Under The Weather
An Alleycat Crew Short
Kash hated being sick. Not the kind of “I’ve got a sniffle” sick, but the kind that made your bones ache and your stomach feel like it was holding a small moon hostage.
He slouched in the pilot’s chair, half-wrapped in a blanket, scrolling through system diagnostics without actually seeing any of it.
Behind him, Calynn groaned from the hallway.
“Ohhh, I wish my stomach wasn’t actually my own,” she muttered. “A synthetic one would be great right about now.”
Kash turned his head just enough to see her.
“Can’t you just… y’know… turn things off?”
He waved vaguely toward her midsection.
“Not the fully organic parts, thank you very much,” Calynn grumbled. “And right now, that’s the problem.”
Kash leaned back and rubbed his face.
“My stomach feels like I swallowed a rock. When will those virus cultures be done?”
“You mean the lab cultures?” Calynn asked, laying her head on top of his. “Two hours.”
“Ugh. I’ll be dead by then.”
“You’re such a baby.”
“And you’re so pleasant when you’re ill,” Kash shot back.
“Why are you yelling?”
“I don’t know.”
They groaned in unison, the sound echoing pitifully through the ship. For a long moment, the only noise was the hum of the environmental systems and the occasional sniffle from one of them.
“Come to bed and keep me warm,” Calynn finally said.
They curled up together, trying to rest—but mostly just tossed and turned, taking turns groaning about their aching bellies.
Finally, the cultures finished, and Calynn sat up, pressing a hand to her stomach.
“The shots are ready. Time to end our suffering.”
“Yay,” Kash mock cheered.
“I feel like I’m dying,” Calynn sighed as she returned with the injectors.
She lifted her shirt just enough to reveal her belly. A small port extended from her navel. Calynn gave herself the shot, and the port retracted back into her body.
Kash wrinkled his nose.
“That’s still weird.”
“Better weird than miserable.”
Color returned to her face almost instantly.
“Ohhh… sweet relief.”
Kash reached for the injector.
“My turn.”
Five minutes later, they were both stretched out on the bed, blanket pulled over them, the worst of their symptoms already fading.
“You know,” Calynn murmured, resting her head on his shoulder, “we should probably sanitize everything we touched before we have anyone else aboard.”
“Later,” Kash mumbled, already half-asleep. “Right now, let’s just… not move.”
Calynn smiled faintly.
“Deal.”
They drifted off together, wrapped in warmth, the quiet hum of the Alleycat Savant rocking them into an easy sleep.
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