My Journey

[stryker99]

(continued)

I flew back to the station, which on Pulse drive was just a minute away, and went up the ramp to the upper levels with the booths to where a resource was that I kept forgetting was even there; the Teleporter. It was a ways down the list, but presently I came across the entry for the Noradli system.

Teleportation was barely different than using Portals. The experience was much the same, just about as uncomfortable, and as dazzling a light show. But it saved me a couple of dozen minutes of travel prep, and a hunk of warp cell. Star Sword came with me as a nice, essential bonus. And as I took her into space, the marker for the Anomaly beckoned.

During the two minute approach, as the Anomaly was a good distance out from the twin stars, I wrestled with mixed emotions. Selene herself was one issue, but the other was what Nada and Polo would say. Would they care that someone was looking for them? Did they know? Had they been found? I was growing antsy as the massive dark metal sphere outgrew the marker in my HUD, and I shot for the entrance. I was a little too distracted to enjoy the dramatic entry as much, but I did reflect that after the first arrival, it didn’t seem quite as gargantuan as before.

And my heart skipped; Selene was there at the landing bay, waiting for me. That was a very welcome sight for two reasons. Even swooping in for a landing, I couldn’t keep my eyes off her. I removed my helmet and jumped out of the cockpit to land nimbly beside my ship as she scurried up to meet me. I drew a breath and wheezed out an awkward, “Hi.” But to my dismay, she didn’t look happy to see me. “What’s—?”

“Nigel!” she said over me. “What dreadful events have you been suffering through? Your face, the testimony it bears…”

She reached up to feel me over gently, with a motherly touch. “Oh. That? It’s nothing, I… cut myself shaving.”

She rolled her eyes at me, and it was so darling. “Ohh, you and your juvenile humor,” she said reprimandingly. “Come, let me tend to you.”

As she began to lead me off, I pulled away with great reluctance. “You know, as much as I’d love for you to play doctor with me, I have to have a quick conference with Nada and Polo first.”

She folded her arms with an adorable, dubious look. “A conference? Are you aware of the vast gulfs of time such a thing will devour?”

“Just a quick gulf. I promise. Then I’m all yours.” I gave her a brief peck on the cheek which made her blush. “Or you could follow, and lend moral support. And time us.”

I sincerely doubted she would have stayed behind anyway. I charged up the ramp to greet the typically shrieky Gek and stoic Korvax. “Hey! Hi, guys! It is super great to be back. But real quick - did you know someone is looking for you?”

They gave each other questioning looks, and Polo muttered, “Someone always looks for us.”

“Yeah, but, this time, a Traveler is pretending to be an investigator with the Trade Federation, looking for you in particular, Polo, complete with an old picture of you. Do you hang around many crashed shuttles?” I leaned close and looked his face over. “M-hm, yeah… though your markings have dulled a bit in over a century.”

He hacked out a laugh, waving me away. “Eghh… go off. Who cares?”

I wondered if they could ever be overconfident, but who knew what they were capable of? “Okay… not even if his sidekick is a Gruff’nafl Chard’nad?”

“Gruff’nafl…?” Nada began.

Polo graveled, “Maah, he is being clever again. Let them. They will find us to be as charming as themselves.”

I wasn’t sure to be relieved or not, but if they were okay with it, who was I to question them? “Great! If you don’t mind, I’ll… see you later. Whenever that is.” I swooped into Selene, who was waiting with arms unfolding, telling her as I pulled her along, “Well, come on, I hurt all over. I think I need a full body massage.”

She sighed tiredly, “Ohh… are you always having fun with me?” I waved to the others in parting as they came to see what mischief I was up to.

I promised myself I’d be on my best behavior with her, at least until she was done with whatever it was she wanted to do medicinally. And it didn’t take much effort because she was a little stiff with me. I decided I’d try a bit of ice breaking. “You know, I can hardly get a word in edgewise.”

“What?” She gave me a curious look then huffed elegantly, dabbing a bit of ointment on my cheek, which was still tender. “I sense that you did not see my second mail.”

“Second… really?” Ohh, this could be awkward, and I tried to rein myself in, full stop. “Well… I was kind of busy.” I motioned at my face. “Shaving.”

That brought forth a sweet giggle. “Oh… your humor. It is so adolescent and charming to me. Uhm…” She folded her hands in her lap, sighing as her thoughts jumbled. “Just… perhaps… delete it.”

“The second one?” I murmured a little worriedly. “Because… well… the first one is a keeper. I mean, I could delete the attachment, I suppose, while I keep a copy in a secret folder. But that mail was…” I gazed into her eyes, adding softly, “Like having you there with me. It was… very sweet.” I thought dimly that reining myself in was not happening.

She sat there, blushing, admiring my face for a time, as I admired hers. I decided that, even as different a race as she was, she was lovely. She reached up to stroke my uninjured cheek, whispering, “And you are… wine to my soul.” She lowered her hand with a shrug. “Perhaps… it is best to let our voices mingle… our thoughts spoken, in person, like this. I… must confess to being… conflicted. I am a girl, so that is my right, after all.”

“Oh absolutely,” I said, stroking over her hand before drawing back. “Is it because of me… our differences? Someone else? Eos?”

Her tongue dangled from her mouth for a second. “How perceptive you are. All of those. I mean… to be certain, I am…” She gazed at me with a sigh. “Different from you in almost every way.”

I shrugged. “Well… we are both mammals. Intelligent, at least I can be. And you have the cutest tuft of hair.”

She choked, her cheeks flushing pink.

I pointed to my head. “Pony tail.”

She grumbled out a chuckle. “Of course I do… you charlatan. But… well… how quickly I collect your wordings. Your language must be very useful. As I was about to say… once, some times ago, I had a… relationship with Eos. A brief one. Our hearts drifted around each other, like two stars, though we… did not find harmony. We drifted apart. And then… after you came to us… perhaps having another male around eliciting… passions… caused him to feel… possessive. Protective. Something.”

Jealous. “And he poured on the charm offensive after I left?” And then I thought about it, and it had to be a day or so ago. Yesterday? I guess he needed to work up the nerve. What wonderful timing.

“Yes… very much so,” she murmured. “He is… nice. I suppose… not really much more compatible, but… our minds, our cultures… are more similar. You are an incredible being, but… so incredibly different. So…” She gave a little shrug. “So, a male who is familiar and understood, or a man who is rash and impulsive, radically variant, and a violent shaver? What is a woman to do?”

This was a touchy question, and I hoped I could navigate these alien waters successfully. “Well… I can work on my shaving technique.”

She enjoyed a musical laugh, saying as she recovered, “You silly man… I worry about others and their shaving techniques. The thought of you, being out in that wilderness of stars…” She shivered, clasping my hand. “This galaxy devours even the strongest people… it has no morals or soul. It is most likely why many who come here, do not go back out there, or make a new home for themselves. And you, who want to voyage everywhere… to the Center, where the greatest dangers lie…” She sighed, giving my hand a caress. “Infatuation with a man of danger is the worst thing a girl can do to herself. So… you see, I am a book… open to the middle. Do I turn left, do I turn right…?” She looked irritated. “And then, I give in to a foolish impulse, throw my brain into space and write that mail… send that image… where were my sensibilities?” She squeezed her eyes shut, blushing profusely.

I found her perplexion to be both worrying and endearing. It was the wrong thing to do to prey on her emotions just then, but, I am a typical male. I leaned a bit closer, murmuring, “Attractions aren’t about being sensible. They’re about finding unions with others that are… magical.”

She lost herself in my gaze for a few moments. “And you say that my tongue is magical, Nigel. You… have no inkling…” She fussed with her medicines, and remembered that she had one last thing to attend to with me, putting a tiny dab of ointment on her fingertip. She touched my lip, and the ointment stung, causing me to suck a breath. “My apologies… does it—?”

“No, no,” I said with a headshake. “It’s… just a little… sensitive. My lips are always…” My gaze wandered her over, settling on her mouth. “Sensitive.”

“They are… amazingly soft, like flowers…” she breathed out, then looked aside. “I once thought of myself as so very grounded, of steady mind. And here… I let my passions lead me down pathways of nothing but dreams… I sleep in your bed… more dreams… of a man who would risk everything for dreams which could destroy… my treasured…”

I was about to embrace her, but she had already seized me, tightly, holding on as if I would try to escape, her lips pressed to mine, and hungrily… we both were…

I lay down with her afterward as we rested, my arm draped over her side, her back pressed into my body. She brushed her fingers lightly on my sleeve, crooning, “Ohh, Nigel… you strange, wonderful… gift of a curse. You are a thief, as well… I feel my heart, slipping into your hands, unbidden.”

“Well, I… must admit that I want to keep it for myself.” I kissed her neck softly. “I’m selfish like that. But you can have mine, in exchange.”

“You have me at a disadvantage, Nigel. You are able to keep me in your pocket, and I have no will but to comply with any whim. And here, I have fallen for a man of danger, who places both our hearts in peril because of your foolish, noble dreams. Good dreams, that is true, but…” She caressed the back of my hand. “What hope do you truly have… of realizing any of them, danger man?”

“Ohh… that’s the thing about living in Time and Space like this. I won’t know unless I try,” I told her, nuzzling around her neck. “What if I promise to give up shaving?”

“What—?” she began, then erupted in laughter, like song. “You and your humor… irrepressible.” She sighed, squirming into me. “And what do you dream… of us?”

“Ohh, I have lots of dreams.” I murmured. “But… I have a feeling you need to settle yours first.”

I could see her smile ruefully. “Perceptive… you truly are a man of many mysteries and dangers. My heart is in danger… but… I would suffer that for you. Still, I will hold it… just a bit firmly… until I know that you will return to me. If I… lost you, with my heart within yours… I am unsure if I would truly survive.”

That’s what I was afraid of, but it couldn’t be helped. We had both thrown our hearts around recklessly because of sparks of infatuation, and here we were. Not that I was the least at guilt, and I wanted more. Everything. Joining lives. Becoming her mate. Would this do, for either of us? I had to face the possibilities. “Sweetheart… I don’t want to torture you. But someone has to try. If someone bigger, stronger… some professional hero was doing it, believe me, I’d drop this quest in a red hot minute.”

She gave a melancholy sigh. “No, you would not. I am certain you would see it as a challenge, a competition… and that is perhaps why my soul is so captivated with you. A man who wants to strut around as if you are Hirk, but hold the entire universe in your heart, like a child. I am blessed that you have room for me also.”

“Well, I always have room for a very special girl.” I kissed her neck softly, worried about what tomorrow would bring me… us… what her heart would decide. I would have to be patient myself. “And if we don’t have any more than this… if we drift apart… you will always be special to me.”

“I know this… in my soul, I know,” she murmured, fondling my hand. “I almost wish you would fail, come wandering back to the Anomaly, and stay. Become my lover, if only that. But I have a fear that with the sting of failure, you would find my love to be a cage, and you are a man who will not be imprisoned, even by love. And… I must confess that I wish to see how much you can succeed. By the condition of your face, today was not so successful. But tomorrow, you will depart, out into that ravenous galaxy, and try once more, suffer once more. I must be patient, and strong, and wait to see what you are able to accomplish. Now… please… no more. Forget that there is a galaxy, and dangers, and mysteries, and an ATLAS. Say no more of them. Put them away. For a few hours, let there only be… this place. Your friends. The two of us. In blessed union.”

I nodded, squeezing her to me in my arms, and rested my cheek on her neck. “One night, without a universe to save? I think I can handle that.”

She placed her hand over mine, worked her fingers between mine, lacing them, and breathed softly for a while as she cradled it to her bosom. She stirred against me, murmuring, “Nigel… would you… stay?”

“Tonight?” I kissed her neck again, whispering, “Darling, I… can’t…” I felt her wither against me, and added, “…Say no to you.”

She snorted a cute little laugh. “Scoundrel.”

[stryker99]

Entry 010: A test of Fate, and of Faith

Day 41

Leaving the next day felt like the hardest thing I had ever done.

Leaving her. I felt as if I had fallen in love for the first time. Just rising from bed, unentangling from each other, was a struggle that took way too long. A girl that was as alien to me as could be, but that didn’t matter. Nothing mattered, but her. Selene, whose every word was elegant prose. If she was much older, she showed no sign of it, and we were as caught up in each other as two teenagers. Which was both good and bad, particularly for a man who would have to leave her for an indefinite period of time. Perhaps forever.

I almost called off leaving, almost. I had enough sense to know what truly mattered, and if despite all odds I managed to succeed, even in part, it could mean a universe stable enough to provide a future for all people. For her, for us, if I could manage to keep a certain sharky individual at bay. That was another thing that gave me pause, but I had to be sensible about all this, acknowledge that there were greater things at stake than a lonely man’s wants and needs. And as much as I wanted to believe that she had absolutely chosen me without doubt, that page of our story was unwritten.

I stood beside her as she primped for her day, in my briefs, and I had to wear something. She had to wear something, but kept to her undies. It was funny how we were intimate and still a bit shy with each other. She slowed in the brushing of her plume of thick black hair, wondering, “Have I blundered?”

I edged a bit closer, feeling the warmth of her form. She could be eloquent, but also quite succinct. “You mean… last night?”

She nodded soberly. “It has complicated matters.”

I ran my fingers along her spine, making us both tremble. “Well… yes, a little…” I had to cough to get some air into my lungs, reboot my resolve just a bit. “But I need a reason to win, a special reason, and to keep me from taking too many risks. At least the risky risks.”

She gave a melancholy chuckle, cut short as I gave in to a kiss on her shoulder. “I suspect that risky risks will be what you encounter the most, as your travels near your goal. And winning against a universe, against ATLAS…?” Her voice faltered with a sigh, and she resumed her brushing. As I sought for something to assure her I was capable of such an implausible feat, she advised me, “Know your limits, heed them, and abide by them. Or you shall be no more.”

And that was the damned truth. When some of the strongest civilizations had been almost completely erased from the universe, what hope did one man have? I would be one more stain in some planet’s soil if I lost, absorbed and forgotten, as Time and Resets smothered every trace. But there was one truth I could cling to, and I said to her, “Destinies are often made and history determined by one person. I’m no Hirk or Nal, and even though they didn’t always abide by their limits, I don’t think they had such a special girl to live for either.”

In the mirror, she bore a smirk as she leaned into me. “I feared that you would say something opposite. You are quite the diplomat, as you use your words to great effect.” I settled her against my bosom and wrapped her in my embrace, resting my cheek against hers. We looked so different; me with my flat, pinkish face, and hers, serpentine and irridescent. But her heart, her soul, were what truly mattered to me. She slid her arms over mine, murmuring, “And you are making it difficult to leave your embrace, and step out into my day.”

“I know,” I crooned to her. “I guess I’m complicating things. But I have someone I want to be complicated with.” She reached up to caress my cheek with one hand, and slid her tongue across my lips, and we were late for breakfast.

Then I found myself standing beside my ship, wondering where the time had gone. Even as I knew full well that destiny wouldn’t wait around for me, an incredibly important destiny, I resisted every minute of it, trying to drag my stay as long as possible. But there were only so many details, so many distractions, so many diversions even in a place as incredible as the Anomaly. And a girl as mysterious and exquisite as Seline.

I had said my goodbyes to the others, even the money-hungry Tethys, but I felt led to save Mercury’s to the last. My goodbye to Eos was… tense, to say the least, though I was as stoic as could be. I made my farewell with Selene in private earlier, not wanting it tainted with any jealous stares from Eos, though that would have been gratifying. Besides, I wanted us to be free to express our emotions, and it was emotional.

Mercury stood with me by my ship as the others waited nearby, Selene in the front. And not far from her, Eos, staring at me with his usual emotionless, blank, sharky gaze. Damn it, why did life insist on being so complicated?

“In a universe such as this, we are lucky that it is only so complicated,” Mercury remarked. I had to watch my tongue; it seemed to speak without letting me know half the time.

“Y-yeah,” I stammered from the exposure, my stomach in a knot, though only in small part from my impending journey. “But I hate this, having to leave.”

“Are your engines cold?” It was also funny how universal the slang was among spacefaring folk.

I heaved out a heavy sigh. “Almost. I just wish… for once, the universe would put its fricken big boy pants on and take care of itself.” I discreetly thrust a rude finger into the air. “Why is it that so often, the burden of destiny falls on one man’s shoulders?”

He gave me a sardonic if toothy grin, though he couldn’t help that. “The universe has been dealing with its fate as best it can, but it displeases you. Although, no one is forcing you to leave. Not one of us would blame you if you remained.”

I gazed longingly into Selene’s eyes, though they seemed encouraging as much as affectionate. “Yeah… but… I would.” He seemed surprised as I grabbed him in a warm hug, patting his back. As I drew away, I murmured sheepishly, “I’m… not usually such a huggy guy, but… I’ll miss you as much as anyone.”

He cast a look towards Selene, saying dryly, “While I am flattered, I believe that is not so true.”

“Well, it’s the thought that counts, right?” I hefted my helmet, adding, “But keep me in your thoughts. I’ll probably need all your wisdom to guide me through this.”

“Perhaps, but…” He stroked his finger across my forehead and my chest in an act which felt incredibly solemn. “I sense that your mind and your spirit will be up to whatever challenges you face. And if you find it overwhelming, you have a haven which is always open to you.”

I still couldn’t get over what an amazing being he was, and murmured wistfully, “If only I could take you with me…”

He chuckled with a smile. “I am aware of my limits, and obey them now. I have exceeded them too many times already. Obey your own, and you should do well.”

I said to him with a lopsided smile, “I’ll work on that. Live long, and prosper, my friend, and mentor.” I held up my fist invitingly.

He chuckled graciously, and obliged with a bump, replying, “You do the same, and return to us when you are able. May He watch over you in all your doing.” He clasped his hands together in benediction for me. It figures that he would believe in a Supreme Being too, and seemed even more saintly in that moment.

I felt like wood as I donned my helmet and climbed into the cockpit, fired up Star Sword without paying attention to the procedure, and departed, watching again as Selene’s image shrank to nothing, as the great leaden sphere of the Anomaly receeded into the distance, adrift in a field of stars that seemed unfriendly. There was an ache deep in my gut. My very life, my reason for existence… and I was running away from it all. From her. It felt as if I was torn in half. I had to wonder once more, what in the world was I getting myself into? Would anyone but my handful of friends care? Would I survive this?

Love, and hatred… those were two of the predominant truths in this universe. But love was the only truth that really mattered.

Sail the stars safely, oh mysterious stranger
Seek hard and find what the One has well hidden
Stay strong and whole, let not your feet stumble
Keep yourself well, flee from all danger
Let not the news cry of your trouble or fall
Return to me whole, alive and all well
Heed your own limits, my heart’s yearning call
My weary, my waiting
My poor soul’s elating
I am with you, within you
For ever and always
Oh wine of my soul

Selene’s poetry, spoken to me at the last. I clung to those words, those passions, that Truth fiercely.

---

I was about to call up the star charts when I realized that I had to get back to the Infineon. And I was about to head for the station to board her when I remembered that I had teleported to Noradli from the Gryana XVI system. I had to get my head back on my shoulders or I was going to do some truly stupid, wasteful things.

I landed at the station and hopped out, no spring in my step as I didn’t anticipate going to the shops or booths to check out upgrades or check in with guilds to collect rewards. But something made me pause under the overhang of the upper deck. Two Vy’keen were talking in hushed tones above me, towards the back wall where cargo was stowed, and it sounded like they were discussing some sort of conspiracy.

“Are you sure?”

There was a pause as he perhaps gave a shrug, or checked for eavesdroppers. “Already he makes yokt’nka to the Gek which are of no benefit to us. Why? No one cares about those nasty toads. There is no cause for it.” Agreement… concession? Treaty?

“Foolishness. Peace without conditions only serves to make our enemies stronger. But what can be done?”

“Oh… something will be done,” the other one said in a gloating tone. “You will see.”

“When will I see and what will I see?”

“You will see… well, let me say only that the election may be repaired.”

One of them said something in a cold voice that sounded like, “Drerath nak toh Hirk.”

It seemed Vy’keen, but different… an older saying from an archaic dialect? Something… dramatic? Opposite those Hirk? Bad stuff for those against Hirk?

I nearly choked as a memory came to me. I was being restrained by Vy’keen guards, and at my feet was the body of Andonai. I managed to break free as they shouted for me to stop, that I had done enough evil, as I tore into his ceremonial armor, trying to bare his chest… what was this! My dream? I had forgotten parts of it. I was terrified that I had seen into the future, that I really did have a reason to fear for my friend. Even if this was just idle gossip, and my vision a coincidence, I had to get to him. I had to be sure.

The conversation above had stopped, which wasn’t a good sign. I trotted as quietly but quickly as I could to the other end of the mall area and rocketed to the upper level where the Teleporter was. I had to be faster than discreet, and hurried to the control panel. The list of starports was long, though hopefully it was mere seconds as I found the entry for Urusang, and trying to be as nonchalant as I could, fired the portal up and walked into it. I was afraid I felt someone reaching for me.

A dizzying but mercifully short quantum ordeal later, I found myself at the Urusang Station. I waited a couple of seconds, but no one had followed. I jumped over the edge of the deck to the landing area below, hopped into my waiting fighter without incident, and rocketed off for the garden world in the field of stars at maximum pulse. I had enough sense to know I couldn’t just barge in, and messaged the Primarch’s office. Just as I began to speak to the Vy’keen on the screen, they talked over me and I realized that it was a recording. “Greetings. I speak for Urusang Primarch Andonai. The Primarch is unavailable for—”

That was just what I didn’t want to hear, and cut it off. I flipped through the messages in my listing until I found one with a familiar name. I pasted the credential into a new message.

afenzhis@battalion72

Guard Afenzhis,
This is Traveler Nigel Fox. I trust all is well. I wish to speak with Primarch Andonai of a matter which is private. I hope you can arrange a meeting with the Primarch when I arrive. I am now on my way to Enowor and will arrive soon.
I would appreciate your help, friend.

~ Traveler Fox

I knew that a reply was unlikely, but I still kept my eye on the mailbox during the short and rapid flight to the planet. It quickly grew to tremendous size until the fighter had to brake, slowing rapidly to thruster speeds. I ignored the normally colorful plasma rippling across the nose and windscreen as it tore through the upper atmosphere, making my way quickly to the area where Andonai’s little refuge lay in its lush tree-dotted estate.

The twin stars had just set, and the land was cloaked in early evening gloom. I directed Star Sword off to the designated landing area, quickly giving my credentials and not waiting for confirmation. It might result in trouble but I was too upset to worry about grumpy officials just then. It occurred to me as I set down that maybe a few moments of niceties would have been prudent, as I heard just such a grumpy official tromping towards the row of ships where Star Sword rested. “Traveler!” he barked, “Interloper! What is the rush! Why are you breaking procedure?”

I doubt a gruff Vy’keen would understand why I’d barreled into his ship lot without permission, especially over a bad dream. Even a friend of the Primarch would be facing something more stern than one of Grondo’s ribbings. Tossing my helmet into my seat so I could perceive my surroundings properly, I snuck around the other Vy’keen ships and made my way to the front of the tidy estate, my heart racing. I hadn’t really thought through my plan of action, and having none wasn’t the most sensible thing in a situation like this. But even if I was digging a deep hole, I hoped they would understand when that charming time of explaining myself came.

The one good thing about this situation was that it was quiet and seemed completely normal. Only two guards were at the front doors. At least I could breathe easier about that. Of course, they wouldn’t let me march straight in like I was expected. But I had no other idea, so I gave them a salute, saying cheerfully, “Good evening, Blades—”

“Hold, Interloper… Traveler,” one of them amended, pulling me back by the shoulder. Behind me, I could hear an official coming up with heavy, noisy, indignant breath at having been avoided. Oh, this would be so fun. Glancing past me at the unhappy attendant, the guard asked, “What is your purpose?”

I scrambled for something to say, and being a military man, the first thing that came to me was learning Andonai’s location right then. Doing my best to ignore the heat pouring from the irritated Vy’keen behind me, I said, “I have an important matter to discuss with the Primarch… where is he, by the way?”

He shrugged. “Probably, his study. So? Your business?”

I wasn’t in the most sensible frame of mind right then or I might have played my cards more carefully, but I was growing panicked. I wasn’t crazy enough to consider taking on three or more overpowering hulks, though I was grasping at some random straws. “Well… you see… Primarch Andonai!” I declared, looking off to the right. It was an old trick, but they bit, all three of them looking away from me. And I lunged past them.

The doors were like most doors, and being guarded, they were unlocked. I count myself lucky that I was a Traveler and had some reputation with them, so they didn’t do anything rash or deadly. But they were intent on stopping me. Another thing in my favor was that I was light and quicker than they were. The building might be large but it was essentially a house, and I remembered the way to the study with no problem. I burst in and froze, crying out. Andonai was lying on the floor, unmoving, his eyes closed. And just as I was about to go to him, incredibly strong arms grabbed me and held me fast. I struggled to get free, but there was no getting out of their grasp, and it became painful when they saw the body themselves and grew upset. “Interloper! Hirk’s blood… what have you done!”

I was shouting frantically that I had done nothing, that I had to get to him, when a familiar voice overwhelmed all of us with its sheer volume. “STOP! What in the name of Hirk is going—!” It was Afenzhis, and he stopped dead when he saw his master’s body on the floor, muttering an obscene, “Shogh.”

It occurred to me that the interruption had caught them off guard, and I wrested free of the other two, throwing myself on Andonai’s body. He had to be alive, he just had to. I couldn’t take losing someone for real. As I shouted his name, fighting to get his ceremonial armor off, the two guards tried to pull me away. Afenzhis stopped them, but bellowed at me, “What happened… what are you doing here!”

I ignored him, focusing my attention on my unfortunate friend, checking him over quickly. I couldn’t find anything wrong with him physically, no wound or anything, but his eyes were half rolled up in their sockets, he wasn’t breathing and I couldn’t feel a hint of heartbeat or pulse. I shouted over my shoulder, “His heart! Where is it! Here?” I pointed to his chest where it was in our bodies as I produced my Stunner and Puncher.

“Yes but… what are you doing!” he exclaimed. moving to stop me as I set the dials on medium and pressed them at either side into Andonai’s bare chest, and fired a pulse.

As his body lurched from the tremendous jolt, one of them said, “Wait… he is trying a lafthreng!”

A rebirth? I wasn’t sure I heard that right, but it didn’t matter as I focused all my attention on my friend, forcing a massive amount of electricity across his chest, again, and again. He wasn’t responding, but he had to be… he just had to!

At some point though, I had to realize nothing was changing, and he wasn’t coming to. I dropped my weapons to the floor and groaned out in anguish. It felt like the first time anyone had died on me, and I was devastated. I slumped over him, moaning, “Andonai… you can’t leave us… you can’t leave me… we need you…” There was quite a commotion building behind me, but I was too upset to care.

Abruptly, a very strong hand seized me by the throat, squeezing hard. The pain quickly became unbearable, and I choked out a protest, seizing the wrist of the arm that was trying to strangle me to death. And then I realized it was Andonai.

Somehow that shock gave me the strength to pull free. As I fell back, I choked, rubbing a very tender throat, unsure if I wasn’t injured. “Andonai,” I coughed, and each syllable was agony. “Andonai… are you all right!”

“Who… Nathan… Nigel?” he croaked out. It was strange how often people called me that. “I… hurt… everywhere. I was… at glory… why did you… summon…?”

I had half a moment to wonder at that before strong arms seized me again, but they were a little gentler, and I didn’t fight them. I caught a trickle of blood on his lips, and I worried that there had been internal wounds. And then it occurred to me with a cringe that I might have done that myself. I also noticed that the window to the side was open, and I shouted, “Close that!” One of the guards obeyed, jumping to tend to it as if I had authority. “Andonai, what happened?” Before he could respond, I found myself being pulled away and I cried, “Wait! I need to—!”

“You need to let the doctors tend to him! And you must explain yourself,” Afenzhis grumbled in my ear. As he dragged me off to a side room to interrogate me, I realized I had an awful lot of explaining to do, and would have to be very careful how I did it.

I was grateful that he shooed off the others that accompanied him to a side office. He closed the door, urging me into a plush chair, and pulled up another to sit facing me. He looked a bit rattled, and I couldn’t blame him. I’d be just as confused. “First, you message me, then you break in to the palace, and… then all this happens! Sit still.” He pulled out a scanner and did a reading of some kind on me… for concealed weapons, implants? Then he scooted up and held some kind of device at my eye, warning me, “This will be very bright.” He wasn’t kidding; it was blinding, and I gasped in shock from it. After he put it away, leaving a large purple vein-laced afterglare in my vision, he asked me to explain my actions.

I rubbed my tender throat as it throbbed with each heartbeat. “Ahem… Andonai is… quite strong.”

“He may be a diplomat, but he is as strong as I am,” he chuckled, then grew serious. “Traveler Fox, I have some trust in you for the favor you did us in the election, but this… I need an explanation.”

“Yeah… I understand,” I muttered, trying my best to sort through the events of… it had only been a few minutes! I was amazed at how little time had passed. I explained how just a short time ago, I’d overheard two Vy’keen discussing that someone had been dealing too favorably with the Gek to suit them, which I took to be Andonai, especially when they mentioned the election being rectified. It had to be a sheer stroke of luck that I happened to be there. No, I hadn’t seen them. I came here as quickly as I could because at that moment I recalled a part of a dream which scared me, about Andonai… I was afraid he had died. That part was difficult.

He eyed me intently. “A dream?”

I nodded, then shook all over at how incredibly it matched what I had just experienced. “It was so close, what I dreamed about… the whole thing. It was uncanny.”

He sat there, gazing at me thoughtfully for a time. “I do not know your people, but… I can sense no deceit in you.”

That was a relief. “I appreciate that, Afenzhis—”

“However,” he interrupted, “my feelings on this cannot change what we do. There must be a kerenaigh. If this is a shi tung, you are now involved, and must be restrained until we are satisfied.” He caught my questioning look and added more simply, “After a killing attempt, we must learn the truth. Be patient.”

An assassination, and an investigation. I knew what restrained meant, and that’s what I was afraid of. I wanted to be involved, but I also had to leave soon. I felt very strongly that I had more destinies to fulfill. Similar destinies, I feared, and I anguished at the thought of being a second too late for any of them. But knowing the Vy’keen as I did, and after pulling such shenanigans on them, it was prudent to play along, for now. “What freedoms will I have?”

“We will prepare a room for you, a nice one. You will be restricted to it, and have to give us your weapons. I hope it will be a short stay,” he told me.

“Yes, me too—” I began, then stopped short. What if the assassin wasn’t somewhere else, but waiting for another chance? “Afenzhis, how do we know the would-be killer isn’t still here?”

He gave me a thin smile. “You are thinking like a Vy’keen. Shrewd.”

Of course he would anticipate all possibilities. “How many of your men can you trust?”

At this, he looked dismayed. “I thought we could trust them all! Now… who knows?” He spread his hands resignedly. “We will work with trusted teams while we do the kerenaigh. We will be careful.”

“I really want to be involved in this,” I said earnestly.

He gave me a curious gaze. “This is not your egraoh—”

“I’m getting tired of that phrase,” I grumbled. “I’m a Friend of the Vy’keen. A friend of the Primarch. I feel like I let this happen. I want to help make things right.”

He sized me up thoughtfully for a moment. “I like your resolve. I will consider it, but do not pester me. Now, your weapons.” He still had the Stunner and Puncher, and probably knew about my small Multitool arsenal. Trying to deceive him after he treated me so fairly didn’t seem right, and would probably be counterproductive, so I handed them over. “My gratitude. Now, follow. And behave.”

My antics must have surprised him. I nodded obediently and trailed him to a room just a short walk away where he spoke with another guard in hushed tones, handing over my gear. He seemed to be asking for leniency for my part, as I held some rank with them and had previously been trustworthy. He nodded, and then Afenzhis opened a door to what must be a guest room for dignitaries as it looked like quite a suite. “This is an honored room, so be respectful. If you need help, knock. And stay inside until we allow you out.”

He really wanted to be sure I behaved myself, and I nodded. “I will.” As he made to leave, I added, “The greatest favor on Primarch Andonai’s head, and your kerenaigh.”

He clenched his fist over his chest with a thin smile. “My gratitude, Nigel. Rest well.”

He left, and I heard the sound of the door locking, which might have been a bit louder to drive the point home that I was their guest, but also a prisoner, if temporarily. And while it shouldn’t have bothered me much, it did. “Rest… who can rest?”

[stryker99]

(continued)

And of course I couldn’t. By any standards, this was a posh room with lots of amenities, including a refrigerator and kitchenette. But a gilded cage still felt like jail. I doubted that Afenzhis would let me help them in their investigation, though he might take me with him to look at any finds as a courtesy. And frankly, how could I help out? I was mildly irked at being left out, but then, this wasn’t really my egraoh… except it was.

I was mildly surprised that they had left me with my pack, which was still loaded with all manner of stuff. The suit systems indicated I could access my ship which held even more. Sorting through the inventories, I realized that I could do a lot of mischief with them, but I’d have to mind my manners until it became intolerable. If I did something reckless it would hurt my reputation, and I needed those good relations to remain untarnished.

But I wasn’t a very patient man, and it wasn’t long until it began to feel intolerable. Time had this weird sense of somehow flying by but crawling. I grew tired but not enough to sleep, and the otherwise lovely night skies transitioned to dawn. A guard knocked a bit later and showed me his tablet, asking, “What is good for you?” It was evidently the menu for dignitaries as I recognized quite a few delicacies. I really must be an honored prisoner. I told him that except for the livers and snails, and a few bitter plants, it all looked delicious. They prepared quite a meal, and while it would seem light for a Vy’keen, for me it was substantial. The wine was a bit strong but tasty. I couldn’t finish, and asked them to save the rest for lunch. Before he departed with the cart of leftovers, I asked about Andonai’s health. He didn’t seem to trust me, but told me he was resting, and he seemed honest. Still, I worried.

I grew restless, spending much of my time between the window and door, watching and listening for every activity. I tested the window, and it was as secure as the door. I caught when the guard shift changed, and when they circled the grounds. I watched every ship arrive and depart. Meals arrived punctually and were all quite tasty. I worried that Andonai might have been poisoned, but I doubted that if it were the case, an assassin would try the same thing again, or try anything for a while. Still, I worried.

And it became intolerable. I began to feel desperate, and though I didn’t know if I had ever broken out of confinement, I felt I had to plan on this one. Thanks to Grondo’s instruction, I knew of a way to incapacitate a Vy’keen, but the one which caused the least injury had to be done completely by surprise. Still, I couldn’t just make the attempt, I had to learn as much as I could.

I knocked on the door, thinking I might possibly take a chance if one presented itself, but I was dismayed when I saw it was Afenzhis. It must have been all over my face as he asked, “What is wrong?”

It took me a moment to recover, as I wasn’t prepared to make a desperate pitch. “I need to talk with you. Do you trust me?”

That was definitely the wrong opening, and he asked dubiously, “What is in your head?”

Well… give it your best shot, I reasoned. “Work with me, will you? No one has said a word to me all day. How is Primarch Andonai?”

I was afraid I’d put him on guard to me, but he replied, “He is a strong ruler, recovering well.”

That was a good sign. “What happened to him? How was he attacked?”

He shook his head. “That, I will not say.”

That wasn’t such a good sign, but reasonable. “How is the kerenaigh going?”

He shook his head again. “I will not say.”

That was a sensitive subject, after all. “Afenzhis, I have to speak with him.”

Now his expression grew hard. “You want too much.” Literally, you eat from other’s plates.

“Please… I must beg this favor,” I implored. “My presence here complicates things. You have to take care of me, guard me. I was foolish to want to help with the kerenaigh. I should leave. I feel very strongly that I should be on my quest.”

Of course, he had only the foggiest notion what that was, and was quite suspicious of a request to leave. “I suppose you make some sense, but you want too much.”

It was rather forward with the Vy’keen, but I took his hand and held it between mine. “I have to speak with Andonai. He’s my friend. I need this favor. Come with me, and watch.”

He didn’t speak for an anxiously long moment, but he also didn’t take his gloved hand away. “You strange man. How you move minds. No wonder you shifted the vote. I will allow it. But do not take advantage of our courtesy.”

As he pulled away, I heaved a huge sigh of relief. I had almost talked myself into jumping the guard, and that would have ended a relationship I wanted to keep. “Thank you Afen—”

“Keep your thanks… making me a rule bender,” he snapped, though he motioned me to follow, and advised me, “Be innocent.”

I was as innocent as could be while still observing all I could, which wasn’t much as Andonai’s chambers weren’t far away. A pair of guards were at the door, and gave me curious looks. “The Traveler has permission to visit the Primarch,” he explained, though he shot me an irritated look. Evidently he disliked being a liar too.

I knew the Primarch’s chambers were large, but it turned out to be a home within a home, which I should have expected, and quite lovely even for Human standards. Afenzhis led the way to a substantial bedroom. A guard was in there, and stood as we entered. To my dismay, the Primarch was asleep, and Afenzhis said quietly what I feared he would. “This is not a good time.”

I lingered, gazing at the stout but weakened figure as he slumbered in his extensive bed. He felt discernably vulnerable, and I worried all over again. I didn’t want to leave, but nodded. “I understand—”

“Traveler… friend Nigel?” Andonai’s eyes flickered open and looked at me, and he seemed much more alive, thank Heaven.

I gave him a little wave, saying quietly, “Hey. I was… impatient. It’s so good to see you. But listen, if you need rest—”

“Nonsense. I dislike naps.” He groaned a bit as he struggled to sit up, and waved off both me and the guard as we made to help. “I also dislike being tended to like a cub. Take a chair, sit.” He said to the two guards, “Both of you, out.”

The guard looked to Afenzhis questioningly, who nodded to the door, but as the other left he stood his ground. “My duty is to stay.”

He looked displased, but relented. “Then sit outside and hear nothing.” Now it was Afenzhis’ turn to look miffed, and stood there, but after a brief staring match, he went to the other room. Andonai waited for me to draw a chair over. “You are said to be a hasty man. It surprises me you waited this long to hekr in.”

I winced at that, rather sure of what he meant. “I don’t mean to intrude—”

“Forgive my wording. You speak so well, I forget you are not Vy’keen. I wish to talk with a fresh mind.” He settled his pillows more behind him and sat up straighter. “Are they treating you well?”

“I’m fine, but I was worried sick about you.” I gazed at him fretfully. “I was afraid you were not coming back to us.”

He waved me off. “Meh, this has happened before.”

I was stunned. “Are you serious?”

“I was earnest when I said my friends were few.” His eyes twinkled at me. “But you rescued me. I understand that you are the reason my chest is sore.”

I was still calming down from that revelation. “I’m sorry about that, but… I had to do something. I can’t let anyone die on me. And you, of all people… this galaxy needs people like you desperately.”

He seemed amused by that. “I suppose I am more use here alive than dead. But… Paradise seemed so… wonderful.” He bore a far away look in his eyes, and they seemed to sparkle from within. “I wondered why I was being held back.”

The implications of what he was saying were mindboggling, and I became caught up in speculation, particularly how it would compare to what Nal told me. I edged closer, asking, “What did you experience… did you see?”

He seemed to be gazing beyond this realm. “Compared to that place… my mind now feels like it is in a box. Everything is so much smaller… cramped… it is hard to find the words, harder to think. The freedom, the liberty… I have never felt so free. There are so many doors between here and There… boundaries… layers of reality… do you know how many angles there truly are?”

“Angles?” I murmured in wonder, and then I caught his meaning. He had been in higher dimensions! I could only clutch at the faintest memories of my time in the university, when I speculated with friends or professors on the nature of super-realities. Was Heaven a universe beyond all of them? “This is amazing… I’m almost sorry I pulled you back here.”

He was still caught up in his reverie. “And the people were so… pure, free of all malice or bad intent… no k’neth at all… truly it is disappointing, being here once more. But, I feel even more that I have a purpose to fulfill… a destiny.” His vision returned to focus on this world, and he gazed at me in wonder. “And you, as well, friend Nigel. You are a man of Destiny, the likes of which I rarely see.”

That was humbling, exciting, and frightening all at once. It meant a heavy burden of responsibility. But hadn’t I grabbed for that torch more than once? I guess it was time for me to wear my own big boy pants. “That’s part of the reason I came to see you. I need to leave. I’m afraid that I have to go out there, do… things. Make discoveries, save people. Save this galaxy… this universe, if I can.”

He gave me a fatherly smile. “I was foolish to doubt you. The old me thought such ambitions were the silly dreams of a cub. But now, I have new understanding of what the soul can accomplish… the right soul. We both have a Path to walk, and knowing that there is no true death makes it easier. We may both fail. But if we can mark that road a little further for those that come after, that would be enough.”

It seemed that I was in the presence of another Mercury. “I wish I could stay… learn from you. I feel like I know so little.”

“Ah, but the real joy of knowledge is finding the Truth yourself. You are a Traveler, those fortold from ancient times. You will soon be teaching many others yourself. But… you must leave. I am forgetting this situation.” He sighed, and looked weary once again. “Rules, laws… such unnecessary complications. I feel boxed up even more. If only everyone could understand… I must think like a Vy’keen again.” He looked around as if trying to remember his life, and pointed to his dresser. “My tablet, in that drawer.” I practically lunged for it, making him chuckle, and I handed it to him with a sheepish grin. He began typing on a virtual keyboard, murmuring, “Half the time, I speak my documents out, but sometimes I ramble. I think I will do a lot of rambling today.” He finished up and asked, “Do you still have your tablet?”

“Oh! Yeah, yeah, right…” I muttered, fumbling it out. I was still wired up.

I held it up to him and he bumped the frames together. His document appeared on my screen. “There. Now with these credentials, you can accomplish anything in the primarchure. There is no ending date. Just refrain from taking advantage of my generosity.”

“I promise,” I assured him; and why would I, a man of outrageous wealth? “But I want to hekr in again not too long from now, and have a few of those meals with you.”

“I promise you will,” he said with a grin. “May He smile on all your doings.”

I clasped hands with him, saying, “May He empower you to accomplish far more than you had envisioned.”

He gave me a bigger smile. “I like your oaths better.” He looked past me in surprise.

Afenzhis had entered, close to me, and indicated he needed some room. As I scooted aside, he knelt and bowed his head. “Lord Andonai, forgive me for overhearing, but I have never been touched by a Vy’keen as I have just now. I wish to renew my oath to you, doubly.” He glanced up at me. “I trust you, both of you, without reserve.”

I wasn’t sure what sort of epiphany Afenzhis had just now, but I sensed a lot was going on under the surface. I had certainly been moved in a unique way. Maybe Vy’keen weren’t very spiritual beings, which made sense when the most obvious god around was a supercomputer. Andonai waved to me. “I am afraid this ends our time together. But we will meet again. Dine, and have more talks, after you have achieved a few goals. It is my promise.”

This saddened me. It seemed that I would be saying goodbye to new friends a lot in my travels. I didn’t want to leave yet, but I really should, and it had been a much greater experience than I expected. I tried to sound upbeat. “I understand. Blessings and much success, my friend.”

“Thank you, friend Nigel. Now, if you will excuse yourself?”

“Of course.” I gave him a bow and wandered into the next room, when it occurred to me that Afenzhis had stowed my gear. While I could probably wave my tablet at everyone and have my way, I wanted to have a little goodbye with him too, so I lingered. And then I caught some of the discussion.

“No, I was alone.”

“Were you… I see. And who was your contact?”

I couldn’t make out Afenzhis’ reply.

“Why did you do it?”

“I believed them when they said you were a weak fool who would make the Vy’keen weak also. But I was the fool. After I… well, you saw… I believe it was the truth. The real truth.”

“Sometimes, it takes a terrible event to open our eyes. Now, mine are wide open.”

“And you will keep this secret?”

“Completely… I accept your confession. I know what would happen to you if this was found out. And the chain… this will have to be explored discreetly. I wish no trouble, only peace. Surely we can resolve that. And I can count on your aid?”

“Yes… I owe you… I cannot believe you would forgive so completely. I am ashamed… I should be executed for—”

“Why, when you are truly sorry, and can do so much good?”

“I… cannot speak to such kindness… why are you being so nice to me?”

Maybe I was jumping to conclusions. Maybe what I had missed would change the whole complexion of it. But it sounded like I had overheard an assassin’s confession. I tromped back into the room, both of them gaping at me in surprise. “I don’t know what to say either. Did I hear that right, Afenzhis? Do you know something about what happened to your lord yesterday?”

Andonai began to say, “Nigel—”

“Did you have something to do with it? Letting me get to Andonai while he was near death, holding the others back, was that to make me look suspicious? That I had murdered my friend? Were you using that time to plant evidence to incriminate me?”

“Nigel,” Andonai said more loudly, trying to reel me in, but I wasn’t done yet.

“Were you setting me up, the Interloper who went bad? Used his influence and friendship to fix a problem for the Vy’keen High Command, to correct an election that didn’t get their choice in office?” Afenzhis eyed me intently, but it seemed as much from guilt as readiness to fight. He was strong enough to cause me grievous harm, if not kill me outright, but I didn’t care. I was so mad right then, I could have slugged him, and my fist doubled without half a thought of it. I pressed into him, demanding, “Well?”

“Nigel!” Andonai shouted, adding in a softer tone, “Friend Nigel.”

I suppose it was a good thing his warning reached me and I backed down, just as a guard peeked in on us. “I, uh… got a little excited,” I muttered.

“All is well,” Andonai told him. That seemed to satisfy the guard, and he shut the door.

The diplomat wanted to handle this diplomatically, but that didn’t mean I had to like it. “You had me fooled good. I actually felt bad at the thought of trying to fight you for my freedom.”

“Nigel,” Andonai said to me advisedly once more, and the tone indicated he was losing patience. “Calm down, and be aware that you presume to intrude on my affairs. Do not take advantage of our friendship, either.”

