The storm which hit the planet, was something which no one was even wholly prepared for. The worst storms on Earth did not compare with what was currently battering the surface of this world. The winds picked up enough that it was actually a bit of a struggle to keep feet on the ground. It pushed against everyone's retreating backs, and if it wasn't for the suits and the equipment adding a little extra weight, it might've been a different story.

The sky had turned a dark charcoal colour, clouds brewing over the horizon were rolling closer as the sand and debris on the ground was being picked up by the oncoming wind. It was perhaps all the worst types of weather at the same time. If it wasn't the wind causing problems, the buggies they had all travelled in were being edged onwards by the force, the wheels struggled a little with traction and there was swerving at times. Then perhaps the loosing of light was a problem? Despite the buggy lights, and the torches on their suits, everyone's eyes had to squint against the darkness which was creeping in ever more.

The storm clouds had fully eclipsed everything now, there was no natural light, it was just dark. A gloomy, thick, almost suffocating darkness that their torches barely cut into. It wasn't exactly rain which came from above, but more hail, small stones which had been whisked up into the tumultuous atmosphere. These little pieces of stone and shards of whatever else was flying around, impacted against their helmets and if anything, caused the accelerators to be pressed down even more. There was only so much speed the buggies could do, but with the force of everything, it was a surprise there wasn't any dents or cracks appearing in their gear.

Through the heavy murk, the Prometheus could be seen; standing almost sentinel like, its headlights shining out brightly, the churning sand and dirt darted and spiralled about in the lamplight before the shadows of the buggies and people in them pulled up and blocked anything really getting in through the open door. In a rush, everyone speeded over to the door. Pressing against the side of the ship, one by one everyone managed to get in. Those waiting encouraged whoever in with a slight shove before nearly everyone was standing in the blinding white lit room.

The only two who weren't, were Elizabeth and Charlie. The first had got caught in a vicious updraft, which snatched the bag from her grasp and carried it away, she had tried to catch her footing, only to fail. Elizabeth's form shuttled to the side as she slammed into one of the sturdy legs of the ship, keeping it anchored and subsequently now her. She clutched the bag against herself, she couldn't let it go. If she did, the head would be lost forever and it would've been a wasted journey.

Charlie however, as soon as he saw Elizabeth go flying, he had wasted little time in turning around and running back out. The velocity and strength of the wind had picked up now that the storm was fully upon them. Charlie had struggled through the arms of the crew, he ignored them calling his name and he too got carried away in the wind and managed to struggle his way to Elizabeth's small form. She had almost curled in on herself as he landed and slid in the dirt to press his body against hers.

Despite of being near the large metallic structure of the anchoring leg, and even more so considering the chunks of debris which were hitting against it; they were still stuck. They were sheltered, but not sheltered enough, and if anything, if they stayed out there any longer, they would get seriously hurt, or worse. Seeing that it was his duty, David had quickly sprung into action. Of course, no one tried to stop him like they did with Charlie. Although Minerva stood with her hands to her chest with wide eyes, that was as much concern as he was going to get from anyone right now. It wasn't like she could jump and pull at him, not without it looking utterly bizarre, considering the circumstances.

Attaching the winch to himself, David stepped out and unlike Charlie, he didn't fight against the wind. He jumped and let it take him in the direction of the two sheltering doctors. They were huddled together, Charlie's arms around Elizabeth as she leaned in against herself. They looked up though hearing the sudden crunch of stony ground being landed on. David just knelt there, there was no point talking, the wind was too loud, practically screaming and howling as it viciously shredded through the area.

With ease he attached the cable to them, and with a quick OK gesture, he simply tugged and the winch did the rest of the work. Although he did still have to be the one with legs underneath himself to kick off the ground as the two humans practically dangled there, a little useless for the time being. David pushed them both in gently before sorting the winch out and shutting the door. The wind still moaned loudly as it struggled to get in through the slowly dwindling gap, before there was nothing but silence. The silence didn't last before they seemed to bicker about something. It was a bit awkward to watch so David just stepped away and decided to just back off. He didn't expect a thanks, he didn't expect anything really so he didn't wait around.

