What Happens in Orbit Pt. 17

Cora wasn't sure how she made it home. Meli had seemed distracted, barely saying a word to her. She'd waved her off with just a good morning. Normally, she was a bright-and-squirrely morning person. Something was off.

Are they waiting for me?

By the time she reached the door, Cora's nerves were so jangled that she nearly took off running when it opened.

"Oh, hi, Bee."

He gave her a funny look. "Hi? I heard you coming. Mom said you had a busy night."

Mom said- Oh, fuck. My hair. Think fast, Cora.

It was still wet from the shower.

"Yeah, I did. I poured dirty mop water on myself. I couldn't come home smelling like that."

Bee grimaced. "That's gross. Anyway, Tor's here."

Cora's voice shot up an octave. "Is he?!" She winced, taking a sharp breath. "Sorry. Is he?" She wasn't sure whether the heaviness in the pit of her stomach was from guilt, or something else.

He gave her a funny look. "He's sleeping in your room right now."

"Ah. Okay. Thanks, Bee."

Why didn't she tell me?

"Oh, and Mom didn't want me to tell you this, but her and Tor had a big argument."

"A big argument? About what?"

Bee shrugged. "I don't know, but I heard her yell 'You're not taking her to them!'. She was really angry."

Humming, Cora tapped her foot against the ground. "I think I know what that's about. To get here, they'd have to be working with the Sheevae. Their queen likes me, I think."

"Those guys are weird." Bee's grimace returned.

"I- Well, yeah. You're right. They are pretty... something." Shaking her head, Cora leaned over to peek down the hall. "How long has he been asleep?"

Bee shrugged. "Not too long. He was pretty tired when he got here."

"Thanks, Bee."

Gingerly, Cora snuck up to the doorway.

Tor was in the bed, curled around the kids. Mel was sitting up, chewing at a toy Bee had given her. The other two were asleep. When she saw Cora, she squealed.

Before Cora could hush her, Tor was awake and crouched over them, his lips fixed in a snarl.

"It's just me."

"Oh, Cora." He leaned forward, pulling her into the bed. The two little ones were awake now, Della's daughter rolling towards the edge of the bed. He scooped her up with one hand, moving her closer to them.

"Mom said you're working now."

Cora nodded, exhaustion setting in. She'd had a long night. "Yeah. I wanted to help." She snuggled closer, her heartbeat calming at the familiar warmth. "Oh, I missed you."

He rested a hand on her chest. "We've all missed you."

We? "Where is everyone?"

"Leo and Erie are back on the queen's ship, but Mar and Tai are on a smaller inter-orbital ship. We found a cave to hide it in."

Cora thought about the rocky ridge she'd seen while running from the prison guards. Is it there? "Oh, by that lake? Sunwise?" She pointed in the direction she'd seen it in.

Tor thought for a second, then shrugged. "I'm not really sure."

There was hesitation. Cora smiled, humming happily. He's hiding something from me. "That's okay. I'm just happy you're safe."

"Me, too."

Why would he be lying about where the ship is?

Resigning herself to figure it out later, Cora finally let her heavy eyelids close.

When she woke up again, the bed was cold. Tor was still an early riser. Cora blinked the sleep out of her eyes, stretching. Eyeing the closed door, she listened. Tor was in the kitchen, sitting with the kids. Meli was home, talking to him in an anxious, hushed voice. She stood, inching down the hall, listening.

"And you left them like that? What is wrong with-"

There was a sharp knock at the door. Cora backtracked down the hall, stepping forward again when Meli came out of the kitchen, passing Tai's daughter to Bee.

"There's food in the kitchen. Let me see who's here."

She peered through a gap in the door, slowly reaching into a basket that sat on a nearby table. Cora watched as she tucked a gun into her waistband, then opened the door.

"Yes, can I help you?"

Tor hastily walked out to join them, still chewing.

"Hello, I'm here to find my crewmate, your son." Tai was standing there, patting his hands together. "There you are! So, we have a problem." He looked over at Bee, a slight grimace on his face. "Can we talk somewhere private? No offense, this is just something you shouldn't hear about. And I can't promise I won't swear."

Bee shrugged. "I get it. I'll get the babies."

The door clicked shut. Where's Mar?

As he walked by with Tai's daughter, he paused. "Oh. This one looks like you. Is she yours?"

Cora had never seen Tai so conflicted in his life. It was almost painful to watch his eyes flick between them.

"Tai, just take her and come on. It's not like she's gonna understand. Follow me."

