The Solar Wind (9 page)

“I’m not much of a dancer, how about you?” He asked half shouting to be heard over the noise. He sipped casually on his drink, which was full to the brim.

“No, I’m afraid not.”

“Apparently Alicia loves to dance.” He smiled as he pointed to her, she smiled and waved as she noticed them watching her. She motioned to Ava and Sam to join her, but they declined.

Sam continued to make small talk with Ava as she enjoyed her drink. She wondered whether or not some of the others were ever coming back from the dance floor. She had wanted to avoid being alone with him. He asked her all about her transition to life on the station, how her job was going, and what she liked to eat. She answered his questions honestly but did not elaborate on any details and politely inquired about his life and adjustment to life on Orionis. He seemed pleasant enough, perhaps a little too eager to converse with her. He even seemed a little nervous. She suspected it was because he had asked her out before and she politely declined him. Ava finished her drink and set her glass on the table. The music slowed and Alicia returned to their small group, sweaty and out of breath.

“Would you like a drink Alicia?”

“Yes, that would be great, thanks Sam.”

“I’ll be right back, don’t let them take my drink, I’m not done yet,” he pointed to his half empty glass on the table and walked away.

“Okay,” Alicia said.

“Did you have fun out there?” Ava asked Alicia.

“I love to dance. Sometimes it’s just good to get out and relieve some stress at the end of the week.”

“I know what you mean,” Ava glanced at the bar but did not see Sam.

“This club is fabulous. Too bad is has gotten a bad reputation lately.”

“A bad reputation? How?”

“I’m not sure exactly, just that a few months ago there was a report of woman being victimized here.”

“How?”

“I think she met someone she barely knew and ended up leaving with him.  The next morning she woke up not remembering a thing. She couldn’t press charges because she wasn’t sure what actually happened to her. It’s sad really.”

“That’s unfortunate.  It just goes to show that you can’t be too careful these days.”

Sam returned after what seemed like a long time with two drinks of the same kind. One for Ava and one for Alicia.

“Thanks Sam!” Alicia exclaimed.

“Yes, thank you. That was nice of you.” Ava hadn’t asked for another drink, but what the heck. Two drinks wouldn’t hurt. She promised herself that she wouldn’t stay too much longer.

Alicia happily chattered with Sam and Ava about work, her family drama, and all the while sipping frequently on her drink as she was thirsty. Ava, by habit, sipped hers slowly. It tasted good, like a sweet tropical fruit drink.

“Ava, have you made many friends since your arrival on Orionis?” Alicia inquired.

“Yes, a few.” She continued to sip her drink. It tasted so good she could hardly put it down. “Do you know any of the cargo transporters who come and go off of the station?”

“No, I never go near the hangar. I hate starships and space travel. It’s a miracle I even made it to Orionis.”

Ava laughed, feeling amused by that statement. “I met some of the crew of the Andromeda several months ago and we have become pretty good friends. However, they come and go a lot.” Sam seemed to be watching Ava intensely slowly rolling his drink between his hands. Ava did not notice. “They took me to see a comedy show last weekend.”

“Wow, that was nice of them! Who did you see?” Alicia seemed interested now. Ava continued to drink and divulge the details of the past Saturday, feeling proud that she actually had something interesting to talk about. After all, not many people could afford to go out to shows like that too often, except for Wesley and his crew, who always seemed to have credits to burn.  She glanced at her watch. Was it really 12:30 a.m.? She thought she should be going home soon. She did not like to walk home alone in the wee hours of the morning. Something Wesley would never allow to happen, if he were around to prevent it.

Ava suddenly started feeling somewhat strange and noticed that she seemed to be tongue tied. She rarely had trouble finding words when she spoke but became acutely aware that she felt very tired. Another fast-paced song came on. The strobe and laser lights began flashing and gyrating around. Somehow Ava felt fascinated by this and started to laugh for some reason she could not explain.  How could she be feeling this giddy so late on a Friday night?