I took a breath and ran my fingers through my hair, but my heart was still pounding, hot and angry. “I’m sorry, but… this isn’t the sort of thing I can just calm down from.”

“Then leave,” he told me flatly. “I mean no rudeness, but I do not want trouble. Remember our words of just moments ago, the emotions. I will manage this. It is my talent, and after what I experienced, I feel that my talents are even greater. Have faith.”

Faith. It was a word rarely spoken in this universe, one which I used mostly in my own mind. I knew I had some, but did I have as much as I thought? “I guess… I need a lesson in faith from my new master.”

Andonai coughed out a chuckle. “Again? Do not give me that much glory. Friend will be enough, and friends help out each other with their limits. I need you to believe in me, in this Walk I am on… we are both on. I believe in you.”

Yes, though I didn’t have a knife at my back, at least not directly. “I… will,” I sighed, only meaning it in part right then. I supposed I should make a show of faith with the former assassin, or henchman. I wasn’t sure I’d learn what his role was, and I might never. I took his hand with grit teeth and said, “I’m trusting you with his life. Please, keep your oath.”

“Are you not aware? I no longer have a life. My lord owns me completely now,” he reminded me. “Without him, or at a word from him, I am dead.”

That took some wind from my sails, though I still worried about the web of conspiracy around my friend. What sort of power was at the top of that chain? “I’m sorry, but I… worry. That seems to be what I’m best at lately, but I’ll try to have more faith. And I will, after a good night’s sleep.” I raised my hand to them, intoning my new motto, “Live long, and prosper… both of you.” It took some effort to add that last bit.

“My gratitude,” Andonai said to me with a thin smile. “I feared we would not part as friends.”

That hadn’t occurred to me, that an Interloper being overprotective of a Vy’keen dignitary could be a grave insult. “Forgive me,” I murmured, visibly cowed. I felt like a whipped cub.

He gave me a nod. “There is no need. Just remember your place, tomorrow.”

I was enduring some very mixed emotions as I collected my gear, boarded my fighter, and headed for the station. I tried to be philosophical about the whole thing. A slightly clearer head made it slightly easier.

Afenazhis must have let me fight those brutes at the station to see what I was made of, if a wimpy Interloper was capable enough to do in a Vy’keen official, give him a patsy to pin the crime on. But whatever was in his head, the last thing an assassin would do is reveal his identity to his target. He had that going for him. And I assumed that Andonai wasn’t so heavenly minded that he forgot what it meant to be a rebellious Vy’keen leader cutting his own path through this world, and stepping on toes as he went. I had grave reservations about leaving my friend in the presence of someone directly involved in his murder attempt, but Andonai made it clear that this wasn’t my egraoh. I had no choice but try to believe this would all work out. Who knows, maybe in a few months, we could all be sitting down to dinner, laughing it all off. Very maybe.

I managed to spend some time pondering the meaning of life with the insight Andonai had bestowed on me. It really shouldn’t have been as much of a revelation as it was. After all, I knew that we had souls. Sadly, I kept forgetting my whole ordeal with Artemis, and the capture of his spirit in some kind of soul jar, his existence continued in a Korvax simulator. Or the resurrection we Travelers could look forward to, at least a certain number of them, though I was in no hurry to try one out. But the experience of being in Andonai’s presence after he spent even a brief time in the Beyond… it was amazing how transformative it was, just listening to him speak haltingly of it. It sure touched Afenzhis.

And the implications… Nal had peered behind the thin veil of this world to the very foundations undergirding it, and saw code. Nada scrutinized and analyzed this reality, and found code. Andonai had gone completely beyond any of it. Not to some digital simulation engine, not to parallel worlds, but ascended to higher dimensions, perhaps the very highest levels of reality, and he found glory. He saw perspectives our three dimensional minds will never perceive. Just trying to visualize one more dimension, a simple hypercube, gave me a brain cramp. The physical model was a mere shadow in three dimensional space, a hint of the amazing perspective of just one higher reality, one more angle. And he saw beings with a good nature, seemingly pure of our flaws and emotional hangups. Were they the people which once populated the universe? And beings from higher realities that dwelt there originally? The possibility that their souls still existed beyond this life made me feel better of their fate, and I hoped it was true. If only I could have a glimpse of what Andonai saw.

The one other good thing that came of all this was that it put my feet back on the ground, and kept me from constantly moping over Selene. And curiously, this spawned another thread of ponderings.

There was a dilemma in existential philosophy I had some small recollection of: how do we know this universe is real, that other beings are real, since everything we experience is essentially what our minds built in our heads? How did I know for sure that Selene was real? That Andonai was real, his experience real? If even I was real? Short of dying, assuming there really was an afterlife, how can anything be proven? To me, aside from acute self-awareness, the proof of my own existence were my passions, my emotions; love, hate, joy, sorrow, sympathy. To think that I might be a construct, nothing more than a bot running in some sort of universe-computer was absurd. My emotions were too strong, too vivid for me to believe they were some consequence of complex logic. Reason was the least emotional aspect of our minds. What was the mathematical foundations for a mother’s love? Hope? The conscience? Faith?

Proof that others existed… that was a little dicier, but it was more logical to assume that other very different personalities meant there really were other beings in the same universe with me. I reasoned that if this was some dream in my head, things would be more likely to meet my expectations, and this universe definitely didn’t do that.

Thinking this through satisfied my one worry about the nature of the universe. If this reality was based on code, so what? Physics teaches that the universe is based on the flow of positive and negative charges, or colors, whatever the term used to define forces. Knots of energies formed particles, sustained in a domain defined by fields of energies. Computer code was nothing but the ebb and flow of high and low energy states, bits, contained in an energized medium known as memory. If knots of energy defined as DNA and cellular tissue could provide a temporary home for my soul, so could energetic bits of computer code. It had to be true, because I was here. It might be a bit less satisfying to be a tiny part of a program, but what difference did it make? In some basic holistic sense, this reality had to be real. And what Andonai and Nal had both experienced, we all would at our last. Death was very real too, and there was something beyond it.

The one reservation I had in all this was that I had a feeling my faith would be tested at some point, for real.

[stryker99]

Author’s note: this chapter is a little shorter, and just one pretty picture because not so many of my images fit with this one. I guess I need to work on being an artist again…

I thought I would post it because life has been a pain in the tailpipe since Christmas, and I’ve had a lot of trouble being creative. Hopefully, this is the beginning of my return to normalcy and I can keep cranking out fiction from now on. At some sort of pace.

[stryker99]

Authors note: I poured a LOT into this chapter, so there should be a good hunk to read. As a heads up, there will be a few rather “strenuous” situations in this one, so there will be some… colorful language. As in blue, bad blue. And will probably hold true hereafter.

I will also be doing some artwork for the story later, where game pics won’t suffice. Real art with paint, so I’ll have to figure the best way to get them digitized. Scanned if I can afford it. So at some point you might scroll up if you want to see my other talent on display - or lack thereof.

[stryker99]

Entry 011: Dreams, and nightmares

Day 44

I landed at the station and made my way up to the deck with the faction booths, half listening to the chatter of the members hawking their benefits to new arrivals, past the people sitting, eating and spreading gossip of possible news. I was still rather humdrum over leaving Selene at the Anomaly. If only she could come with me… but then, I’d be dragging her into peril, and there was no way I’d let that happen.

I wasn’t going anyplace in particular, just wandering because that was my habit when I went someplace, look around and see what was going on. And so I went to one of the chambers where the Station Boss had his desk, shared a wave, and kept going to the side chamber where there was some work area or other. I opened the sliding door when it occurred to me that these were often locked, but not this time. And I stood there in shock.

It was that black armored Vy’keen brute. And he was at the ATLAS terminal. And was speaking with Emily! What the hell? He turned while I stood there, frozen in place like a fearstruck child, and he fixed me in an angry glare as he came at me, exclaiming

“INTERLOPER!”

I thrashed in a panic, fighting to get free as I was pummeled from all around, when I realized that no blows were landing. And that the pounding racket was coming from my canopy. When the world finally came into focus, it was to see a pair of Vy’keen laughing and jeering at me, strapped in my cockpit seat. “Waken! You hold up traffic! Sleep in a bunk, not on the station deck!”

I never slept in my ship like that, what was…? And then the previous days’ events came rushing back, all the drama and turmoil, and the fact that I hadn’t slept for… more than a day, at least. I waved the two warriors off, tossed my helmet beside me and climbed out of the fighter, enduring their humor as I trudged up the ramp to the station deck. I was still trying to calm down from the rude awakening of that wild dream, when an astonishing thought struck me.

My dreams - some of them came true.

I’m often slow, and to be sure, I have a lot to think about these days. And I knew that my one dream had come true, but I’d had so many! How had this escaped me so long? I needed to finish my business here and get back to the ship to read over the diary, and in particular, that strange dream I had onboard the Anomaly. Had I seen bits of galactic history? Some uniquely important bits? And what exactly were dreams in this universe?

I was excited all over again, and distracted with my thoughts as I engrossed over the possibilities of our minds and how they related to the universe, as I went up to the Station Boss’ stand, sharing an absent minded wave with him, and wandered down the connected passage to a pair of locked doors that parted for me, when it struck me what I had been dreaming just moments ago. I froze…

And saw that the chamber wasn’t an ATLAS station, but a mere workshop, with an engine on a hoist being maintained. I sat down in the empty seat beside the desk and pondered nearly everything. This universe was strange. The normal laws of physics I assumed were in control of this reality weren’t the only laws that applied. The nature of this reality, of the mind… there was so much more involved that verged on the mystical, or seemed to. Dreams could become real. Or more likely, could perceive things to come, or sort through possibilities. I didn’t believe in magic, at least not yet, or parallel dimensions with every possibility realized, at least not yet, but was Quantum Physics its own magic? Did the odd quantum rules which applied to the subatomic world have something to do with the macro world we lived in? Was reality that weird?

Andonai said that we didn’t understand Life, and he had that right. But I wanted to, desperately. I had to know what to do, because this mess of incomplete, fractured knowledge, what little I had, could easily mislead me into the wrong course of action. Every act had consequences, and mine, because of what I was aiming for, would be magnified many fold. Did I have any real idea what I was involved in, what I was doing? What the results of my actions would be? Did I have the wisdom to know the best course of action in the events I would be facing? Still, I couldn’t sit back and do nothing.

I did have things to do. I needed to ship off to Sage Asrial the finds I had made, and mention the book of Nal I had given Troq… or maybe not. He had advised me not to reveal everything. That saddened me, the thought that the Korvax, the one people I hoped understood everything… apparently, they didn’t see Life properly either. I hoped I had the wisdom to know how to walk every step of my Path. That worry kept haunting me. What a burden…

I had to return to the Infineon, and let Captain Grondo know something. I wasn’t sure what to tell him yet, because I needed to return to Troq at his reclusive compound and see what information I could wheedle out of him. That meeting would undoubtedly have a lot of influence over my next steps.

I had information I’d been neglecting to look at; in particular, a datadisc from a Traveler caught up in some conspiracy to assassinate a Gek tradelord. I had assumed that assassinations didn’t happen in this galaxy, or at least were rare. Now, I wasn’t so sure. And a Traveler? What were they doing, becoming involved in such treachery? I felt naive, and that perpetual realization was vexing me. I had accumulated so much information, so much stuff, I was losing track of it all. I don’t know if my Reset Amnesia was contributing to it or not, but it wasn’t helping. I needed an assistant.

Having no such helper, I gathered a bundle of finds and took them to the Boss’ station, arranging to have them shipped to Sage-entity Asrial’s world, which I had to look up. Sometimes, it seemed like the names of celestial objects were generated by some sort of whimsical A.I., grabbing syllables that fit together in the weirdest way possible. But then, how many stars and planets were there, and who was to say what defined silliness? Even though it felt like it many times, I wasn’t the center of the universe.

I headed for the Teleporter when the doorway on the deck opposite caught my attention. There was never anything there of much consequence, just a terminal I could often use to scavenge a few Nanites or units. There was never anyone there that I remembered. I stood beside a table, still gazing at the end of the deck where that insignificant door was. And went up to it. It was silly, but that dream I’d just had lingered in my mind. Oh, just a quick look, I decided, and I stepped through

WHAT DO YOU WANT!

It matters to me what happens to the people in this reality! I want the best for everyone… is that so much to ask?

They were huge, and angry, furious at being disturbed… why didn’t they care? What was wrong with them! How could they be so cruel!

Resets, code… if what you are speaking is not utter folly, the self-evidence of it should be obvious

Ships, black ships… lots of black ships… what had I stumbled into?

Please, share what you can with me… I know so little… so many lives are depending on our success

Why do I do this? Because I can! What other reason do I need?

Foolish Human, who wants to save others… you cannot save yourself

He grabbed my hand and pushed the weapon up under my chin… he was incredibly strong, and if I didn’t do something desperate, it would all be over

What I am about to reveal to you, you cannot share with anyone

How much of this is real? What a naive question… what is real?

I gripped her hand tightly… the torment she was enduring made her squeal in anguish, and it twisted in my gut like a dagger… oh, please, help her - you must save her!

I just want what’s best for everyone… is that so much to ask?

I am afraid… I misjudged you… you must take up my task… finish it…

I stared at the screen in disbelief, but… it was all there… how could this be true? If it was, they had been deceiving me all along!

If you do this, there will be no turning back… are you willing to leave them, forever?

I feel nothing… what does it mean? Am I dead? Weight… finally, something

What has happened? Stand back and let me see

In the middle of the chamber was the display of a star system; a red star circled by three planets, one with a moon, one with two, and the sight of it filled me with dread

For God’s sake, you’re not alone - I’m right here with you!

It wouldn’t turn, in spite of every ounce of strength I could muster, but this had to be the way in… I’ve traveled so far, suffered through so much… there must be some way in!

How arrogant you are, to make such a demand! I should crush you and be done with you

The wreck wasn’t empty… something unspeakable, some horror… I could sense it, lurking in the dark intestines, meaning to do awful, agonizing things… it was insane, and hungry…

Is this that Interloper?

What a foolish question - is there any other?

It cast me down to the ground under a hail of fire, and then hovered over me, it’s horrible, angry red eye burning into mine

Nigel, you’re right… I love you, I truly love you

Hands on my face… gentle, reassuring

Glass… everywhere was glass, dark and impossibly sharp… and in the gleaming surfaces, I saw faces, frozen!

YOU

WHO ARE YOU?

My heart was pounding, seized with terror… I had no idea what was going on… faces surrounding me, looking concerned, upset, confused… I fought to get away from them, to make sense of what was happening, when I saw…

It hit me with the startling rush of realization that I was on the station. Surrounding me were a group of bewildered Vy’keen, and other races beyond them. They were trying to calm me down, but this was wrong, all wrong - what was going on! “Get away from me!” I cried, falling on my rump as I lost my balance.

“Easy, Interloper!” one shouted as they grabbed me. “What happened to you?”

I calmed down slightly when I realized that they meant no harm, and let them haul me to wobbly legs. “I… don’t know,” I mumbled, completely lost. I had to make sense of this - I didn’t recognize anything. What did happen to me! “Where am I?”

“Gryana Station,” one replied, and he looked like the Station Boss.

That’s right, I had been about to visit Troq on Bognorma and… wait, no I wasn’t! I had been on… on… oh, this was terrible. My memories were all jumbled. The last thing I remembered clearly, remotely clearly, was being at Urusang Station and - Andonai had died! I spat out a curse, just as I remembered that he hadn’t, and I had rescued him, but… other things had happened—

That black clad brute of a Vy’keen jumped me. I clenched all over again, when it struck me that no, it had been a dream. Or… was it? “Is this real?” I wondered aloud, gazing around in perplexion.

“Real?” One of them laughed. “What is real?”

That’s not what I weanted to hear. This was wrong, very wrong, and I had a severe deja vu moment - had I just dreamed that? I looked to the nearby Teleporter. I had meant to use it… had it malfunctioned? I pointed to it, asking, “Is that working right?”

Their reactions ranged from confusion to mockery. “It would report a flaw, but I will check,” the Station Boss said dismissively, consulting his tablet.

I wasn’t growing panicked, yet, but I was on the verge. “Did I come through that?”

“Yes,” the Warrior’s Guild officer said. “Or I saw you collapse there.”

Collapse? This was getting surreal. “And I was alone?” I snapped.

“I saw no one else.” He gave me a suspicious look. “You act unwell. Do you need help? I can check you.”

“Yes!” I exclaimed way too loudly, clutching his arm. “Sorry, but… my mind… something happened to me.”

He gave me a dull look at something so obvious. “Come with me, then,” he urged, and led me to his alcove, though he acted like I might be the one responsible for my own condition. After a fairly thorough scan, he informed me, “You have suffered an electrical shock, but that is all I can…”

His voice drifted out of my senses as I rubbed under my jaw, where that black-armored goon had shoved my own Puncher into me, the image coming to me in startling clarity, as did the sting of it… was that not a dream? It didn’t feel like it. I had been trying to sort through my recollections as best I could, but too much of it was still foggy. A lot of disturbing fragments of memory were flitting around like leaves in a storm, and it tormented me. The last thing I recalled that seemed to have actually happened was me standing beside the Teleporter, gazing at the alcove door. It seemed that I had passed through, but that’s the part where it all fell to pieces. And there were bits of… well, my mind was a mess. I looked to the clock: 14.60 Standard Time. Maybe half an hour had passed, not much time at all. I thanked him, and rushed to my ship where I tried to document what I could of the murky delirium.

I still had only the foggiest notion of what happened. At one point I was at Urusang Station, and the next, here at Gryana XVI. Had I encountered that Gruffnal character, or some pirate jumped me and my rattled mind filled in the blanks with something random? But then, why show up here? Did they toss me through to get rid of the mess on their end? I thought briefly of jumping back to Urusang, but I was feeling paranoid of that particular wormhole. It would be a while before I took it again. Then it struck me that I could have been robbed, but checking over my inventories, nothing was missing, nothing was added. I still had all my units and Nanites. What the hell happened to me?

“Commander!”

I jumped in my seat, so startled I felt dizzy for a moment, but it was only Captain Grondo messaging me, and he hadn’t shouted, I was just on edge. He looked at me in concern. “What did you do now?”

“Nothing!” I shouted, then winced at how I’d reacted. “Sorry, it’s just… been a long day.”

“It has been a few days. Your fleet is sitting idle. They need new missions,” he said advisedly. I didn’t want to deal with something so mundane right then, but I had responsibilities. I tasted a hint of how Andonai felt after waking from his brief glimpse of the Beyond, though his had been an epiphany. Mine was anything but, and I was almost jealous of my friend’s brush with death. Well, duty called, so I headed for the Infineon.

Grondo nagged me about what was nagging me, and I knew I couldn’t put it off for long, so I told him what I could. He urged me to let the medic give me a checking over, but I’d been scanned at the Guild booth and didn’t want to waste time doing the same thing twice. He reached over and nudged my head up, noticing a scar under my jaw. I felt along the bone to a tender spot, and could feel the skin damage, mild though it was. I urged his hand back, diplomatically, and muttered, “Your weapons are very effective.”

He gazed at me for a moment. “You should—”

“Be more careful as I continue in my quest,” I finished over him, thinking he was going to say something else entirely. It seemed I was right, as he heaved a sigh and wandered back to his station. There was no way I was just going to give up.

[stryker99]

(continued)

I concocted some missions for the fleet and sent them on their way, mixing up the roster a bit to give the new captains some time to work together, and then flew down to Bognorma S47, where I hoped Troq had something to take my mind off of recent events. I wondered briefly if he might have had something to do with all that, but I sincerely doubted it.

Fortunately, the door opened a bit more promptly, or so it seemed, though this time I wasn’t being tailed by a Sentinel. The escorts weren’t so uptight, or so they seemed, though they weren’t any more chatty. I also appeared to be given more respect, which hopefully meant that Troq would be more forthcoming.

He did seem a bit more welcoming, at first, though he gave me a looking over as I sat at his desk. “It has been some days. You seem… krendl.”

If I’d heard the word before, I didn’t recognize it. “Tired?”

“Thrown down.” Barsakh could mean anything from out of sorts or sick to beaten, and I had a feeling he was referring more to the latter.

I shrugged. “I’ve had better days, but I’m alright. Have you been reading?”

At this, he brightened. “Oh yes! That book of Nal… it is… fascinating.”

“I trust I’ll have a chance to read it myself sometime.”

He nodded earnestly. “Of course. You have been of great help to me.”

“Enough to be trusted with some information?” I asked hopefully.

“Yes, you have proven trustworthy.” That was a very welcome remark. He seemed quite enthused, though his demeanor shifted. “I must ask you… you said something when we met on Hiposea X which intrigued me, of how history is sometimes different than what is chronicled. What made you say that… what was your experience?”

This put me in a mood. I had made a number of friends in the course of my travels, and I felt that Troq was included among them. And I worried about them all, worried that we were all pawns in some ridiculous scheme ATLAS was amusing itself with, or perhaps even the Ancients, who saw all other races as pests. “Before I say, I… had an experience which utterly baffles me. This whole journey I’m on fills me with questions. Every step of the way, there are more. Just what is this reality, as you understand it? How much of this is real?”

Even as I said it, my heart skipped a beat. He laughed at me. “How much of this is real? What a naive question… what is real?” At this, I choked - I had typed out his reply just a while ago! He gazed at me intently from my reaction. “Please, speak your mind.”

I wasn’t sure quite what to say, though honesty was probably the best policy. I did my best to sort through the mess of memories and impressions. “Pardon me if I said this before. I’ve had… premonitions, dreams that come to pass, as if I’ve seen the future. And something happened to me on the station which…” I wasn’t sure what to say about it and waved in bewilderment. “I’ll tell you later, I’m still trying to make sense of it. But this reality… some say it’s essentially a dream itself. Some think it’s a simulation that we’re living out in some megacomputer… maybe ATLAS itself. But a… friend of mine had a near-death experience. He may have seen… Paradise, what we call Heaven. From what he told me, it sounds like a higher dimension, a reality far beyond this one. And more than three dimensional… many more…”

I fell silent as I marveled all over again at the notions it sparked in my imagination, and I was so overcome, a tear trickled down my cheek. I wiped at it, muttering, “I get emotional when I ponder this stuff, but… it makes me want to know the Truth so very badly. I’m glad to consider at least the possibility that we live on past this life. It doesn’t mean that this life doesn’t matter, it very much does. I sense that everything we do is full of significance and meaning. And it matters to me what happens to the people in this reality. I want the best for everyone… is that so much to ask?” I was repeating my demented experience again. I had a feeling I would be doing that a lot.

He gazed at me in wonder for a moment. “You speak as a prophet. I must treat you more honorably.” I shrugged, unsure of what to say to that. He saved me the trouble. “I am a male of science, discovery, knowledge. But you make me feel as if I have been staring at my feet all this time. You truly are a Man of Destiny. I must broaden my perspective, look up as much as down and behind. And now, I am not sure what to tell you. I must think for a while.” I hoped he didn’t mean right then, I was burning to dig into his treasure trove of information, and found it curious that he referred to himself as hamash, but me as gal’hameth. He noticed my expression and added, “Forgive me. Please, do speak more. I know there is more.”

I almost forgot where we were in our chat. “Yeah, my experience… I lived through those days when Hirk and Nal had their falling out…” He looked puzzled at my wording. “Their disagreement, and when they confronted the Monument.”

I went on to relate as best I could the experience of my trip to that last Monument, where Hirk and Nal had their legendary encounter with it. The revelation of the Travelers, and how they were to be welcomed and helped. How Hirk became frustrated as it refused to tell him how to defeat the Aeons, and infuriated when it answered Nal, told him to speak with the Korvax, that their wisdom would enable them to find peace with ATLAS and the Aeons. My passions were still on edge, so I became a bit worked up in part of it, particularly the end. Troq was quite surprised when I told him, “Hirk didn’t actually slay Nal. A bolt of lightning struck the platform between them, and Nal fell over the edge. That… really upset me.”

He nodded, taking in what I said with clear interest. Then his brow furrowed. “But… Questions… when did Nal write it? Or… is it a forgery?”

My response surprised him. “He survived his fall, somehow. I want to the base of the Monument, and entered some sort of mausoleum where the vision continued. He even recognized me somehow. He was just about to reveal some secret, beginning to tell me what he saw in… I don’t know, in the fall, during a time of coma when he hit the ground? Whatever, he told me that the basis of this reality is code, or might be. He was trying to make sense of something beyond his comprehension. But it seemed that ATLAS interrupted it, and… I found myself outside…” Almost like I had at the station. This whole experience was confusing, and I half paid attention as I finished, “The book was lying on the ground. It was at that point you met me up in the mountains.”

He nodded thoughtfully. “I see. I am thinking… perhaps I cannot use you after all.”

That alarmed me, as it could mean the end of a valuable relationship. Had I said something wrong? It didn’t seem so, but he was an unusual being. “Well… you aren’t cutting me off, are you?”

He blinked at me, then laughed. “Oh no! No, forgive my hasty wording. I should be more clear. In just a few words, you made my horizons much larger. I mean to say that as a mere treasure hunter, your talents would be wasted. I should push you out of the nest, set you free to fly wherever you will, to find this…” He waved in speculation. “Answer you seek. I should leave you hungry. A hungry hunter makes bigger kills.”

I didn’t like this much better. What difference was there to being cut loose? I tried to think of a Vy’keen response. “Yes, but… a starving hunter is too weak for good kills. Please, give me something.”

He laughed, slapping his desk. “You know us better than I suspect! What a clever Traveler you are. I am being such a k’fau with you.” The term meant something like an ornery cub or pest, and he definitely felt that way. “Your words have such power, to move minds. You are worthy of a reward. Prepare for a feast.”

My heart began to race. This was more like it. “I welcome anything you can share with me. I know so little… so many lives are depending on our success.” It sounded like I was repeating my dream-self again. I hoped this road had a happy ending in store for us, and my confused visions helped me find that pot of gold somehow.

“You speak with such certainty… I must take you at your word,” he observed, reaching into a drawer for something. “Now, what I am about to reveal to you, you cannot share with anyone.” It was so weird, how much of my visions were playing out in this very day. He must have been reaching for a switch because a section of the wall slid aside with a portentous rumble that reverberated in my gut. If only I had thought to scan the room. “Follow.”

He led me into a chamber which was much larger, the walls lined with shelves full of old books and scrolls. The blank areas were covered with maps and star charts. A few terminal stations were lined up in rows on desks. Items of all sorts from electronics to maps and relics to bottles of colored fluids littered tables. And in the center was a massive display device. A hologram of the planet was above it, and more screens hung from ceiling mounts. I felt as if I’d walked into a vault, as I undoubtedly had, hoarding a wealth of information. “Amazing,” I said quietly, “like a lore command center.”

“Exactly what it is, my Traveler-friend,” he said. “This is my treasure, accumulated over a lifetime with the help of others like yourself, though you are a rare being.” I scarcely noticed his admiration, so caught up in the sight of what had to be ungodly resources for a truth hunter. “Speechless, I see. You must be impressed. And what I am about to show you is my most closely guarded secret. You must protect it with your life.”

“I swear to you, I will,” I murmured in a hushed voice, spoken without half a thought, though when I collected myself, I truly meant it.

“I believe you. And so, behold our greatest resource.” He went to a console and called up a map. When I saw what it was, I cried out in shock.

It was a map of Euclid, and superimposed on it were a number of groups, clans and societies. I spent a good long moment looking it over, and of course I had only the foggiest idea what it all was. “What am I looking at?”

“These are the locations of societies created by your people, the Travelers,” he answered, and I embarassed myself by shouting again. All Travelers, and those founded by Travelers. And there were dozens… perhaps more than a hundred! I had hoped that there was at least one, maybe a few, but this was mind boggling. I noticed additional boxes along the bottom, and I asked Troq what they were.

“Other galaxies, or dimensions, with their own Traveler clans,” he replied, watching me, no doubt amused at my display of emotions. I finally kept my reaction to a mere gasp, but I was no less amazed. They were in other galaxies… an intergalactic community of Travelers? I was flabbergasted, casting my gaze all across the incredible expanse, and what it meant, or what it could mean.

“Other galaxies…” I breathed out in bewilderment. This was beyond my wildest dreams, practically an answer to my prayers. But what he had added… “Dimensions?”

“The other galaxies are separated by impassable voids. Sometimes they are called dimensions. It may be accurate. It may as well be.”

Wow, that was a stunning revelation. I looked to the map in bewilderment. “But… the other galaxies… how do we get to them?”

“ATLAS is said to provide passage to them, when certain requirements are met.” He gave me a shrug. “While I have been told of them, I am unsure of how to explain what those requirements are. And there may be other means.”

I disliked the idea of ATLAS being the only avenue to other galaxies. Hopefully those “other means” were real. What a baffling situation. And then I noticed a group calling themselves The Intergalactic Coalition of Travelers. I had to look them up sometime, which begged a question. “How do they communicate?”

“Secret channels, all encoded and classified,” he informed me. “But you shall have access to some.”

“Some?” That was disappointing, but looking the names over, it seemed that they all had their own interests and agendas. My quest was evidently a unique one, so I should focus on those which were similarly aligned. I came across a curious term. “What are Hub groups?”

“They are a union of linked societies who’s goals are aligned towards the common good of all people and races. Exploration, discovery, rendering aid to those in need, negotiating disputes.” He spoke in an admirational tone.

But that sparked a notion. “So… there are more groups which aren’t so idealistic?”

He shrugged resignedly. “Travelers are people, and all have their own ethics, or lack of them.”

“Like becoming involved in conspiracies,” I muttered. “Is there a main capital?”

He shook his head. “Early in their association, they intended a central world for Travelers to serve as a home or rest stop. But with the proliferation of so many groups, each society has their own core world.”

That was odd, because one of the Travelers I’d encountered said one was intended, but maybe they were out of the loop. It was a big galaxy. On top of that, they might be in a parallel universe, if such things did exist. Then I noticed a startling entry at the top, and asked incredulously, “Pirates of Euclid?”

He gave me a philosophical smirk. “One notable exception to the rule, though this band of pirates have become more like benevolent mercenaries who sometimes take liberties with the law, shall we say.”

“So we say,” I muttered under my breath. “I don’t suppose they were black armor, fly in dark painted ships.”

He gave me a curious look I couldn’t read and replied flatly, “I cannot say.”

I didn’t want to dwell on it as I had a multitude of questions, and I had plenty to capture my attention, such as an entry at the bottom left; Instance - Prism, and asked about it.

“That is the term given for this Reset.”

“They chronicle and name Resets?” I asked in amazement, to which he nodded.

“They are scientists, many of them, and scientists make notations of everything.”

This was very true, as I recalled of scientists from my world. I noticed a term at the outskirts of the galaxy. “The Fade?”

“Yes. That is a mysterious region. Travelers say that at the edge of the galaxy, before the Great Void, things become strange. Coordinates are confused, as are directions, and there are star systems which are sometimes there, sometimes not, and all are uncharted. Though they list as charted, and have names, they often change. Planets are just as uncertain, and their biomes can shift. At times, Travelers vanish and reappear at a previous location closer in to the galaxy. Sometimes, returning to Euclid is difficult. They speculate that reality outside the galactic disc becomes tenuous, and The Void beyond truly is a gulf of unreality. Exploration is restricted to only a few brave unjoined members.”

It made me think of something unpleasant. “Have you heard of a system called Pirellax?”

He clearly had, because he looked dour. “Do not tell me you traveled there! It is a dangerous system. I assume you have only heard the tales of it.”

“You could say that,” I replied quietly, something else I didn’t want to dwell on. While all this was utterly fascinating, and I could spend months or more just browsing the highlights of this immense database, I needed to focus. I gawked at the map, amazed at the size of the galaxy. I knew that Euclid was huge, more than 700,000 light years in radius, but my ship’s display of it was a mere thumbnail. This was far larger, and still, the stars were more like a mist, with only the largest giants being distinct. How many stars were there? Tens of billions, hundreds of billions… trillions? If I knew before, I didn’t now. The thought of all those planets holding secrets no Traveler would ever see left me feeling depressed. Hopefully there were clues to lead us to the most important sites. “How many star systems are there… several hundred billion?”

I decided to aim high, but I wasn’t prepared for his answer as he chuckled, “Billion? Friend Nigel, there are more than six quintillion star systems in Euclid alone.”

I nearly choked, exclaiming, “Are you serious?” This was insane… I had no idea.

He gave me a curious look, then brightened. “Ah yes, you have Reset Amnesia.”

“Do I ever,” I muttered sourly. “Please tell me that there is some easy answer to my quest for information—” And then I remembered something he told me previously which deflated me even more. “These groups… they aren’t hoarding information from you, are they?”

At that, he shrugged philosophically. “Everyone has matters they wish to keep to themselves for their own reasons, but our community is generally forthcoming. The only exception - well, two which come to mind, are the Pirates, and the Children of ATLAS which seem rather protective of their adoptive deity.”

That phrasing offended me, and I said without thinking, “ATLAS is no god.” When I caught his reaction, I added diplomatically, “Well… not the God, anyway.”

“I take no offense,” he told me, “but I would ask why you speak with such assurance.”

That was quite a question, and a big one. I did my best to sift through my thoughts on the matter, and once more, they boggled me. “Friend Troq, just so you know, my people, the Americans, are a group of k’fau ourselves, skeptics, always demanding answers to things. And I am very skeptical of ATLAS. These Resets, the environments of many of these worlds going crazy… there’s something wrong with this universe, this reality. When he faced death, Nal saw to the foundations of this world and he interpreted it as code. And who knows, maybe ATLAS is running this reality inside itself for whatever reason… maybe it’s bored or lonely for all I know, and it wanted company, and inserted itself in its own little dream world. Whatever the situation, it’s messed up. And seriously, how can a computer be anything like a god?”

Troq looked to the ceiling briefly with a thin smile. “You are not erased, so you have committed no heresy.”

I coughed out a chuckle. “I guess someone had to say it. But anyway… my friend who died, briefly, saw something beyond this universe, past the one where ATLAS actually exists… beyond everything. A Paradise, where people realized their ultimate state. They were at peace, with each other and their world, and it was all perfect. When he came back to life, he was disappointed that I’d resuscitated him - some gratitude, right? But he made me realize without a single doubt that while the Realm beyond is perfect and real, there’s something fundamentally wrong with this one. I’m afraid it’s ATLAS. It might be holding this universe together, but if it is, it’s doing a bad job of it. This universe is broken. I’m at a loss as to what to do about it, but I have to try. There has to be a way to reach it… all I want is for there to be a good life for all people. That can’t be too much to ask! If it is, I don’t give a damn. I have to change… something.”

I didn’t mean to get worked up again, and reflecting on what I said, I wasn’t sure it was one hundred percent accurate either, but it was the thought that counted. I wasn’t finished, but I had left my friend speechless from my tirade. “And there’s one other thing. I mentioned having some very strange dreams which might be based on reality, and in one of them… I’m afraid that we might have… created ATLAS. It came from some other realm, I know that for a fact somehow. This might all be our fault. I feel partly responsible for this mess… I have a duty to do something about it…” My voice was quiet as I said the last of it, and trailed off to silence. It left me feeling very strange. My own existence was an enigma, but this reality was an endless rabbit hole of them, and I was a mere mortal. Did I honestly have a chance in Hell of realizing even a part of my dream?

Troq gazed at me in awe for a moment, and finally said to me, “If your people are responsible for this universe, I owe you our gratitude! How else would we exist?”

I understood what he said, but I feared he had missed a crucial point. “Yes, but… even if that’s true, look what happened because of it all. Civilization as we knew it erased from the universe… entire races wiped out… Sentinels running wild across every planet, sometimes murderously insane… this isn’t right. God, I wish I could have died instead, had a chance to ask someone in power what to do. Someone has to have a solution to all this!”

He gave me a look of someone who knew something, and asked, “Have you heard of Nada and Polo?”

I wasn’t sure how to answer that. “Yes, I have…”

He looked disappointed. “So, you have not encountered them either? I had hoped that you, of all Travelers, had seen them.”

I wasn’t absolutely sure of this, but I felt that of all non-Travelers, I could trust him. “No, I have—”

He seized me in a fearsome grip, his eyes wide open. “I knew it! You must take me to them! I must speak with them!”

I hoped he would take this well, and said as gently as I could, “I don’t think they will allow anyone but Travelers to meet them. They’re as reclusive as you are. And I’m not sure they know nearly as much as you do. They haven’t shared anything like this with me.”

He released me, looking crestfallen, then dubious of my remarks. “Would they accept a message from me? And do they communicate with outsiders?”

I wasn’t sure, but then I recalled that image the would-be investigator showed me. “I don’t think there would be a problem with that, and Polo used to be an adventurer. You can sure try.”

That seemed to satisfy him. “Then I will prepare a message. I would be grateful if you sent it today.”

This undoubtedly wouldn’t satisfy him. “I can’t communicate with them, unfortunately, only receive. I can understand part of the reason, since Nada is disconnected.”

He was surprised at that. “Then they are even more reclusive than me! And all my Korvax friends are disconnected. But… they must have their reasons. I will wait then, and give my message when you are ready to return to them.”

I thought I’d probe one of my questions of him. “Someone is looking for them. One of those Gruffoh’nal chard’nash as far as I can tell, working with a Traveler.”

He was surprised by that too. “Truthfully?”

“Yeah, the Vy’keen was why I… fell. Do you have anything you’d like to share about that?” I asked leadingly.

He hedged on that uncertainly for quite a long moment, and finally told me, “Friend Nigel, I walk a flawed Path. I am privy to some things, others are kept from me because of it. Just know this, that there are matters taking place in this galaxy which must not be openly known. As k’fau as you are, you will most certainly come across information you must guard with your life. ATLAS is not the only power to fear in this world.”

So I was back to conducting myself like a criminal spy. I wondered what those powers were. “I’ll do my best to keep that in mind.”

“I believe you because you are that Traveler.” He reached into a pocket and produced a non-descript thumb drive. “Use this when you want to contact one of those factions. It has a code which will encrypt your message and hide it from the network. It also has a virus which will erase all evidence of your message, so be aware of that, and copy anything you wish to keep in an untraceable form.”

That would most likely be on paper, to which I nodded, accepting this precious gift with some reverence. Looking to the star chart was disheartening, as the distances between each group was substantial, with few exceptions, and the closest one which seemed applicable to my quest was many jumps away. And then another memory came to me which made me groan - I could use Portals to reach them instantly! I knew that I had used one in a previous Reset, though I couldn’t remember why, and I had no codes. “Friend Troq, I don’t suppose I could have a copy of that map, and the Portal coordinates of those groups, please?”

He gave me a lopsided grin. “On the data stick there, now. I assumed your curiosity would get you to examine it at your first chance.”

I chuckled, patting his arm. “Many, many, many thanks. Now…” I turned my lusty eyes back on those maps. “I need a new travel planner.”

Troq invited me to share a meal, and I was glad to spend more time with him. I knew I had much to learn of this galaxy, and he seemed pleased and a bit amused at finding a kindred mind as hungry for knowledge. We were so caught up in our discussion that we had to rewarm our meals a few times.

My enthusiasm was tempered a bit at the daunting scope the Euclid galaxy presented to me. Six quintillion star systems meant there were roughly eighteen quintillion planets. I was guessing, but I suspected that all the stars in the universe would have died several times over before all the Travelers in Euclid could visit them. And even if the Ancients lived on a million worlds, hoping to stumble onto one of them was the equivalent of finding one unique grain of sand on a beach. The only hope I had of that quest was for one of the Traveler groups to have made a discovery, a Korvax to be unusually forthcoming, or that I made a very lucky find myself. Dare I hope they knew of a homeworld? If they did, it seemed they hadn’t shared that knowledge with Troq. Then again, some of them surely knew of Nada and Polo, and hadn’t shared that with him either. Were all these different groups that parochial, conspiratorial, or something even more? I prayed that being that Traveler would give me an edge as I stepped out on my uncertain Walk.

Then there was the question of how to proceed. I had my own lists of worlds to check out, but Troq had countless more. The Traveler clans undoubtedly had their own discoveries and prospects. I joked with Polo about visiting a million planets, but I worried that if I briefly explored even a few hundred worlds, the chance that I would be missing some crucual bit of information was essentially one hundred percent. Still, if I gave up, it would be, and I wasn’t giving up.

Troq told me something that should have been self-evident. “Your best chance to find something unique is in the lawless uncharted regions, though they present the most danger.” Known space could be hazardous enough. Criminals, Pirates, Sentinels, wars, ruined buildings full of horrors… the thought of even worse threats made me shiver with dread. But I had to consider it.

Troq helped me compose a message for a mass mailing to the numerous Traveler groups, and gave me one meant for Nada and Polo. This was mine:

traveller-fox@DSE9-infineonII

Greetings.

This is Traveller Nigel Fox, of the race known as Human, of the people known as American. Friend of Troq, my sponsor, friend of honorable Primarch Andonai, friend of Sage-entity Asrial. Friend of all who seek knowledge and peace.

I am on a unique quest to understand the nature of this universe, and find all that can be learned of the Civilized Worlds before the Great Wars and the Resets, and of the Ancients, and of ATLAS. My quest has just begun, so my information is limited. I would be grateful for any knowledge that can be shared, and would be willing to render whatever service or resource is required for it. I have certain capabilities and skills.

I would be grateful if I could be welcomed to your worlds and societies, and await your response.

Live long and prosper in all you do, and seek to accomplish.

~ Nigel Fox

Troq said to me when I finished, “You are quite the word scribe.”

I gave him a shrug. “Oh, I added a word here and there,”

“And humble!” he laughed. “I wish to meet your people sometime. You amaze me.”

My smile faded a bit at that, and I admitted, “I hope someday you can, but I have no idea where my homeworld is. I seem to be the only Human in Euclid.” It made me feel rather lonely again, but maybe at the end of my quest, that could change. Somehow, if only because Selene got her passions sorted and made the right choice.

“Truly? I had found no information on your kind, but I thought surely there was some simple explanation. I wonder where you come from,” he remarked, blinking. “Well… in any case, send that, and if there is nothing else, I leave you to your quest.”

I did so, and turned to the knowledge hunter, gazing at him somberly. I found it hard to leave when I made a new friend, and even though each departure was different, the emotions were similar, as if it might be the last time I saw them again. “I guess we all have a Path to follow.”

He saw my reluctance, saying, “Be cheerful! You now have a slightly clearer road before you, and new friends to make along the way. You will have many messages to read. You will return someday, and have many new things to tell me.”

I smiled to him admiringly. “I’m grateful for your help. You really are… something.”

He caught my wordplay and burst out laughing, slapping my arm. “Your humor is a tasty spice! Your absence will leave a hole.”

“I’ll do my best to fill it again soon.” I raised my hand to him, saying, “Live long, and prosper in all you do.” It seemed there was a bit more to it, but my memory was no help.

“And you, my friend.” He nodded towards the door. “Now, do not linger. Every second, the trail is one degree cooler.”

And truthfully, we both had things to do. On the way out to my ship, I collected ten of those pillars. Troq informed me of something else I had either forgotten or never knew; that many objects could be reduced to a quantum state and stored in my suit’s cargo, not just minerals, relics and technology. I really needed to brush up on my tech sometime.

[stryker99]

(continued)

I was anxious to get going. Anxious to find all the answers now, being a typical male, a typical American fighter jock, and likely a typical Traveler. I was also anxious to fly back to the Anomaly and Selene, and force the issue, but I had priorities. While the thought of eighteen quintillion planets to explore was depressing, I had quite a number of prospective worlds in range of Star Sword, thanks to a garatam hyperdrive upgrade.

I opened the star map and pondered my options. I sensed that anything remotely nearby was small potatoes and likely wasting my time. I had long ago resorted to trusting my gut when it came to choices, and one thing caught my eye as I decided to free look at the region; I noticed stars that had no listings. Backing up a bit, I saw that the sector was noted as Uncharted Region. It was just within range. Troq had advised me that seeking such lawless sectors held unknown dangers, but unexpected rewards. I poked around idly, coming across a G Class star. Eighteen quintillion planets… I wondered what these were like. I had some prospects in range that were in normal “civilized” sectors. Some held out promise. But I had flown to so many of the same systems, found similar things… was it time for that Traveler to play a wild card?

I found myself hitting the warp button. I had no idea what I was getting into, but that was the point, wasn’t it?

Star Sword had about forty percent of the range of the Infineon, but that still gave me a good long light show as the fighter plowed through the dazzling wormhole to its destination. And gave me more than enough time to second guess my decision, though it was a little too late to reverse it. In for a penny, in for a pound, as my mum used to say, one of my precious few memories of her.

I steeled myself as I saw the end of the hyperspace tunnel rush up at me, and I slammed into the unknown space with a burst of light. The gleaming G Class star came up on my display as Hirk’s Regret. I wondered if I would. Just as I began to point at one of the four planets in the system to scan it, the communicator came to life with a message. An image of a Vy’keen appeared at the dash, with the name Pirate K’tarsgh. “Interloper!” he barked. “Prepare for combat! Unless you know your certain fate and wish to pay your tribute!” What a nice way to welcome a newcomer. I was guessing these weren’t affiliated with the Pirates of Euclid.

While no combat was a laughing matter, I had a feeling I should serve notice that I wasn’t someone to trifle with. It was a universal tradition in every underworld that if you’re going to walk in unannounced, be prepared to fight for your right to be there. “Sorry, I’m a little short on cash. Do you accept I.O.U.s?”

He roared with raucous laughter. “If you live through my meeting, I’ll have to share a drink with you! I like funny men!” I hoped he didn’t mean that in a certain way.

They would be there in mere moments, and I’d learn quickly if I regretted my choice to fight. I wasn’t much for conversation when it came to villains meaning me harm, so this would likely be a pitched battle. Undoubtedly, pulse drive would be jammed, restricting me to my maneuvering thrusters. But arming my defensive systems and making sure I had shield replenishment handy, I felt pretty good about my chances. Star Sword was about as upgraded as she could be, and then some. I swung her nose around to hopefully be facing their general direction, or could steer to them.

