Chapter 27

Ramona opened her eyes to the reality around her. A small room that looked a lot like the hospital she escaped from, but DW-03 and TH-19, Ramona’s medical drones, were missing. The walls were metal grey, and the bedsheets blue instead of bleached white. There was a distant droning hum, and it felt as though everything vibrated ever so slightly. Curtains obscured a window; Ramona reached out with her right hand to move them but froze mid-way. Shiny red metal gleamed where her hand should have been.

Squeezing and maneuvering her new cybernetic fingers came as naturally as the real thing. Ramona marveled at the intricacies of the hand. Rough grippy rubber lined the inside, softer cloth and rubber covered the outside, and the fingers were plated with a lightweight metal, trasteel Ramona guessed. She couldn’t help but smirk as she balled it into a fist, waved the fingers intricately, each movement coming with a quiet whir. She even prodded it with her other hand and was delighted to feel pain.

She wondered how much stress it could take, how hot it could get before melting, how resistant to blunt damage it was, but there was something more pressing that had to be tested. With a flick of her new hand, the curtains parted on their own. Beyond the window, white speckles dotted velvet blackness, space.

Jumping up out of bed, running to the window, Ramona pressed her face against the cold glass to see every angle. They had escaped Kanchi! Ramona wanted to dance; Paul had saved the day. Last thing she could recall was stopping Roy from dealing the killing blow. I had to bail him out...again.

Now she’d be an apprentice to Paul, trained to become a Progenitor and a pilot; they’d scour the galaxy searching different worlds, meeting aliens she’d never seen before, seeing the wonders of everything that was out there. What had Paul found at the Cathedral? Would it help in his quest to learn the meaning of those obelisks? Ramona knew for sure she could help, she was pretty much as smart as him.

Not at all resisting the big grin that crossed her face, Ramona hopped up and down with joy and darted out of the room yelling, “Paul!” Down a corridor, she continued yelling, “Paul!” Sizzling and clattering metal rang from beyond a door; she was so happy to have not been left behind. She whisked the door open with her new hand but stopped dead in the threshold.

“Who are you?” she asked.

A man with short pepper grey hair and beaming blue eyes turned to meet her. He wore simple civilian clothes, an unremarkable-looking man, no different from patrons at Arts of Parts. He smiled warmly. “Ah- you’re awake. Unexpected, but I can make more steak if you’re hungry.”

“Who are you?” She repeated. “Where’s Paul?”

He set down a plate of seared steak, Ramona became acutely aware of her empty stomach. “My name is Olasqy Amuv,” he said. “And I’m afraid I don’t know Paul’s whereabouts. But I’m quite sure he’s still alive.” He beckoned for Ramona to come sit at the table with him. “Please eat, you must be hungry.”

“How do you not know where he is, but know he’s alive?” Ramona said, not budging, though she had to try ridiculously hard to conceal the growls her stomach made.

“Well, I found you drifting through space with nothing but the clothes on your back and some chunks of debris,” he said. “But not the rest of whatever starship you were on.” He went on about how the Amani were fighting some unknown capital class ship and that the core had a meltdown. “My guess is you were sucked through a breach in the hull.”

“How can I trust you?” Ramona asked, ready to tear this ship apart if she had to.

“I met Paul much in the same way I met you actually,” Olasqy chuckled. “I helped him get to Kanchi based on the map he found.”

The map! Ramona pulled the little piece of rectangular silver from her pocket. “This thing?” She shrugged. “All it seems to do is locate my bracelet.” She showed Olasqy the matching symbols on the map and bracelet. Tentatively Ramona took a seat at the table and began shoveling bits of steak in her mouth.

“Then perhaps it was merely coincidence that you lived near the Cathedral, or perhaps not. Whoever gave you that bracelet must have known something about Omega as well,” said Olasqy.

Ramona frowned. “My father gave it to me before I could even remember. He disappeared forever before I could remember too.”

“I’m sorry to hear that; it must be hard growing up without a father.”

She shook her head, “Don’t, I never knew him. Paul was more of a father than he ever was.” Not wanting to talk about it any further, she quickly shifted the topic. “So, I can survive in space, huh?” Ramona asked with a mouthful of steak.

