Domel Arcturus

"It's close," I said. "We're close to the colony. Kilkaja and George are also there."

"How about Sel?"

"I don't know. Her pathfinder device stopped working a couple of hours ago. I hope she's safe."

I tried my best not to assume the worst, but we were in the worst situation that could possibly happened to us. We were still inside the forest with the lights going out faster than we thought, and we still had problems with the Saukauri patrol that started opening fire the moment they saw us. For them, we were easy targets. Vyrnian were taller than Saukaurs and bigger, which made maneuvering the forest hard. We tried to talk them out of this and told them that we were on the planet by mistake. But then, when we told them that we were going to the colony, they immediately assumed that we were with their enemy and opened fire. We got away after Zarya intensified her healing wave light to blind them.

After George told us to run, I immediately grabbed Zarya and ran to a different direction. In the confusion and panic, I forgot to check my pathfinder device. But, in my defense, you would not pull out your device when you are in the middle of a crossfire. Our shield generators had depleted their charges two hours ago. We were able to hide ourselves in the darkness due to my own black scales, though Zarya's scales were of bright champagne color and light reflecting. The forest's darkness did not hide her well enough.

I told Zarya to try and not use her healing wave, knowing that the bright light effect of her ability would alert the enemies. While her healing wave was far more effective in healing our wounds than the first aid kit she was carrying around, it's still dangerous and we would lose our cover of darkness.

Our trek through the darkness was full of worry and fear of being shot. I must admit, this was one of the most frightening moment in my life. Here I was, trying to find our friends, with no shield, low power reserve, and trying our best to stay out of sight of forest patrols in darkness, with only the low lighting of the pathfinder device being our only illumination.

It really was a stupid decision to just run blindly in the middle of the forest. We could've reached our ship by now and be safe behind its shield. I bet even the soldiers would not even dare to attack us on the ship. It was literally the best place to defend ourselves until morning came. However, things had happened, and we gotta try and survive from it. And besides, we were on the planet for a reason. I was not that stubborn to try and complete our goal here, but we got a chance and I would use it, especially since we were much closer to the colony after the ambush.

I remembered what Sel said about them. Saukaurs. They were known as space hunters even before the Exodus, but they were not warmongers. Things had changed too much. Even I wondered how I could keep up, even though in my case it also felt like I went back in time (which I actually did). The Vyrnians lost a lot of their old technological advances in the past 500 years, our planet was sealed from whatever's going out of the Eye, and now I found out that our enemy, the Trikelians, were already influencing our lives long before I was even born. We need a way to counter them, and that information was found on Aurelis Three. It was the last intelligence before Exodus, and it could have something to do with the Trikelians.

The peace did not stay long. We accidentally stumbled upon a patrol and our eyes reflected their lights. I acted quickly by zapping them with electricity, but they were not the only patrol in the area. It was wrong to use my electricity against them, because it's bright and it clearly alerted everyone nearby. Cursing to myself for panicking, I took Zarya's hand and run towards the direction of the colony's coordinates.

Energy weapons could not hurt me that badly. In fact, it charged me up. However, the heat of the discharged energy was still there, and upon impact on my body, it felt like being burned by a torch. Stronger blasts could damage my scales and actually hurt me, which happened when a particularly strong energy shot hit me in the back and stunned me a couple of seconds due to the pain. However, it also charged me, so I immediately turned around and let out a stream of electricity that only hit the tree, which left a nasty scorch mark. They were smaller and nimbler than I was, so our only option was to get out and hope George and Kilkaja knew what they were doing. It was only a small distance away now. I could make it.

However, Zarya was rather exhausted. She was not used to running in a dense forest. She started to draw a heavy breath, and even stopped running all together.

"Just leave me, Arcturus," said Zarya. "You go to them. Please. Don't worry about me. I can't run anymore."

"I am not going to leave a friend to die!" I exclaimed. In desperation, I started lifting her on my back, carrying her lighter body with me as I ran. I knew this was risky, but I had no other choice if I wanted Zarya to live.

