The crisp air passed through the vents along the top of the wall, cooling his forehead and chest as he wiped the sweat from his brow before planting both hands firmly onto the floor to continue another set of pushups. This was the norm for Gavon, early morning workouts to prepare his mind and body for the day ahead, followed by several small meals of various nutritional qualities, both solids and liquids, to help sustain enough energy for a good ten to twelve hour shift if necessary. Physically, he’d never felt better in his life, and he knew this particular day would be taxing enough on him and his team. But mentally, he had his doubts about the ship itself, it’s technology, and the AI that seemed to control everything around them. Space travel was relatively new to him, and adjusting to that type of environment took years for some, but nevertheless, he had to put away the past concerns and anxieties that crept into his mind, focusing on the here and now. 

“Still thinking about today’s launch, eh Gav?” 

Natalie rubbed the sleep from her eyes and rolled to one side, propping her head up with an arm while focusing on her husband across the room as he mentally counted his repetitions. 

“It’s this bloody artificial heart they stuck in my chest, damn thing is probably malfunctioning.”

“Well...you seemed to be [i]functioning[/i] pretty damn well last night, cowboy.” She shot him a mocking wink. “And multiple times at that.”


Gavon snorted, throwing off his pushup count, as he changed positions to sit with his back against the wall, towel drying his forehead, chest, and arms.

“‘Cowboy’. Why do you insist on calling me that?”

“Because I know it annoys you.” She said in a matter-of-fact tone, reaching for the half empty bottle of water on the small nightstand and finishing it off before sitting up on the edge of the bed to pull a long tank top over her small naked frame.

“You and your American bred humor...” He said, shaking his head trying to hide a smirk behind the towel.

“I thought that was the reason you married me?” She quickly grabbed her pillow and playfully tossed it at him, which he caught in the air, and placed between his head and wall. 

He never quite felt like he deserved a woman like Natalie, and would have never imagined in a thousand lifetimes that she would ever want a guy like him. But, as fate had it, they were a perfect mix of calm and chaos, and after almost ten years of marriage, seemed equally inseparable. She was slightly shorter than he, a tall and lean woman standing just under six feet, with cropped reddish-brown hair, olive skin, light freckled cheeks, and green piercing eyes that could stare any man down. He owed her a lot, probably more than he could ever repay, but she was never in it expecting reciprocation. She loved Gavon because he was real, warts and all. 

“Gav, look…” Natalie walked over and knelt down next to him, her expression taking on a more serious form.  “Don’t let your past experiences dissuade you from what the Ark has to offer. And the technology on board is top-notch.”

“I’m not ‘dissuaded’, Nat, it’s just...these were the same devices -exact make and model even- that The Brotherhood were smuggling and selling to lowlife scum who didn’t deserve it, and now I have one of these infernal things in my body, probably ready to short out at any minute and kill me on the spot.”

She let out a long sigh. “Your dramatic ‘techno-paranoia’ aside, it was what they had on hand at the time and it saved your life Gavon, try not to forget that.”

“No. [i]You[/i] saved my life.”

The months that passed since he was transported onto the Vitae for emergency heart replacement, leading up to launch day, Gavon spent countless hours in physical therapy and on-the-job training, taking on mental exercises, additional combat exercises, and attending classes held by the Security & Investigation Division. He eventually adapted the role as [b]Chief of Security[/b], restructuring and streamlining a few of the processes, and implementing additional security measures throughout the Ark. His greatest struggle, oddly enough, was warming up to the Ark’s artificial intelligence entity, [b]NO4H[/b], considering he’d always put his faith in human comrades rather than a machine. It wasn’t so much that he didn’t like the AI, but rather he didn’t trust it to a degree. However, NO4H had also proven to be an invaluable asset and he really didn’t think that the bastard would be going away any time soon.

Admiral Locke’s voice echoed over the internal and external comms system, giving a speech that he hoped would raise the morale of a crew who were about to head on a journey that most could only imagine, and many feared as well. 

“All stations prepare for lift off”

That was Gavon’s queue as he clicked on the communicator for all of his Agents throughout the Ark. 

“Alright team you heard the Admiral, it's go time.”