Antares waited until all three of them came inside and locked the door. The room resembled a cramped, almost claustrophobic cube that served only one objective. Nothing except a black flag with circles decorated the grey walls, and a little lamp offering weak white light was mounted on the ceiling.

“Stay there,” ordered Antares and walked closer to the table standing in the middle, “and you, sit down.”

Keeping a wary eye on him, Cerridwen pulled back a simple, metal chair and sat on the edge. Shuffling her foot, she propped her hands on her knee.

“Everything you hear here must stay between you and me,” he said, crossing his arms. “Do you get it?

She nodded, observing his every move. Antares kept an eye on her too to get a sense of her emotions, especially her fear and hesitation which were seen when she lied. He knew she was afraid and had no confidence in him, that’s what let him take control over the situation and force her to tell the information in a brusque manner.

“Tell me something more… his name, what he does, how he behaves.”

“His name is,” began Cerridwen, but then she hesitated. Something was constricting her neck muscles, preventing her voice from coming out. Forcing her throat muscles to relax, she took a deep breath and swallowed hard. She clenched her fingers to gasp out the two words.

“Seth Felvennis.”

“How do you know him?”

“Do I need to answer that?” Cerridwen asked in a trembling voice. She breathed in and blinked several times. She tried to keep her voice steady as she answered Antares, but the vision of Seth leaving home came back to her sharply and with a force of a ricocheting bullet. Gazing at the table, she kept all expressions off her face, making it look cold and stone-like. She answered in a voice without the slightest tremble, “What matters is that I know where he might be.” The Celestian girl raised her head. She unbuckled her LiqWatch and pulled it off her wrist. “I can give you his digits if you don’t ask me any more questions.” Antares squinted and twisted his lips.

“Why? If we have to do anything, we need to know everything.” He stepped ahead. “You act on my rules or we end our collaboration.”

Cerridwen opened her eyes wider and slid back on the chair, touching the hard backrest. She averted her gaze and opened her mouth to inhale the cold air.

“Can I, sir?” Nadee broke in before the Celestian girl said anything. She just wanted to spare the girl from the greater pain. If Cerridwen started crying or tried to run away, she would lose even the slightest trace of Antares’s respect.

The Commander was going to say something, but he nodded and stepped away with hands hidden behind his back. He had no time for slow questioning, pumping the information out of the intruder one piece at a time. Nadee approached the table. She took a seat next to Cerridwen. She rested her elbows on her knees and gripped the edges of her sleeves.

“We won’t ask you anymore,” said Nadee. “Just give me your LiqWatch, and I’ll do the rest by myself.”

“I want to see it,” interjected Antares and took the device. He viewed it, turning it around in his fingers and gave it back to Nadee. “What’s in it?”

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“My calls to him. And a few messages,” answered Cerridwen. “Maybe you’ll find the identification number of his LiqWatch and trace him or whatever that you do.”

“Chandri, go check what you can do with it,” he commanded and smiled to himself. Keeping a stern face again, he glanced at Cerridwen. He lowered his eyes and mumbled so quietly that only Cerridwen understood his words, “If it leads us to the source of the SynthBreed Project, I’ll be in another one of your favours.”

Cerridwen clenched her teeth. She did not answer but felt as if she’d just won a strenuous battle with an enemy mightier than her. She was not going to miss any opportunity to make use of the favours that Antares owed her for her own purpose. He was so stuck to his rules, but he had authority, skills and technology to lead her to Seth.

Cerridwen promised herself, and before that to her father, she would find her brother even if she had to sweep through the entire inhabited galaxy zone or beyond to deliver the most severe justice to him, as Devi Kali had advised. She’d taken the first step in that long journey. Now the time had come for another.

“Can I go now?” she asked.

“Where?” asked Antares before Cerridwen could take a deep breath to answer. “You have no right to knock around this ship. I’ll house you in the fifth sector.”

Cerridwen straightened up, her exhausted eyes opening wider. “Is that the prison?"

“It just looks like a prison. It’s a closed zone, but you’re officially not a prisoner. I’m going to keep you there in case I need more information.” Antares tightened his lips. “We may need you later.” He turned towards Quirinus, “Captain Eadon, take her there.”

“Yes, sir,” answered Quirinus and swung his hand towards her, “come on.”

He marched ahead, keeping his eyes on the young Celestian girl all the time. Cerridwen straggled behind him, paying no attention to his hastened steps. She was busy making a plan in case Nadee tracked Seth. She focused on the escape from the closed zone at first. They could not watch every nook of this colossal machine all the time.

Passing the corridors, they exchanged no word. Cerridwen walked slowly, trying to take in everything that she saw and observing the setting to find the best hiding places or ways of escape that she would need after she sneaked out of her cell. The Annihilator’s interior was full of shafts, hidden nooks and tiny, rarely visited rooms. Squeezing into one of them should not be an effort for the agile Celestian girl.

They reached the lift and got out as it stopped on the higher floor. The only people there were a few guards holding long shotguns. Strolling around the corridor in silence, they just nodded at the sight of the approaching Quirinus. He led Cerridwen to the front of the metal door. He touched the control panel on the wall with his LiqWatch to open the entrance.

“Get in.” He pointed to the room. “Later someone will come to you and give you the essentials. And remember,” he frowned and lowered his voice to a harsh whisper, “don’t even try to move anywhere without General Antares’s approval. I’m not gonna explain to him later.”

“Of course,” she agreed, shrugging her shoulders, and walked inside. The lock screeched, and the sound of the footsteps dampened. Cerridwen took a look around her new cell. She could cross the entire room in four steps. A metal table, short bench and a construction that was supposed to be a bed took up the majority of space. Next to the scaffolding of welded pipes and covered by a mattress stood a tin cabinet with the door ajar. A tiny lamp in the ceiling swept everything in a glaring white afterglow that reminded Cerridwen of the secret laboratory of a mad scientist.

The Celestian girl lay down on the bed and fastened the belts. So far she’d slept in stores or other rarely used places, secured only by a makeshift harness. Pipes sticking in her bones seemed to be a far more comfortable option than floating in the air and hitting walls or random items.

She closed her eyes, trying to relax. For three hours, she tossed and turned, but sleep seemed to stay far away from her. Bright light hindered her rest, along with the sight she had in front of her eyes all the time. It was just a normal memory but appeared so real that she could touch it.

"Seth."

He stood still, keeping his peace and gazing ahead. His face expressed no emotions. Cerridwen felt like she was a target of an enemy’s malevolent stare.

She opened her eyes. The sight disappeared, but a sense of being observed stayed with her. Cerridwen tugged at the blanket, and despite the smell of dust itching her throat, she wrapped herself in it. The exhaustion was killing her, but she lost all the will to sleep.