I quickly realized the risk I must take. Due to Zarya's added weight and the need to protect her, I was forced to get an energy blast hit and tried to absorb it. Again, the Saukaurs knew the power needed to cause significant damage. One of them hit me in the chest. I roared in pain and dropped to my knee, but I could not stop. The pathfinder device around my neck told me that I was close. I did not even have the time to think whether it was a trap or not. I just needed to reach the signals.

Just then, I could hear some people shouting orders from beyond the forest. Then, before long, we got ourselves involved in yet another crossfire. It seemed that the patrols stumbled upon the enemies and they started shooting them. I felt this was the right call. If we could stay out of their focus for a bit, we could slip away in the darkness. The colony was not far, and we could make it!

However, the crossfire did not last long. In fact, it became a fight with swords and shields. We were right between their fight. I could see that half of the Saukaurs were defending themselves, but I did not know one of them even considered my presence.

"Hey, Vyrnian!" he shouted. "Follow me!"

I nodded and increased my pace, but in the chaotic fight, I got caught in it.

I could feel the pain when they slashed my leg's tendon, which caused me to lose my footing. The pain was very unbearable but was dulled by Zarya's healing wave. I needed to continue on. I did not even think about what permanent damage my leg would get after this. All I wanted was to get away from the nightmare.

We were only saved because of two factors. First, we were saved by some Saukaurs that defended us as I ran towards the clearing. Second, the colony-turned-base was heavily fortified. As our pursuers started chasing us after breaking off from the defenders, they were forced to retreat when mortar shots blew up some of them. I was walking in the middle of all that and I could feel the energy of the explosion on my scales, along with some stray shrapnel hitting me. All those pain did not compare with the pain from the slashed tendon, but they still hurt.

Then, like a ray of hope, George risked his own life to run out of the fortified colony and directed me towards the gate, where some Saukaurs were defending their position. By this point, Zarya's healing wave was so weak, it could not keep the tendon fixed enough to keep me walking, and I roared as I fell to my knees when the pain shot back at me like a bullet. Zarya, who by this point had recovered her stamina, then helped me and took me to the fortified colony. I did not remember when we got ourselves behind the gates because all I remembered from this time was the unbearable pain of my leg.

"Don't move too much, Arcturus! I need to close your wound!" shouted Zarya as she intensified her healing wave, expending all her energy reserves at once. I could hear her asking the Saukaurs bandages and anything they could spare to cover my wounds.

I did not really remember anything from this point on because the cut tendon also cut through my arteries, which effectively cause me to lose a lot of blood. The exhaustion of running through the forest at night and the excruciating pain from the cut tendon effectively took all my energy. After that roar of pain before, I had effectively expended everything and...I felt tired. So tired.

I was always told that if you're bleeding hard and no one was there to heal you, you needed to stay awake and close the wounds yourself. I knew I needed to stay awake, but I couldn't. I couldn't even hear Zarya shouting at me, though her face was a comforting sight.

My vision blurred, and I started to lose consciousness. It felt like I was going to go to sleep for a long time. It felt like death.

Then all turned black, and I felt nothing.

***

Somehow, I dreamed. I remembered dreaming about a white space, thinking that this was the afterlife. I walked around the landscape, trying to contemplate why I was there and why I was dreaming that. Just then, a voice called me. I did not see the owner of the voice, but the voice was vaguely familiar. It sounded like my mother.

I could vaguely remember what she told me. It's around the line of 'don't give up' and 'it's not your time' yet. Just so you know, I believed in the afterlife, but I did not really believe that I had died momentarily back then. I only believed that it was my subconsciousness telling me not to give in and go to the light. I still had a job to do, and that was to see my planet again.

Afterwards, I remembered opening my eyes. It was already morning and I could hear noises around me. I tried to move my body, but it felt as heavy as a rock. Before I could really force myself to do it, however, Zarya came by me and supported me.

"Whoa, slow down," she said as she helped me get up. "You lost too much blood. I bet your body's like being tied down, huh?"

"I...I," I said. I wanted to say that I was thirsty, but Zarya seemed to understand and get me some water. I drank all of it and I felt refreshed. My body still felt heavy, though.

"How do you feel?" she asked.

"Weak...and light-headed. What...what happened?"

