The next two weeks passed in a busy blur of training days, preparation for departure and long nights of nausea. While Illya was out training with the men, it was up to her to get Helen and Terrence ready to board while also getting the ship prepared for the 2 month journey back to Pyrta. It was easy to plot their course, though she had to take into account that the Pithian ship could not go as long or as far without refueling. It was not a Kaerelean design nor did it operate partially on solar sails. If they were to caravan together, they would need to make more stops along the way to allow their partners to refuel. There were a few that she knew were safer than others, and it would be best for them to be quick about their stop, only allowing enough time to refuel, walk the animals and restock before departing again. It wasn't the best in the world, but it was better than being caught by the Federation.
Getting the flight plan together and giving it to the intended pilot of the other ship was the easy part. She still had to get their ship ready for deep space which was made all the slower given she felt nauseated in the mornings and exhausted by the time afternoon rolled around. Making sure their ship was in top order was a priority though, not simply because it was Kaerelean point of pride, but because it would be the only thing that stood between them and death in space. Calysta made herself a schedule devised by the difficulty of the task over the time that it needed to be done the closer they neared to take off. Making sure Helen had the things she needed for her green house space was easier, but de-icing the offboard cameras, ensuring the weapons and guidance systems were properly working were harder tasks. De-icing the exhaust and conducting the 300 point inspects from bow to stern, including a dry run of the jump engines to assess their running statistics. Most of the time, it took a fair bit of climbing or crawling, not a terrible bit of work until she felt the urge to puke. Then she was scuttling out of whatever crawl space she was in to toss her lunch over the ice.
What did help was Illya coming home at night to cook dinner with the kids, allowing her to rest for a little bit, no matter how much she insisted she was fine. Why was she having morning sickness? Her pregnancy with Cypher and Lohgan didn't produce a shred of morning sickness at all, and other than the low blood pressure issue she had hardly known she was pregnant in the beginning stages. Now, she had nausea combined with the dizziness of low blood pressure along with two children to look after. Maybe it was because of the medicine? Because she'd had a green eyed baby? That was one fear that nibbled in the back of her mind. What if this was a fluke, and she wouldn't carry this baby to term like every other woman who had a green-eyed Chip before her? The odds were against her and she knew that. Not only was she a half breed with complicated pregnancies to begin with, but the advent of Lohgan had probably significantly lowered her chances of a successful pregnancy. It was worry she had to put to the side for now. Whatever happened, she had to deal with it and do the best she could while making sure Illya was alright. He'd had a few absence seizures over the course of the two weeks, and the most she could guess was that part of the issue was stress. He was pushing the Pithian's harder than ever with drills every day and then coming home to help her at night. The wear and tear was starting to show on his body, particularly in his prosthetic leg which aching most nights from all of the skiing in the cold weather. She would rub his knee at night with clove oil before putting on a warm compress in the hopes of loosening the muscles around the joint, something he didn't argue about when she offered to do it.
The day of departure arrived and there seemed to be endless tasks. Calysta was met by Terrance and Helen early in the morning with sleds covered in protective tarps against the cold. Inside were her plants waiting for a new, warm home inside the ship that had to be moved quickly. They set to work hauling aboard the sleds and placing each plant in the makeshift racks which were secured by wood and wired with an irrigation system she had rigged to the waters supply with tubing. Each plant had to be placed with a species of plant that it could get along with and watered in a certain way.
As she gently placed a balmy succulent in a space of its own, Illya was beside her putting an orchid next to a snapdragon, both needing completely different styles of care. "There's a little grid," she said, "Succulents and the plants who need sparse water go here...and the ones that need more water go below to get the heavier runoff." Quickly, she pulled a sheet from her pocket and showed him how each plant was labeled with a color for its proper section and a row number placed on each pot. "Like this."
He grumbled a bit but started referring to the chart as he helped put away the plants. While he helped finish up the planets and got their 'crew' settled, Calysta went about getting their pre-flight checks done. It was natural to check the readouts of each idling engine, keeping a close eye on any deviations while they warmed up. She was also in constant communication with the Pithian ship, trying to keep them on schedule for the most part. For some of the places they would be visiting, the timing would be essential.
By the time everyone was confirmed ready it was dinner time, each ship left their engines idling to feed themselves before take off. Calysta could smell the delicious scent of bacon wafting through the ship....and the horrible smell of eggs to go with it. The salty, savory bacon was making her stomach growl with a ferocity, but coupled with the downright rubbery smell of the scrambled eggs, she wasn't sure she could stomach breakfast for dinner. Did she dare go into the galley? Walking with careful steps down the corridor from the bridge, she let her nose decide. Bacon? Or avoidance of eggs? It was a hard choice, but eventually, she stepped into the galley where she found Illya breaking apart a healthy sized strip of bacon for Lohgan's outstretched hands over his shoulder. She'd already gotten on to him once about feeding pieces too big to her, but that was a month or so ago and now she had a pair of pearly teeth to break apart the meat. Beyond that thought was the overwhelming urge to join them in their stolen bacon.
Returning Illya's cautious grin with a more devious one, Calysta stole her own piece of bacon and chomped it down greedily. The salty treat was exactly what she wanted. Words couldn't describe how delicious that singular piece of bacon was rolling around her mouth before her eyes settled on another slice. "I was hungry too," she hummed in satisfaction, before handing a slice off to Cypher.
Take off was something she was looking forward to the most. They'd had a decent time on the Pithian planet, but the stars were waiting for them along with a few new ports and Kaereal. Despite her reservations about how they would be received coming home and out of exile to some, with a gaggle of Pithians, it was hard not to be happy about being in the air again. Home was anywhere with her family and a ship to carry her with them. With a stomach full of bacon, Calysta settled into her captain's chair and placed her hands on the controls. Illya joined her in the co pilot's chair, giving the go-ahead from the navigation on their end through the comm system. Things always felt better The same verification came from their sister ship, The Accord, and Calysta smiled. "This is Silver Mountain, clearing for simultaneous take off in..3...2...1.."
The Silver Mountain responded to her touch with ease as they lifted off into the air with the impulse thrusters without so much as a shudder. The only sound that could be heard was the gentle hum of the engines shifting and the landing gear folding into its compartment. As they lifted as they broke through the atmosphere, the force increased only slightly before abating and the artificial gravity took over automatically. "Keep standard flank distance," she said over the comms to the Accord's captain. A single shudder signaled their successful break into space, and that was about the time, she caught Illya looking at her. He did that more often these days and she liked catching him at it, a bit of a flattering sport. This time, he decided to comment on being caught and tell her what he was thinking, making the moment that much better. He remembered the Gylcryn, the small scout ship she had crashed on Qouti with. A broad grin came over her lips, brushing at her pale grey eyes at the mention of her old ship, and better yet, the fact he remembered being her co-pilot.
"Aye, I think if I'm to fly until I die, I need the co-pilot I signed on some time ago," she mused back, "He's one of a kind, and no other will do for the Little Bird in her Silver Mountain."
It was hard to explain why she was so pleased when he said things like that. Whenever he mentioned something that for so long had only been an event real in her mind, it was made her feel that much more connects. As if she were living the way they were supposed to have been for once. The feeling felt right. Once they were through the final magnetosphere, Calysta gave Illya the word that it was safe to get up and move. "Alright, the kids should be good to move around again now," she smiled. Her Chip went off to make sure the kids were tucked into bed, while she coordinated their timed jump with the Accord. If they were to arrive at any port at the same time, their jumps had to initiate at the same millisecond or there would be an accumulated slippage over their week's travel, making them arrive an hour shy of each other. "Jump...in 5...4...3...2...1." As soon as she hit the one mark, Calysta pushed their whirring jump drive to work, setting them at the top speed their accompanying ship could reach. The Accord jumped with them, and other than text signals, comms went dark. Once she received the successful text transmission, affirming that they were successful in a jump and on course, she set the autopilot. It would be an entire week before they exited their jump.
