out there looking for her now." He groaned before getting ready himself, "If we find the Irinaut we find her. I don't understand why we can't be the ones out there looking."

"We had to regroup. Besides we barely made it back here in one piece. I don't plan on becoming one of those things anytime soon." Jacques was a large man. He was in his early forties. He had short sandy blonde hair, his eyes a deep green. His skin that of honey. The man was trimming up his beard; typing keeping it at a long stumble, "Why are you so worried about the woman? She's a soldier like us. She can handle herself." Jacques really just sounded like he was trying to assure himself as he continued to get ready.

William couldn't argue there. Just as they were packing up, that same hoard that had been behind them and made up ground. They had to take several uncharted roads just to get turned back around, and ran out of gas a mile from the Sphere, "What really concerns me is why aren't you? And where's Sage? I haven't seen her since we got back." The man walked over to the mirror before looking in it. He was clean shaven, his hair was a coffee brown, a clean undercut with longer hair on top. His skin was pale ivory.

Jacques turned his attention to William. He walked up behind him, adjusting his own hair in the mirror nonchalantly, "I am worried, but unlike you, I'm trying to focus on the mission ahead. If we find that leech head, we find Raven, but right now that's not what they want us on. Not until we find a replacement for Raven." The Captain shrugged his shoulders, "Sage? She's probably blowing off steam in the gym or already on deck with the professors."

"She wasn't even supposed to be there." William washed his face before patting it dry. He knew Raven didn't want to go, but she had the skills they needed and the tech, "What do these guys want to see us for anyway? Not like we can help."

Jacques turned around and grabbed his coat, "We were the first to get as close as we did to that thing without imploding on ourselves. We had bombs on it. It's smarter than what we all previously thought. Not only can it hide and take down our oxygen facilities, but they think it can plan. Might even be able to figure out why they came here in the first place."

"Yeah like it understands English." William began to button up his shirt, "What would it need with Raven anyway?"

"Well it knows what an oxygen tank is. You even said it yourself, William. Raven told it what she was going to do. It knew she was the one that could kill it. It knew to take her with it to get them off, right?" Jacques stepped into the door way, "So if she's smart, she won't take them off it, and it won't kill her."

"That's hopeful thinking even for you." William sighed. He had sat down to tie up his boots.

He chuckled, "What else do we have here? We follow orders, and we stay positive. Otherwise we're all going to drown in our own self pity." Jacques patted the doorway, "I'll see you in the meeting hall. One hour. Don't be late. Professor Jewel and Professor Reed will be there then."

"Yeah..got it."