Chapter Text
[Blip D detected]
“Shoot.” Grace perks up, the lab’s metal chair squeaking in protest. “Rocky, what's going on up there?”
“Bad bad bad! Grace, fly ship now! Danger, danger!!” Grace can hear the frantic tapping of Rocky’s legs above him. Grace rips the safety goggles off of his face and stands, righting his glasses as he stumbles frantically to the ladder. The metal bars clang loudly as he makes his way up to the cockpit where Rocky is panicking.
A few minutes earlier, the two made a pit-stop on their way to Erid to check out a strange moon. The small celestial body was covered in a rippling red sea, Grace’s stomach lurching as he noted the surface looked eerily similar to blood. Which was totally impossible. So, like the scientists (and engineer) they are, Rocky and Grace agreed to take a little break and observe what the heck was going on on that curious red moon. Erid could wait thirty extra minutes for them!
Unfortunately, Grace failed to notice the hunk of metal sitting above the outer edge of the moon as he observed its shifting surface through the Hail Mary’s porthole window, too engrossed in the notes he was jotting down about the area. The hunk of metal that was now gaining on them. As they sat still like willing prey.
“Grace, getting closer, hurry!”
“I know bud, I’m working on it!” Grace exclaimed, his head and forearm emerging into the control room as he inelegantly scrambled up. “We don’t know if they’re hostile or anything though…”
“Rocky does not want to find out. Grace slow, move faster!” Rocky was practically bouncing off the walls of his xenonite ball as Grace scrambled into the Hail Mary’s pilot’s seat. He began to ease the Hail Mary out of her centrifuge state, the makeshift gravity dissipating as he worked. He clicks into the seat before he can fully float out, and Rocky braces his limbs on the sides of his suit.
Almost there–
Suddenly, gravity returns. The ship lurches downwards and seems to slam into something metallic a short distance below it. Grace and Rocky freeze. Grace creeps out of the pilot’s seat to check the porthole on the side of the cockpit.
“Shhooooooot…”
“What going on? What Grace see?”
“Shooooot, shoot shoot shoot!” Grace takes a few steps back from the window. Then a few more. His breathing becomes shallow. This makes Rocky freak out now, more than before.
“What? What Grace see?! What is it?!”
Grace looks to his shipmate, his eyebrows pinched. “Ahhahahaha, oh, god. We’re inside a ship. Rocky, we are inside a ship.”
“You said other ship could be friendly…”
“Yeah, well, I was trying to be optimistic!”
With a woosh of air and a loud clunk, accompanied by shouting voices, Grace can only assume that whatever is on that ship has now made its way onto his and Rocky’s.
“Lots of people. Bad bad bad. Coming this way” Rocky chirps in the best imitation he can of a whisper. The thumping of heavy footsteps only confirms to Grace what Rocky saw. Ok, he is thoroughly panicking right now! On one hand, the steps sound bipedal. They could be human! There could be other humans just a few moments away from Grace! The first humans he will have seen in over a decade!
But on the other hand, they do not sound friendly. Human or other. The steps are loud and angry. He thinks he can hear a woman barking something — maybe orders? She definitely has authority — just outside in the Hail Mary’s halls. The metal walls outside of the porthole look coldly lit and stained. The whole vibe Grace is getting from this ordeal is evil– and oh look there’s two people with guns standing before him and Rocky. How nice.
On instinct, Grace throws his hands up, palms out, eyebrows shooting all the way up to his hairline. Rocky raises his front two arms as if he were to throw some jazz hands in to lighten the mood, though his lack of wiggly claws indicates that was definitely not his course of action.
“Hands up!” one of the armed intruders — a human, and speaking English! — shouts.
“They’re up! They’re up!”
The other intruder looks around the cockpit and jumps at the sight of Rocky. Yeah, most people probably aren’t accustomed to seeing a sentient rock. He can’t blame the guy. Alerted by all the clamor, a woman — who Grace guesses must be their leader — marches in. Grace notices immediately that the entire left side of her face is brutally scarred, seeming to have caused her left eye to go blind, the organ a hazy pale blue. The first intruder speaks to her.
“Captain! Two passengers; one human, one… um, rock?”
“I am Rocky! From planet Erid!”
“The fuck?” Ohhh, right. They’re not gonna understand him. All they hear are chirps and hums. Grace should probably translate.
“He says his name is Rocky," Grace explains, a little too excited given the circumstances. He just loves talking about his best friend! He can't help it! "He’s from Erid. It’s a planet in the 40 Eridani system. We were actually just headed back there! You see, we’re on this mission–”
“Shut up.” The woman orders. And Grace does just that. Rocky quietly chirps something sassy, and Grace fails sadly to stifle his laughter, producing a snrk sound. The woman whips her head around to glare daggers into Grace. Her glare is almost physically painful to him. His smile drops real fast.
“What the fuck did that thing just say.” She demands. There's not a hint of question in her tone, only order.
“I thought you wanted me to shut up–”
“Don’t get smart with me.” Uh oh. Grace swallows. The woman’s upper lip twitches. “Take these two to the prison block, and keep them separated.” She doesn’t even look at her subordinates, her gaze never faltering from Grace. She turns to leave, and they act without any hesitation.
Oh god, oh no. I’m cornered. Where are they gonna take me?! What did we get into?!
One of them advances to Grace, gripping his wrists and rigidly cuffing them behind his back, and he begins to drag Grace out of the cockpit. As Grace struggles, the other intruder yells for something or someone — Grace can’t tell over his heartbeat in his ears —, and another man stomps in with a large black net. They stomp up to a very distressed and musical Rocky, trapping him and his xenonite ball in the net. The capture jostles Rocky’s sphere, causing the eridian to slip and stumble as they drag him through the cockpit.
“NO!” Grace yelled, the word tearing out of him. He fought back and thrashed in the intruders' hold with a newfound desperation. “He can’t go in a prison cell! He needs ammonia and– and high pressure and heat! He needs his enclosure! He’ll die!” That makes the intruders stop — just a stutter, a hitch — and glance at him. Then, they continue like nothing was said.
Grace’s face burned and his heart lurched painfully. He let himself get dragged out of the Hail Mary on weak legs as tears welled in his eyes. Oh god. Please, listen to me. Don’t let him die! A sob escaped his throat as he watched Rocky get dragged down a separate dim hallway than him. Watched his best friend get taken from him. Watched the only companion he’s had in over a decade be lugged away to god-knows-where on some creepy dystopian spacecraft that captured them for god-knows-what.
“Do not worry, friend Grace. Rocky will figure it out!” Rocky sang, low yet hopeful.
“Rock…” Grace breathed.
“Rocky will be okay. Rocky will find Grace. Then, Grace Rocky fix.”
Grace swallowed, choking down his tears. He needed to be brave. For Rocky. “I’ll find you, bud,” he whispered. “Statement.”
…
The pounding clunk of boots and the sharp slam of a metal door wakes Grace. His neck and tailbone hurt from his unfortunate spot on the floor. His face is streaked with long-dried tears. Grace isn’t sure how much time has passed since he was brought on board. Could be a few hours. Could be a few days. All Grace knows is that he’s gonna have to get familiar with flickering lights, rusting metal walls, and the cold floor of a prison cell.
A loud thunk to his right shakes the floor of the prison, and a shouting match ensues.
Oh, and he has to get used to his new neighbor.