"Thank you, David." His eyes looked down at Elizabeth as she stood there, a little out of breath, still wide eyed from the experience, but overall okay and looking gratefully at him.

He stood corrected, he smiled and shook his head slowly. "My pleasure." She just looked at him for a few more moments before walking off. After all, what was the point of staying here? Everyone needed to shower, and change and get into clothes which were a lot more comfortable than these suits.

"Are you hurt?" David tilted his head and turned, caught up in the moment of actually getting a thanks, he had overlooked the fact that one important person hadn't left this space. Minerva. She stood there, helmet hanging in one hand, the other hand nervously twitching by her side.

"I don't get hurt, remember?" David pointed out blatantly, Minerva's eyes looked downwards as she nodded slowly. Seeing as how no one was around, he reached out. Lifting her head back up, David smiled. "I am fine, see." He even held his arms up by his sides to prove a point. Only, he didn't expect her to seize the opportunity and suddenly drop her helmet, and latch on around his middle. Her head nestled against his chest as she squeezed onto him. David sighed, he removed his own helmet and discarded it simply before reaching down and putting his hands on her shoulders. He didn't want to, but he pushed her back. She let out quiet mutters of disapproval, but really? They couldn't exactly have anyone eyeing their close moments like this. It would raise way too many questions, awkward questions that neither would want to answer.

"I was worried you'd go too..." Minerva said, trailing off quietly as she looked at him.

David smiled, he did cup her cheeks and wipe his thumbs under her eyes, she looked like she was going to cry. Any sneaky tears which were escaping were quickly wiped away. "I am strong, stronger than them, remember? That wind would only have taken me so far, and I wouldn't have been hurt."

"But you could've been damaged...and I don't want that, I don't want to see that..." Minerva said, her voice edging more into a tone of hysteria.

David shushed her, he carefully brushed his gloved hands over her hair, and stroked her cheeks. "You won't. You're getting worried over nothing. We're back here, we're okay. I'm okay, okay?" David smiled softly at her, her watery eyes still stared at him before nodding slowly. Her eyes did quickly look him up and down before just looking into his eyes. He was right, he was in one piece, and he was fine. But she still couldn't help but to worry for him.

"Can I have one more hug before we go get changed?" Minerva's voice was small and quiet as she wiped her eyes with the backs of her hands.

David smiled, "Of course." No one was around, no one would peep in on this moment now. David was certain everyone was in their own rooms, none of them would even wonder where he was anyway. Minerva's arms wrapped back around his middle as she nestled against his chest, her face burying against the suit as she gave a content sigh. David just looked down at the top of her head, stroking his hands over her hair, he kissed the top of her head before rubbing up and down her back slowly, reassuringly. "Come along, let's change then see what everyone else is doing."

"Probably having some orgasmic moment over an alien head." Was Minerva's mumbled reply as she let David go. She picked her helmet up and looked at him with a small frown.

"What?" He knew that look. She was displeased over something. Tilting his head, he picked his helmet up and smiled slowly. "Are you annoyed that something has actually been found? Did you want them to fail?" That's what it was coming off as, her being annoyed that something, someone, was actually here.

"It was running from something, or to there...why? Well done, they found a corpse, I don't really care. But surely...that is a question that needs answering just as much, right?" Minerva asked while looking at him quickly as they made their way through the bright corridors. "Do you think that urn has the answers?"

David's face fell into a frown, he was silent for a while before looking at her. She glanced back up at him, waiting for him to speak. "Would you like to find out?"

Minerva's mouth pulled into a smile. "Are you asking me to be your science buddy, David?" She couldn't help but look excited and grin.

