FIC: Kino Vision Number 15
The kino, waiting for Rush outside his quarters, rewound some footage. Déjà vu. Like now, that time Rush had been in his quarters all day. The kino had waited for him but Rush hadn’t come out. Mid-morning, Volker and Scott had come down the corridor so the kino popped up to the ceiling. Volker was trailing behind Scott. They stopped outside Rush’s door.
“Okay,” Scott said, indicating the door.
“Uh uh,” Volker refused. And pointedly, “You want to knock, be my guest. He’s probably just sleeping.”
“Sleeping,” Scott said scornfully.
“He was in the control room when I left at 2:30,” said Volker. “Brody said at breakfast he left at 3:00 and Rush was still working. He probably just stayed up all night. He’s been catching up on work.”
Rush possibly being asleep seemed to give Scott pause. His head rocked from side to side as if debating whether to knock or not. He didn’t seem to notice Volker’s unspoken criticism of the reason why Rush had to catch up on his work.
Then he said, “The Colonel wants him,” and he knocked.
The kino turned up its audio. Nothing. Nary a sound. Scott knocked again several times and called, “Dr Rush? Dr Rush? It’s Lieutenant Scott.”
There was the sound of a thump and in what seemed like ages later, the door opened. Rush looked like he’d fallen out of bed. He had bare feet, no belt, and only his no-longer-white t-shirt and pants on. His hair was sticking up. He stared at Scott bewilderedly. Then his head turned to Volker who held up his hands.
“Not my idea,” he said. “Dragged here against my will.”
“What?” Rush said, still not with it. He rubbed his face.
“Uh, I’m sorry for waking you, Dr Rush,” Scott said, apparently daunted. “Colonel Young wants you.”
Rush muttered something incoherent. He looked awful.
“Uh, sorry?” Scott asked.
“Piss off, Lieutenant,” Rush said, his voice drained.
He pressed the door control and the door slid shut, Scott jumping out of its way. The locking mechanism going into place sounded its barbed criticism. Scott looked at Volker.
“Yeah, okay he was asleep,” Scott said. “I’ll tell the Colonel.”
“What’d he want Rush for?” Volker asked casually.
“Colonel wants to get the Senator’s body out of the shuttle,” Scott said.
“He doesn’t need Rush for that,” Volker said.
Scott shrugged and began to walk away. Volker frowned and looked at Rush’s door.
Volker called, “Hey, did you …?”
He stopped.
Scott said, “Did I what?”
“Hear about Inman’s tomatoes,” Volker said, his face pleasant, his voice friendly.
“Yeah, great, huh?” Scott said.
“Yeah, really great,” Volker said.
Scott kept going.
Volker said softly, “Did you notice the blood stain on Rush’s shirt …”
He took another glance at the door and walked in the other direction.
The kino went to find Colonel Young. He was in his quarters so the kino ducked into an air vent to listen, staying away from the grill in case it was noticed. It was Scott, Young and Chloe Armstrong. She didn’t look like she’d had much sleep either.
“Have a seat, Chloe,” Young said.
“Is there something wrong?” she asked.
“Well, no,” Young said. “Uh, we’ve repaired the third space suit.”
“Sure, I heard Dr Park mention it,” Chloe said. She sounded confused, unsure what the third spacesuit had to do with her.
“I … I’d like to have some people take care of your father’s body,” Young said.
“Oh,” she replied, a flat note in her voice.
“We could give him a proper burial next time Destiny drops out of FTL,” Young said. “Or we could …”
Chloe cut him off, her voice now disturbed.
“I … Can I think about this, please?” she asked.
Young said gently, “We can’t leave him there for good.”
“I know that,” she said. “But this isn’t … sorry, I didn’t get much sleep.”
“Sure, let me know what you want to do,” Young said.
The kino heard the door open then close.
“She still having nightmares?” Young asked.
“Yeah, a few,” Scott said. “She goes for a walk at night to clear her head.”
“Okay, keep an eye on her,” Young said. “It would have been pretty damned traumatic for her.”
“Yes, sir,” Scott said, his voice subdued.
Neither spoke for a moment then Young said, “You were going to get Rush?”
“Uh, Rush was asleep, sir,” Scott said. He sounded embarrassed. “Volker said he was up all night catching up on work.”
There was silence for a moment and Young said, “Fine, leave him.”
“Yes sir,” Scott said. He sounded relieved.
The kino backed out quietly and went to find Chloe. She was sitting outside the shuttle crying. She noticed the kino, snapped, “Eli” and the kino took off.
Rush surfaced late, looking groggy. He sat away from everyone else in the mess, his head down, his hair falling in his face. He didn’t speak to anyone and left as soon as he finished his gloop. The kino didn’t see him again until much later when Rush came back into the mess. He sat, heavy-eyed, with a mug of water, staring down into it as usual. Chloe didn’t arrive. Scott did.
“Oh, um,” Scott said. Rush lifted his head tiredly. “Colonel Young wanted to see you.”
“Oh,” Rush said disinterestedly.
“Yeah, he, uh, wants the second shuttle fixed,” Scott said. “In case we run into more aliens.”
Rush’s shoulders stiffened but Scott didn’t notice.
“Senator’s body’s in the way, is it?” Rush said.
Scott opened his mouth then closed it again. Rush gave him a look of withering contempt.
Scott, annoyed, said, “The Colonel wants to have a memorial service.” No reaction from Rush. “He wants everyone to be there.” Still no reaction. Scott ploughed on. “Including you.”
Rush looked up. His voice was ice.
“I hardly think that’s appropriate,” he said.
“Yeah well,” said Scott. “Honestly, Chloe’s not going to want you there anyway, you know, given … what happened.”
