If he could just remember how.....

And there it was floating in some unknown part of his psyche, a place where it shouldn't have been, but it was. He remembered.

He keyed his mike and boosted the signal. He could hear other voices now, the voices of his crew searing for him, trying their best to find him, "Listen to me." His voice was hard and slurred as his brain struggled to remember how to speak, struggled to find his jumbled thoughts.

"Captain."

"Captain where are you!"

"We're coming captain, just hold on."

Above him, the queen loomed massive and imposing, a destroying angel to what she saw as sin, a blight of lies upon her reckoning. Could he really blame her, their realities were so different, people couldn't understand things that were different from them. They feared what they did not understand, and then they destroyed it. She was doing what she thought was best, he could feel that.

Didn't mean he wanted to die this way though.

"I'm sorry." He slurred into the mike, "Lieutenant, if you're listening.... The crew is yours. Take them back to earth..... tell me family I love them." He struggled for more words against his barely functioning consciousness, "Krill, I'm sorry, you were right, and I should have listened. Get yourselves out of here if you can..... I think their brain waves are messing with our radio equipment. Try changing the frequency, and you should be fine." More tears billowed into his vision, and unable to wipe them away his vision was obscured.

He had been close to death before, but never like this. It was always with someone else. He hadn't been alone, he had had all of his thoughts, his memories to hold onto, his fiends even though they weren't there. There were a lot of things he wished he could have done. He wished that he could see his parents one last time, mostly his mother so he could apologize for causing her so much pain. He wished he could have seen her finally get alone with Sunny, to finally drop her grudge. He wish he could have seen his new adopted nephew, David's son.

He wished he hadn't been so scared to date, to find someone, to actually tell people what he felt about them. But now he would never have the chance.

He thought about Sunny, would she take over the Drev clan once he was gone. Was she ready to lead? Maybe she would give it over the Cannon.

"Captain, where are you."

"Captain, just hang tight we're coming."

He barely heard them, "Sunny, I'm sorry, Take care of Waffles, she likes you, and she's going to need someone." He could feel the things mind encroaching in on him again slowly pouring in to fill all of the gasps in his head, "Sunny, I-"

He felt his consciousness slipping away. He tried to hold onto it to repeat to himself who he was and what he remembered.

"My name is Adam Allen Vir, I'm the Captain of a UNSC ship, my best friends are Sunny and Krill, I have a dog, My mother's name is Martha I have three, no two, NO four siblings I.... My name is Adam Vir, I'm captain of a space ship, m-my best friends are aliens.... dog, my mother's name is Martha. My name is Adam, I am.... I fly a Spaceship, I have... friends, and a mother." His body was growing cold, his voice even more slurred, "My names is.... My-my name..... is.... I.... don't remember."

"Help."

...

He gasped, "My name is Adam."

The mind began to recede. Something struggled inside his head. A wall of thoughts and memories swirled around his insides like a vortex blocking him from the swelling, crushing power of the outside. His memories came flooding back in their jumbled state of mess, but at least he knew where they were. He could feel his body now could see.

He lifted his eyes as the massive godlike shape recoiled against something mouth opening in an unheard shriek. He struggled to figure out what was going on as the vortex rolled around inside his head. They were memories and thoughts careening in an impenetrable wall. They weren't his thoughts, they belonged to someone else. He could feel their contents. He could feel emotions of resentment and anger, he could feel feelings of isolation, he could feel the imminent fear of death experienced as they rolled around a star, he could feel the loneliness, the delinquency.

Something slammed into him from the side sending him spinning into the darkness, away from the massive figure even as the wall protected his mind. He turned his head to the side teeth gritted against the G force.

A face stared back at him from the darkness. It was familiar, white with black eyes... It had one hand on the side of his mask and the other on his arm.

"Adam."

He was flooded with its emotions, the desire of this creature as the queen battered at his mind, and the barrier which this creature had thrown up around him.

"I wish for secrets." It whispered inside his head. Behind them, other creatures streamed from the darkness chasing after them as the queen floundered in her anger. One snatched at his foot, and he kicked it in the head sending it spinning back into the dark as they entered the dust cloud.

The wall of protection in his mind shriveled, then it shrank downwards. He moaned in pain. He sensed the desperation, the chase, the sheer power that pressed in on them, on all sides.

"Sleep." The creature said, and he felt the cool tendrils of his mind leaking into his own, but instead of filling the space, crushing him, and stealing his memories, it flowed around them, suspended them, kept them still. It felt.... How he thought cold would feel inside his head. Hs shivered uncontrollably as the tendrils snaked downwards and the power pressed in from above.