"You lost a lot of blood. If it wasn't for my healing wave, the wound might kill you," she said. "One of the Saukaurs in the forest cut through your tendon. I can repair it, but we need a better facility than my ship. We need to get you to Arkari where the healer's facility will help return your leg to top shape. However, until then, I'm afraid you need to use a stick to walk...or try not to walk too much."

I sighed. This was the part where I was incapacitated and not being able to help with the fights. Still, my only consolation was the fact that I was still needed for something else.

The Saukaurs could make a good soup even if it was rather basic and, for me, not salted enough. I couldn't blame them for not having salt as I later heard from one of them that they had exhausted their rations and needed to hunt. Their background as space hunters were well used here as they knew which creatures were edible and which were not. Their survival skill was so different and advanced to the point they could find edible creatures on a different planet.

George, who was coordinating defense efforts with the Saukaurs, then approached me as I ate my soup. I listened with intent, nodding as he told me everything that happened while I was walking through the dangerous forest without a guide. Of course, I made sure he knew. George simply said, "Yeah, I'm sorry for not trying to find you, buddy, but I also got someone to protect."

Who was Kilkaja. I noticed that the Nuoevan wasn't around, so I asked. George said, "They're resting. Leave them be, alright?"

I needed more rest that the others. Well, except Zarya, who admitted to staying awake all night trying to save me from dying. I really owed my life to her, and I wanted to one day repay that. Right now, however, I needed to repay my debt to my saviors.

It was a struggle to stand up with a damaged leg, but with a little support from Zarya, I managed to stand. One of the Saukaurs provided me with an improvised walking stick he carved from a tree, presumably with Zarya's request. I tried to support myself with it, but I found that it was harder to walk this way, and it certainly took a lot of stamina just to support myself and walk. Not to mention that I lost a lot a blood and still light-headed.

"Hey. Don't force yourself," said Zarya. "Take it slow."

"Can't get used to it if I don't try," I said, straining. I turned to George and said, "What...kind of help do they need, George?"

"They need to ask for a ship to retreat," said George. "Their only comm is destroyed during an early skirmish and they are betting on the communication facilities in the colony."

"What...will they do if they never got our help?"

"Die trying...I guess," said George. "Many of them don't have any training other than what they were given since childhood, which is nothing more than a mandatory sword and shield training along with the survival skill they were known for. Sethis even said some of his comrades can't even aim right."

"Even with a wrist-gun?" I said.

"We're more used to one with an aiming interface," said a Saukaur, who somehow heard my comment. "We usually hunt with blades, and most of us don't have advanced gun training beyond aiming interface."

"What kind of war are you fighting here?" I asked.

"A pointless war that cost us many things," he said. "Which came out of a disagreement. I'm Sethis, by the way."

"Arcturus," I said.

"Okay, Arcturus...do you think you can help us?"

"I really hoped that I don't need to re-wire complicated circuits," I said. "The computers are too complex to be tampered with."

"At least you know what you're doing," said Sethis. "We don't even know how to operate your computers."

Well. Now that everyone's putting their hope on me, I could not just sit back and wait how things unfolded, right? It was not just in me to delay if I could help.

When I thought about a colony, I thought it would be someplace rather big and extensive. It turned out that this 'colony' was nothing more than a base, with all the mandatory equipment and a place that could fit 7 Vyrnians inside, judging by the size of the penthouse-sized building. It was clearly abandoned a long time ago, and I doubted that anything inside could still work. Unlike the sealed colony on Amurlun, this colony's already succumbing to the planet.

However, the generator's still in good shape. I simply turned it on. From the look of it, we got at least a day's worth of low power usage. Once I got inside, the place was rather spacious, with most of the computers put on one side of the circular building. Most of it had already been invaded by the nature outside. Even the main doors were part of a tree, requiring us to get in through the emergency exit opened by a Saukaur already inside. Given the technology level, I'd say that it was around my era, but maybe a little later, given how the design was different from the ones I was used to. However, the fact that it was a holo-interface was enough to make things easier.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Despite the colony's run-down state, the computer did not seem to be broken or non-functional. I approached the only holo-interface I could find and started operating it. The first thing I did was to check the condition of the computers and if they could still be used.

