=/\= Peas Out Of The Pod =/\= Alex arrived at the lifepod but was initially denied access. He went to a near by wall panel and worked to open it. It took him a few tries but eventually he was able to put in the proper code, and accessed the override controls to gain entrance to the lifepod. Sarah realized the lifepod locks were being overridden, and held Rikka tightly on her lap, her personal shield at maximum. Friend or foe? She couldn't tell, whether that was because she was so thoroughly shielded or because she was so thoroughly frightened. She shivered involuntarily as the pod door began to open. Alex pushed his fingers into the crack in the doors and pushed them open the rest of the way, not wanting to wait for them to open on their own. He found them there, Sarah with Rikka on her lap. Rikka looked terrified. "Rikka." His voice full of relief. "You two okay?" She had to open her shield to let Alex get to Rikka. And then wondered, too late, whether he was infected. She didn't think he was, as far as her senses could tell, but then she wasn't a Sensitive. She closed the shield with him inside and hoped for the best. "You overrode the isolation fields?" Her voice sounded rusty to her own ears. Alex just nodded, holding his daughter to him. "I had to. I had to make sure she was okay." The relief in his voice was obvious. Was that it? If so why had his question been about the two of them? He pushed the questions down to be dealt with at another time. He let Rikka go finally and took a look at her carefully. "Dr. Wilkinson ordered us to come to auxiliary Sickbay," said Sarah, the scratchiness slowly leaving her voice. "The lifepod was my idea -- because it's got its own systems and whatever's loose on the ship would have a harder time getting to us." "Thank you." He hugged Rikka tightly again. "They are separating the ship. I... " He looked at Sarah again. "I need to get back to Engineering to help." Rikka broke in, "Can't I just stay with Sarah?" Alex looked at them again. "Well, I am sure that Sarah is going to have things she needs to do. There are injured to look after and..." His voice trailed off. "My orders are to take care of Rikka," Sarah said quietly, but she filled every syllable with her love for the child. "I would never let anything happen to her." Alex nodded. "But how can you do that?" He hadn't noticed until now that there was something around him. Something other than the bulkheads of the lifepod. It sparkled almost. He reached out a hand and touched it. "What is that?" "It's called a personal shield," explained Sarah. "Rikka can do it, too, a little bit. But for safety, I've got mine extended around all of us." He relaxed a bit finally. "I should have known you would be taking care of her. You always do." He looked at Rikka who was smiling widely at her friend. "And you... " he poked her gently. "We need to get you to a safety area." Rikka just giggled and squirmed at being poked gently. "This area's safe," Sarah said. "But it won't be in the same segment as Engineering, with the ship being separated, will it?" Her brow furrowed as she considered the options. "I don't think so. I would prefer she were in the same section as I was. I..." He couldn't bring himself to finish the thought. "I think I would be able to concentrate better if she were in the same section," he said after a few moments. It was clear that this was not what he was going to say when he had first started to speak. "All right." Sarah made her first command-level decision, concluding that her orders to take care of Rikka superseded her orders to be in Auxiliary Sickbay. "Let's go. If we stay close together I can keep us all shielded while we're moving." She stood up, ready to go. "Where is the safe zone nearest Engineering?" He looked at her. What was she doing? Didn't she need to be in Sickbay? Was something else going on? "I'm not sure." "We need to find out," said Sarah, and led the way out of the lifepod. "Don't touch anything," she reminded them both, even though she was keeping her shield around them. There was a wall console just outside the lifepod cluster. "Computer, display safety zones for ship separation." The display came up in four screen segments, and Sarah pointed. "There. Computer, what is the countdown until separation?" The countdown appeared in one corner of the screen. They had about fifteen minutes. Alex tapped a few buttons on the same console, trying to call up where he was to be assigned during the separation. He couldn't access the data from there. "Hopefully I am assigned to Main Engineering for the separation. I can't tell from here. The Chief didn't say otherwise," he added. Sarah struggled to keep her shield between Alex's hand and the console. "I said not to touch anything," she reminded him. "We don't know if you can get infected by touching equipment, and I don't know how long I can shield you like that." Her own hand clung tightly to Rikka's. "It looks like the safe zone is the engineering break room. Shall we go?" Alex nodded. "You're right. We should go." He took Rikka's other hand. Rikka smiled up at Sarah and then at her