Part 4
Kaylin leaned back against her door after it had slid shut behind her. She caught her breath for a minute and felt the blush that had been spread across her face slowly face. Pushing off of the door, she headed into her bedroom. Her dress jacket crumpled to the floor after hitting the closet door. She slumpd down to sit on the floor next to her bed, resting her chin on her knees.
Normally she didn’t get this upset when Vince called her names. Maybe it’d been because he’d insulted her in front of others or because he’d insulted Commander Garridon as well. She had hoped that she would make a good impression on Lt. Commander Draythem, but she was sure that Vince had ruined it now. She really didn’t know why Vince insisted on publicly embarrassing her, but she wished he’d just leave her alone. Maybe after this he would go and find someone else to annoy.
Kaylin sighed, feeling lost. She was sure everyone believed what Vince had said. They usually did. Vince’s friends would be more than happy to verify any story that he told about her. She really didn’t know anyone who knew her well enough to counter Vince. The only person she’d ever really talked to was Vince, and she was regretting that now. She really screwed up when she’d fallen in love with him.
The buzzer of her door rang, but she ignored it. She didn’t really feel like dealing with anyone right now, especially if it was someone sent to scold her for punching Vince. She knew Vince was equally at fault for instigating the fight, but the Captain wouldn’t be happy about it. He really frowned on fighting among crew members, especially during formal occasions. The doorbell rang a few more times. Kaylin considered going to lock the door, but she didn’t really feel like it.
"Kaylin," she heard Jack’s voice calling from in the living room. She sighed, closing her eyes and hoping he’d go away. She really wasn’t in the mood to talk to him right now, especially with the whole embarrassing moment fresh in her mind. She heard footsteps move through her suite. "Kaylin," he said softly from beside her. She thought she heard other people out in her living room, which made her wish she’d been left alone even more. Nevertheless, she let herself be pulled into her living room. She saw two other people sitting on her couch, Tom and Draythem she assumed. She really didn’t feel like dealing with them right now. If Garridon wanted to cheer her up or scold her, he could have done so without the audience behind.
Once again she was pressed down into the chair across from the couch. She was starting to consider getting rid of the chair, it had too many embarrassing moments associated with it. She looked down at the coffee table, wishing she was elsewhere. She knew she shouldn’t worry so much about what others thought about her, but she really couldn’t help it. She wanted other people to like her.
"Kaylin," Tom said softly. "You shouldn’t let Vince upset you like that."
She sighed. "I know," she said softly. "I shouldn’t have hit him." Kaylin wished she didn’t have to face all of her superiors at once. Why did Vince go an pull that stunt when she was with the other officers? At least Kel’umi wasn’t there as well.
Jack snorted from where he was kneeling beside her. "Any one of us would have been glad to hit him," he said with a grin. She looked up at him, shock making her meet his eyes. If they weren’t here to scold her, why had they all came? "You just happened to be the closest," Jack continued. "What Tom meant was that you shouldn’t let him get you down." Jack patted her knee. "You broke his jaw by the way. That was some punch."
Kaylin looked away again, blushing. She hadn’t meant to hurt him, or at least not to the point of breaking something. She couldn’t help it that she was strong. It was something that she’d been born with. And it was something that separated her from the human crew members. It bothered her when they looked at her when she exhibited her strength. She just wanted to fit in with the rest of the crew, not stand out so much.
"Strength is not something to be ashamed up," Draythem spoke, startling her. "My people value it greatly." Kaylin looked at the Sariat out of the corner of her eyes, he seemed serious.
"No one thinks less of you for your parentage," Tom said, his voice kind, a deep contrast to his normal serious manner. "It’s not your fault or something that should worry you. I’m sure you parents are very nice people. If they loved each other, the racial differences between them wouldn’t have bothered them at all."
Kaylin sighed, drawing her knees up to her chest. She knew they were right, but it didn’t do much to lift the deep feeling of hurt that held her. She’d always thought that Vince had loved her and the sudden flood of scorn hurt her. She’d trusted him and it hurt to have that trust betrayed so thoroughly. Was it really such a bad thing to hope that someone would love her? That she wasn’t going to be alone all her life, without any friends. Sometimes she wasn’t even sure why she’d left Ashria in the first place.
"None of the flight crew think that you did anything out of the ordinary to get promoted," Lee continued seriously. "And anyone who knows the Captain or you would know that you got promoted through hard work and nothing else. Besides, if promotion was all you wanted you would have been more upset about Draythem becoming the Lt. Commander."
