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"Look out!"
Nyoka throws herself at Parvarti. She collides with the woman, knocking her to the ground. A stream of fire singes the hair at the back of her head and the Mantiqueen roars.
"Thanks!" Parvarti says cheerily as Nyoka rolls off her and to her feet.
"Put the hammer away." Nyoka turns her gun towards the creature they're taking down. It's massive, even for a Mantiqueen. The ones in the caves always are. They're the biggest and the smartest, the ones capable of holding territory in a place as deadly as Monarch. If a Mantiqueen can keep their nest in a cave, they're protected, they can rest without worry and hide away in corners, sneaking up on anyone who dares encroach on their territory.
"Why?" Parvati is on her feet again, hammer in one hand as the other reaches for her gun.
"Those impacts are shaking the walls. Too much and they'll collapse. Focus your fire as much as you can."
Parvati looks at the wall and gasps. Spiderweb cracks run through the stone and dust floats from the ceiling.
"I didn't realize," she says and fits her hammer into her belt.
Nyoka rolls her eyes. The kid's sweet, but frustrating at times. Not her fault, she's just unfamiliar with the terrain. There isn't much time to teach when death waits around every corner. Teaching will come after the fight. Nyoka has to focus because she's the only one used to combat like this. The cave Mantiqueens are the biggest, but she can't use her strongest attacks for them. Using her grenades or her explosive ammo would be suicidal. So instead, she has to whittle away at the creature with cautious, well-placed shots.
At least she doesn't have to shoot around Parvati anymore. The captain is also at a safe distance, peeking from around a corner as they hit the creature's weak spots with devastating accuracy.
It's working. The Mantiqueen slows, it's blinded and limping as it sends fire in every direction. As Nyoka dodges out of the way, she hears rumbling. Bad.
"Alex! Parvati! We need to get out!"
The captain nods and begins their retreat, walking backward as they continue to fire. Parvati tries to run towards them, but the Mantiqueen is focusing its fire on her. Nyoka fires at it, screaming to get its attention.
It doesn't work. Parvati is backed into a corner. There's no choice. The only way out is to kill the Mantiqueen before the cave collapses.
Nyoka advances, unloading everything she has into the creature. It roars and thrashes, hitting the already crumbling walls.
"Run!" Nyoka screams.
Parvati does, but she's cut off by a rock hitting the ground in front of her. Dodging around it, she barely avoids another. The Mantiqueen limps after her, its huge legs catching up with her despite its wounds.
Nyoka fires at it uselessly. It closes in on the other woman and she turns, pulling her hammer from her belt for one last attack.
It connects with the Mantiqueen with a loud boom. The creature roars as rocks fall all around it. It sways and then tips over.
Time slows as Nyoka watches the massive beast fall. The narrow passage is quickly collapsing, the impact of that huge body hitting the ground will destroy everything.
Parvati sprints towards her, but it's too late. The Mantiqueen hits the ground and the walls cave in.
Dust fills Nyoka's mouth and nose. She can't see, can't hear. Rocks bounce off her shield and she knows it won't protect her much longer. She runs in the direction she hopes is out, but she doesn't know. A hand wraps around her arm and Parvati screams, "This way!"
Nyoka follows as the hand pulls her. More rocks bounce off her shield and it beeps. No more protection. If this isn't the way out she's as good as dead.
A terrible end, she thinks. Years as the top monster hunter only to be taken out by a rock. Nah, not the way she's gonna go out. She'll make it out and die a cooler death.
They keep running as the dust thins and the sound of crashing rocks falls behind them. Nyoka breathes a sigh of relief as the ground stops shaking and they can see where they are.
And then she curses because she can see where they are. A nest tucked away in a cul-de-sac. Eggshells litter the ground, but no sign of the children. And no exit except the way they came.
"Oh no!" Parvati covers her mouth in horror. "I'm so sorry Ms. Nyoka, I coulda sworn I was going the right way."
"Don't apologize." Nyoka takes deep breaths to slow her racing heart. "Anyone would've gotten turned around in that mess."
She checks her communicator and hears nothing. They're too far underground for the signal to carry. No way to tell the captain they're alive.
"What are we gonna do?" Parvati clutches her own communicator, as she comes to the same conclusion Nyoka has. She shakes as she looks around the cave.
Parvati is panicking. That's frustrating, but not unexpected or uncalled for.
"We wait for everything to settle and then we backtrack," Nyoka tells her calmly, "Hopefully the whole tunnel isn't closed off. Even if it is, the captain knows we're here. They'll come back for us."
