BETH

Tern was dead. Leo had escaped into the cave, but only barely. The invasion and Saif’s sudden appearance had turned into a disaster. It was strange not having the omf’s presence in her mind. And with the mental channel down, there was no way for them to effectively communicate with the dragons or any alien life. The long distance functionality of that channel had been efficient when they talked between humans.

Beth sipped at the coffee from her mug. “It’s hard to think about.”

“I know,” Birgitta said, sitting on the opposite side of the mess hall’s table. “I miss the little bugger and his attempts at being funny. He was a great friend.”

Claire sat down beside Beth and poured herself a mug of coffee. “I never knew him as well as you, my girls. But I was always intrigued by him. His surprising depth of character. For Tern.” Claire raised her mug.

Beth and Birgitta raised their mugs at the same time. “For Tern.”

“For Tern,” Diego said, leaning on the mess hall’s door frame.

“Wherever the omf’s afterlife is, we hope your modules are pristine,” Birgitta said.

“And highly functional,” Claire added.

“And your floating is stable,” Diego said.

“And beautiful,” Beth said. “Because you were more than a friend. You were a companion of life. We will miss you dearly.”

They drank their coffee in Tern’s name.

“But we cannot forget about the living, what do we do about Leo?” Diego asked.

Beth recalled how she had saved his life and that small, purple dragon’s life by shoving them into that cave entrance a moment before it collapsed. “I don’t think we can do much for him.”

“That’s sad. When we charted the course to come and get you, I looked forward to not having to play the part of pretend pilot,” Diego said.

Birgitta laughed. “Pilot Diego Rubalcava. Now that you put attention to it, it does sound weird.”

“Don’t be like that. He has improved and he has shown a lot of flair,” Claire said. “Not close to the old Leo, but something in the right direction.”

Diego shook his head. “Thanks, dear, for almost having my back.”

Beth leaned back and observed the others interact. She had missed this. The back and forth. It made her stomach warm and cozy. If only Tern could have been here and experienced the reunion.

“Gals and guy. Hi, I am assembling…,” Milo said, leaning into the mess hall. “You are toasting to Tern, are you not?”

“Yes, we are, Milo,” Claire said.

“Why did you not invite me? I am your Captain, so I should be a part of this,” Milo said.

Beth choked on her coffee and spit it out at the table. “Captain? Captain Milo?”

“Yes, Captain Milo at your service,” Milo said.

“The Capt’n…, no wait. Samuels must have come to his senses. The way he has behaved the last months, especially after your death, it makes him unfit to lead. You have seen his transformation. He ordered me to keep implanting cybernetics into him. We are still struggling to keep some of them from being rejected by his body. I think.., I think that it has gotten to his mind. The upgrades have changed his way of thinking,” Diego said, sighing. “Finally, someone rational in the captaincy.”

Milo sighed. “And going against Sam cannot be done. When the man has put his mind on doing something, it will be done. I know how it goes.”

“Captain Milo. I’ll be damned. First you come back after death and then you grab the role of captain,” Beth said. “Ambitious.”

A surprising development, but a wonderful one. Now, maybe Samuels would back down instead. Maybe the former Captain had understood that he couldn’t pick a fight with her?

“To Tern.” Milo raised his mug of coffee.

“To Tern.” The others joined him. Their mugs clinked together and they drank in his name. “May the omf afterlife be joyous and filled with perfectly minted modules.”

A tear trickled down her cheek. This was nice. Something achingto a real sendoff. Tern would have liked that. The minute of silence passed quickly.

“Brother, Captain Milo, you said something about assembling your crew. Assemble us, then,” Beth said.

“To the bridge. Would you call for Rahgon and Elzrig? I want everybody to be in on it,” Milo said.

Beth shook her head. “One of them will not leave the eggs alone and Rahgon will not fit through the corridors. She could maybe sit in the airlock and poke her head in, but I don’t think so. Not suiting for a princess...no wait, not fitting for a queen of her stature.”

