Amaris

After it was clear that Respin was able to stay conscious, Urania had fetched Tarrat. The Headmedic asked Respin some questions. Most of the questions had been centred around his wellbeing, how he feels and how he came to have all of his fresh and old injuries. Sitting next to the bed on a rather uncomfortable chair, Amaris has overheard everything. He is through so much, she thinks, appreciating his determination. To her surprise, her constant companion doesn’t offer its thoughts. Yet, she can feel the Being lurking in the back of her head.

„Amaris?“, asks Respin, his voice a bit stronger than before.

Yes?

„I’m sorry we buried you alive,“ he tells her. „We should’ve checked more thoroughly. It must’ve been terrible.“

I am okay. I was more dead than alive back then.

„This doesn’t make it any better!“, he protests and looks at her before hastily averting his gaze.

It does not, but I have forgiven you Circles ago. Also, you can look at me. I am quite used to stares, and you are the one I mind the least when it comes to that.

„That’s terrible.“

I am used to it.

„This also doesn’t make it any better!“

You have not changed at all.

„What do you mean by that?“ Respin asks confused.

Before Amaris can answer, Urania greets someone. Pulling her remaining ear back, Amaris only catches her name. Maybe it’s Tuonis, she thinks, and again the Being of the Void within her remains silent.

„Is something wrong?“, Respin asks worried.

Someone is heading towards us, she answers.

A few moments later, not Tuonis but Vajira turns around the corner of the screen and looks with relief tainted with anxiety at her. Once she looks at Respin, her expression becomes uncharacteristically serious.

„I didn’t interrupt something important, did I?“, she asks and fidgets again with her braids, of which some parts of come loose already.

It is alright, Amaris reassures her, while also extending this conversation towards Respin. You do seem worried. What happened?

„Perhaps I should introduce myself first?“, Vajira asks with an uncertain glance towards Respin.

Do you want me to introduce you?

„I’ll do it myself, thank you though,“ she replies and moves closer to Respin. „I’m Vajira Shivaron, nice to meet you.“

„I’m Respin Gloomer,“ he replies with a warm smile. „Nice to meet you, too.“

„Respin Gloomer?“, she asks surprised with her ear perking up. „Aren’t you one of those involved in the Starblazer Incident?“

„I am, unfortunately,“ he replies nervous. „How do you know?“

„I… I saw a list of the involved names,“ she replies reluctant. „I don’t know any of you beyond those here on the Cometgracer.“

„Strange,“ Respin says and takes a deep breath.

Why are you here, Jira?, asks Amaris before the silence between them could drag on.

„Oh, yes… Tuonis told me to talk with you, but he didn’t say what’s going on?“, she tells her, alarmed.

It is most likely about the thing you saw in the Dreamworld. The strange skull, she guesses.

„I almost forgot about this!“, Vajira exclaims, shocked. „I only remember it vaguely, but it doesn’t seem to be evil.“

You two saw a Being of the Void. It warned Tuonis to stay vigilant and do not put his trust where others put it. I wish I could tell you more, but at the moment I cannot do so.

„You shouldn’t trust the Pale God,“ Respin says determined, judging from his tone of voice, his Being of the Void must’ve asked him to say it.

„We shouldn’t trust… But why?“, asks Vajira, confused. „Talliomere always says that this god will save us. That it will bring down the Empress and offer us the lives made impossible because of the Fleet. How do you know? The Pale God is a force of good, or is it not?“

„I don’t know,“ he replies, hesitating a millisecond enough for Amaris to recognise that he talks with his new companion. „The Empress… she has called this god of yours a weapon and wanted to use her against you and your people, I presume.“

Just stay careful around this being, Amaris reminds her. A healthy amount of distrust is never ill-advised.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

„May I sit down?“, asks Vajira shy. „Only, if I don’t bother you…“

„I don’t mind the company,“ Respin replies with the honest smile, Amaris remembers fondly from him.

I do not mind either, she reassures Vajira and pushes the second stool towards her.

Vajira thanks her and sits down, albeit in her usual stiffness.

—

Tuonis

„Has she told you anything?“, asks Talliomere the moment they stand in front of the interrogation room.

„No,“ Tuonis replies, catching his breath.

Since passing the gate, they literally ran all the way. This isn‘t normal, thinks Tuonis and looks worried at Talliomere, whose expression seems close to insane. He looks worse than the most devote to the Empress. Damn, most of them still look friendly and accommodating in comparison.

„Can I enter?“, Talliomere asks impatient, his hands trembling ever so slightly.

„Sure. I wanted to talk with you two anyway at the same time,“ he replies and reaches for the control panel next to the door.

„I actually want to talk with her alone.“

„Alone?“

„Yes.“

„Are you certain? I mean, are you even convinced this is the Pale God. This could be any alien after all…“

„I know her!“, he hisses so suddenly, Tuonis steps away, ready to fight if necessary.

The few moments of tense silence between them are suffocating in the worst kind of way. Then, as if Talliomere just realises now, how he must’ve sounded, he straightens his back and clears his throat.

„I’m sorry about,“ he says, visibly embarrassed. „I… It’s just, I’ve waited for so long for her to return, I almost lost my conviction.“

„I… understand,“ says Tuonis, choosing his words carefully. „It’s all right. If you want to talk to her alone, you can go ahead. I’ll wait here until you’re done.“

„Thank you,“ replies Talliomere, relieved.