When she found Illya, he was tucking Lohgan into bed with her soft pink blanket. Unable to resist him, she came to stand beside him over her daughter's crib and rubbed at his back between his shoulders lightly. "Mmm...we are on our way," she hummed, "My co-pilot did well in his calculations." He had gotten so much more flirty with her in recent days, and while she wasn't always feeling up to doing much more than cuddle back with him, tonight she felt alright. "I think he's earned a long shower." With that, she trailed her fingers down his arm and slipped toward the bathroom where a warm shower waited for them both.
**********************************************
Calysta leaned over the bed and threw up for the fourth time that morning. There was nothing in her stomach left to vomit, but her body reacted as if she were a bottomless pit. "Ugh," she groaned wiping her mouth. Illya had probably woken up again next to her and she stole a glance at him. Yep. His eyes were peeled open and slightly blood shot, making her feel slightly guilty. "Maybe it would be better if I slept in the chair," she sighed, flopping back to the pillows, "At least one of us might sleep." Of course that was met by a grumbling "No."
Smacking her tongue against the roof of her mouth, she rolled to get up slowly. "I can just go check on the kids." If she couldn't sleep, she could do something useful and give him the chance to snooze. That comment only spurred him to jumping out of the bed before her and saying she should rest.
"But..."
Any reason she made, he combatted until she actually grew tired enough to lay back down. "Alright....I'll lay back down."
Calysta returned to the bed and curled up on her side facing the bucket, just in case, while Illya hustled about with getting ready to tackle the day. It wasn't long before he was bringing her a cup of the spicy stomach soothing tea. "Thank you, love," she mumbled, rubbing at her eyes as she took the cup.
He said something about lunch and she nodded vaguely. It was lunch time already? What happened to the morning? She must have fallen asleep at some point. Sipping on her tea, she slowly woke up and managed to sit up without wanting to hurl hurt guts. Her mind wandered over how far they were into their trip and all the things she needed to be doing. Did Lohgan have her socks on? It was colder in space and wandering without socks would bother her. Was Cypher behaving at his lessons? Did Illya need help in the kitchen? What was Rose writing? She'd seen her pouring over her pad and giggling the other day. A sinking sense of loneliness set in which she solved by checking on their course and the engine out puts from her bed. Everything was running perfectly smooth, offering no excuse she could use to justify leaving her room for.
Calysta tossed and turned in their bed, first pushing off the covers before deciding she was chilled and pulling them back up again. If she lay on he right side, the burning bile seemed to rise up so much easier, but the left side felt odd and she wasn't used sleeping on it. Poking at her pillow a few more times, she decided her body might be tired but her mind wasn't. There were a million things she needed to do, and could be helping with. However, she knew poking her head out of the door would earn her a fussing from Illya about resting and the effort didn't seem worth the rise in blood pressure for either of them at the moment. She couldn't have him seizing and she couldn't do much of anything while going through the morning sickness either, which was strike then abate before catching her off guard again. She laid there for a long moment, playing at the ends of her hair until her eyes settled on the little box on her shelf which contained her jewelry...and the hologram coin given to her by Asha. Illya was bound to be occupied for at least an hour with the kids and animals so there was time to watch more. She could handle more now. Rising from the bed took some effort, moving in small increments until she was on her feet, and across the room retrieving the coin. When she was back in bed with the coin, Calysta laid back and checked for sounds at the door before putting the volume on the coin at its lowest, almost impossible to hear setting, and hit play.
Even after months of recovery time Illya was barely recognizable due to the swelling in his face. Isla sat in the kitchen staring blankly at the table. Tear dropped slowly at first and then more rapidly. Every now and then she'd glance toward the doorway to their bedroom and then she'd look away again. There wasn't anymore medicine and she could hear him struggling for every breath. His voice wasn't the same anymore. Whenever he breathed in, or out there was a harsh rasp to it. If he could manage to get his voice above a whisper his voice had a thick gravel in it now. It sounded horrible and unnatural to her. As time went on she just started to look tired instead. Isla got up and went out to the docks. There weren't any ships like usual and she went home to the same thing as she had for the last several months. This time she went into the room and combed some of his curls out of his face. Illya winced when her fingers tugged slightly on some of his hair. The scars on his scalp still hurt. Then she started to run a hand behind his shoulders and pulled. "Owe..." Even if Illya had tried he could barely get the hoarse whisper out of his mouth and tears sprung to his eyes with the motion. Isla kept on pulling him up until he was sitting. "I need some help. You're going to sit with your back against the wall for now and I'm going to work your hand. You won't be any good to me if you can't help in every way you can." Illya was sweating with even the effort of having to try and sit up. He winced and hissed with every single movement, but she still persisted.
Isla had started to lose the sparkle in her eyes. The woman got up from the little bed that used to belong to Lahna and she shuffled over into her and Illya's room where he was laying on the bed with a frown on his face. He was still sleeping and she knew that, but it was time to get him up before she went out. Kneeling next to the bed she gently rubbed his shoulder and whispered to him, "Illya it's time to get up. I have a list of things for you to do on the table." She knew very well he couldn't walk, but she had braces for him a cane and a wheelchair that sat in the main room. First thing in the mornings he moved slowly and he needed a little help. Isla helped him sit up and she grabbed his braces and moved them over to the edge of the bed. Moving his right leg enough to get the brace on it was excruciating and Illya winced the whole way through the process while Isla strapped the brace on. "Ugh..." Illya gingerly laid himself back on the bed for a moment after his leg was strapped up in the brace. "What's on meh list?" Isla got up and sat on the edge of the bed. Leaning over him she gave Illya a kiss. "You'll have to get up to find out. I've got a surprise at the end of the list if you feel up to it. I'll be checking to see if it was all done too." Heading out the door of the bedroom she blew a kiss and then left. Illya sat up again with a deep frown etched on his face. He wanted to know what was on the list, but it also hurt to sit, walk, or do anything. Since he couldn't very well walk on his own he grabbed the cane she left him and growled. It was the same most mornings. His back flared with even the attempt to stand and he collapsed on the bed again. Instead of staying on the bed half rolled off the bed and crawled on his stomach to the wheelchair. It was almost 10 minutes of struggling before he had himself in the wheelchair with sweat pouring down his face. By the time he got to the table he was clenching one fist and panting. His right hand was still somewhat crippled, but he was determined to do something.
Calysta kept watching the scene carefully, seeing how Isla got up every morning and got him up, even if it hurt, she did it. She vaguely wondered if that's what her father looked like during her treatments which left her exhausted, nearly dead to the world. She made Illya get up, which was good, but she wished Isla would have stayed to help. Maybe it was too hard to watch him crawl to the living room, to struggle to grasp with his hand. More than anything she wanted to reach back through time and help. Reaching up, her pale fingers brushed at the holographic Illya, his face distorting slightly. She wondered what was on the list as his shaking form looked down to the paper on the table. Isla had been trying her best to keep him active it seemed, now that she had chosen to stand by him...chosen to accept what it was. In a certain way, she respected Isla for that particular decision. Love was not always beautiful or kind. Sometimes it was a struggling task beyond the happy days, something taught by Kaerelean tradition, but not always followed. Taking a sip of her tea to clear the taste from her mouth, Calysta continued watching.