“I love this song!” Alicia immediately ran out onto the dance floor and blended in immediately, leaving Ava with Sam.

“I think I should get going . . . home now.” Ava had set her glass down gripping the small table with both hands, looking down, almost leaning on it.

“Why don’t I see you home safely, I could walk you.”

“No. I’m fine. I think I just need some air.” What was wrong with her? She couldn’t possibly be drunk from having just two drinks. Ava tried to think, but her thoughts seemed muddled. She hesitated.  She didn’t know what to do. Had Sam slipped her something in her drink? What should she do now? She had her PCD with her, she could contact the police on Level 8, if she could figure out which buttons to push. Everything looked like it was happening in slow motion. Then something bizarre happened. She suddenly sensed that the club seemed to be filled with a powerful energy, as if the room felt like it could explode. No-one else seemed to notice.  She had never experienced anything like it. Ava sensed she should be panicking but felt unusually calm. Sam apparently did not notice.

“I insist.” He started to walk around the table toward her and stopped abruptly as a tall man with dark hair suddenly approached Ava’s right side and put his left arm protectively around her shoulders.

“Wesley!” The electricity in his touch she hadn’t noticed much since they met almost shocked her now. Ava almost jolted and looked up at him with wide eyes but she did not release her grip on the table; she might lose her balance if she did. She wondered how he could possibly be here; wasn’t he due back in the morning? Wesley didn’t look at her, he broke his cold stare from Sam only briefly, to look down at the drink on the table and then back to Sam. Ava glanced around the room and thought she saw Naomi and Andre walking around on opposite sides of the room seemingly checking things out, but she wasn’t sure it was them. Why would they do that? She needed to leave as soon as possible, she started feeling faint.

“Ava, aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend?” It sounded like an innocent polite request. Wesley still didn’t look at her. She could feel his anger, his eyes burned into Sam.

“Sam, this is . . . my. . .” She couldn’t think. She totally blanked, what was Wesley to her? She tried again “This is my . . . Captain . . . Wesley.” She had no idea what she had just said. Something was terribly wrong.

“It’s nice to meet you.” Sam replied nervously as he extended his hand. Wesley politely shook hands with Sam. He subtly gripped his hand like a vice. Sam’s nervous eyes widened with terror and his mouth dropped open in horror as Wesley’s effortless grip smashed an unknown number of the small little bones in his right hand. The intense loud music made it impossible for anyone to hear the sick cracking sound of breaking bones. No one noticed anything other than two people shaking hands. Ava felt too ill to observe anything, she leaned heavily on the table. Wesley released Sam, who promptly ran to the back of the club holding his right hand with his left, and turned his attention back to Ava. He looked down at her with worried eyes.

“Wesley, I don’t feel well,” she managed to say. She was getting worse.

“I know. Let’s get you home,” he said softly as he smoothed back the piece of hair that had fallen down over her face, gently guiding her out of the club. They walked out into avenue of Level 8, very few people were out and about at this hour. The quietness and cool air helped a little, but it would not be enough. She leaned heavily on Wesley as they walked. Ava did not converse with him because she needed to use all of her concentration to stay steady.  They had covered a decent amount of distance away from the club when Ava started to stumble.  She did not feel sick to her stomach, but felt extremely dizzy.

“I think I’m going to faint.” She started to slide to the ground. Wesley picked her up in his arms and carried her without an interruption in their pace. She closed her eyes and the ringing noise in her ears ceased as she succumbed to the tainted drink she had been given. He continued to walk with her in this way for a short while, until he sensed that no-one was around. He then changed his course quickly down a dark avenue that was deserted at this hour. Wesley selected a heavily darkened corner on a side street where there were no surveillance cameras and stepped into the shadows. He closed his eyes and within moments they vanished.