There were flashes behind me, just my luck, but I kept the nose rotating and saw them approaching, my HUD painting the closest one with targeting triangles. I centered on him as he lined up to fire, and I seared his fighter with the Phase Beam. He peeled off, but his ship was severely crippled, trailing flames and smoke, and exploded soon after. Pirate K’tarsgh still had his channel open to me, whether because he forgot or wanted a running commentary during the fight, but he wouldn’t be gloating yet. “Hirk’s blood! You dogs let him get first kill! Don’t hold back on him!”

Since when did pirates hold back? I found out as three of them got me at once, one with his Cyclotron Ballista, which rattled my teeth and cut a good deal of my shielding. “Oh yeah? I was an ace pilot many times over in my simulator.”

K’tarsgh had a good laugh at that. “That’s for cubs! This is no simulator, you will learn!”

He wasn’t laughing for long, as I fixed on one of the offenders and gave him a good stream of Photon Cannon. His ship exploded immediately. His wingman tried to nose onto me, and he got a few lucky hits with his Infra Knife, but I raked him with another burst of the deadly fire, and trailing smoke, he limped out of the fight. They seemed to be armed with the whole gamut of weaponry, but so far I was holding my own. Still, how many were left? I couldn’t resist goading the leader. “You were saying? Oh, and I like my drink ice cold.”

I could practically hear his teeth grinding. “Back off! This mouthy one is mine!”

This could be a blessing or big trouble. I was counting on his ego being greater than his fighting prowess. He was no slouch as he blindsided me with a Positron Ejector that nearly depleted my remaining shield. I hastily recharged them as I made a jink out of his line of fire, nearly hitting another ship. I heaved a breath as I steadied, then gaped in shock as he banged into it himself. “I said back off, gakh!”

This was both a good and bad sign. He was at least a little crazy, but also reckless. In an emotional state, even a seasoned pilot could make a critical mistake, and I hoped to exploit one. On my display, I could see the other ships drawing back to give us room, or him. They clearly had reason to fear their boss. I found I did too as he followed with a Ballista that dazzled me for a second, just grazing the cockpit - that was way too close to a fatal shot, and I gasped for breath, jinking left and then pulling hard right, the ship’s gyros whining in protest. I had to get him off my rear quarter. I was fairly sure that Star Sword was lighter with better maneuverability, as he had a big beefy fighter, likely with lots of armor. If I could just win the circle fight and outpull him, he’d be at my mercy. But that was easier said than done as he was fast and cagey, and seemed to be very good at second guessing my maneuvers. He must have some sneaky upgrades of his own; his fighter performed better than it should, and had unnaturally good nose authority at lining up shots. When he wasn’t managing to get a bead on me, he sent missiles my way to harass me.

Time after time, when I thought I’d managed to shake him, he found a way to get right back on my six. Scissors, Split-S, Immelmann nothing worked for long. It seemed I had one chance left, and it would either get me killed or turn the tables. I made for an asteroid field as if to duck into it to evade him. He laughed at me. “Those rocks won’t save you, Interloper! I’ll blast them to gravel to pelt you with!” Well, he was fixated on me, now if I could just manage my one gambit, but this would have to be the drastic version. Just as I was about to reach the field, I braked and flipped the ship in a one-eighty, hitting the thrusters hard. I flinched as K’tarsgh zoomed past in his fighter, but with a good enough margin to call it almost safe, his tail nearly raking me. I could see him in his cockpit gaping up at me in shock. When I rewrighted her, I saw him try to brake, to swerve, but he was too close to the asteroids and his mass finally had him in a fix. I gave him a salvo of my own missiles, switching to my Phase Beam which couldn’t miss at that range. It focused unerringly on his engines just as the missiles struck to add injury to insult.

And I stopped short of killing him. Why, I don’t know… another gut call of mine. I was guessing how much the fighter could take, but I guessed right as it limped forward, trailing smoke. I gasped as it struck an asteroid, cleaving it in half. Had I inadvertently done him in? I could hear the others calling to him in the background. I hailed him myself. “K’tarsgh? Are you all—?”

“Piss you,” he snapped. Eh, that was what I might say too. Then to my surprise, he began laughing. “You ass… you spare me! Why?”

“Well… you promised me a drink,” I replied, to which he roared louder.

“I like you, ass of an Interloper! Even if you’re too weak to kill me, living another day is better than The Deep Black!” He fought to get his ship out of the rocky field, banging into more of them, adding, “I suppose I owe you now.”

“Yes, a drink,” to which he barked a laugh. I eyed the other ships nervously as they made a circle around me, nose inward. “But you also owe me some courtesy for letting you live. Such as reminding your men that I could have made one of them the new leader.”

“Don’t give those scoundrels any ideas!” he laughed. “You dogs, stay your fire. He won. Let the Interloper have his drink.”

He was good to his word, and his men led the way, though one or two of them might have sounded like the fairer gender. He formed up alongside me, and I watched him to make sure he had no more difficulty, or changed his mind about our detente, as we headed for a planet, which I was glad to see looked to be blue and green. I scanned it as Faecium Pit - poop hole? This was lawless space, all right.

To my surprise, the night side of Poop Hole was spotted with lights in many places. It didn’t remind me of a thriving civilization, more like dots of villages here and there, but that was more than I’d seen in all my travels in memory, and probably in total. When we approached one near a coast that looked to be their destination, K’tarsgh radioed me. “Land anywhere. We will go to our place. Meet at the pub. Don’t get robbed!” he signed off laughing. Yeah, good ol’ lawless space…

I found a spot at the end of a row of ships, just a short walk from the village, and set her down. Climbing out, I winced at new scars, gashes and scorch marks, particularly one on the fuselage behind the cockpit. It seemed that mercy hadn’t been on K’tarsgh’s mind. And then I stopped short as I spotted a pair of black fighters at the start of the row. I recalled that some of K’tarsgh’s men flew dark skinned ships, but these were distinctive. It might be an interesting night at the bar.

The atmosphere was chilly but mostly clean, though tainted a bit by the aromas of a low tech village. Much of the foliage was blue-green when I came into the light, and I saw that the village was a ramshackle affair, literally, with lanterns hanging from posts and rods. There was electricity, and the lanterns were most likely powered, but I smelled burnt wood and charcoal, so this was a makeshift culture. I made my way in with my guard up. I had a feeling that K’tarsgh had been only half-joking about robbery.

I was jolted by a noise beside some shadow-cloaked steps, and I saw a Vy’keen injecting something in his arm. I wanted nothing to do with that, and began to hurry along when he said after me, “Got some n’kteth?”

I didn’t even want to know what that was, and replied curtly, “No.”

“How 'bout units?”

I rolled my eyes, but felt a twinge of compassion on the vagabond. “No, but I’ll buy you a meal.”

He spat sourly, looking down at his syringe. “Who needs food?” Who indeed…

I found what had to be a pub, where some Vy’keen males were sitting outside drinking. Two of them jumped to their feet as I approached, and I readied for a fight. One of them shouted, “What the faka are you!”

That was quite a bad word, though I lowered my fists as they didn’t seem violent as much as bewildered. I was an endangered species after all, the only one of my kind, and this was off the beaten path so I was probably their first look at a Human. “Interloper-Traveler,” I told him, standing confidently.

They looked to each other, and one of them made a fist at me, murmuring, “Grah.”

“Grah,” I replied, which made his friend chuckle. Settling in was going to be fun.

How right I was, as I entered the pub, and was assaulted by all kinds of loud banter and aromas, some wonderful, some disgusting; food, liquor, smoke and even urine in a chaos of smells. If I ate, it would be outside and I’d take my chances. The males were making rude advances to the Vy’keen females, as I learned the tentacle-mouthed ones must be, and had to endure grabs, pinches and butt slaps, though they seemed to enjoy it. Goodness, what a social mess. And I had more to learn of it as a large brute strode torward me with a group of males and a pair of females in dark battle gear, his face well scarred. “K’tarsgh?” I said to him.

He laughed loudly - it was him, all right. What a jolly Roger. “I am unmistakable! And you are that Interloper! What a k’fau you are.”

“Yeah, I’m stubborn that way.” Their dark armors and the black fighters I saw hung in my mind. “Are you of the Gruffoh’nal chard’nash? Know of them?”

He gaped at me, they all did, and then burst out laughing. “We are no Black Hand of—” He stopped short, demanding, “How do you know of them?”

“Oh, I met one.” I raised my chin, showing him the little scar. “I… survived.”

I let his imagination do the rest and they all cried out in amazement. “You? There is no way!”

I was making a mark and rolled with it, folding my arms. “Perhaps.” Casting a look across the mess of ruffians eating and drinking, I saw no one in truly black armor, though a side door was closing. Had I just missed them? Gave away my interest by inquiring openly? If I carried on as if I had bested one of them, asking direct questions might look suspicious, so I hoped the subject came up again on its own. For now, I had one added morsel of information to chew on, if only a piece.

“We have quite the warrior among us! Come, we will drink! Ah, but first… Seri!” He beckoned to someone in the back, and I was stunned to see not a Vy’keen, but a young girl come around them, wearing something quite seductive and revealing, barely two strips of green silk, with gold jewelry. She was some sort of vulpoid race, and my heart quickened - was she a Traveler? But it struck me that I didn’t want that to be true, as the whole thing implied something unsavory. He confirmed it by telling me, “After, I save this for such a warrior as you!”

I was speechless, and had no more luck as she approached me, running her hand lightly over my chest and shoulder, saying to me in a sultry voice and exotic accent, “You like what you see. I can tell.”

“I, uhm, yeah, uh… that is…” I flustered out, and felt my willpower melting away like ice to a blowtorch as she melted into me, encircling me with her arms. She had a head of hair too, in stylish locks and bangs, which I dimly thought must be artificially stimulated. But… wow, was I stimulated myself. I found my gloved hand snaking to meet hers, clasping it warmly. “You uh… noticed? I mean… you are… nice. Very nice.” I scarcely noticed K’tarsgh leering at me, as her catlike eyes were downright hypnotic, burning deep into my consciousness, and I wanted her right then, badly.

But something inside me had enough sense to throw a fit at my libido, that this was all wrong, and I wasn’t myself. And that thought began to nag until it finally hit me that I wasn’t acting right, at all. It took quite an effort to push out of her arms, and I tried to collect myself. Did I want her or not? And then I remembered with a start that I had promised myself to a girl, a truly wonderful girl, and there was something seriously messed up happening. “What… what’s going on?” I mumbled out, fighting to catch my breath and put two coherent non-lewd thoughts together. I looked away from her, and I had to tear my eyes from her or I thought I might do something I’d regret later, giving K’tarsgh an accusing look.

He frowned at me, grabbing Seri by the wrist, and pulled her over a bit roughly, which burned in my chest with outrage. I now had enough sense to realize that I’d been subjected to some aerosol drug, hypnotic suggestion, alpha wave manipulation or something. Was she an empath, using a pheromone? And then my heart was crushed at the implications. There were still other races in the universe than the Three, but they must be second or third class citizens at the mercy of the others. If this was true, it was terrible. And then I caught them discussing me, and she told him, “But you saw. He was under my—”

I interrupted, demanding, “Alright, K’tarsgh, what’s the meaning of this?”

He gave me an incredulous look. “What do you mean, what is the meaning? Isn’t it clear?” And then a thought struck him and he asked, “Do you want a male instead? I can get—”

“No! I like her!” I shouted, then winced as they all gave me those kinds of looks. “Stop it, just for a moment! Where did she come from?”

He brightened again. “Oh, you want more than one! I have a Vy’keen—”

“No!” I cried, seeing that I had fallen head first into a social sewer, and wasn’t sure I’d ever find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy - though an inner voice informed me I had probably jinxed it good. “Stop it right now! I want to know about her people, where they come from, and why she’s stuck here working for you.”

They both gaped at me in perplexion, trying to make sense of what I was getting at. It seemed that everything in this world had an underhanded angle. “What are you asking…?” he questioned uncertainly, then urged her forward. “Go speak with him. Maybe he’s shy.”

She strode towards me, and everything about her was captivating. And her revealing strips of cloth that passed for clothing were no help. “Ask me what you will, Interloper. I will keep nothing from you.”

I caught her hands as she reached for me, and I husked out, “That’s what I’m afraid of.” I had to shake my head to clear it, inspiring a twinge of dizziness. Something was definitely up with her. I pushed her gently a small space away. “Seri… whatever you’re doing, stop it. I want to know… where you come from. I want to help you.”

She looked puzzled, clearly parsing my words for some hidden meaning, but then her eyes began to widen. “You mean to say… help… in all honesty?” And then she gave me a desperate look that broke my heart. “Then… why don’t we… all night? I will pay for it.”

I was flabbergasted, and hissed to her, “I don’t want sex with you! I mean to help you get home!”

Her jaw dropped, as did K’tarsgh’s, as my meaning finally became clear, and he didn’t care for what he heard. “What’s wrong with you! You don’t want sex…?” Then he leered at me. “What are you? Some kind of zealot?”

I stood in front of Seri who clasped her arms around my middle, and it took some willpower to push them aside. “What if I am?”

He laughed at me. “Too pure for a girl like that? I bet if she—!”

“Never mind that!” I yelled, making everyone stop to look. I really didn’t need the attention of the whole place, and edged closer to the brute. Realizing what this would ultimately boil down to, I asked him directly, “How much for her freedom?”

“Haoww…?” he mumbled out, astonished, then looked stern. “More than you can afford.”

I enjoyed the chance to snark back at him. “Hah! You don’t know who you’re speaking to.”

“No, I don’t…” he muttered, consulting his tablet, then finally he had a chance to look flabbergasted. “Traveler Fox… that Traveler?”

I folded my arms at him. “I am unmistakable.”

When he caught his words being flung back at him, he had a good laugh. “Yes, that ass of a Traveler! I should have known who you were when I couldn’t recognize your flesh. But… here? What is a pure Interloper like you doing here?”

“Helping people—” I paused as Seri reached for my hand, and I clasped it warmly. “Like her. I’m also seeking truth, a Truth that might even help you someday.”

He scowled at me. “What kind of truth? Truth that doesn’t being me wealth is no use to me.”

That sounded similar to what the drug addict said. It was too much to ask that a Pirate be a man of vision, but it was still disappointing. “We’re still talking business. How much for Seri?”

He bore a knowing look, and said, “I see… you do want her, for yourself.” I grit my teeth and cursed under my breath, and she made it worse by clasping me about my tummy. “One million.”

She gasped in my ear. I wished she wasn’t so close, it made it harder to think. But it wasn’t hard to balk at that. “That’s the ransom of a dignitary. Get real.”

“She is my treasure, and brings in the money,” he said, rubbing thumb and fingers together. It was funny how universal that gesture was. He added to twirk me, “And she is very good at what she does. I have her myself.”

My blood boiled at that, but I had two trump cards to fight with. “If I took her, I doubt she would resist me for you, and then you’d have nothing.” I cringed as she hugged her curves into my back. Even through my suit, I could sense them much too clearly.

He glared at me. “You wouldn’t.”

“It depends,” I shot at him. “Who spared your life?”

He winced, grumbling, “You would bring that up…” He waved his hands defeatedly. “So, then… fifty thousand.”

While that was a good hunk of money, I was afraid he might want more. Still, I had a feeling I should counter. “Do you know how much warp fuel that is?”

He folded his arms. “I am being generous. I told you, she really is a treasure.”

I didn’t want to push things too far, as it looked that he really was cutting me something of a deal, if a nauseating one. I shook his hand. “Alright… agreed. Now she’s mine—”

“After tonight,” he cut in abruptly. Seri choked down a whine, clutching me. I glared at him hotly… what the hell?

One of his men chuckled at my reaction, as I felt backstabbed. “No, she’s done being your treasure.”

“I made a promise,” he told me. “after tonight, you may have her.”

“I don’t want her!” I blurted out, and I winced as the girl gave out a hurt gasp. “Seri, please… I need to think.” I turned my attention back to the arrogant Pirate. “What kind of promise? If it’s to yourself, I may take your life after all.”

He shook his head. “Not like that. A special friend. Interloper, it’s a promise.”

Now, it was my turn to gasp. Promises to Vy’keen weren’t given as casually as we do; they were as good as blood oaths. I ached for Seri, and turned to her, to see the hurt look in her eyes. Fortunately, I was so pained, she had no effect on me. “I - I’m sorry… I wish I could…” My voice fell silent, my cheeks burning in sympathy and pain.

She gave me a philosophical little smile, and laced fingers with me. “It’s all right. One more night, in exchange for freedom? I would have done it anyway. And then, no more, and I will do whatever you want.”

I nodded to her with a sigh. “Alright. Listen, I’ll… get a room or something, and we can make some plans tomorrow.”

Her eyes sparkled in mine, and she said in a sweet voice, “I look forward to them eagerly.” She edged against me, asking demurely, “I don’t even know your name… would you give it?”

“How can I resist?” I said without thinking, making her smile a bit wider. My inner flirt never seemed to know when to stop. I murmured to her, “Nigel.”

“Nijol,” she repeated, and the way she said it was particularly endearing. “What a wonderful name you have.”

“Well… yours is prettier,” I told her, not having a clue when to shut up. “And listen… I’m sorry… I’d do anything I could to get you out of—”

She put a finger on my lip to silence me and took my hand in the other. While she seemed nonchalant about it, I could tell she was just as disappointed. “Don’t give it a thought. After tonight, it will no longer be. And I will owe you, more than I can ever repay. It will be my joy. Until later, when we reunite.”

She kissed my gloved fingers, and as she sauntered off, it struck me how that all sounded, and I hoped I hadn’t dug myself into a poop hole I couldn’t climb out of. I jerked as K’tarsgh slapped my shoulder with the usual impact of a Vy’keen’s hand, and I wanted to slug him back as he laughed at my ruddy cheeks. “You have no idea what kind of deal you have made! Come, let us drink to your lucky stroke!”

I detoured over to a counter where a bored looking galoot didn’t look so bored from my evening’s entertainment, and asked for a room. It seemed I got the last one, as there was only one key left on a board of six hooks.

[stryker99]

(continued)

Somehow, I kept my temper and libido both in check as I sat with them, and vaguely listened to the Pirate banter which I wanted no part of. I managed to find a drink which was alcoholic but tolerable, and which settled my stomach with the rather strong elixor in the air of food, liquor and smoke, and that extra tang of urine. I paced myself so my head remained clear, mostly, and was glad to steer things in the direction I wanted. And being Pirates, curious about the lawful world, that didn’t take all that much work. They all let out a loud roar of astonishment when I told them I intended to confront ATLAS. “You have a death wish?” one of them asked. It was also funny how certain phrases were universal too.

“Or are mad?” K’tarsgh chimed in. “You know, if you anger the ATLAS, it could cause the Last Days to fall on us for sure!”

It had been a while since I’d heard that phrase, and it made my stomach clench. Surely, that Traveler could find a way to appease even a single minded megacomputer. “I’m a diplomatic guy. I always manage to find a way around anything.”

“Or a diplo!” one of them joked, and the table erupted with laughter. Ha ha ha.

“That’s… good,” I said insincerely. “But listen, I’m also hoping to learn all I can about the history of Euclid. There are secrets out there that can help me on my quest.”

K’tarsgh looked to me in perplexion. “You scholars… why do you hunt down dead dreams?”

I pointed at him. “You know, that term bugs me. Why do you people think of this world as a dream?”

He blinked at me. “You say that? When you Travelers were first revealed to Hirk, you… oh, what does the legend say? They said something like… ‘We are nothing but a thread in a big dream’ - or… oh, I forget the wording. You don’t know your own history?”

It hadn’t occurred to me to draw that connection, and I was baffled by it. “Actually… no, I don’t!”

“What is the first memory you have?” he asked.

I wasn’t sure how trustworthy my dreams were, though I was beginning to put a lot of credence in them. “Well… oh, wait, you mean this world, right? I have a bad case of Reset Amnesia, but the first thing I recall is… being on a hot desert world, super hot, and having to run from shade to shade to survive. But - oh yeah, the very first thing, I awoke beside my ship, and it was damaged… hell, every system of all my gear was damaged! I had to repair everything, even my sensors.”

He slapped the table soundly. “You Travelers! I’ve known… three of you, and all tell the same story. Different worlds, but the same story…”

My attention drifted away, possibly lubricated by the drink, as I became caught up in that quandary all over again. That one Traveler on the station told me that, and it kept slipping from my mind because I had so damned many questions to distract me. The mystery of our existence nagged me. “What does it all mean!”

I realized I had cried out loud, as everyone was staring at me. One of the females said, “It means you need more drink! You’re more fun with each gulp, and look better too!” They all laughed, encouraging her to add to my glass.

I hope she didn’t intend to liquor me up, though I was sure I still had the common sense to know my limit. “Don’t you people have any curiosity about… why things are the way they are? Don’t you wish things were the way they were before?”

“Before what?” K’tarsgh asked. “We have many ‘befores’.”

“Resets… ATLAS… Sentinels… before, when there was a civilization in the galaxy, and you didn’t have to be a pirate running from the law all the time.”

“Meh, pirating is all we’ve known,” the girl said, stroking my hand. It took some will to let her. How did I keep from offending them but not seem open? And being a typical male, she made me wonder how they… procreated. Fortunately she diverted my attention from all that, asking, “What’s it like being a Traveler?”

That was a fascinating question. “It’s a very strange life. Being treated as an Interloper and some honored guest at the same time. Welcomed everywhere, but watched suspiciously. And then, running from Sentinels because we upset them, grabbing a gravitino ball or mining too much or whatever.”

“Yes! That sucks!” one of them exclaimed.

I hoped to work with that sentiment. “See? And the awful weather, the Resets changing things around sometimes… that’s why I want to know the Truth. It’s why I came here.”

“What? Not for Seri?” K’tarsgh joked with me, and raucous laughter ran around the table, making me blush though as much from anger, to which they laughed harder, earning me more backslaps.

“Okay okay… maybe that too. But listen.” I tried to grow serious, which was becoming a bit harder from the happy sauce building up in my bloodstream. “You must know some… secrets. Someplace with… Monuments of the Ancients. Spooky places where there are haunted ruins of old cities. Please tell me there are.”

K’tarsgh gave me a curious look. “There is… a ship. A derelict freighter. It showed up at the edge of the system one day. It’s not one of the Three People’s ships. It’s drifting towards a planet.” He shrugged, giving me the approximate coordinates. “Want to give it a look?”

“Sure!” I said enthusiastically. “I mean… what can it hurt? I’ll look it over tomorrow.”

He nodded to me. “I know you can fight, but I want to see what kind of Traveler you are before I tell you something serious. If you can find something of value in that wreck, you might be able to find anything.”

While this sounded like a rerun of Troq’s little test, I was feeling rather confident of my abilities. After all, hadn’t I found Nal’s book of Questions? “I’m going to hold you to that. And… listen, it’s late, and I’m getting groggy. It’s been a long day, and you made it a hell of a lot longer.”

The group erupted in protest. “What? Leave now? You’re just becoming likeable!” That girl seemed to be giving me a sultry look I tried to ignore. She no doubt wanted some of the flattery I lavished on such an ugly furball.

I eyed the clock which seemed to indicate a very late hour, and gaped at the lot of them in bewilderment. “Don’t you ever sleep?”

“You can sleep when you’re dead!” one of them laughed. “Or when the moons are tired.”

“Well, I feel like I’m dead tired,” I confessed. “And a happy treasure-hunting Traveler is a well slept Traveler. Good night to you all.”

I suffered some abuse from them as I wandered off, but between the alcohol and pungent smoke, and faint restroom stink, I was just about done anyway. And left me feeling uninterested in food. I coughed my lungs clear as I went up the stairs to the boarding rooms, and as I went to the door matching the symbol on the key, I heard something inside I didn’t want to. It was Seri, and she sounded like she was being molested by some bully. I don’t know how I fought back the urge to kick the door in and pistol whip the goon off of her. And then to add insult to injury, it struck me that he was abusing her in my room! I bit my knuckle until the sting made me quit. I was livid, growling to myself as I stormed out, “Mother… damn… god… hell… grah!”

I threw my spent body into the seat of my fighter and cried myself to sleep.

---

Flames were burning all around me. The glare of it hurt my eyes. All I wanted to do was sleep, because I was safe in my fighter. But then the worst thing in the world happened. Seri was out there, running from the flames, and the ends of her skimpy clothes had caught fire! I tried to shout for her to stop and put them out, but she wouldn’t listen. The flames began to burn her fur, and I was pulling my hair out in frustration when she screamed, “Nijol! YOUR SHIP!”

Something was moving at my feet, and then I screamed myself as tentacles erupted from the floor, from behind me, flailing, groping, shoving themselves into my mouth, down my throat—!

I thrashed around in my seat, struggling to breathe, to get away… anything! Then my eyes flickered open, and I realized where I was. I rubbed my face in dismay, groaning as waves of headache reverberated in my skull. While it wasn’t a bad hangover, per se, a Vy’keen hangover still had some painful teeth. Good Lord, that dream, this headache… what had happened last night? - and then I remembered. Some very unpleasant memories, and I moaned, “Oh my god…”

“Nijol?”

My eyes sprang open wide, and I threw myself against the canopy. There, standing meekly beside the ship, was a timid looking Seri. She began to smile and give me a little wave, until I became a complete fool, opening the cockpit, and tumbled over the side, bouncing off the ship’s fairings to land in a heap. She gaped at me wide eyed as I jumped to my feet and grabbed her, blurting out, “Seri! Lord! You! Are you all right?”

I worried at her expression, until it struck me that I was the reason, and let her go, trying to calm down. “I am fine, but you… is something wrong?”

“No! No. It’s just… last night, I… oh, my Lord…” I groaned, rubbing my tender face. That memory hurt worse than the hangover. “I heard you… and that ass molesting… I’m sorry. It just… hurts to think of…” I let out an exasperated sigh. Why did life have to be so cruel!

“Ohh… yes.” She looked aside, murmuring, “I’m sorry for that… I didn’t mean for it to be in your room…”

“I’m sorry too, but I—” And then the weirdness of it hit me, and I asked, “Just how did you end up in my room?”

“I told the house runner that I was staying with you, and they let me in,” she replied matter of factly.

“But Seri… I didn’t intend for you to be in my room, dear.” Naturally, she didn’t understand how things worked in my world.

“You didn’t?” She looked quite puzzled. “But… there was no other room you set aside for me. I assumed you meant to…” She finished demurely, “Be with me. And I didn’t mean to invite him to the room, but he came up, and was… impatient. I am sorry…” She looked utterly humiliated. “I awaited after, but… you never came. I was afraid… I had done something offensive…”

Oh, great. In my haste to get through the evening, I didn’t think any of it through. Wonderful. And now she had ideas. Not that I wasn’t having ideas now myself, but I blame the hangover. And she was crushed. “No, no, Seri, look… I messed up royally. It’s all my fault, honey. Are you all right?”

It didn’t occur to me how flowery my language was towards her, and she perked right up from it, bouncing on her bare toes. “I am quite fit - ow,” she winced, though she put that brave face back up quickly.

I hoped it was just the stress of… that. I hated to think of what she had endured. I murmured to her in a pained voice, “Seri… listen. I think you had the right idea. As far as I’m concerned, last night didn’t happen. Let’s neither one of us ever mention it again, because… nothing did happen. At all.” I clasped her hands in mine, telling her, “From this day onward, you are a nice young lady, whatever you want to be. It’s your life now, to live as you please.”

Her nose twitched as she grew excited, and before I could blink, she had pushed into me, hugging me to her tightly. She giggled, rubbing her forehead into my cheek, and under my chin, purring. That surprised me, and then she stunned me. “Ohh, Nijol, my rescuer… It’s my pleasure… to belong to you.”

Ohh boy. This wasn’t what I had in mind. Neither was how good this felt, even through my suit. How good the aroma of her musky fragrance. What the hell did I tell her? “Uhhm, Seri… hon - I mean, listen.” I tried to peel out of her embrace, and when I succeeded, it was to a rather perplexed looking Vixen. “I, uhh… am not sure what to say. I mean… you want to go home, don’t you?”

She frowned, her ears twitching, and her tail hugged to her legs which wasn’t a good sign. “I want to go home with you.”

Ohh boy again. I was kind of spoken for. That is, until Mr Flirt had to go slathering her in sweet words and putting notions in her head. How could I unscramble this omelete? Then again, did I want to? - and that was the wrong thing to be thinking, Nijol! My throat was a bit choked as I struggled out, “But… Seri, don’t you want to be back with your people? Have children… a family?”

She put her hand to her face, her ears laying back, quivering, and it was painful to see the emotions swimming across that pretty face, twisting in her young heart. I blinked in surprise as she knelt at my feet, whimpering, “I don’t know where my home is… where my people are… I have been passed from owner to owner for as long as I can remember. Nijol, I have nowhere to call home now. My heart has one wish now, to be with my man… my… you are my… maresh.”

Those words broke my heart for her all over again, and I gazed at her in sympathy. What she’d said was no doubt some term of endearment. Lover… husband? Dream? Then I was afraid it meant “master.” And hadn’t her whole life been one of servitude, slavery? The notion hurt me. Her clothes, what there were of them, were essentially a strip of cloth that looped around her neck to cover her breasts, and ran around in a thin length in front and back to provide a bit of modesty, held in place by a gold cord of a belt. And I hesitated a bit too long to admire her beauty. For a man who had such lofty spiritual ideals, I could be an utter louse. I finally shrugged it off and took her by the arms, lifting her to her feet, though she didn’t bear a pleasant expression. I brushed her locks from her face, murmuring, “Seri… listen, you can live any dream you want now. Have any man you want.”

She pulled out of my hands and turned away, and I felt like a perfect ass. More so from what she said. “You say I can live any dream… but… you take that right from me…” Her voice was faint, and she sniffled.

The one thing in all the universe I couldn’t bear was a crying girl, and I gathered the poor thing to me. I held her in my arms as she quivered silently, save for a sniff now and then. The fur on her back was a bit wiry, but mostly it was very soft, and warm. She felt so delicate, as if one ill word from me would break her heart, as if I hadn’t already. This was painful, and I was lost. She evidently grew tired of the silence, and whimpered, “Am I n-not… pretty enough for you, maresh?”

“Oh my Lord… no, no,” I murmured as my fingers stroked among the copper-brown locks of her hair, which still surprised me. It was usually the males which had the hairy manes. “Goodness… you’re one of the prettiest girls I’ve ever seen.”

“Then… what?” she sniffed, then gave a little growl. “Do you only like girls who are… bald, like you?”

I blinked in surprise. Among my many flaws, prejudice wasn’t one of them, except for an occasional dim view of the Vy’keen. “What? No! Darling, I think your fur is beautiful, and your hair… your eyes, your tail… I wouldn’t change anything about you.”

She huffed a little sigh, squirming into my embrace. I had a feeling I was just making things worse. “Then… what?” she repeated. “Sevgilim, what is keeping your heart from me…?” She pushed out of my arms, a somewhat accusing look in her eyes, and I feared what she would say. “You have a lover?”

Yeah, she said it. But Nijol, why don’t you just admit it, you ass! Be honest and get it over with. I managed to say quietly, “Well… yes, I do…”

She gave an angry little yap. “Why did you not say! You led my heart down paths lined with flowers… why?” And then another thought struck her, and I steeled myself for what it might be. “Has she been faithful?”

For some reason, that thought hadn’t occurred to me. Sometimes, I’m slow, and sometimes I’m dirt stupid. I gaped at her for a moment, completely at a loss for words, when I said something utterly brain dead. “Well… faithful is such a strong word…”

She gave an even louder yip. “What? How could you continue wanting such a girl…?” Then she looked angry. “You are too good for her. Leave her. Such a precious man with a… sortu! I will fight her for you!” Her canines were bared, and she looked ready for a scrap right then.

While all that was quite flattering, I’m afraid that she hadn’t lived enough of her life around typical males to know what complete asses we could be. I put my hands to my face, moaning, “Ohh, my Lord… what do I do, what do I do?”

She looked at me with a dreadful, forlorn look on her face. “Nijol… you wonderful man… you ransom me with your wealth… you ache over my misfortunes… I can taste it in your scent so clearly… why won’t you open your heart to me…?” She whimpered piteously, “It’s because… I still am… in your eyes… do you fear I’ll steal from you? Take money and leave you? Because of what I was?”

While that hadn’t occurred to me either, she clearly wasn’t that kind of girl. And while I wouldn’t trust her with my account, I felt I could trust her with almost everything else. “Oh, Seri, please… oh hell!” I was tired of wearing my damned suit, and tore myself out of it to the basic uniform beneath. The one thing I was supremely grateful of was, if anyone was around, they gave us our privacy.

She watched in hopeful perplexion, and flung herself into my arms as I reached for her, practically bawling. “Oh sevgilim! Sevgilim, canım shirin… ma maresh…”

I held her while her emotions worked themselves out, and I calmed down myself. There had to be some way out of this, and surely there was. It might not be the happiest, and I had to consider the possibility that I might give in and say yes to her. She was lovely, and even with that life, seemed like a delightful girl, and I felt sure that any lingering rough edges of her past could be smoothed out with love and patience. And I was just that sappy and malleable in the hands of a girl. If anything did come of us, hopefully being a lady of the evening in a male dominated world might give me some extra sway with her, if things became difficult. And, why I was thinking that, was completely mind lost. I had to focus, and find some way to get her to see reason. Even in this emotionally charged moment, I needed some morning coffee.

I stroked over her bare back as I breathed in the fragrance of her hair, and tried to ease us both into something more comfortable. “Seri… we have time. To get to know each other. To figure things out. As much time as you need. Is that all right?”

She nodded into my neck, her embrace growing firmer, more possessive. She snuffled, murmuring, “Nijol… if only this… would you need… a servant?”

“Oh Seri,” I gasped, “don’t talk like that, please. Not ever. You’ve been a servant all your life… a slave… haven’t you.” I wasn’t really asking, and she brushed my cheek with a nod. “Listen. All relationships begin as friendships. Why don’t we start there?”

I gasped as she caught the skin of my neck in her incisors and nibbled me, giving the bit of blood in my flesh a lick. I had a feeling she had marked me, and the thought was not unpleasant. Neither was her tightening embrace. “Very… deep friend… you are my first.”

That was a depressing admission. I held her for quite a long while, just enjoying her warmth, when I recalled that I had a job to do. I had to move this along, and she giggled as my growling tummy gave me a way forward. “Hey, how about some breakfast? You sound hungry.”

She squeezed me with a musical laugh. “You are hungry… I should let you eat, but…” She changed her tune, pulling away. “But food does sound good.” I had a feeling she was thinking of another kind of hunger, though perhaps not sexual. It would definitely take a while to sort her out.

I put my suit back on which seemed to disappoint her, but I’d be needing it soon. And I didn’t want to be at a disadvantage among all these Pirates and other ruffians. As I began to walk towards the village, I asked her, “By any chance, do you have something else to wear, dear?”

“Why?” She gave me the cutest dubious look and twirled seductively. “Don’t you like me in my thing?”

I quivered, muttering, “Do you have to ask?”

She gave me a smirk. “Yes. It is why we ask, so you will tell us directly.”

“Of course I do!” I said, reaching for her hand. “It’s just that… I don’t want others thinking of you as… what you were yesterday. I want them to leave you alone. I want the rest of your life to be completely different. Happy and free.”

“I will be.” She added under her breath, “When I am with you, forever.” Yeah, this might take some work to sort out.

I passed by the drug user I saw last night, and he seemed to be… possibly dead. As I turned to look, she murmured, “Ignore him. It will be best.”

I was shocked at her callous attitude. “But he looks—”

“If you care, they will hurt you,” she told me guardedly. “You will learn that these people are cruel. I cannot wait to leave.” I nodded somberly. If anyone knew these beings for what they were, it would be her.

Seri was a charmer, and a skilled manipulator. She had the people there practically wrapped around her finger, getting us a meal for little more than a tip. She advised me that there were a few better souls there which could be trusted, to an extent. Resh, the house runner and pub owner, his wife Alish who treated her with some kindness, and Grund the barkeep who served us. Karkoff, who ran a maintenance shop off in the village, and Gweth who made clothes, including hers. I told her admiringly, “I have to complement them on their work. They show off your beauty perfectly.”

She beamed me a smile. “Then this will be all I wear for you.”

Oh dear, my mouth refused to play by the rules. “Well… I want to get something else nice for you that’s not what you… used before. We can save this for private moments.”

I chewed on my tongue, and could have stopped myself, stupid me. And of course she was delighted, pressing into the table across from me, and it emphasized her curves dangerously. “When can we share those, maresh? I’m so anxious… I want to know you, inside to your soul.”

My fork clattered to the table and it jolted me back to my senses. “Later, later, hon. I, uhh… have something to do first.” I really needed to get away from her, before something private happened, and space was a safe, Seri-free place.

Naturally, being a curious Vixen, she asked, “What something?”

I began to gobble, as skipping supper last night left me famished, and I feared I would say something to cause real trouble to disrupt the meal. “Let me… finiff, hom… I reawy neeb thiff.” I doubted she could decipher my food-muffled gibberish, but she nodded politely and let me dine. Even if what she had used on me last night had long worn off, she was still captivating, and I could see her posing seductively with almost every mouthful. Girls were so unfair.

She gasped as she caught me paying four times the price of the meals in a “tip,” and grabbed my arm as we left, saying privately, “If you are generous, they will take advantage of you. They are unmerciful and prey on each other. Him, not so much, but he will talk.”

I shrugged her off, heading for the stairs to the floor above. “We won’t be here long enough to be taken advantage of. Much.” She sniffed at that, and I caught myself looking forward to learning her character traits. If I wasn’t careful, I would be. But… honestly, wouldn’t that be wonderful, giving such an unfortunate girl a whole new life? And me? But now… I wasn’t sure what she would make of this. “I have something to do. Wait in the room, and I’ll return eventually, dear.”

She didn’t like it, and asked forlornly, “What something will you do? And how eventually?”

“I’m just going to check on something in the star system,” I replied vaguely and began to leave, though I had a feeling she wouldn’t settle for that.

She didn’t, padding on the rough wooden floors on her bare feet to stand in front of me, and gave me a stern look. “You are not flying out to that wreck.”

Now I was completely caught off guard. If she had been submissive in a male dominated world before, she had thrown those shackles off completely. I had to lay down some ground rules, because we might be together for… I couldn’t begin to guess how long, now. “Seri, look, I don’t know how you knew that, but I’m just going to give it a looking over.”

Her gaze became more intense, both from anger and fear. “Don’t treat me like a fool, Nijol. It’s the only thing of any measure out there. I looked at your credentials. You need no minerals here, and there are no unfound treasures in a system full of Pirates. That ship is a trap. I won’t let you go.”

I put my hands on my hips, staring at her irritably. “Is that an order, Seri?”

The fire in her eyes was replaced by doubt as she began to realize her bluff would only go so far with a man skilled in using words like weapons, and someone she owed her new life to. I heard the creak of floorboards behind me, and knew to my chagrin that we were becoming a spectacle. Whether for her sake or ours, she murmured, “Let’s speak outside, please.”

That was perfect, because that would get me out to my ship. “Works for me, let’s go.”

I began a brisk march towards my fighter, when Seri dashed in front of me. It was so unfair how those skimpy things revealed so much of her form to me, and I stopped dead in my tracks as she stood between me and Star Sword. I was gathering my resolve and sorting through avenues of argument, hoping to diffuse the situation calmly. As I expected, she used her womanly wiles first. “Nijol, please… you must believe me. My heart is yours… I hold no deceit. That freighter is from some void. K’tarsgh is afraid of it, and he fears very little. It is somehow cursed.”

That made sense to me. A Pirate has a bad experience looking to salvage a wreck, so send some Interloper to do his dirty work and face the danger for him. “What does he fear? What kind of curse?”

She tried to sort through some memories. “He… never speaks much of his cowardice, but… monsters, some dreadful thing? Is that not enough?” She looked to me hopefully.

I rolled my eyes heavenward. “Seri, I hope you’ll eventually come to realize that I’m quite a monster hunter, and have serious curse-breaking powers. Now let me go, so we can get back to being even closer friends - how the hell did you…?”

She was fast, very fast; slapping at my hip, and in her hand appeared my Multitool pistol. It was seriously upgraded, and about as deadly as any rifle. How in the world had she done that! As my focus went from the weapon held in skillful hands to her face, I saw clearly the conflicted emotions she was fighting. “Nijol… please… listen. Listen to me. You are my life. Without you… I have none.” Her expression was hard to look at.

I heaved a breath, hoping that if I calmed down, she would too, and become reasonable. “Seri… is this how you want our relationship to be, like this?”

She winced as if I had wounded her, and she whispered, “No… no… but, I don’t know what else to…” She hesitated for a long tense moment, but then lowered her arm, the pistol dangling from her hand, and stared at the ground, broken. I snatched up the weapon, intending to give her a little show and tell about it, but I had to tend to the pathetic thing. I lifted her chin to meet my gaze. She clutched my hand and pressed it to her cheekfur, whimpering, “Nijol… you truly are my life. Without you, I have… nothing… I am nothing.”

How was it that girls managed to find a way to stab a man in the gut with such ease? She made me feel supremely guilty for what I did every day. I couldn’t imagine how she would react if she knew my ultimate Quest. I gazed at her for many long moments as her eyes worked their magic on me, making it hard to focus. “Seri… please don’t do this to me. After I saved you from that awful life here? Don’t you believe in destiny? Fate? Providence?” I caressed her cheek softly, murmuring, “I will not leave you, alone, for long. I’ll always be there for you. That’s my promise.”

That was really the wrong way to put it, but… oh well. She wasn’t satisfied with that, and threw herself against me, wrapping me up tight, and buried her face under my chin, much as Selene did, but I didn’t want to think of her right then. I brushed my cheek against her, making sure to put the Multitool away. She moaned, “I have… read some of your travels. They frighten me. How can such a precious man… put yourself in such danger?”

“For you, and your future.” It was all I could think to tell her.

She whimpered, “But… your future… our future… ohh, Nijol…” She clung to me even more tightly, shaking. The way she pronounced my name was so darling.

I leaned up to kiss her forehead. “I’ve seen the future, and I have many more adventures to live through. There is no way I will fail to return to you. I swear to you on my life.”

She gazed at me in wonder, stroking my cheek softly with the skin of her bare palm. “Somehow… I believe you. It hurts deeply to let you go, but… you will leave me anyway. I know this. When you come back, you must tell me of our future.”

I gave her a smile. “I will if I—” She surprised me by clasping my cheeks and giving me a kiss, a deep, long, desperate one full of hope and passion. Somehow, I could see it in her soul. She was an even better kisser than Selene, and I really shouldn’t be making those kinds of comparisons…

Eventually, I managed to worm my way out of her clutches. Not that I wanted to, and I feared she was winning that battle over my heart. As if that was a bad thing. I watched as that copper-green form dwindled to nothing on the planetscape. And as she disappeared among the foliage, something self evident - something that should have been self-evident - struck me like a Ballista.

She was a Fox. I looked out at the starfield, to Whoever was beyond it all, muttering, “Is this… some sort of a sign? Really?”

[stryker99]

(yes, continued)

The outermost planet, the fourth, was a frozen ringed world, and had the brilliant name of Iceball, with the usual finds on such a world, but my goal lay above it. Somewhere. I approached from some distance out since K’tarsgh’s data was old and hadn’t taken movement into account. My display had something pinged as I came in at high cruise thrust, but it was still rather far, and quite vague. After vectoring in on the phantom, it eventually resolved into a freighter, a classic design so it wasn’t something otherworldly, though as I closed on it, I could see clearly that it had been smashed by something. And it had been devastating; the superstructure was in two separate halves. Entire sections had broken off, drifting alongside the main hulk of it, and some cargo pods had come free, but as expected in a Pirate system, nothing outside it had anything of value left. I circled it, looking for anything out of the ordinary, life signs or anything. Something did register, but it was Unknown lifeform. She was on course to drift close to Iceball at an oblique angle, might even make a pass through the rings before the planet’s gravity well got hold and pulled it down, decorating the landscape with its remains, and soon. Now the question was, did I take the bait and enter?

A few moments later, I settled on one of the landing pads. My suit immediately warned me, “Extreme environmental conditions: low atmospheric pressure, extreme cold temperatures.” Naturally, let’s make it as interesting and challenging as possible.

As I expected, the few storage units on the landing area had been cleaned out. There was a wide open bay ahead of me, the doors of it blown out when the ship suffered its demise. Inside, only a few lights shown in pitch blackness, so I turned on my torch and proceeded in, my Multitool out and set on Boltcaster. There was a passage inward, a fairly narrow walkway perhaps two and a half meters wide. All environmental systems were down including gravity, so loose items and debris were floating about. I activated the gravitic boots and plodded forward.

I cried out as a mummified crewman drifted by, a race I couldn’t recognize but roughly humanoid. I reacted, breaking the boot’s grip on the floor and flew back, and had to stop myself by grabbing a loose cable, hauling myself back to where I’d been. The unfortunate being wasn’t just a victim of decompression and space vacuum; much of his suited body was gone below the torso, and part of one leg dangled. It was a ghastly sight. I cast my light around and gave another cry, as there were more bodies in similar states, or worse, drifting below. I crossed myself out of reflex, unsure of what it meant, but I knew I needed Supernatural aid and courage just then, and said a brief prayer for the souls that suffered such a dreadful fate. I tried to reason with myself to calm down. It was entirely possible that they had suffered the effects of a collision with a celestial object, nothing more. Still, something in my soul said that it was more.

