Admiral Gerrit, while grateful for the destruction of the sentry tower that had a tendency to shoot, not only flying machines out of the air but Quen boats out of the water, refused to spare any troops to head to the last known location of the Quen scouting party. He pointed out that the Quen went missing before the tower started acting up and didn’t want to risk any more lives.

But he did concede to Aloy and Seyka going. While Seyka was grateful and hastened away to prepare for the rescue mission, Aloy studied Gerrit, a question growing in her mind.

“You have something to say, then say it.”

“I’m just puzzled by your reluctance to risk any troops in finding the lost Quen…yet you don’t mind Seyka and myself going?”

Gerrit eyed her, his weathered face craggy and weary. “Seyka can handle herself…and when she can’t I trust that you will return her safely to me.”

A little alarm bell went off in Aloy’s head. “Just who is Seyka to you?”

Gerrit looked at the parchment where the list of the lost seamen was scratched into the surface. “She is my salvation.”

Aloy was starting to wonder if Gerrit had his eye on Seyka in a way that was less than a commander to a subordinate and more like an old man ogling a young, virile woman…

She was lost in her wonderings when Theoa approached her in the main camp.

“We located the cache of FOCUSES…but it’s out of our reach, blocked by machines.”

Aloy spent the next half a day making the way safe for Theoa and her likeminded Quen companions. Theoa insisted they were able to handle the retrieval once the machines were dealt with, insidious eggs filled with small but no less than deadly flying machines, laid by the Bilegut like mines, protecting the cache.

It wasn’t difficult for Aloy to clear them out but she had to take her time and pick them off in order, to keep one nest of machines from alerting another. Theoa insisted she and the others could do the rest of the work which Aloy was grateful for as Seyka, whose FOCUS was tapped into hers, let her know she was ready to continue their quest.

Aloy flew on her Sunwing and landed on a small platform on the outside of Fleet’s End so as not to alarm anyone. Seyka stared at it in alarm.

“Well,” Aloy said almost provocatively, “are you coming?”

“On that?” Seyka asked.

“I rode in your skiff, now it’s time for you to try travel my way.”

Seyka swallowed, nodded and sprinted towards the Sunwing as though she was running away from her fear. She leapt onto its back, Aloy drawing her close behind her. She felt a shiver run through her body as Seyka’s arms slid around her waist. It felt a great deal like how Kotallo embraced her when she’d flown with him only days earlier.

Aloy’s heart clenched against the pain the memory of him returned to her. She yelled ‘ha!’ and the Sunwing took off, Seyka’s embrace tightening and Aloy felt her press her face against Aloy’s back. It took several minutes before she let go of her white knuckled grasp and was brave enough to look around.

“Faster than sailing.” Aloy remarked.

“Give me a boat, a sail and a rudder any day.” They crossed over islands and the water that separated them until Seyka leaned hard up against Aloy and pointed. “Look! Quen boats on that beach!”

Aloy was a little distracted by the way she could feel Seyka’s physical attributes and shook her head.

“We’ll land there and track on foot.” Seyka was fast to disembark, dashing about on the sand. “Use your FOCUS to look for tracks.” Aloy called, sliding off the machine.

Seyka did so and pointed. “Look…they went this way.” Aloy had to jog to keep up with Seyka’s frantic pace as they followed a beaten path that led into a cracked mountain with a ruin built on the other, unclimbable side. “I think they were heading for that…”

“It’s quite the excavation.” Aloy looked at the equipment, surprised at the amount of climbing and digging tools.

“We spied this ruin when we first landed,” Seyka explained, “when our situation became desperate, Admiral Gerrit approved a large scouting party to try to reach it in case there were valuable resources we could use, possibly to construct at least one working ship to return home.”

Between the two of them, using several ballista to embed climbing hooks, they were able to scale the sides of the cracked mountain, managing to reach the side where the ruin was built into.

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“Seyka,” Aloy sensed the change between mountain to ruin, ducking her head as the natural surrounds began to flatten and look unnatural, “if this was a scouting mission…why was Kina included?”

Seyka paused, staring at her feet. “Because…I told her she couldn’t.”

Aloy turned to face her. “She couldn’t?”

Seyka shook her head. “Kina is our only chance of getting home. Even if we had an ocean voyage worthy vessel, we have no working gyroscopes. Kina’s presence was protected…to the point of paranoia.”

Aloy cringed. A year of being ‘protected’ in Quen custody sounded like torture.

“She wanted to see something of the world?”

Seyka nodded. “She asked me, begged me…but I told her she was too important and then I…I rebuked her for being…selfish with her life.” She folded her arms and looked aside. “My inflexibility caused her to rebel and stow away on the boats…”

“You were trying to keep her safe.”

“And in the end I drove her away.” Seyka sighed shakily. “I’m only a midshipman but Kina…she is extraordinary.”

Aloy put her hand on Seyka’s arm. “You are extraordinary. In your resolve and selflessness…in your dedication to your sister and your loyalty to Admiral Gerrit…don’t discount yourself.”