“Of course.” Milo grabbed his hand terminal and activated the general speakers. “Crew, I am assembling you in the cargo bay in ten minutes.”

“I am impressed. You are able to adapt,” Beth said.

“Birgitta, do you want to fetch Yuri?” Milo said. “No one will be left out.”

“With pleasure. But what will I do if he tries to escape?“ Birgitta said.

“There is nowhere for him to flee. Saif will most likely murder him if he returns there and the human civilisation? Well, it’s Saif’s empire and I am pretty sure he has tight reins on it and knows what happens in all corners. Yuri could have escaped at any moment after we put him in the med bay, but he has made exactly zero attempts. Because he knows the truth of his future as well as we do,” Milo explained. “We are his only hope and we can always use a new ally.”

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A spot on analysis. Beth was impressed, Milo has really thought this one through.

“Let’s go, people. Crew. Let’s go, crew. We have a lot to do and time is ticking away,” Milo said.

-

Sameuls Adam joined Milo’s side as they made their way through the ship, to its rear, the cargo bay, which was stuffed with dragon eggs and the huge Rahgon.

Beth kept her distance from the cyborg, they all did except for Milo. She knew their friendship was strong, but it felt like he ignored certain changes in the former captain. If their friendship had endured to this point, there was little she could do to change that.

As they entered the cargo bay, she gave Elzrig a pat on his blue scales, as the dragon landed by her side. Rahgon turned her larger head towards her, laying down on her belly surrounded by the surviving eggs, and nodded at her. Tern’s passing had reverberated through their lives, changing more than expected. The loss of the mental channel was one of those losses, which they probably never would get back. Unless they managed to find another omf clan and ally with them, and bonding with another omf individual. A lot of hops to go through and which they didn’t have the luxury for.

Birgitta entered with Yuri by her side, holding his arm in an old fashion way. It was strange to have met someone on the other side of the war that was such a good and honorable man. Even though he had experienced a lot of shit while serving Saif, Yuri stayed honest. Maybe it was his age? He had lived a life, a long life, before all this. Maybe everybody needed that kind of experience before starting to live at all? Maturity cannot be learned through others, it has to be grown into you. Beth nodded to him and he replied in kind.

“Crew of the Final Sight and our honorable passengers, you have all been called to this assembly, because we need a plan. A plan on how to deal with Saif and his empire before he has grown too strong. But first, Yuri ‘Elbrus’ Gargarov, we need to decide what to do with you,” Milo said. “Yuri, what do you want to do?”

“Well.” Yuri stepped forward and paused. “If Saif was removed, I would be able to go back to my people. Help my people live their lives without the Putin clones’ control. I don’t like saying it, but Saif has to be dead for that to happen, otherwise I will be killed when he notices my arrival back into his empire.” Yuri turned his eyes towards Samuels and let them linger for a moment. “I understand that this is not the ideal situation for many, but this is how it is and we have to deal with it.”

“Crew, then we vote. Do we make Yuri Elbrus Gargarov a temporary member of us, until we have defeated Saif? Please, yeas and nays,” Milo said. “I say, yea.”

“Yea,” Beth and Birgitta said at the same time.

Beth knew where the vote would be heading, she was sure of it. And as it went around the ring of people, everybody said yea. It was strange how they accepted the enemy of an enemy into their midst so quickly, but she saw the advantages and reasons for it. But she had expected that after everything this crew had been dragged through, that they would have been a little more hesitant. But no, Yuri was welcomed with open arms. It was a nice thing to be a witness of. Even after everything, these people still retained their humanity.

“No,” Samuels said, with cold, steady eyes. His hands were twitching again.

Not surprising, but Samuels’ singular vote would not alter the result.

“Yuri, as Captain and by the result of this vote, I am declaring you a member of the Final Sight’s crew,” Milo said.

Yuri nodded, a tear or two trickled down his face. “Thank you, Captain. I am grateful for this. Thank you so much.”

“No worries. As a fellow human and enemy of Saif, there will always be a place for you onboard this ship,” Milo said. “Next point on the agenda. What do we do about Saif? Crew, tell me what you think.”