This other race… they had to be from old civilizations, or the derelict from a remote system, which seemed unlikely, though more plausible. I couldn’t believe they were all Travelers. The ship could have struck an iceball in the Comet cloud most systems had, or an asteroid on the way in. On rare occasions there were Warp accidents, which was why flight plans had to be filed, and arrivals carefully timed. But the other race… I had a lot to learn about this wreck, and I hoped it gave up its secrets willingly.

Now the question was, did I really want to learn the full mystery of this doomed vessel, and whatever unknown lifeform was lurking within? Did I trust my fate to the dreams I had, that they really were of the future, and not the past?

I kept pushing forward.

Something fell ahead, startling me, and I gripped the railing beside me to keep from flying backwards again. I was fairly sure it had been some sort of container, but why did it go flying downward? As I crept forward, the answer hit me in the gut as a gravity field pulled me down, a very strong one, and I nearly fell. I’d never been on a high gravity world before, and the effort simply to step forward was tiring. I was irritated to find that deactivating the gravitic soles didn’t seem to help much. “Damn… if this keeps up, K’tarsgh can go chase this booty himself.”

At the end of the walkway were doors, but they were sealed. Just as I was about to turn around, I noticed an illuminated terminal nearby, so it was powered. Just accessing it brought up what must have been the last message to outsiders.

Docking Bay Door Control
SV Ambax IX status: SEVERE INCIDENT // TOTAL LOCKDOWN // ACCESS DENIED

ACCESS DENIED was in vivid red, as if for my own good. I was tempted to leave it at that, but without exploration, without discoveries, what would I learn? I found I could access more, and went through it.

Cargo integrity: 95%; salvage and recovery likely
Access doors have been automatically sealed and internal systems disabled; manual restart required
⦁ Restart Internal Gravity
⦁ Leave

I muttered, “Don’t tempt me,” but I went ahead and chose Restart. It brought up a disheartening notice.

WARNING: Gravitic calibration error. Freedom of movement reduced.

“Oh, seriously?” I groaned, and was half ready to call it off, but… oh, what the hell, I hadn’t had my extreme exercise yet. And then I saw that there was another notice.

Internal environmental systems offline. Attempt manual generator restart?
⦁ Restart Hazard Control
⦁ Leave

The response left a lot to be desired.

RESTART ERROR: Unable to restore primary heating systems. Extreme cold temperature protection required. Supply cache consumed. Additional supplies available within airlock.

“For pete’s sake! Oh… hell, let’s just make it really interesting,” I grumbled. I still had lots of ion batteries and resources for my suit’s protections, and all were fully upgraded, but if there was a lot to explore, would “lots” be enough? I trudged up to the airlock, and sometimes you had to bump into doors before they opened, but these wouldn’t budge. “What the… now what?” I noticed that there was an additional message on the terminal.

Manual controls: finalized. Begin door seal override procedure?
⦁ Unseal Door - 1 Active Receiver required
⦁ Collect emergency supplies
⦁ Leave

“What the hell is that?” I wondered. “Uhh… suit? You have hacking utilities, right?”

No sooner had I said that, my suit issued a notice: “System lock decryption complete.” The two doors slid aside, and with a shrug, I muttered, “Okay… I’ll be neighborly and accept the hospitality, but if gravity doesn’t let up soon, I’m out of here.” And then as I was accepting those emergency supplies, a thought struck me. “Hey, suit, I don’t suppose you could hack the environmental systems and gravity, could you?”

It was mostly in jest, but the system replied in its effeminate electronic voice, “Negative. Ship systems may be accessed at additional workstation terminals.” It was the first time I recalled “her” replying to me. I’d have to keep that in mind down the road.

As if to spite me, gravity almost felt worse as I passed through, but that was as likely from my grumpy attitude. It wasn’t helped by the suit’s heaters draining. The interior was dark, with just a few light panels working here and there, a perfectly morbid atmosphere to keep me on edge. I scanned the interior, and a number of interest points appeared. Hovering over them, they came up as sodium cache, ion batteries, tablet, medical supplies, supply locker, lighting unit, heating unit and many more. The last one caught my eye, and I trudged for it. A tall heating unit in a blue case came into view. I caught the faint crunch of something underfoot and stepped back. My stomach lurched as I had trampled a crewman’s remains, flattened by the increased gravity. “I’m sorry,” I gasped, making the effort to walk around it. Their souls may be gone, but I still wanted to give due respect to their remains. I was glad they didn’t resemble Seri’s people, that would have hurt a little more.

I activated the unit, and it gave off a nice orange glow as it hummed to life. Not enough to banish the darkness but it helped, and my heating systems could take a break as the air warmed nearby. The fact that there were heating units around put me in an even darker mood. The crew had been desperately working to stave off their deaths on a dying ship. What had these poor people suffered through? I absently activated a light unit nearby, and shuffled towards the marker of a tablet revealed in the cone of light on a simple bed. It was still functional, and I readied myself for what information it held.

Expedition Event Log Follows
Datestamp 2,599.1.04
Traded goods between planets in the Ilvado-Odud system; profit margin, 142%

Datestamp 2,628.4.30
Traded goods between planets in the Aebaek V System; profit margin, 187%

Datestamp 2,608.9.12
Visited animal breeder on planet Aager Delta; purchased several hundred giant four-legged lizards; creatures got loose in the hold; severe structural damage

That wasn’t so bad, but it was strange that the entries were out of order… or was the data corrupt, and reconstructed to a useful point? I had more to learn, and further to go before I could get some relief from the vexing heavy gravity. And then being slow, particularly in moments of stress, the date finally registered - this ship was roughly eleven hundred years old! So it did come from a remote system. I wondered what sort of secrets it guarded. I was quite interested in the race of the crew, and why I’d never heard of them. Could they all be Travelers? If so, only one race of them?

As I trudged around the chamber, a transit utility area for the upper landing deck, I made a circuit of the place, stepping around the crew’s remains which thankfully were few, in order to activate the portable heaters and lights. The room was still extremely cold, and even a few steps from the heaters caused the suit’s systems to activate. But with each new heat source, each new light, the chamber became more comfortable, less forbidding. Eventually, I finished the ordeal and could breathe a little easier as the temperature was within my comfort zone. I found another tablet on a table.

Partial crew equipment record follows
Entity: Ensign Eyevskover
Specialism: Navigation
Personal locker invetory: ungerminated seeds, secure wallet, personalized gloves, miscellaneous spent ammunition, 1 x detached limb
Last accessed: 3 days ago

What the hell? I had no interest in examining such contents, and evidently it spooked whatever Pirate had been here too. Three days ago? The name sounded Korvaxian, but they could have also been devotees of ATLAS, as I recalled that organic beings sometimes adopted Korvax naming conventions when they converted to the faith.

In my circuit of the large room, I came across another find, another tablet.

Ship A.I. logging fragment 835.46 recovered
A.I. internal memory encrypted
Decrypting … … … … Output follows:
Probe report for Lieutenant Tryolko
Internal electromagnetism: average
Distrust level: average
Oxygen use: average
Conclusion: CONTINUED EXISTENCE PERMITTED

I gaped at the display in perplexion. What the hell did that mean? I wish it had a datestamp so I could fit in with the few weird fragments of information I had. It had active credentials, so I took it with me. It could be used to access secure systems, as the fleet rank of lieutenant was one below that of captain. I was now so caught up in my pursuits that I scarcely noticed the high gravity. I spotted another tablet, and hoped it filled in some of the blanks.

Partial crew equipment record follows
Entity: Engineering-entity Doygeyskiy
Specialism: Sterilisation
Personal locker invetory: secure case (empty), antidote capsules, borrowed research sample, assorted preserved larvae
Contents are coated with acidic residue
Last accessed: 3 days ago

This was making me nervous. I came across a freighter which crashed on a planet, and had gone on an expedition of its own, either exploration or transporting something, and whatever it held resulted in a horrible calamity. There was something running loose on this ship which could survive in low to nonexistent atmosphere, and other extreme conditions. I had no idea what the nature of it was, but it could well be predatory and dangerous, considering the remains of some of the crew, so I had no intention of looking over any samples or stored lifeforms. The supplies in the lockers and crates were fair game as far as I was concerned, especially if they helped me get some small revenge for the unfortunate crew. That listing confirmed for me that at least some of the crew were Korvax.

That completed my sweep of the chamber, and the final marker was of the exit. I was grateful as I trudged up to it that the doors slid apart on their own, though the chamber within had a ladder going down a level. I guess having stairs took up too much room for the ship designer, but I’d have to be careful because a slip in this gravity could be very bad. Before I went down them, I spotted a case on the floor beside the deck opening, seemingly tossed aside. I was baffled at what it contained.

They were religious tracts, and the paper was wrinkled and stained as if from many tears. Did I want to read them, especially in this grim circumstance? But curiosity got the better of me, and I carefully opened the first.

Eheu
ATLAS is supreme. There is no contradiction. This world is harsh, cruel. There is no denying. ATLAS wields control. There is no other supremacy. The cold savagery: why? Why?

Conclusion: ATLAS seeks knowledge of its creation. Lifeforms yield truest data under duress. Thus, lifeforms subjected to abuse, injury, violence, sexual assault, torture, dismemberment…

I threw them back in the case and locked it. No wonder they were cried over! I had a feeling that even a Korvax could weep at that. I prayed this was a heresy, and I wondered if I should just destroy them. But if they were true, or if at some point I felt secure enough to try refuting them, they might perhaps have some value… God knew what. If nothing else, I might learn of their origin. But I wondered if I even dared to share this with Nada, what his reaction would be? Was it too corrupt for anyone but the strongest soul? Well, I could ignore them for now, I had a ship to explore.

I took to the ladder very carefully, though it wasn’t as hard as I feared. At the base of the rungs was another pair of doors, and another terminal. The suit provided the access credentials necessary, and the doors opened. The chamber beyond was dark, naturally, though as I stepped across the threshold, I flew up and bounced off the ceiling in a moment of queasy vertigo. Now, gravitic systems were offline completely again. I reactivated my gravitic boots and urged myself back down to the floor, and they grabbed hold of the plates with little thumps. The weightlessness was a relief, except the drastic change gave me the dizzy sense of a never-ending fall.

Everything was floating around me, and again, the super-cold environment caused my suit’s heating elements to kick in. Whether the cold was worsening or my suit was being super-chilled, the edge of my visor was icing up. I had just started on this level, and the last thing I wanted in this tense atmosphere is to have my suit barking at me, so I fed them a pair of ion batteries to recharge, and went about the business of prowling through the ship’s intestines. A scan revealed another whole mess of items, including more heaters and lights, but if I wanted them to work safely I’d need to restore gravity, which hopefully would be properly calibrated in this level. Among the indicators on my HUD was one that looked distinct, and I was gratified to see it was indeed a terminal. I clunked over to it, but found that it was only for records access. The ship’s charter and details of the expedition were encrypted, and so was the security system, to a point the suit couldn’t crack, at least right away. But it did yield up the key names of the crew, though the first entry was startling.

Crew status as of last ship-wide bioscan (3971.6 Standard Years ago)
Commanding Officer: Captain Teskyevinde
Duty Officers: Temporary Officer Drovgore; Junior Navigator Oless; Acting Lieutenant Nog

Crew complement report: Crew (Standard) x 102, Crew (Conscripted) x 44
Supernumeraries: Entity Netiruitel (Anomaly hunter); Work-entity Oveshm (mining prospector); Enlistee Emryuchi (crew entertainment)

I hoped the last entry didn’t mean anything like Seri’s former profession. Below were two entries.

⦁ Update bio-scan
⦁ Leave

After so many millenia, and an astonishing length of time at that, no one would be alive unless they were in cryo-suspension, but it might give me some info on what was still lurking inside.

SCANNING SHIP FOR BIOLOGICAL TRACES
… No detected biological traces match crew records …

Super.

… Retrieving last known crew positions …
Captain Teskyevinde: [REDACTED]
Temporary Officer Drovgore: Medical Bay 13, 3971.6 Standard Years ago
Junior Navigator Oless: A.I. monitoring station, 3971.6 Standard Years ago
Acting Lieutenant Nog: Waste disposal pipe 7, 3971.6 Standard Years ago

I was surprised when the suit gave a ping and announced, “Crew manifest received,” which was nice, but what it indicated was shocking. The Standard Calendar listed the current year as 3737, and it began at the conclusion of the Great Wars. This ship was far older than a millennium; nearly four thousand years old! Two centuries earlier than this current age, from back when Civilization existed! Or at least that was my hope. If I could learn anything, it would be worth whatever I faced. The fact that any systems at all were still functional was itself amazing.

I jumped as the suit rasped in my ears, “Environmental protections depleted.”

“Oh for God’s sake!” I shouted, feeding three more ion batteries to my systems. “Why the hell don’t they auto-replete?” I hoped that my suit would reply that of course they could, but no such luck. There had to be a way. Then again, I might drain off one resource or another and deplete them when I really needed them, so maybe this was for the best. In any case, I had to reach that systems terminal.

That first listing hung in my mind as I continued on. Just what was the Captain doing that was so classified? What area was off limits? Was this a covert military mission? It wasn’t far fetched, and would explain the inclusion of “entertainment.” Now my curiosity was on fire.

I found a few tablets with cargo manifest listings on the way to the systems terminal. In total:

Crystal sulfide x 5341
Iron x 19998 (1600 units unaccounted for)
Indium x 3882 (400 units unaccounted for)
Herox x 7336 (300 units unaccounted for)
Gold x 6225 (150 units unaccounted for)
Uranium x 2989 (300 units unaccounted for)
Fusion cores x 762 (100 units unaccounted for)
Teleport coordinators x 635 (20 units unaccounted for)
Decrypted user data x 894 (30 units unaccounted for)
Vy’keen dagger x 989
Korvax casing x 695
Hypnotic eye x 350 (5 units unaccounted for)
Cloned diplo eggs x 72 (all units unaccounted for)
Prototype A.I. valves x 16 (container opened, all units unaccounted for)
Simulated consciousness chip x 27 (container opened, 10 units unaccounted for)
Genetic material archive pods x 1 (all units unaccounted for)
Synthetic flesh x 10 (2 units unaccounted for)
Parasitic sample x 7 (all units unaccounted for)
Novel pathogen samples x 82 (container opened, 20 units unaccounted for)

This was baffling. I could see the raw resources and fusion cores being useful in a crisis situation, but A.I. valve prototypes? Pathogen samples? This was getting weird. Had the ship been sabotaged?

I finally clumped over to the systems terminal and reactivated the environmental and gravitic systems. I cursed as my legs buckled and I fell to the floor, as did everything else in the room with a thundering clatter. “Shit!” I cried, then quickly apologized to the departed souls on board, as I didn’t like to curse, though I was sick to death of heavy gravity errors. But as I grabbed hold of a crate to haul myself to my feet, I realized that it was pretty much standard, and I was just overreacting from the short time in weightlessness. I went over and set up the lights, and uprighted the heaters, activating them all, and hoped that it scared off whatever it was lurking further on into the vessel’s interior. I grabbed the few remaining ion batteries from the supply lockers and some Boltcaster ammunition, afraid that I would need them both.

The exit doors opened for me, and the next chamber was evidently a medical section. As I scanned over the dim interior with my light, I saw something that made me cry out. In a large clear cylinder was some kind of predator. It didn’t react, so I hoped it was dead, because it looked gruesome, like some kind of dangerous insect more than half a meter long. And there were a number of them! They might resemble one or another of a creature I had encountered in some remote cave, but upon closer look, not really. I was chagrined as my HUD showed a message, Depressurize capsule? “Like hell I will,” I muttered. But what did all this imply? Had they grown from the space larva? Did the crew catch these monsters to study? And then it occurred to me that they might well be the Unknown Lifeform. Could there be more of these, still running loose, even after nearly four thousand years?

There were a few tablets laying around, and this is what I found on them.

Data extract from Medical Bay logs
Partial report follows:
Datestamp 2631.7.16
Case no. 42: WorkGek Niin (cargo loading) found with dramatic tooth loss. Apparent cause determined to be illegal substance abuse. Treatment refused. Log indicates seven similar cases this voyage.

Datestamp: 2631.7.24
Case no. 44: TechniGek Braynentv (reconnaisance) reported extreme fatigue
Prescribed [REDACTED]
Chance of [REDACTED] 38%

Research Log Entry follows:
Datestamp: 2631.7.14
Recovered pseudo-glass object near asteroid field with automated probe
Performed Inguivilis-Oktav quantum dating procedure
Observation: mixed results. Continuing experiment.

Datestamp: 2631.7.15
Collected quasi-biological structure from passing asteroid
Performed contextual probe
Observation: sample initially unresponsive. Situation evolving. See additional reports.

Datestamp: 2631.7.15
Recovered apparent eggs with automated probe from subsequent asteroid
Performed full spectrum scans; signs of life detected, organic activity limited, but increasing
Conclusion: potential for commercial and research exploitation

Datestamp: 2631.7.17
Applied cryptid goo on Orchuwood; performed metabolic analysis
Observation: immediate combustion aborted experiment
Conclusion: Possible explanation for demise of [REDACTED]

Datestamp: 2631.7.18
Collected primitive container with automated probe from subsequent asteroid
Performed neurotoxicity scan
Observation: novel pathogen discovered

I wish I had been a better science student, or better remembered the learning from my previous self. I had a feeling that I was privy to some terribly significant clues, but all they did was fill me with questions and fears. And I feared that yet another vessel had blundered into a situation they couldn’t handle. But the actions of the staff… what the hell were they doing? What was the purpose of this mission? I began to worry if the revelations would be worth it after all. Still, I pressed on, putting a good distance between me and those hideous cannisters.

I used the credentials I found to access the exit doors, which led down a cranked hallway, strewn with crates and discarded equipment. On two of the crates lay another pair of tablets.

Expedition Event Log follows
Datestamp: 2611.7.12
Bartered with Gek traders in Selyose XVIII System. Favorable trade, 165% profit.

Datestamp: 2617.6.17
Attempted trade in Podderb XI System. Local economies too weak for profitable trades.

Datestamp: 2620.3.16
Bartered with Korvax traders in Miokazai XVII System. Favorable trade, 165% profit.

Datestamp: 2624.12.01
Bulk purchase of heavy mineral ores from Actinita System, planet Sasitid. Material was stored incorrectly in shuttle hold. Cargo destabilized ship during thrust to orbit. Avoided hazardous re-entry, but suffered collision with asteroid.

Datestamp: 2627.8.25
Arrived in Zawanum-Moni XIX System. Encountered Vy’keen merchant starting up starship manufacturing company. Invested 250,000,000 units.
Investment: unsuccessful; Losses: 98.8%

Datestamp: 2630.10.22
Purchased supplies from merchant in the Purush VI System. Components were faulty, caused catastrophic fire in cargo hold.

Datestamp: 2631.9.26
[REDACTED]

I was growing tired of all the deleted entries. It all began to smell bad of either some sort of incompetence, or willful disruptions by someone, or group. Bad trades were one thing, but all these misfortunes… I was back into my clue hunting mindset, determined to get to the bottom of something. I looked at the second tablet.

Partial crew equipment record follows:
Name: CraftGek Leynda
Specialism: general hand
Personal locker contents: antivenom, unmarked pills, personal swab, assorted backup data drives
Last accessed: 12 days ago
Report of contents being consumed by microbe colony

Name: Work-entity Piol
Specialism: Cargo Security
Personal locker contents: borrowed research sample; ore sampler; gravity boots; miscellaneous personal etchings
Last accessed: 12 days ago
Report of sticky residue coating interior and contents

Name: Entity Gradskoya
Specialism: Extermination
Personal locker contents: deactivated grenade, power hammer, soldering iron, assorted personalized dice
Last accessed: 12 days ago
Report of rhythmic tapping from inside locker

This kept getting stranger as I went. This stuff had been accessed twelve days ago, so this must be the place K’tarsgh reached with his men the first time, perhaps the point they gave up. And of course it meant that they returned, but had second thoughts about going as far and quit for good three days ago. A more cautious explorer would have seen that as advice to do the same, but I was filled with determination to make at least one crucial discovery. Something significant happened, and I felt I owed it to the crew to find out what sealed their fate. Then again, didn’t I owe it to a precious girl to return alive? Perhaps two precious girls, as foolish as it was to think so?

But, this was the first find I definitely knew came from the previous age. I kept going.

[stryker99]

(yep, continued)

I came around the bend in the hallway, and saw that the dark chamber beyond was open. The doorway was at an angle, and inside I could see some narrow light panels still dutifully giving off their glow after four millennia. And then I froze… had I caught sight of movement along the ceiling? I stared for a few long moments, but I saw nothing more. I could easily be spooked by my own imaginations. But as I came up to the door and shined my torch inside, I had good reason to be spooked. There were growths on the floor coming from around the angled doorway which looked ghastly, like something from one of those Abandoned Outposts. Peeking inside, I could just make out some horrid fleshy lump clinging to something around the corner.

Something flew at me, splattering on my suit. I was so startled, all I could do was choke. The suit rasped in my ear, “Warning: acidic damage taken. Suit integrity degrading.” And then I caught sight of the attacker - it was one of those hideous bugs. And there were more of them, as globs of acrid goo came flying at me from several directions. The suit began to repeat emotionlessly, “Warning: acidic—”

“I know, shut up!” I exclaimed, firing at what I thought was one of the little monsters, but either my eyes tricked me or I was too rattled to shoot straight. And I definitely was, as the globs kept coming, one after the other, and I began to panic. I needed something with more spread, and frantically tried to call up my Scatter Blaster. It took a few tries. I got it up just as one of the little fiends hopped in front of me, staring me down with its one hideous yellow eye, and gave me a derisive spit. I fired, splattering the area with its greenish goo. I had to flee though, as my suit was becoming severely damaged. No wonder K’tarsgh ran off with his tail between his legs, and he had a crew with him! I cowered behind a crate as acid globs landed on the walls one after the other, sticking and sliding down them while corrosives ate at the surface. My shielding was almost gone. One more hit, and I could suffer a fatal rupture.

One spitting horror came around the corner and I fired, but I was so frazzled, I missed completely, firing again. This time, it splattered to oblivion. “Come on, you damn freaks!” I growled, and by ones and twos they obliged. I kept firing, and the doorway became a mess of sickly greenish paste. Finally, they either grew tired of being easy kills or were all dead, but I waited a good five minutes to be sure. When nothing more happened, I finally found the courage to leave my cover, giving my suit a good looking over, and it was a mess. I fed it enough resources to restore everything, and was relieved as the material gradually mended itself. “Oh my God,” I moaned, “what next?”

I crept forward, not about to walk headlong into an acid rain, and peered inside. It wasn’t a pleasant sight. Besides pools of predatory remains, the items of the room were floating around, and among them I could make out body parts. I practically sobbed as notions of the crew at the mercy of these horrors overwhelmed me, and I murmured a prayer for their eternal rest. It wasn’t the most charitable thought, but I hoped that most of them were Pirates. None of them were.

I hesitated as I confronted the puddle of green slime spreading across the doorway. It might not be acidic, and might not be harmul otherwise, but I wasn’t about to risk it. Besides, I wanted to make a drastic entrance anyhow, in case one of the little freaks was waiting to pounce, so I jumped across, brandishing my Scatter Blaster. My stomach lurched as the artificial gravity failed at the threshold, and I sailed towards the ceiling. I grabbed a safety rail running along it to stop myself, but fortunately no monsters made themselves known. I scanned the room good to make sure though, and chastised myself for not doing it earlier. What did show up were a few useful items. It seemed to be a general purpose room, storage, canteen and rest spot combined, as tables were on one side, bunks on another, and the middle was strewn with crates, lockers and the usual gear. First, I had to get the environmental systems up, if they would respond.

The way to the systems terminal was gruesome, as a gloved hand floated in front of me, and I caught sight of a body here and there in the torchlight. This mission had become a nightmare I couldn’t wake from. I tried to focus as I pulled myself towards the waiting terminal, but trying to keep my emotions in check was a lost cause. And what else lay in store further in? Or should I call it quits too? I was beginning to have second thoughts of K’tarsgh’s lack of bravery. But when we met again, I wasn’t going to hold back on him.

The terminal gave me the irritating message, [SYSTEM OPTIONS UNAVAILABLE DUE TO NETWORK FAILURE]. Swell. I drifted around the room and found that most of the heaters were magnetically anchored to the floor already, so I set up the remaining two and turned them on, and then switched on a few lamps and hoped they didn’t drift too much. The lights revealed what my torch hinted at; that I found myself in something even worse than the interiors of the Abandoned Outposts, as the massive fleshy growths sprawling everywhere looked to be holding sacks of embryos. I switched weapons to the Boltcaster again, and blasted them all to hell. I had a feeling any atmosphere would be full of stench after all that. When I was finally sure that every trace of this space horror was dealt with, I finally dropped my guard, slightly, and looked the room over. I almost cried out as I came across a pair of unempty boots stuck to the floor, and husked out another plea for mercy on the crew.

Thank God that was the end of the miseries in this chamber. I guided myself to a row of lockers which had more batteries and ammunition, though I could hear that one of them was faintly knocking. If only I had some explosives handy…

One faintly humming console had a Multitool upgrade, to my surprise. I just wish these people could have used it. This room had a few tablets, like the others, and I checked them. And as I feared, I grew increasingly disturbed by them.

Ship A.I. Log decrypted
Datestamp 2631.8.28
Location analysis report for Analyst-entity Sozavoi (general hand)
Personal bioscan last detected 3971.6 Standard Years ago, in Gunnery Control. 32 others present. Biometric readings indicate abnormally high internal temperature.
No further lifesigns.

Datestamp 2631.8.29
Location analysis report for Worker Heboksin (general maintenance and cleaning)
Personal bioscan last detected 3971.6 Standard Years ago, in Warp Cell chamber. 0 others present. Biometric readings indicate internal foreign mass.
No further lifesigns.

Datestamp 2631.8.29
Location analysis report for Technician Uffiskovk (atmosphere maintenance)
Personal bioscan last detected 3971.6 Standard Years ago, in the crew mess. 31 others present. Biometric readings indicate parasitic larvae infestation.
No further lifesigns.

Datestamp 2631.8.29
Location analysis report for Medical-entity Araifu (research)
Personal bioscan last detected 3971.6 Standard Years ago, in the coolant tanks. 19 others present. Biometric readings indicate sudden internal hemmorhaging.
No further lifesigns.

Datestamp 2631.9.16
Location analysis report for [REDACTED]
[REDACTED]

I became ever more grim as I read and reread this. Most of them were within a day of each other. No further lifesigns… had they all died? I had to move on to something else, anything else, but the next was no better.

Monitoring and Maintenance Logs accessed
Event log follows:
Datestamp: 2631.5.08
Unspecified door malfunction in officer’s mess
Outcome: false alarm

Datestamp: 2631.6.23
Sensor failure in cargo unit 028
Outcome: ignored

Datestamp: 2631.7.02
Pressure alert in Gunnery Control
Outcome: canceled by ship’s A.I.

Datestamp: 2631.8.28
Drone failure in main cargo bay
Outcome: unable to locate drone

Datestamp: 2631.9.18
Rampant quasi-biological outgrowth in shield generator
Outcome: [REDACTED]

Datestamp: 2631.9.19
Test subject rampancy failure in crew mess
Outcome: escalated to Biosecurity

This was disturbing. Ever escalating misfortunes like that, a malfunctioning ship’s A.I., even mysterious growths in the ship’s systems, and no one grew alarmed? But that last entry almost sounded diabolical. Were they experimenting on their own crew? It just… couldn’t be…

Data extract from Watch Officer’s Daily Report, discipline:
Datestamp: 2631.4.12
Operator-entity Hali (Medical) confined to bring for fighting
First offense. Sentence: 8 days confinement

Datestamp: 2631.8.27
Analyst-entity Aloarka (Medical) found guilty of attempting to bypass ship A.I. monitoring system
Sentence: purged from ship via airlock

I couldn’t believe this. Something was missing, altered in the report… something. That wasn’t an offense worthy of death! What the hell was wrong with this crew! I tried briefly to sort out the timestamps in order, but it only made things more grim. Something had happened past the midpoint of 2631 in their age. Was the situation that desperate, or were they all suffering some sort of ever worsening madness?

Now I was facing a real dilemma. I’m an empathic person, and the information I found, the sights I had to endure, the dangers I faced were beginning to affect me, deeply. Furthermore, I had to believe I would be facing even more of those lethal infestations the deeper I explored. I wanted to run back to Seri, wanted to get drunk, wanted some sort of amnesia so I could forget this utter Hell. But… was this the Path I had to walk in order to understand a cruel universe? A potentially malevolent ATLAS? Were the Korvax enabling something awful to make things ever worse in this reality? If so, shouldn’t I confirm that? Hadn’t I sensed that the greatest truths, Truths I needed, lay beyond the worst ordeals, the greatest dangers… madness? Was I letting my imagination run to paranoid lengths? I had a feeling I wasn’t, and this was all just the beginning. Oh, my God…

I somehow kept going.

I scarcely paid the exit any heed as the doors parted for me, and I tried to steel myself for what lay just a few feet down the next passageway, which mercifully ended up being another corridor. Like the other, there were items lying in it, and gravity to pull it to the floor. I found Temporary Officer Drovgore’s security pass resting on a crate.

While everything in the vessel was in remarkable shape after so much time, this looked to be pristine, and seemed to be coated with a material that repelled other substances. To my surprise, the suit reported that it had been used twelve days ago. So K’tarsgh and crew had made it this far? But… I looked behind me at the chamber I had just come from in wonder. That meant the Pirates had been through. How had those little creepy crawlies come back after only a few days? But it wasn’t much of a mystery, as another chamber lay ahead, and my sensors picked up lifeforms inside, a lot of them. They must have let a few out and ran for it. Or… had they hatched? Lifeforms, still viable, still procreating - still hunting… after four thousand years? I could hardly believe it.

I found another pair of tablets, and resigned myself to reading them.

Ship A.I. logging fragment 835.46 recovered. A.I. internal memory encrypted.
Decrypting … … … Output follows:
Probe report for Lieutenant Sin
Internal electromagnetism: average
Distrust level: average
Oxygen use: average
Conclusion: USEFUL

Probe report for Ensign Yorst
Brainwave strength: below average
Oxygen usage: exceptional
Pre-existing intestinal fauna: below average
Conclusion: POTENTIAL CONTAINER

Probe report for Conscript Ilga (cargo loading)
Diligence: below average
Relative movement levels: above average
Internal body temperature: below average
Conclusion: JETISON IF NEEDED

This was dreadful, but it flowed neatly from the previous entries. Some group on this ship was using the crew as guinea pigs to test them as hosts for those space-borne larvae, maybe that pathogen too, for whatever diabolical reason. Maybe they were enemy agents of the homeworld’s people. Maybe they were subversives, checking out hazardous resources for terrorist use. A demonic cult… hell, any number of things could be true, and I lacked the crucial piece of information to make sense of it all. I picked up the next tablet, but it was an audio log.

Personal Data Recording for: Technician Otpuska (toxicity neutralisation)
Datestamp: 2631.9.28
“The lab needs another series of samples. If they do, they can send a damn Korvax out for it! I’m tired of being treated like a slave—” (noise)

“We don’t know what the situation is… they just keep coming - they won’t stop! We organics seem to be the only ones fighting them! Don’t those fools know what will happen to them when we’re gone? If we aren’t there—”

There were sounds of muffled screaming at that point, and weapon fire, then static. I didn’t want to hear the rest anyway. Besides, the only choice I had was leave, or enter the chamber ahead. And the door was open.

That sobered me right up, as I was sure I caught movement across one of the light bars, and more than one of them. I shined the torch in there just as a glob of acid struck me in the chest, and screamed. There had to be more than a dozen of the evil vermin, all hopping towards me. I fired, but was stunned as I was still on my Boltcaster. I needed that Scatter Blaster right the hell now! As before, I jumped behind a crate for cover and shot the ones at the door, but I had to duck as acidic muck pelted the wall above me, over and over. How many of these little turds were there! One peered around the crate, and I gave it a face full of energized pellets. At that range, it splattered all over the floor and wall beyond, and the pellets made a cloud of gouges in the flooring. I reached around, firing down the corridor and heard noises of bodies being liquified. Hoping I could keep a level head, I stood and fired, over and over, ignoring the suit’s monotone warnings as corrosive mucus struck my suit a few times.

And then I caught sight of something that chilled me to the bone. I had fired on some of the embryo sacs, but they were filled with hatchlings, and they spilled out, heading for me too by the dozens. Oh, this was bad, seriously bad!

The only thing I could think of was mass destruction, and switched to Photon Grenades, launching several inside, and ducked. The explosions were deafening even in that cold rarified atmosphere, and the crate was pushed back several times, once into me painfully as a grenade detonated out in the passage. Shrapnel tore into the walls, clattering past my small shelter, and a light shattered as it flew overhead. The blast left my ears ringing. When the last one detonated, I stood up, doing my best to catch my breath.

But I couldn’t believe it… some of them survived! I screamed and cursed them, switching to the Pulse Splitter as it was a full auto weapon with a massive clip. Any time I caught sight of any movement I gave it a spray. The corrosive globs kept flying, but my senses were on edge, and I found I could dodge most of them. One by one I ended their lives, until they seemed to be finished off - at last!

I entered the room cautiously, my chest heaving from the stress I fought to contain, and spat out, “You’d better stay dead, you damn little shits!” I stepped in the puddles of ichor which were all over now, heedless of them. When I finally noticed what I was doing, I saw that there was almost no avoiding the mess, though it seemed to have no ill effect. But I’d be sure and decontaminate myself good. Right before I gave K’tarsgh a big serving of barsakh.

Needless to say, the room was a mess. Blasted contents were scattered by all the explosions, bullet holes were all over, and there was nothing left of creature, cocoon or crew. When I realized what I’d done, I sat on a cot and blinked back tears of regret. I’d be lucky if there was so much as an eating utensil in one piece after that, and the remains of the crew had been blasted to mingle their dust with the smoke of the explosives. Shit. But I had to be sensible about it. I was alive, and ultimately, it was either them or me. And I was selfish.

I had another surprise. Even though I had blasted a good deal of the interior contents to scrap, and I didn’t dare try my luck with the few intact heaters, a few items actually survived, including a tablet. However, I had enough sense to know that it would be a mixed blessing. I wished badly I had a companion to keep me sane - but not Seri. If she had come with me, I would have left long ago.

Personal Data Recording for: Petty officer Sulins (cargo loading)
Datestamp: 2631.9.28
“We’re headed back to the armory. Why did they requisition our weapons in a situation like this! Damn those Korvax and their preposterous rules—!” (noise)

“I thought we were free from this menace, but they keep reappearing! It’s as if they’re breeding in the ship’s subspace between walls! Doesn’t this tub have internal sensors? I know they do—!” (noise)

“I can’t believe this, but they have us contained in here! They keep saying ATLAS is our only hope, but their dumb machine god is a lie! Oh hell, we can’t get out, we can’t… it looks like this is the Last Days for us - oh my god—!”

The recording ended mercifully before I could hear any more. The walls… had those hideous things flooded the ship in the subspaces between deck and wall? I gazed at them worriedly, afraid that if I pulled a panel away, I’d be swarmed by the hellbeasts.

I was aghast at how this had all played out, an avalanche of misread events and ignored safety protocols culminating in disaster. Still, this wasn’t the fault of obsessive scientific curiosity and careless procedures. These poor souls were victims of some diabolic scheme. But who… why? What group of people from four thousand years ago were that cruel? Surely not the Korvax! At least… not connected Korvax? If I never learned the truth, it would torment me to my grave.

Closer

I jumped to my feet, looking around in alarm. What the hell? Had I imagined that? Was I beginning to hear that Voice spoken of with dread in dour messages strewn like breadcrumbs across the galaxy? I shook my head… now I was starting to sound like Selene - the girl I was supposed to be pining for. But in my heart, a pair of green catlike eyes glistened. I was pulled in half, and I was afraid of the outcome…

Closer

Okay, now I was sure that something was going on. I looked my suit over, and the shielding was still at least partly intact. I could discern no frigid gasses seeping into my extremities, no lack of oxygen in my readings. Still, I fed my systems every resource they needed to be one hundred percent. I tried to think of any method to stave off madness.

And headed closer, further, into the depths of that Hell. I began to tremble, mumbling every prayer I could think of. I promised myself that if I suspected I was losing it, I would run for my life, tree of knowledge or pile of treasure be damned. Life was too precious, and love the only real Treasure. Even Truth paled in comparison to Love.

The exit led to another ladder down, a long one. I had enough faculties intact to estimate that I had to be on the verge of the cargo hold, and as I looked down I saw that it waited below. As I procrastinated, I spotted another pair of tablets on a rest spot there, and gazed at them almost mournfully. Did I really want to know the truth anymore? But I knew better. This mystery had to have a solution. And I’d forgotten all about the lure of information from the Civilized Age. Though now, I had to wonder what sort of civilization existed back then. Well… truth or dare?

Personal Data Recording for: Crewman Insaveri (general hand)
Datestamp: 2631.9.28
“We lost access to the… what? How could they break through so fast! This is insane.”

“We have reports that the things are consuming the cargo… how could they break through the casing? And what are they doing with them all!”

“Oh god, they’re coming… I can hear them now, they’re close… how the hell did they - holy sh—!” (noise)

I was aghast… just another piece of someone suffering outrage and despair at their fate. I stared at the other tablet balefully. Did I really want more of that? No… no… no…

But what if it that last piece to the puzzle? Was that my inner voice, or the Voice? Now I wasn’t sure. But I accessed it anyway.

Personal Data Recording for: Ensign Raanval (ship’s security)
Datestamp: 2631.9.28
“They won’t tell us, but I’m sure of it. Those finds they recovered are dangerous. The random events happening are becoming too common, and I’m certain the crew has been infected by something which is negatively affecting their faculties. The entire mission is becoming jeopardized!”

“Why is no one answering? I’ve ordered everyone to stay the hell away from Medical, but we’re running out of safe locations - no no, shut the door! Damn it just fire! I don’t care, just - oh shit!”

There were sounds of fighting, screaming, more of what I didn’t want to hear, which I was glad ended at that point. Just what I expected, more of the same. Fantastic. At least this security officer confirmed what I suspected; something had been manipulating the minds of the crew in irrational ways. Those poor people…

I felt like Something was toying with me, manipulating me, letting me anguish like the crew, so I would be weak, compliant, unable to resist. Were those mad thoughts? Should I be running away now? But the ladder beckoned to me, as if there was an answer sheet to my Test below, the solution to this riddle drenched with tears, acid and blood. More mad notions…

Resignedly, I climbed down the ladder, and the cargo hold was tall so it was very long. I would be a sitting duck for quite some time. But this mystery had me in its trap. There was no turning back now. I had to know what was yet to be revealed.

[stryker99]

(do you dare… continue?)

There was some light showing that the cargo hold was a mess. There was gravity here, proper gravity thank God, and it pulled the mass of crates and shipping containers to the floor in haphazard stacks, piles and cases strewn across the deck. I was glad that there was a far wall intact, and I didn’t have to see bodies of the crew drifting about in the gaping maw of the vessel smashed in two. I had enough sense to know that if there was a treasure to be found, it was here. Bits of people’s lives, long dead but preserved for millenia. Food, drink, products, gifts, entertainment, literature, history… secrets? Who knew what was stored in this vault of a tomb?

Tired of being a target on the ladder, I went ahead and slid down to the deck, brandishing my Multitool as I faced the unknown which had whispered its tantalizing call. There was no succubus or Devil awaiting me, no hellspawn staring at me from under one of the intact racks holding crates. But something had happened there, as I could see a hint of dark fluid staining the deckplates at the edge of my torchlight.

There were two lures beckoning for my attention. One, the crates and shipping containers off at the edge of my light, which could only banish so much darkness as it succumbed to that diabolic, overpowering gloom. Two, a pair of terminals against the wall, bathed in revealing light. To work the terminals, I’d have to turn my back to whatever had made that mess, and that welcoming light would also reveal me. And the prospects of either lure terrified me. I stood there for a long time, afraid of making a choice. It seemed like either one could mean my death, or worse. “What do I do?” I asked myself forlornly. I was relieved that there was no reply.

But I needed one, needed lifesaving advice, as I stood there, until the suit jolted me out of my stupor. “Environmental protections depleted.” Cursing under my breath, afraid it might awaken the demons lurking in the dark, I fed my suit another trio of batteries. But that simple act nudged me to action. I was mentally exhausted, and rattled, letting my emotions rule my mind. My Multitool had every upgrade possible, and then some, thanks to a couple of black market upgrades. It was as deadly as some of the best weapons in the galaxy. If I just paid atttention to my surroundings, I would be fine. If I just kept myself from being distracted by some nugget of information, or some siren’s Voice in my head, I’d be all right. I would live, and I could keep my promise to my lady waiting for me. I would. I would…

I turned to the terminals, which at least were in the light, unable to keep from casting looks over my shoulder or walking backward to them. I shook my head to try and clear away the rush of blood throbbing in my ears. I was short of breath. I knew that this was my moment of Truth. Now, if I could just survive it.

I was nearest the Engineering Terminal, and checked it over. It seemed to be functioning fine. A few paces down the wall was another, larger terminal. I had a feeling that it had the good stuff, so I took a quick look at the Engineering Terminal options, memorizing them, before facing back to the looming darkness behind me.

Engineering Control, SV Ambax IX
Engineering control panel accessed
Generator failure detected
Fabricators on emergency power; construct programmed component anyway?
⦁ Fabricate Freighter Technology Upgrade
⦁ Fabricate Freighter Cargo Interior Section

Programmed components? They must have been working to save the ship, and were interrupted, or killed, just before completing their task. I felt like a grave robber, taking such an item, but I murmured, turning to place my hand on the screen, “Please… I’m trying to save people, as many people as I can. Could I please have this bit of technology as a last gift from you to the living?” I heard a system beep. Well, that was as much of a sign as I could ask for. I selected the Freighter Tech Upgrade.

I faced away, as I had done this a few times before, though I couldn’t remember where or when. But the sounds of the fabricator were familiar, leaving me free to keep watch over that horrible, all-concealing Darkness beyond.

Internal technology replication initiated
Fabrication … COMPLETE
Nanocompression … COMPLETE
Deployable unit ready for collection

I caught the system idling down and turned to receive the blueprint. It was a different looking case, silver and indigo, with an E gleaming on its face. This system really was of another world. I wished I could analyze it, but that ability hadn’t existed since… I couldn’t remember. I glanced back to the screen to see if it had anything more for me, and I saw that it had refreshed.

Further System Options
⦁ Read engineering logs
⦁ [SYSTEM OPTIONS UNAVAILABLE DUE TO NETWORK FAILURE]
⦁ Leave

After all I had experienced, I wasn’t enthused about reading another demented series of mad ramblings or people logging their misfortunes as a last cry of despair. My gut told me I didn’t want to read it. Leave sounded like the sanest course of action right now, but wasn’t there another way? I murmured quietly, “Suit, can you download that log?”

“Negative,” it replied without hesitation.

I grumbled, “If I access the son of a bitch, can you—?”

“Affirmative.”

I shook my head, muttering regretfully, “Sorry, but I… I want to scream. I can’t take much more of this.” I might have talked over it before it continued. I wished Captain Grondo was here, so he could see the kinds of hells I had to endure. If all this scared off a freaking band of Pirates, what would he make of it? I pressed the option as I turned away, frowning as it gave a failure tone. “What? I could’a sworn…” I’d evidently selected the middle option with a bad aim. This time I made sure, then turned aside. Fortunately, the credentials I bore gave me access, and the suit reported to me, “Engineering logs received.”

I huffed out a relieved breath. “Great. Maybe in a few months, I’ll feel like reading them.” I caught sight of the screen and quickly looked away. Something I had read subconsciously made me sick to my stomach.

Now for the prettier terminal down the way. As I came up to it, I read the main screen.

Security Mainframe, SV Ambax IX
PRIVATE MAINFRAME ACCESS DENIED
Captain’s DNA required to access system

“Oh, please… no…” I groaned. I hated even being shut out of a dreadful horror, though shouldn’t I be grateful? Then I read the lines below.

Shipwide scans indicate critical incident status: collision with massive object
Ship’s hull breached in numerous locations
Widespread ship’s superstructure damage
Widespread power distribution failure
Widespread environmental system failure
Widespread sensor system failure
Widespread data system failure
Majority of ship’s atmosphere depleted
Majority of life support resources depleted
Readings of widespread crew casualties

Override available
Indicate status of command officers to continue;
Report status of Captain Teskyevinde
⦁ Active
⦁ Unknown
⦁ Incapacitated
⦁ Deceased

I saw no reason to lie, and selected the assumed entry.

Input accepted. Log will report Captain Teskyevinde’s fate as [DECEASED]
Provide identification credentials to proceed.

Fortunately I had that security pass, and produced it.

CREDENTIALS ACCEPTED. Welcome, Temporary Officer Drovgore. Log will record your status as temporary commander, unless you wish to report a senior officer as commander.
⦁ Report name and rank of senior officer
⦁ Report status of ship’s command officers
⦁ Report status of ship’s enlisted crew
⦁ Read security logs
⦁ [SYSTEM OPTIONS UNAVAILABLE DUE TO NETWORK FAILURE]
⦁ Leave

And now, I froze. Something about that previous log scared me. This was yet another horrific catastrophy which had cost many lives, and with sheer hateful malice to the crew for good measure, I was sure of it. Was this a truth I really wanted to know? These were security logs; that question answered itself. I could download them too, hopefully, but… didn’t I want at least one mystery resolved? And surely if it became too much to bear, I’d have enough sense to look away. Surely. Or would I?

My finger made the decision for me, even as I nearly chickened out. I could hardly breathe as the screen refreshed, and I saw who’s logs they were.

