The Wreck - Part 2 (Short Story)

---

Source

---

The chair felt connected to her; as if it had turned her into some six legged creature. All the might she could muster wouldn't help to remove her from it.

She remained still, as ordered, and allowed the doctor and her assistant to prod, poke, and inspect her. They weren't certain of what was wrong with her, and Quarline certainly didn't know either.

The jagged pieces of her faded memory came back in shards.

"We're free falling! The engines are gone!" Someone screamed.

"Shut up, we're not free falling, the pilot knows what they're doing!" Someone else replied confidently.

The impact came suddenly after that, and Quarline could remember their confident smirk as they flew against the wall and exploded in a spectacular red mist, leaving behind online body chunks and cloths.

Everything after that was utter darkness with streaks of red and white. Emergency lighting kept the room glowing for a time, and eventually she closed her eyes to it all.

The hours went by slowly, and eventually the poking and prodding stopped entirely. She regained herself, and some small fragments of herself returned. The name Quarline Stagerd meant something to her once more.

"What is your name?" The doctor asked.

"Quarline Stagerd, of The Rebel Flare."

"Good, you can recall the vessels name. I suppose that's one less thing I have to ask you." The doctor responded. "Tell me, do you remember your role on the team?"

That question posed an issue, because she realised that the idea escaped her entirely. She had no idea what the team was, what her particular role was, where they were, or what business they had here. But, she knew her name. The name was more important than anything else. It was her name, and that's all she cared about.

"I'll take that as a no." The doctor replied.

She spoke with a bubbly passive aggressiveness that made Quarlines blood boil. Each thing she said, was followed by a smirk, aimed to cut.

"I know enough to know you're not a doctor, doctor." Quarline argued, which seemed to work as a bullet, which wiped away the smirk. "Aren't you a glorified vet? What business do you have working on Humans, exactly? That's your role wasn't it? Wildlife inspector?"

The doctor was rattled, and had nothing to say but a few garbled words that fell out as utter babble.