”Captain? One last question. The soldiers that appear to be armed with only staffs or unarmed entirely; do we know why there seems to be a mixed reaction towards them? Some seem to be regarded as almost a kamikaze with how much distance the other soldiers are giving them, yet others seem to be more protected than any other.” Liz wondered. Jeez, I feel like a reporter.
"I am afraid that the answer to your question is unknown." Blake said.
Or classified.
"However, It may be related to hierarchies in this world or something else."
"I believe that is all for today, now get ready people, it's time for some important work." James finished the meeting.
The crowd broke at the Captain's dismissal, most already seemed to have their orders. Liz decided to finally go to the medbay before she started working with the others.
James left after having some small talk with the other commanders. He then, went to the medbay to give work to the doctors. Bringing out the list of jobs needed to give or do, James sighed.
THIS is why I don't do logistics
He carried on trudging through the ship, in thought for most of the walk.
(Sorry, first day of school…*
(Ouch. Good luck.)
”Hey, Al.” Liz called spotting one of her friends.
The redheaded man turned with a slight scowl as she approached. ”Sit down.” was his gruff response. Grabbing his instruments he began examining her. ”You wanna tell me what happened yesterday?”
Liz shrugged. ”I think I might have hit my head as a result of the crash. Then I kinda got roped into a perimeter check and fought of sixty Swarm drones with a rather cute Commander. But you already heard about that.” she winked.
”For the love of… Liz, if you're not careful your habitual flirting can get you into serious trouble.” the doctor huffed.
James snapped out of his thoughts as he entered the medbay, only to see Elizabeth.
shoul-Oh it's her
Pretending not to see her after being reminded of her antics, he walked to the head of the department.
"Hey Kara, here is some work Captain Blake told me to give you."
Kara, put he hands on her hips and told me annoyed.
"You have a whole new world out there with new fauna and things yet all you guys have done is set up a perimeter." She huffed.
"Go tell that to Blake, and you still have to work." James skipped the annoyance of the woman and quickly started to walk away.
”Well, thanks to your surprisingly thick skull; you don't have any serious damage. Though you're still a pain in my @$$ to deal with.” Al noted, finishing his diagnosis.
”Aw, I love you too, Al.” Liz gave her usual smirk.
”Shut up and go bother someone else. Looks like my department just got its orders.” He didn't even wait for her response before heading over to Kara.
Liz shrugged as she headed off. She suspected her orders would involve scouting the immediate area around the ship.
”Hello, Commander Crawford.” she offered as a friendly greeting for once, instead of her usual teasing.
Wait Who in here can be that friendly?
James paused before taking a look back, surprisingly, it was Elizabeth who, instead of displaying her usual antic, gave of a friendly demeanour.
"Ahh, Lieutenant, what are you doing in the medical bay, shouldn't you be working as a scout?"
And i'm here being a errand boy, I really do hate working as logistic support…
James inwardly sighed as he asked her the question.
”Just on my way now. I needed to make sure I was still fit for duty after that minor blow to the head from the crash.” Liz smiled. ”That and I wanted to pay my favorite doctor a visit. He worries about me, I think his blood pressure would drop dangerously low if he didn't see me twice a week.” her teasing tone resurfaced.
"Oh," James said, inwardly rolling his eyes.
His blood pressure would drop only when seeing YOU, It-
James froze, and suddenly felt dizzy, holding his head, he forced out a smile.
"I think i'm not feeling well, I should probably take a rest." He said, and with that, James smile faded away as he suddenly fell to the floor.
"What- hap-?" James asked in and out of his blackening conscious. Before he finally stopped moving.
”Commander, are you ok?” Liz questioned as he started to sway on his feet. She tried to catch him as he fell but her own limbs felt heavy and sluggish when she reached out to him. ”Medic!!!” she cried out, hoping someone, anyone, would hear her as she dropped to her hands and knees as her vision began to swim. What’s going on here? was her last coherent thought before she blacked out.