“No, I suppose not,” Rush said.
His gaze flicked towards the door. Scott looked disconcerted at being dismissed so completely. Rush got up and walked out. Scott stood for a moment before getting himself some water. He sat where Rush had. Chloe came in a few minutes later, pausing when she saw him.
“Oh, Matt,” she said. “Um, what are you doing here?”
Not whom she was expecting.
“Just having some water,” he said, far more pleased to see her than she was to see him.
She sat opposite him in her usual seat and the kino wondered at the oddness of not seeing Rush there with her.
“The Colonel was talking about having memorial service for your dad,” Scott said hesitantly.
“I’d appreciate that,” Chloe said. “It’s good of him.”
“He’s going to pass the word, you know, so everyone’s there,” he said. Chloe nodded. Then Scott added, “Except for Rush.”
Chloe’s brow creased.
She said, “Rush?”
“Well, after, you know,” Scott said. “After you … well, you know.”
She stared at him.
“Chloe, you attacked the guy,” said Scott. “If it wasn’t for him, your dad would still be alive.”
Ah, the kino remembered, the early days on Destiny when Chloe blamed Rush for everything.
“Would he?” Chloe asked unexpectedly, cupping her face in her hands. “Would he be alive if Greer hadn’t let him past? Would he be alive if I hadn’t told him about the shuttle? I think about it, Matt. I replay it over and over. What if we’d waited? Maybe we’d have come up with something else.”
“Like what?” Scott asked, surprised perhaps at her not blaming Rush immediately.
“Like …” Chloe looked around and spotted the kino. “What if we’d used a kino? To hit the door control in the shuttle.”
Scott looked rather gormless thought the kino. She stood and walked a few feet then turned back.
“What about Rush?” she asked.
“Huh?” Scott said.
“Matt, did you say something to him about my dad?” Chloe asked.
“Well, sort of, yeah,” he said, not understanding. “I said you wouldn’t want him at the memorial service.”
She gave a disbelieving shake of her head then pointed her finger at him.
“Rush just saved my life, Matt,” she snapped.
“Chloe, the guy dialed the ninth chevron,” Scott protested. “We’d all be safe on Earth if it wasn’t for him.”
“Yeah,” Chloe said softly.
“I just thought that you wouldn’t want him there,” Scott said.
“I know, Matt,” she said with a sigh. “I appreciate you caring, but you don’t get to speak for me. Please don’t do that.” She ran her hand through her hair. “I’m going for a walk.”
“Are you going to come by later?” he asked hopefully.
“Not tonight,” she said. She held out her hand. “I’ll walk you back to your quarters.”
He brightened and they walked off together, the kino floating behind them. Chloe stepped back when they arrived at Scott’s quarters and smiled at him. He left her reluctantly, putting his hands in his pockets as she let go his hand.
The doe-eyed look on her face disappeared at his door shut and then she simply looked annoyed. She walked back to the mess. It was empty. Her next stop was the control room. Volker and Brody were the only ones there so she kept going. She hesitated at the corridor leading to Rush’s quarters. One of the doors further down opened. Biting her lip she hastened away, walking into the less used areas of the ship. She slowed as she approached a trio of doors. Pressing one door control, she went in. The lights, such as they ever were on Destiny, were on.
“Hi,” Chloe said.
Rush looked up from one of the consoles.
“Chloe,” he said surprised. “Is everything all right?”
The kino was directly behind her so neither of them could see it. Chloe walked in, the kino tilting its camera up so it could see their faces. It carefully lifted to get a better view.
“I’m fine,” she said. “Is it going to work?”
“It’s not completely suitable,” Rush said looking around. “But I think so.”
She said abruptly, “Colonel Young wants to have a proper memorial service for my dad when he's brought out of the shuttle.”
Rush’s hand froze over one of the controls. He sat back on the seat but didn’t look up. She bit her lip, clasping her hands on top of the console.
“Why didn’t we use a kino to shut the door?” she asked him.
His fingers curled.
“You thought of that, didn’t you,” she said.
“Afterwards,” he admitted softly. “Chloe …”
“I don’t think the Colonel should order people to be at the memorial service if they don’t want to go,” she said interrupting him. “It just causes even more resentment.”
Rush took in a breath as if to answer but coughed, holding his chest.
“It hurts, doesn’t it,” Chloe said, her face worried.
“Every now and again,” said Rush dismissively. “It isn’t important.”
“Yes, heaven forbid that you accept a bit of concern,” Chloe said waspishly.
“Perhaps you could not channel Lt Johansen?” Rush said dripping sarcasm.
“Maybe we should …” Chloe began.
“No,” Rush said flatly.
“But TJ …” said Chloe.
“Will go straight to Young,” Rush said.
“You don’t know that,” Chloe protested.
“Yes,” Rush said, a tinge of annoyance in his voice. “I do know that.”
“How? Chloe demanded.
“Because I would,” Rush said.
“Wow,” Chloe snarked. “A pity I can’t pass that compliment to TJ; she’d love it.”
Rush rubbed his face and for the first time looked directly at her-with exasperation.
“I’m going to try to get some sleep,” Chloe said. She walked towards the door and stopped. “You were right, you know.”
“About?” Rush asked.
“My dad,” she said. “He believed in the Icarus Project; he thought it was wonderful.”
Rush looked down at the console.
Young gave one of his speeches at the memorial service, held after they brought the Senator’s body out of the shuttle. It was moving, the kino admitted. Chloe stood, her head bowed and her hands clasped together, her friends around her.
Rush stood unnoticed at the back of the gateroom and left as soon as it finished.
FINIS