Radiance: Part One

L8: Managing Chaos

September 8th, 2686 CE; 0805 hrs

"What do you mean you're avoiding each other?" The king spoke to them gruffly.

"Father, what good would it do if we lost ourselves in a time like this? I nearly caused a debacle-" Vyrik's attention bounced. "You never told me what happened, Lydaleigh."

"I don't understand why your lot isn't equipped for this sort of thing." The king scoffed.

"We don't really experience things to this degree." Lyda pushed, "If our planet ever worked this way, we killed it long ago. Archeology suggested we weren't the first go-round of humanity, or even the third. But that isn't why we've hailed you today, sire."

"My apologies." the king sighed. "What do you wish to discuss?"

Vyrik took the lead, "How prepared is everyone on the ground for our landing, if we do so in two days? It's all quite rushed, we are aware, but given our intel, as well as the state of Ms. Marnie, I don't think we have many other options."

"I'll see to it personally that everything is ready by tomorrow evening. But that means you'll need to be in orbit for nearly a day- how close are you, now?" The king perked up.

"We've been just outside of your planet's orbit for the past week. It'll only take us an hour to work into your orbit. We can begin the landing process as soon as we are given the go-ahead." Lyda nodded.

"I will hail you this time tomorrow morning and we can be ready for your descent." King Dahn Shi leaned back in his seat.

"We'll be ready." Lyda nodded again.

"Farewell." The king bowed his head and his line of the call blipped out of existence, leaving only herself and Vyrik left in the call.

"Now- before I follow suit- what happened to your head?" Vyrik's eyes were much brighter than she could remember them being.

Lyda chuckled. "I found something odd on one of the cameras outside of my quarters." She'd seen a red, bulbous object, set just atop the camera pod that had, at the time, seemed suspicious. "I thought it odd, climbed up to investigate, and fell. I landed on my face. Broke my nose and cheek bone, and lacerated my forehead. It wasn't the worst injury I've experienced. Head wounds just bleed quite a bit."

"What was the object?" Vyrik cocked his head. The light in his room glinted off of his jawline. It was mesmerizing. Before she had the wits to collect herself, Vyrik caught her staring.

"Lyda?"

She shook her head but smiled at his use of her preferred name. "Sorry- I got lost in thought-" His grin said that he didn't believe her, but he didn't press her any further. "It was a light. For the alarms. I was just paranoid. I'm feeling much better now. Just ready for all of this to find some sort of closure. I've just been full-throttle this whole time. The naps aren't coming very easily, but I'm at least trying to relax, per your recommendation." She shrugged.

"I'm glad you're alright." He sighed.

"We had both better get some rest. Tomorrow is only going to be more of the same, but now we have a light at the end of the tunnel."

"That's an interesting play on words." Vyrik nodded.

"We'll have plenty of time to discuss human literature, on the ground, if you're amenable." Lyda couldn't contain her smile.

"I'd do just about anything that meant you were talking to me."

Lyda let her eyes meet his, where they'd been jumping around the room before. "This is only going to get more complicated before things can finally settle and you know it." She sighed.