“I discharged acid down his throat and we blew a nuke in his face. It only made him angrier and more focused,” Sam said. “At a glance it looked as if that diamond stuff was only his skin turned into, like Elizabeth and Yuri’s powers. But no, that stuff has replaced all his soft tissue and it goes down into his throat and the inside of his body. It’s as if all of him has flowed into it. Imagine Elizabeth’s metal to have replaced all her soft tissue instead of only her skin. Tougher and thicker. Nothing would be able to harm her. She would never sustain any damages.”

Beth was not in the mood to try to correct Samuels, the cyborg would not heed her words anyhow. He was far too long into the path he had elected to follow along. “Cyborg is correct. Saif will not go down by conventional means.”

“And the few wounds and injuries we could have done to him, he will just heal through them. Because he has obtained Rachel’s power, too,” Milo said.

“Throw him into a star,” Samuels mumbled.

“Yes, that would strain and empty his deposits, making his diamond barrier go down,” Birgitta said.

“We were able to knock him out for a few seconds, but it didn’t last. It will not work. And we probably will not be able to fend off his entire vanguard, fleet and army of combat suits at the same time,” Milo said.

“What really did knock him out?” Birgitta. “Circle back to that point.”

“The lightning,” Claire said. “Diamonds are known to be very bad at conducting electricity, but we know that manifestations don’t always obey the laws of the world. Like Beth’s metal skin, which we still have not been able to determine what kind of metal it is. Because it behaves as no metal in the known universe.”

Milo nodded. “Great. That is our advantage.”

“And I am agreeing with Claire!” Birgitta added, raising a palm towards Claire. “Science!”

Claire followed through with the high five. “Science.”

“We detonated a nuke in his face. It barely made a scratch on him and that blast kept him unconscious for an even shorter time,” Samuels said.

A problem of logic, but the answer was right there. That no one else saw it except her, it was almost baffling.

Beth stepped forward. “He knew the nuke would explode. He healed through it, ahead of time, he pumped his cells up, knowing it would happen. When Milo struck him, he didn’t know it would happen. He had no time to prepare his body or mind.”

“So, we just have to sucker punch him again with a surprise lightning bolt in the back?” Milo said. “But after that?”

“Throw him into a star,” Samules said.

“Won’t happen. He will regain his senses and powers too quickly,” Milo said.

“His deposits have to be drained or else he will just heal through it,” Birgitta said.

“Hit him over and over again, until his body withers, until his mind collapses on itself. Put him out, again and again,” Samuels said. “We all have to occupy his attention, while Milo gets free rein to discharge lightning at him. Whatever it takes, he cannot be given the opportunity to retaliate against Milo. How many times do we need to knock him out? Ten, twenty times? It can be done.”

“The flaws in this plan are obvious,” Beth said. “Milo’s power has not been itself lately. Down on the dragon planet, I watched his lightning fail to discharge at least half of the tries. But we should leverage our entire plan on that it might work in our favor?”

Milo turned to her. “We have to do something and this might just work.”

“But I don’t want us all to die for nothing either. I want to succeed too, but there is not only Saif to contend with. What about his fleet and his vanguard, and the army of combat suits? There are many elements between us and him,” Beth said.

“I believe in this plan. My lightning will work. It will work.” Milo stepped forward.

“Alright, then,” Beth said. “If we are able to figure out how to handle the other stuff, then I say go.”

“Thank you,” Milo said.

“What do we do about Leo? He is still trapped on Shuvoq and with Saif successfully taking control of it. It makes my skin crawl for his safety,” Diego said.

“Nothing. We can do nothing for him. He will have to survive on his own merits,” Beth said.

“That is not really one of his strengths,” Milo added.

“He will manage,” Beth said.

“I am not so sure about that,” Claire said.

“He is tough,” Birgitta said. “Under certain circumstances.”

“Leo, tough? Those two words have never been used in the same sentence before,” Diego said.