FALAHA'S JOURNEY: A Spacegirl's Account in Three Movements

Episode #24

"So this bloodless guy was smart enough to find a weakness in the siSystem's network?" The triplets curiously gathered around the Medan when we got near him. "Won't work the second time; the Nodes have learned."

"He's my left-hand man now," I said, surprised in Quennah's sudden interest in the situation.

"And my pain in the ass." Aunt Rifa returned to the Command Center in her combat pressure suit, approaching us with a stony face and two lunch packs. "Falaha, here's your share. And his." Accepting them, I passed one to Baro.

The reason Uncle, Eyuran and I were still connected after the dispersion lay in our updated Nodes. Everyone else was running an older version of the siSystem. And when Quennah sleeps, she is no different from a machine, performing her tasks, observing and recording everything without interference. It was an insignificant vulnerability, but since we left Tirran Og in a hurry, not everything was tested and updated properly, with further work continuing along the way. This is why I never liked to rely on technology, however good it was. Only soma will not fail.

But time was running out fast. Nineteen days and thirty-one full hours remaining.

"I see we have reached the point where keeping our presence a secret will be pretty hard." Aona loved getting to the point in the most straightforward manner possible. "My last and only advice for all of you would be to abandon everything that is outside my hull and leave Klia as fast as you can. But my guess is you kids are not going to listen to anything to do with getting to safety, right?"

Rifa and Baro nodded.

"Before we get ourselves into bigger trouble, I have some thoughts. My brother is not one to be taken lightly, though he can be soft sometimes. All this floating trash raises the possibility that he found some working stuff here, or repaired it, if any of them were still alive. The whole engineering team is with him, except—" Aunt fell silent, apologetically looking at me.

Except Mom.

I nodded, accepting her apologies.

"Speaking of floating objects, we have company," Tara's sudden voice cut like a knife. "Hunter vessel on the outer system rim, closing in fast."

No way! Already?!

Opening all channels, my voice echoed throughout the ship, "All hands! Hunter vessel in sight and closing in, prepare for battle! I repeat, prepare for battle!"

"Standing by." Tarry got through to me from the cargo bay. I felt relieved the Medan Defense Force retained their professional attitude. Battle... This means deck on deck! We must not let anything onto this ship or it will be our end.

"Uncle Orewen, get Mom ready! I'm going to put her in the Kernel Chamber with Quennah!"

"We're on it."

Swiftly feasting on my mega portion of extra-spicy meatballs, I glanced at the Medan.

"Baro, you are teaming up with me."

"Mmhm." He nodded with a full mouth.

Bloodless? Yeah, though not an albino, one could definitely call Baro that in every sense. Straight alabaster-white hair, collected into a tight, long ponytail at the back of his head, a fair complexion lacking the golden tinge indigenous to light-skinned Danna like me, and pale silvery-yellow eyes which were unusual for us, but commonplace among most genetically modified Medans. Darkish eyebrows and eyelashes added even more sharpness to his sinister mug. He was not as good-looking as Orewen or Eyuran, even before we fought, and I guessed he was nearing his fourth decade. There was something about this man that had made me uneasy from the moment I had met him, yet he always appeared in my field of vision.

He wasn't falling behind me on the food either. With the current situation, who knew if we would ever get to eat again!

"It seems we are not their target." Tara continued to monitor the enemy's course. "They are here for something else." We all froze in anticipation, observing the system chart. "There." Tara tracked the destination of the Hunter vessel. "The object has just crossed the inner system boundary."

"It's Kieren!" Rifa nervously slammed the control panel with her hand, jumping from her seat. "And that blasted piece of crappy craft is so far! How in the world did we miss them?!"

"Commander Kieren's vessel is on the course for Medas and accelerating." Tara frowned. "There are two more Hunter vessels. Those are heading straight for us."

"Darna, warm up the DIVE for a bumpy shift."

Finished with my meal, I stood up. "Come, Baro. You are going to help me transfer Mom."