Dean Dean finds himself adrift in deep space after an unfortunate collision on the fold space highway. A chance discovery of an unusual artifact brings him to the attention of the feared Dedan Empire.
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Despite the two ships being on a rapid course away from the planet, the final moments of The Rebel Adventure — and a large part of D-Jinn IV — did not go unnoticed by the respective crews. Initially, sensors and view screens were activated so that the giant cruiser could be monitored and assessed for any potential threat. However, despite the initial curiosity, the on-lookers saw more than they had expected, or wanted, to see and their reactions had been mixed.
Many years of carrying out questionable tasks had led Dean to believe he was a cold, hard, cynical piece of work. A shell with passions, but where true emotions never permeated or revealed themselves. Under normal circumstances, it was a façade that he found easy to maintain. But seeing his former home, and the only people that could be called family, destroyed in such a giant explosion made him crack.
Initially struck dumb by the shock, all he could do was stare, open-mouthed, at the screen as his eyes glazed over and a solitary tear escaped, making its way down a cheek that had not experienced such moisture in decades. Even though he felt sure Miss Yadnee would not judge him harshly for any show of weakness, the walls inside his heart, built to protect it from any emotional entanglements, were tall and rigid so he instinctively forced himself to keep it together as best he could.
* * *
In her time, Miss Yadnee had seen and experienced — often twice — many things that most other mortals would never experience in their wildest dreams or nightmares. Her eyes had seen the best that living creatures could create along with the base barbarities they could inflict on each other. It was a vast mental database of memories that would have sent most people insane if they'd tried to process it all. Despite this and thanks to her great age, she had the wisdom to understand much of what life showed her.
Destruction, creation and destruction again were all part of a massive unending cycle. The Big Bang created everything. The early atoms coalesced and eventually formed stars and planets. Those stars eventually died and, if they exploded, the cosmic dusk started the process all over again.
It was recycling on a cosmic scale. Beautiful if assessed over billions of years and witnessed from afar but the aesthetics tended not to be appreciated up close. Say, if you happened to be on a planet situated too close to a star when it decided that death should be explosive and take out everything it could in the process.
Yet, despite her clinical mind, she was able to empathise with Dean, to understand the magnitude of his loss and recognise the internal battle he was fighting so that he didn't break down in front of her. Silently she placed her hand on his as she gave him a gentle smile and a slight nod that conveyed more kindness than many others could have in a million words.
* * *
Grath Danum, in his craft, had similar reservations when it came to exposing his deep emotions but he had no emotional connection to the residents of D-Jinn IV and had been far from impressed with the planet itself. He thought it was a dump which could only have been improved by the cruiser destroying a decent chunk of the place. As such his loud reaction could never have been called sympathetic or caring.