I knew it would be too easy to assume that it would work. Once I tried to establish communication, I sighed when I saw that the range was insufficient, possibly due to a damaged receiver and the absence of an orbiting communication relay.

"Is your ship near the planet at all?" I said after I turned to see Sethis.

"If that's the case, we'd be out of this god-forsaken planet a long time ago," said Sethis. "Can you...call them?"

"We need a satellite link in orbit to extend the link," I said. "Given the state of this colony, I bet the satellite itself is already somewhere on this planet, broken and unusable."

"Fuck," he said in desperation.

"But," said Zarya. "We might be able to use my ship's sub-communicator to get a link. Arcturus, can you link the communicator to the ship?"

I nodded and did just that. For me, it wasn't that hard, given that I did that when I was a child when I wanted to play a game with friends. Oh, I was reminiscing. Yeah, my childhood's kinda normal, I suppose. I had friends to play over the net, but I wasn't that into it, like some Vyrnians I knew in the past. Given how much time had passed, I doubted I could reminisce with them anymore. My childhood friends had already died by this point, naturally or not.

I established the link with the ship's AI. From here, Zarya took over. She had a little difficulty using the holo-interface, but I helped her when she was asking about things. Before long, she managed to use her ship's sub-communicator, which was much more advanced than the one in the colony, to open a communication.

After that, I instructed Sethis on how to operate the holo-interface. He had difficulties understanding the Vyrnian words, but I directed him with quite a detail as I sat on a chair nearby, listening to Sethis's communication with a Saukaur.

"This is Sethis Melser of the Aurelis Three Volunteer group. Do you read me?" he said. "I repeat. This is Sethis Melser of the Aurelis Three Volunteer group. Do you read?"

"Loud and clear, Melser," said the Saukaur from the other side. "I receive audio and video from your end. Where did you find such comm?"

"From a Vyrnian colony's comm device. We need your help sending a relief ship for us to evacuate. We lost our rations and our position is compromised. We also need backup."

"We'll try to comply. The dispatch is currently compromised, and we can only spare a couple of ships. Most of them are already used to evacuate the HQ."

"Evacuate the...did we lose?"

"There was an attack a couple of days ago," said the Saukaur. "We lost a lot of ships and the rest are used for evacuation. What's the situation on your end?"

"We lost our comm and...most of the boys when we lost our base three days ago," said Sethis. "Do you think you can spare a relief ship enough for 30 Vyrnians."

"Thirty? That's all left of you? What's your status?"

"Ration's gone, we're low on energy, the Vyrnian colony's generator can only sustain us for one day, and we had just used the last of our mines and mortar shells. We really need a fast ship."

The Saukaur's expression turned to what I assumed to be either sympathy or reluctance to tell. After deliberating, he then said, "We...only have one small ship enough for 5, in case of emergencies. The rest...are still traveling here. We can redirect of them to your position, but it will take five days."

"Five days?" said Sethis, surprised.

"I'm sorry, Melser," he said. "I...hope it's not going to be delayed."

They closed their communication, which left us in dread. Guess they really needed to wait for five more days. Given how they already lost so much in just a week, five days would be a very long day.

Of course, that was if we did not try and help. I heard the communication from start to finish and I assessed the situation. They needed a fast lift, and I happened to know someone to call.

"We can try and call the Lekan colony," I suggested. "They have a fast ship under repair there. I just need to put a call."

"Do you think they'd want to spare a ship for Saukaurs?" said Zarya. "Their war is not the Vyrnians' concern."

"We can't know if we don't ask, right? I'm gonna call the Lekan colony."

"Wait," said Sethis. "You have a ship, right? Can it be piloted remotely?"

"It can, and this interface can do it," said Zarya. "In fact, I can..."

"Wait, don't," I said, realizing that it was a bad idea. "If we move that ship here, it will be seen as a relief ship and your enemies will break the siege and come attack you in full force. Even if this place is fortified, 30 Vyrnians will not be able to defend it effectively."

"How big is the ship, anyway?"