“Remarkably! Never have I even heard of a sentient being able to survive as you did,” Olasqy said. “I wouldn’t recommend strolling out the airlock, however.”

Satisfied with the answer, Ramona took another bite. “Thank you, by the way, this is really good.” She paused. Olasqy appeared to be trustworthy enough. It’s not like he could do anything to harm her anyways. “My name’s Ramona,” she said, taking stock of her surroundings. They were in a compact kitchen; if she was just a little taller, Ramona guessed she could touch her hands and toes from one end of the wall to the other. “I’ve never been on a spaceship before, well, one that’s actually in space anyways.” She looked more carefully around her surroundings, they looked familiar.

“Couldn’t have been luckier to end up on the Intrepid for your first trip. She’s one of a kind, fast as a light freighter, and comfy as a luxury liner that’s had a few downgrades.

“The Intrepid! But, that’s Paul’s ship!”

“Ah- my ship, actually. I had just lent it to him.”

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

It felt odd to be in space. The air in the ship smelled different, cleaner probably, and there was an ever-present, yet subtle, sensation they were moving. Ramona liked it; she especially liked not being on Kanchi anymore, though she wished she could run back and grab a few things from the shop. Check in to see if Roy was okay after the battle. Maybe at least say goodbye to Anri Morrell. Was leaving such a good thing? She’d dwell on her sudden departure later. Maybe she’d send a postcard to the Morrell family at her next stop. “And my hand, you made this?” Ramona asked, rapping her metal fingers.

Olasqy shrugged, “with what little I have to work with on this ship, but it should be serviceable.”

“This is serviceable to you?” Ramona was stunned. “This is the most impressive piece of cybernetic hardware I’ve ever seen! I love this thing, better than my old hand, really.”

“Know a thing or two about cybernetics?” Olasqy asked as he gulped down his drink.

Ramona struggled to contain her pride. “Well, not exactly. I have studied on it though! But, my primary expertise lies with dronesmithing by hand.” Her thoughts drifted on Eights for a moment, hoping it was okay.

“Handcraft dronesmithing, a rare and complicated art,” Olasqy said, sounding impressed. “You clearly are extraordinary.”

Unable to contain a smile, Ramona reached out with one hand; a jug of juice and a glass sitting on the counter zoomed across the room hovering. The jug tilted, pouring its blue contents into the glass, and Ramona snatched it out of the air to take a sip.

Olasqy smiled, “I knew I had a good feeling about you.” He stood up and said, “I think that you might be able to help me with something. Come with me.”

In another room, similar to the one Ramona had awoken in earlier, a boy with messy brown hair was lying in bed, and he looked worse for wear. He had several bruises and cuts on his face and a healing patch over his left eye. A couple of medical drones stood at his side; one drew a vial of blood, the other monitored his vitals. Both drones stared blankly at Olasqy and then shuffled out of the room.

“Hey, I recognize this boy!” Ramona exclaimed. “Abel! He’s the weirdo with the red eye that came into my shop with that person dressed up as a drone.”

“Indeed,” Olasqy said. “Though I didn’t know the part about the disguised drone.”

“Er...I don’t think he knew either,” she said. The distinction between man and machine was laughably unsubtle. Anyone with rudimentary knowledge on assassin drones knew they were sleek and built for speed, certainly not bulky enough to fit a human inside. Plus, there was extraneous wiring looping between the costume’s armor plates. There was an aftermarket mini bipedal motor attached to the back with no connecting wires, and the joints, which were large enough to allow human movement, were inefficient for a drone. And, just to be one hundred percent sure, Ramona had quietly scanned for electronic signatures and found that they were practically non-existent, maybe just enough to light up its eyes. Ramona let the pride of her drone knowledge warm her heart before refocusing on Abel. “But, how did you find him? Was he floating around in space too?”

“Oh-no, no, I scooped him up from the Cathedral’s roof shortly before an orbital bombardment reduced half the structure to rubble.”

Ramona spun around. “Destroyed? What about the rest of Onesto?”

“Only the Cathedral got hit,” Olasqy said reassuringly. “Though why they did it or where they got that kind of firepower is a mystery.” Olasqy scratched his chin, “But, before all that, something happened to this boy on Kanchi, something quite terrible.” He walked to the bedside, laying a hand on the boy’s head. “He was possessed by Omega.”