"Sleep"

The voice echoed, and then, he was gone.

***

The searchlights spun and weaved across the black sky. He had to be around here, had to be around here somewhere. The light pulled right coming across a body suspended in the darkness, unmoving.

Figures rolled forward search lights bouncing into space, photons spilling into the vacuum. Sunny reached the body first as was her want. He sat suspended hands and legs splayed from its body, hands reaching forward like it had been caught in the act of falling. It wasn't moving, it wasn't responding. She took it in her arms, and it slumped against her lit by the bright spotlights behind.

***

The ship floated softly through space towards the Rundi home planet. They had managed to disrupt the signals holding them in place, and left for warp with all due immediacy. The cobalt nebulae had disappeared. into the distance as space folded around it.

Krill floated, dejectedly at the captain's bedside. The man was perfectly still aside from his breathing. Padded manacles locked his hands and feet into place. A strap crossed his chest, torso, and waist. An IV feeding tube stuck from one arm taped against his pale, unmoving hand. The man's head lolled to the side.

He had been like that for almost a weak. Thus far, no efforts to wake him up had proved fruitful. The scans indicated that there WAS functional brain activity, but the reticular activating system of his brainstem was showing abnormal functioning. The man appeared to be sleeping in all but the ability to wake up. Sometimes he shifted, sometimes he moved, and sometimes his eyes twitched behind his eyelids, but he ever managed to wake himself.

He had been like that when they recovered him from the darkness of space lying him out on the docking bay floor, and pulling off his suit. He was asleep, but he wouldn't wake up.

An atmosphere of silence and worry had drawn a dark cloud over the ship and all those who inhabited it. The lights were dimmed, the halls were clear. Voices were held just below normal speaking voices as if afraid any disturbance in the atmosphere might change thing for the worse. Everyone on the ship was horribly aware of how long a human could be in a Coma. Days.... Months.

Years....

What was it going to be?

Krill sighed and sat at the edge. This was his fault, he should have listened to the man. Maybe if he had just compromised, than the captain would still be awake. They could have sent someone with him to help, the marines, the Drev soldiers, anyone.

Sunny stepped in just then silent against her surprising bulk and made her way over, "How is he."

"Same as before I think he-"

"Feels like his brain got run over by a truck." The two of them spun suddenly. Sunny nearly tipped herself over. Krill let of a high pitched squealing noise that was particularly unbecoming in the moment. The captain lay on the bed with his eyes half open blinking slowly, "Krill, I'm only going to say this once because I will only manage to say it once without screaming, but let me go before I lose it." His breathing was slowly beginning to speed up as was his heart, "I, I need to move."

Krill willingly complied this time, and the captain took a shaky breath lifting his hands to his face clenching and unclenching his fists as if he was worried they just wouldn't work.

"How do you feel captain?"

"What happened?"

He rubbed his head with the flat of his palm shakily, "You were right Krill." He took another shaky breath, "They did want to communicate, but once we did, they saw something they didn't like. I guess since they communicate telepathically, you can't really hide things form other people. They were so.... Repulsed by the idea of secrets and lies, that they thought it would just be better for me if they.... Killed me off." He began to shake and tremble uncontrollably, "I.... I couldn't see, or here, or, or remember anything, It was... black, no not black it was.... N-nothing, there was.... N-nothing."

Before Krill knew what was going on Sunny had stepped in and was hugging the human to her chest protectively. Krill was about to step in but it seemed as if sunny had made the right move. The human took a few deep breaths and began to calm down. He patted one of Sunny's arms, "Thanks, Sunny." He whispered.

***

He stood, uniform on hands behind his back in front of the holo-screen. He didn't normally look the part, but today he did. In his dark grey uniform, cap and gloves, he stood ramrod straight face serious eyepatch replaced by the fake green eye he had used at the trial not so many months ago. The call came through, and he saluted stiffly as another person appeared on the screen before him.

The admiral took a seat with a sigh.

The captain's eyes widened in surprise once he realized this was not the face he was used to, "Ca.... Kelly.... Admiral.... Ma'am."

His old captain looked out at him with tired eyes, the stars on her shoulder glistening in the low lighting, "Captain Vir. It's a pleasure to see you again. I heard about the trial. I'm glad you managed to shake it."

He lowered his hand falling into parade rest as he did, "Uh, yes ma'am..... I'm sorry, I hadn't heard about your promotion."