„You’re welcome,“ Tuonis replies stiffly while opening the door. Something seems off about him. I’ll better take Vajira with me on the next excursion…

Talliomere enters the interrogation room without another word. Tuonis waits a few moments in front of the door, then he moves to the control room a few doors down the corridor.

Yagari sits in front of the wall mounted with eighteen surveillance monitors. Just three of the monitors are on, showing the alien and Talliomere in different angles. Judging by the small red dot blinking at the bottom of every screen, Yagari records it. He looks up for a moment and greets his Captain with a nod. Tuonis returns the nod and closes the door. After a moment, Yagari turns on the speakers.

„… still hurt?“, asks the alien while Tuonis sits down next to his second in command.

„Despite the desert being a hazardous place for us Menkar, it actually helps, since there aren’t many weather changes to aggravate my fin-scars,“ Talliomere replies. „This might sound inconsiderate or even rude, but, one thousand Solar Circles is a long time to be gone. I was worried, you might never return.“

„Oh, Talliomere, time for a being like me, is meaningless,“ she replies soft-spoken. „One Solar Circle, ten, a hundred, a thousand… It’s all the same. You Menkar should think about it the same way, since you won’t die of old age.“

The conversation between them continues with platitudes and small talk. Tuonis can’t help but notice that something’s off. For one, their lip movements don’t seem to fit with what he and Yagari can hear. Secondly, the expressions on Talliomere, while subdued, don’t fit at all to what is said. He seems to try his best to hide them, though.

„I’ve the feeling something’s interfering with what we hear,“ Yagari muses, while fiddling with the console in front of him.

„So you noticed as well…“, murmurs Tuonis and moves closer to the screens.

„Perhaps the equipment has a problem?“, his second in command asks.

„No, I don’t think so. Look at the lip movements and Tallio‘s expressions. Whatever they talk about is certainly not this meaningless small talk we hear.“

„Then this alien — god must be the real deal,“ Yagari says thoughtful. „But the way Talliomere looks… I don’t like it. It’s almost as if she tells him bad news. No matter what, I don’t like it.“

„Let us talk to Talliomere before we draw any conclusions,“ muses Tuonis. „We also need someone able to read lip movements. Only then we can be certain about what’s talked about.“

„I don’t know any,“ he replies with a frustrated hiss. „Do you?“

„No, but we’ll find someone,“ Tuonis says. „Once Tallio and Selene have ended their little talk, I want you to immediately copy the surveillance videos and hide them around the ship. And don’t tell or show me their hiding places.“

„Understood, Captain,“ Yagari replies with a mischievous grin. „This is just like the time we planned to steal the Cometgracer.“

„It certainly feels like that,“ Tuonis responds less thrilled than his second in command. „Still, this time it also feels wrong and much more dangerous than back then.“

„Yeah,“ Yagari sighs, his grin vanishing immediately. „This time we could end up worse than dead.“

This time I must protect Vajira, Tuonis thinks but refrains from telling Yagari.

„We should try to find out from which world this so-called god originates,“ continues Yagari. „I still remember there being reports of true gods tied to specific planets, unable to leave, yet still most definitely what one can call godly.“

„You’re Right. Best we get Shulka on the case, they can scan the central-unit-database of the Fleet for additional information. I want all the info we can get before we deal with this situation.“

„You almost sound as if you want to kill the Pale God. Tuonis, this will never fly!“

„My loyalty belongs to this ship and my crew,“ he replies bitter. „I told Talliomere as much when we washed up in this timeline after the time bomb test failed.“

„What about Vajira?“

„She belongs to my crew.“

If I have to cleave my way through Talliomere, so be it, he thinks. As long as I can keep Vajira and my people save, I don’t care what I’ve to do.

One glance at Yagari brings Tuonis back into the present. The shock on his second in command’s face tells him all he needs to know.

„My bloodlust was showing, right?“, he asks embarrassed and very self-conscious, taking off his glasses and cleaning them with his sleeve.

„It was,“ Yagari replies hesitant. „If this situation brings out your worst, I should deal with it.“

„No, I’ll take care of this mess,“ he replies and shakes his head. „I’ll keep myself in check, don’t you worry. As for the next steps… You do, as I told you. Once the copies are made, go to Shulka and ask them to take a look at what the Empire knows about gods.“

That moment, Talliomere stands up from the table. Hastily, Tuonis leaves the surveillance room and manages to get to the interrogation room door seconds before Talliomere opens it.

„Oh, you’re still here?“, asks the leader of the Desertwalkers in a strange tone of voice.

„I told you, I‘ll wait here,“ Tuonis replies as casual as he can. „Can we now talk together?“

„Together?“

„Yes. You, the Pale God, and me. Did you already forget?“

„This won’t be necessary.“

„Excuse me?“

„I need to take a look at the encampment,“ says Selene from within the room and leaves it a second later. „Important things are going to happen. We need a lot of time for preparation. But we can all talk at a later time, if you’re so inclined.“

Without sparing him another word, Talliomere and Selene leave him behind. For a moment, Tuonis feels the urge to go after them and order them to stay until they told him what’s going on. The Cometgracer is after all his ship and thus his domain, but he decides against it. I need the know what they truly spoke about, he thinks, grinding his teeth. Until then, I shouldn’t antagonise them.