In the early afternoon Isla stopped by the house long enough to bring a few flower and set them on the table. "Got some flowers for you to put on the table for tonight." Since she was home she made a quick lunch and sat down with Illya to eat. By the time she left Illya was already exhausted. He could barely concentrate or move without some kind of pain flaring up. Looking at his list he growled to himself and crumpled it up. She wanted him to fold the little basket of clean laundry and she knew it hurt to move that much. She wanted him to get a vase out of the top cupboard and she knew it hurt for him to stand and then she wanted him to get outside and harvest a few little herbs and chop them for dinner. So far he'd only accomplished half the folding and he was already hurting. With a vicious snarl he hit the table with his left fist. There wasn't anything else to do and he felt horrible. Gritting his teeth he took himself over to the counter and pulled himself up to stand. Illya cringed with the effort and he struggled to straighten himself enough to grab the vase, putting water in it was difficult. He had to use his right hand and it hurt. Uncurling his hand he wrapped his trembling fingers over the vase and then did his best to pour some water into the vase with his left hand. There was a little mess, but he got it sloppily mopped up. Once the flowers were on the table and ready he wheeled himself outside to grab the few herbs. To his frustration he saw the ones she wanted were not in a raised bed and he had to get out of the wheelchair. By the time he was finished getting the herbs, chopping them and then folding the rest of the clean laundry Illya had started to look a little pale. Wheeling himself back to the main part of the house he half tumbled out of the chair and then drug himself back into the room. Illya had to use the bed frame to haul himself up and then he half fell into the bed. He was sleeping when Isla came home and she quietly took care of the small mess on the counter and made their dinner before serving a large plate for Illya and one for herself. Taking the food into the bedroom she woke him up again and this time helped him sit up again. This time she set a pillow behind his back to help ease the discomfort. "You got it all done today." With a little smile she leaned in to kiss him between bites. "Maybe if you have the energy we could sleep together tonight." She had been trying to slowly get him more functional and she purposefully chose tasks and left him most of the day because if she didn't he wouldn't get up at all. Illya nodded slowly when she mentioned sleeping together and Isla reached over with one hand and rested it on his chest. "I'll come lay with you after I finish cleaning the dishes then."
All day, she watched him struggle to do the simple tasks he has been given. His hands shook and just moving from the chair to the garden and back was a near impossible challenge for him. But he did it. By the time they were eating dinner he was paling, and sick with the pain. She had seen that look on him before and it broke her heart. How many times had he been in that much pain over the years? At Isla's offer to sleep in the same bed, she wanted to close the hologram for a moment. The feeling of being unable or afraid to be in the same bed with him was familiar and she didn't have the desire to see Isla in bed with him. She hoped it wouldn't show any of that, and yet she wanted to make sure even the Illya of the past wasn't one. Carefully, she shifted on the bed and grabbed Illya's pillow before the scene continued.
In time Illya's hand started to look a little healthier and he was moving and using his arm with less pain. There was still a level of stiffness to his arm, back and his leg, but he seemed to be improving. There were little blips of him getting himself up. Illya would wince when the bed shifted and Isla would get up. It still hurt if she moved much, but they were sharing the bed again and he would start getting himself up. It all seemed to be going fine until he got the cough bad enough that it started a fever and an inflammation in his bones. Isla stayed at home and she made teas and tried her best to rub soothing creams on his chest to ease the cough. He was alternating between seizures and shaking like a leaf under the mounds of blankets. The fever didn't seem to improve and Isla got into the bed with him after a while and tried to warm him up by being close and rubbing along his back where it wasn't quite as tender. "Maybe I'll make a fire and light it right under the bed." Illya shot her a look and then grinned despite the fever. He was still struggling to breath, but it was a good joke and he choked out a few chuckles. "You would if you weren't worried about burning the mattress." Groaning a little he shifted to get closer to her. "Its too bad. I'd like a little fire." Isla met his gaze and she gave him a sad smile. "That's the man I wanted to agree with. You've got a sense of humor. Maybe enough you might survive if you keep on laughing at death."
Calysta kept her eyes trained on the hologram, relieved she didnt see Isla in bed with him perse and also relieved his hand seemed to be improving with the rest of him. That was until the fever struck. It looked to be the chip cough, but given the way his bones swelled and the rest of the symptoms she had to wonder if part of it was infection from metal that he had implanted years ago at this point. He shook all over and seized every now and then, undoubtedly from the fever. It reminded her slightly of when his arm has been broken and he seized due to the infection from his bones. Watching them together as more husband and wife was difficult, but not in the way she thought it would be. In some ways, it was easier that they knew each other and could rely on each other that way. Up until recently she had not had that feeling. Not their trials were particularly comparable when it came to Illya, but Isla had won him back slowly, just as she had. It was painful, horrifying even, yet they had both made it. "He still laughs at death," Calysta sighed to the holographic Isla, "Still stubborn and wiley...not the man he was with you in all things...but those are the same." In fact he could do with not so many opportunities to laugh at death.
There were many years that ran together. Times of improvement and then lapses with the fevers and infections. The one thing that changed was that Isla had begun to get ill in time. Illya drilled with the men a little and he came home frequently to check on Isla. They'd tried for many times for more children and each failed until they quit trying. As the years passed Illya started to do more cooking and he would peer into the room when Isla laid down for her afternoon naps. One afternoon he limped into the room and he laid down on the bed with her. Carefully he laid a hand on her waist. "You feel better today?" Speaking to her quietly in Quoti he waited for her to open her eyes and then he presented her with a little braid of desert flowers. It was semi painful to do such detailed and small work with his hand, but he had done it for her because she liked the orange desert flowers. "You like some snake for dinner too?" Leaning over her he carefully kissed her and started to limp his way to the kitchen. It was obvious that he was tired out, but he didn't want to leave her to do the work when she was ill. That evening Isla curled close to him and she shivered most of the night. The next morning Illya let her get up and he got tea for her and then fought with the mattress to move it from their room out into the main room. He set it near the fire so she could be warmer at night and then made sure to carefully fold all the blankets in half so they were all on her side of the bed.
Watching Illya's rise paralleled with Isla's decline was a sad affair. The woman had struggled, certainly and it would not be a happy end to her life. She knew that much, yet Illya was doing his best with bringing her little tokens. Small treasures she would like. Did Isla wonder what her life would be like without Illya? If she had never chosen him? Calysta wondered sometimes and it always looked bleak, a dull grey amid a sea of endless traveling. He was tender with her when she grew worse and it was obvious the end for her was cutting closer and closer. He would be heartbroken when she died...but it was an inevitable thing. It become obvious that whatever her struggles in the past were, and there were many, that they didnt compare at all to this surely. The hologram feed kept going, displaying Illya's broad shoulders by the fire light next to his beautiful wife, and Calysta watched on.
As Isla grew steadily worse Illya worked harder and harder to try and make her comfortable. Some nights he barely slept because of the cold and the ache in his bones. Each morning he would get up and he would check on her and help her brush her hair. With time she refused food because it was making her ill and Illya stopped drilling almost entirely. He barely left the house except to get what he needed to help take care of Isla. One day when she was particularly sick she gripped his arm a little tighter when he went to get up and she met his gaze. "Just hold me for a while." Illya held onto her until she fell asleep again and then he got up to put a lunch together for them. She could at least try sipping at a broth. When he came back she was barely breathing and he tried to rouse her, but she didn't move. Instead his face scrunched with worry and he held her while whispering to her about their younger lives, when they were happier. About some of the things he remembered from when they were still children. Briefly her eyes opened and she smiled a little, but it was the last time her eyes opened and Illya sat with her on the mattress until the sun went down and her last breath left her body. Even if he knew the time had been coming it didn't change the grief. Tears ran down his face and he held her for a long time more before he got up and went outside to check for the direction of the wind.
Isla only grew worse, and while it didn't surprise her, it didn't make the inevitable any easier to endure. He stayed by Isla's side the entire time, holding her close even if it would be easier for him not to. He did it because he had loved Isla fiercely from the second he met her, really. While tears trickled down Illya's face, her own welled in her eyes. She wasn't much of a crier except when it came to Illya. He'd always had that ability to work his way into her heart like that, even when she was desperate not to let him get that close. Wiping at her eyes, she sniffled and waited to see if there was more to the hologram.
