Chapter Text
science and recon vehicle 'The Nostromo'
crew: seven
cargo: surveillance maps, scientific samples and 200,000kilos of unrefined ore for evaluation and processing
course: returning to earth
Waking up from the stasis for travel is disorienting. It doesn't matter how long he has done this for, how many long-haul flights or resource laden planets. The clear lid of the pod has opened already. Cool air floods over him, raising goosebumps. Protocol for the sensors means he is wearing a simple pair of white shorts and nothing else.
The little nodes are still sticky on his skin as he comes into awareness. He pulls the one off his temple first, sets it to the side. Pulls himself up into a sitting position and looking around. Everyone else is still flat on their backs, lids to their pods sitting open.
Robotnik swings his legs over the side of the bed. Reaches over to one of the drawers and grabs a towel. He removes the rest of the nodes still stuck to his bare skin. The rest of the crew is still in the early stages of waking up.
Showering serves the dual purpose of fully waking him up and getting the rest of the residue from the sensors off his skin. When he walks into the communal dining area, the only other person there is Stone. Dressed already in his neat blue jumpsuit and white undershirt, sipping coffee and looking down at something he's reading.
When the other man hears footsteps his head pokes up and a smile crosses his face briefly, winkling the corners of his eyes. He raises his mug towards Robotnik and then goes back to his reading.
Of anyone else on ship, Stone is the easiest to get along with. He doesn't speak much but is an impeccable listener, knows when its worth butting into a conversation or letting something sit idle. He and Robotnik have spent good time in companionable silence, which is about as much as he can ask for on this crew.
Speaking of, the rest of them have started to file in. Only partially dressed in lounge wear and not standard uniform. He had hoped that the wake up and their eminent arrival back on earth may have spurred them into more professionalism but alas.
The table chatter is lively, mostly complaints about the food which he doesn't participate in. At least until the alarm starts going off.
Stone looks up from his mug, "Walters, Mother wants to speak with you."
The half-awake captain looks startled at being addressed, woken up from his stupor. "Huh. Oh, yeah. Yellow means my eyes only." He pushes himself up from the table, taking his white plastic mug with him.
"Everyone else get ready." He calls back to the rest of the crew while heading further into the ship.
Stone and Robotnik are the only people ready enough to head directly into the main area. He drains the rest of his coffee with a grimace and gets up to follow behind the other man.
Dark and cold is the best way to describe the ship as the head into the main center. It is still in the process of waking up so none of their consoles are lit yet. Stone sits down in his own chair while Robotnik leans idly next to his.
He's spent plenty of time recently laying down, even if he doesn't remember it so he'll take the opportunity to stretch his legs.
"Sleep well?" He asks Stone. Then internally cringes, its meaningless dribble. The kind of stuff he would mock the others for saying. Brought out of his spiral by the light chuckle of the other man in his seat.
"Don't remember it, so it can't have been too bad. Besides.." Stone leans back in his seat, stretching out his arms and shoulders, "Better than listening to Mason snore." He shoots Robotnik a smile. Something genuine that sparkles in his dark eyes. Robotnik huffs out a laugh just as the other crew members start filing in.
He slips behind his console, putting on the headphones and waiting for everyone to get situated.
"Right," He calls out. Sees Rockwell move her chair forward with a hum and then,
"Plug us in."
The console lights turn on. The flicking of levers and shuffling of chairs as people get situated before the navigator, Cole pipes up.
"Where's Earth?" A befuddled tone compounds the already ridiculous statement. Robotnik starts running through whats available to him on the screens.
"You should know," Rockwell tells Cole.
"Its not our system." Robotnik says. This doesn't make any sense, they shouldn't have woken up unless they were at missions end. He turns his head to catch Stone's eye but the man is facing forward, looking at the map splayed out over his own screen. Face just as passive as usual.
"Contact traffic control," Rockwell directs. Robotnik nods, sets up the transmission and starts calling out. Vehicle name, class, number and who they're attempting to contact. Absolute silence on the other end. By his calculation they're way off from being able to contact Antarctica Traffic Control but Rockwell is insistent.
He runs through it once more, listens to the dead air that hums in response.
"I've got it!" Cole calls out, "Just short of Zeta II Reticuli. We haven't reached the outer rim yet."
