Lieutenant Tratha stared out the window into the Rift.

The void around them remained a starless dark, an unwelcome constant over the past week. It still looked so wrong, its unnatural patterns surrounding them.

"They say if you stare at the Rift too long you’ll go mad," Jora commented.

"Captain Icaan!" The Lieutenant snapped to attention. "I-I was just… It's nothing, Captain."

Jora held up his hand, "Relax, Tratha. We’re both off-duty."

"Sorry, Captain. I just… This place," he stuttered.

Jora couldn’t help but draw his gaze towards the window. "It calls out to you, doesn’t it?"

Tratha nodded hesitantly. "I… I can’t really describe it. Something about this place. The feeling is hard to explain."

"I think I know the feeling," Jora responded. "I hate this place, I hate being here in the Rift, and yet for some reason, I can’t seem to look away."

"It’s more than that though, Captain. It’s like…" his words droned off. He grabbed his head with his hands, his body tensing up in pain.

Jora frowned at the scene. "How are you handling the headaches?"

"They're… fine. They come and go. Been getting worse, but it's fine." He smiled unconvincingly, lowering his hands. "Doctor said it's a normal reaction to the Rift, gave me some meds that are supposed to help."

"They try, but there’s only so much they can do. It’s something about this place, defies all we thought we knew."

"This place feels wrong somehow, yet it feels like there’s something more about it. I’m not even sure I understand it yet." Tratha leaned against the window, their hands and forehead pressed against the glass.

The Lieutenant tensed with pain again, their claws starting to dig into the window. Then he jumped backwards, his face filling with shock.

"We need to go," he said. "We need to get away from this window, right now."

Jora glanced out the window. Everything seemed the same as it had before.

"Lieutenant, I don’t-," Jora started to stay

"Right now," Tratha warned again, their command stronger this time.

Jora stepped back, wondering what had put them on edge so suddenly. The Lieutenant’s eyes darted around the hallway.

They turned around, shouting "Everyone get down!"

Tratha’s sudden shout grew confused glances from those near. Jora was caught off-guard when the Lieutenant suddenly leapt towards him, tackling the Captain to the floor. Jora thought he heard the sounds of bones breaking as they landed. What the hell had he been-

And then everything exploded. 

---

Jora struggled to his feet, his ears ringing. As he rose he nearly fell back to the floor as his body screamed in pain. Something is definitely broken now, he thought. 

He felt winded, as if the air had been pulled out his lungs. That’s because it probably was, he realized. Only a hole in the wall remained where the window once stood. The shimmer of a force field covered the hole, now the only thing keeping them breathing. The hallway was a mess. Most of the others had been thrown against the back wall. Newly exposed electronics were sparking. The fire suppression activated as small electrical fires started to burn. His vision started to obscure as a fog of the fire suppressant began to fill the hall.

Lieutenant Tratha was already on his feet. He looked at the situation around them with a blank look of shock. Jora tried to get their attention, but the stunned Tratha didn’t react. He was muttering something to himself, but Jora couldn’t make out the words.

Around them, some of the other crew members looked to be in worse condition than them. A few were already back on their feet, checking on the others. A few were still laying on the ground. Unconscious or worse, he feared. 

Jora turned his attention from the stunned Tratha, shifting his focus to the nearest of the down crew. He saw the slumped figures of two Lagahti on the floor next to the inner wall. Sparks from the shattered electrical panel above them flickered down, landing on burnt flesh. A dark puddle had started to form beneath them.

The first Lagahti groaned in pain as Jora rolled them onto their back. Jora almost sighed in relief at the sign of life. Most of the right side of their body was burned, shrapnel piercing through their exoskeleton. Their two right arms hung limply at their side as they tried to get to the feet. Through their injuries, he almost didn’t recognize that the face belonged to his chief engineer, Kz’Zeri-Vortau.

Jora swore as he checked on the other Lagahti. Their injuries had been far more severe. Their breathing was still, and their hearts silent. The deep electrical burns in their chest alone told Jora enough. He despaired as he unsuccessfully tried to remember their name. He recognized the Lagahti. Both him and Kz'Zeri were part of "Vortau", the pseudo-"hive mind" entity that unofficially formed his "real" Chief Engineer. Jora had given up on trying to understand how any of that worked after the irritated Kz’Zeri had tried yet again to explain it to him. But Jora knew enough to know that, Kz’Zeri and the others would take the loss hard.

Grabbing whatever loose clothing he could, Jora turned his attention back to Kz’Zeri, trying to stop the blood gushing from their wounds. He was relieved when medics finally began to arrive, Jora's clothing drenched in blood. With the help of one, they lifted the wounded Kz’Zeri, carrying them towards the medical bay.