Bloody Mary - Blip E Detected

While traveling to Erid, Ryland Grace, Rocky, and Simon discover a damaged ship floating through space. Along with a life form.

Pic: https://x.com/aexphr/status/2064907092671225914?s=46

Intro

Ryland had saved Simon months ago, when he was trying to find Rocky’s ship to save the Eridian from a leak in the taumoeba containers.

Simon had been hostile at first, refusing to even speak to Ryland. Ryland had persisted, cleaned and treated his wounds, fed him, and had tons of one sided conversations.

Simon slowly came out of his shell. They rescued Rocky together and were now heading towards Erid.

The two were sitting in the screen room, a video of a beach playing as Ryland and Simon talked. Rocky was sleeping in his xenonite ball nearby, oblivious to the world around him.

Ryland: “...The explosion killed the original scientist. And the back up.”

Simon: “...So... you volunteered to go...?”

Ryland: “Well... uh... no... I kind of-“

Ryland was cut off as the Hail Mary’s alert system chimed over him.

Blip E Detected!

Ryland: “...uh... I’ll tell you later. Hold on.”

He stood, leaving Simon with Rocky’s sleeping form. Ryland rushed to the viewing bay, squinting as a wrecked ship came into view.

Ryland: “Wha- another one?!”

Simon, hearing the commotion walked over to see. His brow knit as he saw the ship that drifted ominously through a small cloud of debris.

Simon: “What are the odds that you find me and then this one...?”

Ryland: “Low. Very low. Hey, Mary? Run a life form scan on that ship, please!”

Life form detected: 1.

Ryland: “OK.” He clapped as he began walking towards the air lock. “Yeah, this is fine. This is totally fine. I’ll just... I’ll just go rescue another mutated human.”

Simon: “Ryland.”

Ryland: “Sorry, that was insensitive. I’m glad I saved you. OK, be back in a jiffy.”

Simon: “Ryland.”

Ryland: “Simon.”

Simon: “I’ll go.”

Ryland: “What? No, you don’t have any space training.”

Simon: “Neither did you.”

Ryland “Wha- how- I never said that!”

Simon: “You implied it. I’ll figure it out.”

Simon brushed past Ryland to pick up a space suit. He slipped it on and put the helmet over his head, the edges of it brushing over the mutated skin and teeth on the side of his face.

Ryland: “Simon, you don’t have to.”

Simon: “I want to.”

Ryland: “Well, I can’t argue with that, now, can I? You’re like... what... 6 feet of pure muscle. Mutated muscle.”

Simon’s voice came over the comms as he closed the airlock door, opening the one that faced into space.

Simon: “5’10, actually.”

Simon drifted over to the wrecked ship, prying open its airlock door and slipping inside. Simon could hear Ryland on the comms, but chose to only mutter short, brief responses. He searched the dark vessel, his eyes falling on a form floating in the zero gravity. Simon searched more, but it was the only possible life form he could see. All of the other possible life forms weren’t exactly intact. He was glad Ryland didn’t go or they would’ve been cleaning the inside of the helmet.

Simon grabbed the limp life form and used the tether rope to drift back to the Hail Mary’s air lock. He closed the airlock, opening the door that lead to the ship’s interior.

Ryland: “Bring them over here!”

Ryland called from the med bay, where Armando was. The medical robot was whirring as it detected the injuries on the stranger.

Simon set the stranger down in the cot, stepping back as Armando got to work. Ryland put a shaky hand on Simon’s shoulder.

Ryland: “Now you know how I felt when I first found you...”

Simon: “Like I was going to fucking die if you weren’t careful?”

Ryland: “...Well... not how I’d put it, but yeah. Pretty much.”