After she died Illya left the mattress on the floor. It was the same place he had left it when Kalizda had come to the house. Nothing in the house changed. He left the rooms empty and did his best to train and move on with life. Some nights he slept with the blankets and other nights he would be alone, but there was nothing different that he could see in his future and so Illya kept on with his life in his own quiet way until he saw the ship come crashing to the planet. That was when he decided that it was time to try something different.
Calysta closed the hologram coin and wiped at her eyes. In some ways, it was strange to be morning her predecessor and yet here she was, sniffling not just because her passing had hurt Illya, but because the woman had a life that was difficult. Did Isla wonder what her life would be like without Illya? She had thought of it and all she had seen was some grey landscape of endless traveling, devoid of warmth. It part she was angry for such suffering all because of the Federation. They had caused pain beyond measure but if it hadn't been for them, she would never have met Illya at all. Calysta rose from their bed slowly and made her way over to the jewelry box once more to keep the coin safe. Would she ever watch it again? Probably not. Illya might need it one day though and she would keep it protected anyways. About the time she closed the lid, the door handle jiggled before the door swung open revealing her Chip carrying a plate of food and Cypher wrapped around his good leg. Their son begged to keep going as he laughed wildly with each step forward. Calysta grinned and chuckled as she crossed the room to help Illya with the plate. "I think you found a wild munster on your leg," she said, kissing his cheek, "Have my boys come to keep me company for lunch?"
Lunch was finally ready. It wasn't the most glorious offering, but it was something. Illya half shoved the door open as he made his way into the room and he met a misty eyed Kalizda, but she was giggling at the same time. She was quite odd when she was pregnant. There was no telling what was going through her mind. With a grin he made his way to the bed. Handed her the tray and then sat down on the bed before leaning back and lifting his leg up and up until he had Cypher hovering and giggling over the bed. "Aye, today et's boy lunch wit Kalizda and tomorrow et will be lunch wit dah girls." Illya was going to do his best to make sure she got time with the kids. That was important after all.
Calysta took the tray and walked over to the bed to settle next to her boys. Cypher held to his fathers leg only so long as his mother was standing and once she sat down, he let go, flopping down with a heavy thud before diving into her lap. "Easy, easy," she chuckled, helping him into her lap and holding the tray steady at the same time. Once he was sitting on her lap, his back to her front, Calysta leaned over and took up Illya's right hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "That sounds good. I love to have lunch with my babies and my agreed too."
In a way she was more quiet. A sort of quiet that Illya hadn't heard from her very often. There was many different kinds of silences and this was one he was familiar with in too many ways. "Yes, et es good." Studying her face for a long moment he finally asked what he'd been wondering. "Are yah alright? Yah seem upset."
She played with Cypher's hair, plucking at the curls and feeling Illya's eyes roam over face. When he asked if she was alright, her eyes slowly went to his and she leaned into him. "Aye, I'm alright. I'm not upset, just...thinking how lucky I am. I have a smart, strong son who takes after his Dah. I have a wonderful husband too." Her head came to rest on his shoulder slightly as she let out a long breath and then mustered a genuine smile. "My agreed spoils me more than he knows sometimes," she chuckled, "I might get used to having lunch with him every day and stealing kisses when I can."
Feeling her head rest against his shoulder was good. Illya let her and he picked up one of the sandwiches he had on the platter. "Hmm." He was hungry and he wasn't going to wait forever to eat. Little Cypher followed suit and grabbed a sandwich. He was trying to be like his Dah and he took as big a bite as he could. The boy's big blue eyes drifted up to his parents and he beamed at them. He liked to have time with just them. Illya looked from Cypher and then to Kalizda again. "I tink I could get used tah having lunch wit yah every day and letting yah steal dose kisses. Et es good life. eh?"
Calysta reached for a sandwich, one of her favorite kinds with bacon and crispy greens, before meeting Illya's eyes again. "Aye, this is the good life right here with you and our children. And the stolen kisses too." Taking a bite of her sandwich, she shifted in closer and stole a kiss. She would steal a few more before the day was done just because she could.
***************************************
They were nearing their first stop, having just come out of the jump alongside the Accord, when a message both recorded and text. Calysta's brow furrowed as she sat in the captain's chair and listened to the message.
"A state of emergency has been declared for Haza Porte due to an outbreak of Kioza Virus. The entire sector is in quarantine and the port is closed to all incoming or out bound ships. Do not enter the atmosphere."
"We can't land here," she said to Illya, "Kioza Virus attacks the brain stem...its not treatable." She shook her head as they entered a stable orbit around the closed down port. Already the Accord captain was hailing them on a close frequency, most likely trying to tell them what she knew. They needed fuel before the next jump or they would never make it to the next scheduled stop. Biting at her lip, she closed her eyes thinking for a moment. The Accord was a Starlight class vessel, not too unlike a Terran design with a 27 galactic square tank which would give them 8 days of jump at maximum speed for the vessel, assuming it was operating on optimum levels. It had been 7 days and 16 hours, giving them 8 hours of jump remaining or 32 hour of impulse which would do well if they intended simply to stay in orbit above the quarantine zone. Not an option. She needed a place for them to refuel that was within 7 hours and 30 minutes of a jump from where they were. There was only one place that came to mind and it wasn't the most pleasant of options. "Illya, can you run the numbers and tell me how far away we are from these coordinates: 14.5 , 63.3, 0.07, 44.93."
As he ran the math, she answered the call from the Pithian pilots in the other ship. "Aye, I know. We're working on a solution now. Stay in orbit and stand by."
When Illya's answer came and the flight was feasible, Calysta wasted no time in sending the coordinates off to the Accord. "We're going to Junkrat's Station," she sighed, rubbing at her temple, "I've never been, but I've heard plenty about it. If you can imagine it, good or bad, it's happened there on that space station. It's probably seedier than G'koe by a country mile so we'll have to be on our guard, but fuel is cheap there, assuming they haven't been swept up by the Kioza Virus too. We get in and we get out. That's our best bet." With that said, Calysta started to coordinate the simultaneous jump with their caravaning ship.
On the way to the infamous station, Calysta settled into the kitchen feeling tired already. It would be a long 8 hours and even then, they had no backup plan if Junkrat's was quarantined too besides abandoning the Accord and placing all 30 Pithians on board the Silver Mountain. That would turn a 2-month long trip into a 3-month long one due to the need to stop for water and supplies along the way in an overloaded luxury liner. Helen came into the room aiming for the tea pot with Lohgan rolling on her heels, and Calysta gave her a small nod. "I checked on the plants earlier and they seem to be doing well," she commented, "Hopefully they'll all make it to Pyrta and if they don't we'll make sure they're replaced for you."
The woman commented back and Calysta nodded again. There was something she had been wanting to ask Helen since finding out about her past. Something that had been bothering more now that she had finished the holograms displaying the terrible things that the Federation had done, but they hadn't had the chance alone to really talk. "Helen, if I can ask...you don't have to answer...but do you happen to know where you were stationed during your time with the Federation?"
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Within the correct time frame, the space station came into view and its name befit the look. Random sections of cargo holds and ships, along with collected sections of other spacecraft from every known era of space travel sat like a spinning tin can in the orbit of a large gas giant. Ship of all kinds bustled in and out of the docking bays, bursting into jumps far too close to other ships while hot rodding while others puttered along in obvious need of repair. Welders in space suits floated along with their tethers and masks, repairing sections here and there along the space station hull. The most noticeable feature was the bright signs blaring into space, reading of all sorts of available debauchery. There were ones advertising alcohol in neon letters, poker chips, and beast racings. There was even a bright neon woman with long legs kicking out, offering a XXX Gentleman's show. The ladies were not to be left out, however, and there was a man helicoptering his goods for all to see when they pulsed around the corner. Already Calysta's cheeks were bright turning pink at thought of having to bring a diplomatic envoy of sorts here. Still, at least they weren't quarantined and they had fuel.