"Big enough to fit 7 adult Vyrnians, but I'm not sure 30 Saukaurs would fit," I said. "And besides, we still have to consider the take-off weight. We won't be able to break orbit if we're too heavy."

Zarya contemplated on my words and said, "He's right. It's too risky. We need to make a call."

Sethis also realized that it was a dangerous move. We should only move the ship after we are fully prepared. At this point, the Saukaurs currently in the forest had no idea that this base was not as fortified as it was. We clearly could not risk escaping the planet without proper way to defend ourselves.

Just then, one of the Saukaurs walked into the living area and said, "Seth! The scouts are back!"

"Are they fine? How many returned?"

His face looked grim. "Just...three. Sitaris, Tansa, and...Lister."

Sethis did not reply immediately, but he said, "Take them in and treat their wounds."

The Saukaur nodded and walked out. Sethis, whose mood changed, said, "Now we're down to 20. At this rate, we're going to be holed up in this place. If we have to wait for five more days, it's practically dead sentence!"

"Then we really have to risk it," said Zarya. "I'll check the ship AI if we can take off with an extra 20 Saukaurs. From what I gather, you're pretty light yourselves."

As she started a communication with the ship's AI, I turned to Sethis and said, "I guess by this point you need to accept that you're practically abandoned."

"I did not want to believe that, but at this point, I believe we are. Five days is far too long for a relief ship to come. We came here with a regular ship and it only took 15 hours. They just don't say it in my face so that I can try and keep optimistic about it, but I'm not that ignorant."

"Good thing we came at the right time," I said.

"Yeah," said Sethis. "I want to believe that it's just a coincidence, but I suppose even our god doesn't want us to die yet."

"I wonder. How devastating is this skirmish if you've lost so much in less than a week?"

"Too devastating to tell," said Sethis. "If you have fought with the coalition, you'd know that even they are inexperienced in the art of war and are only winning because of their number and supplies. If they were trained, this fortification is not going to last a day. We were all trophy hunters before all this nonsense with the Felinians, and before this war, we were...well, we hunt, both as a job and as a ritual to adulthood. Some of the soldiers were untrained hunters who only survived their first hunt. They were the first to die."

"What's the deal with the Felinians?"

"Something to do with the Felinian's population problem, and how they took a lot of our hunting planets to accomodate it. Yes, I know they're wrong, but our government is trying to find a compromise for them, but only if we stop this pointless war. Some of us disagreed and just wanted to wipe the Felinians or try and control their absurd fertility. The problem is...even if we win this, we gain nothing and the Felinians are the true winner."

"So, you hate Sel because of this?"

He chuckled. "Hey, I'm not the kind of person to blame someone as a proxy for the entire race. Even if I want to hate her, her reaction against me is clearly due to something traumatic. They may come out as a winner, but not every single Felinian wins."

I was confused about this fact until George told me what happened last night.

"So, despite what I said, no one truly wins," said Sethis. "Which makes this fight pointless. The Felinians will use the compromise for their own good, which I know is temporary. If it was me, I'd ask other space-faring races and ask for their help, but the Vyrnians do not want anything to do with, the Nuoevans don't care, and the Orians are just assholes."

"Some might listen," I said. "You just have to find one. If you want to know, we both have the same situation. We are all alone in pursuing our goals and we need more than just ourselves. Finding allies can be difficult, but you can always find one that's willing to listen."

"But what if no one cared?" said Sethis.

"You cared. You still have you. Unless you did something to piss everybody off, someone out there might hear you."

"So, you're telling me to just...find a different side?"

I nodded. Sethis needed a different perspective in all this. There must be Saukaurs out there who wanted peace or even an alliance above all else, not compromise and devastating wars, especially now. The Trikelian threat may have been contained within planet Vyrn, but from what I could gather, the Eye was never deactivated. The planet might've already been infested and the only thing that prevent them from spreading was the planetary shield. There's also the matter with the Trikelians that did manage to get out and influencing the post-Exodus Vyrnians. This part was still mysterious and we had no idea to tackle it.

