We reached the new galaxy today, finally getting some break from the endless void and whatever lurks in it. It’s been so long since I’ve seen so many stars. It almost makes up for the corpse ships I’ve passed by. Something is still out there, hunting us. Those damn scientists thought they could skimp on the defenses, thought there was nothing out in the void to worry about. Damn idiots. Too bad they can’t see what’s happened because of their foolishness.
-Log C - Fragment 245 - Te’chik
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Maggie opened her eyes to a plain white ceiling, littered with tiny crystal shards. She let out a sigh as another shard shot up from nearby, embedding itself in the ceiling with a solid thunk. “This again?”
“Get used to it. We’re gonna be spending a lot of time together.” Te’’chik’s voice came from nearby, and Maggie rolled her head to look at the woman. How crazy was she, to have the same type of dream over and over again?
“Where’s your little counterpart?” Maggie sat up, grateful to be able to do so without agonizing pain. She looked down at her stomach, lifting the plain white shirt she wore to show smooth skin. There was no trace of having been shot at all! But then this was a dream.
“Oh, she’s around. I think she’s planning exactly what to say to you when she gets the chance. Gotta give you directions, coordinates and what not. It’ll be better once we can actually talk to you when you’re awake. But you keep ignoring us.”
“Talking to yourself is generally seen as a sign of insanity.” Maggie tested standing up next, flexing her knees with a smile. This was good, at least she could move around in her dreams. Maybe she could even do some yoga, or dance! Did dream yoga count?
“Tell me about it. But listen, you gotta start letting us in.” Te’chik leaned forward, letting her hands dangling between her legs. “Or it’ll wind up being too late and ya’ll won’t be ready when the big bad guys get here.”
“And who are the big bad guys?” Maggie couldn’t help but sound skeptical. The phrasing was too close to the stuff in Sam’s roleplaying games. Although considering she was asleep, on a big old alien spaceship, how much crazier could it get?
Te’chik lowered her voice, the usual humor disappearing from it as she whispered two words: “Star Eaters.”
Maggie’s eyes snapped open, her heart pounding as if she had run a mile. Star Eaters? What the hell were Star Eaters? And why did the name drench her in a cold sweat of terror? She sat up in the dimly lit room, barely noticing the pain in her stomach as she looked around. Zo’naf’s big form was sprawled in a chair in the corner, the thing whirring faintly as it held the big man aloft. Robin was nowhere to be seen, but that wasn’t surprising. He used the holographic form to interact with people, if there was no one to interact with, why bother with it? No sign of her father, or the pushy little Silvarian nurse.
Good. She let out a soft breath, putting a hand to her stomach as she tried to get her heart to slow down to a normal rate. “This has got to stop.” She whispered.
A snort came from the corner, making Maggie jump. But it was followed by a deep, rumbling snore as Zo’naf settled back down comfortably in his chair. She let out a sigh and rolled her eyes. No reason to be jumpy, right? Slowly, she eased her feet to the floor.
“Maggie, what are you doing?” Robin’s voice cut through the sound of Zo’naf’s snores, and Maggie jumped again, feeling like she had just stuck her finger in an electrical socket. A sharp pain shot through her hand, and before she knew it a shard of crystal shot out, thudding into the small cabinet the tablet was on.
“Holy shit!” She shook her hand, the small wound the crystal had formed healing over quickly, as if it had never been there at all.
“Holy- Maggie are you alright?” Robin’s form flickered into existence, looking at the small shard of crystal with wide eyes.
Zo’naf snorted again, this time opening his eyes to the dimly lit room. “What? What is going on? Maggie, why are you up?”
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The lights in the room suddenly flared brighter, and Si’l Vala Do’sai waddled in. “What goes on in here?” She demanded, pausing to look at the scene before her. Zo’naf stood up, towering over the Silvarian but lowering his head a bit in an attempt to look smaller.
“Si’l Vala Do’sai, good morning.” Zo’naf said, glancing at Maggie, then the shard of crystal in the cabinet. “There seems to have been a development.”
“No, no developments.” Maggie said firmly. She refused to deal with any new developments right now! She had had enough of these developments! “I just... had a weird dream, that’s all.”
Si’l Vala Do’sai gave Maggie a flat look. “No developments would not result in a ruined medical cabinet.”
“It’s not ruined!” Maggie tried to stand up, but her legs still didn’t want to support her full weight. “It’s just a little dented.”
“There is a crystal sticking out of it.”
“That was there before.” Maggie glared down at her uncooperative legs. They trembled as she put more weight on them, trying to will them to work properly.