"I couldn't think of a better person to ask." David replied, he placed a hand near the door panel, and pushed the button. "This is your stop, Minnie. Go and change, I am likely to be needed as help with the examination. But I will come find you afterwards." Minerva just nodded her head before turning into her room and shuffling in. She turned and waved at David, before the door shut and he walked away.

The only thing was, as much as she had very little trouble waiting for David, she didn't know how long he'd be. Minerva, unfortunately, gets bored rather easily. She peeled the suit off, wincing as it clung to her skin. It felt just a little bit gross, she couldn't describe it, it was just too close. Folding it and putting it to one side, she hesitantly sniffed at her arm, she sighed...she just smelt of the suit, plastic and rubbery. With a huff, she walked off to the bathroom and had a shower.

Being here on her own, she decided to forego a towel and just walked quietly around her room nakedly finding clean clothes. Unlike Meredith, who seemed to want to constantly live in uniform like clothes, and unfortunately like David, who had little choice, Minerva opted to just dress casually like the crew. Pulling her wet hair over the collar of the dark t-shirt with the ships emblem on, she readjusted her grey jeans and stuffed her feet into boots. She didn't even really bother doing the laces up as she returned to the bathroom and towel dried her hair a bit before leaving the room.

She was bored, and she wanted to know what everyone else was doing. She stopped and peeked into the bridge, with a frown she caught the tail end of the message Janek was sending to Fifield and Millburn. Turning, she walked in, "They're still out there?" Her eyes briefly skimmed over the holographic map before looking back at Janek.

He nodded and leaned back in his chair with a sigh before standing. Minerva looked up at him as he just made his way over. "Uh-huh, they'll be stuck there until morning."

"How exactly did the man who scanned and mapped the area, get lost?" Minerva asked while crossing her arms.

Janek's eyes widened for a moment before a smile broke out on his face and he laughed. It was a low sound but one of genuine humour. Minerva couldn't help but smile too, although...she didn't know what he was laughing at. "That there is a very good question. It seems that Filfield doesn't have a good sense of direction."

"Or he's ignoring any feed he may be receiving back to his suit, from his drones."

Janek looked thoughtfully at her. "The simplest of things can be forgotten in a moment. He sounded spooked, what happened?"

"You heard about the head? Yeah well...there was a body too, I guess along with a bad sense of direction and a lapse in obvious thinking, he also isn't a fan of discovering dead, alien corpses."

"Now that, that is a very exclusive club."

"Of two." Minerva smiled awkwardly, Janek nodded his head and looked back to the chair he was in before getting in touch with the two missing crew members. "Will they be okay?"

Janek looked at her, she looked worried. "As long as they don't do anything stupid, they should be fine. Their suits will insulate them, the helmets will regulate oxygen. All they need to do is find somewhere to haul up for the time being, and we'll go and get them come morning."

Minerva nodded, she looked over his shoulder to the windows. Outside looked terrible, even worse than earlier on. "I don't envy them..."

Janek let out a quick laugh, "That makes two of us."

"I'm going to go see what else people are up to, you know, those which aren't doing tests..." Minerva waved to the Captain and then turned and made her way elsewhere. Who was she to ignore the glittering lights and the simple decorations that were on the Christmas tree though? She smiled and walked over, reaching out she cupped a small cluster of lights and watched them twinkle in her hands.

"Your sister wanted it taken down." Minerva jumped, she didn't realise someone else was around. She looked confused before looking down the other end of the room. Charlie. She inhaled deeply, wasn't he meant to be in the medical area getting all overdramatic about a head?

She turned and left the tree. "We didn't really celebrate Christmas." Minerva said simply. From memory recalls, her father never really opted to celebrate the holiday with her, or Meredith if she was around. Not that that should be a surprise, considering his wavering religious musings.

Charlie looked sidelong at her as he leaned back drinking the last drops of alcohol in his glass. Minerva leaned her hands on the pool table edge. "Bit of a misery in your house then, huh?"