The discussion made me remember what we were supposed to be doing in this colony. We did not risk our lives for nothing. While Zarya communicated with her ship's AI, I used another holo-interface to check the transmission. I hoped it was still in the computer somewhere. I knew how to use a communication holo-interface as part of my soldier training, so I knew where to look. The transmission may not be saved properly due to the abandoned state of this colony, but the computer did catch the radio wave.

I converted the wave into an intelligible file. It was a recording along with an attached document. Without hesitating, I played the file. It was a video with a green-scaled Vyrnian on it. He was wearing a military uniform and seemed to be inside an intelligence room, judging by the computers behind him. However, they seemed rather...in a hurry, or maybe erratic? I did not understand their actions until the green one started talking.

"So, it begins," he said with a rather final tone. "I never thought we used it, and by Amarta's grace, we did. Whoever got this message, I don't have much time. Exodus Plan will cut off communication, so I'll cut to the chase. The Plan does not work. The Trikelians played a long game on the Vyrnians and are ready to start their plan. The cultists and the Eye were just distractions. Their real target is the key on Ijuri. I can only give you the coordinates and declassified files. Remember this. Find general Domel and tell him this: What does the Rinki bird sing?"

A riddle? For my father? What does that mean? And what is a Rinki Bird? I had so many questions that only my dad could tell. Somehow, the Vyrnian talking did not think that the transmission was open-ended and clearly did not know that dad was on Lekan. I guess he was pressed on time.

"I hope anyone get this message. We cannot risk giving this to a ship. The Trikelians might already heard it. The radio wave will take it to any receiver stations without the Trikelian knowing. If this is general Domel, I thank you for you service, sir. It has been..."

The message cut off right there, just before the Vyrnian could say 'honor'. Whoever it was, he seemed to respect dad as his superior. He clearly did not know what happened to dad. The Exodus Plan, as I read it, required the generals to stay out of the planet as it was being evacuated. There may be other generals out there, but I doubted that they were put into cryosleep. In my opinion, this Plan had a lot of flaws.

I downloaded the content of the message to my Pathfinder as Zarya approached me.

"Arcturus," said Zarya. "The ship's computer predicts that we can carry 20 or so Saukaurs without burdening the propulsion system, but only if all the Saukaurs were below 200 pounds or so."

"Are they?" I said as I turned to Sethis.

"Yeah. We can fit everyone inside," said Sethis. "Right, so it has been settled. We begin this operation at night, when they are resting. We'll take the chance to get the hell out of this planet while they are still confused. Does your ship have a stealth function?"

"Unfortunately, no," said Zarya.

"Then we need to be quick," said George. "I'll go out there and coordinate our efforts with Astha. The least we can do is to go out with a bang and hope everyone is accounted for."

"You do that. I'll tell the rest to be ready and prepare to defend the colony until that time comes," said Sethis.

George nodded and walked out of the building with Sethis, leaving me and Zarya behind. She then approached me and said, "You seemed confused."

"The transmission was intended for my father," I said. "I don't know what he did in the intelligence center, but I had several ideas."

"About the Exodus Plan?"

"Back on Lekan, dad told me that the Plan was not flawed and made in a hurry after the president's untimely death. He also...admitted that he was still distraught after being forced to put me into exile so I wasn't persecuted. I was being framed by someone for apparently killing the president."

"Did you?"

"Well, if I did, I didn't remember any of it. I was patrolling the Citadel when someone knocked me out. The next thing I know, I was on a ship, naked, and 3500 years had passed. Dad's message told me what happened, and dad told me everything."

"So...it's a mystery?"

"Yeah."

We stopped for a while as we stared into each other's eyes. Zarya then sat beside me.

"Have you...ever regretted traveling with us?" I asked.

"Why did you ask?" said Zarya, who looked confused.

"I don't know. It's just that we faced so many dangers and stuff that this might not be your cup of tea. We faced death every corner and, well, get into trouble."

"Well, to be honest with you, I do have the idea of just go home and stay out of trouble," said Zarya. "But, I guess I am just too curious to stop, not after all this. I always know how dangerous outer space is, so for me, it's not surprising."

"You mean you've always wanted to travel?"

"Why do you think I bought a medium-sized ship, anyway? I wanted traveling companions, people that I can share what my thoughts are. I asked some of my friends, but they are too busy with their work...until you and George came along."