"Let's dock and get this done," she said into the coms, her voice cracking at the first word.
Getting the flight plan together and giving it to the intended pilot of the other ship was the easy part. She still had to get their ship ready for deep space which was made all the slower given she felt nauseated in the mornings and exhausted by the time afternoon rolled around. Making sure their ship was in top order was a priority though, not simply because it was Kaerelean point of pride, but because it would be the only thing that stood between them and death in space. Calysta made herself a schedule devised by the difficulty of the task over the time that it needed to be done the closer they neared to take off. Making sure Helen had the things she needed for her green house space was easier, but de-icing the offboard cameras, ensuring the weapons and guidance systems were properly working were harder tasks. De-icing the exhaust and conducting the 300 point inspects from bow to stern, including a dry run of the jump engines to assess their running statistics. Most of the time, it took a fair bit of climbing or crawling, not a terrible bit of work until she felt the urge to puke. Then she was scuttling out of whatever crawl space she was in to toss her lunch over the ice.
What did help was Illya coming home at night to cook dinner with the kids, allowing her to rest for a little bit, no matter how much she insisted she was fine. Why was she having morning sickness? Her pregnancy with Cypher and Lohgan didn't produce a shred of morning sickness at all, and other than the low blood pressure issue she had hardly known she was pregnant in the beginning stages. Now, she had nausea combined with the dizziness of low blood pressure along with two children to look after. Maybe it was because of the medicine? Because she'd had a green eyed baby? That was one fear that nibbled in the back of her mind. What if this was a fluke, and she wouldn't carry this baby to term like every other woman who had a green-eyed Chip before her? The odds were against her and she knew that. Not only was she a half breed with complicated pregnancies to begin with, but the advent of Lohgan had probably significantly lowered her chances of a successful pregnancy. It was worry she had to put to the side for now. Whatever happened, she had to deal with it and do the best she could while making sure Illya was alright. He'd had a few absence seizures over the course of the two weeks, and the most she could guess was that part of the issue was stress. He was pushing the Pithian's harder than ever with drills every day and then coming home to help her at night. The wear and tear was starting to show on his body, particularly in his prosthetic leg which aching most nights from all of the skiing in the cold weather. She would rub his knee at night with clove oil before putting on a warm compress in the hopes of loosening the muscles around the joint, something he didn't argue about when she offered to do it.
The day of departure arrived and there seemed to be endless tasks. Calysta was met by Terrance and Helen early in the morning with sleds covered in protective tarps against the cold. Inside were her plants waiting for a new, warm home inside the ship that had to be moved quickly. They set to work hauling aboard the sleds and placing each plant in the makeshift racks which were secured by wood and wired with an irrigation system she had rigged to the waters supply with tubing. Each plant had to be placed with a species of plant that it could get along with and watered in a certain way.
As she gently placed a balmy succulent in a space of its own, Illya was beside her putting an orchid next to a snapdragon, both needing completely different styles of care. "There's a little grid," she said, "Succulents and the plants who need sparse water go here...and the ones that need more water go below to get the heavier runoff." Quickly, she pulled a sheet from her pocket and showed him how each plant was labeled with a color for its proper section and a row number placed on each pot. "Like this."
He grumbled a bit but started referring to the chart as he helped put away the plants. While he helped finish up the planets and got their 'crew' settled, Calysta went about getting their pre-flight checks done. It was natural to check the readouts of each idling engine, keeping a close eye on any deviations while they warmed up. She was also in constant communication with the Pithian ship, trying to keep them on schedule for the most part. For some of the places they would be visiting, the timing would be essential.
By the time everyone was confirmed ready it was dinner time, each ship left their engines idling to feed themselves before take off. Calysta could smell the delicious scent of bacon wafting through the ship....and the horrible smell of eggs to go with it. The salty, savory bacon was making her stomach growl with a ferocity, but coupled with the downright rubbery smell of the scrambled eggs, she wasn't sure she could stomach breakfast for dinner. Did she dare go into the galley? Walking with careful steps down the corridor from the bridge, she let her nose decide. Bacon? Or avoidance of eggs? It was a hard choice, but eventually, she stepped into the galley where she found Illya breaking apart a healthy sized strip of bacon for Lohgan's outstretched hands over his shoulder. She'd already gotten on to him once about feeding pieces too big to her, but that was a month or so ago and now she had a pair of pearly teeth to break apart the meat. Beyond that thought was the overwhelming urge to join them in their stolen bacon.
Returning Illya's cautious grin with a more devious one, Calysta stole her own piece of bacon and chomped it down greedily. The salty treat was exactly what she wanted. Words couldn't describe how delicious that singular piece of bacon was rolling around her mouth before her eyes settled on another slice. "I was hungry too," she hummed in satisfaction, before handing a slice off to Cypher.
Take off was something she was looking forward to the most. They'd had a decent time on the Pithian planet, but the stars were waiting for them along with a few new ports and Kaereal. Despite her reservations about how they would be received coming home and out of exile to some, with a gaggle of Pithians, it was hard not to be happy about being in the air again. Home was anywhere with her family and a ship to carry her with them. With a stomach full of bacon, Calysta settled into her captain's chair and placed her hands on the controls. Illya joined her in the co pilot's chair, giving the go-ahead from the navigation on their end through the comm system. Things always felt better The same verification came from their sister ship, The Accord, and Calysta smiled. "This is Silver Mountain, clearing for simultaneous take off in..3...2...1.."
The Silver Mountain responded to her touch with ease as they lifted off into the air with the impulse thrusters without so much as a shudder. The only sound that could be heard was the gentle hum of the engines shifting and the landing gear folding into its compartment. As they lifted as they broke through the atmosphere, the force increased only slightly before abating and the artificial gravity took over automatically. "Keep standard flank distance," she said over the comms to the Accord's captain. A single shudder signaled their successful break into space, and that was about the time, she caught Illya looking at her. He did that more often these days and she liked catching him at it, a bit of a flattering sport. This time, he decided to comment on being caught and tell her what he was thinking, making the moment that much better. He remembered the Gylcryn, the small scout ship she had crashed on Qouti with. A broad grin came over her lips, brushing at her pale grey eyes at the mention of her old ship, and better yet, the fact he remembered being her co-pilot.
"Aye, I think if I'm to fly until I die, I need the co-pilot I signed on some time ago," she mused back, "He's one of a kind, and no other will do for the Little Bird in her Silver Mountain."
It was hard to explain why she was so pleased when he said things like that. Whenever he mentioned something that for so long had only been an event real in her mind, it was made her feel that much more connects. As if she were living the way they were supposed to have been for once. The feeling felt right. Once they were through the final magnetosphere, Calysta gave Illya the word that it was safe to get up and move. "Alright, the kids should be good to move around again now," she smiled. Her Chip went off to make sure the kids were tucked into bed, while she coordinated their timed jump with the Accord. If they were to arrive at any port at the same time, their jumps had to initiate at the same millisecond or there would be an accumulated slippage over their week's travel, making them arrive an hour shy of each other. "Jump...in 5...4...3...2...1." As soon as she hit the one mark, Calysta pushed their whirring jump drive to work, setting them at the top speed their accompanying ship could reach. The Accord jumped with them, and other than text signals, comms went dark. Once she received the successful text transmission, affirming that they were successful in a jump and on course, she set the autopilot. It would be an entire week before they exited their jump.
