Xera

17|Burn

The night air was oddly still. Meg waited on a ridge, not far from where she and the others had encountered the cloaked ship. She was watching the area where the ship was located, through binoculars. There had been no activity for a few hours by this point. Despite this, something didn't feel right to Meg. Bix approached her, still holding the translation tablet and the piece of shrapnel. Though he had a satchel, he had not placed these items in it during his journey. He had been in a kind of fugue state as he wandered.

"What's that?" Meg said, pointing to the tablet.

Bix snapped out of his condition. "Something Solise made. I think it may be able to translate some of that book."

Meg looked around, as if she was expecting someone. "She wouldn't come?"

Bix's face went blank. "She was tired. She deserves some rest."

Meg could sense that something unpleasant had occurred between them. She decided not to press. She took hold of the tablet and examined it. She noticed Bix was still holding the shrapnel. He saw her eyes wander to it. Before she could even ask what it was, he handed it to her. She instantly matched the curve of one of the faded symbols to a fragment of a scroll that was on the tablet. It was translated to the letter A. Meg withdrew the stolen book from her satchel and opened the front page. The was a large version of the symbol that took up the entire sheet. It was the same symbol Meg had noticed on the Inquirer's craft. The same symbol that she now realized was also plastered all over the Vestibule and the cloaked ship.

"This might prove useful." She said, tucking the tablet into her bag. She almost did the same with the metal but she noticed the blood. "What is this?" She finally asked.

"Solise said she was taken...somewhere else, when she went through the portal. Somewhere with ships being fired on. Is that true?" He asked, now realizing that Meg had gone through as well.

"Yes. It was a skirmish, somewhere in the galaxy. I didn't get a chance to turn on my navigation computers. Everything was moving so fast. It could've been anywhere." Meg recollected.

"Apparently that's shrapnel from one of the ships." Bix began. Then, his face contorted. His head was filling with questions. "How could that be? Is that possible? To jump somewhere distant, instantaneously?"

"Kingdom has a lot of advanced technology. Anything's possible." Then, Meg looked back to the hidden ship. "But something tells me this has gone well outside of their territory."

"You still want to go in that ship?" Bix asked, hoping she would say no.

"Want to? Not really. I think we have to. At least, I do. You can walk away, if you want." Meg's words carried earnestness and honesty, which Bix found comforting.

"No. This is better than sitting at home." Bix said, with a smile. Then, he reached into his bag and pulled out a small black device that was about the size of his hand. It was encased in scratched metal and had a grid-covered screen that took up most of its surface area. "Was rooting through my dad's stuff, looking for anything we could use. I think that's a..."

"Ship scanner. Royal army issue, from the looks of it. You are a military brat! I knew it!" Meg cheerfully exclaimed. In this moment, she seemed much younger than Bix had grown accustomed to seeing. It was if he was speaking to one of his contemporaries. Someone like Solise. He couldn't help but smile and nod, in affirmation.

"What gave it away?" He asked, rhetorically.

Meg rolled her eyes and smiled. She switched on the scanner. The smile instantly evaporated from her face. Her eyes grew wide, with intense concern. The grid filled with a variety of large ships. The shapes were similar but not uniform. Even from these basic outlines, Meg could see that these were similar ships to the ones that were being fired on when the racers went through the portal. Bix could see the worry that had become present in her expression. She turned the screen to him and a wave of understanding washed over him.