His hands trembled slightly as he took her. Cora wanted so badly to enjoy this moment. It was clear that Tai did, too. He held her close, running a hand over her head.

Motioning to him, Cora went to their room. Tor sat on the edge of the bed, avoiding their gaze. Tai gave him a stern look. "Were I not holding my daughter, I'd put you in the hospital with Della. Why would you just sneak out like that? You left me with him!"

Tai fought to keep his voice even, but Cora could tell he wanted to shout.

"Wait, what's wrong with Mar?"

Tai gritted his teeth, the snarl barely restrained in his chest. "Why don't you tell her?"

Tor scoffed. "Stop. What good could I do? You're the medic."

Tai smoothed a hand over his daughter's back, fingers tracing angry circles over her soft clothes. "Look." Using a free hand to retrieve his tablet, he held it up. "Look at this, Tor. Tell me what you see."

Tor leaned forward, blanching to a pale yellow the minute his eyes focused. His lips formed a swear, but no sound came out.

Cora leaned forward, squinting. "That- that just looks like an empty containment... cell..." Incomplete realization dawned on her. "Why would Mar be in containment?"

"Why, indeed." Tai laid down on the bed, sitting his daughter on his chest. He held one of her tiny hands, a faint smile coming over his face. He whispered something to her, his smile growing.

"Tor, you can start talking whenever you want to." He spoke in a soft, singsong voice.

Tor started to shoot him a glare, but stopped, shaking his head. "Mar was the only responsible one, out of all of us."

Cora sat between them. "And that means?"

"None of us were taking our suppressants. He's been taking his for, uh, most of his life. It was easy for him because they were injections instead of pills, he just had to do them once every few rotations. And, uh, he ran out."

His tone far too bright for the topic, Tai spoke up. "They had him on something particularly experimental. I don't even know what it was. They use the non-colony kids like test subjects. So, unfortunately, we had no idea what him running out of them would mean. And he didn't even tell us that he'd run out, not until it was too late."

Cora shifted. "What exactly happened?"

Not taking his eyes off his daughter, Tai continued. "You remember him being in heat before, right, Cora?" He looked over at her, his gaze soft but serious. She nodded.

"This is nothing like that. He's like... Honestly, Cora, he's like the subjects from the failed missions."

I doubt it's that bad. They thought that about me, too. "What are you going to do?"

Tai frowned. "I'm not sure what we can do. The few times I've heard of Roshak going berserk like this, it's posthumous.If you know what I mean."

Cora chewed at her lip. "Are we just giving up? Do we wait and see?"

Tor spoke up. "The ship has a solid lockdown protocol if Tai remembered to activate it before he ran." A stuffed six-eyed caterpillar hit him in his face from Tai's direction.

Tai huffed, looking away. "I did remember, Tor, thank you. We're just going to wait. The only reason he broke containment was that he knew the override code. Someone forgot to change it."

Tor picked up the caterpillar, muttering. "I was too busy being grateful that I was still alive."

"Anyway," Tai continued. "We're going to wait until he gets too tired or hungry and passes out. Then, we'll go in and hit him with the suppressants."

Tor sat up, eyes wide. "Did you find some?"

"We, ah, haven't yet. But I know where to look."

If he knew the override code, he'll be able to override the containment protocol, too. I don't think they thought this through at all. Mar isn't even that scary. Cora stopped herself, thinking of how easily he blew apart that Foshar officer. And the way he tore that robot in half. Mar could be scary. But, Cora reasoned with herself. It's even scarier if he breaks out of the ship. He could be killed. She stood. "I'll be back, I need to go check on Bee."

Bee was in the kitchen, Mel sitting on the counter. She was chewing on something bright orange, kicking her feet happily.

Kissing her forehead, Cora turned to Bee. She lowered her voice, leaning in. "Can you get a message to your mom?"

He nodded, pulling out his tablet. "What is it?"

"Tell her I won't be coming in to work tonight." Nodding again, Bee sent the message.

Mel squealed, making them both jump.

From the bedroom, Tor called her name.

"Don't tell them, okay?"

"I won't," he whispered, tucking his tablet into a pocket. "Are you gonna go get Mar?"

"How did you-" It was pointless. He heard everything. "I'm gonna try."

She returned to the room.

Since he'd arrived, Tai had been holding one of his arms close to his chest. Cora frowned, inspecting it. "Tai, what's-"

"Just dislocated my upper shoulder. Someone grabbed me by my arm and slung me through a wall. It's fine, just sore."

