Outcasts of Gideon

Reacquainted

Dawn could feel her chest rising and falling. She could sense the air traveling in and out of her lungs. As she focused on it, her breathing slowed. Unfortunately, her mind did not follow suit. Thoughts raced to catch up with her return to what she knew as reality. "Dewey?" She said it again to hear the word, her voice.

"Is it really you, Dawn?"

Her eyes searched the faces around her. This was a familiar place. She'd spent several unpleasant hours in this room. Not all the faces were recognizable, but she was okay with that. They were solid and human. "Yes, it's really me."

"We weren't sure you'd come back." Dewey's crooked smile spread across his face.

Did he always have a crooked smile? she wondered.

"Where were you? Can you tell us all about it?" asked someone. She tried to remember the voice. It took her a few seconds. It was the Doctor from the Uki Gakuto. "Doctor Daris? You're here?"

"Yes, do you remember me?"

"I do." She thought of her last trip to the empty, recalling the Doctor's defense of her to the ship's Captain. She also remembered thinking of wizards and tin men. Turning to Kishan, she asked, "Where's Quinton?" She immediately felt sorry for asking. The look on his face told her all she needed to know.

"Quinton didn't make it out of Aynur," he choked on the words.

She frowned. The gesture didn't seem enough but it was all she could muster. "How did he die?"

"Ships started falling from the sky."

Dawn could see the pain in his eyes. "I'm sorry."

The room fell silent.

"Can you tell us where you've been?" asked the Doctor.

"There will be time for that later," said Kishan.

"Yes, of course." The Doctor receded into her thrust chair.

"Dawn, you're gonna need to help us. Help me." said Dewey.

"Of course, what do you need?"

"I have to stop thinkin' like a human."

Dawn's head sprung back. It seemed a preposterous idea. "How else would you think?"

"Houith said you might help me think like one of them. She said you and her were mergin'."

Dawn closed her eyes. In her mind she could see Aitaoperaa, the formless place. By the time she left, it was no longer formless. She'd come to understand it better. Despite this, it still seemed like a dream. How much of Houith had leaked into who she was? She couldn't be sure. "I'll do what I can. What's the problem we have to solve?"

"Only the end of all life on Earth."

"Dewey, I don't think that's going to help," said Cara.

Dewey again looked like the chastened boy Dawn had come to know. "I'm sorry. It's just a lot."

Dawn noticed another person in the room. He was a short, older man that she hadn't met before. As she looked his way, he unbuckled and launched himself toward her, his hand extended. "Lieutenant..." He stopped himself from saying more. After a brief hesitation, he continued. "Apirat Ulkos."

Dawn accepted his hand. As he backed away, she looked around the rest of the room. "Where are the others? Where's Bobby?"

"A lot has happened while you were gone," said Kishan. "What do you remember?"

"Last thing I remember was Dewey and Cara up on that platform with Grant's bright light."

* * *

The Captain had activated the centrifugal labs. Dawn found the gravity disorienting. She wondered if it was because of her time in Aitaoperaa. There she had abilities of movement that dwarfed maneuvering in three dimensions. Despite that, it hardly seemed like her body would have forgotten how to navigate gravity.