Halo: Friction 2

Voss took a deep breath, tamping down a flash of irritation. She forced her voice to remain level. "We did our duty. If there had been survivors on Halcyon and we ignored them, what kind of crew would we be? What kind of people? Now, I am sorry that it's caused a delay. I truly am. I want to get to Titan as much as you do – my own sister is waiting for me there." She let a bit of personal emotion into her tone, and some of the crowd softened, exchanging glances.

But Kowalski wasn't appeased. "Apologies don't give us back our lost shore leave." He stepped forward at another pace, face red. "Captain, with all due respect, you made a bad call. You put us all at risk. Twenty hours baking in decon? And now 48 more hours stuck here waiting to see if we get sick or not? People are scared and pissed off."

A few shouts of "Yeah!" bolstered him.

Reed clenched his jaw, stepping forward. "Watch your tone, Kowalski," he said coldly. "The captain has the authority—"

Voss gently touched Reed's arm to silence him. She looked at the assembled crew, trying to project empathy and firmness all at once. "I know you're upset. But I need you to hold it together. We are a team, a crew. This is exactly the time we need to trust each other and follow procedure. If – and I emphasize if – there is any threat on board, we'll handle it. Fighting among ourselves will only make things worse."

"Easy for you to say," Ferrell snapped. "You're the one who dragged us into this. If something starts killing us, that's on you."

A heavy silence fell. Raines stepped forward immediately, her hand drifting close to the stun baton at her belt. "Crewman Ferrell, that is out of line—"

"It's alright, Halley," Voss interjected softly to her security chief. She met Ferrell's eyes. "I take responsibility for my decisions. All of them. If this turns out to be a mistake... I'll answer it. But right now, speculation and blame aren't going to get us home any faster or safer."

Ferrell looked momentarily abashed, but still angry.

From the side, a new voice spoke up – Lieutenant Nova Mendes had quietly entered and now stood with fists clenched at her sides. "Don't you all see the captain is trying to protect us? We've all seen the vids of Halcyon. Do you want that happening on Titan Station? To your friends or family there? She's keeping that from happening. We have to put aside our own comfort for a couple days, as hard as it is."

Some crew looked down or away; Nova's point hit home for a few, especially those with loved ones on Titan.

Kowalski grumbled, "We're just supposed to sit and twiddle our thumbs, hoping nothing goes wrong in the meantime?"

"We continue our duties," Voss said. "Maintain the ship. Support Dr. Zhang and the science team's analysis. Stay alert for any signs of trouble. And get some rest if you're off-shift – idle minds will just breed more worry. We're in this together."

For a moment no one spoke. Then an older navigation officer, Lt. Cmdr. Iglesias stepped forward from a table. "I'll back the captain on this," he said, voice calm. "We all knew the risks of this job. Could've been our ship sending that distress call. We'd have wanted someone to answer."

A few crew members nodded. The open dissent began to ebb, though a sullen mood remained.

Kowalski shook his head and sighed. "Alright, Captain. We hear you. We'll stand by... for now."

Ferrell muttered something under her breath and slumped into a chair, arms crossed.

Voss nodded, shoulders slightly dropping as the confrontation defused. "Thank you. All of you. Keep focused and we'll get through this. Dismissed."

The gathering broke up slowly, pockets of crew dispersing, some still whispering discontent but quieter now. Voss caught Nova's eye and gave a small grateful nod for her support, which Nova returned with a faint smile.

Reed released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "That could have gone worse," he murmured.

Raines frowned. "We should keep an eye on Kowalski and Ferrell. They're the type to keep stirring the pot under the surface."

"Agreed," Voss said. "Set up extra security rounds in case anyone gets the brilliant idea to do something rash."

As people cleared out, Nova approached Reed and Voss. "Commander, Captain – I finished calibrating the internal sensors. We'll start a ship-wide sweep for any unknown organics in a few minutes. If there's even a drop of that Halcyon stuff anywhere, we should find it."

"Good work, Nova," Reed said warmly.

Voss attempted a smile for her comms officer, though fatigue weighed on her features. "Thank you. Why don't you get some rest after that? You've been on shift for nearly 12 hours straight."

Nova opened her mouth to protest, but then thought better of it. "Yes, ma'am. I'll try to, at least."

Voss patted Nova's shoulder in passing. "We'll handle it from here."

As Nova headed out, Reed caught up to her in the corridor. "Hey," he said softly. "You did well back there."

Nova gave a small shrug. "I just couldn't listen to them attack her like that. She's only trying to help."

Reed nodded. The two of them walked slowly down the hall, the quiet hum of the ship surrounding them. Reed lowered his voice. "How are you holding up? I know seeing that stuff from Halcyon on the feed was... rough."

Nova's eyes were distant for a moment. "It was. I keep picturing it – those... things on the wall. And that body." She shuddered. Reed gently placed a hand on her arm to steady her.

"We'll figure it out," he said. "Zhang will analyze the sample. Maybe the Halcyon logs will tell us what happened, once we decode more."

Nova bit her lip. "Dominic, what if something did come back with us? The station thinks we might be exposed... what if it's already here?"

Reed looked around, ensuring they were alone. "We didn't see anything active on Halcyon except that... stuff. If something was going to attack, I suspect it would have happened on the spot. But to be safe, we're scanning. If anything comes up, we'll deal with it, I promise."

She nodded, taking some comfort in his confidence. "I should try to sleep, like the Captain said. You too?"

He offered a reassuring smile. "Soon. I have to check in on a few things first."

Nova turned to head towards her quarters. "Be careful, Dominic," she said softly.

"You too, Nova," Reed replied.

As Nova walked away, Reed sighed and rubbed his face. He felt the weight of responsibility heavy on his shoulders – for Nova, for the crew, for keeping a lid on the fear that threatened to boil over.

He made his way to the operations center where Lieutenant Singh and a couple of technicians were monitoring the sensor sweep. On a large screen, a 3D schematic of the Odyssey was lit with a scanning wave moving through it sector by sector.

"How's it looking?" Reed asked, stepping up beside Singh.

"So far, nothing out of the ordinary," Singh responded, relief evident in his voice. "No hotspots of unknown organic compounds. If any unwelcome hitchhiker was on board, it's either too small to register or it's not there."

Reed nodded. "That's reassuring." He allowed himself a moment to breathe easier. Perhaps they had indeed escaped any contamination, and all they had to deal with was frayed tempers until the quarantine lifted.

Unseen, deep in the bowels of the Odyssey's engine room, a single tendril thinner than a human hair snaked its way along a bundle of wires, pulsing with faint life. The automated sensors swept overhead like searchlights, but the tendril withdrew into a crack in the bulkhead, evading detection. In the darkness of a maintenance crawlspace, something waited, patient and hungry.