James opened his eyes, only to see a world covered in water. He then got up, only to see himself wearing nothing but a shirt and pants.
Wher- Wha-. Looking around, he was confused but that confusion disappeared after seeing a body lying in the water. He hurried towards it, recognising the face when he reached it. It was Elizabeth.
"Are you okay," he asked here as he turned her around. After he got no response, he prepared to do CPR.
(Sorry been busy with some school work)
Liz groaned as her eyes fluttered slowly open. The feeling of suddenly surrounded by water baffled her, ”What the… Commander?” She sat up slowly and gauged their new location. ”How did we get here? Last I remember was we both passed out just outside the medbay.”
"I don't know," James answered.
He got up awkwardly and thought,
God, she looks cute at this moment
Instantly, James tried to get his head away from this notion and while having an internal battle, he quickly asked a question.
"This seems similar to one of the books I've read, Liz so don't ask me this question," James said in a chuckle as he dizzily walked.
"Do you have any idea about what's happening?" James asked while walking. Unfortunately, this ended up crashing into the water again.
F'ck
”It’s actually very nice here. What book was it?” She asked making herself stand up. There are so many things I could say about this situation right now… No. Wait till you know you're safe.
”Are you alright?” Liz tried not to laugh as he fell into the water. ”You know that's the second time you've called me ”Liz” and I still don't know your first name.” she teased lightly offering a hand to help him up.
"It's James and well… your personality does leave an unforgettable impression," James said with a chuckle as he grabbed her hand and pulled himself up.
Well that was embarrassing…
Liz laughed with him at his choice of descriptors, ”Good. That's kinda the point.” I hope that didn't make me sound like a narcissist. ”Life’s a little too short for anything less. So, James…” she smiled, enjoying how refined his name sounded. ”what did you say that book was called?”
"Nothing, it was one of those… fantasy/ magic books…" James said awkwardly.
Well, I wonder if it's surprising that I read books, and if it is, I should probably not talk about my private library in space…
He started to glance up, swearing that he saw something in the sky. That was when he spotted something in the distance.
Liz chuckled, ”Kinda ironic then that we ended up on a planet that has dragons and natives that resemble Elves.” She followed his gaze, her hand habitually hovering over where her gun should have been.
James chuckled, "Well, for one there are things here that resemble fantasy creatures aside from dragons and elves, just its classified information."
Wouldn't want to let the fantasy fans go crazy
"With our ammunition limited, we have been researching weapons that use steam instead. and the same with vehicles." James moved towards the bright light in the distance but stopped and looked back with a rare smile.
"You coming?"
Liz raised a brow at what sounded like a secret but didn't press for now. Normally I’m the one bringing back info to be classified.
”That makes sense.” she agreed. ”Considering If any of the natives do turn out to be a threat, they would only have swords and bows from what we've been shown. Using guns and tanks would be a one-sided overkill.” She smirked at Jimmy's question, already walking beside him. ”Is that an order, Commander?”
"Of course lieutenant." James said in laugh as he continued walking into the distance.
"What did you do before joined the marines Liz?" James asked, the name sounding too informal.
Liz shrugged, ”Not much, honestly. I did have a few odd jobs when I was trying for a Bachelor's degree in computer sciences but when I saw all the news reports about the Swarm attacks and I decided to go for an Associates instead and enrolled soon after.” She froze for a moment, ”I don't think I've ever actually told anyone all that before.”
James paused when the lieutenant finished her words.
"Not even your paren- I apologise for speaking out of my way." James apologised after realising that he shouldn't have asked such a private question.
Perhaps I became too relaxed. He thought before clearing his throat and continuing forward.
Liz actually blushed at James’ question. ”No, I did tell my family about my enrollment,” she reassured, ”but… now that I think about it, I don't think they cared what job I took as long as I could pay my way.” she looked down, continuing to follow him. ”I apologize if I made you uncomfortable. I haven't talked about my family since I enrolled.”