I chuckled. "That sounds like we're freeloaders."

"Well, yes and no. You did hire me for taking you to Vyrn, but I haven't got paid for what comes after."

"Uh..."

"But I don't really care, because for me, the excitement of adventure is what matters. I'll be keeping tabs, though."

Her confession felt genuine and showed her playful side. I never thought Zarya to be someone with that sense of adventure but given how she did not complain about many things, I'd say she really liked it. Within reason, of course. You wouldn't want to be a danger junkie, right? Not that I'd call Zarya that, especially since she reminded me that I hired her. She might stay out of trouble if she could. I might even encourage her due to her status as our healer.

We really did not have anything to do but wait until it's nighttime, so we started talking again, this time about both of our pasts. I tried not to talk too much about how pre-Exodus life worked, given that by this point, it was all in the past and clearly would make Zarya felt alienated.

However, what I did know was that we slowly started to talk about more...personal things, like what I like and...Vyrnians I was into. It was only later that I realized that this private setting felt a lot like a date than just a simple talk, and both of us felt something more than just friendship. We had been piloting the ship together, but we had never talked about stuffs except things related to the planet or mundane things like colonies to visit and things to see.

I remembered asking her about her family, and she said, "I never knew my real parents. I was raised by a kind elderly healer who taught me the healing wave ability and many things that would inspire and help me to become a healer, partially to try to continue his legacy, and partially to try and help him. He was already old when I first remembered him, maybe around 199 years old or so. Didn't live longer than that, unfortunately. He died around ten years ago."

"Oh...I'm sorry," I said.

"I did not end up saving him. Still, I learned a lesson. When the time's up, it's time to go. It makes it easier for me to accept deaths. I've encountered many deaths as a healer, mostly from old age or just an alien sickness. I tried saving them, but not all survived long. I remembered feeling very distressed about it, but after a while, you just accept it and move on."

"Being attached can be a problem," I said.

"But I want to be more attached to some people...like you," she said as she scooted towards me. That's when I realized that she was practically confessing that she had feelings for me. But I felt reluctant. Not because of the age discrepancy, given that my body did not age when in cryo, but because of my rather old-fashioned look of life...and romance. Of course, I would be willing to learn, but would she be patient? Of course, I quickly got the answer after I asked her.

"Do you really want to be with someone like me?" I said. "I mean, I am rather disconnected from the world and my education came from 500 years ago."

"There's no better time to learn than now, right? You need a guide, and I'll happily help you with that."

"I'd be happy to follow," I said. We smiled towards each other as we continued talking. I did not think that I'd be involved with Zarya a bit more than just professional relationship. Maybe it wasn't just a professional relationship. Maybe she wanted a friend that she could share her adventure with. I guess I was that friend.

Sethis then walked in, causing us to look at him and broke our conversation. The Saukaur seemed to know what happened when he said, "Am I interrupting something?"

"Well...kinda," I said. "But it's alright."

"It's not the right time either, you know," he said. "But no matter. It's going to be dark soon. Just want to tell you if you're ready with the ship."

"Whoa, wait...it's going dark soon?" I said, perplexed. "I thought it's only several hours since I woke up."

"The planet only has ten hours of light," he said. "And you woke up in the afternoon. Things go so fast if you're sleeping all day."

"I guess so," I said. "So, is everyone ready?"

"Are you?"

"I'll try," I said. Not sure if that's the truth given my leg's condition.

"Good. Try and focus on the job, and I hope you can fit 20 extra Saukaurs in there."

"We will. Trust me on that."

Sethis nodded. "I just hope this plan is going to work. If not...we're all fucked."

"It's always dark before the dawn, Sethis," I said, trying to keep him optimistic. Sethis acknowledged it with a nod.

"Nice quote," he said.

"I forgot who from, though," I said.

"Let's stick to that, shall we?"

We nodded at each other, acknowledging the fact that things would work out. I really hoped it would be, because I wanted to see things through. I wanted to live and solve the mystery of our sealed planet, to accept the fact that the planet was no longer ours.

And I would fight to live another day, for me...and for Zarya.