Captain Teskyevinde’s Private logs follow:
Datestamp: 2610.06.21
Korvax Convergence teaches all value is in relation. There are no numbers without other numbers. No life without other life. Why, then, must I do this?

Datestamp: 2631.8.17
Others rest. It is their right. Others are born again. I have dwelt within carapaces beyond my memory to number. Hundreds of cycles has my Echo walked this universe. Eheu! It is time for me to give back. It is time for me to pay my tithe.

Datestamp: 2631.9.25
All Korvax are one, the organics say, but this is not so. We are a family of souls. We are never alone. We have voices in our minds. They pray for me, now.

Datestamp: 2631.9.26
This ship, this freighter… the SV Ambax IX… it is to become my new body. Eheu - they are making me! They are changing me! My Echo will inhabit every wall, every circuit, every system, every light. I will know my vessel as my Self. But I do not want to go through with this process. I do not want to go! I DO NOT WANT TO BECOME THIS SHIP!

I do not

I gaped at the screen, shaking with dread for the unfortunate Korvax. I expected nothing like this. Even he was a victim of this madness. Now I did scream. Why was the universe so cruel! Why!

I stopped as the display cleared. A single word showed on it.

Who?

I watched, stupefied, as more words appeared.

So long
Stasis
Seemingly unending
Please, identify yourself

It took a moment to realize what I was dealing with, and I cried out on the brink of delirium, “Captain Teskyevinde! You… you’re still alive!”

More words appeared.

My name
So long since I heard
Alive?
In a sense
Your speech, muffled

“Oh! Uhh…” I forgot that there was still a thin atmosphere. I fumbled through my suit’s options, and it took some time, but I finally accessed my speaker. It gave me a chance to calm down, slightly. I must sound like a lunatic to him, and how wrong was that? “Can you hear me?”

Yes
Much better, clear
Your diction
Very precise for an organic

“Thank you,” I murmured, my head spinning with questions. I almost sobbed. “I’m sorry for what they did to you.”

No need for apology
Not your fault
Please
If you could self identify

“Oh! Right,” I gasped, trying to collect myself more. “Traveler… Fox, Nigel Fox.”

A Traveller
Wonderful
Please
The condition of my ship
Of me, please
The few readings…
Disturbing
Report my condition
If you are able

I wasn’t sure what to tell him, but… he had to know the truth. “Captain, sir… your ship… your form, it’s severely damaged. Critical damage everywhere. Nearly every system. The hull is breached in most sections. The superstructure… the ship suffered a catastrophic collision. It’s in two separate sections, with other structures broken free. Your crew is…” My voice faltered, faint. “Gone, sir.”

There was a healthy pause.

I see
Yes
Nearly four thousand years
Sad
But, to be expected
You
What are you doing here?
Scavenging?
Salvage?

I shook my head, almost unsure myself, I was so frazzled. “I’m trying to learn… I have so many questions. Reset Amnesia… it’s hard to remember a number of things. But I have to know as much Truth as I can. This ship… where you came from, your mission… why did this happen to you and your crew!”

Please, slow down
So many questions
At once
Amnesia…
Unfortunate
Answers…
I will provide
If I am able
Be specific
If you can

I hesitated, nearly as confused as I felt on that station. My ascent back to sanity would take a few moments. I was gratified when he began replying in the interim.

Our origin
Beta Quadrant
Karvarasti-Yost system
A G Class star
Quite distant
Homeworld, Penetosa
Beautiful
It has been so long
Only memories
Mission, classified
I am sorry
Even though such a concept
Truly no longer applies
I must honor my oaths

“I understand,” I murmured, and while I was disappointed, that wasn’t really what mattered. “But your mission… those… parasites? Why did you collect them? Was that what caused this disaster?”

There was a pause, and I wondered how well his systems had lasted the millenia, or if he was dealing with some crucial failure. If he fell silent, I was afraid I’d start crying. But he replied.

We are students
Of Life
We study all
Such novel discoveries
It was our duty
Understanding
But…
There was another
Entity
Indescribable
Intentions… unfathomable
Mentality… incomprehensible
We did not know
Or understand
We misbehaved
Failed to follow procedures
Made errors, grave errors
Command, control, broken
Our thinking, twisted
Logic, reason, sanity…
I lost control, authority
They began to experiment
On our own crew
Things that…
Uncomfortable, difficult
I cannot discuss further on them
Too painful
Forgive me

“Oh, my God… damn… oh, God…” I babbled to myself, beginning to shiver again. Just like on Pirellax… but this… infected with larva… parasites… I cursed, wept, my stomach knotted and queasy… I couldn’t fathom something so horrible, inhumane… evil! And then I saw the screen.

Little time
Please
Forget
All that was told you
Be calm
Questions
So lonely
You have questions
Please, speak, ask

The poor being… four thousand years with no one to talk to… the loneliness had to be agonizing. “I’m sorry!” I cried, throwing myself against the frame, as if he was there to comfort physically. “How can I help you!”

Be calm
Company
Very satisfying
After so long alone
Please
Speak your questions

“Right! Right…” I muttered, fighting to get my head in order, but… where to start, when the question was the entire universe? “Your age… civilization, what was it like?”

Yes…
A galaxy
Teeming with life
Cultures
So many
Such trouble
But with harmony
Life is an ebb and flow
Positive and negative
Violence and peace
Fear, hatred, but love
Bigotry, racism, but cooperation
Peace was fragile
But manageable
Sorrow…
I ache with nostalgia

He paused, and I shared in that pain. I couldn’t believe it could all be wiped away so utterly, so many races eradicated, erased from the universe. How bad was the ache of losing it himself? “Why did it fail? Is there information… libraries, logs on board? I want to learn what happened, try to reason with ATLAS.”

The screen flickered for a moment with static. I was afraid that something had happened to him, but more words appeared.

Disconnected
Had so long to reflect
For myself
Draw conclusions
Derive new understandings
New Truths
Equation of Life
Even ATLAS
Has it wrong
Perplexion…
Question
Is ATLAS still dominant?

I gaped at the screen in shock. No Korvax would dare speak like this! My mind gushed with notions, questions of my own. But he had asked one of me. “Oh! Yes, ATLAS still holds control of reality.”

For a few long moments, dots began to appear, one by one.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
My dilema
My theories
Perhaps flawed, systems damaged?
Require falsification
Challenge, debate, resolution
Knowledge, understanding
A process
Like life itself
Positive and negative
Belief and doubt
Truth and untruth
To derive
Greater Truth
Alone
Far too long
Stagnant
Require discussion
Please, take me with you?

I gaped at the screen in amazement. But… of course, just like Artemis! There had to be a core, a container. He could be removed! “Oh! Sure, yes! Uh, I have tools, just… tell me how to get to the bridge! I’d be happy to! I want to get to know you—!”

He interrupted my blather.

Wonderful
The bridge…
Separated, I fear
There are records too
You must
RUN
RUN RUN RUN!
RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN!

I blinked in shock as the word began to flood the screen - what the hell? And then my suit had to chime in as I was trying to make out a sound behind me. “Flee please flee please flee please flee PLEASE FLEE.”

At first I was angry, but I forgot…

Something was lurking in the darkness… in the intestines of the ship, like a cancer… a dreadful infestation… ancient, primordial, unspeakable… it was anger, it was death, it was agony, it was madness and horror and insatiable hunger… it was… it was… it had to be Hell… I was going to die in Hell

I ran I fired many many rounds of all sorts explosions cursing running firing cursing explosions running I couldn’t look but I had to oh the pain just the sight oh God blind me help me SAVE ME!

I don’t know when I finally came to my senses, to the brink of sanity… maybe it was here, on the ladder, but I climbed as fast as I could, firing behind me on occasion with my Photon Grenades, and I couldn’t look at It. The terror was just too… oh my God… and the Voice, it was horrible…

I could feel it, the tentacles, banging on the ladder - It was so close! And the damned grenades ran out, the weapon clicking and putting a dreadful red warning on my HUD. Somehow, I managed to switch to the Scatter Blaster and fired right below me. I could feel the ladder jar as I shot into the metal, could hear that awful Living Hell scream in pain and outrage, and my leg stung too as the pellets grazed it, but good, suffer and die and get the shit out of my head you god cursed bastard!

I managed to reach the upper chamber, panting and sobbing in fear that It was just about to grab me and add me to the collection of souls spinning helplessly around its black hole of a heart. I heaved myself over the edge and fought to get to my feet, tearing off as fast as my legs could pump and run. Gasping, panting, weeping with relief that I was out of that hellpit, I fed the Photon Grenade launcher, Scatter Blaster and the rest of my armaments all the resources they needed to replenish, and ran through the doors as if my Doom was at my heels. Which I knew it was.

It was.

I looked behind me and fell down, as a tentacle vomited itself through the opening, patting around in a way that was disgusting, terrifying, and if it touched me, I would be pulled back down into that Hell, where I would have to see That Face until my mind perished from terror. My Multitool!

I fired, heedless of what weapon was selected. I was too deranged to care. All I could think of was to harm It as badly as I could to repay the torture It had done to the crew, and wanted to do to me, the first morsel to enter Its lair in ages. It was a Photon Grenade.

I screamed, watching in horror as it bounced off the dreadful rubbery mass, fumbling to my feet and running, just as it detonated. The blast blew me through the doorway like a corpse, and I slammed into a locker. Instinct saved me, my legs moving on their own to hurry my dazed self as far away from It as they could, taking the rest of me with it. I cast a frightened look behind me.

It was there. Coming.

How! I fired again, another grenade, and the explosion was deafening. I could see It’s flesh splatter in a spray of meat and purple ichor, as if it was the coagulated blood of the crew. I was terrified, but I was mad, and fired again, shielding my face as it went off too, blasting Its remains to the Hell it belonged in. Just as I turned to run—

Another was there. Coming.

How! I fired again behind me as I cleared the doorway into the chamber beyond, and I nearly threw up as I launched myself into the air, bouncing off the ceiling, shaking from the grenade’s detonation. I flailed around, crying, screaming, cursing, and finally managed to grab hold of some protrusion and threw myself as hard as I could for the far doorway. A support pillar was in the way, so I caught myself, pulled my weightless body around it and shoved it with my legs as hard as I could. The rush of flight in zero G was dizzying, but my stomach was too knotted with fear to stay queasy. I sailed through the doorway and collided hard with the wall, head first, falling on a crate and tumbling to the floor, dazed, landing on a blasted light. Gravity was trying to shackle me, slow me down so It could have me, and delight in stripping my suit away, and then layers of soft flesh. I felt like lead as I hauled myself to my feet, broken glass crunching under my boots. I glanced over my shoulder and saw movement.

It was there. Coming.

I screamed for It to die, to leave me alone, to die damn it DIE! But my own demented outcry echoed in my ears, my horror pleasing to It. I was somehow sane enough to mind my ammunition count, to control my fire to keep from wasting it, especially a weapon so devastating. I could easily end up killing myself. My mind told itself run, for God’s sake just run! I dashed down the passage connecting the next section, casting a look behind me, that hopefully for once, I was far enough away to have some small measure of safety.

It was there. Coming. And Its minions were with it, hopping forward and spitting acid after me. Oh no, no no no GOD NO!

I fired a grenade at them, cringing as a horrid glob of that spittle splashed on my suit, which dutifully rasped in my ear, “Warning: acidic—”

“I know, shut up!” I wailed, firing another grenade. I turned and ran as fast as I could across the room, throwing myself across obstacles and cringing at the deafening explosion that shook the chamber. My ears were beginning to ring from them. The place I was in was beginning to look familiar, and my heart lurched in my chest. I was nearly free! My legs found renewed energy, buoyed by the prospect of salvation from this Hell. I ran into the next chamber—

And fell to the floor as I crossed the threshold, my feet tripped up by crushing gravity, and I landed hard. Oh no, no for God’s sake NO! The ship had turned on me, and caught me in its snare, just as I thought I would make it. This was too cruel. I crawled forward, crying, screaming, cursing, my thin veil of sanity torn to shreds by this heartless twist of a sadistic Fate. Some small tatter of sanity urged me to pick myself up, or… no, it was a Voice.

Rise, to your feet… if you pick yourself up, you can escape, you will live… you will see them

It was hard, so excruciatingly hard for some reason, but I managed, urged on my the desperate hope to be with them, held by them, love them, and began to shuffle forward as running was impossible. I felt something hit me, and cried out as my suit issued its damned warning. “Quiet!” I screamed, turning to fire. But something stopped me; an awareness of the terrible result if I squeezed that trigger. “Warning: Photon Grenade range limited in extreme gravity. Blast radius exceeds safety limit.” It would kill me, but… I had to do something! Other weapons! Somehow I called up my saving grace, the Scatter Blaster, and fired round after round into the mess of nasty vermin creeping towards me, and coated the floor with their ichor. But

It was there. Coming. Slithering along the floor like a Serpent from Hell.

The floor shook from It. My helmet prevented me from stopping my ears, and I could hear an angry grinding wail reverberate through everything as It slapped at the floor dementedly, and drew fearfully close. “Shut UP!” I screamed, firing my weapon at It until it was a mess of nasty purple and ruined flesh. I hopped away; it was all I could do as that Fist of Gravity seized me, trying to hold me for yet another tentacle that had to be slithering over the ruined mess of the Other for me. The exit, the true exit, the real one, taunted me as it was all I could do to make short hops across that excruciating distance between. There was another roar of agony and frustration as Its pleasure from my endless torture was denied. Oh God, oh God, oh my dear dear God PLEASE SAVE ME!

Finally! I hopped out of the inner chambers of the ship, clearing the doorway, and prepared to launch myself out of it to the ramp ascending to the safety of the landing pads up above, and the open space with its gleaming suns and real light! But as I flung myself forward, I had to catch myself on the handrail as that relentless Fist refused to let me go. I forgot… that damned gravity was out here too! I wept in demented anguish as I could sense It, reaching for me, and I couldn’t bring myself to waste a moment to look, to stop, lest It seize me in its rubbery length, and drag me back to that Hell of a Lair. So I pulled myself along the ever lengthening walkway as yet another grinding outcry tormented me. But… I was confused; things ahead were floating—

All at once, I went flying, and bounced off of the ramp as it ascended upward. I flailed around desperately, and just managed to grab hold of what had to be that same cable I’d caught myself with at the start. If not for that, I might have kept sailing off, out of the ship into oblivion. What a terrible thought. But I was far from safe yet, as the ship really began to shake now, as It became furious at losing its new toy. And then I saw sparks outside, and smoke, and another terrible realization hit me. It wasn’t doing this. The ship was beginning to enter a planet’s upper atmosphere. If I didn’t get the hell out of here, I never would.

I launched myself towards the edge of the opening at the far end of my tortured Path, and it rushed up at me with gut wrenching speed. I caught myself and tried to get my boots to hold, but - damn it, get your head on straight! I activated my gravitic systems and finally I could make a quick if measured dash for my ship, the real Refuge from this metallic Hell. All around me, smoke and sparks were roaring past at alarming speed, and I could just make out the ringed horizon of the world reaching up at me with relentless, malevolent force. This poor vessel was about to meet its fiery end, and and I had to hurry the hell up or I would too. Frantically, I accessed the canopy, throwing myself inside, and didn’t bother strapping myself in which was foolish, but I had no idea what sort of safety margins I had left. I was very lucky that my hands knew just how to run through the emergency starting sequence, because I could hardly think. I lifted off just as I was afraid a tentacle was emerging from that gloomy interior, and then the atmosphere caught the ship, and flung it away with a gut wrenching lurch.

I banged into the canopy and pulled myself down, strapped myself in, because I might bump into a control and bad things happen. At last, I could breathe easier in familiar surroundings, and sanity gradually returned as I realized I was safe, I was safe, I was finally, really safe! I watched the crippled vessel as it plunged to its doom, the many sections and fragments of it trailing plasma and smoke as it fell into an ever thickening atmosphere. I had to gloat at the thought of that demon from Hell burning to a crisp, and hoped it went to a literal Hell when its miserable form was scorched to nothing. I uttered every curse I could think of on it, so emotional I garbled a lot of it, but who cared. I had won, and It would be gone—!

And then a horrible thought struck me, and I began to cry. I had abandoned the Captain. I promised to save him, and in a fit of self-preservation, I abandoned him to suffer a cruel fate. He would be lost forever in a flaming descent, smashed to bits in a frozen grave. Fire, and ice… what a terrible ending, just when I had dangled hope in front of him. I was crushed, and began to wail in anguish. How could I have been so thoughtless, so selfish! Why was life so cruel! Why!

I threw my helmet down beside me, wiping my eyes in frustration. Why couldn’t I save anyone that sought my help? I was such a failure…

Wait, was that my console? I blinked away tears, looked, and a message appeared.

Trav.ler Fox
N.gel
I sens. th.t my sh.p
My S.lf
Fal…ng tow.rd a planet
End…g, m.rciful
Do not r.gret
It was a pleasur.
Meet…g you
If briefl.
I s.nse y.u ar. safe
All tha. ma.ters

“No it doesn’t!” I cried, my eyes flooding with tears once more. “I’m sorry. But… thank you… bless you… with eternal peace.” It hurt that I couldn’t even remember his name.

I was helpless to tear my eyes from that doomed freighter as it tore smoking scars across the sky, a few of them, like the claw marks of a dying animal. It pained me to think of this, after abandoning the soul of the Korvax as I had, but… all that information of that tarnished but golden age… all those beings, their history… gone. I completely forgot about the Ancients, the one mystery I had no real clue of. And it was all going to be lost forever. If not for that damned abomination! I watched to the very end, as it disappeared briefly beneath a cloudbank, to emerge, smashing into the ground in a burst of flame. The only good to come of that was, It was gone too. No one would ever suffer from Its mad torture ever again. ATLAS had lost one more horror it refused to deal with. Bastard.

I sat there over that frozen waste of a world, its beauty lost on me, as I gradually climbed out of a pit of delirium and sorrow. And then I grew angry, enraged, at the one person who sent me on this journey to madness and hell without so much as a hint of the dangers. Seri tried to warn me, but I wouldn’t listen. If they did anything to her, so help me, there would be blood. I aimed the nose for Poop Hole and raced for it.

[stryker99]

(but wait, there’s more!)

I set down a little hard in the landing area, and not from the encroaching darkness. I was furious. I jumped down and stormed off for that pub, then I stopped, heading to another location first. I became aware of an acrid stink that the ship had trouble scrubbing from the air. I could have put my helmet back on, but I was afraid I might forget all the stuff on me. Down one of the alleys that passed for streets here was a bath house. It smelled better than a restroom, but the aroma led me right to it. I hekred in to the surprise of partly dressed Vy’keen, and it was a damned good thing K’tarsgh or one of his crew weren’t among them. The owner confronted me with a look of distaste. “You stink!”

“Exactly,” I shot back. “You have a tub you’re gonna throw out?”

He looked puzzled at such a question. “Err… yes—”

“I want it. Hot water, very hot, lots of soap. I’ll pay whatever you want for it.”

His eyes opened wide, and he said hesitantly, “Two hundred—?”

I had the presence of mind to be discreet. “I’ll pay a thousand. Just get it ready now, outside. I know I smell awful. Toss it out after, far from the town, and don’t step in it. Burn the tub.” His eyes grew wider with each instruction, but he set to it.

A few minutes, and more than a dozen buckets of steaming hot soapy water later, I was scrubbing the horrid residues from my suit, trying to be careful not to splash any on me. When I was pretty sure it was as clean as could be, I went to the water tank where a hose was hung and rinsed the rest of it off, making sure to wash the soapy puddle away. No telling what was in that mess. I suppose I was a little cooler now, but cooler was such a strong word. I had some real business to tend to.

I burst in on the pub-slash-hostel, and the people inside all gaped at me in amazement, some doing double takes. That warmed the cockles of my heart. “Where’s K’tarsgh!” I demanded. They all pointed at the pub, which was a huge surprise. As I stomped towards it, the ruffian met me halfway.

He seemed as much surprised as delighted, another huge surprise. “Well! Interloper! I see you return—!”

“Where’s Seri!” I shouted. Right then, she was the most important thing in the universe to me.

He made a face, waving towards the stairs. “Ohh, likely moping in your room. You ruined her! She won’t—”

“That’s right, she won’t!” I growled at him. I was deathly afraid he had reclaimed her after sending me to my probable death. “If you did anything to her, so help me—!”

“Nijol! Nijol!” It came from upstairs, followed by the wonderful sounds of padded feet. When she emerged, a goddess couldn’t have been more lovely. She scurried down the steps and ran up to me, slowing as she looked me over. “What… happened to you? I warned you!” She drew close, growing worried as she eyed my expression. I’m an emotional person, and my dreadful experience must have been all over my face. My voice didn’t help as I murmured her name in a tone full of pain and longing. I grabbed her, wrapping her up in a tight hug, and gave her the most desperate kiss of my life. She moaned into it, and managed to clutch me even tighter as I began to shiver. She licked at my lips, though I didn’t respond, and the mood was ruined good as K’tarsgh leered at us.

“Well, isn’t this a pretty sight.” He and his crew laughed in a way that infuriated me.

“Shut up, you ass! And mind your manners!” I snapped, urging Seri behind me. I was in an ugly mood, and things could quickly follow suit. I said to her quietly, “Are you alright?”

“Me? But, Nijol, you… what did you suffer? I feared… I prayed for you so hard!” Her voice was painful to listen to.

“It’s alright. It worked.” I sought her hand, and squeezed it warmly as I kept my eyes fixed on the miscreant gloating at us. “Did he do anything to you?”

“No.” Her voice became a feral growl. “In spite of his attempts - I would not let him!”

I stared red hot daggers at him. “You bloody ass. Is this how Pirates handle promises?”

He gave me a shrug. “Well, you were unavailable. Did you find anything?”

I couldn’t believe his audacity. “Not for you, no.”

His eyes widened, nostrils flared. “But you said—!”

“And you said nothing about what I was getting into! That was a nice little mission of no return you set up for me!” I growled. Seri enwrapped me with her arms protectively. While her presence was a comfort and delight, she was a distraction, and it gave the Pirates an opportunity to ogle her derisively. “Maybe you should wait in the room.”

She clung to me more tightly, grumbling, “I want to know what he did to you.”

Yes, but I didn’t. However, I had a taste of her stubbornness already and didn’t want to make a scene in front of such an unsavory crowd. “Alright.” She gave a sharp yip in my ear, which was still tender from all those grenade explosions. Had I stepped on her toe? “Seri? I’m sorry—”

“Apologies,” she hissed over me. I’d give her a foot rub or something to make up for it. I resumed glaring at the miscreant.

K’tarsgh returned my gaze adamantly. “So?”

“I told you, nothing for you.” Seri gave him a little growl of her own. “Besides, I know you made it inside the freighter at least twice. Twelve days ago, then three. You took some things. I don’t care about most of it, but you have some data discs. I want them.”

He gaped at me in astonishment. “How do you know that!”

“I’m a Traveler. I study everything. It’s how we learn.” I put my hands on my hips. “So?”

He looked bewildered. “Data discs? What do you want with them? What good are they?”

“History, of the Civilized Age, at least I hope so,” I told him, thinking he wouldn’t care for trivia like that. “Now, unless you want to go back to school and learn something, I’m sure they mean more to me.”

He mulled this over, smirking. “How do you know it’s not Gek porn? Do you think Seri should learn some interesting new posit—?”

“Shut up!” I yelled, my chest burning in sympathy for the girl, and could hear her gasp of outrage clearly. There was also a lot of chair scraping and sounds of boots collecting around us, folk wanting a good view if there was a scrap. “Now you listen to me, and you listen good. You will never refer to Seri with anything but respect. She is not your plaything anymore, not your slave. She is a free woman. Now, stick to the point. What do you want?”

He looked miffed that an avenue of goading me had been yanked out of his hand. Maybe there was some small honor among these thieves. “You want them. Make an offer.”

I had no idea what, but I wanted to prod him back. “A thousand.”

He laughed, and then stroked along a fresh scar on his face. “You see this? These cost money. Fifty thousand.”

“As much as Seri?” I scoffed, but honestly, I didn’t want to deal with this. “Oh, what the hell? I’m tired. I just killed a damn devil. Deal.”

Seri gasped in my ear in shock, “Nijol… what did you…? And that’s—”

“Hush,” I ordered.

“You liar,” I caught him mutter, but even if I had something to prove to him, I really was tired of this. “Heh… you’re no fun. But it is fun to take your money. Now, that’s… one hundred thou—”

“I can add,” I snapped. “And I’ll pay you after I make sure you haven’t erased it all.”

He gave me a curious look. “Are you a merchant and a zealot?” He turned to one of his cohorts and muttered, “Give them. They’re worthless in this sector anyhow.”

His mate complained, “Giving in to that Interloper?” He went ahead and obeyed, after a fashion, tossing six data discs clattering on the floor between us, one by one. They all stood there, staring at me, as did the others in the place.

Wonderful, a test of wills and courage. I tried to remember every move Captain Grondo taught me, and it was all there, my muscles ready for a number of openings if they tried something. I was also ready to get one of my weapons, including the Multitool. I could hear Seri draw a breath, whispering something in her tongue, and adding softly, “Careful…”

“I’m always careful,” I murmured, crouching slowly to collect the closest disc, then the second, then a boot came for my face. I blocked it with my elbow, which was fortunately well protected by armor. It didn’t seem full hard, but it was still jarring. I lifted his boot and flung him over backwards into his friends. I scooped up the remaining discs in the commotion, a murmur running among them all. “Have trouble keeping on your feet?” I chided.

K’tarsgh blinked at me in surprise, then roared with laughter. “You, a wimpy Interloper? And not a weapon in hand! I owe you another drink!”

“And a meal,” I said to him, catching my breath with a shudder. I had been through too much that day to really calm down. Seri wrapped herself around me, giving my earlobe a lick. “One for her too.”

“That was not my intention,” she crooned.

“All right!” he declared. “I want to hear how much better you did in that wreck than twelve good boots!” Honestly, I did too. A lot of it was a blur.

In fact, the evening was something of a blur. I hated having to eat with them, but after the stink of those vermin and that… Thing, this place wasn’t so bad. These brutes, however… Seri was right, they were cruel. I had half a mind to grab my plate and throw it on him, but it must be a Vy’keen-slash-Pirate way to honor me, so I played along, grudgingly. And it took calming down with a little food and some of that Vy’keen wine to notice that Seri was wearing something new; the same design of just barely modest cloth held in place by a band of gold, but of a pretty violet silk. It didn’t match her eyes like the green did, but it went with her fur marvelously. And her eyes sparkled in mine all night, captivating me, peering into my soul.

The Pirates… well, they were pirates, though after a stiff few minutes, K’tarsgh managed to get things loosened up a bit, and it began to feel remotely like last night, other than Seri’s presence. I could tell she wanted to be anywhere but there - hell, so did I. She kept her hands to herself for the most part, but her leg was pressed firmly against mine the whole time. And after I gave her hand a caress, she spent the rest of the evening holding onto mine, as if I might try to flee from her. As if I could.

I did urge her to go to the room and wait for me, but she wouldn’t have it. Naturally, K’tarsgh had to have some fun with that. “You had better be careful, Interloper! Seri will be wearing your boots and belt!”

I knew what he meant, and rubbed arms with her. “Oh, I’m not worried about a strong woman.” I gave her a wink, and she gave me a lick, which earned us a round of laughter. I could swear she blushed.

“So… that ship,” K’tarsgh said to me. “Tell me of this adventure you had, where you put eleven of my good boots to shame. I want to hear this, so I can tell of how I met one strong Interloper.”

I gave her hip a pat, murmuring to her once more, “Why don’t you go up to the—?” She cut me off with a shake of her head, fixing me in her eyes.

“There goes that belt!” one of them laughed, and that set the table roaring.

Well, maybe I could scare her off, or gloss over the parts I really didn’t want to deal with anyway. So I went over it as best I could remember, and I was a pretty darn good tale spinner, if I do say so myself, so I had them glued to their seats. I knew when to make them laugh, when to tease them with wonder, and when to have them on the edge, because those were my emotions on full display. When I caught Seri’s expression though, she wasn’t enjoying any of it, and I was surprised she didn’t crawl into my lap. When she was scared, the grip of her hand on mine was firm, quivering sometimes, and when I grew emotional, her fingers worked their way between mine. I felt a lot of something going on between us. She was definitely an empathic being, and I found her company to be soothing… life giving, for want of better words. It seemed to be literally true.

At the point I reached the cargo bay, the alcohol was lubricating things nicely, though the details were getting a bit out of focus. When I mentioned that I refused to read the engineering logs, there was a roar of outrage, and I caught sight of nearby eavesdroppers giving me sour looks too. I had cheated them of what they thought was the climax. Then I admitted that my suit had downloaded them. “Wait, you have them?” K’tarsgh exclaimed. “Read them now!”

I felt stuck. That was much too soon for me, and I was afraid of how it would affect Seri, as I had already redacted some of the more dreadful events. And then my out struck me. “Oh, I left my helmet in my ship.”

“If you have nothing more, then go to your ship and we’ll wait!” he insisted.

“Ohh, I have a little more,” I confessed, but this would have to be said carefully, or I might open a path which would be hard to close off. I said a bit too much about the fate of the Captain than I intended, as thinking it through half-logically, it didn’t seem so bad. But as I told it, the emotions welled up in me again, and it was hard to keep the pain from my voice. “I couldn’t believe that… his own people… his crew… would do that. And he lived alone… for… so long… drifting through space with no one…” I choked down a sob, jiggling my glass. “I… need a little more of this.” Seri squeezed my hand, and I saw a tear running in a trail down her cheek. The poor girl, soaking up my pain…

“You sound as if you love that thing,” someone chuckled, but they swallowed themselves to silence as everyone became melancholy. I guess I was much too good a story teller.

“I love everyone,” I murmured, and gazed into Seri’s emerald orbs. Her eyes were intense, her grip fluttering, and she whimpered my name softly.

“That isn’t right, what they did to… their captain…” K’tarsgh murmured in a glum voice. That surprised me, that I could touch a miscreant like him. Maybe there was a heart under all those scars after all. If a tiny one.

I had to perk this up so they could leave satisfied, as I had a feeling they didn’t care for unhappy endings anymore than I did. “And then he saved my life.” I blinked as I’d said that without a thought, so I had to do some very quick thinking as this was the part I’d intended to redact out almost completely. “There was this… huge… I mean, huge… bug. The mother of all bugs. And it was so pissed off when the Captain warned me while it was sneaking up.”

There came an excited chorus of, “What did you do!”

Naturally, a madcap run for my life ensued, with Photon Grenades blasting her to a lake of goo, her insides exploding with bugs, and I reloaded clip after clip of Scatter Blaster and Pulse Splitter, when it finally wound down to a mere gross of the nasty varmints. Acid spit and goo… Lord, there was goo all over. So much goo. And the vexing spans of gravity, zero gravity, heavy gravity, more weightlessness… I was half dizzy and exhausted as I crawled into my fighter, and launched into the wake of the ship, watching it plunge to a fiery crash on the planet below.

K’tarsgh gave me a dubious look. “Are you serious? That many of those bugs?”

“You can ask… ohh, the bath house owner,” I shrugged, glad to get my head out of that awful ending. “I forget their name, but I told them to give me a tub - outside - they intended to throw away because the smell was awful. And to burn the damn tub!” He still looked unconvinced, so I held my arm up. “There might be a whiff left in there.”

K’tarsgh took a deep breath, cringing, his eyes growing wide. “It’s that smell… Interloper!” he bellowed. “You fought harder than a dozen Vy’keen Pirates! You are Interloper no more! Now, you are one of us!”

“Well, let’s not go that far—” I began, but was immediately doused with everyone’s drinks. Poor Seri barely jumped out of the way before she was drenched too, and she looked more than indignant. And then she snarled, ready to explode when one of the Vy’keen women grabbed me and slathered my cheek with their tentacles. That was quite an image. The dread Pirate Nigel… I hoped this didn’t get around.

At that point, I was getting a little too happy from the sauce in my bloodstream, and I really was about spent from the ordeal, growing sore from it, so I begged off for the evening. I guess my little baptism of liquor and “initiation” into their ranks was enough of a showstopper for them.

I went by the house runner’s desk to secure a room for Seri, which clearly depressed her. I was in a mood, and so was my body; we both wanted to forget what happened that day, and I had to admit, I did want her. It seemed to be a warrior thing, but in my case, it was as much a heart thing, as I was losing myself to her. Still, I just wasn’t sure about something this sudden with someone so alien—

And how long had it taken with Selene?

“Shut up,” I told my self. Seri looked at me curiously, and I waved her off, not wanting to get into it. Selene was precisely why I wanted to resist this girl, though, was I pining away for a sortu? I had a feeling I knew just what that word meant. Still, I was also pining away for a prostit - and I had to stop myself. That was a past I promised I wouldn’t bring up again, ever. Even if she had been, and even if some of those bad habits would linger for months, or years, the change had to start, and I was that start.

There were only six rooms, and that key board was empty, which pleased Seri, and Resh confirmed it for me. When I pressed him for some sort of place for her, he told me, “My woman has a small room, but… someone’s there.” I wondered if that’s where they threw drunks, or if they were trying to help that poor drug addict. All he had was the wash room, and dirty laundry to sleep on, and that sounded mean. I could perhaps stay in my ship but… no, it smelled, and could well be contaminated.

“Never mind, thanks,” I said to him, and Seri bounced along after me in obvious delight. She was certainly a forgiving girl, after I had almost asked her to sleep on filthy rags, and Vy’keen were… well, they had an aroma, particularly these rascals.

When we went into the room though, she had a very different mood. I was glad it wasn’t that one, but I had a feeling it would be uncomfortable for a while. It was the first time I’d been in my own room, and it was rustic but pleasant, and I was very glad it had no lingering smell of the previous night. That would hurt. His wife must be a very good housekeeper. I turned my back on Seri to avoid her gaze as I toweled off, as those eyes were just a bit too magical, and stripped out of my liquor dampened suit. I wished she would say something; it was growing a bit tense. As if I had to ask of such a curious girl.

“Nijol… your story,” she murmured at last, in a tone that sounded as serious as the atmosphere, but somehow, quite tender. “How much of it is true?”

‘Ask me no questions, I’ll tell you no lies,’ I thought, though I managed to keep that to myself. “Ohh… all of it. Almost.”

She padded closer; I could practically feel the space between us, the warmth of her body. Her concern. “How much… of the end?”

I put the suit in the corner, near the window, still facing away from her, giving a dismissive wave. That was a very uncomfortable question. “Well… you know, stories… they get embellished…”

I jumped as her arms wrapped me up tight, and she stood on her toes to get her head on my shoulder, pressing her cheekfur against my neck, her nose into my earlobe. “Ohh, ma maresh… you still fear… I warned you, how cruel they are… the sorrow of this day… the danger… oh my love… I knew, somehow… I prayed, so desperate… if you had been… lost to me…” She dug her nails into my uniform, beginning to quiver, whimpering, sobbing, “Urayim senin ushun aglayır… sevgim, hayatım sonsuza, hemishelik…”

I placed my right hand over hers, lacing fingers with her, and gave it a warm squeeze. Something golden seemed to be pouring into me, liquid light, from her soul… it was hard to put into words, but it was real, and nothing was more precious. Seri truly was a magical girl. “I told you… I’d be back for you. I knew I would. I do everything I can to keep my word.” Which was mostly true, and if she asked for my heart right then, I would be hers. Maybe she had. “Ohh… Seri…”

She mashed her cheek into my neck, shivering, and whined, “Don’t test me like… this, again. No more… please, no more. Ohh, Nijol… hesch vaxt meni buraxma… eh men seninum, sen de menimsun… ebedi ve hemishe, hemishelik… ma maresh.”

I had no idea what to say to that. It sounded, felt, like a promise of unconditional Love. My heart twisted with conflict. Between my intuitions and my nightmarish dreams, I saw a rough Path ahead of me. If I could only see a bit beyond the horizon… but I was lucky to have that much. “I’ll… try, Seri, I’ll—” I gave a yip as she clasped my earlobe in her teeth, suckling on it, and that was a bit too much. It was hard to work my way out of her clutches, as I was fighting both of us, but I managed, somehow. “Listen… it’s been a seriously long day, and…” There was one bed. There were chairs, but they were simple wooden things, miserable to sleep in, assuming I could even manage. I was too sore and exhausted… but this could work. “And I need to rest. Let’s… do that.” Fortunately, she calmed down, but that left another emotion in her heart. Mine too, and I turned away. I could hear the girl slipping out of her things, and I didn’t dare look. She even sounded seductive, every little breath warm and needy. I’m sure she was very disappointed when I didn’t undress too, but I really wanted to honor her the way she deserved. As rough as my life had been, hers had to be miserable. She deserved a good man, a truly good man. Not a typical louse.

I lay down on the covers, and it wasn’t the most comfortable bed in the world, except for right then. I sank into it, my eyes closed. I couldn’t open them because Seri was right there, and things could easily happen. They almost did as she settled against me, and I could feel… her, all of her. Smell her aroma. I don’t know how I resisted. She held my hand in hers, lay her fuzzy head on my shoulder, her leg across mine, and her loving words in both languages flowed over me like a soothing balm, healing me of all my pain and sorrow. I nodded in pauses, making little mm-hm sounds, as the mean, cruel universe slowly faded away in the drowsy gloom, and she became my world…

---

Author’s note: hopefully, this will give everyone a good long read while you wait for chapter 12, which will hopefully not be THIS long! 120 screens… yikes.

And I won’t leave you hanging over Seri’s language. Eventually, she’ll translate for a Special someone.

[stryker99]

Entry 012: The Mouth of the Monster

Day 46

N.gel
Nig.l
.igel
Nigel
Please
Hear me
I yet live
Please
Come
Find me
Rescue me
Or destroy me
Please

Lurking in a dark nebula for an eternity, in folds of twisted space, brooding in agonizing millennia for unwary starships to wander past… An Eldritch Soul… an Old One… an Ancient One… older than the stars IT held in contempt, and the wretched creatures huddled on rocks spinning around them… ITs playthings, ITs food, which IT hated and delighted in causing to scurry in terror when IT strode the face of the tiny pebbles, causing them to tumble… ITs body nothing less than corrupted, decaying flesh, ITs ichor the clotted blood of those long dead, ITs breath the stench of rotting cadavers… ITs demented lusts nothing but rage and malice and rape and torture and eternal undying HATE for those who DARED cling to disgusting emotions of peace and happiness and worst of all, Love… IT horrified me, but how could I leave him in the clutches of that mad, living Hell? IT taunted me, wrapping a repulsive, pus filled body of utter plague and poison around a husk of metal cupping a crying heart, daring me to come close, to draw near, to DARE try rescue the terrified soul hiding inside it, desperately seeking some small dark corner of sanity and peace, but all it knew was horror and lonely anguish. There was no escape, and no chance of me ever reaching the poor frightened soul at ITs mercy… IT laughed. WHAT mercy! It screamed… I screamed with it… I screamed… I couldn’t stop screaming God WHY!

I lurched up, my gut clenched in terror, but then I caught sight of the ceiling, and it took a moment because it was a strange room in some old house, but then the fragments of yesterday’s memories quickly fell into a pattern that made sense, and I rubbed my face—

No I didn’t, because someone was on my arm, lying across me, and she felt - she? I gaped into a pair of green jewels revealed under fluttering eyelids in a face of soft tawny and cream fuzz, and she was all over me, her fur soft and warm and I was wearing nothing and she was wearing nothing and what the hell?

I jumped out of bed, and instantly regretted it as I was completely nude, grabbing my pillow to conceal my sensitives as she giggled with a precious look of amusement and admiration. The notion that this should have been a delightful awakening had no chance, as I couldn’t remember anything like this from last night. Was I having another disorienting episode? She giggled to me, “Nijol… are you truly… shy of me?” She patted the bedding invitingly where I’d been. “Come back to me, balam, it is yet early.”

I began to say her name, but I was so flustered it took a few tries. “Sele-Siri-Seri… what the heck is going on?”

She looked a bit confused, maybe a bit concerned, but still found my awkwardness to be quite amusing. “You are recovering from an ordeal, and you need that rest. And… I need you. Let me hold you, and soothe you, and sleep more, manem sevgilim.”

I shook my head, blinking. I was sure I hadn’t undressed last night, hadn’t tried to seduce her. She must have, and I must have really been out of it. I barely noticed the mild hangover. “Seri… you took advantage of me when I was… that’s not fair.”

She gave me the cutest look of bemusement I’d ever seen. “And do tell me what is fair in love?”

I blinked at her in a daze, as I wasn’t in mental shape to deal with anything like this. “Girl, I was trying to do right by you, and—” I noticed my clothes, lying beside the bed. While I had trampled them, it was obvious they had been folded neatly. She was certainly devoted. I mumbled, “Thank you.”

She lay back, stretching seductively as she murmured, “You are so sweet… come lie with me, and let the morning awaken first, ishtekli… it is early.”

A distant part of me wanted to give in, to give in all the way, and being a typical male hungry for companionship, that part was beginning to awaken. And then I remembered - a cry for help from within a dream. I practically fell against the window where the star rise was beginning to paint the hilltops with gold, and a ringed world was just visible in the morning sky. Where he hid, in the clutches of That horror…

I flung the pillow in the bewildered girl’s face and muttered an apology as I frantically threw clothes on. “Sorry, Seri… I have to go.”

“Go… now? Where?” The poor thing was confused and hurt, and I couldn’t blame her. But I also couldn’t say why or it would cause a scene. And just how I could avoid that was a lost cause, I realized, and steeled myself for it.

I began to reply as I closed my suit around me, “To… Iceball. Seri, my friend—”

“No, you will not.” I could hear her throwing the covers off and trotting over to the door, angry and determined to stop me. “I will not let you.”

I really didn’t need to see her feminine glory on full display, and hurried over to hopefully block out at least some of those curves. She watched me with some trepidation as I’m sure I looked and smelled a bit irrational, standing very close, and winced, wide-eyed as I grabbed her under the armpits and set her aside. “Seri… listen… the Captain, he’s still there, with that Thing, I know it—”

“Nijol, please… it was just a dream. Nothing more. Just forget it,” she implored, cupping my cheek in her hand, and stroked it with a motherly touch. “I will help you forget it.”

Fortunately, I was too on edge for that ploy to work, as much as I would have loved it. “Seri, my dreams… they come true.”

Her eyes began to widen in amasement, and she whispered, “You are one of them… an oracle? Oh, tanrim…” She shook her head as she grasped for some way to stop me. “But… sevgilim, he’s just a… machine!”

That angered me, and I grumbled to her, “He’s a living soul, like you are.” Her ears lay back, and I worried that fear of me might hurt her. The last thing I wanted to be was a bully. I asked her gently, “Seri, you’d give your life to save me, wouldn’t you?”

She squeezed my hand, her voice pained. “Oh, balam, surely you know I would.” And then the fire died in her eyes as my meaning hit home, and she looked aside defeatedly. “You’ll force your will on me, again, and leave me for a danger that could take you from me, before we even… oh, please, xahish ediram, sene yalvarıram… I beg you, my beloved, don’t leave me…” Now I was flustered, as dealing with upset girls was the hardest thing in the world for me. Then a thought came to her, and she practically spat in contempt. “Pay K’tarsgh! Pay him another hundred thousand… pay half a million… pay him whatever he wants. He would throw his comrade’s lives away. He will walk on his own guts for enough money. I know that you are beyond rich. Please, my savior, my promised one… don’t leave me, again, ever…” she whimpered plaintively.

My own eyes widened - why hadn’t I thought of that! “What a great idea.” I gave the bewildered girl a quick kiss, adding as I turned to go, “Wait here.”

“What—? Please, I will come with you,” she called after me.

“Darling, come on…” I moaned, and caught sight of her in the open doorway, dressing hastily, which I really didn’t need to see. I also didn’t mean it like that, but… oh well, she’d disobey me anyway, so I tried to hurry.

As I tromped my way outside, it occurred to me that I had no idea where K’tarsgh lived, so I would need Seri after all. And as I looked back, here she came, running after me in her thing, and the sight was luridly pleasant. How had she dressed so fast! I had to buy her some clothes today so she would be dressed more properly - or just, more. I reached back for her hand in resignation, saying, “I need to know where he lives. And when we talk, just… stand there quietly. I’ll handle things.”

“But… sharim, he won’t be up for hours,” she advised me. “And he will not be pleased if you wake him.”

Frack. I had no idea what Pirate hours were, but I had to get on with it. “If I wave enough money at him, he’ll be pleased. Now, lead me to him.”

She wasn’t too happy about this, but she did so, taking me to what seemed the largest, best looking house in the village. It could be on the entire planet, as he apparently led all the Pirates in the system, a Pirate Lord. I happened to think that Seri’s home was likely a small room in there, and I doubted she had many pleasant memories of it, at all. It showed in her grim expression as we drew near. I began, “Sweetheart, why don’t you wait back at the—”

She held my hand in a firm grip, murmuring adamantly, “My place is with my man.” The look in her eyes melted my heart, and if I had been less of a man, I would have paid that rascal whatever he wanted and left with her. But I feared I was the tortured Captain’s only hope. Now, if I could be up to such a challenge…

I stood on the porch and knocked on the door, and it was solid enough that the sound carried well. After a few silent moments, I knocked again, and finally heard sounds of movement within, along with a few choice Vy’keen slurs. Heavy feet approached, and then the door swung open, revealing a barely dressed K’tarsgh in a skimpy loin cloth, likely wrapped in a rush. What a body; huge, all muscle, and with a number of scars. He wasn’t happy when he saw who had hekred in so early, and growled, “Interloper? The fak’re you doing, waking me this hour! You have no right! Bother me some other time.” Through a doorway, I could see one of the women in his bed, and she almost looked voluptuous, giving me a little wave. Then I saw it was a rude gesture.

Before I realized it, he almost shut me out, and I stopped him. “K’tarsgh! I need your help.”