“It was not there before.” The Silvarian waddled over, and gave Maggie a light push back onto the bed. “Do not get up. Tell me what happened.”
Maggie laid back on the bed, seething with frustration. She was so sick of this thing controlling her, taking over her life! But what could she do about it? It was part of her now, and she still wasn’t sure what all that meant. Except apparently she could shoot crystal shards now? But it had hurt, did it hurt Te’chik when she did it?
Used to. You build up a tolerance for it.
“Oh great.” Maggie muttered. She recognized the voice now, had a face to associate it with even. The other voice that sometimes spoke up belonged to the little girl. She would have to ask her name, but not in front of a room full of people that were looking at her with equal parts wariness and worry.
“Not great. What happened?” Si’l Vala Do’sai demanded. She couldn’t quite cross her arms in the human fashion, but the way she folded her forepaws together gave the same general impression.
“I had a bad dream, I guess I was startled.” Maggie had to give the little fur ball something, or she’d just keep nagging at her.
“A bad dream. About what?”
Behind the Silvarian, Robin shook his head slightly.
“It was just a bad dream, what does it matter?” Maggie frowned, what was Robin trying to tell her? He shook his head again, earning a curious look from Zo’naf, but no comment.
“Sometimes dreams are more than just dreams.” Si’l Vala Do’sai watched Maggie with a deep frown, her head tendrils laying back against her skull like an angry cat’s ears. “You will tell me what you dreamt.”
“I don’t remember. Now let me get back to sleep.” Maggie remembered just fine, but she wasn’t about to tell this bitch about them. She didn’t like the Si’l Vala, didn’t trust her. Maggie had only met her twice that she could remember, and both times the Silvarian had treated her like a child.
This time was no different. The Silvarian bristled, glaring at Maggie for a moment. Her voice was sharp when she spoke. “You have kept a journal, you will continue to do so. When you wake you will write down anything you remember of your dreams in it.”
Maggie bit her tongue and pulled up her covers. What were they going to do if she didn’t? Arrest her? Ground her to her room? She was already stuck here and couldn’t get up! She rolled over, that simple movement sapping her energy. It left her breathless and wondering at the variety of muscles used for something so common. Legs, stomach, arms, back, she could feel them all.
I don’t blame you for not telling the furry git about the dream, but you’re going to have to tell someone if you want to get to us. Unless you have a ship you can fly?
“Oh shut up.” Maggie muttered.
She could practically feel the Silvarian stiffen behind her. “You will do these things, and learn to speak with respect to your betters!”
Maggie hid her face in her pillow with a faint groan, ignoring the laughter in the back of her head. Te’chik was going to get her in so much trouble.
“That’s enough Si’l Vala Do’sai.” The calm male voice washed through the small room.
Zo’naf straightened hastily, looking past Maggie to the doorway. Maggie rolled over to look behind her, wondering exactly how many people they were going to try to fit in this room. But she had seen nurses crowd into a patient’s room like clowns in a clown car, she just didn’t think whatever was going on warranted that kind of attention.
In the doorway stood the tall man that claimed to be her father, his greying hair brushed back away from his face, and a stern frown on his lips. “We do not tolerate that attitude here, or have you forgotten?”
“Captain!” Si’l Vala Do’sai turned around, straightening to her full height. She was still shorter than Theodrakis, and tiny compared to Zo’naf, but she still managed to radiate command. “This child-”
“My daughter.” Theodrakis corrected gently.
“Your- your daughter, has manifested at least one crystal shard. More, she claims to have been having strange dreams. You know that dreams often lead to the location of a bonded Key’s ship! But she won’t tell what her dreams were!” Si’l Vala Do’sai rubbed her forepaws together, shooting a glare at Maggie, teeth slightly bared.
Maggie glared right back. “I don’t have to tell you anything, and I said I don’t remember.”
“I can tell when humans lie!” Si’l Vala Do’sai snapped.
“That’s enough, both of you.” Theodrakis let out a sigh and ran a hand across his face. “Si’l Vala, please give us some privacy. Take the tablet with you.”
“Wait, why?” Robin’s eyes widened as Si’l Vala Do’sai picked up the tablet.
“Because I want privacy to speak with my daughter. Don’t worry, you’ll be brought back when I’m done.” Theodrakis took the chair Zo’naf had recently vacated, floating it over beside the bed.
“What if I want him to stay?” Maggie felt a jolt of panic at the idea of losing Robin again. What if they did something to him?
“He’ll be back. This will only take a few minutes.” Theodrakis sat down, but didn’t say anything further until both the Si’l Vala and Zo’naf had left the room.