“Omega, possessed? But, Paul told me Omega is a Progenitor. Or is that something they can do?” Ramona wouldn’t be surprised to hear Progenitors could time travel at this point.

“No, no,” Olasqy chuckled, “well not as far as I know. Omega is no Progenitor, however. His underlings may take on his name to create subterfuge, but there is only one Omega, one King of Lies. He is an astrobeing,” he said conversationally. “Myths and legends I know, but I can assure you they are real, and Omega is the most cunning of them all. The blood that runs through this boy’s veins is special. I believe Omega lured him here because he’s important somehow.”

“Owlen!” Ramona exclaimed. It all made sense now. “Omega used Owlen!”

“He used Owlen?”

“Owlen he...he murdered my mother seven years ago. Paul found out he had a deal with Omega...no Omega threatened him. Owlen was some ex-Tuyet Voi teacher. Abel here must have been sent after him, but…” Ramona trailed off.

“But it was a trap set by Omega,” Olasqy completed.

“So, Omega is really the one responsible for my mother’s death…” Ramona said in barely a whisper.

“Whatever happened to Owlen?”

Ramona stared at her prosthetic hand, clenching it tight into a fist. “He’s...dead.”

Olasqy winced; he almost looked pained. But, he seemed to think better about asking. He frowned down at Abel. “I couldn’t rid his mind of Omega’s presence completely, but I could stop him from assuming complete control,” he said.

“You’re saying Omega is still in there?” Ramona, suddenly thinking Abel looked a little grosser than a minute ago. Olasqy nodded casually, which did not make her feel any better. “Why did Omega need to lure Abel into the Cathedral anyways?”

Olasqy scratched his chin, looking off to the side. “A good question. I’m guessing he needed something in there. Whatever was inside must have been important to Omega and just out of his reach.” Olasqy laughed quietly. “That must have been infuriating for him.”

One of the medical drones shuffled back into the room, handed Olasqy a holoprojector, then left again. “You see...” He flipped a switch, and the image of a structure, similar to the Cathedral, sprang up. “...there are others like it. Communication hubs for Omega, but they were locked up tight long ago by the Tuyet Voi. Considering the events surrounding Abel, I’d say that only those of Reyleonard descent can open them, or it’s possible that Abel is the only one in the galaxy that can do it. With him on our side, we may be able to find Omega’s true whereabouts.”

Ramona wasn’t sure how much she cared about all that. In the back of her mind, she was already starting to become homesick. She missed the oaky smell of the shop, missed Eights and Martha, Paul, and her real mother. Abel was the only familiar face, and she found some comfort in that. This Olasqy fellow was throwing a lot her way. “That’s great and all, but how are you going to convince the Emperor’s son to help you?”

Olasqy drew a sheet back to reveal Abel’s right arm had been severed. “Well, we could start by giving him a new arm. I’ll show you how to assemble cybernetics like the one I built for you.”

“YES I WOULD LOVE THAT!” Ramona shouted, making no effort to conceal her glee.

“Well, it’s a start,” Olasqy said. “Maybe with this piece of Omega, he will be able to gain a greater understanding of the obelisks.”

“The obelisks? Paul spoke of those,” Ramona said.

“We can get into that another time, you’ve just woken up and all,” Olasqy said. “I will say though, Paul was looking for more of them.”

“If Paul really is alive, then he must think I’m dead,” Ramona said, feeling herself frown. She turned to look Olasqy straight in his beaming blue eyes. “Will you help me find him? He must be out there somewhere.”

Olasqy seemed to consider that for a moment, possibly measuring whether or not to give false hope. “It’s a big galaxy, trillions live out there. One could spend a lifetime looking for one person among the stars and never come close.”

Ramona drooped her head; he was right.

“But, Paul and I seek a common goal. It’s possible that in my search, I will meet him again,” Olasqy reassured.

Ramona walked to the window, looking out among the thousands of milky white stars so many light-years away. Millions more were out there, and somewhere so was Paul. “Then I’m coming with you,” Ramona stated.

Olasqy smiled. “Welcome aboard, Ramona.”