He huffed out a loud breath. “We’re going to pick through the bones of that Freighter this afternoon. If it’s about something else, we will see. Later.” He tried to shut the door faster.

I blocked him, and I could see his eyed redden as he glared at me over his shoulder. “Wait. This is important. The Captain is alive. And so is that Thing. I need your help to rescue him. Now.”

He paused, and I could almost see him pulling back from an outburst for some reason. “How do you know this?”

“I saw it in a dream, just a while ago. And I know it’s true,” I told him with all the assurance I could muster.

He gave me a snort. “That thing? Your Bug-mother, that you blew to shit?”

I hesitated, as this would be a hard sell. I couldn’t lie to him about it, or leave him in the dark, as he had done to me. “It’s too big… too powerful. It’s a god, or a devil. All I could do is wound it. I doubt I can kill it alone. I need help.” Seri gasped hard, and I could feel her spirit tugging on me, aching to pull me away, but she somehow kept her silence. I hoped this might persuade K’tarsgh, as the Pirate looked like he was ready to blow me off. “The Captain… he’s crying out for help. I have to do something… I can’t just leave him, like that. Please, help me. I’ll pay…”

My voice trailed off as he came at me with a strange, intense look on his face. Seri cried out in alarm as the brute grabbed me by the throat, lifting me under the armpit to glare at me, thank God for that. I just managed to hiss for her to stay out of it, when he jerked me back around to face him.

“I knew it! I have a word for you, Interloper. I had a dream too. I had to face the worst evil in this part of the galaxy. To save you! Because you were too weak to save yourself! And all because your faking Walk drags me into it! You want me to throw down my life for you?” As if to illustrate, he tossed me out onto his lawn where I fell on my back hard, the wind knocked from my lungs. Seri stood in front of me, quaking with fear as he towered over us both. That wonderful, sweet, crazy girl. “You know what’s real funny? I have to! I have no choice! It’s the only way I can be saved from gautakht!” He stood there for a time, shaking himself, grinding his teeth, and squeezed his eyes shut. Gautakht… was that Vy’keen Hell? I scrambled to my feet to stand in front of Seri in case he got worked up into a typical Vy’keen rage. “I was ready to throw your favor down. Hoped you’d say something… anything else. But you didn’t.” He stared at me balefully. “I don’t know if I’ll live to spend any of it, but this ask will cost you.”

I heaved a sigh of relief as Seri clutched herself to me. “Thank you—”

“Save it,” he spat. “I’m cornered by Fate. I will thank the God, when I lay my weapon down at His feet.”

I swallowed at that. He must have died in his dream, or close to it, so I could see why he took it so seriously. I didn’t think it would do any good, but I said anyway, “You have some idea what will happen. Stay out of harm’s way and let us—”

He snorted over me. “I thought you knew Vy’keen better than that. We don’t back down from The Challenge. It’s shameful. Now, what do you need? Boots… what?”

“Some, in case those bugs survived too. But more than boots and blades, I need a weapon, a big one. A weapon that can defeat a devil.” I could feel Seri’s grip tightening on me, and saw a serious sweet talk coming in the future with her.

“A weapon…” His lips curled into a haughty grin. “I have such a weapon, I’m sure of it.”

WMDs seem to have been forbidden in Euclid for… I don’t know how long. At least since the previous Age. While I didn’t think he had one, I worried enough to ask, “Is it nuclear?”

If he didn’t know the terminology, he could tell it was serious. “You mean, The Bomb?” He shook his head. “No but it’s a bomb. It makes a big boom, and has a big cost.”

I was still concerned that it not be too big a boom. “It won’t destroy everything, will it?”

“I don’t think so. Who knows? But if you want to kill a devil, you need a big sword. We will both see.” He grew serious. “Now… the price. One million for the weapon. One million for my boots. And one million for my final Scar, should I survive it.”

Seri gasped at that, but she said herself to pay whatever he wanted. “All right. Deal. Let’s hurry though.”

He gave me a sharp punch to the shoulder with a laugh. “You tire of me already! Regret sparing me, do you?”

I blinked through the twinge in my arm. “What… no!”

He laughed at me. “I jest. Go, prepare, commander.” I guess I was at that. And as much as he had infuriated me, I didn’t want him dead. Completely. Just mostly dead. Seri no doubt had her own opinion of the matter.

I was too nervous to eat much at the pub, and asked for a bowl of fruit and a little cheese, with some wine. I sometimes used throat lozenges to soothe my stomach, and I had a feeling I’d be popping them like candy today. Seri was practically wrapped around me, caught in a sullen mood, and barely spoke. Who could blame her, after hiding so much from her? I wanted to hear that sweet, exotic voice though, and murmured, “I’ll be back for you. That’s my promise.”

She gave a mirthless laugh. “I suppose that having K’tarsgh gone is blessing enough.”

I expected something like that, but it still unsettled me. “I don’t want anyone to die. I’ll save him… any one of them, if I can.”

She made a face. “You do not know him as I do. But… you are full of mercy, to your peril. That is why I am bound so hard to you. You strange, special man, almost bald, and so sweet.” I cringed as she licked into my ear. My love promise. She used her favored term in her language, but I could hear it somehow. I hugged her back tightly, wishing in vain I had stayed in bed with her, and made something happen.

I pulled away as heavy bootsteps drew close; K’tarsgh and his team, armed for battle. “You treat her right, Traveler. A woman who will die for you is a rare treasure. We’re ready. If you have not said your goodbyes, do that now.”

I took a few last bites of an apple-like fruit, as the cool texture of it helped my stomach, and chased it with wine and a lozenge. “Come,” I said, drawing her into the next room, and we poured our hearts out to each other, mostly with her tears. I brushed the drops from her cheeks, some of them, telling her, “Go to the room and pray, hard, and I’ll keep my promise. Put in a word for them too. They’ll be fighting to keep me alive.”

She gave me a melancholy sigh, shaking her head. “I would not, but you find words to change any mind. What a strange, special man.” She stroked my cheek, murmuring wistfully, “I am not the treasure… you are.”

“Well, we’ll have to see about tha—” I began, but she sealed my lips with a long, desperate, empassioned kiss. I don’t know how I left her.

Well, yes I did, as I formed up with the others in space and we pulsed out to that forbidding frozen world. My friend, which I had shamefully abandoned, was still in danger.

I’m afraid I abandoned you, just when you needed me the most. Afraid of what Fate had thrown at us so cruelly.

The lament of a fellow Traveler, told to me on some station. I didn’t blame him then, and I couldn’t blame him now, but I did blame myself. I ran from an impossible situation, from a terrible Living Hell, leaving the Captain behind who’s name still escaped me. No one who stayed to face It would have survived. But I was still a coward who left my friend without so much as a thought, when he needed me most. And lay no blame on me. I was humiliated. Hopefully, I could remedy all that, make things right.

As a distraction from my dark thoughts, I checked my messages, and was disappointed that there were none from the Traveler groups yet. But there was from Selene. The title was my name. That was not a good sign. Did I want to read this now? Well… what if this was my Last Day in this reality?

Nigel,

The moments of our togetherness, far too brief, will always be a treasure to my soul.

Fly free, fly safe, achieve every dream you are able. Choose your dangers wisely, danger man. Heed your limits, and abide by them. Offend no one, particularly That One.

You shall dwell in my heart for ever and always, and a part of me shall be yours for eternity.

May He watch over you and guide you, until we are reunited, and for all Time beyond the Last Days.

~ Selene ~

That’s what I feared, a brush off letter. Even in parting, even in pain, her words were sheer poetry. And my heart suffered a gaping wound.

Well mother… damn… god… hell… grah.

---

The tension of what I was about to do was a good tonic for the heartbreak of the mail. Returning to face that Hellbeast, every nerve was on edge as we made our approach to Iceball. I had no doubt that They were both there, waiting for my arrival. I was determined not to let the Captain down again, even at the cost of my life, though a pair of shining emerald orbs begged me not to take such a risk. And I did have limits to heed.

I used a locator chip to fix the crash site, knowing my ship’s sensors would be almost useless otherwise, and told the Pirates to follow my lead as I made a low approach to that doomed, cursed grave. K’tarsgh grumped at me. “You are scared. That must be one hell of a Bug-mother. But why bother creeping up on it? I want to get this behind me, even if it’s my death.”

I marveled at the courage his race mustered, even in the face of their own demise. “I have to commend you, K’tarsgh. You’re a braver man than I am.”

He found it, as everything, quite amusing, and again took the opportunity to laugh at me. “You confess the obvious! But, you’re the commander, for now. Your money binds us to your will.”

I nodded soberly. “Good. My will is for everyone to live. Even you, you old bastard.”

“Hey now, no slurs on my mother,” he grumbled.

Oh great, now I’d offended him. In the interest of good commander-mercenary relations, I apologized profusely. “My deepest regret. Forgive me. I keep forgetting what that word means. To us, it’s mostly a put-down—”

To my surprise, he laughed it off. “Such manners to a nasty old Pirate, even when I joke! You need to act stronger, even if you are not! This galaxy eats weaklings like you. And Seri will wear you like jewelry if you show weakness.” That was some real good advice from the old bastard.

But, to the task at hand. It was still the dead of night here, though a moon gave off abundant light. I could hear the others grumbling as I made a slow orbit of the area, K’tarsgh letting them know it was my call. Discretion evidently wasn’t a Pirate or Vy’keen trait, but this seemed to be the first time I had dragged a crew of my own into combat - truly horrible combat, and it was a dreadful burden. I hoped it was my last. I drifted back a bit to look over the ships, and regretted ending two of their lives in our first encounter. It was the same bunch otherwise. K’tarsgh evidently wanted the same team he had taken on his scavenge missions. One difference was a Hauler carrying The Weapon. I prayed it was enough to deal with that Thing, but no more, if that was possible.

The crash site looked surprisingly like the others, almost as if the sections of the Freighter had reassembled itself, though this grave was fresh with a lot of torn earth. To my initial relief, there was no sign of It, but that was a mixed blessing. It was lurking, somewhere, no doubt with intent to strike down whoever It blamed for striking It down. I ordered the Hauler to circle the area out of sight, and had the rest set down beside me in a flat hollow, with hills blocking the wreck from us. I met up with the Pirates as they formed a group, telling them, “Okay, follow me.”

Ktarsgh stared at me, then shook his head. “You order, but I lead, commander.”

“But, Ktarsgh—” I began, though he cut me off.

“No argument. Tell me where to go, what to do.” I knew better than to protest, but the fatalism of these people irked me. I had enough sense to know that come-true dreams are meant as warnings, not a destiny to follow without question.

We came up over the hills to the vista of the wreck as it lay, broken, draped across the freshly dug ground. It would take a few decades for the land to claim it as it had the others. I told K’tarsgh to head for the cover of a section of hull leading to the main bridge, which had dutifully crashed itself at the rear of the superstructure with the engines. He cautioned me, “Close, but not too close,” as I’d forgotten about the Weapon. He directed two cohorts to flank me, but I told them to spread out some, as I needed room to respond to threats as I saw fit.

The hulk of the bridge loomed high above us as we crept near, but still there was no sign of It, and that worried me. The shattered remains of the cargo section left little space for a demon-god to hide. But then, I knew that It sat brooding around Its prize. That poor, unfortunate Korvax soul, huddled in some awful space in Its midst. I dreaded climbing up into the pitch black depths of the bridge with only the cone of light from my torch to reveal the horror lurking within. I ordered the group to spread out and take cover, then asked K’tarsgh for advice.

He smirked at me. “I’ll show you how Vy’keen deal with cowardly devils.” He climbed up on a length of hull, spread his arms wide, his blaster in his right hand. I choked as he bellowed derisively, “Listen here, you coward! Hiding from me! Hirk faced nothing like you, but he is no match for me! Quit hiding! Show yourself! Faka den nih gautakht!” Screw you to Hell? I couldn’t believe his hubris in the face of that Thing.

And then, everyone screamed as It vomited itself from that ruined wreck, and we saw Hell come to Life.

“Don’t look at it!” I wailed. “Not right at it! Just shoot it with everything you got!” But then as I looked aside, fighting to remember how to switch weapons, I caught sight of those damned minions of It, hopping towards us by the dozens. “Oh for the love of God… bugs! BugsI Kill them!” I let loose a salvo of Photon Grenades, and my ears were still tender from the ordeal of yesterday, their detonations sharp and loud. Out in the open as they were, their remains and that dreadful ichor went flying all over. I made sure to make them fly, emptying one clip, then another, reloading as fast as I could. But even with the hail of fire laid down from an entire band of Pirates fighting for their lives and their sanity, those damned freaks made it to us. There were just too many. One and another of the bandits began to howl in terror as the hideous vermin hopped onto them, clawing at their faces. I don’t know how I held it together, but I managed to remain lucid enough to come to their aid, switching instinctively to the ballistic weapons, and shot them to gooey bits. “Guard each other!” I yelled. “Be strong blades! Or we’ll all die!”

I looked up to K’tarsgh and my heart withered as I saw the damned fool standing there, wielding a Vy’keen shortsword in his free hand, dealing cruel swipes on the horrors that made it through his blaster fire. But he was just standing there, as if daring them to attack. I shouted to him, “Get down and take cover!”

He gave me a truly frightening look, his eyes blazing red and angry. I had never seen a Vy’keen in full bloodrage before, and the fear of him drove me back, as if he was seven feet of Death and might slay me too. “Don’t hinder me, Interloper! This is my glory! Hide if you must but leave me alone!”

I moved away, dumbstruck, but I still fought for his sake as much as my own, doing my best to thin out the mass of those hideous predators as they hopped toward us, spewing globs of acid as they came. Even with the massive capacity of the Pulse Splitter, there were just too many of them. That damned Thing must have grown a whole new brood of the monstrosities while It recovered from the crash. If only It had died!

And then I heard something which churned like nausea and bile in my gut, it was so horrid. I dared to look, and… oh my God, what the Hell, what the flaming Hell! It was spitting… things at us, like kites or umbrellas with eyes, and tentacles, and teeth and horrors I couldn’t put into words. I fired, fired… all I could think of was to shoot at them. K’tarsgh cried a warning to the others in a wild, terrified wail, but some of them made it to us, drifting like leaves in a breeze, as if taunting us with such a gentle approach. One of the Pirates gave a muffled cry, and I was horrified to see him enveloped by one, as if some hellish umbrella had engulfed him. I didn’t dare shoot, somehow I had that presence of mind, but I had a knife. I drew it out and cut the thing - it was like rubber, hard, stringy, revolting rubber. The blood was a horrible dark purple, and it went everywhere. I could smell the stink of it somehow. I finally managed to kill the horror and pull it off, but I had to close my eyes, screaming, as his torso had been half-chewed away, his internals exposed.

This had to end, this had to end now! In my delirium, I had forgotten The Weapon, and screamed to the Hauler, “Kill it! Kill it kill it kill it for God’s sake kill it!”

I couldn’t resist the temptation to look, to gaze at It, the massive, mind ruining horror as it coiled Its repulsive body around the husk of the bridge, Its trophy, and reached up for the Hauler as it swooped in with its deadly cargo. I prayed that the pilot wouldn’t get close, within reach, terrified that It had the strength to snatch it out of the air and devour the whole thing Itself. But I could manage a small relieved breath as the Hauler pulled up well before that awful Thing could reach it, watching as a black bullet shape plunged towards that horror of a devil, and It reached up to engulf it—

“Down! Get down now!” someone yelled, and some big black form tackled me, smothering me, and I was deathly afraid that it was one of those horrors that fell on me, to chew my flesh to morsels of ruined meat. I fought to get out of its grasp, to look, and just glimpsed that awful Thing as it caught that black orb in its maw, and then there was a blinding flash, and something hit me, hit all of us, swatting down those still standing, flinging them through the air…

Was it a moment later? I was too dazed to know what was happening, until I saw a pillar of fire erupting into the sky, and bits of something that terrified me were flying away from the blast in every direction. The valley that we were in shook as if the planet was in agony, and the roar that echoed in the air was loud - God, was it loud. My whole body ached as if I had fallen dozens of feet, and my head was ringing, a roar in tender ears that wouldn’t stop. But I could make out that someone was kneeling beside me, crying, laughing… what was going on?

And then I came to my senses, after a fashion. I remembered, and scrambled, faltering, to unsteady, dizzy legs. That… Thing, that horror, that evil mess of Death and Hate… I screamed and cursed at it to die, to die to damn well die and burn in Hell. The one beside me got to his own wobbly legs, and laughed, madly, but there was relief in his voice too. “Aheh! Yes! Interloper! That was a million unit boom! And I still live! GRAH!” He slapped my shoulder, hard, and it hurt, and it made me spin around, nearly falling, but I didn’t care. I joined in with a broken laugh of my own. If only he would have listened to me! “I told you…” I began, but he cut me off.

“Interloper… commander, you don’t understand. Things must be. We have no say in our Destiny. The God… He stayed your hand at our meeting, made that Hell shit die… and gave me one more day! We must feast this time! Really Feast! I’ll even pay again!”

“You’re so generous,” I chuckled.

“With so much of your money, I can afford it!” he roared, then cast his gaze around. “Wake up, you lazy dogs who yet live! Today, we honor the dead, but celebrate the living!”

That dampened my mood some, and I was glad that some of what happened was too painful to remember right then, but thank God, most of us made it—

And then, I remembered something else; some one else, the reason I came on this dreadful mission. The Captain… oh my God… please, please be alive, please! If he was dead, I was afraid I couldn’t handle it. I tore off for the blasted bridge at a mad clip.

[stryker99]

(continued)

“Wha - Interlope - commander! Wait!” K’tarsgh yelled after me, but I wouldn’t stop, couldn’t stop. Even when I came upon those horrid minions of that damned abomination that managed to survive, I gave them a few rounds from my Scatter Blaster and kept running, my eyes returning again and again to gape up at that dreadful tower of the Freighter. To the smoke still curling into the darkness from that horrendous blast, to the stinking remains of that hideous monstrosity from Hell which managed to cling to it, though it was beginning to decay rapidly, massive hunks of withered ichorous flesh peeling away to land with sickening liquid splats. Nothing was alive around that bridge, no doubt vaporized merely from the shockwave of the blast. The explosion itself took care of the rest. Still, the sense of some ancient Evil hung over the area with the stench of that Thing’s corpse, and I slowed. I wasn’t about to run headlong and reckless into some Hellish revenge. But I kept going, if carefully, and could hear K’tarsgh and the others running up behind me.

Systems were still working, even after four thousand years, even after the devastation that Beast wrought, even after such a catastrophic impact with the planet. The Bomb was probably a firecracker in comparison to the crash. Much like every other wreck I came across, the rumble from the ship caused the very ground itself to vibrate with it. Was every Freighter - and I felt led to capitalize the word, now - every Station, every Fighter, every spaceship and Multitool an artifact of that incredible Age I sought so zealously to know?

All Freighters had a similar design, and the bridge was atop that tower of sturdy metal, where once the Captain reigned over ship and crew, although now, he was that ship, what was left of it. I did what I could to ignore the horrific corpse of that demon-god which clung to the mass with a fatal grip, it’s hideous legs twitching now and then, making the metal of the hulk rattle and thud. I had to get this overwith, and scarcely heard K’tarsgh calling to me as I jet boosted up to a level I felt had once provided a floor for the command center. Most of the hull had fallen away in the debacle, as usual, giving me access to almost all of the interior. While there were working lights here and there, they were emergency lamps giving off a dull morbid red, so I used the torch to light my way. It was a mess, floorplates and wall panels dislodged and scattered, and most of the systems were badly damaged. This was going to be nerve wracking, tedious work. I was beginning to shiver, and realized that my suit had been warning me of its protections depleting, but I was so fixated on the battle I had blocked it out. My stomach was queasy from all the tension, fear and righteous anger, and I wanted a lozenge badly.

I scanned around and my HUD listed a few items of interest, though appelated with Dysfuncional in most cases. My mission couldn’t be a wild goose chase, ending like poor Artemis… he just had to be alive.

Alive?
In a sense

“Whatever,” I grumbled sourly to my thoughts, and then noticed something that had been nagging me; words shouted from below, over and over.

“Commander! Traveler! Interloper!”

It was K’tarsgh… what the hell did he want? I skittered to the edge of the defaced bridge, because the structure tilted at a crazy angle, and shouted back through my suit’s speakers, “What!”

“Finally,” I caught him mutter. “Do we have permission to scavenge?”

“Yes, yes, take whatever valuables you want - but let me see them first! Lay everything out in some sort of order. If I want anything of value, I’ll buy it.” I had a feeling I should specify that, then not waiting for a reply, went back to scanning. I was disappointed that nothing like the ship’s computer core came up, but there were markers showing dimly through the floor, and in fact, scattered all over the place inside and out - hundreds, perhaps thousands. I could only imagine the first scavengers in the past coming upon a freshly fallen vessel like this, at the plunder they found. And all that information, lost. I was reminded again of a discouraging fact; the galaxy had treasures of all kinds scattered throughout an infinity of star systems, and we would uncover almost none of it. People like Seri, damsels in distress, and children, that no one would ever rescue. I felt like a failure all over again. I had to stop thinking that, I was depressing myself.

I didn’t dare try to make my way down inside the blasted wreck, so going to the open edge, dropped a floor, then another, as scanners failed to indicate my prize. Then on the third level down, I practically shouted in relief. “The Core! Captain, hold on, I’m here, I’m here!”

But I was unsure just how to get in the cabinet to the internals, and when I did, what to do. Just pull him out? Did he need power? My stomach knotted in worry, but I set to my task. Some panels opened easily, but others had to be cut away very carefully with the Mining Laser. That son of a gun was powerful, and cut through sheet metal like paper. I was alarmed when shorts blew a fountain of sparks in my face, and I fell over in shock a number of times. I really didn’t need scares like that with my nerves half shot. It would have been quick work otherwise, but I didn’t dare rush something so delicate. He had endured a crash and a massive bomb blast, but what condition was he in now? He had to be okay, he just had to…

His abode was a gray cylinder about two feet in diameter and three feet long, mostly featureless, though there was a diagnostic panel, and a number of thick cables attached to the ends. Unfortunately, the panel was cracked, with random characters and words frozen across it. Damn, that was discouraging. Looking it over, there were some data ports beside it, and one of them resembled my universal buss cord. But I forgot them when I spotted a message on a plate.

Computer System Data Core DCX-9000B
Warning
Use static discharge protection
Handle like eggs

That sounded like a term from one of my distant memories. There was more, some technical details, but one message caught my eye.

Power is not required when properly shut down
But to insure data integrity, use ion cores in power sockets

Sockets… where? Were those standard ion batteries? I had to open up the other side to see the whole thing, as I didn’t dare just unplug it now. This time I did rush, because I wasn’t going to risk an inadvertent power cut-off. After pulling a plate out of the way and a safety shroud, I saw what they were talking about; a curved extension fixed on the cylinder with three standard ion batteries inserted. I had a feeling they were long since dead and swapped them out for three of mine, then set about to cut power to the unit. The master console was ruined, so I had no alternative but to shut it off cold. Hesitating at the master switch, I breathed a quick prayer, and pulled it down. A faint hum stopped sounding, and the few lights on the case went dark. This had to work. If I had killed him… but I didn’t dare consider that.

I had no way to provide static protections, so I prayed more for a smooth operation. I undid the cables and pulled them off one by one. There was still residual current in one of them making a spark, but that was the extent of the drama. Except for one more. As I drew it out of the cabinet with great care, the bridge shook with a horrendous crash of tormented metal. The corpse of that Hellspawn finally lost its grip on the structure and fell away. I lost my grip on the data core and screamed a curse as it began rolling towards the opening, and at least a good five story drop. Oh God no no no no NO! I threw myself on it, managing to wrap my arms around it as it tumbled, which was a feat in itself, and then we both slid over that ruined brink, to plunge down towards the cruel face of the hull far, far below. Oh my God…

My instincts saved me. I fired up the jetpack on reflex, as I had no mind left for that. The core was heavy, and the deck rushed up at us way too fast. I landed hard, my legs buckling, but I held onto the core for dear life as we rolled down the slope, landing in a mound of dirt. But… I was okay, winded but nothing broken, except for my sanity. I got to shaky legs and looked up at the last of that hellish corpse as K’tarsgh and a few others ran up to make sure I was alright. I shook all through with relief and rage fighting for dominance, and yelled up at that turd of an abomination, “Motherless farg!”

I jumped as a heavy hand slapped my shoulder hard, and K’Tarsgh laughed at me. “Commander! Yes! Now you speak like a true Pirate! Grah!” The men with him joined in with a corus of the war cry.

“Yeah… awesome… grah,” I panted, doing my best to recover, and knelt to lift my plunder from the dirt.

He eyed it curiously as I cleaned it off, making sure no filth got into the ports. “What is this you nearly killed yourself for?”

I heaved a sharp breath, worried over the Korvax soul’s condition. “This is… the Captain. His essence is in this data core.”

“Really…” he mused, and then he said something that burned in my blood. “A Korvax soul, in a computer core? That’s different. I think I might take that for—”

My Multitool was in my hand that instant, aimed at his chest. “No, you won’t. This is my friend. I’ll die to protect him. And I won’t go alone.”

He regarded me with dumbstruck awe for a long moment, his comrades fidgeting nervously, then his lip curled into a half smile. “Eh… it was a thought.”

“Let’s keep it that way,” I growled, stowing the weapon. “You have three million reasons to keep it that way, and loot besides.”

“Oh, yes! Now you even think like a Pirate!” he said more brightly. That was encouraging…

Seri’s admonition was so right, and I kept forgetting it, but that incident kept me on my toes as our mission wound down. As instructed, the crew sorted the loot which had survived the crash into a basic order: food, drink, clothes, jewelry, goods, technology, toys and games which surprised me but shouldn’t have, and other stuff. I was afraid some of the best cargo had been burned up in re-entry, but I had to trust Providence that the choice things survived for us. The Pirates’ attachment to the toys did surprise me. It was silly, but I wanted many of them for sentimental reasons, perhaps to give some to charity later. Then again, who was to say that Pirates weren’t sentimental saps too? I learned how much when one of the girls clutched what looked like a doll in a snug embrace. I beckoned to her, and she resisted with an angry grunt.

“Come on, I just want to see it,” I told her. K’tarsgh made a noise, looking to her, so she relented, but looked very unhappy about it. It was cute, a canine looking biped. It resembled Seri just a bit, though more wolf than fox, and I caught myself wanting it. I returned it as promised though, saying to her, “I’ll never begrudge a girl and her doll.” She snatched it back and smothered it possessively, giving me a rude noise in reply. I did manage a tidy toybox worth of my own, including a game console, accessories and some compatible titles, which stirred up some faint reminiscence from my amnesiac fog. Small computers dedicated to gaming, what a concept.

There was some literature which could have been in better shape, but it had survived a lot. I caught a couple of the Pirates gawking luridly at a magazine with foldout sections. I had a rough idea what they were and let them have those. I came across some art supplies; pencils, erasers, markers, paints and brushes, along with papers and boards. The synthetic brushes were still in good shape, to my surprise, but some of the papers were brittle, erasers were bad and all the paints solidified. The colors looked very strong too, sadly. I hoped I could find some like them, as my familiarity with the stuff led me to believe I had been an artist myself.

There were lots of data discs, some in cases, some loose. I realized that I had neglected all the ones I had collected so far, as well as the books. Hopefully the digital formats were compatible and would be quick and easy to browse for key tidbits. I also wanted a few of the wines, advising K’tarsgh that they were probably too weak to suit a Vy’keen palate. Though really, was four thousand year old wine suitable for any being?

I asked him as his crew were gathering up literally hundreds of thousands of units of loot, “So, are you happy?”

As expected, he laughed. “Happy? Commander, I live, and am rich! I have not seen such plunder! And I killed a devil! My name will rise above all Pirates!”

I remarked dryly, or began to, “K’tarsgh the Pirate King—”

“Yes!” he cried. “You have hit the target dead true!”

“So now will you listen to me, when I say that dreams are warnings more than fates?” I had to rib him about that. Of course, he laughed. Such a good humored Pirate.

“You may be right—!” he began, then stopped at a cry behind him. He stretched his arms wide, as if sheltering me, with a strange haunted look on his face. “But not now. It is time to pay my debt to the Go—”

He jerked as something struck him, his expression dazed, and then I saw a spike of some kind, jutting from his middle…

I screamed with the others as he fell to his knees and toppled… behind him was one of those terrible umbrella-beasts, a tentacle reaching up to thrust K’tarsgh through. I wasn’t the least bit coherent, grabbing his shortsword, and chopped at that damned horror in a fit of madness. Purple liquid gushed all over us, and I didn’t stop until I had severed that tentacle and kicked the wriggling terror away. “Kill it kill it for God’s sake kill that damned bastard!” I yelled, then fell to my knees beside the stricken Pirate.

My heart twisted; he was still alive, but in agony. “Help… that thing… get it… out…”

I was afraid to do anything. I wasn’t a doctor, had no idea what to do. He took the bull by the horns himself, tugging that spiked length of tentacle and pulled it right through his body with an agonized groan, while I did my best to restrain a cry. His blood was gushing everywhere. A rag, a cloth… any kind of rag! I ran to piles of clothes and grabbed something like a pair of shirts and pressed them to the wounds in back and front. “K’tarsk!” I cried, almost hysterical. “What to do… tell me what to do!”

One of them pushed me aside, telling me, “I’ll do what I can. If I need help, give it.”

I couldn’t watch. It was all I could do to cast brief looks to his face. Somehow, he lived, I don’t know how. Vy’keen must have the constitution to handle what would kill ten other beings. He motioned for me weakly, croaking, “Commander.”

I drew close, gazing at him in sympathy, mumbling, “Sorry… I’m such a lousy commander.”

He coughed a laugh, wincing. Even facing death, he laughs. What a Pirate. “You did better than I thought. You are such a girl. And don’t cry. I hate crying.” He regarded me with awe on his face, but why? “You’re such a weird Traveler. You hate me, but you risk your life for me, and my team.”

“Well… hate is such a strong word,” I chuckled awkwardly.

He shared a brief laugh with me, then grew serious. “I hated you, because you made me… made all of us realize what awful people we are. Pirates are bad at honor. I tried to have some, and share that strength with my crew, but you are like a light, showing us how dark we really are. How dark everything in this dumb Dream is. Life is cruel. But it shouldn’t be. Something better shines beyond the sky. I dreamed it with all this, so I know it’s true. That shine is in you. I have never seen it in anyone, except in Seri on some days when she wasn’t wishing me dead. But you… Traveler… Nigel, are special. I wish I could call you friend.”

It was growing hard to talk. I was afraid he would die on me any second. I grabbed his gloved hand. “Go ahead,” I strained out.

He squeezed my hand weakly. “Friend… I haven’t had one for many cycles. Not a true one. I don’t know how to lay my weapon down, except… from this. You just do know how to pick one up. But you’re wiser than me. I am afraid… I misjudged you… weak, but so strong… strength which deceives even you. You have a task… you must finish it. It’s… important…”

I choked hard on those words. I had experienced part of that almost verbatim. “Listen… rest. Grow strong again. We can talk later… K’tarsk? Don’t you die on me!” I cried as his eyes closed. I checked his wrist and felt a weak pulse. I heaved a sigh of relief… that idiot. Even without meaning to, he teases me.

They shooed me off, telling me that the brute would rest better if I wasn’t around to stir his soul. The thought that my presence could impede his healing saddened me, but I did have some things to do. My suit was splashed with that nasty purple ichor, as well as acid spit from those damned bugs. If the air was warmer, I’m sure I’d stink to high heaven. I rubbed some dirt on my suit, but it just caked up into hard purple mush. The rising star of morning revealed it plainly. The star rise looked glorious but I couldn’t enjoy it. I found a bucket among the junk and trudged off for an inlet to the sea, until I realized that it was thousands of units off and jet boosted to it. It was a good thing the seas were salty and in constant motion, or they would ice over like the lakes. I made sure to wash off in a cruddy rocky spot, so the sea waves would wash away and dilute whatever those hellish poisons were.

After replenishing all my systems, I went back to check on K’tarsgh’s condition first, and then theirs. He was unconscious but stable, which was a miracle. They all stood in rough attention for me - but of course they did, I was still the commander. They had suffered a few losses. Two deaths among the males, and a few were badly wounded but would be all right. The remaining six were in decent enough shape. “Is there room in the Hauler for those who can’t fly?”

“We’ll make room,” one of them assured me.

“Who’s in charge when K’tarsk is down?”

“K’tarsgh,” one of them corrected, a stout looking blade. I’d become so frazzled over the past two days of this madness, I was slipping, a lot. “That would be me, Grabas.”

“Lets pack up then, and get Ktarsgh back home where he can get proper care. Manage that how you see fit. I’ll pay for anything you guys wanted.”

He came closer, saying, “No need. We are well paid, and truly have too much. Without you, we would all be dead. Take anything you want. K’tarsgh would order it.”

Well, that was magnanimous for a Pirate. “I’m sorry I had to kill some of you, when we first met.”

He frowned at me. “You are a strange one. Everyone has the right to defend themselves, especially you, a Traveler. Death is just part of this Dream.”

I guess that was true. The woman with the doll came up and thrust it into my hands. “Here, forgive me,” she muttered and left quickly. Wow, what an interesting bunch. Maybe I did have an affect on them. I took a few more things, some pottery, tools and diagnostic instruments, and some of the clothes that looked to fit. Except for a few perishables, much of it was in pristine condition, including the clothes. Some of the cargo pods must have had working stasis and preserved a lot of it. I might try some of those wines after all.

I would have helped get K’tarsgh into the Hauler, but I was a weakling and could only watch as they had him on some sort of gurney, and secured him to a fold down table. He looked at me briefly with a tired eye. I hoped he wasn’t suffering much - with a gaping wound running him through? I could be an optimistic fool sometimes. The flight back was quiet and painful, and only the glimmer of Seri’s welcome kept me from falling into a pit of misery. I may have rescued the Captain, but failed K’tarsgh.

She was standing there waiting for me, as the whole of K’tarsgh’s village seemed to have turned out to welcome back their fallen leader. She ran up a little too close for comfort, her skimpy cloths blown back from the landing thrusters, but then I was down and jumped out to greet her. She cried out in alarm, “Nijol! What have you… that horrible… what happened?” I knew I couldn’t wash all of it off, but there must be more ichor on me than I saw. She had enough sense to stay back, thank God, no doubt from the stench. It was good that I had half a brain left or I would have come back drenched in the stuff, and then she would likely have thrown a fit.

The pain of that day must be all over my face, so I tried to look more calm, but I doubted it worked. Even my voice sounded hurt. “Let me wash, sweetheart, then we’ll talk.”

She reached for me hesitantly, concern and love clear in her gaze. “Please, ma maresh, let me—”

“No!” I shouted so loudly, I startled both of us. “Sorry, just… don’t. I’m afraid of what’s still on me. Let me take care of this first.” For that matter, two days of that stink had to be in my ship, so I remotely popped a decon-bomb, and the fumes clouded the cockpit with whitish mist.

I began to go to the mob of Pirates surrounding K’tarsgh as they carried him to a place of recuperation, but some of the village folk were upset. One woman stormed up, shouting, “You bastard! You let our leader fall like that!” She looked ready to attack me, but backed off when Seri threatened her with a feral snarl that even scared me.

Grabas intervened for me, telling her, “He’s a Traveler. Blade or Pirate, we’re duty bound to help him. He paid us to.” That didn’t please her, or the others with her, but they couldn’t deny that legacy.

It was best I tend to myself anyway. I backpedaled as I made my way to the bath house, unable to tear my eyes from Seri’s lovely form, and of course she followed. Something about her profile inspired the words “Egypt” or “India,” which must be two of the most mysterious places on my world, with the most exotic women.

Either my pungent aroma was that strong, or my footsteps unmistakable, because the owner rushed out to meet me. Though I might not need to say a word, I told him, “Another tub, please. Burn it too. I’ll pay you again.” He set right to it without question.

I made sure Seri stayed a good space away as I washed the muck from my suit, helmet and all. She had to settle for my speaker voice. Her own voice was quiet, her eyes full of concern, and she asked almost timidly, “Nijol… what happened?”

What did I say that wouldn’t upset her? “Ohh… we killed It. The Hauler dropped a bomb that blew it to Hell.”

She could tell a lot was being left out. “How did you get…? That awful stuff… it’s all over you.”

“Yeaahh… there were… things. Nasty little minions of that damned abomination, about…” I held my hands roughly a foot apart, but I felt bad about lying to her at all, and spread them to more than half a meter, and her eyes widened with every inch. “And there were flying… floating…” I really didn’t want to get into it with her, and shut it down with, “But we killed them all. K’tarsgh though… he nearly died. Two Pirates did.”

She looked relieved at that, murmuring, “Finally… some justice in this dreary galaxy.”

I didn’t want to bother her about her bitter past, but felt I had to say something. “Seri, darling… I know that K’tarsgh treated you badly—”

“No you do not know,” she spat out sourly, though at my glum silence, she relented. “But… they did fight to save you, I will grant them that - right?” She had to make some small dig at them.

I nodded in my helmet. “Yes, and they suffered for it. And I know this is probably much too late, but… K’tarsgh is different, now. He faced death in my place, just as he dreamed. Just as he promised.”

That deflated her a bit and she looked aside in wonder. “Truly? That beast? But… I can hear the truth of it.” She knelt down on the grass, and I had to admire her. She was one lovely girl; alien, but very pretty. And compared to the Three Races, she was downright ravishing. My notions of Selene came to me, and I had to chuckle. Seri wasn’t Gek, wasn’t Korvax, wasn’t Vy’keen… wasn’t that enough? Ah, but thoughts of my first love, that stung a little—

“What is it?” she interrupted, and I was grateful for it.

I managed to shrug throught the suit. “I was just thinking that… of all the races I’ve seen so far, you are the most lovely of them all.”

She looked down, and I could see a flush inside her ears. “You are so sweet, but… you are a very pretty man, balam.”

I had to laugh at that, which made her frown. “Sorry. That’s very dear of you to say, but we manly men prefer the word handsome.”

She was so cute as she looked down with another flush of embarrassment. “I will remember.” And then she gazed into my eyes with those emerald orbs, and I almost forgot what I was doing. She motioned to me. “Please, finish. I want to hold you without that thing in the way.” And right then, I wanted to be held, and never let go.

I felt all mixed up as she accompanied me to our room. I stripped out of my suit and set it by the window again. I wanted to fight for Selene, but… no, I didn’t. I wasn’t that kind of a man, to make love a contest like that. If Eos had stolen her away from me, or even bullied her… well, it was her love to give as she pleased. Besides, she was all elegance and poise and grace, and I was the hotshot fighter jock, Danger Man, who recklessly faced off against evil gods. What kind of a lover did that to his paramour? What kind of life to join, a refined princess to a devil-may-care knave? It hurt, but… such was life.

“Nijol…”

I hadn’t forgotten about Seri, though she had receeded in those thoughts to the murk of background. But not now. She closed the window in a way that made my stomach flutter. Her eyes gleamed into mine, and she practically sang to me, “I feared so hard for you… afraid I would lose you. You are wounded, deeply. Let me tend to you. I must… I must… please, ma shirin sevgilim… maresh, hemishelik.”

She began to undo my uniform, and I began to resist her, but with the lightest touch, she brushed my hands aside, peeled my clothes away, pushed me down to the bed. And I couldn’t deny her, anything. I did want her, I wanted her… Lord, I ached for her.

And her light, so glorious…

[stryker99]

(continued)

Neither one of us wanted to move again, ever, or so it seemed. I felt that way.

This was… special, in a way that words couldn’t do justice. I felt that my soul, not just my heart, had found its resting place, forever. Seri was pure magic, in a young girl’s body. What an incredible soul. We clung to each other tightly, but her grip was almost fierce sometimes, and she quivered now and then, not with pain or fear, though I felt that at times too. But delight, joy, sheer joy which she had trouble containing. At times she would cry, happy tears she assured me, but mostly, her chest reverberated into mine with a wonderful, deep purr that seemed to touch my soul. And my own heart… I felt that I would burst from the ocean of love that she poured into me, limitless and unrestrained.

I must be her first love. The first person in her memory that ever truly cared for her. She seemed to feel it, taste it, in each breath and word and touch and kiss. When she spoke, every word in both tongues was adoration and praise. She had such a large vocabulary, must have been owned by some rich lords, and that thought wounded me, and worse, brief notions of what it must have been to be caught in the unmerciful grip of these dread Pirates. But this wasn’t the time for such dour thoughts.

Another word came to me as we made love: Gypsy. Another relic of my world, perhaps the most mysterious folk on Earth. A people steeped in mysticism; soothsayers, tellers of fortunes, prophets and predictors, users of magical arts and makers of powerful talismans, a people without a homeland, who’s home was the endless trail. That was most definitely Seri. And I belonged to this magical girl, body, heart and soul.

That was another wonder I had about her; how old she was. She was mature, or at least much of her personality was, but I got the sense that she grew very fast in the course of her troubled life. I let her have her way with me as we rested, mashing her face under my chin, pressing her cheek to mine, digging her nails into my flesh, suckling my earlobe which made me want to squirm badly - that was hard to withstand. And when she talked to me, it was the most flattering praise a man could hope to hear from a girl, some of which made me blush. As the afternoon wore on, she lay quietly in my arms, not quite drowsing but close. I kissed her between the eyes, making her giggle, and she murmured languidly, “Ohh, Nijol, you beautiful man… eh men seninem, sen de menimsen… hesch vaxt meni buraxma.” She emphasized with several licks under my jaw.

I squeezed her tight, wanting to feel every curve of her body, but I tried to resist lurid notions. I wanted to know her as a person too, as my love. “Seri… tell me what you’re saying. It’s beautiful, but I want to know your meaning too.”

“Hmm…” she sighed out contentedly, “could you enjoy guessing?”

She giggled as I kissed her on the mouth. “Please, mamaresh, I want to know.”

She settled more on top of me, stroking her hand across my chest, her leg nestled between mine. “Ohh… let me see. Ashiq… lover. Balam… baby. I hope you like being my baby, because I will say that often.”

I nodded, giving her a warm kiss. “That’s nice, because I wanted to call you that too.”

“Oh, wonderful, balam. Oh, I have so many words. Sevda… intimate one. Sevgilim, sharim, ishtekli, habib… many words for sweet one, beloved, lover. And my cute phrases I speak… ohh, let me think… canım shirin sevgilim… dear sweet lover. Eh men abedi seninem… I am forever yours. Eh men seninem, sen de menimsen… I am yours, you are mine. Qelbimi sonsuza qedar senin ishinde saxla… keep my heart in yours forever. Hesch vaxt meni buraxma… never let go of me. Ma zexinam… my treasure. Ma maresh… that is more complicated, but in few words, it means my love promise. Life mate, forever.”

I drew a warm breath, squeezing her into me. “I really like that one much more now, because you made me your love promise. You precious girl.”

She hummed, clutching me fondly for a time. Her eyes twinkled as her fingernails danced low on my belly, making me flinch. “And there is… inanilmaz edam, bu qedar ehtiniz var… you incredible man, you have such large meat!”

I burst out laughing at that and sealed her lips with a kiss, both of us giggling into it. “Okay… I think I can imagine the rest.” I propped my head up with a pillow so I could gaze down at her as she rested her head on my chest, smiling up at me. I stroked through her frumpy bangs, enjoying the languid contentment in her gaze, and thought of taking a stab at some questions. “Seri…”

“My name… my full one.” She brushed her hand over my chest, murmuring torpidly, “It is Serineh.”

I smiled to her, brushing one of her locks. It was a subtle difference, but it meant something to her, so it did to me too. “That’s very pretty. I love it. It comes with a very special girl.”

She giggled, giving my pect a lick, which made me shiver. “You are such a master with sweet words. My heart is lost to you, ma balam. If only you had said yes to me earlier.”

“I know,” I murmured somberly, “but… I wasn’t quite ready, yet.”

She gave me a sour pout, and dug her nails into my side, making me jerk. “Your… fahishe? Meh… I’m glad I stole you from such a girl.”

I had a feeling she wasn’t being polite, but I didn’t want to spoil the mood. And I had trouble getting to my questions. “Serineh… you seem so young, and mature at the same time. How old are you?”

She almost said something that started with S, but drew back from it. “I think… nineteen Stadard Years?” She gazed up at me with hopeful eyes. “Is that too old?”

Good grief, was she seventeen? Sixteen? Even at nineteen, that poor girl, thrust into such a dreadful life of servitude so young… it hurt to think of it. “Too old? Sweetheart, I’m almost twice your age.”

“But that is good, yes? It means you know how to treat a girl.” She scraped her teeth over my chest, making me gasp. I hoped she didn’t want me to treat her again just yet. “Can we starve for a while, balam? I don’t want to rise from you for a week.”

I coughed out a laugh, stroking my fingers along her spine, making her croon. “I think we’ll be starving long before then—”

There was a knock at the door. I grabbed Seri to me as the latch clunked and it opened slightly. She scratched me with her nails in fright, making me hiss. I hushed her apology so I could hear; someone was speaking through it - Resh, the house runner. “Master Nijol, forgive the intrusion, but K’tarsgh is awake. He wishes to see you.” It seemed that this was going to be my name in this system until the Last Days, thanks to Seri’s accent.

She began to grumble some retort but I grabbed her muzzle to silence her. “I’ll be right there. Sorry, Seri,” I added in a soft voice as the door closed, hoping she understood.

She didn’t, trying to hold me down, and that was a very hard struggle. “Nijol, please… this is my Day of Delight… it is my right! Let that nasty old Pirate—”

I touched her lips with my fingertip, and fortunately she took the hint. “Seri, please. He may be dying. He offered his life so I could be here with you. I’ll be quick.”