Kaylin nodded reluctantly. He had a point. She had done a lot of work before, and after she’d gotten promoted. The scouts didn’t seem upset or resentful at all when she spoke with them. Most of them seemed somewhat proud of her, actually. Unfortunately there were still people like Vince on the ship, who didn’t like anyone who was different.
Jack shook his head. "I really don’t see what you saw in Vince in the first place," he said softly. "He wasn’t exactly the nicest person on the ship, even when you were a couple."
Kaylin hid her face again as she felt it crumple. She hadn’t really dealt with the breakup yet. There’d been other things to keep her mind off of it. Yet now Jack was bringing all the feelings back to the front of her mind after she’d carefully shoved them aside for so long. She really didn’t want to break down in front of the other officers, so she rose quickly, startling them a little.
"Thanks for coming to cheer me up," she said, trying to sound natural while not looking at them. "I’m really tired, so if you’ll excuse me..." She tried not to walk at a normal pace into the bedroom, but she couldn’t help hurrying her footsteps as the tears started to fall down her cheeks again. The door slid shut behind her, but she could still hear their voices, even if she couldn‘t make out what was said. She heard the door slide open, and she assumed they’d left her alone. She let the tears fall then.
Even when the door slid open and Jack walked in, she couldn’t hide them. When he pulled her into his arms, she tensed for a moment, but relaxed as he stroked her hair. "You really loved him, didn’t you," he asked softly. She just nodded into his shoulder, feeling safe when he hugged her. It felt nice to have a shoulder to cry on, someone to share all the pain and loneliness with. Perhaps, maybe, a friend.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kaylin felt better the next morning. She didn’t feel quite so lonely when she knew she had a friend. Jack had really helped cheer her up the night before. She hadn’t really expected him to care as much as he did. She’d also been surprised that Tom and Draythem had bothered to come with him. She was really starting to revise her opinion of Tom. He was a lot nicer and less rigid than she’d thought.
The hanger was emptier than normal that morning. Perhaps it was because people had been up late the night before and just weren’t in yet. She hoped that they weren’t avoiding her. She really wasn’t angry any more, so she wouldn’t be taking out her anger on anyone else.
She went back to work on her ship, putting all other thoughts out of her mind. She still had at least two days of work left at this pace, plus there were still the fighters to finish repairing. At least she would have plenty of work to keep her mind off of Vince.
Kaylin had her hands full rewiring the panel that had blown open. All the wires really needed was to be bound back together with some electrical tape. The only problem was that she needed to hold the wires in place or she’d end up with a huge mess and have to separate and sort them all over again. Looking around, she tried to spot someone who could give her a hand. Leaning on a ship nearby was Draythem. He was looking in her direction so she called him over. He did, looking up at her from below her ladder. "Could you hand me that roll of electrical tape," she asked. He nodded, handing the roll up to her. She started to try and unroll the tape while keeping one hand on the wires. This was made even more difficult as she tried to balance on the ladder. She started to slip but was steadied by a hand on her back. Draythem took the roll of tape from her, wrapping a strip around the wire she held. She had to admit that it went a lot faster with him helping her. She kind of liked the feel of Draythem’s arms around her, so much so that she was a bit sad when the panel was done.
"Thanks," she said as they climbed down the ladder. Kaylin felt a blush rise on her cheeks. Turning, she walked over towards one of the storage closets, pulling out a piece of thick metal that was the right size to repair the hole in her ship. She lifted it easily, despite the fact that most humans would have been struggling with it. Draythem was still by her ship when she returned. He looked surprised when che walked over with the large piece of metal.
"Need help with that," he asked. Kaylin shrugged, but handed over the piece of metal anyways. She was somewhat surprised that he handled it so easily. She went to get a drill, while he maneuvered the piece into place. She climbed up the ladder, quickly securing the metal into place. It took only a few minutes to get the panel firmly attached. Looking at the wing of her ship, she decided that she’d finished to her satisfaction.
Climbing down again, she reached for the rag next to her jacket, wiping her face and hands. She looked at the clock on the wall and noticed that most of the day had already passed by. She pulled on her jacked, deciding to go and get something to eat. "I’m going to get something to eat," she said softly to Draythem. "Care to join me?"
The Sariat shook his head. "No," he said, the tone in his voice was odd, something she didn’t quite recognized. "I’ve got a meeting with Commander Garridon in a few minutes."
"Oh," Kaylin said, somewhat surprised. She wondered why he’d been over near her ship if he was supposed to be meeting Jack. "Thanks for the help." She smiled and waved at him as she left the hanger.
