One Man's Actions

I awoke later to soft crying. Rubbing my eyes, I looked down to see Ema tightly hugging me, crying, but still asleep. I reached down and gently pushed her shoulders, whispering “Ema, wake up, it’s just a dream.”
Her eyes shot open, and she jumped up to hug my neck, crying into my shoulder. Frowning sadly, I hugged her back, whispering quietly in her ear. “Ema, don’t cry; nothing’s going to hurt you. I promised, remember?” I felt her nod in response, grip tightening. Staying like that for a few minutes, I had noticed that the woman from before was awake, sitting up against the wall opposite of me. I kept my attention divided; the majority concerned with Ema, but a small part concentrated on the woman.
Eventually, Ema tired herself out, falling asleep against me. Gently, I laid her down, moving some hair from her face before I stood up. Stiffly, I walked over to the woman and sat down. “So…what happened to you exactly?” I asked suspiciously.
She shrugged. “After you and your daughter fell asleep, I decided to try and find my own way out.” Her voice came out with a slight French accent to it. “Up until then I had my brother to help me. I ran into this room, expecting to find someone since it was one of the few rooms open without blood in it. Next thing I know, the vent you covered busted open, and that thing tried to kill me. I got it out into the hall, locking it out, but only then did I notice the wound in my side. Just when I was sure I was going to die, I heard you outside,” she took my hand, smiling at me “, and I knew I was okay.”
Before I could comment, she continued. “I knew you were coming from one of the lower decks; the majority of engineers live down there. So, I knew you had to be reliable, especially if you made it from down there with your daughter.”
“Hold on just a second,” I started “, I need to clarify a few things, for myself and for you. Ema, the little girl, is not my daughter. I found her on the lower decks; I plan on getting her off this ship and anyone else I find. Also, that man from before, he was your brother?”
She nodded, so I continued. “Alright. What’s your name?”
Letting go of my hand finally, she gave me a suspicious glance, but shrugged. “My name is Angeline. Yours?”
“My name’s Jason.”
She smiled slightly, looking me over. “So, Jason, I take it you’re into the ‘hero’ thing? Seeing as you’re protecting a little girl and assisting every little person you find on this husk of a ship?”
I shook my head. “I’m interested in the greater good, not being a hero; if someone needs help, I’ll step in. And I’m protecting Ema because she has no one else; I didn’t find her parents, but I’m sure they wouldn’t recognize us as friends anymore.”
Frowning sadly, she took my hand and kissed it. “You’re doing the right thing, Jason. I may not know you’re overall personality, but just from the way you treat her I can tell she’s in safe hands. I want you to keep doing what you’re doing for her; protect her and get her off this ship.”
I smiled confidently. “I planned on doing that anyway.” She smiled, kissing my hand again and tightly squeezed it.
“I know it won’t help much with our situation, but I feel someone else needs to know what I know.” Her face took a serious change. “I have vital information that needs to reach the outside of this ship. It seems like I won’t make it out with my luck, but I believe you can, Jason. I need you to do this for me.” She looked at me pleadingly.
I nodded. “I will. Just tell me it and I’ll get it to someone off of this ship.”
Reaching into her pocket, she fished out a small drive, laying it in my hand and closing my fingers over it. “Instead of letting you listen to this, I’d rather you hear it from me personally. What’s happening here is no accident, Jason. It was forced upon this ship with wicked intentions,” she paused, letting it sink in. “Mathias allowed all of this to happen. He allowed for the retrieval crew to bring part of that artifact we found on board, even when he and the majority of the communications team knew what would happen.”
Looking completely dumbfounded, I shook my head in disbelief. “There is no way Captain Mathias would do that. He’s not like that.”
She patted my hand slowly. “I know it must be hard to believe, but I’m telling the truth; this drive has a message containing his authorization to bring the artifact on board. Believe me; I didn’t think he could do this either. But he has, and trying to place the blame somewhere else won’t help at this point. I need you do get this off the ship and into the hands of the authorities.”
I nodded. “I’ll make sure this gets off the ship. I promise.”
She smiled and hugged me. “Thank you, thank you so much.”
I hugged her back, smiling awkwardly. We stood there for a while, her arms wrapped around me, mine wrapped around her. It felt nice in an awkward way.
Suddenly, the power went out in the room, and loud bangs echoed from the hallway, making us both jump. I heard Ema whimpering, and gently pushed Angeline over to her, focusing on the door. I gave a slight smile, and pulled the railgun from my back. I’ve had this thing for a while; time to actually see what it can do.
I crept to the door, relying on what little light my helmet gave off, and opened it.