The Deviants, part ten

Head still spinning when they landed, Ava immediately headed for the infirmary, Galen helping her walk as Nash went to do his report, she assumed.

She hadn't expected anyone to fire on the Deviant or for her to pass out from the pressure of high speeds. And she had no idea how they were found with the cloak on, gripping her pendant tightly.

Skye and Christine rushed to her as soon as they entered, Galen stepping back to let them work. Ava gripped the sides of the bed as everything still spun around her.

At least her lousy mood had evaporated as she fought the urge to throw up.

She felt a pinch in her right arm and the nausea quickly faded. Finally. She didn't think she could've last much longer. Ava rolled onto her left side, everyone watching her.

"Feel better?" Skye sat on the bed next to her, resting her hand on Ava's shoulder.

"Mhmm."

"I would hope so," Christine prepared another shot. "This is for the dizziness."

"Ow." Ava winced, but the room stopped spinning and her vision focused again. "But thanks."

"Sorry we didn't warn you about that." Galen walked over, slightly grimacing. "We weren't expecting anything to happen."

Ava sat up, smirking, "It's okay, although a warning would have been nice."

He nodded.

Christine continued examining her. "You're fine, though."

"But you can hang here for a while if you wanna." Skye went to the sink, filling a glass with water, then walked back. "Here you go."

"Yeah, I might take you up on that offer." Ava sighed as she sipped the cool liquid.

"Does that offer apply to anyone?" Galen winked at Skye.

"Go away!" Christine glared at him.

Blushing, Skye shook her head, "You spend way too much in here as it is."

"Fair enough," He backed away, hands raised, "I will come over later to check on you."

Ava wasn't sure who he addressed, but he was already gone. She shrugged and continued drinking her water.

Skye rubbed her face as Christine finished, "Yeah, you are fine, just make sure you come here before going on another flying mission."

"Will do."

Suddenly, she heard cheering outside of the infirmary. Ava got up and peeked to see what was going on, Skye running out.

Galen and a few human men carried the duffle bags, setting them on the ground and opening them up. Ava grinned as people swarmed in, collecting whatever they needed.

"Wow," Christine stared, "You got all that?"

"Yep. From a richer neighborhood."

"Damn."

"Yeah."

"Excuse me for a moment." She bolted to her nurse, helping to collect anything medical-related.

Ava stayed behind, not needing anything from the duffle bags, pleased that her idea was helping the base.

***

"What do you mean they found you?"

Nash exhaled slowly. "Somehow, they were able to detect us, even with our cloak active."

For some reason, a suspicion that they had a mole tingled in the back of Nash's mind. It was the only explanation he could come up with, and he trusted his intuition. But he didn't say it. He wanted proof first.

Dae'lon crossed his arms behind his back, "I knew this mission was going to go badly."

"None of us were hurt, sir."

"Then why is that girl in the infirmary?"

"Ava isn't used to the G-force involved in some of our flying, sir." Nash clenched his jaw. "And the other ships were destroyed. I made sure of that."

He didn't look convinced but was interrupted by people shouting and cheering.

"What is all the commotion out there?" Dae'lon knitted both brows.

Nash tilted his head, a smirk drawing on his mouth. "Maybe you should go and check, sir."

The general shook his head but left the office, Nash tailing him.

What they walked into was people fighting and arguing for the supplies they'd collected in the middle of the marketplace. He watched for a couple of moments, a smirk, which replaced the shock, tugging at his mouth.

Dae'lon, on the other hand, stormed through the crowd, "That's enough!"

Everyone froze.

"You should all be ashamed of yourselves," he glanced at the chaotic pile. "You all know better. We share what we can with each other, not fight over it like dogs."

Nash raised a brow but remained quiet. Wanderers weren't any better on their homeworld. His people constantly fought over every resource available, and that was before the sickness.

The only difference was no one had raided their planet. Whatever. If it kept people at the base from hurting each other, he could pretend to ignore the hypocrisy.

People swarmed the pile more orderly as the general backed away. "Now that's better."

That earned him a few looks, including one from Nash. There was no need for the condescension.

Nash began circling the crowd, smiling. Even with the fighting, he was pleased to provide much-required supplies to the humans. He wanted to clean his hands of any pain he might have caused.

Galen walked over, "Damn, that was something."

"Yeah."

"Besides, they'll quickly realize this isn't a one-time deal."

The general looked at them, "I still haven't decided if I want to send out teams again."

"But sir, they need this stuff," Galen crossed his arms, "And We can't do it for them, mostly because I don't know what half that stuff is."

Nash nodded, "He has an excellent point, sir."

Dae'lon rubbed his chin, "I will think about it." Then he marched back to his office.

Nash quickly pulled his friend away to an empty area where no one would overhear them. "I think we have a double agent."

"You meant besides us?" Galen crossed his arms.

"I meant against us, the base."

"Oh." He paced a little. "Are you sure?"

"Those ships should not have known of our presence."

"That's fair." Galen leaned in, "Who do you think it is?"

Nash moved his head, "I don't know, and you're the only person who I've told."

He grinned, "Dae'lon won't be happy when he finds out."

"Are you going to tell?"

"Hell no."

"Good."

Galen pulled out a communication tablet. "Well, I just received an order to return to the mother ship."

"Okay," His ship needed certain repairs the base wasn't able to accommodate. "After we get back, we'll begin our investigation."

"Sounds like a plan."