"I know the captain's done some mighty impressive things, but I don't know how they're gonna excavate an entire collapsed tunnel in time to rescue us."
"What're you talking about?" Nyoka checks her packs. "We've got days worth of emergency rations."
"We're not gonna run out of air?"
Nyoka laughs and Parvati pouts. "Cave-ins ain't like the serials," Nyoka explains, "Air's a concern sometimes, but this ain't that type of cave-in."
"So..." Parvati looks around. "We can just sit here and wait for days?”
"Yep!" Nyoka pulls out a snack bar and rips it open. "We've got plenty of time to get to know each other.”
As she bites into the bar, her temple throbs. It's been a long day. The captain had them running around since morning, there's been no time to take anything recreational. It's good, she like the distraction, needs it, but she can only distract herself so long.
The sickness always catches her and the only thing that pushes it away is the chems. She roots around in her bag for a drink. Not just for herself, Parvati could use some too with how anxious she is.
The pocket she usually put her stash in is empty. Right, she'd planned on restocking when they got to Stellar Bay, but the captain hadn't taken them that way. But she had backups. She checked more of her pockets. Nothing. No liquor, no stims, not even a smoke. The captain kept her busy, so busy she hadn't restocked anything. Stupid. She doesn’t keep that stuff on her for fun, she needs it.
"Um, Ms. Nyoka?" Parvati asks nervously. "Is everything okay?"
"You wouldn’t happen to have a drink on you?" Nyoka asks, rooting through her bag again hoping she missed something the first time.
"I don't drink much." Parvati laughs self-consciously. "I can count on my hand the number of times I've done it."
"That's good. Don't get in the habit, it's bad for you, and expensive."
"That's a bit hypocritical of you to say," Parvati frowns, "But you're not the first big drinker I’ve heard that from. I never understood why..."
"It's because it's too late for us," Nyoka says. She finds nothing, but she doesn't give up. Maybe she missed one of her hiding places. Which ones has she checked?
"I don't believe that." Parvati puts her hands on her hips with a stern expression. "You ain't much older than I am. It's not too late."
Nyoka laughs. "You don't get it. And I hope you never will."
Nyoka's thoughts blur together as she checks the time again. Only a few minutes have passed since the last time she checked. Parvati paces in the corner, her footstep echo through the cave and they echo through Nyoka's skull. It's well within the girl's right to pace, but it's grating on Nyoka's already frayed nerves.
It's been a few hours, the dust should have settled. Nyoka desperately hopes the cave-in isn't as bad as it seemed. They might be able to crawl out on their own and not need to wait for rescue. She stands, swaying slightly. Her head is fuzzy and her eyes wander. Every movement takes double the effort it usually does.
"I'm going to check on the..." The words aren't where she needs them to be. She rubs her temples. "The tunnel. I'm looking for... the path out."
Parvati stops and practically bounds over to her. "Got it. I'm ready to get out of here."
They walk along the passage, carefully checking every crack and shadow to see if there's another path. There's nothing. Dust coats the ground as they press forward. Nyoka's heart thunders in her chest. Even walking makes it hard to breathe.
More dust and more rocks scattered over the floor. The walls aren’t stable, but they press forward quietly. The space closes around them as the ceiling lowers as they have to climb over rocks.
Soon the space closes entirely.
"I don't see a way out," Nyoka says, sweeping her light back and forth over the pile of rocks that reaches the ceiling.
"Is it safe to dig?" Parvati asks.
Nyoka sighs and checks her comms again. Still only static.
"That's a problem for tomorrow," Nyoka decides, "You know how to set up a distress beacon, right?"
"It won't do much good." Parvati roots around in her bag. "It's not strong enough to reach the surface."
"It doesn't need to reach the surface. All we need is something that will pierce that wall so any rescuers know we're not dead."
Parvati nods, brightening. "You're right. I wish I'd thought of that."
"You'll learn." Nyoka rubs her temples. Her head throbs, pressure building in her skull. It's only just beginning, it'll be even worse in the morning. But she's exhausted, far too drained to safely evaluate the situation.
Parvati kneels to place the beacon on the ground. It beeps and lights flash as it broadcasts their information.
"Alright," Nyoka claps her hands together, "Let's get some rest."
Nyoka gets no rest. She's exhausted, but her mind doesn't turn off. It turns and turns, too hazy to form thoughts, but too sharp to rest. The stone floor is uncomfortable, and she has to choose between sleeping on her emergency blanket for cushioning and wrapping herself in it for warmth.