Seyka turned and smiled at Aloy and Aloy’s cheeks flushed with heat.

“I…ah…I think we’re heading that way.” She pointed and they turned and continued, Aloy wanting to fan her face.

Only a short ways on did the mood drop so suddenly that Aloy’s veins felt like ice.

A Quen body had been partially crushed by a cave in. Her head and hand was sticking out, bloodied and broken. Seyka knelt by the body.

“I knew her…Isla. She worked in the galley…she always served meals with a smile…everyone loved her.” Seyka looked up at Aloy. “Walter Londra…he just abandoned her? Left her to rot and drove the rest of the Quen on?”

Aloy shrugged. “I don’t know…but given the other Zenith’s lack of respect for life, it seems likely.”

There was little they could do but Aloy allowed a moment for Seyka to pick up some rocks and carefully cover the Quen’s body before they moved on and discovered the reason for the mountain’s cracked façade. A seam of lava was bubbling through the ruins, eating into the strata. Another broken climbing path lay ahead. Seyka used the ballista to help Aloy climb up then knock off a couple of Clamberjaws that were scuttling about.

“That one was a bit close!” Aloy cried when a ballista missile tore through a Clamberjaw’s skull only a few feet from where she stood.

“I’ve never lost a battle simulation yet!” Seyka taunted lightly and Aloy laughed. “Looks like it’s your turn!”

Aloy manned the ballista on the opposite side and made a climbing path for Seyka before following her into the main portion of the ruins where a large rocket model rested in a display in what Aloy guessed was the foyer. She used her FOCUS to glance over it, reading the glyphs.

“What is it?” Seyka asked.

“This is Heaven₵ headquarters, Walter Londra’s space exploration and exploitation company,” Aloy explained, “I think this rocket is an example of what the company was trying to build.”

Seyka looked over the rocket’s curve at her. “Trying?”

Aloy shook her head. “It doesn’t look like it reached functional stage…at least, not the kind of function anyone else on earth would want. Upon launching, it would release a toxic gas as a byproduct of the fuel it used and kill anything within a hundred kilometre radius.” She glanced up. “Nothing would survive.”

Seyka shivered. “Is this how Londra survived the dark times?”

“No,” Aloy moved away from it, heading for the stairs, “he went on a different ship with other…like minded people.”

“Did they also work out how to extend their lives?”

Aloy tapped her teeth together. “Ah…yeah they did.”

“And did they also return to earth with Walter Londra?”

“Some did…” Aloy felt her arm grabbed and turned to see Seyka’s expression, grim and intense.

“What is it you’re not telling me?”

Aloy faltered, unusually unsure as to how to proceed. “It’s…complicated…”

Seyka folded her arms. “I suppose a lowly midshipman wouldn’t understand?”

“It’s not that!” Aloy exclaimed. “But there’s just…so much…more…”

Seyka gave a little huff and walked past her. “Don’t bother with the excuses. I’ve heard them all from the imperial family and their propaganda experts.”

“That’s not fair!” Aloy groused and bolted after her. She was going to continue the argument but nearly tripped over yet another Quen body. She paused and knelt down. “Not a mark…possibly heart failure from being overworked. Seyka, do you know him?” She looked up and saw Seyka staring at a wall where a painting of Quen swirls, dots and stars stretched out before her. Seyka’s hand reached out to it, her fingers trembling. “Seyka? What is it?”

Seyka’s hand snapped back down. “It’s nothing,” she lied and turned aside, “we should keep going.”

Aloy glanced at the wall again then followed Seyka up a flight of steps to where a locked door waited for them. After scouring the displays and Londra’s boasts about finances gained through meteorite exploitation, they came up with enough numbers for the code and after a few failed attempts, were able to work out the correct combination and gained access. Londra’s office waited for them with a working console that contained a large amount of information with a location that was nearby and a whole host of data that Aloy couldn’t make sense of.

“Looks like access codes and launch protocols…” She mused. “Launch…of what? A rocket? Is that the location? And where are all the Quen?” She turned and saw Seyka’s deflated expression. “It looks as though Londra needed to access this console before moving on to another site. I’m sure your sister will be there.”

“That’s promising something you don’t know for certain,” Seyka challenged in a flat voice, “and not telling me what you do know.”

Aloy’s ire was ignited and she put her hands on her hips. “Oh…and like you’re being completely honest with me?”

“What haven’t I told you?”

“What’s the deal with the painting downstairs? You recognised it. Why?” Seyka’s skin whitened and she looked away. Aloy had to work hard to unclench her fists. “Maybe…maybe we both need a little space…”

“Fine,” Seyka said tersely, “I’ll meet you at the location you found…and I’ll travel by skiff.”

Aloy nodded and let her leave. When she was sure she was alone she sagged and half sat on the crumbling metal desk.

“How do I do it?” She whispered. “How do I drop the bombshell of the FARO plague, the Odyssey, the Zeniths…my own genetic heritage and machine birth…and then, on top of all that…Nemesis?” She closed her eyes. “I…I have to figure this out. I have to find a way to tell her…she deserves to know the truth.”