father. Alex even thought he heard her giggle a bit. He wondered what it would be about but pushed it aside for now. "The lifts are off," Sarah realized as they approached one and saw the warning light. "Computer, what is the best route from this point to Main Engineering?" The nearest wall screen lit up with a flashing escape-route screen, and at the same time one of the tracking strips along the floor began to flash green ahead of them. "Follow the tracking strip to Jeffries Tube 26 V," said the computer voice. "Proceed up two decks to Main Engineering. Your exit hatch is between the Chief Engineer's office and a storage area." Sarah looked at Alex, raising a brow questioningly. Having an idea of what the unspoken question might be, he turned to Rikka. "Think you can handle a climb like that, kiddo?" Rikka nodded. "Sure. As long as Sarah is behind me." He chuckled, knowing that she was hoping Sarah would be a bit of a safety harness. "Sounds okay to me," he said. "As long as there's no one else there, you can lift a little to help you climb," Sarah assured Rikka as they hurried along, following the flashing light. Where the light turned into the bulkhead, she stopped Alex from reaching for the panel release, and did it herself. It was easier to keep her own hand shielded than to protect him. "Sorry," she apologized with a blush, and then realized something. "It's going to be rough shielding you if we're all spread out on the ladder. I think..." She made a face, thinking, and peeked into the access. "There's room for all of us to stand beside the ladder." And she went into the tube, leading Rikka in with her. It was Alex's turn to raise a brow but stepped into the access tube with them. How to do this, how to do this? Sarah thought. She scooped Rikka up and held her straddling one hip. Her brow furrowed as she tried to quickly think of the best and easiest way. Alex meanwhile started to reach for the ladder. "If we take it at an even pace, we should be able to stay together, and not get too strung out." And he started to climb. "If I go too fast, just say so." He just thought that Sarah would put Rikka onto the ladder. "Wait," Sarah told him, lifting up beside him. "I can't shield you, that far ahead. Here, take my hand and don't think about it too much." Mentally, she held onto him, using her shield to define the boundaries as she included him in her lifting. Alex stopped his climb before it started and took Sarah's hand. He liked how it felt in his. He chastised himself briefly for thinking such a thing. He looked down as they rose higher and higher in the access tube. He had to admit, this was definitely easier than climbing. It was a bit of an effort, lifting all of them and staying shielded at the same time, but it really wasn't far to go, less than 20 meters, and very soon Sarah landed them on the ledge by the exit hatch to Engineering. "Sorry," she apologized again, and looked into Alex's eyes as she set Rikka down. Time seemed to stop, and she couldn't tear her gaze away for a long moment. Then she did look away, embarrassed by the sudden rush of emotion. Her heart seemed about to burst with tenderness, but her mind shied away in terror. I mustn't let on, she ordered herself sternly. How could I explain to him that my heart sings for him? "Well, we're here," she forced herself to say. He nodded. Rikka had a funny smile on her face as she was looking at Sarah. Alex wondered. Were they communicating? What was that look that Sarah had given him as they set down? He again pushed the questions aside. There was still too much else going on. He had to focus on getting Rikka safe, then on his duties in Engineering. Again, Sarah was the one to open the access hatch, and they all went through. She looked around, having no idea how to get to the safe area. "Where's the engineers' lounge?" she asked Alex. He took a moment to get his bearings and pointed. "It's just around that corner." He looked at Rikka, who was still being held by Sarah, telling her, "Be good. I'll come get you as soon as I can, okay?" Rikka sighed frustratedly. "I'll be fine, Daddy. Sarah knows how to take care of me." Alex chuckled a bit in response. "I know she does. I'm just reminding you to behave. Got it?" He tapped her on the nose gently and looked to Sarah. "I better get back to work," he said, almost shyly. It was followed by a somewhat awkward silence. Sarah had to let Alex out of her shield, and that worried her. It would be all too easy for him to become infected. "Be safe," she told him softly. "I--" She couldn't say it. She shook her head. "Just be safe." And then he was outside her shield and she closed it again around herself and Rikka. "I will. And thank you again." He said. And then he stepped away from the access hatch and toward Engineering. But before entering Main Engineering again, he turned and looked at the two girls. They were just rounding the corner, hand in hand toward the safe zone. What was it Sarah was going to say before she stopped herself? Should he have asked then? No, he thought finally, it can wait. And he turned back to Engineering and went to work.