Chapter 8: Recovery

A few seconds later Wesley, with Ava still unconscious in his arms, materialized in the small living room of her quarters. He walked into her room and set her down gently on the bed. Sitting on the side of the small bed he fussed over her for a minute, repositioning her until he felt certain she looked comfortable. He reached down and pressed a few buttons on his PCD and then began to work on removing Ava’s boots. In a few minutes there were two quiet knocks on the front door. He could see it from his position in Ava’s room and quickly cast a brief look at it, which was all he needed to do for it to open.  Rowan and Justin walked in quickly as the door slid shut behind them. Justin carried a small medic bag and Rowan had a small backpack, they both headed straight for the bedroom.

“How is she?” Justin inquired, looking down at Ava as he placed the back of his hand and then his palm on her forehead.

“Terrible, she’s been drugged. What do you think she was given?” He said matter-of-factly as he retrieved a small blanket from the closet nearby and laid it over her.

Justin leaned down hovering slightly above Ava’s lips and inhaled. “Smells like Rohypnol with a little GHB mixed in,” he said, naming two popular date rape drugs.

“What can we do? Is there an antidote?”

“There is nothing that is not intravenous; but that won’t be necessary. Usually something like this just needs to run its course,” he said solemnly as he checked her pulse, respirations, and blood pressure. “Her vitals are stable; she’ll have to sleep it off. Ava will be groggy tomorrow but she should be back to normal in a day or two. She most likely won’t have a problem going back to work on Monday.”

“I’ll never understand why humans intentionally do such appalling things to one another,” Rowan commented softly. “I’ve brought her some herbal tea and a few other small things she can eat tomorrow if she feels up to it. I’ll put them in her refrigerator.” There were two more quiet knocks on the door, Rowan opened it on her way to the kitchen. Naomi and Andre filed into the small apartment and then into the bedroom. “How is Ava?” Naomi asked with concerned eyes downcast on Ava.

“She will be all right in a day or to,” Justin replied.

“I should kill that little punk for this,” Wesley seethed.

“I wouldn’t go that far yet, after all we did stop him before any permanent damage was done,” Andre commented with a slight laugh.

“Where is he now?”

“We took him to the Orionis Central Authorities (OCA) department on Level 3. He still had the drugs on him so it was a piece of cake getting him arrested after we told them what he did. The OCA has a zero tolerance policy for that kind of thing as you know. He freaked out after you smashed his hand, and cried the whole time to the officers about it, it was actually pretty funny. Of course they didn’t believe him after they reviewed the surveillance video of you simply shaking his hand. Right now he’s being supervised in the emergency department at the OMC, having his hand evaluated. The authorities are planning on shipping him back to Earth first thing in the morning. We’ll monitor it and make sure it happens,” Naomi reported.

“Good.”

“Poor Ava. I can’t imagine how she would recover from this if we hadn’t found her in time. She never seems to get a break.”

“I’m just relieved that you sensed something was wrong with Ava, Naomi. I owe you a huge thanks.”

“We all love Ava, Wesley. None of us would want to see anything bad happen to her.”

The group continued to converse for a few more minutes until they decided to call it a night around 3:30 a.m. Justin took one last set of vitals on Ava before he, Rowan, Naomi, and Andre left, leaving Wesley to watch over her. He sat on the edge of her bed until he sensed that her breathing transitioned into a more awake pattern and then moved his vigil to the living room couch where he could still see her. He didn’t know how she would react waking up confused and finding him sitting on her bed, they didn’t have an intimate type of relationship like that at this point. On the way to the living room he paused and picked up the small picture Ava kept of herself and Nathan on their wedding day. He studied it briefly and set it gently back down in its place and continued to the couch. He pretended to watch television as she stirred slowly. After a few minutes she sat on the edge of her bed and looked around her, and then out to the living room where she saw him.

“Wesley?”

He stood up and moved towards the bedroom as she slowly walked towards the living room, stopping to steady herself against the doorframe of the bedroom.