When she found Illya, he was tucking Lohgan into bed with her soft pink blanket. Unable to resist him, she came to stand beside him over her daughter's crib and rubbed at his back between his shoulders lightly. "Mmm...we are on our way," she hummed, "My co-pilot did well in his calculations." He had gotten so much more flirty with her in recent days, and while she wasn't always feeling up to doing much more than cuddle back with him, tonight she felt alright. "I think he's earned a long shower." With that, she trailed her fingers down his arm and slipped toward the bathroom where a warm shower waited for them both.
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Calysta leaned over the bed and threw up for the fourth time that morning. There was nothing in her stomach left to vomit, but her body reacted as if she were a bottomless pit. "Ugh," she groaned wiping her mouth. Illya had probably woken up again next to her and she stole a glance at him. Yep. His eyes were peeled open and slightly blood shot, making her feel slightly guilty. "Maybe it would be better if I slept in the chair," she sighed, flopping back to the pillows, "At least one of us might sleep." Of course that was met by a grumbling "No."
Smacking her tongue against the roof of her mouth, she rolled to get up slowly. "I can just go check on the kids." If she couldn't sleep, she could do something useful and give him the chance to snooze. That comment only spurred him to jumping out of the bed before her and saying she should rest.
"But..."
Any reason she made, he combatted until she actually grew tired enough to lay back down. "Alright....I'll lay back down."
Calysta returned to the bed and curled up on her side facing the bucket, just in case, while Illya hustled about with getting ready to tackle the day. It wasn't long before he was bringing her a cup of the spicy stomach soothing tea. "Thank you, love," she mumbled, rubbing at her eyes as she took the cup.
He said something about lunch and she nodded vaguely. It was lunch time already? What happened to the morning? She must have fallen asleep at some point. Sipping on her tea, she slowly woke up and managed to sit up without wanting to hurl hurt guts. Her mind wandered over how far they were into their trip and all the things she needed to be doing. Did Lohgan have her socks on? It was colder in space and wandering without socks would bother her. Was Cypher behaving at his lessons? Did Illya need help in the kitchen? What was Rose writing? She'd seen her pouring over her pad and giggling the other day. A sinking sense of loneliness set in which she solved by checking on their course and the engine out puts from her bed. Everything was running perfectly smooth, offering no excuse she could use to justify leaving her room for.
Calysta tossed and turned in their bed, first pushing off the covers before deciding she was chilled and pulling them back up again. If she lay on he right side, the burning bile seemed to rise up so much easier, but the left side felt odd and she wasn't used sleeping on it. Poking at her pillow a few more times, she decided her body might be tired but her mind wasn't. There were a million things she needed to do, and could be helping with. However, she knew poking her head out of the door would earn her a fussing from Illya about resting and the effort didn't seem worth the rise in blood pressure for either of them at the moment. She couldn't have him seizing and she couldn't do much of anything while going through the morning sickness either, which was strike then abate before catching her off guard again. She laid there for a long moment, playing at the ends of her hair until her eyes settled on the little box on her shelf which contained her jewelry...and the hologram coin given to her by Asha. Illya was bound to be occupied for at least an hour with the kids and animals so there was time to watch more. She could handle more now. Rising from the bed took some effort, moving in small increments until she was on her feet, and across the room retrieving the coin. When she was back in bed with the coin, Calysta laid back and checked for sounds at the door before putting the volume on the coin at its lowest, almost impossible to hear setting, and hit play.
Even after months of recovery time Illya was barely recognizable due to the swelling in his face. Isla sat in the kitchen staring blankly at the table. Tear dropped slowly at first and then more rapidly. Every now and then she'd glance toward the doorway to their bedroom and then she'd look away again. There wasn't anymore medicine and she could hear him struggling for every breath. His voice wasn't the same anymore. Whenever he breathed in, or out there was a harsh rasp to it. If he could manage to get his voice above a whisper his voice had a thick gravel in it now. It sounded horrible and unnatural to her. As time went on she just started to look tired instead. Isla got up and went out to the docks. There weren't any ships like usual and she went home to the same thing as she had for the last several months. This time she went into the room and combed some of his curls out of his face. Illya winced when her fingers tugged slightly on some of his hair. The scars on his scalp still hurt. Then she started to run a hand behind his shoulders and pulled. "Owe..." Even if Illya had tried he could barely get the hoarse whisper out of his mouth and tears sprung to his eyes with the motion. Isla kept on pulling him up until he was sitting. "I need some help. You're going to sit with your back against the wall for now and I'm going to work your hand. You won't be any good to me if you can't help in every way you can." Illya was sweating with even the effort of having to try and sit up. He winced and hissed with every single movement, but she still persisted.
Isla had started to lose the sparkle in her eyes. The woman got up from the little bed that used to belong to Lahna and she shuffled over into her and Illya's room where he was laying on the bed with a frown on his face. He was still sleeping and she knew that, but it was time to get him up before she went out. Kneeling next to the bed she gently rubbed his shoulder and whispered to him, "Illya it's time to get up. I have a list of things for you to do on the table." She knew very well he couldn't walk, but she had braces for him a cane and a wheelchair that sat in the main room. First thing in the mornings he moved slowly and he needed a little help. Isla helped him sit up and she grabbed his braces and moved them over to the edge of the bed. Moving his right leg enough to get the brace on it was excruciating and Illya winced the whole way through the process while Isla strapped the brace on. "Ugh..." Illya gingerly laid himself back on the bed for a moment after his leg was strapped up in the brace. "What's on meh list?" Isla got up and sat on the edge of the bed. Leaning over him she gave Illya a kiss. "You'll have to get up to find out. I've got a surprise at the end of the list if you feel up to it. I'll be checking to see if it was all done too." Heading out the door of the bedroom she blew a kiss and then left. Illya sat up again with a deep frown etched on his face. He wanted to know what was on the list, but it also hurt to sit, walk, or do anything. Since he couldn't very well walk on his own he grabbed the cane she left him and growled. It was the same most mornings. His back flared with even the attempt to stand and he collapsed on the bed again. Instead of staying on the bed half rolled off the bed and crawled on his stomach to the wheelchair. It was almost 10 minutes of struggling before he had himself in the wheelchair with sweat pouring down his face. By the time he got to the table he was clenching one fist and panting. His right hand was still somewhat crippled, but he was determined to do something.
Calysta kept watching the scene carefully, seeing how Isla got up every morning and got him up, even if it hurt, she did it. She vaguely wondered if that's what her father looked like during her treatments which left her exhausted, nearly dead to the world. She made Illya get up, which was good, but she wished Isla would have stayed to help. Maybe it was too hard to watch him crawl to the living room, to struggle to grasp with his hand. More than anything she wanted to reach back through time and help. Reaching up, her pale fingers brushed at the holographic Illya, his face distorting slightly. She wondered what was on the list as his shaking form looked down to the paper on the table. Isla had been trying her best to keep him active it seemed, now that she had chosen to stand by him...chosen to accept what it was. In a certain way, she respected Isla for that particular decision. Love was not always beautiful or kind. Sometimes it was a struggling task beyond the happy days, something taught by Kaerelean tradition, but not always followed. Taking a sip of her tea to clear the taste from her mouth, Calysta continued watching.