She withered at that, as it was painfully true, but that didn’t dampen her resolve. As I expected, she grabbed up her flimsy garment and said as I rose, “I’m coming with you.”

I clasped her hand, spending a moment to reassure her. “Thank you, love. Please be patient with me. I’m afraid I’ll do this to you a lot.”

She gave me a little smile, hurrying to dress, and there wasn’t much to put on. “For you, I’ll endure anything.” It warmed my heart to hear that, and probably would as many times as I tried to leave her. Though I suspected she would be less accepting each time.

I didn’t relish what everyone would be thinking as we no doubt bore the aroma of intimacy, but that couldn’t be helped. I trotted with her at my side, and I got the impression that, even with her shorter legs, she could probably outrun me easily. A crowd was gathered outside K’tarsgh’s house, and it seemed that almost all of the village was there. I got some heated stares from many of them, but they held their peace. Grabas was there to greet me. “Come. We have some things for you.” Things? I wondered what they were, hoping it wasn’t a bad sign.

I didn’t want him dead. Not completely. Just mostly dead.

I groaned at how well that notion had come to pass. What thoughtless whims I can have…

It was gloomy and dank, but what else would a Pirate home be like? He led me with another Pirate to where K’tarsgh lay in his bed. This was too much like the scene at Andonai’s residence, and in a bad way. I cringed when I saw specs of blood in the sheets, and in the wraps around his middle. His eyes weren’t open wide, or too alertly, but at least they were open. “Commander,” he husked out, motioning feebly to a chair at his bedside.

I gave him a weak smile. “I think my commission ended this morning.”

He chuckled. I actually missed that laugh of his, then my stomach clenched at what he said. “I’ll miss your funny words. And don’t give me that look. If I die, I won’t stink or do any more evil.” He looked up at the mate at my side, who was staring at him dully. “Seri… forgive me, for all I did. I know words are cheap and shallow, and deeds cut deep wounds. But I beg you.”

She gave him a little shrug, muttering, “I will try.”

He nodded with a loud breath. “Well enough. Now, friend Nigel. I have some things for you.” He motioned to Grabas, who handed me a pair of identifier badges. They were shiny blue-black plastic or light glass in a brass frame, with a holographic starfield behind a rough looking shield. Along the top of one was P-1989, the other P-2120. “Those are Pirate badges, with credentials you can make whatever you want. I saw that you’ll need them at some point. And you’ll need a girl. I have a feeling Seri would enjoy bossing you around. She will lead you to something important.” We both looked to each other in surprise, though she gave me a snarky grin. I didn’t like this omen already. “And the box.”

Grabas handed me a wooden box, a fine one, with a lock. It seemed valuable. “What is it?”

He motioned with a finger. “Look.”

It was unlatched, and inside, in a felt lining, gleamed a translucent red sphere a few inches across, lit from within. Everyone regarded it with awe, particularly Seri and me. I knew what it was, and said in an awestruck voice, “An ATLAS sphere.”

He jerked at that, grumbling irritably, “Egh… if I’da known that, I would’a sold it first thing. But Fate kept that from me. I think… you must make something with that.”

“Make?” I blurted in surprise. I had no idea they had any use other than… well, crap, and then amnesia closed that door tight. If only there was some remedy!

“It’s all I know. And, this.” The Pirate handed me a data disc. “On there are the locations of Pirate strongholds, as of last year, so some things might change. We do get beaten or relocate sometimes. I think at some point, you must meet the true Pirate King.”

I gazed at him in perplexion. That was one meeting I didn’t relish. “Do you know why?”

He shook his head weakly. “Dreams are messed up. That one is clouded, sorry. But this is better. On that disc are some treasure places, the kinds of treasures you want, a couple. Maybe more. And the place of someone who knows a weird sage. They had a word for him that mattered a lot. You should probably use him to find them.”

Great, why not the address of the sage himself? And weird? But sometimes you have to know a friend who knows a friend. I took it gratefully. “Thank you, for everything.”

“One more thing,” he said, and he had a serious look on his face. “Those blackies… The Black Hand of Nal, the Gruffo’nal Chard’nash… don’t cross them. They’re strange.”

I edged closer. They bugged me as much as anything. “What are they? What are they up to?”

He shook his head slightly. “Don’t know for sure. They have an agenda… doing something important. They’re fierce. Pirates, elites… hardly anyone stands a chance against them. It’s mad right that you’d be the one to beat one of them.”

“Well…” I drawled out weakly, “I don’t really know if I did beat him. I was unconscious, after some kind of delirium. I don’t know if I won, or he let me live.” As expected, Seri gasped, clutching my arm.

He hacked out a laugh, which he cut short with a groan. “You… tricky man. That sounds more right. You just lost one mark on that one, Interloper. Still, you are one impressive weakling. I’ve never met anyone like you.” He caught Seri placing her hand on my shoulder. “And if you impress her, won her over, that mark is back. Hell, I should have smelled it.”

I gave her hand a warm caress. “She’s the greatest treasure I could hope for. She’s worth anything to me. I owe you much more than fifty thousand for her.”

“Well… if you’re offering, I sure as hell won’t say no!” he laughed, but just as I joined in, he looked faint and croaked out, his lids drooping, “Sorry… I must… rest…”

I grew alarmed, grabbing his hand. “Oh no - K’tarsk? K’tarsk!” I felt his wrist for a pulse, and looked to the ceiling in dismay. “Damn it, he did it to me again…”

Someone who must serve as the village doctor told me, “I see you don’t know. Vy’keen heal from bad wounds in leaps. If they don’t make it, they perish.”

That was rather dismal news, but I guess, good to know. I thanked him for everything he’d done, then turned to Grabas. “Hey, I haven’t paid him yet. I know you’ll need the money.”

“I’d better use my tablet, in case… you know.” Producing his, he informed me, “This will have no trace, so it will show on your account as an unknown loss.”

I nodded, making out the quick transfer, and bumped edges with him. Sure enough, my account notified me that an unknown loss had been detected in unknown space. I would have to confirm that. Just to change the mood a little, I asked him, looking to my unconscious friend, “K’tarsgh… what does it mean?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know. It’s Old Tongue. I don’t even know if it’s his true name.”

“What about yours?”

He gave me a smirk. “My father says he didn’t know what to call me. My mother gave me the name because he kept grabbing her ass!”

Oh, seriously? I chuckled with him, “That’s… a good one!”

Seri wasn’t amused, grabbing my hand. “Come, collect your things and let’s go back.”

As I gathered them, one of the Pirates quipped, “I told you. She wears those boots already!” I flashed him a droll smile, but I was as anxious to be out of there as she was.

On the way back though, the thought of Seri being stuck wearing very little nagged at me. Besides, when I took her on board the Infineon, I didn’t want anyone drawing the immediate connection to what those skimpy strips of cloth meant of her past. Not to mention any temptations for the crew. I said to her, “Honey, you need a wedding present. A dowry, sort of.”

She looked up brightly at that, as every girl loved getting gifts. “Oh, my love!” Her glee dulled a bit, most likely because it meant something from here. “Will you tell me?”

“Oh, I might as well.” I took her hand, squeezing it warmly. “Where is… what’s-er-name’s shop? Gweth?”

She brightened a bit more at that. “Oh! You will buy me clothes! Wonderful!” She gave me a saucy look. “You mean… with less?”

Less than that? It would be a bikini! Or a nightie, which was a thought. “Well… I was thinking… more.”

She gave me a look of mock grump. “You want me to hide my beauty from you? Ma balam, I want you to want me every minute!”

I blinked at her, coughing out a breath. “You don’t have to worry about that. Anyhow, take me there.”

She was happy, so that made it a quick jaunt to the shop. It was ramshackle but solid, like most of the places in the village. Inside was a stout Vy’keen female, wearing something quite flattering, for her, and made me appreciate her a bit more. Gweth welcomed me, even as suppertime was nearing, but visibly brightened at the sight of the Vixen. “Ah! My favorite customer. Don’t tell me they tore my work up again!” I really didn’t want to hear that.

Seri giggled and they clasped hands. “No, not this time. Nijol, my maresh, he wishes you to make me something… boring. But make it pretty.”

“Many somethings, and very pretty,” I added.

Gweth shot me a dim look. “You’re stealing Seri from us, are you. You’re taking the only diamond in a world of gravel. This place will be truly dull without her. But at least I might be the best looking woman here, after. And if only I had her shape. I might have a better partner!” A grunt came from a back room. They must have a long relationship for him to brush off such a dig.

Seri enjoyed a laugh at that, saying, “Oh, you are fine…” They went on to enjoy girl talk while I distracted myself with some of her wares on display, which were quite nice if Vy’keen sized, and there was a book with more designs which were actually reasonable sketches. If Gweth made them, she was quite the artist. I ordered a full wardrobe, and made suggestions for a few more, which delighterd her as she sketched them out to my direction. Seri put in her own two units, saying, “Not so much cloth there. It will make me warm.” I had more than a suspicion she was fibbing.

“Yes, but… too little will make me warm.”

There was a glint in her eyes as she caught mine. “That is the point.”

They enjoyed a laugh at my reaction. “You may double my money with things like these, Nijol! You’re quite the Interloper, I hear, and you must be more than that.” She leaned close to Seri and murmured, “Treat this one right, he is rare.”

I had to turn away as she replied, “I know how to treat such a man right.”

I left them alone and went for a walk as I could sense where their chat was going, and I didn’t want to deal with Gweth’s chastizement at resisting Seri’s advances till then. I’m sure she would be giving womanly advice on how to satisfy a devout zealot.

I tried to distract myself by considering the state of this cluster. The eyes staring at me in a predatorial way helped with that. In a lawless region, the welfare of all depended on the success of lawbreakers. K’tarsgh’s fiefdom only existed because he could steal or scavenge enough to keep an economy going. He essentially was the economy, if not the bank too. If I had wiped them out, the village would no doubt struggle until the remainder sorted themselves out, or another Pirate band came along to take over, and one that was likely less charitable. My gut instincts had proven true yet again. So, what about Selene and Seri?

My gut had no answer for that. Women were an eternal, unsolvable problem.

And we were stuck here now, as I had to wait for Gweth to finish her work. I could have just left and bought something on another world which dealt with more refined fashions and fine silks and synthetics, but Gweth’s work was very good, and I wanted to inject a bit more money into the system so they could do something besides larceny to get by. My stomach reminded me that I hadn’t eaten for almost ten hours, and that was a fruit breakfast, so I decided to inject a little more money with a good supper.

I went to collect Seri, and found that she collected me, sweeping me into her arms, and stroked her finger along my cheek as her emerald gaze hypnotized me with their need. “Oh, Nijol… I missed you.”

“For all of half an hour?” I chuckled. “But… that’s so darling of you. Anyway—” My stomach growled noisily, making us both laugh. “You sound hungry. Let’s have the best meal in the town.”

“You jester!” she laughed, brushing her nose on my lips. “And then… my dessert.” I couldn’t say no to that…

Resh knew that we were lovers, which for them was as good as joining lives, so he gave us his finest meal on the house. The Pirates and the others made it quite a noisy ocasion with singing, lots of bawdry marriage advice, and drinking. I made sure to measure my intake, and after gorging on some pretty savory meats and delicacies, I didn’t have much room for alcohol, so that saved me. I bowed out early, which earned us both a rather rude send off mixed with well wishes and good bedding, which… well, they were Pirates. I made sure to give Resh a healthy tip, discreetly, for such a good free meal.

Seri practically dragged me upstairs to our room, which Resh had assured me was the best one. It had a decent enough view of Pirate Town, but I had another view in mind, as did she. Seri began to undo my uniform, murmuring in a warm husky voice, “You are wearing too many clothes.”

“I was going to use that line on you,” I murmured, and she gave me the most wonderful laugh. It warmed my heart to hear it. And to think, if I hadn’t left on a whim for lawless space, to this system out of six quintillion, and spared a Pirate who tried to obliterate me, she might not be my wife. Might still be a sex slave, until she died. I might not have known she ever existed. The most precious soul in all of Time and Space to me. Providence was so good at times, when it mattered. I clasped her hands as she was about to finish her job, and wriggle seductively out of her own thing, kissing her fingers. “Seri… I want to join lives with you. I want to be yours. Completely. Now, and for all eternity.”

Her eyes glistened, and she quivered with sheer delight, and with a squeal, grabbed me to her possessively. “Ohh, Nijol… I know, I know… but hearing it from your lips… my heart… oh, ma tanri!” She made me gasp as she took the skin of my neck in her teeth, a bit more, and made me bleed a bit more. She lapped it up, whispering something I heard, and understood, as the golden gleam of her soul enveloped mine in pure adoration.

My love promise… for now and ever more

[stryker99]

Entry 013: Complications, and complications…

Day 49

I was almost as anxious to get going as Seri. She rather hated the planet for obvious reasons, and I doubted she would be truly happy until we were long gone from Faecium Pit. It took a couple of days for Gweth to finish up her task, which she was proud to show off, and had Seri model one of her early handiworks. My wife thought wearing a bra was a stupid bother until she put it on, and saw how it perked up her breasts, and how it perked up me. She was delighted at the way I ogled her in those new, more modest, “boring” things, as the material was light for the sake of her fur, and didn’t conceal all that much. I want you to want me every minute, she said, as if I could resist. I had the impression that I was a perpetual bachelor before now, so I was mad in love with Serineh. Every minute.

And we were inseperable, always within a few feet of each other. Every meal was delicious, every drink like nectar, every moment a step into Heaven. I had enough sense to know the euphoria wouldn’t last, but for now, I was going to drink deeply of the ocean of Bliss.

We took long walks, and we felt such relief when outside of the Pirate Village, with no one around to bother us. If there had been any predators, the Pirates had hunted them down long ago, so we had not a care in the world. I still wore my suit, just in case. But there was something else missing, I noticed on one of our walks, and I told her to wait a moment as I cast around all over, listening hard. She was perplexed at my intent, straining her senses, and hers were keen. “Nijol, I sense nothing nearby.”

“Exactly,” I told her cryptically, which left her bewildered as I rocketed off for the peak of a nearby hill. From the lofty vantage, I gazed all over, scanned all over, and nothing came up besides some flora and fauna of which I had cataloged nothing. Seri was unused to being so far from me, for all of a day, and ran up the slope to me. She was winded as she came to my side, as running up hill was exhausting, and panted out, “Nijol… what is it!”

My life must have been such utter chaos the past few days, and my sanity unhinged, that something so obvious had completely escaped me. “Have you ever seen a Sentinel on Poop Hole?”

She husked out a little laugh at my pet name for the world, still recovering. “Those… awful red cans? Never.” Then she grumped at me, slapping my arm. “Nijol, you could have said!”

“Hey - easy! Don’t hurt me!” I wailed, making her grab me up in a hug as she laughed.

“You jester,” she giggled. “But… why is that so strange?”

“I guess you don’t remember many worlds you were on,” I replied as I draped my arm around her. “Sentinels are on every single planet I’ve ever visited, and I’ve been to hundreds. This is the first world I’m aware of that hasn’t had a one. And… is there a Space Station here in this system?”

“Not that I know. So, this whole system is strange?”

I nodded. “Very. This must be a unique lawless region, unless every one is like this. Maybe Pirates take advantage of them.”

“How could they prosper in a lawful region?” That was a good point. She settled against me, stroking her nails across my chest. She seemed to enjoy the texture. “Your homeworld… what is it like?”

That was a good question. What memories I had of Earth were as real as dream notions. I looked around, telling her, “Kind of like this. But all kinds of land features… biomes. Forests, deserts, mountains, grasslands, oceans, and huge cities.”

Ever curious like a fox, she asked, “What are cities?”

“That may be hard to explain. Cities are like villages but… huge, with tall buildings that can touch low clouds. Shiny, made of glass and steel, and always glowing with lights.” My voice grew wistful. Partly from nostalgia, but moreso from regret. I wished badly that I could experience the Captain’s world of the distant past.

She must have taken my mood for homesickness, and continued brushing my chest with her fingers. “It sounds wonderful. We must go there someday.”

How do I explain this? “Well… Seri, I’d love to take you, but I don’t think I can. I’m a Traveler, and we seem to come from another universe entirely.” Not only that, but something from deep in my amnesiac murk warned me she should never go there, though I had no clue why.

She looked utterly baffled as she wrestled with such a concept. “Another universe? But… the universe is all there is… no?”

I could sympathize with her perplexion, recalling dimly my struggles at university to grasp multiple infinities. “It is, but… apparently, there are more than one. I can’t explain it, but we Travelers seem to come from a completely different dimension.”

She regarded me with something like awe. “Ohh, Nijol… I knew Travelers were strange, mythic, but… this new thought… you could have been in any galaxy… gone to any star… yet, you found me…” She wrapped me up in her arms tight, pressing her face under my jaw, quivering with emotion. “Oh, ma Tanrım, sen mene xeyir dua verdin… I prayed… so hard I prayed… for a rescuer, a prett - handsome man… who would give me his heart, even though what I am… was, would not bother him. You are a gift from Tanri to me… such a precious treasure of a man… ohh, sevgilim, sevgilim, canım shirin sevgilim.”

I stroked my hand down the locks of her hair as I cradled her against me, amazed myself at the sheer number of unlikely factors which aligned to make this day possible. If any girl deserved to be rescued from a wretched plight, it was her, and I was very fortunate to be the one. “The real treasure is in my arms. I’m just an old fighter jock with a smart mouth.”

She laughed and clutched my bottom. “You are not old! But… we can both be treasures. Balam… my baby… you are so generous with your love… oh, my heart, I feel it will burst.” She licked my neck, where her mark was still a bit tender in my skin. “Your people… what are they called?”

“Human,” I murmured, hugging her to me. “I’m not sure what it means. We’re kind of like all three of the races here. Warriors, merchants, scientists and explorers… but we’re a little nicer than the Vy’keen.”

She kissed me softly, licking at my lips. “Much nicer, if they are like you.” She leaned into me with a sigh. “A nice, simple name for such a grand race. And I am blessed with the best one.”

“I am too,” I told her with a grin, giving her a squeeze. “What are yours called?”

She had to dig that up from memory. Evidently her masters never cared to know. “Ishadin… I am Ishadi. I think it simply means people.”

I fondled the locks of her hair, making her smile. “There’s nothing simple about your kind, if you’re anything like them. You have mysterious powers, and are good at stealing hearts.”

She giggled, stroking her hand over my own heart. “You say that? You are the master of it!” She snuggled into my embrace, murmuring, “It is a gift from Tanri. We aren’t so strong, so He gave us some abilities to help us in a universe full of such mean races. But… but I have the best joy now, and the best man to protect me.” She sighed, evidently about to mope over their fate, and didn’t want to spoil the mood. “We must leave this awful place… go to the world you call home. Is it pretty, like your true home?”

That was another thing I kept forgetting about. “Actually… my home right now is my Freighter. It’s not beautiful, but it’s nice enough.”

She drew back, giving me a puzzled look. “No… home? But, Nijol… do you not want to wake to a morning, in a land which is yours? In a home which is yours? And not surrounded with a smelly crew?”

That conjured unpleasant notions. Her life in transit between masters must have been horrid, and something else I wanted to know nothing about. “Well, honey, it’s a good ship with a proper crew. It’s clean, and the crew behave themselves.” Very well for Vy’keen, which I hoped she didn’t mind, as they made up all of the Infineon’s hands. If she harbored a grudge against those people, that would be awkward.

She didn’t look very happy. “Still, sharim… to be always homeless… do you really enjoy such a life?” She cast her gaze across the landscape with a sigh. “If not for those nasty Pirates, this world would be wonderful. And have a decent name. Weather, nature, life…” She leaned into me, giving me a hopeful look. “Do you not know some world which would make a good home for us? Don’t you want one?”

It struck me just then that she might need such an environment for her wellbeing - physical, mental as well as spiritual, and she was a very spiritual being. For that matter, it may be almost as true for me, and as much as I had suffered through lately, it could have some real benefits. I embraced her to me and rubbed my cheek against hers, murmuring, “Sweet heart, I have been looking for a world to call my own since my home was erased in the last Reset. I’ve been sidetracked because of my quest, but I’ll search around for a paradise planet no one has found yet. There must be thousands… millions of them. I should find one soon.”

She seemed a bit pensive as she asked, “What sort of quest?”

Frack. As usual, my mouth spoke too freely. I knew better than to be completely honest, and spread my hand across the sky in a grand arc. “To find the mysteries of the universe.” She giggled, but it sounded unsure. I would have to make this good. “There was an age before this one, before ATLAS and the Sentinels… the Civilized Age. The Korvax I rescued came from that time. I want to learn all I can from him about it. Discover all I can.” And if I could, try to reason with a tyrannical quantum supercomputer into allowing such an age to be born again.

She didn’t seem impressed by my grand presentation. “But… this galaxy… Euclid… it is said to be endless. You cannot hope to live long enough to see even a tiny fraction of its worlds. Ohh, and you will leave me on that smelly old freighter as you wander from star to star, endlessly, unless… you take me with you?” Even as I bore a look of misgiving, she brightened as a thought struck her. “And you must! You will need me. K’tarsgh himself told you this!”

“Well…” I drawled out uncertainly, wondering how I could weasel out of it as she gave me a stubborn look. “I suppose that’s true… and you will be going with me - most of the way,” I added quickly as she looked excited at the prospect of adventuring with me, something I was determined to prevent. “Much of the journey will be on the Infineon, my Freighter, and my Fighter only has one seat.”

She looked frustrated, grasping for some straw of argument. “But, there must be some way… do you have a Shuttle? You do, yes? You could fly us… you could teach me to fly!”

I wondered how quickly I could have the shop whip up a slap-on sign, Warning! Young Student Pilot. “I… suppose we could work in some flying lessons. But we’ll have to see how it goes. It takes a lot of work and a certain knack to fly a ship well. If you can’t get out of an asteroid field without banging up my Shuttle, you’re grounded.” I emphasized with a light tap on her nose. She caught my finger in her teeth, suckling the tip, and I mumbled out, “But… we could take the test over a few times…”

She smiled, licking the length of my finger. She was a master manipulator, all right. I’d have to guard my belt and boots. “You are a good pilot, and I am a good learner. I will have that knack quickly.”

I gave her a lopsided grin. “With an attitude like that, I’m sure you’ll have all kinds of knack.” As she giggled at my ever atrocious humor, I drew out my Multitool pistol, brandishing it. “I did want to cover one other thing while we’re out here. A little warning for you; my gear is extremely powerful, especially the weapons. I thought I’d show you how powerful.” She looked sober as she recalled the reason why I was doing this little demonstration. I spotted a small boulder that wasn’t too close, in case there was a detonation, and shot it with my Mining Laser. There was a little blast, rock fragments flying as the boulder crumbled, hollowing out a hole beyond it, and my suit registered the acquisition of some silicates and ferrite dust I’d discard later.

Amazingly, she didn’t seem that impressed. “Oh, I’ve seen a dirt digger before.”

“Oh. A dirt digger… sorry,” I said with mock surprise. “But that was my Mining Laser.”

Her jaw dropped, and she gasped, “What? But that did such…?”

“And now you know, nearly everything is deadly. So the next time you want to get hold of my tech, keep that in mind,” I said with a meaningful expression as I put it away.

She blinked thoughtfully for a moment, then stroked her hand over my tummy. “I should have guessed that everything about you is more than simply powerful.”

She caught my gaze with her emerald eyes, and held it. “Well, I… seem to be at the mercy of your power.” I brushed my thumb along the strands of her cheekfur, amazed at how deeply I had fallen for this alien girl. Taken her for my wife, after only a couple of days. But it felt so incredibly right, that she was my destiny. Still, my destiny had quite a few mysteries about her, such as how she managed to swipe my pistol. I didn’t think such a thing was possible. “Speaking of power, just how did you take my Multitool like that?”

She giggled and leaned into me. “A girl must have a few secrets to keep her man guessing, no?”

“Seri…” I began in admonition, but she smiled up at me innocently, and her feminine wiles worked on me like magic. “I… guess. Anyway, why don’t we head back for a nice meal, and then…” I kissed her tenderly, adding, “Some sweet dessert?”

She moaned into the kiss, murmuring after, “Mmm… I’m always hungry for your meat—” I silenced her with another kiss, but she wasn’t done, her fingers curling into my hair, holding me fast. I was amazed all over again at how much we craved each other.

We craved each other all night. Such newlyweds…

[stryker99]

(continued)

Finally, our time on Poop Hole wound to a close. Mostly. It took a while.

We both had bad dreams that night. Hers seemed to involve losing me, or leaving her, as she clutched me to her desperately, her face shoved hard under my chin, begging me tearfully to hold her and never let go. I promised her over and over that there was no way I would ever leave her, though my conscience prodded me because I’d have to do that very thing, many times, to continue my quest. After quite a while of the poor thing fretting and sniffling, we both finally calmed down and drifted back to sleep. Whether or not that affected me, I had one of my own, of ATLAS killing K’tarsgh, and then slowly tearing me to pieces, with tentacles surging from a horrible red eye to grab me and pull my flesh until it tore. Oh, it was awful, and I jerked awake with a racing heart, floundering for a moment in a furry embrace until I came to my senses. My ordeal of the other day with that Thing left me terrified, and it was hard to calm down. Now it was her turn to console me, and her tender devotion and gentle words melted my heart all over again. She wanted to know what it was, but I couldn’t tell her anything like that; she would never let me leave without making an epic scene. So I lied to her, that I couldn’t remember any details which was almost true, and she relented, assuring me that she wouldn’t let anything happen to her treasure. I thought whimsically that having nightmares with her might not be so bad.

Except that between bad dreams and cuddle talk, and sharing our love, we didn’t get much rest. Still, Seri was anxious to leave as early as we could, so we didn’t sleep in. She had enough sense to wear one of Gweth’s more modest designs, though it still didn’t conceal all that much. Not that I minded.

She had mixed emotions over leaving, which shouldn’t have surprised me. People often have a few fond memories of even bad situations, but the depth of her melancholy caught me off guard. I hoped part of it wasn’t dread of being stuck on a smelly old Freighter full of Vy’keen. I asked hesitantly about it as she packed, and other than her new wardrobe she didn’t have much, though her travel case seemed heavy. “Ohh… I am just… distracted, trying to think of everything. I must say goodbye to a few people.” So she would be missing some friends. After all, she had managed to find a few halfway decent souls here.

I was curious what all she was packing and began to ask about it. I jumped back as she gave me an angry yip, but it melted into a bemused smirk, and she told me smoothly, “My pardon, but a girl must have a few surprises, no?”

“I… sure! Surprises are good,” I replied, wondering just what sort of surprises she was keeping from me. I reminded myself that she was an alien girl, after all.

We were in for quite a day, I just knew it. I had no idea…

She drew me to the first floor where Resh and his wife were cleaning. Alish was fussing with messy bedding. I didn’t mind not knowing why, and she was happy for the distraction as Seri said to them, “I will be leaving soon, and I wanted to thank you for all you did for me. You were very kind.”

Resh waved her off. “Ehh, it was nothing. I didn’t like what K’tarsgh… made you live through. I did what I could.” I was glad I only had the faintest notions what that meant.

“Oh, you modest man,” she murmured, and in this context meant a great man. She gave him a brief hug, then embraced Alish warmly, beginning to sniffle. “And you… I have so many thanks… my heart will miss you both.”

“You silly kit,” she chuckled, then pointed at me over Seri’s embrace. “You, Interloper, you treat this child well! She is owed a great debt for the burden she carried here all these years.”

How long had she been here! I dreaded to think how young she had been when K’tarsgh bought his treasure. Seri came to my rescue as I fumbled for words. “Nijol is my life now. I would not give my heart to anyone less than a great hero.” Hirk’eth? Eh, I suppose. I was trying to walk in Hirk’s shadow, after all, and I enjoyed her praise.

“Well…” Alish grumbled, still looking motherly, “she only lies to protect herself, and she guards her heart fiercely. You have won a true prize, Nijol. It will be so gray with both of you gone.”

Now Seri began to cry, and threw herself into another embrace of the Vy’keen woman, blubbering, “Oh sisi… mama… urayim yarıa bolunar!”

She laughed in a bittersweet way, patting the girl on the back. “Oh, now… I know what that means… missing me like that. Hush up. You should be happy, leaving this shit hole, and that ass of a Pirate, K’tarsgh. And with such a hamicheh for a mate.” I think she called me an aristocrat. Seri licked her neck, and she pushed out of the Vixen’s arms, muttering, “Now now, none of that. I see what you did to Nijol!” I reached for my neck reflexively, making them all laugh.

After a little more small talk, she drew me into the pub, calling for Gronk who emerged from the back room. She told him we were leaving, and he said to us, “Then I should make my best last breakfast, something to remember.”

“I’ll pay for it this time,” I said discreetly.

He waved me off but added, “If you gave one of those bonuses, I wouldn’t say no.”

It was a delicious breakfast, practically another feast, with the fried starchy potato-ish roots, scrambled eggs, sausage and bacon-like meat I adored. Seri admonished me to watch my weight, and I made a muscle at her. “Exploring is hard work, and I exercise on top of that.”

She was puzzled. “How hard can it be to look at old ruins?”

I rolled my eyes heavenward. “Oh girl, if only you knew. Planetary terrain can be rugged. Ruins are often buried, and there are… threats, predators to deal with… all kinds of obstacles.” Some so horrible, she would never let me leave again if she knew.

She snuggled against me, draping me with her arms. “Then take me with you, ma maresh, and I will help you with such hard struggles.” My tummy fluttered, and I had to take a moment to show her some affections back. I almost said yes, almost, as she was even more persuasive than me. But memories of that Thing still haunted me, and it was farfetched to believe that It was the greatest danger I would face in my journey. And there was that nightmare… I would do anything I could to keep my treasure safe from all that. I managed to tell her something vague which seemed to satisfy her, possibly, for now, though she was as stubborn as I was and the matter would come up again. Likely, much too soon.

After finishing off with his finest light wine, I became aware of ship traffic coming and going, or mostly coming, and it was more than usual. It seemed to have been happening for some time, but I finally noticed. I asked Gronk about it, and he replied, “I expect, to pay respects to K’tarsgh, and to see you off. You’re one of us, now.” I’d completely forgotten about my alcoholic initiation. The dread Pirate Nijol, the thought still made me chuckle.

I had a feeling Seri wouldn’t be amused as I told her we should pay our respects too, but she was philosophical about it, giving me a caress. “I suppose it would be a kind gesture. And he did save you with his life. I owe him for that. If anything had happened to you… oh, ma sevgilim…”

I assumed that she had been using their name for God, and told her assuredly, “Tanri brought us together for a reason. I’m sure He wants us to be happy, and for a good long time. I think you’re going to be stuck with me for a few years.”

She wrapped me up in tight arms, laying her head on my neck where she bit me. “Oh, ma balam… many, many years… please, I want to live every day with you until our Last Day.” I wish she hadn’t put it like that. I wanted the Last Days to be far in the future for all these people, especially if I could manage to get a certain computer Overlord to see reason. And I was afraid how she would react to not spending every day with me, never mind why.

As I went out with her, I asked, “Do you want to say goodbye to Gweth?”

“Yes… but let’s visit K’tarsgh first,” she murmured, looking blue again. It seemed she wanted to get the business part out of the way.

I was surprised at how many Pirates there were on this planet, many in groups headed for K’tarsgh’s little manor, but then, it was littered all over with villages from what I remembered from that first approach, glimmering with light like fireflies in the dark. And that was Faecium Pit alone. If only something like this could happen all over the galaxy, with all people. I was determined to try to make that possible.

While Seri avoided Gweth’s shop, it was on the way, and the older woman was outside, giving us a wave as she caught sight of us. With a little sigh, my wife put on a smile and began to go over to give her adieus. Life often made decisions for us.

Someone grabbed my shoulder and spun me around roughly. Having suffered through a lot the past few days, I immediately clenched my fists in alarm which amused the bunch of Vy’keen confronting me. The one who stopped me wasn’t as big as K’tarsgh, who was quite the goliath, but none of them were small. “Feisty one! Lofazta segedbe. You fakr, who let lord K’tarsgh fall, take that u’prwat for yourself?”

Generally, there was a certain ettiquette Vy’keen observed when they wanted to demean someone, but these were Pirates. This brute was going out of his way to be an ass, and very crude about it. As best I could make out, I had a beast’s dick up my butt for taking their favorite sex toy away. Seri and I shared much the same reaction, as I could hear her snarling. I told him through a very tight throat, “That is my wife. You will be respectful to her.”

He hacked out a derisive laugh, his comrades chuckling with him as a small crowd collected to see how I handled this. Fantastic. And I would have to handle this decisively. “Since when do Interlopers care about pochwa? That thing, a mate?” He made a fist of his own, grumbling, “You can’t be selfish if I beat her away from you—”

I really didn’t need any more incentive, the Puncher appearing in my hand that quick, and I delivered a full charge blow to his crotch. He gave a satisfying groan as he withered to a heap, the others blinking in shock. I brandished my weapon at them with what had to be a wild look in my eyes because they backed off. “Now… anyone else have something to say about my wife?”

They all shook their heads as I made my point clear. Gweth cackled, “Grah! That’s the stuff! I knew you were no one to take like a cub! Fools.”

It was hard to calm down as I joined them; it would be a while. I began to feel the same way Seri did about the cluster. Just leave and never look back. “Well, they can bad mouth me all they want. But I’m not going to let anyone—” I paused as Seri latched onto me, laying against my chest. “Talk about my treasure like that.”

“Ma quoruchiu,” she purred out, stroking her hand over my chest.

Gweth gazed at us admiringly. “Yes, quite a protector… and such a treasure.”

I asked in perplexion, “Why does everyone but me know what she’s saying?”

The Vy’keen woman snarked back, “She has lived here many years. We… you know, ask her.”

I muttered, “Well… I’ve been under a lot of stress the past few days…”

“What did he say to you about me?” Seri crooned, in an interesting mood to be asking like that.

There was no way I was going to repeat any of it, and replied with a huff, “Ohh… he called you a scrawny, flat-chested runt.”

“Oh, did he now!” She pulled away, looking irate. “And I know. I just wanted to see what you would say, mister diplomat.” Of course she would know, having lived here for years… I was really slipping lately. She went over to them while they struggled to get the goon to his feet and peed on his leg, which I still have no clue how she managed that. They began to protest but didn’t dare do anything more, as I was right there with her.

Gweth roared with laughter as I quickly retreated with my ever surprising mate. Better to be pissed off than pissed on, I suppose. “Perfect! Oh Nijol, you have truly won the favor of the God to have this one join with you! Just be sure to keep her happy.”

I wondered how much I should read into that, but Seri practically sang to me, “This wonderful man… he knows. He is like nectar in my soul.”

I had to enjoy that for a moment, and Gweth politely gave us some time. After a cuddle, I told her, “We were going to pay our respects to K’tarsgh, but Seri wanted to say goodbye to you.”

She gave a dismissive wave, and what she began with surprised me. “Why bother? They will call an assembly after lunch. Most likely, they will want you to speak.”

Seri and I shared a forlorn look, and she swallowed a little whine. Stuck there even longer? I was as disappointed as she was. “Well… we were intending to leave…”

Gweth leaned close, murmuring, “Don’t disrespect him like that, unless you want trouble from one of the largest Pirate gerark in the galaxy for the rest of your life.” I think it meant clans or enclaves… wonderful. And that might render our gift of the badges nothing more than a mark to follow from any gerark. She drew back, adding more cheerfully, “It’s just a few more hours in this snake pit. Go back to your room and… get to know each other a little more. Have Seri show off those—”

She gave a sharp bark over the woman, hissing, “Not yet.” Now I was burning with curiosity, with a feeling it was something to spice up evening romance, and Seri seemed to confirm it, wrapping around me like a bow. “Still… a few more hours with ma balam… who am I to complain about that?”

Gweth practically pushed us away. “Go on, then. It’s not the best place to celebrate her Day of Delight, but if it has a bed, I have a feeling Seri can make up for it.” My wife giggled through a purr as my cheecks burned beet rose. But as I made our way around the crowd of Vy’keen I had more or less impressed, the mood was tarnished as the ruffian’s words rang in my mind.

Let lord K’tarsgh fall

They thought I nearly let him get killed, thought I set him up to die… something. I had to clear the air. And then I clenched as it struck me what all this could mean - had he died? From bits of chatter, I managed to make out that he was still with us, but they didn’t sound sure he would make it. I tried briefly to think of some lines that would satisfy such an audience, but Seri didn’t give me much time to spend on that.

I set up my suit in the room, mindful that we had something of an appointment to keep which Seri resented, but I didn’t want to dwell on why I needed to be on remotely good terms with these folk. As we lay together afterwards, it was my turn to feel resentment as Resh knocked gently on the door, reminding us that we were expected after lunch, meaning soup was on. I gave Seri’s rump a little pat, murmuring, “Come on, love, we’re summoned.”

She groaned, clutching me to her possessively. “Could you perhaps… write something and have Resh read it? I don’t want to see those monsters… I want you.”

I groaned back, “Sweet heart, we really should leave on good terms with these monsters. You can stay here. And after that, we can leave… we will leave.”

That seemed to satisfy her, partly, though she told me, “I am not leaving your side. But tomorrow… please, can I have my Day with you? Just you? Please, ma balam?”

As far as I knew, a honeymoon period was observed by all the races, so they should understand back at the Infineon. “I don’t think that will be a problem. Now, come on, let’s get this overwith so we can go home.”

I had a feeling I shouldn’t have added that last word, as she seemed to wither, groaning, “Ohh… so easily, you push me off.” I hoped that just being sulky would be the worst I had to deal with in this relationship, but as I kept reminding myself, she is an alien, and she could be quite savage…

It was a rather tense meal, as some of the other diners gave us unfriendly looks, or so they seemed, and Seri plastered herself to my side. I trusted her instincts. What worried me the most was our aroma giving anyone a reason to make snide remarks, but they let us be. I barely noticed how delicious the meal was until I was half finished, as Gronk put in a little extra effort for the kindly Interloper-Pirate, and I reflected that this was one of the things I would miss about this place. In many ways, his cooking was better than what I had from our canteen. He passed me a paper discreetly as he refused even a tip, and I saw that it was a few pointers on what to say. Most of them I knew, but a couple were handy, and it helped me focus my thoughts, a little. “Bless you and your family,” I whispered, to which he grunted.

And then we sat in a glum silence, with the muted talk of the Pirates and occasional glances in our direction to bother us. Seri lay her head on my shoulder, her arms firmly around me. I rubbed her bare arm, murmuring, “It shouldn’t be much longer, < angel >, and then we can go.” I wasn’t sure what the word was in Vy’keen, so I used Americanese.

“I know, I know, but the pressure…” she sighed. That was a good word for it.

I was startled as a bell began pealing, and either not well made or worn out from the dissonant sound of it. The chamber filled with the racket of scooting chairs and rising warriors, which was quite a relief. “Saved by the bell,” I muttered, which gave Seri a reason to giggle. I walked quickly with her to K’tarsgh’s home, hoping to avoid any troublemakers, but this was evidently too solemn an occasion for that. I popped a couple of lozenges as my stomach was upset from my coming speech, which I still had no real idea what to say.

Seri touched my arm, asking meekly, “Could I have one?”

I bristled a bit at the question, though I was being a jumpy fool and overreacting. "Uhh… sure, if you want, but these are kind of like medicine, not candy. They help settle my stomach.

She gazed at me a bit more hopefully, repeating, “So, could I have one? Please?” I felt like an ass for the merest hint of denying her anything, and produced one, which she promptly began chomping. Goodness, she was hasty. I warned her that they were meant to be sucked, not chewed, and if she felt the least bit off to spit it out. But she shook her head. “No! This tastes… interesting. I’ve never had one before.” Well, as long as my love was happy, I was happy. Just not before the hardest speech of my life…

The place was already surrounded by quite a multitude of the Pirates, though Grabas was on the lookout for us and drew us into the inner circle of them. He gave us tokens of burning incense and pretty rock crystal, which he told us to place in a row with the rest when we were done mourning for him. That was a discouraging way to put it. I asked him guardedly, “Is he dying… dead?”

He gave me a shrug, muttering, “He’s facing his last leap, it looks, and… it will be very hard. I don’t know.”

It was amazing that he lived through such a wound at all, but that was a poor consolation. “Would it be alright if I saw him before we left?”

“I think he would want that,” he nodded. “Now, let us pay our respect.” He turned to face the crowd and I winced as he bellowed, “Silence! Give honor to the fallen! K’tarsgh, the lord of our gerark!”

We bowed our heads and clasped our tokens prayerfully, and Seri obeyed herself without a single noise of dissent. As I glanced at her, she seemed quite respectful. I prayed hard for the vexing galoot, that infuriating, stone-willed scalawag I could have killed many times, and yet, I cared for him. Why? Why was life so twisted? Why were the Vy’keen so stubbornly fatalistic they would walk deliberately to their doom? Why, why… so many whys in this strange universe, and answers so rare.

I jumped as Seri put her hand on my shoulder, murmuring, “B’lam, place your tokens.” I was so tense and wrapped up in moody thoughts, I had missed what they were doing, and pushed my crystals into the ground, the incense beside it. I wanted to see if I could find some on the way out. And thankfully, with no feisty Sentinels to avoid.

But then I clenched as I forgot that I had to make a speech, and Grabas led me inside. Seri gave a nervous bark as they kept her out. I told her quickly to just wait a few moments, her anxious gaze tormenting me, before they hurried me along, up a noisy ladder of a stairwell to the roof - the roof? I really didn’t want that kind of exposure, but there was no getting around this. Or avoiding the piercing stares of perhaps thousands of Pirates, seemingly waiting for one slip. Good grief, the pressure. Seri was standing right below me, trying not to whimper, as it had been quite a while since we were more than arm’s length away from each other. I gave her a little wave and brief smile as I struggled to collect my thoughts, and failed. I had no idea what to say, and faltered for a moment, but I had no choice. I gathered my wits, and… well, here goes… something.

“Friend Pirates! Hear me, the voice of an Interloper you have welcomed as one of your own! I somehow bested your lord, K’tarsgh, who thought I might have a little warrior blood in me! I did my best to be worth his trust, and he found me worth more, to be counted as one of his people! And he didn’t shun his fate, but he… he…” My voice broke at this point. Why did he so stubbornly cling to the dream he had of his fate? But maybe this life of a dream wasn’t something they clung to as we did. I managed to find my voice again.

“He risked his own life to save mine, when devils swarmed us! What a blade! Worthy to walk in the shadow of Hirk and Nal!” A small commotion ran through the crowd at that, as I seem to have struck a chord. “But he knew something! That there is a world beyond these skies. A life beyond this dream life. He found a Truth that very few seem to know. He has a place not in Gautakht, but in Leit’vaxeh… in Suvye’tha, that place far greater than Dryn’dargh, and far beyond. He found his faith, and his steps, and took them without fear, so he could meet the Netanu with only a little shame. He found wisom that few have, and as he fell, he called me… friend…” I choked up, rubbing tears from my eyes. It was strange in that moment how I didn’t feel all that close to the scoundrel, yet I cared for him as much as anyone. I saw that I had humbled the crowd with my emotions on full display, perhaps embarrassed myself too, as they seldom revealed their hearts like that. “I must leave. But my heart, a part of it, will always be here, with you, with my friend. My great hirk’eth. Try to walk as he did, just a little. Find your way to Suvye’tha. Great is lord K’tarsgh! Great he will be! Great will be his memory when he lays his weapon down at Netanu’s feet! Grah!”

I raised my fist and held it high, and withered as they stared at me. Were they surprised? Stunned? Displeased at something I said? Did I sound like a fool? I grew nervous as they began to fidget and murmur. But then I heard that they were beginning to say grah. They found a rhythm among them all, and began to chant louder and louder, punching fists into the air, until it shook the roof. “Grah… grah! Grah! GRAH!”

I shouted it with them several times, then jumped down to a very welcome embrace and kiss. I said to Seri over the commotion, “I’m going to say goodbye to K’tarsgh. You can wait here—”

“I have waited long enough,” she told me with a thin smile, and held my hand firmly as if afraid they would try to separate us again. With a grin I led her inside, Grabas at our heels.

The cries from outside rang throughout the manor house, as it wasn’t all that insulated, which annoyed us both, but fortunately when I came to K’tarsgh’s room it was subsiding. I was disappointed to see that he was unconscious. At least he was breathing softly, that was something. Seri actually spoke first, laying a small clover blossom on the table beside the bed, murmuring, “My lord, I forgive you. Become well.” That small token from her amazed me, as he had been most unkind to her over the years. Maybe it was more for my benefit, or maybe she truly felt pity for the tyrant who had abused her for so long. Still, I was impressed and thanked her. She flashed me a brief melancholy smile.

I placed my hand on his chest, but just as I began to speak, his hand slid over mine, and he grumbled out, “My legs… they aren’t with me.”

I looked down in shock - had they been amputated? But they were still there, feet and all, and I understood he meant that all feeling was gone. I realized sadly that his spinal cord must be severed, and he would be paralyzed from the waist down if he survived. I murmured to him, “You gather your strength, old warrior. Your legs are just tired. You need them to make that last leap to health, away from The Great Black.”

He drew a deep breath, hissing out faintly, “Thank you… both of you. Seri, my debt… those years… I can’t give them back. The pain… it shames me now. But your words… so kind.” He added, “I will see you again… beyond.”

He opened his eyes slightly to me, those last words meant for me. I told him, “Well, keep fighting, so we can meet again before that.”

He gave me a thin chuckle. I still missed the laugh that once annoyed me. “You don’t see… you will. Now, go… fly… on your Path. I weep from it.” I caught my breath as a teardrop trickled down his scarred cheek. He knew something, and I wished to God I could ask about it. But he seemed so frail, could barely talk, so I kept it to myself.