The halls were empty as she walked up to the mess hall. The room seemed so empty after the previous night’s gathering. She ate quickly, not really feeling comfortable in the too quiet room. No one else in the mess hall was talking either, most of them looked somewhat tired. The walk back to the hanger was just as quiet. Kaylin didn’t even see anyone until she reached an alcove near the hanger, where a group of men, one of them a fighter pilot, were talking. She started to walk by them when one caught her arm, stopping her. She shook it off, but other hands grabbed her, slamming her back into the wall of the alcove.
"Do you think you’re better than us now?" asked one of the men. "You’ve gone and completely given over to those Sariat bastards. How long did it take before the ‘Commander’ lured you into his bed? You‘re certainly friendly enough with him." The man leered at her, making his contempt for her known as he shoved her into the wall again. She struggled, but she wasn’t strong enough to throw off three grown men leaning on her with all their weight. Two, maybe, but not three. She kicked out, stepping down hard on one man’s toes, spitting in the face of the one who’d spoken.
"Vince was right about you from the start," another one said. One of the pilots, she realized with a sense of betrayal. "I’ve seen how close you’ve gotten with that blue freak. You were all too eager to surrender when they attacked. I wouldn’t be surprised if you’d planned it with them in advance."
"I haven’t done anything but what the Captain has ordered," she growled. "He’s ordered us to cease fighting. You know as well as I do that we won’t have any support from the Confederation for at least a month, if not more. In the meantime, why don’t you act like men instead of whining dogs. " The last came out in a hiss as she struggled once more. She could see the anger growing on their faces, but it really didn’t matter anymore. She didn’t care what happened.
Her knees buckled as the leader, the one who’d spoken, punched her in the stomach. She was held up by their weight on her shoulders. She could feel the bruises begin to form where they had her pinned. Her head spun as it was slammed into the wall again, but she wouldn’t give up. She fought to gather enough breath to scream, but all that came out was a strangled cough as she was punched again and again. She felt a few blows land, as she elbowed one in the stomach, and kicked another’s knee. She knew she’d done worse damage per punch, but the punches the leader threw were starting to add up. They may have only been half strength to her, but it didn’t seem to stop. She wouldn’t give up though, even though her attempts were becoming more and more futile. She barely listened to the words the men were saying. They didn’t really matter, she didn’t have to listen to hear what they said. Traitor, half-breed, whore, it didn’t really matter. She at least knew it wasn’t true. And so did the few people who mattered. She knew that now.
Suddenly it stopped. She didn’t really notice, just that the pressure on her shoulders eased as she slumped to the floor. She heard more sounds, a shout, a low growl, people running. Through half clouded vision she saw her attackers turn to face someone else, someone who wasn’t pinned. She knew they’d never win in a fair fight, that’s why they’d chosen an unfair one with her. Her vision grew dark again for a moment, then all sound faded out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She woke again surrounded by white light. For a minute she wasn’t sure where she was. She thought for a moment that she might have died, but that idea quickly passed. She hurt too much to be dead. Her eyes focused in the light and some of the sounds started to become recognizable. The faint beeping of the bio-sensors. The soft sounds of people hard at work, but also trying to remain quiet so as not to disturb those around them. This sterile, white environment could only be Sickbay. She started to sit up despite the pain it caused but was stopped by a restraining hand on her shoulder. Starting, she looked at the owner of the hand and was surprised to see Jack Garridon sitting beside her bed.
"Just stay there," he said, softly, pushing her back down on the bed. His face looked extremely worn, like he hadn’t slept well lately or been worrying about something. "No need to rush off anywhere."
"Jack," she said, surprised. "Why are you here?"
"Someone had to look after you," Garridon said with a sigh. "I’ll have to go back to my post soon. The Captain wasn’t too pleased about what happened, but he doesn’t seem to mind as long as I don’t entirely neglect my duty." Jack grinned at her, and she felt a little better.
"Am I in trouble," Kaylin asked, not quite sure if she should be. While she had technically been fighting, she hadn’t started the fight.
"No," Jack said softly, sounding oddly sad. "The guys that cornered you are in the brig. They went there after they received a little bit of medical help. I can’t say that they’re exactly the most popular people on the ship right now. And nobody blames you for it."
"What happened?" she asked, somewhat confused. She hadn’t hurt the men bad enough that they would need much treatment.
Jack coughed slightly, looking somewhat uncomfortable. "Apparently Draythem came along the corridor and noticed their odd behavior. The crew in the hanger heard a loud shout, apparently a battle cry, and came running. Draythem hadn’t hurt them too badly, but when the crew saw the reason he was fighting it took awhile to calm them down. Each of your attackers ended up with something broken, but although the flight crew did get scolded for their behavior, only the three were actually confined." Kaylin noticed her mouth was hanging open and willed it closed. She’d never imagined her crew would get that upset over her.