She's already plenty warm so she places it underneath herself. Until she starts shivering and needs to wrap herself in it to warm up. Before she can relax, her body warms again, agonizingly hot and she has to throw off the cover. The process continues through the night as her exhaustion grows. Too hot, too cold, too tired, too awake. Her stomach churns and her head throbs and she can feel every part of her body. She can feel pins and needles along her hands and stabbing pain in her gut and her bones. Her bones that feel like they're rotting inside her as she curls into a ball on the ground.
Every movement sends her head spinning. She opens her eyes to check on Parvati, but can't focus. As she stares at the silhouette of the sleeping woman in the dark, it moves. The line of her body rises and then jerks back into position before rising again. It does it again and again until the dizziness forces Nyoka to close her eyes.
Nyoka knows it's not real, knows her eyes are playing tricks on her, unable to focus or stay in one spot. She knows the odd movement in the shadows behind Parvati is just her imagination too. Eyes play tricks in dark.
But what if they aren't playing tricks? What if this is the time that something really is crawling toward them in the dark? What if Parvati gets attacked because Nyoka turned her back? She's responsible for too many deaths already, she can't be responsible for more.
She stumbles upright as her stomach heaves. The world spins around here even more than it does when she's drunk. At least she's used to the drunk spinning. This is different. It's fast, sharp, jerky, as the ground turns under her feet, she gets more and more nauseous.
There's no real privacy, but she gets around a corner before emptying her stomach onto the ground. Everything comes up, and then some. Her body shakes, and her stomach heaves, but nothing comes up. Sick coats her tongue, but she can't stop throwing up long enough to wash her mouth. The taste makes her need to throw up even more.
Her throat burns and her body shakes as she crawls away from the mess of her own vomit. The smell stings her nose, but she doesn't go too far. She can tell this isn't the end. There's no point in eating, it won't settle her stomach. Anything she attempts to put in her body will eject itself quickly and she can't afford to waste food while they wait for rescue.
She curls up on the ground realizing her blanket is left back by Parvati. Even thinking about dragging herself back exhausts her. She stays where she is, shivering on the ground, waiting for the next wave of nausea.
Nyoka chokes, her throat screaming as it tries to empty her already empty stomach once again. Bile drips from her lips, yellow, vicious, and foul. She spits it out and sees the drops of red in it. It's probably blood from her throat and not her stomach. It isn't a problem as long as the bleeding isn't in her stomach.
"Nyoka?" Parvati's voice comes from around the corner.
"I'm here," Nyoka calls out in a voice that's barely recognizable, "Stay there, I'll come to you."
She closes her eyes and bids her body to stop ripping itself apart. Every movement feels like jerking the string on a doll. She drags herself upright and step by step stumbles back towards Parvati.
As she pulls herself around the corner, Nyoka focuses on the floor. She can feel Parvati's eyes on her, but she can't stand to look the woman in the face.
"Can I help?" Parvati asks.
A simple question. Straight, to the point, no pity, no judgment. Nyoka appreciates that, at least appreciates it as much as she can as she struggles to think of the answer.
Before she can answer, she forgot the question. Her stomach growls loudly as it churns.
"We should..." The words float just out of reach as she tries to speak. "Start on... clearing. Clearing the tunnel."
"I can start on that," Parvati's voice is gentle. Nyoka hates when people talk to her gentle.
"No no no," Nyoka laughs, which devolves into a cough as her raw throat burns. "You don't know what to look for. You can't do it alone."
"You plannin' on helpin' in the condition you're in?"
Nyoka looks at Parvati and is relieved to see no pity in the woman's eyes. Parvati's hands are on her hips and her eyebrow is raised as she stares down Nyoka.
"I'm not gonna get any better sitting around," Nyoka says, "I should at least be nearby, listen for trouble."
Parvati nods. "Withdrawl's always hard."
Nyoka grits her teeth. "It ain't about withdrawal."
"You're saying that ain't what's happenin'?"
Nyoka shakes her head and immediately regrets it. Bile rises in her throat again and she takes a drink of water to push it back.
"I'm not stupid," Nyoka says. She needs to lean on the wall to keep upright, "I know what's happening to me. But it's not just that. Going sober won't make this go away. I tried, but it doesn't get better. Being sober means being sick and staying sick and being aware of every sick moment."
At least the drugs dulled the pain. Dulled the symptoms. Even if they caused the symptoms, that didn't matter all that much anymore. They kept her alive.