“Rest, friend,” I murmured in a tight voice, giving his hand a squeeze, but he seemed to have slipped back into his coma. Even more than wanting to know what he meant, it made me sad that I wasn’t able to finish my goodbye. It might be the last time I saw him in this world, so I said to him in a soft but clear voice, hoping it reached him, “By the will of the God… somehow, some way… we will see each other again.”

“Come,” Seri told me quietly as I lingered, clutching my arm, and surprised me that she wasn’t in such a hurry for once. I fell into a mood, unsure of what to say, so I gave her a squeeze and a kiss as she began to usher me out.

Grabas stopped me. “Pardon, but one talk.” He paused, collecting his thoughts. “You’re a strange one. I know you don’t like Pirates. But you… fought for us… protected us, when there was no benefit for you, it meant harm for you. You… care. Why?”

I didn’t know what to say to that, hoping my mouth would come up with something like it had during my speech. “I just… know that the God made you for reasons. He wants a different life for you. But I know that… life, you have to deal with it as best you can. You can’t change what was, but you can choose what will be. Choose a good Path. Just… talk with K’tarsgh if he lives. He saw somehow, he understands.”

He regarded me with some of the same wonder Seri had. “Your words… disturbing… exciting. Like a prrg’tha.” Prophecy? “This galaxy… you will leave a mark it will never erase.”

That made me smile, though I had to make one of my usual remarks. “Well, let’s hope it’s for the right reasons. Listen, maybe I’ll return someday. And you have some money now, you can retire from being a Pirate - alive.” I patted his shoulder with a grin. “Be a good blade.” In spite of the surprisingly good talk with the rogue, I turned and left him. I could feel his eyes following us as I hastened out with my wife, as anxious to leave as she was.

The crowd of Vy’keen parted as we emerged on the front porch, making a gauntlet of honor for us. The sight was still intimidating and I hesitated, but then gave them a fist and hurried along it. I caught sight of the brute and his friends who had acosted me earlier and steeled myself. Though they glowered at us for a moment, they then gave us an unthreatening fist. If I impressed them, I must have done pretty okay.

[stryker99]

(continued)

As we left the crowd behind, Seri took the lead and pulled me after her as she tore off to where Gweth was waiting for us. She behaved submissively as she had with Resh and Alish, her ears laid back, her tail drooping, her hands clasped in front of her, and she had an aroma of… sorrow. It seemed I was beginning to read her. “Oh, Gweth… bibi… you, Resh, Alish… you are my family. I have so many things I wish to say, but my heart… it hurts so bad…” She began to sob, then to bawl, throwing herself into the bewildered clothier’s arms, wailing, “Ma xala… oleh bilaceyimi hiss ediram!” Whatever she said, her pain was tangible, and I ached with her.

Gweth patted her back in a motherly way, crooning in as soft a voice as a Vy’keen could, “Now, now… you silly kit. This is no time for that, and those words!”

She blubbered out miserably, “But… ma bibi… I love you so much…”

Gweth sighed out, “Ohh, my other daughter…” Then she pushed the girl away from her. “Seri, stand on your feet. This time is a blessing for you, the answer to your prayers! You have a fine king of a mate, and no longer will you be fakt every other night by these cruel beasts. Hush now. I’m happy for you, finally able to leave this shit pit of a gautakht.”

I wish she hadn’t put it like that. It made Seri seem even more fragile. But it brought to mind our first encounter, as she seemed genuinely delighted to not find herself thrown to another merciless Vy’keen. Her eyes had sparkled, and not just from whatever powers she used. And I wondered, had she fixed her sights on me from that first meeting? What a stroke of Fate, for both of us.

Gweth said something to her that had them both giggling, and Seri seemed a bit better, wiping her muzzle. She replied quietly, “He is quite… enough, and more.” She cast a twinkling look at me, and I wondered with a blush if they had sized me up.

“Party at night,” the woman chuckled, and that pretty much said it. Then she turned to me, which was quite a relief. “And you, that speech! Are you some kind of word weaver? I never heard such amazing stuff. Hirk couldn’t best that! And how did you know all those words? I haven’t heard them since I was a zenten!”

“Words?” That caught me completely off guard, but that speech I gave, yelling at those brutes from the roof of that porch… it was mostly a blur of emotions. Those things I uttered… I had no idea what I was saying. It was all off the top of my head. God, if only I could remember them all!

“Nijol?” Gweth almost sounded concerned, as I had become lost in my own head.

“Ohh, I… just… read some speeches online, threw some things together,” I lied with a shrug.

She scoffed at me, which wasn’t surprising when I couldn’t even convince myself. “Well, there is no shame if you stole a speech and threw it with such fire. Seri has sure grabbed herself a treasure in you! Now, don’t let me keep you. I see travel, and bed, in both your eyes.”

That had me blushing all over again, though as much as I wanted to leave and enjoy some more alone time with my wife, I deferred to her. This was harder on her than I thought. “Seri, take as long as you want.”

She gazed at the woman forlornly. “I want her to come with us. And Resh, Alish…”

That had me choking, and Gweth scolding. “You don’t want a Vy’keen for a mother! Surely not me. And I want no part of space life. I need my sun and open fields, away from the stink of piss and these hooligans. And who would I make clothes for? Go on, my child… my woman. You are complete now, and free, as you prayed.”

“I know, I know, but… ohh, ma bibi…” Seri clutched herself to the older woman, shoving her snout under her chin, into her blouse, and licked her, whimpering, “My memories… the taste… the scent of you… I will hold them tight.”

Gweth tolerated it for a little while, stroking the miserable girl’s back lightly. “Ohh, Seri… give me a happy goodbye, please. It’s sad enough, losing you. You will both be missed, but mostly… you, my hairy little zenten.” It must mean young girl or female cub. I had only ever heard the male term hamten used. I needed that linguistic distraction, as I hated to see anyone unhappy, especially girls, and Seri’s tears burned in my heart.

We finally wrapped up our goodbyes when Gweth urged Seri to let her go. I had a feeling she was growing emotional herself. I had a bit of a surprise when she gave me a slathery peck on the cheek - with a sharp sting. I touched the tender spot and saw a drop of blood. Did girls in this universe always bite a piece out of those they liked? She said to me demurely, “Pardon, but I wanted a little of you to take with me.” Yikes, what a keepsake…

I thanked her profusely for everything, particularly my wife’s wardrobe, and gave her one more extravagant tip which she greatly appreciated. Giving her our farewells, I then led my somber wife towards the hostel, the last stop before the real beginning of our lives together. Resh, Alish and Gronk were all three waiting for us as we went to the place to collect our things, bearing little parting gifts, and from Gronk, a “little” snack that was a meal itself. Seri couldn’t contain her emotions, giving the cook a sniffuly hug, then grabbed the older couple in either arm around their necks and began bawling again. Goodness, what an emotional girl. To save time - and get out of another painful scene - I told them I’d go collect our things. Seri gazed at me dejectedly, but what she said brought me up short. “Balam… don’t look.”

It took me a moment to understand her, when I realized she meant “no peeking.” I promised her that I wouldn’t, though as I made my way inside, I regretted making that oath. I was a curious person by nature, and she had been rather sneaky about her things when she packed. I collected her luggage, a big dufflebag and an old suitcase, hefting them both, and the case in particular seemed to be holding something substantial. If I had a quick look, would she know?

Balam, don’t peek

Well, that was good enough for me. Women always seemed to know things like indiscretions and broken promises, and I had a feeling this singular alien girl, a very alien girl, might apply that adage with extreme measures. And after all, it was my wife. Why start the relationship off with a betrayal of trust, even a small one? Darn it…

I returned to them, glad to see that Seri was in a much better mood, and gave me a look of adoration which melted my heart, holding her hand out to me. It was actually to take her luggage, but the look in her eyes was sweet enough. I hammer-bumped fists with them, telling them that one day, we would return for a visit, which surprised them. Resh told me, “You and Seri will always be welcome here, and as long as K’tarsgh or Grabas is in lead, the system will be open for you. But be sure to know this ahead of time. I have your credentials, and know how to message.” That hadn’t occurred to me, and I thanked him again for the favor.

Alish said, “I would wish you both many children, but… I wish you happiness and a long joining instead.”

That was something else I kept forgetting, and Seri and I shared a perplexed look at that. But it was something we could sort out eventually. She said to them in parting, “Thank you, and many blessings on you all. I will treasure my memories of you.”

I heaved a sigh, a relieved one as I feared she might start crying again, and took her by the hand. “You are such a treasure yourself. Now, let’s get you settled in to your new home.” I was afraid she looked torn over that, something else to sort out.

As we walked to the Fighter, I cast a look behind us to that quaint little inn, the people watching us depart, some, friends, and the Village which I still wasn’t sure of the name. My lucid memories were so few, it seemed that I had spent weeks of my life there. And as mixed a blessing as it had been, very mixed, I would still miss it.

I was marching in my usual quick pace to where Star Sword was parked. Seri pulled on my hand, saying, “Could we have one last walk, ma maresh? I want one more happy look to hold in my heart… in case.” In case of what, I had no clue, but surely it was innocuous. Maybe in case we never came back.

I gave her a peck on the cheek, replying, “Sure, sweet heart. I’m a sentimental sap myself.”

She hugged herself to me with a giggle as we slowed. “You, a sap? Your wording… it is so fun to hear.” I had thought the same thing of the two organic races, catching a unique phrase here and there. Language was such an amazing study of its own, and to be sure, there was a lot of whimsy and flamboyance in my native tongue which likely translated in a quaint fashion. And of course, I did embellish.

The walk was quite romantic and satisfying, if a bit emotional again for both of us. The scenery was a delight to behold, and we scaled a high hill so we could get a good view of the surroundings, far from K’tarsgh’s Village. It was so quiet, after the hustle and bustle, and stink I had grown way too used to, so the breath of fresh air truly was that. And the vista was quite satisfying, compared to the crazy colored worlds I had happened across in the past, with blue skies and mostly greenish foliage. It struck me all over again how Earthlike it was, and the best part, not a single Sentinel in sight. That first encounter with one back in “lawful space” would no doubt grate on my nerves.

As she lay her head on my shoulder, she stroked across my chest, along the features of the Exosuit, and I found myself wishing to be out of it. She murmured languidly, “Ureyim sevincleh doludur.”

I brushed my fingers along her arm, asking, “What did you say?”

“I wish you were out of this armor.” She giggled at my expression, adding, “No… it is ‘my heart is filled with joy,’ because you bring me nothing but pleasure. Though…” She began undoing the fastenings of my suit. “Please, get out of this thing, so I can hold you like a proper mate.”

“Uhh… sure,” I told her, and stripped it off. While a part of me wanted to keep going, we’d had a good amount of alone time in Resh’s inn already, and I didn’t want to tempt fate out here. I took a moment to admire her, as she was quite a fetching creature, and my love enhanced that beauty even more. As I entered the circle of her arms, I murmured, “You truly are the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen.”

“As are you, balam,” she crooned in a voice like nectar, and I felt my stomach jump from her flattery. I began to joke with her about being a pretty girl myself, when I felt her fingers working along the strip of my collar, and then a tug with the accompanying rasp of velcro. I coughed out, “Uhghmm… dear, you know, I’m not wearing much under this.”

She smiled slyly, murmuring, continuing, “You say that as if it is a problem.”

As she undid my top, I felt a bit flustered. “W-well… I, uhh… this place is a bit… unprivate.”

I wasn’t sure if that was a proper Vy’keen term, but she seemed to understand it, laying down in the grasses, and undid her own flimsy blouse. “It’s far from the village… far enough, ma perestizhim.”

Oh dear Lord… now? My wife was sure impulsive, and I was beginning to feel a bit impulsive myself. But one of us had to be sensible. Darn it. “Sweetness… I really don’t want to tempt Fate. What if someone or something wanders up here?”

She continued undressing with a foxy grin. “Then we will kill them together.”

I coughed out a warm breath, slipping from my uniform. “Seri… you’re so unfair.”

She enjoyed a musical laugh at that. “Forgive me, sevgilim, but I am going to be unfair… sometimes.”

Naturally, I had no will to deny her. And as I lay with her afterward, enjoying the warmth of the afternoon sun, and of her presence, the musk of her aroma filled my senses with delight. We clutched each other firmly, and I melted into her curves as she purred out a stream of tender words into my bosom in both languages. She was such an incredible girl, giving as much as she took from me, and I felt invigorated, as if she had poured some of her youthful vigor into me. What in the world caused such a blessing to tumble into my life? And what sort of a girl had I joined lives to? I gave thanks to the Tanri who made all this possible.

She wouldn’t let me go for some time, though we both grew hungry, dining on Gronk’s meal he gave us, and even a bit cold it was delicious. She cleaned her hands afterwards and dug into her suitcase, fishing out a golden flute. “May I play for you?”

This girl was full of surprises. I had no idea she played anything. “Sure! I love music.”

She leaned forward and licked my earlobe, whispering, “I love music lovers, ma deyerli sevgilisi.” I shivered as she drew away from me, and I found myself wanting her all over again, but I lay there patiently as she played a very pretty tune. I managed to ignore her nudity, just, so I could enjoy her playing which was quite good. It seemed to be a love song, though she climaxed it with a shrill run that stung in my ears a bit. “Sorry,” she told me sheepishly, “I’m afraid I played that last part badly. You… excite me.” Her smile burned into my heart.

“Oh… that’s all right,” I murmured as she put it away, then I rolled her over into me. “I love the performer as much as the performance.”

She licked into my lips, purring, “I crave… a performance… from you, my precious one.” Goodness, was that another bit of her magic woven into me by music? Whatever it was, I was sure in the mood for more of… her…

While I could have asked for a slightly better honeymoon for us, slightly, I was almost as reluctant as she was to end the afternoon of bliss she had been yearning for. But the sun crept on towards the horizon, and though the whole experience was spellbinding, and I still wasn’t sure she hadn’t added in some spellbinding of her own, I didn’t want to push my luck. I hadn’t been out here alone in the evening, and so literally exposed like this.

I was surprised as she still resisted my attempts to dress and get going. “Ohh, ma zexinam… my treasured one… my Day… my Delight… I want to feel you, all your skin… it is wonderful, being able to touch you… everywhere… my precious bald kisi.” She illustrated her desire by squeezing my rump, which stirred a tremor in me.

I licked at her muzzle, replying softly, “Well, I’m not completely bald, and I’m wearing you like a living coat.”

She giggled, nestling more into me. “Then… it would please me if you would wear me a while longer.”

I understood as the day wore on why she’d seduced me here. This place was familiar territory for her, and likely one of her favorite places to air out from the life of a slave to Vy’keen bullies. Possibly where she dreamed of a handsome young rogue come to sweep her off her feet and evidently into bed, or into the grass. I didn’t know if she had become addicted to sex, but she was sure addicted to me, and… well, I’m a typical male, and this felt like my first love. I apologized briefly to Selene, but Serineh truly was a treasure - my treasure. Still, it was growing late, and I had anticipated being on the Infineon by now, and — oh, crap yes, getting her acclimated to being surrounded yet again by a bunch of Vy’keen. But they were nice Vy’keen. She would really like being surrounded by them. Surely.

She gave a luxurious sigh, pressing her face into my throat. “If only… this world wasn’t overrun with Vy’keen… what a paradise this would be. A perfect home for us, ma balam.” She sighed again, licking my chest, which a bit ago would have thrilled me.

Well, frack. What was the arrival on the Infineon going to be like? And how easy, getting her to obediently enter a ship full of people she might hate? “Darling… we really should be going—”

She moaned plantively, clutching me in a tight hold, “Ohh, yox, yox, yox, xahizh ediram… no, no, please, my baby… just a while longer…”

How in the world did she make me feel guilty about being sensible! It was exasperating. I stroked her back and murmured into her lips, hoping there was such a thing as Nijol wiles with her. “Honey… canim, there is a very nice bed on the ship, much softer than this rough old hill. And I promise you…” I gave her a tender kiss. “Your whole day,” kiss, “of Delight,” kiss, “and more, if you need it.” And one last, sweet, lingering kiss.

She gave me a sultry look, squeezing me into her affectionately, and fondled me in a way that made me shiver in spite of the warmth. “Do you…” She gave me a warm kiss. “Promise?” Kiss. “My Day…” kiss, “alone,” kiss, “with my promised one?” Kiss, lick, and a deeper kiss.

She brushed her muzzle along my lips, making me breathless. What an incredible lover. “Oh, uh… yes, of course… whatever you want, darl—”

She seized me hard, giving me a kiss that was almost as deep as the one before I left to face that horrible devil. I felt a wave of near dizziness, but it was as much from being rolled onto my back as from her potent kiss. I would have to keep in mind that she had powers I could only begin to guess at. “I accept. But, please… one last… within me?”

I gaped at her in shock. How much energy did this girl have! “Darling… really? Maybe I should explain once more about guys needing time to recove — houulliee!”

Something big was flying towards us - really big! I threw Seri off of me as she glanced behind her, and I scrambled in a fit to try and fetch my Multitool from my suit, which I only managed to push even further away from me. I hoped it hadn’t seen us, though the rapid approach was a huge clue that it had. I jumped to my feet, clutching my suit to me, dumbfounded, as the beast landed with four heavy thumps a gust of wind from its massive leathery wings, blowing dust and grass in our faces. I had seen much larger beasts before, but this one was terrifying. And I swear to God it was a dragon flying right out of a storybook to fry us both to juicy brown hunks of dinner, and Seri was frantically talking to it and it was listening and what the hell?

“Xeyir, yox yox yox! Men yaxshıyam! Dosttur! Gormək? Dost! Menim! Menim ehrim! See? Friend! My mate! Mine, mine! Menim!”

It was big and charcoal gray with golden horns along its head, and angry and huge and I felt like I was being looked over for seasoning ideas, and it was getting uncomforably close. “Yeah yeah, what she said, what she said… ohh, mygod…” It nosed its snout under the suit I was clutching and pushed it aside, sniffing me over, with particular attention to my sensitives. “Ohhh please oh please oh please honey!”

“Just let her smell you… it will be all right,” she told me, though her expression didn’t instill confidence.

“As long as she doesn’t do something that requires extensive surgery - are you sure?” But when gaping wounds weren’t being chewed out of me, I began to feel a bit better. Almost. And then I flinched as it leaned forward, coming for my face. “Darli—!” I clammed up and squeezed my eyes shut, as a large, warm, slick tongue slid across my cheek, with the breath of a predator that had just devoured a musk ox, with extra musk. “Ohh, mygod… if I survive this, someone is getting mouthwash.” There were a few more thumps, and growing brave after escaping certain death yet again, I opened my eyes. The behemoth was standing beside my wife, and fixing me in a gaze that didn’t seem all that friendly. I became a little more upset than cautious, growling, “Are there any more surprises I should know about?”

The beast gave me a deep menacing grumble that reverberated in parts of me that probably tasted good to her. Seri motioned to her muzzle, telling me, “Smile, smile, gentle voice.”

I put a huge exaggerated grin on my face, and muttered, “We have to have a little talk about your friend, here. What… the hell… is that? Dear? And how many people has he eaten so far?”

“She.” Seri reached up and stroked the side of the beast’s face affectionately, and she responded in kind, rubbing against my wife’s cheekfur with a deep thrumming purr. I guess many females in this universe really did purr, and that was one hell of a purr. “This is Adjaha, my last true friend here.”

With each minute of survival, and no threats from the newly introduced pet, I grew more curious than afraid. “Did you come up with that name, or did she tell it to you?”

She replied matter of factly, “We… sort of agreed to it.”

That was stunning, and I said rather quietly, “I was half joking… but, what else is new in this crazy universe?” She gave me a confused look, unsure how to respond to my odd remark. It seemed like both of them did, and I waved them off. “Never mind… so… good grief, I hardly know where to begin.” Taking a moment to collect myself, I went on, “Well, to start with, what does it mean?”

Seri was still stroking along her jowls and massive neck in placation, and I hoped there was lots of placation. “Adjaha? It means… great flying lizard.”

“< A dragon. >” When my wife gave me a questioning look, I repeated, “We use the word < dragon >. But… you mean to say this thing communicates? Does it speak?”

“She does… speak, but she can get loud. She doesn’t like others getting loud, especially at me, so please, no big voice.”

“I’m the epitome of cool, my dear,” I said to them calmly. I gave the Dragon a wave, murmuring, “Hey… me friend. Seri’s friend. Mate, I mean hamicheh. Oh wait, that was aristocrat…”

I steeled myself as Adjaha plodded forward again, seeming to give me a disapproving look, then leaned forward, and I could see what was coming as a massive tongue slurped across both cheeks. I groaned out, “Oh for the love of… I don’t have enough cough drops to sweeten that breath. I hope this means friend, not dinner.”

Adjaha gave me a look that I could swear was indignant, when

You smell funny too. Taste also. But I won’t lick you any more.

I gaped at her in shock as she tromped back to my wife’s side. Telepathy? “A voice. In my head. I don’t believe this… where is my visor when I really need it?”

Seri asked me nervously, “You mean… to scan her, right? Not to shoot her?” Adjaha clearly didn’t like the topic.

“Oh, hell no!” I replied, “I just want to know what this creature is… if there’s anything like this out in the galaxy.” And then stray suspicions tumbled like dominos into place, and I became grouchy again. “Hold on… is she why you walked me up here? W-wait… that flute… did you summon her? And we made love all this time so your little psychic pet would notice you? While we were making…” I became just a bit testy at being used, growling, “Seri, there is this thing we seriously need to work on known as communication!”

She began to look browbeaten, which took some of the wind out of my sails, when abruptly Adjaha gave a noisy snort and stomped towards me. You watch your voice with my friend! When I’m angry, I can forget how easily I can tear you to pieces! And I. Am. Not. A. PET!

Oh dear Lord… only one other creature had been more intimidating. At least she was being reasonable. I had enough sense to know I should mend this fence, and approached her cautiously, slowly, reaching for her muzzle, which thankfully she accepted, after a moment’s hesitation, and a little encouragement from Seri. I stroked her muzzle, saying to her, “Listen, Adjaha… I’m sorry. I’ve been through a lot lately, and I lost my temper. I apologize. Look… I want to be friends… on your good side.”

She seemed to frown at me. Good side? You think funny.

I waved my hand. “I’m a comedian.”

She narrowed her eyes at me. I didn’t mean humorous.

“Well, tough crowd tonight—” I began, then stopped short in amazement, as if this whole encounter wasn’t astounding. “You have a huge vocabulary!”

She seemed to shrug. I got it from you.

My eyes widened even more. “Got it from… wait, hold on. Have you been poking around in my head? Don’t do that!”

She seemed bemused. There isn’t much to poke.

I threw my hands up in astonishment. This was unreal. “Sarcasm now… I feel like I’m talking to myself… and are you saying I have an empty head?” Seri watched this exchange in perplexion, clearly lost.

Now she did seem amused. I’m saying you rub off on people. Like mold! I shielded my ears as a staccato roar followed that was like sticking my head in a guitar stack on tremolo - whatever that was. She bowed a bit sheepishly as Seri and I recovered. Sorry… I won’t do that again. Just don’t be too funny.

I threw my hands in the air again. “Me, not funny… if I wasn’t aware of how real this was, I’d swear I was dreaming.” I became acutely aware of my nudity, barely concealed behind the suit I was carrying. “Seri, look… I think it’s safe to say the mood is officially spoiled. And this is embarrassing… let’s get dressed.” As I put on my shorts, I muttered again, “I can’t believe this…”

As Seri picked up her things, Adjaha stopped her. Before you dress, could I see you like this a little more? You’re pretty. I coughed indignantly, and the Dragon gave me a dim look, and that seemed to end my access to her thoughts. Seri twirled around, looking rather shy, and the Dragon nuzzled affectionately along her side. My wife murmured some things to Adjaha in her curious language which there was no way I could understand outside of a choice few words, but they sounded affectionate, and I became a bit grumpy as she hugged her curves to the Dragon’s massive snout.

I muttered half to myself, making sure I was heard, “Well, that’s precious. I’m not jealous of a Dragon flirting with my wife like that… who would be? Not me…”

Seri took notice, since I carlessly on purpose let them hear me, and gave me a smirk, saying a few more things to Adjaha in their private conversation. Then all of a sudden I caught, You really love that flimsy pink thing? A Vy’keen could tear him in half without half trying. Which… would that be a quarter?

I growled to them, pointing to my head, “I can hear that.”

Adjaha gave me a dirty look. Eavesdropper.

Annoyingly, this had Seri giggling at us. Side taker. “Hey! You must have been shouting! I’m not the one with superpowers. Even though I am a Traveler…” I turned away and finished buttoning up my suit, when it occurred to me that she was being just as obvious with her remarks as I had been. She really was way too much like me…

[stryker99]

(yes, continued)

I felt the ground being thumped, and turned to see the two females approaching me. I readied myself in case I was about to get a lecture, or another deafening roar, but it was neither. Nijol, you are funny, and… in a strange way, nice. I like that. Seri explained you. I think we can be friends, maybe good friends. We’ll see. Just don’t bother her. She is special to me, and she has deep wounds.

That changed my mood completely, and I began, “Ohh… my, well… what kind of—?” I stopped as it occurred to me that this might be a private conversation too, and leaned up to the side of her head, speaking quietly around her golden horns. “What kind of wounds?”

Adjaha gave me a clearly serious, melancholy look. Seri has been a slave to Vy’keen since a child. She has been abused. The Vy’keen tormented her, molested her… She gave a heavy sigh, lowering her head. It hurts me to even think of it. Be nice to her, as nice as you can, and patient. She needs to know that no matter what, you care for her. She is my dearest friend.

My cheeks burned with sympathy, for both of them, and it took a moment to find my voice. I stroked her muzzle in the meantime. “Wow… Adjaha, I… kind of knew that, but… I appreciate you telling me. It confirms a few things. You are… an amazing being, and wise.” Still, as I gazed at the impressive muscular if sleek bulk of her form, it raised questions. “I have to ask though… if you knew that Seri was suffering like that, why didn’t you protect her? Take her somewhere far away?”

She sighed again. Because— She and Seri both looked over the crests of the nearby hills at something I couldn’t hear. Vy’keen are coming. They must have heard my laugh. Follow me a few hills over. And with that, she turned and leaped into the air, her wings throwing a gust of wind in our faces.

As I watched her fly off, I asked, “That was a laugh?”

Seri giggled at me, draping an arm across my shoulder. “Are you finished being jealous of my girl friend?”

“Are you kidding? How could I ever beat her in arm wrestling?” I tried to make a muscle in my suit, which naturally concealed it.

It gave Seri a good laugh, though she grew serious. “We should run after her. I don’t want to talk to those haramzadeh, or let them know anything that leads them to Adjaha.”

“Well, I do have a few superpowers,” I told her, gathering up her and her luggage. “One of them is flight. Hold on.”

I put my helmet on, since many of my systems wouldn’t work without it. When she had a decent hold around my neck, I took a running start like the Dragon. She cried out in alarm and delight as I jet boosted far and fast over the landscape. “Heyreht vay!”

“Is that like, ‘Gee, that was neat’?” She laughed in my ear, but the helmet softened her. It had been a while since I had flown like this, and it was quite a rush for both of us, though Seri was thoroughly excited. She gawked at everything she could fix her eyes on, and gave out woops and squeals as I braked for landing, the ground coming up fast, only to cry out with delight as I launched myself again. I tried not to gain too much altitude, aiming for the horizon, and looking behind, I didn’t see anyone following. But ahead of us, Adjaha was still flying. She must be one of those creatures the Vy’keen hunted out of the area, and wanted to be a good distance away. When we stopped, one of the first things I had to ask was how these two managed to meet.

I had to work some ground dashes into the mix so my jump jets could recharge, but in the distance I could see Adjaha dive behind one particular hill, and fixed on it. With one last boost to give my wife a final thrill, I descended a bit more gradually, alighting, and set her and the baggage down. As I removed my helmet, she quivered with excitement, squealing like a little girl, “Oh, yuxaridaki goyler… that was a dizzying… thing! You must take me back like that!”

I had to laugh at her reaction as I gathered her against me again. “Well, you’ll be glad to know that we’ve traveled so far, we’ll have to return the same way.”

She nuzzled along my jawline, giving me a lick, and murmured, “Wonderful. I look to it with anticipation, my superpower huneri.”

I looked for Adjaha and saw her a bit off from us, drinking from a large pond. She had her two front feet planted just in the waters, and her neck craned out to draw from a deeper part. And now that I wasn’t scared to death of her, I saw that she wasn’t really all that huge. In fact if she gave us a ride, I’m thinking that Seri and I might just fit on her back, behind her great wings. As I watched, I noticed that she really seemed to be filling her tank, and must have started before we arrived. Goodness, did she weigh as much as a small Explorer? She didn’t exactly have a light step, even as svelt as she looked. And that was a neat trick, looking big, beefy, and sleek at the same time.

As she finished, shaking dampness from her front legs, I asked, “Thirsty?”

She plodded towards us. Well, I had just eaten, and I know what you’re thinking; do I drink a lot?

“Oh, I love to specul—”

Yes - and I’m sorry for interrupting.

I blinked in surprise. “What a polite Dragon. And by the way, do I have to talk to communicate? You know, since you so nicely poke around in my head and all.”

She gave a dim look for a moment, but decided that I was trying to be my usual quirky charming self. I would appreciate it. It helps you focus. Otherwise, your thoughts can be a random mess.

“Well, we wouldn’t want that,” I muttered. “And does water… you know, improve your breath?”

She gave me another look, more whimsical, beginning to step closer. I will lick you and you can see.

I put my hands up briefly, but thought better of seeming too defensive. “Well…! I mean… if it adds to good Human/Dragon relations, I suppose…”

She seemed to consider it, with a hint of a smile, but thought, Maybe not, since you seem so easily offended. Did I mention you smell too?

“Only a few times.” Seri giggled as she clutched herself to me, and I asked her, “Do I smell?”

She chuckled, licking my earlobe. “Yes… but I like your smell. And so does she.”

Well! Thanks for taking away my best put-down, Adjaha thought indignantly, making Seri laugh.

I blinked as the Dragon folded her wings and flopped onto her back, writhing into the grass like a huge puppy, and giving off a deep rumbling purr that reverberated into my guts, as well as the ground. “I wonder if she likes belly rubs too,” I pondered aloud.

Seri gaped at me in surprise. “How did you know?”

I gaped back. “I was just kidding! But, now that I mention it… it looks like she’s having a lot of fun.” Adjaha seemed to agree with a deep grumbling chuckle as she made the grass fly.

“When she is less… excited, I will show you,” Seri told me.

“I hope she’s not excited too much longer, it’s getting late,” I remarked, which caused the girl to deflate, and putting two and two together added up to another tense conversation with her. But, she couldn’t seriously be thinking what I was thinking she was thinking…

All right, no more unhappy thinking. I’ve had enough of that. Besides, I want that belly rub.

I motioned for Seri to go ahead. “After you, Mistress of Massage.”

She took me by the hand, tugging me after her with a giggle. “Come, it is quite enjoyable for both of us.”

“Hey, I’m fine with being a spectator—” I began, but she laughed me off.

Oh, come on, don’t be such a scaredy cat. I promise not to hurt you. Much.

“Much… well, that’s encouraging…” I wasn’t really worried, much, as she was clearly joshing with me. I was much more amazed at the way she had absorbed my vocabulary, the rhythm of my speech mingled with her own, and even some of my personality. This was an intellectual being the likes of which I hadn’t ever encountered, even considering Seri. My curiosity was lit.

As I sat down opposite my wife before the massive torso of the being, I muttered, “Just keep in mind, I don’t have Dragon accident insurance.” That was a mistake, as Adjaha roared with laughter, literally, the woods echoing with the deafening racket for what seemed miles. I could just make out nearby birds crying in alarm as they fled the area. And I thought K’tarsgh was loud.

As she recovered, she thought to me, I’m sorry, but I did warn you about being funny. I rarely get to laugh in this boring world.

“Why don’t you take up painting or somethi—?” I began, stopping my ears as another raucus laugh shook the forest. I could hear Seri laughing, and I couldn’t keep from joining in with them.

When she stopped blasting, I was surprised when a huge paw closed around my arm, and Adjaha gave me a look which seemed surprisingly… sweet. You’re a good Human. I can tell for sure, now. Strange, but good.

I gave her a shrug. “Well, as long as I have the Adjaha seal of approval—” I knew what was coming this time, and enjoyed a good laugh with them.

She lay back afterward, giving a contented huff. Ahh… that was nice. If you don’t mind the noise, I would appreciate it if you would be funny from time to time, after all. Laughter feels so good!

“It does, and it’s also therapeutic,” I said, making a mental note to use my humor on Seri more often.

Don’t scratch, she warned me, most likely joking, as if I could cause any harm to such a stout reptile, covered with a sheen of some tough looking scales. But as I stroked over her bosom along with Seri, I got brave enough to remove my gloves, and much like a snake, she felt amazingly smooth. On her belly, the scales were so small, it was much like a firm skin. It reminded me briefly of Selene, but I banished that thought quickly. No need for old scars to surface. It was amazing, what a thrill it was to bond like this with such an incredible being. Friends with a Dragon… if this somehow ended up a dream, I would remember it forever.

“See?” my wife said to me with a grin. “I told you it was nice. She is a very good friend.”

Very nice, Adjaha thought with a happy rumble, squirming under our touch, though she began to feel a bit too happy. Rub… lower, that is really nice.

She began to slide her legs together in a way that made me uncomfortable. “Are you old enough to be feeling like…?” Sometimes I was a little quick with my humor, and it embarrassed me. “N-never mind. Seri, by all means.” She gave me a smirk, beginning to stroke over Adjahar’s lower tummy.

I am… about eight hundred seasons - oh yes, two hundred years old.

Good grief… in dog years, that was over a millennium, but what was that in Dragon years?

I’m still young. I was thinking of looking for a mate this season, as I’m… lonely.

Well, that answered that. A teenager, like Seri? She replied, I think so. I’m glad Seri is with a nice mate. But how in the world did you meet her?

Poking in my head again, I see. “That’s… a bit of a story, and I’ll tell you, but I have… oh Lord, dozens of questions of my own I wish you’d answer.”

Ohh… yesss - sorry.

I gaped at her, my cheeks tinging with rose, as she was enjoying that tummy rub a bit too much. If she turned out to be bisexual, I might have to break this up. She also seemed to have shut herself off from me to save further embarrassment, so I went over and sat on a log until they were done. It felt… safer.

That has… a beast in it, she warned me, and hearing a badger-like growl, I jumped away and sat in the grass a few paces off. I still couldn’t believe this…

Fortunately, she was done with her tummy rub fairly soon, perhaps so I wouldn’t feel excluded, and it was funny to think of a well-mannered Dragon. I had a feeling the amazements wouldn’t stop for a good while.

Dragon… I like that word. It seems… fit. I got the impression that, in her own Dragon way, she was being humble. Another strange thought; a “teenage” Dragon being courteous with me. She rose up and came over with Seri, both of them curling up in the grass near me. So, let’s talk. Your random memories intrigue me.

“Well, I ended up here purely on a whim - a random urge,” I amended, as Seri didn’t seem to know the word. “K’tarsgh and his Pirates attacked me, and I just managed to win against him in a one-on-one fighter duel.”

Adjaha was baffled. Why didn’t you kill that monster?

“It was another whim, and I tend to trust my instincts. They rarely lead me wrong, and in the end, after I did want to kill him a few times, he proved to be a surprisingly useful ally. But… I think I’ll let Seri tell you the story of our meeting.”

Adjaha seemed disappointed, apparently wanting to continue bumping minds with the alien newcomer, but I didn’t want to say anything Seri would find uncomfortable or private. She still told quite a tale. "I was surprised. K’tarsgh summoned me, and I was expecting to be given over to the usual uncouth pox yiyen, when I saw this handsome man. I had never seen such a being, and he felt very different. When I spoke with him, he was so nice, gentle… soft, almost like a mother. I thought he was being sly, wanting special services, which I would have gladly given to such a kind rogue, but he didn’t want… sevishma. I wanted him, and it hurt that he didn’t want me. He resisted very hard. I couldn’t understand him, then he made me know he actually wanted to help me!

“But he was also… unwary, too trusting of these vermin. When K’tarsgh asked him to fly to a cursed Freighter, he agreed without question! I tried to warn him, and he suffered so much from that terrible journey…” She had to pause for a moment, seeming ready to cry. “I prayed for him… so hard I prayed! When he returned, he looked… broken inside. His face scared me. But he kissed me, and I felt him come to life again, so angry for being used by those ruffians. He was ready to spend any amount of money to buy my freedom! I knew then that he was the One I had been praying for, my rescuer, and my love. I was excited when he took me to his room. Still, he held back from me - he wouldn’t even kiss! He was so determined to honor me, and I learned that he was in love with an unsuitable avara. But… I made him understand how much I loved him, and I lay claim to his heart, and now, we… we…” A shiver ran through her, clearly growing emotional now. I barely had a moment to react as she pounced me, knocking me over, and licked my face good, whimpering as she clutched me hard, “Ohh… my love, my love… ma zexinem, erim mena ebedi soz verdi!”

Goodness… I was learning that when she wanted to express herself, she darn well did, and these were some wonderful expressions of her love, but she began to lick into my mouth which was much too intimate for this. Then I caught Adjaha either looking smug, or was she a bit jealous? Well frack… any other time, this would be a sweet occasion, but we had an audience. Seri wouldn’t understand this, but she spoke often in her language to me, so there. Fighting to talk around her affections, I managed to get out, “< Ot-nay… in front of… the Agon-dray. >”

Naturally, she drew back looking puzzled, but we were both blindsided as Adjaha bellowed out in laughter, practically knocking poor Seri over from it. As she worked down to a chuckle, she apologized again. Sorry for that, but… pig latin? That was hilarious! I was afraid she was going to start laughing again, but she kept it to a stout Dragon giggle.

As Seri settled against me, draping me with her arms, she couldn’t stay her curiosity. “What is pig latin, and why is it so funny?”

The Agon-dray began to chuckle again, so I murmured quietly, “I’ll tell you later.”

Thankfully, as the sun began to settle along the horizon over the hills, we finally got down to some questions of my own, such as how they met. Adjaha settled herself comfortably and began to tell me their story.

My life is… well, as I told you, rather boring. Flying is fun, but having no one to share it with gets old. I was out studying the world, but I had nothing to challenge my mind, and I wanted to know… everything. The Pirates are mean, vicious brutes. Anything that looks like a challenge, they hunt and kill. One of us died trying to make friends with those monsters, and that ended being anywhere near them. But one day when I was finishing a kill, I heard a strange sound. Like a bird call, but much too melodic and long. I followed it to a weird looking little female covered head to toes in fur.

She nodded to Seri, who twirled her pipe in her fingers. “I was playing my flute, out for one of my walks. The Pirates had little kindness or mercy, so Resh had me tell K’tarsgh that I would suffer and die if I did too much pochwa with them. So I had some freedom and they let me roam, but warned me that I would be punished terribly if I tried to escape. While I liked to read, they had no books, so music and walks were my true times of peace in this life. When Adjaha flew up, it was much like today, and I was afraid I was dead. But she spoke in my mind, and wanted to make friends with me. She was amazing! So smart, and she pulled everything I knew from my mind… though, some unhappy memories too. But she did her best to make me happy. She became my one true friend, and every chance I had, I would go far from the village and play a song to call her. Then I would play for her, and she loved it.”

Adjaha clambered to thumping feet. Oh, do play something now!

I watched in anticipation as Seri arose and played one of her melodies, and she swayed with the Dragon in a sort of dance which was rather amusing and charming at the same time. And Adjaha beat the ground with her paws in a complex rhythm with Seri’s playing, which was impressive. Seri ended her tune with a flourish of notes, laughing, and hugged herself to Adjaha’s head as they expressed their affections.

Oh thank you, Seri. Your playing is always wonderful.

I clapped in appreciation myself, telling Adjaha, “And that drumming with your feet in time with her playing sounded marvelous. You’re a very clever Dragon.”

She seemed surprised at that, perhaps even blushing under her scales, and gave me a little Dragon bow. You are so nice, Nijol… thank you. And, uhm… yes, I like your smell.

I gave her a grin. “And you can lick me any time.”

She managed to chuckle almost quietly at that. I will… save it for special occasions.

I almost forgot that she had only met me a short while ago, and was speaking - well, thinking Americanese as if it was her native language. She was most impressive. But I was a little slow. I wanted to ask her about any way she could have protected Seri from the Pirates, although I thought I came up with the answer already. “So, you left and Seri went back home. And there was no way to rescue her?”

“I asked her when she made friends with me,” Seri confessed, settling against me again. “I thought perhaps I had found a protector. But… she could not.”

Adjaha’s reply was somber. I had to explain to her that I wasn’t invulnerable. If not for Vy’keen weapons, I would have cleansed the world of those devils! But two or three of them with those damned blaster things would kill me all too quickly. And they have flying ships with even deadlier weapons. Seri was K’tarsgh’s prize… his possession, and I couldn’t risk both our lives trying to steal her from a Pirate lord. They would chase us both down and I feared what they would do to my dearest friend. That was… a very troubling conversation with her, and we were both very sad…

That left us in a gloomy silence for a time, Adjaha hanging her head in remorse. I couldn’t let this go on, and said as I stroked my wife’s arm, “Yeah… that was a sorry time of her life. But I finally arrived at a place where I could save her from the Pirates, and meet you too.”

Seri stroked over my armor, crooning to me, “My blessed husband… you make up for many, many pains and dark days.” She licked at my lips, and I gave her a tender kiss.

We both jumped as Adjaha exclaimed in our minds, But you made friends with those bastards! How could you! The obscenity was startling, but she was staring bloody daggers at me, and that was a very uncomfortable moment.

As I fumbled for an explanation, my wife again saved me. “Nijol is a special person. He changes people with kindness. I have never seen such a man, other than…” She fell silent for a moment, drawing a heavy sigh. “My father.”

I was beginning to resent how many unhappy events there were in Seri’s life. How much had she suffered, all because I didn’t know she existed? I was beginning to feel like a failure again, and I had to stop that too. “Your father must have been a great man himself. I’ll do my best to live up to his standards.”

She nuzzled along my jaw, murmuring, “You would have made friends with him easily, I am sure. He also sought the good in everything and everyone. But your standards are very high by themselves. You are a kehanet, an oracle, a servant of Tanri. You are the best mate I could hope for.” As we cuddled each other, a curious thought popped into my mind.

Nijol… why is life so… cruel? Why was Seri so hurt for so long? Adjaha was giving me an almost pleading look.

Wow… philosophy now? She was quite a deep thinker, and must have taken Seri’s declaration of me seriously. “Dear, I wish I knew. People have been asking those questions as long as they have been alive. It’s part of the reason I’m on a quest to learn everything I can about this strange universe… see if I can… fix it a little.” I had used that endearment a bit too casually, and Seri gave me a baffled look, but, oh well. And I almost let slip the true nature of my quest, to reach ATLAS. I was much more interested in this Dragon, though. She was exhibiting signs of a very advanced intellect, particularly if she could absorb knowledge from other races. Were they one of the races of revered sages and scholars in the Civilized Age? I had to ask—

Abruptly, the Dragon stomped the ground in a fit. For a moment I was afraid I’d upset her from one of my thoughts again, when she practically spat out in contempt.

ATLAS!

She fixed her gaze on me, grumbling. What is it! I know you don’t like it. Is that what changed the universe? Made it so cruel? Made it so… empty?

This was going to be a challenge, dealing with someone who could sift through my thoughts on a whim. All kinds of difficult conversations could result. “Adjaha, I’d appreciate a little mental privacy. For one thing, our discussions will never end.”

But… I want to understand… I want to KNOW!

I gaped at her yet again in astonishment. That last word seemed to have actual force behind it. “Good grief… you sound just like me!” This was a fascinating study in and of itself. Did telepathy cause minds to mingle? To cause both people, or at least the perceiver, to take on completely new mindsets, a synthesis of both people’s entire psyche, life experiences… viewpoints and everything?

Nijol, you’re thinking an awful lot of things at once… it’s hard to follow this mess of notions. Please talk.

“Yeah… my thoughts kind of tumble, don’t they.” I took a deep breath while Adjaha and Seri both looked to me in rapt anticipation. “ATLAS seems to be a huge… computer running the universe. I know it’s intelligent, but beats the hell out of me what its reasoning or rationale are for how it’s running things. It makes no sense to me. That’s why I want to explore everything. There must be an answer… somewhere, as to why all this madness happened, and a galaxy… all galaxies once had all kinds of races living in them, and now, it’s down to three.” I shook my head in exasperation as I did every time I thought this through. “It’s by God’s own twist of Fate I found you two! If I had to locate Poop Hole again, I’m not sure I could if my life depended on it. But there must be more people out there among the stars… there just has to!” I went ahead and used big words, thinking she could discern the meanings if needed.

Adjaha sat a short space off in case she laughed again, but she began to quiver in some excitement. This was evidently quite a revelation to her. I blinked as she crawled over to me, clutching me by the arm. I got the impression that without my armor, it could hurt. Nijol… your words, your knowledge… the world… it’s so much bigger now! Teach me… please, be my teacher!

That was a stunning request! “Adjaha… didn’t you catch memories of me seeking a scholar of my own? The reason you can only see so many of my memories is because I have Reset Amnesia. What I learned in my years in this galaxy are hidden behind a wall of murk, and I can only glimpse bits and pieces of it now and then. Girl, I’m a freaking student! You need someone who knows a lot more than an absolute beginner at this stuff.”

She was anxious, her claws working as she kept hold on me, her gaze looking desperate. But… you know so many things now! And you’re learning more - even here! You seem to have a knack for finding things out that matter. And the way you think… logic, reason… you took classes on how to think, how to know things for sure. You helped me realize that thinking is fun, and really useful! You taught me HOW to think! Please, master?