"Vince isn’t exactly the most popular person in the crew, even among the Sariat." Jack continued, sounding pleased. She had a feeling that he’d like anything if it meant Vince suffered. "Things are looking a lot better on that front though. Apparently you’re just as popular among their fighters as among our crew." Kaylin shook her head. It confused her, but then people usually did confuse her.
Jack turned to look at something she couldn’t see from her position. She thought she heard someone coming over. Soon enough she saw the doctor coming over, sharing a look with Jack that she couldn’t quite read. "I should be going," he said, standing. "I’ve got a meeting the Commander Ashrak shortly that I should be preparing for." He did a little mock bow before turning to disappear out of her sight.
The doctor hovered over her, taking up her attention. She was poked and prodded, generally checked up upon. The doctor told her that they’d taken care of most of the internal damage, but she’d still be on light duty for awhile. At the moment, she was sore enough that she didn’t really protest. She was just looking forward to the point at which she’d be allowed to go back to her quarters. She didn’t really like being stuck laying down in the sickbay.
Kaylin sighed when the doctor finally moved away. She wondered how long it’d take before she started to go stir crazy. It had always been a joke around the hanger that the doctor hated having a pilot as a patient because they tended to drive her crazy trying to find any excuse to get out of bed. She guessed they just weren’t a group of people used to staying in one place for that long without moving. She wondered if she could at least convince someone to bring her some of her books, or some reports, anything to keep her mind busy. She debated with herself for a few minutes, trying to decide if she should call one of the aides over, but not wanting to distract them from other patients for something so trivial.
A soft cough from nearby startled her out of her reverie. She jumped slightly, not realizing anyone had approached her. Looking around, she saw Draythem standing where Jack had been earlier. He looked somewhat uncomfortable. "Commander Garridon thought you might like these," he said roughly, putting a book and two data pads within her reach on the bed.
Kaylin fought to sit up, despite the protests of her stomach muscles. She was surprised when Draythem helped her, supporting her and adjusting her pillow behind her. Looking at the book she recognized one of Garridon’s favorites. It was an old novel written back before the space age, but still enjoyable. She wasn’t sure what was on the data pads, she’d have to look later.
"Feeling better," Draythem asked in a low voice.
She looked up at him, nodding slightly. "A little sore," she said softly. "Should be fine in a couple of days." She wasn’t sure how badly off she’d been when the she’d been brought in. She didn’t remember anything between the alcove and here.
"A lot of people were worried about you," the Sariat said softly. Kaylin wondered if he was included in those people. He rushed on, not allowing any time for speculation. "You were pretty well banged up. I think the doctor mentioned a broken rib and some internal bleeding. You were asleep for the better part of two days while they made sure you were fixed up."
Kaylin blinked, somewhat surprised. She didn’t realize she’d been that badly hurt. Sure, it’d hurt at the time, but she felt a lot better now. Yet again she was grateful for the medical advances that allowed for faster healing. "Oh," she said, realizing that it wasn’t the most intelligent thing to say. She didn’t know what to say though. She felt a bit uncomfortable in front of Draythem, who was always so calm and collected. It seemed to her that he always caught her in her most hectic moments. She really didn’t know what he thought about her.
Draythem shot her a worried glance, but thankfully didn’t ask any embarrassing questions. She really didn’t want to explain why they’d attacked her in the first place. She didn’t know how he’d take it. From what Jack said it sounded like the two crews were actually starting to cooperate on some level. Kaylin wasn’t sure what kind of problems it would cause if people found out the incident hadn’t been some private argument. Would the crew blame Draythem and the Sariat for causing the fight in the first place? Would the Sariat get upset about the blatant display of racism? She really didn’t want to find out. The less other people knew about it, the better. What she wanted was to simply forget it had happened, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to do that for awhile. No doubt people would be asking her if she was alright for the next few days, and worrying over her. She really didn’t expect too much attention from it though, just simply displays for politeness sake.
"Word has come in about where the ship is going next," Draythem said suddenly, startling her out of her reverie. "It’s an assignment with a Sariat research ship. The specifics are on one of the data pads. The other has a bit of background knowledge that Commander Ashrak thought would be helpful. It should prove to be extremely fascinating for the science buffs on your ship, but not for any of the flight crew. The fighters won’t be needed at all, which is just as well with the condition of some of your ships. Only a few of the scouts will be needed. Some of your better ones I’d assume." Kaylin nodded, taking in all the information. She was intrigued by this mission. Not only would they meet more of the illusive Sariat, but they’d be involved in one of their projects. If everything went smoothly it would surely prove to be a very enlightening experience. If things went badly, well, they’d have to deal with that then.
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