She waved a hand, "it was a last minute affair coming on the wings of your recent trial. The accusatory nature of the accusations on one of our best men led to some internal evaluations of our hierarchy. It was determined that a fresh face on command would help clear out the dust, but I digress, you wanted to call about your recent mission report."

"Yes ma'am." He lowered his head eyes closing in shame, "I put a lot of people in danger recently, and I. I'm beginning to question my abilities to captain my crew."

"Really, I looked over the full report, Captain." He waited, "A man falls wind of an unknown alien source, starts hearing voices, has a theory, acts on that theory and turns out to be wrong." She steapled her fingers looking at the stoic face through the screen, "Captain, I don't see that as an accident of command, I see that as an error of being human. Your job is to make contact, and that's what you did. This time you weren't so lucky. You pave the way for regulation in the area of alien interaction. You will learn from this, you will write the regulation on contact, and you will begin again, and you will get smarter. You are the youngest captain in the fleet, and YES it shows, but you are also one of the most experienced." The fond expression she graced him with was not lost on him, "They got into your head, they knew what would bring you out, no one can blame you for falling for the perfect circumstances."

Hed took a deep breath and nodded, "Yes, admiral."

"Speaking of which, I had something to talk to you about."

He lifted his chin and nodded, "Go on."

The UNSC has recently commissioned 15 new captains and 15 new UNSC ships. They are looking for someone to take the position as acting fleet Commander.... Your name is at the top of that list."

He stood speechless.

"You are our most experienced man. You know the worlds and their natives better than anyone, and you have a good rapport with them. If anyone has the ability to command a fleet, I think it's you."

"But, but, Ca- Admiral, I'm not ready for something like that. You said it yourself, I'm the youngest man, and kind of an idiot. To give me an entire fleet..... well, I'm flattered but, but I don't think that's such a good idea."

The corner of her mouth twitched. "The fact you can acknowledge that you may not be ready, almost certainly proves to me that you are." She paused glancing down at her desk, and the paper work he could see sitting there, "Think about it at least. The formal call may not come for months now, and I promise, your job won't change all that much. You will still be the Captain of your ship, you will still be tasked with exploring deep space as you have been, but the others will differ to you in matters of command, they will come at your call, and they will have to check in regularly. You would be authorized to order them in their routs, and help them deal with any conflicts that may arise. In cases of war and conflict, you will be head of an entire fleet, all at your command under the UNSC or the GA...... I think you should take the offer."

***

He sat with his elbows resting on his knees head down rolling his captain's cap from one hand to the other.

"Adam, sweetheart, that's great news."

"That's my boy! Conquering the final frontier!" His father called from his chair in the background pumping his fist into the air in one of the greatest shows of emotion the man had ever managed to muster.

He watched as his mother's smile fell a little, "Adam, what's wrong?"

He sighed, "I.... well, I recently... messed up, pretty bad, and I don't think I'm ready for what they want me to do. The admiral thinks I am, but she wasn't there."

His dad got up from his spot and walked over sliding himself down next to his wife who sat with worried eyes, "Well, go on boy let's hear it.

***

His father sat back in his seat contemplatively while his mother looked on in worry.

"Adam, look at me." He did as his father told, "You are a trusting man, and yeah sometimes you're going to get duped, and you're going to get duped hard. That's the nature of being trusting, but that isn't a bad thing." His father jabbed a finger in his direction, "You just need to make sure you have good people around you. Good people who can tell you no, and good people who aren't so trusting. That surgeon of yours, he seems a bit over the top sometimes, but he was right this time. Listen to him, listen to your officers, and your men, they will help guide you....."

Vir sighed, "Just wondering when I'll finally grow up."

His father left off a snort, "Boy, you've fought in war, commanded ships into the final frontier, made friends with your enemies, forgiven those that hurt you; you are more of a man than most men who claim to be. And don't you damn well lose that trusting streak. Not many people can claim to see the good in others like you do, and sometimes the rest of us need to be reminded."

"Yes, sir."

"One last thing, Adam."

"Yes sir?"

"Take the damn job."

***

"What did the admiral say?"

"She..... well, you can't tell anyone because it may not happen, but... she offered me the position of fleet commander."

Those who heard burst into congratulations and back slapping. He still wasn't so sure about this, but he didn't have much of a choice. He kept a smile on letting them go until he was finally alone. He took a deep breath, and in the dim light of what the crew called the "Aquarium", he walked over to the skylight, and pressed the button to let down the panel, allowing the ethereal light of space to cat down again him. He leaned his arm against the cool glass and rested his head there taking a deep sigh. At least everything was finally over.

He could rest.

"Adam."