Her eyes narrowed a fraction, "It wasn't all bad."

"I'm sure it wasn't, with a dad like Peter Weyland, I can't imagine you two struggled."

Minerva smiled, "Do you know what? You don't even know the struggles I've had in my life, let alone my sister and her problems." There were many problems on both sides, Minerva could admit. "Coming from money, doesn't mean you don't struggle. Nor does it mean you have everything. My father worked his company up from nothing, he ingrained hard work into Meredith and I at an early age. He didn't use his wealth, or his standing, to aid us in getting an upper hand in any way whatsoever. You have a preconceived idea and notion on what you believe rich people, and by extension their kids do, or are like. You're being stereotypical, and it's a bit pathetic."

Charlie just looked at her, before a grin appeared on his face and he toasted his glass to her, now refilled while she was talking. Minerva gritted her teeth, giving a rational answer to a sarcastic question and then getting this in return irked her. "So, you didn't go work with daddy then?" It was rhetorical, of course.

Minerva leaned more against her hands as she looked at him. Lord, any and all, she pitied the poor half sober man in front of her. If this was honestly all he could think to do since coming back, she pitied him. "Meredith always wanted to work for the company." Minerva said slowly, she in truth, only worked for a while before dying.

"And you didn't?" Charlie asked curiously.

She hummed, "It interested me, how it all worked and functioned and the things which were being made. But it took me a while to find where I belonged."

"Like here?" Charlie topped up his glass, Minerva tilted her head. "Face it, you're probably just here 'cause your dad asked you to, and because your big sis was here too. Carry on the family legacy and show how great you are by succeeding here...or something like that. But unlike your sister, you don't actually do anything, do you?"

Minerva just looked at him, and he just stared back smirking. He could see he hit a nerve, and he didn't really care. "And what exactly is it you do? Other than be an irritant and sit around getting drunk? Elizabeth seems to be doing all the work, so you're the type of man to ride the coattails of a woman, because you haven't quite got the brains or the means to do things yourself. You have to have a woman do it for you?" Minerva replied back lowly with a small smile. "That's truly pathetic."

He put the glass down and shook his head, looking down at it. "You don't know the shit we've had to go through."

"And likewise, you know nothing about the shit, as you put it, that we have been through to even get to this point." Minerva turned away, "Nice denying the fact Elizabeth does everything, real appealing there." She smirked and commenced walking away. "Because everyone likes a leech, right?" She turned the corner and just decided to go back to her room, she presumed everyone who wasn't examining the head were basically taking some down time. Minerva didn't suffer from stress, or exhaustion, but she happily returned to her room after grabbing some popcorn from the kitchen and lounging on her bed. Maybe she should've just stayed here? At least then she wouldn't have to have crossed paths with Charlie.

Hearing a knock on the door a few moments later, Minerva got up confused. Opening the door she looked up at David. "Did you still want to know what was in the urn?"

"What happened?" Minerva asked, she followed David out the room. Of course she wanted to know!

David looked bored, highly unamused as he stepped back in the corridor and looked at her. "It imploded." Minerva pulled a face. "There seemed to be some sort of state change happening, putting a charge through it would've got the answers for what it was...only, no. Too much, and it couldn't take it. It was rather messy."

"Yeah, I think I could've figured that part out."

"It was contained, no one got covered in brain matter."

"Lovely, really, David, thank you..." Minerva was sure if she was human, she'd be feeling rather sick around about now.

He sighed, a smile appearing as he tilted his head. "Your sister doesn't believe there are any more. Yet, Elizabeth continues to be optimistic."

"Meredith would think that." Minerva put her hands in her pockets. "Human?"

"Human looking, just...larger in proportions. Despite of everything, they're just as mortal as the people on this ship."

"That's...anticlimactic."

"It was a bit of a dull end." David agreed, he tucked his hands behind his back and walked beside her to the room where he had stashed the grey canister for their own, private investigation.

——

Edited: 16/June/2021