Raj blinked into the sun. Raj is not my real name. They called me Cap, Captain… Captain Dee…

He couldn’t move. He tried, but his arms didn’t move.

His legs. Did he have legs?

He felt like a bug that had been knocked out of the air. He could do nothing, move nothing. He could only wince against the white-blue glare that must be the sky.

Had he been here forever?

Pinned into stillness onto this hardboard in some giant’s galactic display case? Preserved in this harsh light for a god to glance upon once an eon then turn away? Only ever breathing and blinking out towards that vast nothingness?

There were sounds now.

He could hear. Sounds were returning to him—the sound of running but muffled in deadness. Sound being absorbed.

Someone was calling out from far away. A slight tremor, barely perceptible at first, then growing in intensity.

Someone running towards him. He could feel their footfalls through the sand.

Sand? Yes. He wasn’t pinned onto a wall. He was lying in the sand.

A shadow fell across him, blocking out the blinding light—more muffled noises. Sounds came to him as if he was underwater. That deep rumble at the edge of his hearing was someone speaking to him—the sensation of his hearing returning.

Their tone was insistent. A column of smoke was rising beside him.

Fire?

He rolled his head towards the smoke.

Oh. Just my glider. No. Not my glider. The orangutan’s glider. I’m Captain Dee… No—my glider. We’re wrecked.

I’m wrecked.

But it was surprising how little he cared. Everything was very calm. His emotions were cool, like flat water. He concentrated on his breathing. He could hear himself breathing now.

Rush in, rush out. Air in, air out. Peaceful. So very peaceful and relaxing.

He could also hear the crunch of the sand against the back of his head. He realized he had closed his eyes.

Dark and peaceful. But that voice. So insistent. A woman’s voice.

“Don’t move! Don’t move your head.” An older woman. He blinked against the brightness. It was a shadow speaking over him. The one that had blocked out the harsh light for him. Her skin full of green tattoos. It was the high priestess, not wearing her mask. He had never seen her without it…

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

Yes, you have, long ago. In the cantina. Big Crunch’s Cantina. The woman in the green tattoos. The one who threw herself on the floor. The one who took the white optical sensor, after...

“I remember you,” he said, with the orangutan voice. Halfway to a growl, the sounds all out of the neck. Not like he was supposed to sound. His lips were too thick, as if they were swollen.

No… not swollen. The lips of an orangutan. It wasn’t his voice. Not Johnny Deeley’s voice.

That’s it. I’m Captain John Deeley. Special Air Service Corps.

“OK. Don’t move. Help is coming. We’ll get you inside and…”

“Leave me,” he said. “I am done. I have lived two lifetimes. It has been a long time since we met in the cantina. He… the machine, somehow made us live even longer.”

“You are lucky you let go of the glider when you did. You are badly hurt, but let me take you inside. There is still a chance once inside…”

“I’m old. And I remember everything. I have lived twice. That is enough. Aren’t you tired? You must be tired by now.”

“Yes. Yes, I am. But we will continue the struggle.”

“Are the girls ok?”

“Yes,” she said. “Yes. You did well. You did very well.” The next, she yelled over her shoulder, “Where is that stretcher!” He could see she was smiling at him through tears. Her words to him were soft, “Things are changing. I spoke to the glass city today.”

“Glass city?”

“On top of the tower. One of the minds that live in the crystal. She spoke to me.”

“A droid. In the apex anchor. That’s all—nothing to get your hopes up over. The people are all dead and gone. I’m going to sleep now. Leave me alone,” he said. His vision was beginning to go dark.

I welcome the darkness.

“No. This was a person. A professor. In the city of glass.”

Professor?

He searched for the face again. The face looking down at him.

That’s right. The old Sister. From the cantina, from the night of the storm.

“You spoke to a… professor? You said you spoke to a professor. On top of the tower. What do you know of a professor?”

“You shouldn’t talk so much. Save your strength. I will get you inside. There is tech in the pyramid I can use to heal you.”

“What is a professor?”

“I don’t know. I have never heard of a professor. Someone who professes? You need to lie still.”

“Professor Adoria Seelo?”

“Wha… Yes. Yes. That was the name of the one who spoke to me. How do you know that?”

“Ah. She’s… ok. Young. Opinionated. Smartest p…” He was losing his voice. He paused a moment, concentrating on collecting enough will to speak a sentence. He filled his lungs with air and spoke the next words with a half groan, “Maybe you should try to save me. I would like to see the young professor again…”

Darkness.

The high priestess saw his eyes close again, and all the prompting would not get him to open them.

“I need that stretcher!” she turned away from him and yelled. The old woman knelt in the sand and clasped the heavy fur hand of the monkey in both of hers.

One of the Sisters ran through the smoke of the burning glider and crouched beside her. She didn’t know if she could trust this one, but she had no choice.

“High Priestess, they’re bringing the stretcher now.”

“Good. Get everyone inside. Everyone. Put that big man in irons before he wakes up. And be sure you hide that weapon he used. Signal the observatory to go into lockdown. Where is Waterwalker?”

“She was last seen lighting the signal flare.”

“Take this one directly to the infirmary. This body is finished. He remembers, and I think he is a mind from the before times.”

“Yes, High Priestess. But we no longer know if the infirmary is still operational. It hasn’t been used for eons.”

“Well, today we’ll try. And pass the word that Waterwalker is a traitor.”