In the early afternoon Isla stopped by the house long enough to bring a few flower and set them on the table. "Got some flowers for you to put on the table for tonight." Since she was home she made a quick lunch and sat down with Illya to eat. By the time she left Illya was already exhausted. He could barely concentrate or move without some kind of pain flaring up. Looking at his list he growled to himself and crumpled it up. She wanted him to fold the little basket of clean laundry and she knew it hurt to move that much. She wanted him to get a vase out of the top cupboard and she knew it hurt for him to stand and then she wanted him to get outside and harvest a few little herbs and chop them for dinner. So far he'd only accomplished half the folding and he was already hurting. With a vicious snarl he hit the table with his left fist. There wasn't anything else to do and he felt horrible. Gritting his teeth he took himself over to the counter and pulled himself up to stand. Illya cringed with the effort and he struggled to straighten himself enough to grab the vase, putting water in it was difficult. He had to use his right hand and it hurt. Uncurling his hand he wrapped his trembling fingers over the vase and then did his best to pour some water into the vase with his left hand. There was a little mess, but he got it sloppily mopped up. Once the flowers were on the table and ready he wheeled himself outside to grab the few herbs. To his frustration he saw the ones she wanted were not in a raised bed and he had to get out of the wheelchair. By the time he was finished getting the herbs, chopping them and then folding the rest of the clean laundry Illya had started to look a little pale. Wheeling himself back to the main part of the house he half tumbled out of the chair and then drug himself back into the room. Illya had to use the bed frame to haul himself up and then he half fell into the bed. He was sleeping when Isla came home and she quietly took care of the small mess on the counter and made their dinner before serving a large plate for Illya and one for herself. Taking the food into the bedroom she woke him up again and this time helped him sit up again. This time she set a pillow behind his back to help ease the discomfort. "You got it all done today." With a little smile she leaned in to kiss him between bites. "Maybe if you have the energy we could sleep together tonight." She had been trying to slowly get him more functional and she purposefully chose tasks and left him most of the day because if she didn't he wouldn't get up at all. Illya nodded slowly when she mentioned sleeping together and Isla reached over with one hand and rested it on his chest. "I'll come lay with you after I finish cleaning the dishes then."
All day, she watched him struggle to do the simple tasks he has been given. His hands shook and just moving from the chair to the garden and back was a near impossible challenge for him. But he did it. By the time they were eating dinner he was paling, and sick with the pain. She had seen that look on him before and it broke her heart. How many times had he been in that much pain over the years? At Isla's offer to sleep in the same bed, she wanted to close the hologram for a moment. The feeling of being unable or afraid to be in the same bed with him was familiar and she didn't have the desire to see Isla in bed with him. She hoped it wouldn't show any of that, and yet she wanted to make sure even the Illya of the past wasn't one. Carefully, she shifted on the bed and grabbed Illya's pillow before the scene continued.
In time Illya's hand started to look a little healthier and he was moving and using his arm with less pain. There was still a level of stiffness to his arm, back and his leg, but he seemed to be improving. There were little blips of him getting himself up. Illya would wince when the bed shifted and Isla would get up. It still hurt if she moved much, but they were sharing the bed again and he would start getting himself up. It all seemed to be going fine until he got the cough bad enough that it started a fever and an inflammation in his bones. Isla stayed at home and she made teas and tried her best to rub soothing creams on his chest to ease the cough. He was alternating between seizures and shaking like a leaf under the mounds of blankets. The fever didn't seem to improve and Isla got into the bed with him after a while and tried to warm him up by being close and rubbing along his back where it wasn't quite as tender. "Maybe I'll make a fire and light it right under the bed." Illya shot her a look and then grinned despite the fever. He was still struggling to breath, but it was a good joke and he choked out a few chuckles. "You would if you weren't worried about burning the mattress." Groaning a little he shifted to get closer to her. "Its too bad. I'd like a little fire." Isla met his gaze and she gave him a sad smile. "That's the man I wanted to agree with. You've got a sense of humor. Maybe enough you might survive if you keep on laughing at death."
Calysta kept her eyes trained on the hologram, relieved she didnt see Isla in bed with him perse and also relieved his hand seemed to be improving with the rest of him. That was until the fever struck. It looked to be the chip cough, but given the way his bones swelled and the rest of the symptoms she had to wonder if part of it was infection from metal that he had implanted years ago at this point. He shook all over and seized every now and then, undoubtedly from the fever. It reminded her slightly of when his arm has been broken and he seized due to the infection from his bones. Watching them together as more husband and wife was difficult, but not in the way she thought it would be. In some ways, it was easier that they knew each other and could rely on each other that way. Up until recently she had not had that feeling. Not their trials were particularly comparable when it came to Illya, but Isla had won him back slowly, just as she had. It was painful, horrifying even, yet they had both made it. "He still laughs at death," Calysta sighed to the holographic Isla, "Still stubborn and wiley...not the man he was with you in all things...but those are the same." In fact he could do with not so many opportunities to laugh at death.
There were many years that ran together. Times of improvement and then lapses with the fevers and infections. The one thing that changed was that Isla had begun to get ill in time. Illya drilled with the men a little and he came home frequently to check on Isla. They'd tried for many times for more children and each failed until they quit trying. As the years passed Illya started to do more cooking and he would peer into the room when Isla laid down for her afternoon naps. One afternoon he limped into the room and he laid down on the bed with her. Carefully he laid a hand on her waist. "You feel better today?" Speaking to her quietly in Quoti he waited for her to open her eyes and then he presented her with a little braid of desert flowers. It was semi painful to do such detailed and small work with his hand, but he had done it for her because she liked the orange desert flowers. "You like some snake for dinner too?" Leaning over her he carefully kissed her and started to limp his way to the kitchen. It was obvious that he was tired out, but he didn't want to leave her to do the work when she was ill. That evening Isla curled close to him and she shivered most of the night. The next morning Illya let her get up and he got tea for her and then fought with the mattress to move it from their room out into the main room. He set it near the fire so she could be warmer at night and then made sure to carefully fold all the blankets in half so they were all on her side of the bed.
Watching Illya's rise paralleled with Isla's decline was a sad affair. The woman had struggled, certainly and it would not be a happy end to her life. She knew that much, yet Illya was doing his best with bringing her little tokens. Small treasures she would like. Did Isla wonder what her life would be like without Illya? If she had never chosen him? Calysta wondered sometimes and it always looked bleak, a dull grey amid a sea of endless traveling. He was tender with her when she grew worse and it was obvious the end for her was cutting closer and closer. He would be heartbroken when she died...but it was an inevitable thing. It become obvious that whatever her struggles in the past were, and there were many, that they didnt compare at all to this surely. The hologram feed kept going, displaying Illya's broad shoulders by the fire light next to his beautiful wife, and Calysta watched on.
As Isla grew steadily worse Illya worked harder and harder to try and make her comfortable. Some nights he barely slept because of the cold and the ache in his bones. Each morning he would get up and he would check on her and help her brush her hair. With time she refused food because it was making her ill and Illya stopped drilling almost entirely. He barely left the house except to get what he needed to help take care of Isla. One day when she was particularly sick she gripped his arm a little tighter when he went to get up and she met his gaze. "Just hold me for a while." Illya held onto her until she fell asleep again and then he got up to put a lunch together for them. She could at least try sipping at a broth. When he came back she was barely breathing and he tried to rouse her, but she didn't move. Instead his face scrunched with worry and he held her while whispering to her about their younger lives, when they were happier. About some of the things he remembered from when they were still children. Briefly her eyes opened and she smiled a little, but it was the last time her eyes opened and Illya sat with her on the mattress until the sun went down and her last breath left her body. Even if he knew the time had been coming it didn't change the grief. Tears ran down his face and he held her for a long time more before he got up and went outside to check for the direction of the wind.
Isla only grew worse, and while it didn't surprise her, it didn't make the inevitable any easier to endure. He stayed by Isla's side the entire time, holding her close even if it would be easier for him not to. He did it because he had loved Isla fiercely from the second he met her, really. While tears trickled down Illya's face, her own welled in her eyes. She wasn't much of a crier except when it came to Illya. He'd always had that ability to work his way into her heart like that, even when she was desperate not to let him get that close. Wiping at her eyes, she sniffled and waited to see if there was more to the hologram.
After she died Illya left the mattress on the floor. It was the same place he had left it when Kalizda had come to the house. Nothing in the house changed. He left the rooms empty and did his best to train and move on with life. Some nights he slept with the blankets and other nights he would be alone, but there was nothing different that he could see in his future and so Illya kept on with his life in his own quiet way until he saw the ship come crashing to the planet. That was when he decided that it was time to try something different.
