CARL

Being trapped inside a box made all kinds of thoughts come to life. When he didn’t have anything else to keep him entertained, his mind wandered far and wide; digging up all kinds of anxiety and doubt.

“Hey!” Lisa said.

And that of course. She might be the worst company to have in this situation, she always nagged back and forth, cursing the world for her missed vengeance on Elizabeth. He should have seen this coming after reading her file, the signs of mental instability were everywhere.

“Hey!” Lisa said. “When do you think he will let us out?”

Carl waved at her, maybe it would silence her.

“Fine, be that way,” Lisa snorted.

Had Decha doomed them? Carl had not heard or felt the drive cone’s vibrations since the ambush, those vibrations should permeate here. The brig was not far from it. The drive cone must have taken a hit and which meant they were still stranded.

Carl rested his chin against his knees, sitting on the cell’s cold, metal floor. Would the Final Sight have made contact yet? No. The aliens would be far away and the escapees had not gotten that long of a head start, there was still time to intercept them.

Saif had only sent them with the one dreadnought. Why not more? A single ship took a shorter time to scramble together and fly off quicker, whereas a fleet would need quite some time. The hunt was time sensitive and their departure had not been scheduled. But Saif could have sent more afterwards, to act as reinforcements. Either Saif expected them to succeed easily or he didn’t expect them to return at all. Was that the reason he had sent Decha with them? To ensure that they succeeded. All the evidence told him that Saif had no trust for him, but he was determined to show him.

Carl shook his head. All this was insane. This should not have happened. No, there had to be something else to it.

“I am sorry about before, by the way,” Lisa said.

Carl looked up, she sounded remorseful. “You have nothing to be sorry about. We fought, our enemies fought back. We were lucky to escape with our lives intact. I lost Amanda, but that was Decha’s fault. That dribbling idiot.”

“No. I held back. I hesitated. When she, Elizabeth, stepped into view, I hesitated.” Lisa rubbing her arms. “We would have won, but I hesitated. I recalled the pain that she had burnt into my mind when she broke my arms. I am sorry. I didn’t think that I was this weak. We are supposed to be gods among men, and here I sit crying myself to sleep because I was hurt.”

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Lisa looked and sounded sincere. Carl was surprised by her honesty. After all she had done and been done to her, she had decided to open up to him. She barely knew him. But something about his character must have invited trust. This was not his first time meeting somebody who had a case of post traumatic stress, it was common in battle-scarred soldiers.

“We have all been through shitty things. Some more than others. But everyone gets their confidence and integrity smeared across the floor,” Carl said. “You are no different. You need to process and let the damages heal, especially the mental scars. They will always be with you, but it is up to you how they will impact the rest of your life. Stand strong or break apart.”

Lisa nodded, her smile was a happy one. “Thank you, Carl. It means a lot.”

He nodded.

“Thank you. I know that I can be a bit forward from time to time, maybe a bit violent. But that doesn’t mean that I am not human. Thank you for treating me as one. People often judge me far earlier than that,” Lisa said.

“Help and second chances are important,” Carl said. “And those people that judged you, they are only afraid of your strength.”

Lisa nodded. 

A dark spot came to life, floating in mid air outside his cell. Decha. The spot expanded until the edge of the portal became distinct. Decha stepped out from it and he wore that look on his face, as if he knew something that no one else did.

“Carl,” Decha said. “Morning, or whatever. I hope you are finding your isolation not too enjoyable. That goes to you too, Lisa.”

Carl turned his head away from him.

“Right. I am starting to understand your bickering about the leaning even more into the hook. I can see the deposit; the blood one. I just need to open it,” Decha said. “We will not need to repair the drive cone when that happens.”

“Fuck you, you narrowed eyed shit face,” Lisa said.

Carl had to admit it, she had a knack for creating new sequences of curse words which suited the situation perfectly.

Not repair the drive cone? Relying on Decha’s ability to fuel his power with blood to transport the ship was not reliable. Decha had not even tried to open a portal with the blood, maybe it was a little too naive to expect for him to be able to open one big enough for The Breach. A reliable Captain would have made a reliable decision.

“So that’s it? This was your entire news update?” Carl said, not placing his eyes on the ‘new’ Captain.

Decha coughed. “I want you to suffer. If I am to lean into my enlarged emotion, that should help me. So, if you don’t mind. Don’t let my presence interrupt you.”

Decha grabbed a seat and sat down, right in front of his cell.

There had to be a third plan. Something Saif had cooked up, but not told him about. But he had told Decha. Instructed him, even. If Beth and her friends made peace with the aliens, what problems would they be faced with? The aliens would be given extra information on humans, on their worlds and locations. Their technology. And most importantly: the manifestations. Surely there would be different opinions among the aliens, no single species could be completely united. There would be opinions and conflict, but an alliance against a larger threat could melt the barriers of those differences. His eyes opened, his teeth bit down. There could be no alliance. Saif must have had this line of thought before they even set onto this hunt. If all else failed; attack and ignite conflict. It was a suicide mission. Decha looked indifferent as he swung back and forth on the seat, with that smug smile on his face.