His hands moved in regulated, almost robotic motions.
“Hal…” Vivi said, a rising sense of fear in her voice. Was this some sort of sleepwalking episode? She wanted to go up to him and touch him on the shoulder, to try to wake him, but she remembered she had to let him see her first. She stayed put.
“I am the ACAS!” His last sentence wasn’t exactly a yell, but it was close, in the same way that a soldier in a vid would bark orders.
He paused a moment, then began taking apart the blaspistol, in the same robotic fashion. He started over with the recitation: “I am the fist of the ACAS…”
As he continued, she crept closer, terrified to leave him, yet terrified to stay. He continued to take apart the blaspistol then rebuild it. Break and rebuild. Break. Rebuild.
The panic bubbled inside Vivi until she couldn’t stand it anymore. She edged around him so that he could see her.
“Hal?” she whispered, reaching out to touch his arm and break him out of whatever this was.
His reaction was swift and violent. Before she could do anything to defend herself, he had slammed her against the wall, a forearm across her neck and chest, his pistol barrel a cold ring against her forehead. “Who are you?”
Her breath caught in terror. It was Noah all over again. His eyes had turned dark with the threat of violence as he pressed his arm harder against her throat. Her lips moved, but nothing came out.
“You’re not authorized to be here. Who the fuck are you?” She could feel the ring of the blaspistol’s barrel carving a dent in her forehead as he leaned in closer. It was then she saw his eyes were entirely black, with only the thinnest ring of blue around the pupils. Just like they’d been when he’d come back from that barfight on Omicron.
“M- Me. V- Vivi,” she managed in a choked whisper. His arm was beginning to restrict her air supply, but she was terrified to move. “I’m on y- your crew. Pl- Please, Hal?”
At his name, he tilted his head at her, a shade of confusion ghosting over his features.
“She’s not the enemy, sergeant. Stand down.”
Blessed gods, it was Ty.
“She’s not authorized, sir,” Hal said through clenched teeth, glaring at her again, gun arm still raised. Vivi could see he was gripping the pistol so hard it shook slightly. “She could be an enemy operative.”
“No, she’s not the enemy. I authorized her. Stand down,” Ty said again, in a level voice.
Hal lowered the blaspistol and stepped back, his eyes on her right shoulder. Vivi stayed with her back against the wall, afraid to move until she saw Ty’s outstretched hand.
“Come on,” Ty said gently.
She held her breath as she stepped around Hal. Ty put a hand on her shoulder, steadying her, but keeping his eyes on his friend.
“Vivi, this is important,” he said in the same calm voice. “Go get Beryl for me. Tell her Hal’s having an episode.”
Vivi slipped by Tyce and flew out the door to Beryl’s quarters. She knocked rapidly, instantly bruising her knuckles.
“Everything OK?” Beryl asked when she came to the door.
“Ty told me to get you. Hal. He’s… He’s having an episode.”
“Shit…” Beryl swore. She grabbed a robe and wrapped it hastily around her pajamas. “It’s going to be OK,” she said and turned back into her room. She began going through the storage lockers at the foot of her bunk. “This happens every once in a while.”
“H- He didn’t recognize me. What’s wrong with him?”
“It’s a little hard to explain,” Beryl said, finding what looked like a medkit. “Let’s go.”
They made their way down the hallway. “Might wanna stay at the door, Vivi. I’m not sure he’ll recognize you yet.”
Yeah, no shit, she thought. Vivi’s eyes were wide as she looked in the room. Hal had turned to face Ty, but he still held the blaspistol in one hand. It wasn’t trained on Ty, but it would be a small movement to lift and aim. Such a small simple movement. Her neck prickled again.
If Tyce was afraid, he wasn’t showing it. “Hal. You’re OK. We’re on the Loshad, headed out to the Border for a job, remember?” Tyce edged closer and closer to Hal as he spoke, as if he were approaching a wild animal. Slow. Cautious.
Hal’s head hung low, but he was watching Ty out of the corner of his eye.
“Hand me the weapon, sergeant.” Ty held out a hand.
“No, sir… I have to be ready, sir…” Hal muttered. “I have to…” He began to look confused as he glanced around him.
Vivi’s gaze slid to Beryl, who was readying a medjet injector over by the bunk.
“It’s OK. You can stand down now, sergeant,” Ty said easily.
Hal finally met his eyes and Vivi saw some of the nightmare he’d been immersed in begin to dissolve. Hal’s grip on the gun loosened, and Ty gently plucked the blaspistol from his hand.
“OK, Hal. Good.” Tyce sighed with relief as Hal slid down the wall and pulled his knees up against his chest. Vivi’s heart twisted as she saw Hal’s hands going to his head as if it hurt.
“I don’t understand…” he groaned between labored breaths. “Nothing makes any s- sense…”
Beryl came over and knelt beside him. “It’s OK,” she said, pressing the injector to his bicep. Vivi could hear the hiss of the medjet from where she stood. “You just need to sleep a while, Hal.”
“Sleep?” Hal turned to look Beryl in the eye.
She put a hand on his hair and smoothed it down, all the while holding his wrist and taking his pulse with the other. “Yeah. You’ve just had a bad dream, that’s all. Let’s get you back into bed, OK?”
“It’s… hard to sleep,” Hal said thickly; it was evident that whatever had been in the medjet was starting to take effect.
“I know, Hal. It’ll be so much easier now.” She soothed him with another hand through his hair, as gentle as any mother with her child. Beryl glanced at Ty and nodded when Hal’s breathing softened and the mass of tension in his body began to melt away.
Vivi didn’t know how to feel about what she’d just witnessed. On one hand Hal scared the shit out of her – he’d just jammed a blaspistol against her forehead, she thought with a thudding heart. It was like he hadn’t known who she was at all. On the other hand, she knew Hal had a good heart. He was a little rough around the edges, but the way he watched out for her and the gentle way he’d treated that vat addict on Omicron said that he cared about people. What was wrong to cause this change in him?
Together Tyce and Beryl helped Hal to the bed. He was already asleep by the time they pulled the covers over him. “He’s good for six hours, at least.” Beryl told Ty. They lowered the lights completely, but not before Ty picked up Hal’s blasrifle, viblade, and sidearm.
“Come on, Vivi,” Ty sighed. “We need to talk.”
“How about some tea?” Beryl asked, once the three of them had reconvened in the galley.
“Sure,” Vivi nodded.
While Beryl worked in the kitchen, Ty sat beside Vivi. “I know you don’t know much about the ACAS and the vats.”