"Through a wall?"

Tor sighed. "I'm gonna have so many repairs."

"That's what you're worried about?" Tai threw a hand in the air, incredulous. "One of our crewmates is a fucking monster right now. But... shit, you do have a point." He grimaced. "That is a loaner ship from the queen. Shit."

Cora hadn't seen Tai this stressed before. The veins on his forehead stood out, deep purple shadows under his eyes.

"Tai, why don't you come with me to the clinic?"

He shook his head.

"Just because you're a medic doesn't mean you need to patch yourself up. Either you come with me, or I take you there. Those are your two options."

Meli poked her head out of the hallway. "Who's going to the clinic?"

Cora gestured to Tai, who tried to hide his swollen, bruised arm.

"Stop that. Let me see." Meli stalked forward, holding him firmly by his shoulders. He hissed, twitching away from her hands.

"Ah, sorry. Shirt off, please." He didn't argue, wincing as he disentangled his arms from it. This time, Meli was careful, turning him towards the light.

"That's not something you should try to heal yourself, unless you want that joint frozen where it's at. Cora, when you go in tonight, take him."

She nodded, and nodded again when Meli gave her a long look.

"Come to the kitchen with me. Tai, go get some rest until then. You're making my son nervous."

Tor shook his head. "No he's not."

She poked him in his side, hard. "You're not my only son. Now, shoo."

Cora followed her in, leaving Tor and Tai to go back to the room. Bee came in with Mel, handing her to Cora.

"Oh, hi." She took her, letting her crawl around to cling to her back. She'd gotten heavy in the last few rotations.

"I got your message. And Bee told me the rest."

Cora's eyebrows shot up. "All of it?"

Bee rubbed at his head, sheepishly. "Sorry. You know I had to."

"It's okay, I'm not upset, I just wasn't sure if some of it was appropriate for you to hear about."

Meli shook her head. "It's really not, not for someone his age. But it's alright. Just so you know, I don't think they're going to find Mar's medication in time before he finds his way off that ship. Or something else finds its way on." She paused, eyeing her younger son. "But, Cora?"

"Yes?"

"Let me phrase this delicately. You don't need any more eggs. Whatever you do, just try to keep him on the ship until they can find a dose for him. I know where they can get it, but I don't know how long it will take."

Cora huffed a sigh. "I don't know why Tor left Tai behind to begin with."

"My son- not you, Bee. My son is, and please don't tell him I said this, my son is not exactly the bravest." She passed Cora a bowl of food. "I'm not surprised he took off, faced with that."

She sat at the table, sitting Mel in her own chair. He's brave when I'm there.

Tai was quiet on the walk to the clinic, but made an odd noise as they approached the door.

"What?"

"I don't like hospitals."

"But you're a-"

"I know, I am. I don't like others telling me what I already know. And that's if they even know what they're doing."

Cora coughed, trying to cover a laugh. "It's okay, Tai. They took pretty good care of me and Della."

"Mmm. I'm sure they did." When the door opened, he clamped his mouth shut, pursing his lips.

Bon was behind the desk, swiping through a large tablet. At the chime, she looked up. "Cora!" The excitement in her voice tapered slightly as she caught sight of Tai. "Oh, another one of yours?"

Tai cast a suspicious glance between the two of them. "I am."

She grinned, leaning back to look down the hall. "Jino's gonna love this. Hey, Jino!"

"What does she mean by that?" Tai frowned, shifting uncomfortably.

Bon deadpanned, speaking in a stilted manner. "Oh, she, uh, likes bone... injuries."

Behind Tai, Cora held her hands aloft as if to say what the hell was that?

She shook her head, fetching an intake tablet for him. As she handed it to him, quietly telling him what to fill out, Cora heard Jino approach. She stayed hidden, just around the corner.

Giving him a reassuring pat, Cora left Tai with Bon, rounding the corner.

"Your mates are accident-prone, aren't they?"

"No, they just keep getting into situations because of me." Cora sighed. "That's Tai, he dislocated his shoulder because Mar ran out of his suppressants."

Jino gasped. "Not the injections, right?"

When Cora nodded, she paled. "He's not in the city, is he?"

"No, he's in a ship just sunwise of here."

"That's not any better! Please tell me you're going to go make sure he doesn't leave the ship."

Cora rubbed at the back of her neck. "I- actually, yeah, I am. But don't tell Tai or Della just yet. They'll try to come get me."

She huffed a sigh. "Of course, Cora. And I'm not gonna tell them about anything else, either."

