Tick. Tick. Tick.

Tick. Tick. Tick.
Sasha had always set her alarms to mimic the noises of old-fashioned mechanical clocks. It was typically the one thing that kept her calm at night, the sound soothing, methodical, something to focus on. Well, something other than the nightmares trying to slip through the cracks in her mind and stir her back awake. But tonight? Tonight it may have been worth it to let them in. The reality outside was far worse than anything she'd flashback to.
Just hours ago, she had been on her own—just how she liked it—with no one else to worry about. It was a two-man operation, after all, and Floyd was run off on a three-hour turned day-long trip to find them some supplies. So imagine her surprise when he came back with someone else, this Joseph Kovacs fellow. Floyd was right, in the end, of course. They did need the credits he was offering—the pitiful excuse for supplies Floyd had brought back showed her that—and 200,000 was a lot for a trip to some glasslands world that the Created didn't seem to have any care for. But something still didn't sit right with her about this man. It hadn't since she first met him—since she pulled her weapon on him—and it certainly didn't now, in the dark, trying to fall asleep.
How had he drawn his weapon so quickly? She was a trained Marine. She had kept up her pistol qualifications well into joining the Navy. She had a cybernetic arm to help with her draw speed. And here he was, not just getting his weapon out before she could stop him, but getting it out before she did. Somehow he had reacted to her decision to draw on him and drawn himself quick enough that she ended up the one at a disadvantage. And he had done it all while getting the upper hand on Floyd as well. He wasn't any sort of Spartan that she could tell. He was tall, sure, but didn't exactly have the build for even a Four. Nor did she recognize his name. Maybe he was someone from ONI? But she was working with ONI for this mission, whatever the hell it was meant to be, now. If she hadn't heard back from her bosses since the Created attacked—since they took over—she could only imagine ONI had been disbanded. But at the end of the day, whatever he was, he was on her ship.
And that scared her.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
Sasha focused on the clock again, her heart starting to beat faster. She was scared of this man on her ship. And it wasn't just some small anxiety about meeting a new person. She didn't get those sorts of worries. It wasn't panic about him triggering some bad memory, some flashback. Those didn't matter anymore, with no one around to remove her commission. She was, for the first time she could remember in a long while, legitimately afraid of something right in front of her. Fearful of what he was going to do. Afraid of why he was on her ship. Slowly sitting up, Sasha tossed the covers aside, slid her feet off the side of her bed, and reached to her nightstand, picking up the Magnum she kept there.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
Her heartbeat was even faster now. Did she even know where Kovacs was on the Raven? Sure, he was meant to be asleep in the quarters she had Floyd assign him, but how could she be sure he was still there? Sasha had to check. And she had to be quiet about it... 
Fuck. How the hell was she going to sneak up on this man? This man who had gotten the jump on her and Floyd earlier the day before? That sort of man was never a heavy sleeper. But still, she had to check on him. She had to make sure he wasn't up to something...
The cockpit! Slipping out of her room, Sasha made her way to the front of the ship. She was headed away from the guest quarters, sure, but she was heading towards the cockpit. And the cockpit had access to the Raven's internal sensors. If she got there, undisturbed, Sasha could access the ship's systems, make sure Kovacs was alone in his room, and lock the door.
Tick, Tick, Tick.
The clock was in her head now, running fast. She had to get to the cockpit before Kovacs did. He was right behind her, she knew it! She felt the footsteps vibrating up the floor, into her chest... Or was that just her heartbeat?
It didn't matter. She had to get to the cockpit.
TickTickTickTickTickTick
Rushing into the cockpit, her heart feeling like it was about to burst out of her chest, Sasha slid into the control chair and pulled up the internal sensors...
...and saw Kovacs fast asleep in his quarters.
Sasha locked the door, stood up, and slowly walked back to her room. Suddenly, she was just tired. No more fear, no more panic, not even a sliver of why she was afraid in the first place. Just exhaustion, mental and physical.
She slid into bed, set the alarm for a few hours ahead, and closed her eyes.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
Category:The Weekly