"I'd imagine it'd take a long while for your body to heal after all you've done to it."
Nyoka pauses to think over the statement. The words don't stay in her head. She forgets what Parvati said to her.
"We need to get out of here," she says.
Parvati frowns but accepts.
Nyoka isn't awake, but she isn't asleep. Her eyes won't stay open and her body won’t listen as she tries to pull herself up. She forces her eyelids apart, but her eyes roll back in her head and she can't make them point forward.
It's been hours, or days, or maybe years, she doesn't know anymore. She shivers as more sweat beads on her skin. Her clothes are already damp and her body feels like it's on fire.
There's an arm on her shoulder, a voice asking her a question. She grasps at the words but they fall out of her head as soon as she processes them.
Parvati is working. She's been working for as long as Nyoka's been curled up on the ground. Which has been... it's been too long. Parvati shouldn't be the one doing any of this. She doesn't have the experience. She doesn't know what to look for. Nyoka should be the one leading, but instead, she's curled up shaking and sweating.
"I'm sorry," Nyoka says. She forces her eyes to open, to focus. It's a struggle, but Parvati's face comes into view. She looks exhausted, smeared in dust and grime, but she's smiling.
"Help is coming," Parvati says. She adjusts the blanket over Nyoka. "Hold in there."
Nyoka nods. There's no time to feel relief because the darkness swells, rising up to drown her again.
Nyoka wakes in bed. Her bed. She's back on the Unreliable. And she feels fine. A little warm, but no pain ripping her apart, no spinning cloudy thoughts, no nausea. She sits, rubbing her eyes.
"I told you it'd work."
There are two people sitting by Nyoka's desk. Ellie leans back, feet resting on the table with her ever-present smirk. Parvati doesn't share the other woman's confidence. She's tense, glaring at the table as she twirls a wrench between her fingers. "But was it the right choice?" she asks tersely.
Ellie looks at Nyoka with a raised eyebrow.
"I take it you gave me booze," Nyoka says, stretching. Her body aches, especially her shoulders and hips. She's getting too old to be sleeping on the floor like that.
"Correct," Ellie shoots finger guns at her, "And do you have any problems with me doing that?"
"No. That's exactly what I needed."
Parvati huffs and taps the wrench against her leg.
"See," Ellie picks up a bottle from the table and takes a swig. "I know my patients." She looks at Nyoka. "Need any more?"
"Not yet." Nyoka sighs and rubs her temples. "How long were we down there?"
"Three days," Ellie says, clunking the bottle back down on the table, "You're lucky, you know."
"I know," Nyoka stands. Her world hasn't been steady in years, but it's not spinning anymore. She's used to this. "Keeping on like this will kill me, I've heard it."
"I'm not being paid to stop you from killing yourself," Ellie says with a shrug.
Parvati gasped, anger flashing in her eyes. "So you're not gonna do anything?"
"There's nothing to be done for me," Nyoka says, "Ask the sawbones, I'm a dead woman walking."
She turns to Ellie expecting another nod, but Ellie shakes her head. "Nah, I've seen worse."
Parvati brightens and Nyoka frowns.
Ellie looks between the two of them and shrugs. "Said what I said. There's a very profitable industry on Byzantium for people that want to destroy their bodies again and again without dying. There are tons of medicines that claim they'll make the whole recovery process a breeze."
"Do they work?"
"The medicines? Some do. They minimize the withdrawal symptoms, cover up the cravings, help the body heal. But they're wasted on people that don't want to get better. There are plenty of rich folks that destroy themselves because they know when they're ready to quit they can call up any clinic and pay their way back to normal. But the folks that need it, by the time they're in front of a doctor they're flat broke."
Parvati's eyes shine as she stands.
"What are you doing?" Nyoka asks. Half of her dreads the reply, and half is intrigued.
"I'm gonna tell the captain to add a heist to the itinerary the next time we stop in Byzantium."
Nyoka laughs at the confidence. "Don't go too far for me without asking if I want any of that."
Parvati shakes her head stubbornly. "If you don't use it, someone else will."
"Hell yeah," Ellie leans back in her chair, raising her bottle, "I'm down for anything that fucks over the gilded elite."
Nyoka sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose. She doesn't like it. Doesn't like the idea of the crew putting themselves in danger for her sake. But she can't deny she likes the idea. And she knows the captain will too.
"Fuck it," she says, "Whatever you're planning, I'm in."