Chapter Nine

                                    

                                          
Chapter Nine
                          
Alexander placed the toothbrush Kimberly had purchased for him in his toiletries kit and zipped it up, focusing on the refreshing mint flavor swimming around in his mouth. It was a little past midnight and he had just gotten back to the small room set aside for him on the Carrier, planning to get some much needed sleep before another long day that loomed ahead of him.
                          
Since coming to the Carrier a lot of things had happened and he was extremely tired. Hell, he hadn't been this tired in a few years, the last time being when he had been up for nearly five days straight during a large battle back in England. He hated being that tired, his brain didn't function properly and his reaction times were much slower than they usually were; it was stuff like that led to needless deaths on the battlefield.
                          
Even though Alex had never been  aboard a ship like this before, he still felt at home for some reason. Maybe it was because of the military activity all over the place or just the sound of the engine humming through the quiet. Whatever it was he was sure he would be able to get to sleep quickly and get some much needed rest. It seemed like the world had other plans for him however, and no sooner had his head hit the pillow did he hear a soft knock on his door.
                          
At first he just planned on ignoring it and covering his head with his pillow to drown it out; he wasn't on duty after all, and because of the Aegis needing to be repaired he wasn't on Alert status. But after a few moments of wishing the person would just go away he realized that it was his duty to answer the door. He was the senior ranked pilot on the project and he had a duty to make sure that everything was okay with his subordinates; and he was sure that it was one of his pilots on the other side of that door. So with a groan he jumped out of bed and opened the door.
                          
"Oh!" Angela exclaimed as the door opened to reveal her, standing in the brightly lit hall in a pair of plain pajama's and her hair down around her shoulders. "I... I thought this was Kimberly's room."
                          
"She's three doors down to the left," he told her, thankful that she was looking for her instead of him. Angela stood there for a moment and then nodded, walking away without another look.
                          
At this point Alexander was simply going to close the door and head back to his bunk, but something stopped him and he remained standing there at the slightly open door. He could hear Angela knock on Kimberly's door and wait, but nothing seemed to happen. A moment later she knocked once more and after a long pause he could hear her sigh and stamp her foot on the ground. He really wanted to go to bed, but he couldn't force himself to now, so he stuck his head out the door and spoke.
                          
"She not there?" he asked and spotted Angela standing down the hall a few doors, cocking her head to look back at him sadly. It was the depressed and troubled look in her eyes that told him he had been right not to close his door and be done with it.
                          
"Doesn't look like it," she answered softly and began to walk down the hall towards his door. The other pilots on the project had been given rooms on the level lower than them and the closest set of stairs was just past Alexander's room, so she had to go back that way to get to her room. "I'll try again in the morning, I guess."
                          
"If you need to talk, my doors open," he offered and walked back into his room as Angela grew closer. To be honest he didn't expect her to accept his offer, so when he heard her stop just on the other side of his room he was a little surprised. Looking back he found that she seemed a little surprised too.
                          
"I... I'm just having trouble sleeping," she admitted from the doorway, never stepping a single toe inside.
                          
"That's normal after what you guys went through today. I'm sure you're not the only one with that problem right now."