A man with a familiar face gently picked her up, saying something. Telling her about something... something very important. Another bomb imploded in the surroundings; it felt like the air itself was shaking and the ground turning into liquid. Miniature projectiles created by the shattered debris flew everywhere. They tore his clothes, the skin. But he did not react to the pain.

"You have to remember what I said," he repeated more than once, she knew he repeated. His voice buzzed in her head more and more like an angry bee. "Remember!". She asked herself why the air was so ionised suddenly before her senses started to fail one by one.

"You are not listening!" The man raised his voice impatiently, shaking her, drowning in unconsciousness. "What did I say!?"

Everything stopped. Reality suddenly came back as if someone switched a button in her mind. Blood rushed to her limbs, air kicked in her lungs. Everything, everything returned her to life from the imaginative death that was sleep.

"What did you say?" Pax whispered to herself. Her shaking hands searched for the face, for the lips, the eyes, to check if it feels alright. If they are still here. She almost jumped when Protau entered the room without knocking.

He had brought her a cup of coffee, as he did every morning.

"Don't tell me...?" He guessed much better than she thought. How could he not? It had been almost four days since the accident, and she had the same dream coming back more than a few times. Protau was there for her for the first two nights: talking, listening, and comforting. Being a close friend, he had been with her since she was a child. Even though some time had passed, he would come to her apartment early in the morning to check up on her, to bring news.

The news was the most important thing for her now. Pax never asked, just sat quietly waiting for him to be ready to tell her. He knew, sometimes purposely delaying it, teasing her a bit. She did appreciate this friendly game, though.

"Brought you a mug of a strong one," Protau passed her the coffee; it was very strong. He always would burn it, forget about the sugar or milk in powder. But this was his coffee, and she was drinking it like this for the last few years without complaining. His hands took her face in them for a few seconds, sharing a comforting moment. One of his own, the second a prosthetic limb, fully mechanised. Lost in an accident long ago. He could be harsh, cold, and demanding, but he also was like a father and a guardian to her.

"I've been thinking..." He said. She picked her head up, looking him in the eyes. Those angry, burning eyes other people would be afraid of. "For both of us... You know how this works. I should be going with you; I was the one who took you away from Delia. All those stories of glorious adventures among the stars..." They laughed for a moment and went silent.

Pax put away the mug and grabbed his hand.

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"I don't regret any of this; it was my choice, and I wouldn't change any of it, except one thing."

"That is?"

"How I and Delia parted." She went silent after that, going back to her coffee. He let her lose herself in the thoughts for a while.

"I just feel lost sometimes. Maybe I'm doing too many things because I don't know what I really want."

Protau relaxed for a few moments.

"Remember what I always told you, since you were a little one?" Pax nodded with a sigh, taking a sip of the bitter coffee. "About darkness and light?"

"Of course, I do. But it's not the same."

"Yes, it is. It's always the same. Come on, out with it."

"If it gets too dark and harrowing to go forward, light a light, or become one." She sighed heavily, fluttering her eyelashes in a quiet defence. Then she raised her hand flat in an open question. "And how is this supposed to help me now? In full honesty, I never understood it. It just kept flying around my mind as a sort of comforting nonsense."

There was only silence after this, and the knocking of his metallic fingers on the wall as he stared in her face patiently for a long moment till he looked down.

"There is news." He picked up her attention again as his mobile transmitter pinged a message.

Finally, it would mean she would be able to leave. It took so long for the bureaucratic paperwork to be passed through the security, government, and all these small, not-important offices to make a decision. In fact, it would have taken longer, but Admiral Theba probably had a huge impact on the decision, using his power to push things forward.

"You are allowed to leave today." The man sat down in a semi-plastic chair facing one of the tall windows that opened on the city.

She would go to Earth. All this time she had been grounded. Days of medical tests, psychological checks, if the blast and shock didn't cause any irreversible damage to her body and decision-making abilities. The Admiral probably thought she would go on an interstellar odyssey looking for those responsible.

Possibly. Pax was forced to admit to herself that, in fact, she needed time. As a civilian captain of a research vessel, as a medical doctor, and a forensic investigator, it would be foolish to throw all of the years of hard work and reputation into dust and go chasing something...

It was something because, after all the time of investigation and the forensic sweep of the scene, nothing was found. No groups claimed this attack as their doing. There were no fingerprints, no scraps from the explosive device, nothing. And she wasn't allowed to go there. Admiral's orders.

Till now.

Pax shook her head a few times, as if she was trying to shake out the sounds from her mind. Protau observed her actions silently. All these years taught him not to ask too many questions about her quirks. If this is the way she deals with stuff, then fine.

For her, it was more of a way to shake off the remnants of the dreams or memories.

"Protau, if you have some spare time, could you...?" She hesitated, thinking about what she would actually want him to do. Find him? Find the man. What did he say?

"I already checked. There are no reports of anyone matching that description in the medical or rescue team." Pax was impressed; he would be a great detective. "Also, as far as we know, the security guards inside the amphitheatre were killed, so either your hero is hiding or wounded and self-medicating, or he is the one responsible for this massacre and has a special interest in you." He twiddled his thumbs when he spoke, trying to remember all of the important facts and information.

"That stinks," she snorted. Protau flashed a partial smile back at her.

"Exactly." His tone was definite and closing. Pax knew he would try to impose his will and reasoning on her. She may comply, for now. "Time to grab your bags and find out what happened on Earth."

"I thought you would never say that." Her voice was full of genuine relief.