Jessa felt someone rubbing her back gently and speaking in a low whispered tone. The action did not immediately jar her awake. Instead, it let her wake slowly. It was comforting and familiar in some way. For a moment, Jessa fought to stay asleep. She was exhausted. Between her dreams haunting her sleep and the nightmare she awoke to every morning, all she wanted was to return home to her bed at the academy where things made sense; however, the persistent voice and gesture stole the fleeting respite she had between the two worlds. Opening her eyes slowly, Jessa looked up at the face staring down at her.

“Hey, sleepyhead. You don’t have to get up but I have to go see Lauren for a minute and I promised you wouldn’t wake up without me being here.” Ian felt like he had been in a bar fight, scratch that, make it a bar brawl. Everything was stiff from sleeping in the chair. He needed to move around and get some coffee. The logical thing was not to wake the kid yet he had promised to not leave her side. “Curl back up,” he pulled the blanket up over Jessa’s shoulders as he spoke. “I am just going out there for a second. When I get back what if we have some waffles?”

Jessa nodded and let him tuck her in. She was so tired and now she realized why it felt so familiar. Her mom called her sleepyhead every time she woke her up. Rolling over, Jessa pressed her face into the pillow. The room was dark with the lights set to dim, yet she did not want to take a chance, Ian would notice she was unhappy. Scrunching up her eyes lightly, Jessa blocked all the thoughts in her mind focusing on a single memory as she dozed back to sleep.

It could have been a hours or just a few minutes, but before Jessa knew it, someone again was at her bed calling out her name. This voice was not so soft or gentle. It had a firmer, more persistent quality. Placing her hand on the bed Jessa tried to sit up but unlike Ian’s, the handheld her in place. “Don’t get up. Pretend you are still asleep.” The utterance from the person had Jessa instantly on edge. She nodded but tensed her body ready for a fight. “We don’t have much time but know you have friends here. We are trying to get you and the others off the ship but we need you to do your part. Take this,” the voice placed something in the bed with Jessa as they continued to move about the room in a slow controlled manner. “Inside are some things that will help you and your friends escape. Don’t inspect them now. Wait until you get the signal. You will only get one chance at this.”

“What do you need me to do,” Jessa spoke in barely above a whisper.

The woman felt a smile forming behind her neutral expression. This was going to be as easy as taking candy from a baby. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw she had a few more precious moments to lay a few more seeds. The plan had been to do this over several encounters but no one knew how much time they actually had. “Act normal and be ready. Don’t let them take you far and be careful around Rinker. He will get into your head and confuse you. You are fine and you don’t need to talk to him.” Her superior’s had said Rinker was on board with them yet something about that did not sit right with her. The mission parameters did not fit with Rinker’s psychological profile or his service on the ship. Since Jessa was so young, it was better for her to assume Heathcliff was as much an obstacle as the security chief to getting free. It also didn’t hurt to make sure the kid kept her mouth shut. Psychologists were tricky people. The could get into your head just as easy as any intelligence agent. “We will talk soon.” Before Jessa could reply however, a soft pneumatic hiss filled her ears as something cold was pressed to her neck. Jessa’s eyes closed and she was back to sleep.

Adjusting the teddy bear next to the girl, the woman walked out of the room. Her superiors wanted to see what the new visitors could do and in a few days, they would get their wish. The trick would be getting Jessa all the necessary supplies without her being caught with them. Nodding to the men at the door, the woman moved about sickbay performing her daily duties but still able to keep half an eye on Jessa as her handler.

Intelligence agent