Calysta closed the hologram coin and wiped at her eyes. In some ways, it was strange to be morning her predecessor and yet here she was, sniffling not just because her passing had hurt Illya, but because the woman had a life that was difficult. Did Isla wonder what her life would be like without Illya? She had thought of it and all she had seen was some grey landscape of endless traveling, devoid of warmth. It part she was angry for such suffering all because of the Federation. They had caused pain beyond measure but if it hadn't been for them, she would never have met Illya at all. Calysta rose from their bed slowly and made her way over to the jewelry box once more to keep the coin safe. Would she ever watch it again? Probably not. Illya might need it one day though and she would keep it protected anyways. About the time she closed the lid, the door handle jiggled before the door swung open revealing her Chip carrying a plate of food and Cypher wrapped around his good leg. Their son begged to keep going as he laughed wildly with each step forward. Calysta grinned and chuckled as she crossed the room to help Illya with the plate. "I think you found a wild munster on your leg," she said, kissing his cheek, "Have my boys come to keep me company for lunch?"
Lunch was finally ready. It wasn't the most glorious offering, but it was something. Illya half shoved the door open as he made his way into the room and he met a misty eyed Kalizda, but she was giggling at the same time. She was quite odd when she was pregnant. There was no telling what was going through her mind. With a grin he made his way to the bed. Handed her the tray and then sat down on the bed before leaning back and lifting his leg up and up until he had Cypher hovering and giggling over the bed. "Aye, today et's boy lunch wit Kalizda and tomorrow et will be lunch wit dah girls." Illya was going to do his best to make sure she got time with the kids. That was important after all.
Calysta took the tray and walked over to the bed to settle next to her boys. Cypher held to his fathers leg only so long as his mother was standing and once she sat down, he let go, flopping down with a heavy thud before diving into her lap. "Easy, easy," she chuckled, helping him into her lap and holding the tray steady at the same time. Once he was sitting on her lap, his back to her front, Calysta leaned over and took up Illya's right hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "That sounds good. I love to have lunch with my babies and my agreed too."
In a way she was more quiet. A sort of quiet that Illya hadn't heard from her very often. There was many different kinds of silences and this was one he was familiar with in too many ways. "Yes, et es good." Studying her face for a long moment he finally asked what he'd been wondering. "Are yah alright? Yah seem upset."
She played with Cypher's hair, plucking at the curls and feeling Illya's eyes roam over face. When he asked if she was alright, her eyes slowly went to his and she leaned into him. "Aye, I'm alright. I'm not upset, just...thinking how lucky I am. I have a smart, strong son who takes after his Dah. I have a wonderful husband too." Her head came to rest on his shoulder slightly as she let out a long breath and then mustered a genuine smile. "My agreed spoils me more than he knows sometimes," she chuckled, "I might get used to having lunch with him every day and stealing kisses when I can."
Feeling her head rest against his shoulder was good. Illya let her and he picked up one of the sandwiches he had on the platter. "Hmm." He was hungry and he wasn't going to wait forever to eat. Little Cypher followed suit and grabbed a sandwich. He was trying to be like his Dah and he took as big a bite as he could. The boy's big blue eyes drifted up to his parents and he beamed at them. He liked to have time with just them. Illya looked from Cypher and then to Kalizda again. "I tink I could get used tah having lunch wit yah every day and letting yah steal dose kisses. Et es good life. eh?"
Calysta reached for a sandwich, one of her favorite kinds with bacon and crispy greens, before meeting Illya's eyes again. "Aye, this is the good life right here with you and our children. And the stolen kisses too." Taking a bite of her sandwich, she shifted in closer and stole a kiss. She would steal a few more before the day was done just because she could.
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They were nearing their first stop, having just come out of the jump alongside the Accord, when a message both recorded and text. Calysta's brow furrowed as she sat in the captain's chair and listened to the message.
"A state of emergency has been declared for Haza Porte due to an outbreak of Kioza Virus. The entire sector is in quarantine and the port is closed to all incoming or out bound ships. Do not enter the atmosphere."
"We can't land here," she said to Illya, "Kioza Virus attacks the brain stem...its not treatable." She shook her head as they entered a stable orbit around the closed down port. Already the Accord captain was hailing them on a close frequency, most likely trying to tell them what she knew. They needed fuel before the next jump or they would never make it to the next scheduled stop. Biting at her lip, she closed her eyes thinking for a moment. The Accord was a Starlight class vessel, not too unlike a Terran design with a 27 galactic square tank which would give them 8 days of jump at maximum speed for the vessel, assuming it was operating on optimum levels. It had been 7 days and 16 hours, giving them 8 hours of jump remaining or 32 hour of impulse which would do well if they intended simply to stay in orbit above the quarantine zone. Not an option. She needed a place for them to refuel that was within 7 hours and 30 minutes of a jump from where they were. There was only one place that came to mind and it wasn't the most pleasant of options. "Illya, can you run the numbers and tell me how far away we are from these coordinates: 14.5 , 63.3, 0.07, 44.93."
As he ran the math, she answered the call from the Pithian pilots in the other ship. "Aye, I know. We're working on a solution now. Stay in orbit and stand by."
When Illya's answer came and the flight was feasible, Calysta wasted no time in sending the coordinates off to the Accord. "We're going to Junkrat's Station," she sighed, rubbing at her temple, "I've never been, but I've heard plenty about it. If you can imagine it, good or bad, it's happened there on that space station. It's probably seedier than G'koe by a country mile so we'll have to be on our guard, but fuel is cheap there, assuming they haven't been swept up by the Kioza Virus too. We get in and we get out. That's our best bet." With that said, Calysta started to coordinate the simultaneous jump with their caravaning ship.
On the way to the infamous station, Calysta settled into the kitchen feeling tired already. It would be a long 8 hours and even then, they had no backup plan if Junkrat's was quarantined too besides abandoning the Accord and placing all 30 Pithians on board the Silver Mountain. That would turn a 2-month long trip into a 3-month long one due to the need to stop for water and supplies along the way in an overloaded luxury liner. Helen came into the room aiming for the tea pot with Lohgan rolling on her heels, and Calysta gave her a small nod. "I checked on the plants earlier and they seem to be doing well," she commented, "Hopefully they'll all make it to Pyrta and if they don't we'll make sure they're replaced for you."
The woman commented back and Calysta nodded again. There was something she had been wanting to ask Helen since finding out about her past. Something that had been bothering more now that she had finished the holograms displaying the terrible things that the Federation had done, but they hadn't had the chance alone to really talk. "Helen, if I can ask...you don't have to answer...but do you happen to know where you were stationed during your time with the Federation?"
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Within the correct time frame, the space station came into view and its name befit the look. Random sections of cargo holds and ships, along with collected sections of other spacecraft from every known era of space travel sat like a spinning tin can in the orbit of a large gas giant. Ship of all kinds bustled in and out of the docking bays, bursting into jumps far too close to other ships while hot rodding while others puttered along in obvious need of repair. Welders in space suits floated along with their tethers and masks, repairing sections here and there along the space station hull. The most noticeable feature was the bright signs blaring into space, reading of all sorts of available debauchery. There were ones advertising alcohol in neon letters, poker chips, and beast racings. There was even a bright neon woman with long legs kicking out, offering a XXX Gentleman's show. The ladies were not to be left out, however, and there was a man helicoptering his goods for all to see when they pulsed around the corner. Already Calysta's cheeks were bright turning pink at thought of having to bring a diplomatic envoy of sorts here. Still, at least they weren't quarantined and they had fuel.
"Let's dock and get this done," she said into the coms, her voice cracking at the first word.