He knew it. Drops off his attempts at contact until the rest of the crew catches on to what he figured out. They are, at most, halfway through their journey. So why the hell did Mother wake them up?
Stone doesn't mind the wake-up after stasis too much. He's never overly sore or disoriented and whether that's due to rigorous training or luck of the draw he doesn't know.
The crew is milling about the eating area again, waiting on Mason and Willoughby to come up from the base of the ship where they were checking cargo. Walters has already returned from his chat with Mother and everyone in the command center has already figured out they're nowhere near home. Its just a matter of why.
There is an inkling in the back of his head, a kind of tingling sensation. The inexplicable urge buried deep within that he knows exactly where they are and why. That it's important, critical even.
His brow furrows, the sensation is disorienting. Feels like part of his mind is separate from the other.
He looks up from where his eyes had fallen, to the floor. Finds Robotnik staring at him with a wrinkle to his face and the slight raise of an eyebrow. Its an unspoken question. Stone shrugs his shoulders.
The moment breaks off as Willoughby and Mason emerge into the room. Mason takes a seat at the table and Willoughby leans back, arms crossed.
"Whats happening now?" Mason asks, casting a look over the room.
"Well," Walters begins, "Some of you may have figured out we're not home yet. We're only halfway there."
"What?" Willoughby butts in, sharp and disbelieving.
"Mothers interrupted the course of our journey. She's programmed to do that should certain conditions arise and they have." Walters says with a shrug.
"Like what," Rockwell asks, leveling Walters with a sharp look. This is new territory for all of them, being woken up partway through is practically unprecedented, protocols or not.
"It seems she has intercepted a transmission of unknown origins. She got us up to check it out."
"A transmission, all the way out here?" Robotnik this time, incredulous. Stone can't help but fixate on that word, transmission. Feels important, more than the wake up. Settles in the back of his brain with the other pieces he can't quite reach. Things he should know, does know but doesn't have access to.
"What kind of transmission then," Cole asks, drumming her fingers on the table.
"Acoustical beacon. It repeats at intervals of 12 seconds."
"S.O.S?" Rockwell,
"I don't know,"
"Human," Robotnik, with a slight tilt to his head. There's a thrumming in the back of his mind with that question, feels important, as important as the beacon itself. The doctor catches his gaze, he watches the mans eyes narrow.
"Unknown," Walters opens up his hands and makes a shrugging gesture.
"So what?" Mason, leaning back in his chair.
"Under section eight we are obligated-" Stone begins, before Mason cuts him off once more.
"I hate to bring this up," And he says this with a simple kind of grin, that makes it seem anything but genuine. "But we're a commercial science vessel, not a rescue one. And its not in my contract to do this kind of duty."
Stone sighs, leans back against the wall and looks up at the ceiling. Contracts and duty and money that's what it always boils down to. Scraping away as much as you can from the company before the company does the same. The kind of lifestyle that kills a person, only slowly so you don't notice at first. Not until its too late.
He can hear Mason continuing about the bonus situation. Feels the words wash over him, muffled. In the part of his mind, far back and still clouded he can feel this tugging importance. The need to ensure they get to this beacon no matter what.
"I'm sorry can I say something," He cuts in, pushing himself up off the wall and moving to stand between Mason and Rockwell. "There is a clause in the contract that specifically states any systematized transmission indicating possible intelligent origin must be investigated."
"I don't want to hear it-" Mason starts up, before Walters cuts him off with a firm.
"Mason, will you just listen to the man." Walters gestures for Stone to keep talking.
"On penalty of total forfeiture of shares. No money." He nods to Walters as a thanks, shakes his head at Mason and moves away from the table again. Quoting the contract and the clause came easy, flowed from him even though he doesn't remember memorizing the damn thing. Like its simply tucked away in a little file folder in his brain for further use.
"You got that." Walters sounds about as done as Stone feels. Why he has tolerated this for so long he doesn't know.
"Well, yeah." Mason nods with a nervous kind of laugh, as if he's trying to make a joke about his own attitude. It only serves to irritate Stone further.
"We're going in then." Walters slams his hands on the table. Its about a clear an order as can be, final decisions, no questions. They're going to be investigating the transmission.