"I-" Cora chewed at her lip. "Well, Jino, don't feel like you have to lie about that. Della will probably say something at some point. They won't be upset at you. Especially not since you're helping them."

Jino thought about this, slowly nodding. "Okay." She looked up at Cora, uncertain. "That's what I was worried about."

"Tai isn't like that, thankfully. Mar and Tor can be hostile, but I think they're just like that. And," she added, nervously. "If we have to bring Mar here, he won't be in good enough shape to cause trouble."

Jino still seemed antsy.

"What?"

Gently, she pushed at Cora. "You need to go make sure he doesn't get off that ship. I've seen what withdrawals look like. Please, go."

Nodding, Cora poked her head back out into the lobby. "Hey, Tai?"

He looked up from where Bon had sat him. "Yes?"

"Della is in room five, I'll be busy until morning." She sat next to him, placing a hand on an uninjured arm. "Please try to trust them. I wouldn't have let Della stay here if he weren't being taken care of. And we- you can't help Mar in your current state." She stood, heading for the other wing.

There was a back door here, with a keypad. Cora entered the code, the door opening.

As she walked, something nagged at the back of her mind.

Withdrawals. Where have I heard that before?

It would have to wait for another time. She'd reached the edge of the city floor, dense forest stretching as far as she could see.

This was the closest she'd ever been to the ground. And it was terrifying.

Cora scrabbled back up the side of the tree, fighting to keep her breath even. Something started following her the minute she dropped into the under-city shadows. No, that wasn't it.

It was stalking her.

She could hear its heartbeats.

I'm not fast enough. It was many-limbed, easily moving between the trees. Fuck, why didn't I just stay at work? Or at least stay in the light? Cora thought about her kids. Two of them hadn't even been named, yet. But they had families. They wouldn't be alone. Jesus, Cora, don't think like that. Her situation didn't give her many options.

Okay. I guess this is where I fight.

Cora whipped around, her mouth going dry. She'd incorrectly estimated how far away it was.

There were so many eyes. Mandibles brushing against her face. I'm not dead yet.

She threw herself back, stumbling onto another branch.

It made a gurgling, raspy noise. "Strange little Roshak child, lost."

So many teeth behind those mandibles. They each moved independently, rows of wet gray spines waving. Its legs were already on either side of her. Just a single segment was taller than her. "Oh," she gasped, terror setting in.

It talks.

"Are you Noxis?"

Slowly, its head tilted. It had no lips, its teeth arranged in a permanent grin. Oh, fuck this, fuck this, fuck this.

"You know of my kind?"

Cora gripped the bark of the tree next to her, failing to steady her shaking hands.

"I traveled with two."

"Fascinating. You still live."

"I like being alive." Her voice quivered.

Mitri's hand had been so cold when Cora held it, the exoskeleton giving slightly under her hands. We're not made for combat, she'd said.

It was relishing her fear. Cora could count the individual bristles standing out from its skin, no, exoskeleton.

Spiders squish, Cora.

"Shame." Barbs pricked into her sides. It had her. Cora thrashed, jabbing her hand towards its neck. With a sickening crackle, the exoskeleton gave in. She cried out, bile rising in her throat as she tore its head off and threw it.

"Fuck!" The legs were still moving. Cora turned, launching herself from the branch.

It followed.

"Fuck! Jesus!" The dripping, headless body scrabbled towards her, barbed legs haphazardly gripping the trees. Jumbled swears in two languages poured out of her mouth as she frantically climbed upward. The rocks came into view. She could hear its breath choking in and out, torn flesh spluttering.

"What the fuck?! Why?! God! This is bullshit!"

An enormous huff came from below her, an exhale. Behind her, crackling. The Noxis was no longer chasing her.

Something even bigger was here, and it knew she was there.

Don't look.

The lake was there. Beyond it, a cave. A pitch-black opening had never looked so inviting.

It didn't feel like Cora was being followed anymore, but she didn't care.

She jumped down from the last branch, rolling as she hit the ground. Her footsteps echoed, off the cave wall and something else.

The ship.

Her eyes adjusted. It loomed over her, about twice her height. Cora collapsed underneath it, wheezing.

I'll find a way in when my soul returns to my body.

Cautiously, Cora dipped her hands into a pool of water. The viscera covering her hand came off easily, floating to the surface. Fuck, that was awful. She curled up under the ship, closing her eyes. There was no way she'd sleep, but she couldn't face Mar like this.