Stargazers

Dinah

Dinah

The ship's interior is dark, save for the faint green glow of the Lady's eyes lighting the way. The rooms bleed and blend in the darkness, and soon Chastity cannot remember the way they came or predict the way they are going. She traces her hand along the walls, unable to see the form but feeling the smooth contours and endless steel. The walls are long and curved, the steel faintly warm to the touch, reminding her more of flesh than metal. The design is natural, almost organic in her mind.

Hand on the walls, Chastity stares into the darkness, following the Lady's eyes, and she speaks aloud, "I worked here, and I didn't even know that this was here."

"There are many secrets here," the Lady says, approaching another wall which slides apart seamlessly for her. Chastity follows the Lady into the room.

"Secrets? What secrets are you talking about?"

"There are things here. Shades and Eidolons. Entire life forms have lived here, from birth to death, from creation to decay. I can feel them here, following me, flowing into me. They become me, and I become them." The Lady pauses and touches the wall. It is different from Chastity's touch. Tracing her long, slender fingers along the delicate grooves of the wall, the Lady touches the ship like a mother might touch a child. "Dinah."

Chastity squints into the darkness. "Dinah?"

"That is the ship." There is a warmth in the Lady's voice, a smile in the darkness. The Lady speaks of the ship like it is home. "She is Dinah."

"I think we found you here, found you in Dinah," Chastity says. "Were you part of her crew? Did you live here?"

"No. I never truly lived anyway, but I did sleep here." The words are cold and empty again, devoid of human emotion. The Lady looks back at Chastity with empty, glowing eyes. "There are memories I have, they are not my memories, but I am carrying them anyway." Then, turning, the Lady moves forward, hand at rest on the wall. "They have no value to me."

Chastity follows, her hand also against the wall. She staggers after the Lady and braces against the wall, using it for balance and envying the Lady's seemingly perfect grace. "That sounds a little sad," she says.

"It is not sad," says the Lady. "It is function." At a touch, another wall opens, and the Lady passes through it with Chastity following close.

-Stargazers part 1-

Arthur reaches the facility under the cover a stirring of dust and enters the facility through the bridge, breaking a window with the butt of his rifle and climbing through. There, he rests in the dusty interior. His breaths come hard and deep; his lungs burn. Ten years ago, he wouldn't have been winded so easily, but then again, ten years ago seemed like a lifetime to him.

His knee ached in anticipation and in memory.

After catching his breath, he moves, crouched against the interior walls and with his rifle up. He keeps his finger off the trigger, pinned flat against the side of the rifle, but with the safety off. Every death that follows him today will be intentional, he is certain of that.

Ahead, he hears voices echoing in the darkness, mingling with footsteps. "They say that a lone soldier took out an entire squad," says one voice, deep, rumbling. "And they say that he's on his way."

"A lone soldier? Bullshit," says the other voice, higher and harsher, a smoker's voice.

"No. Really. They say he survived an armor crash and came out guns blazing."