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

Episode #29

The powerful presence I felt earlier vanished.

Hovergliding along the endless mechanical desert of homogeneous hull with no distinctive interface features, I saw no place through which I could get inside. And it started to bother me after a while. The gravity, eight times weaker than what I was used to, allowed me to jump high enough to observe and relocate myself with less body energy and suit power spent, using the reaction control system with extreme precision and as little as possible. There were no fluctuations in the Core output, which meant the ship would remain parked in orbit around the star for now.

Quennah's faint DIVE afterglow was right below me, fading fast. Everyone's Nodes got abruptly cut off soon after Baro left me, so I had no time to lose. Yet, just for a brief moment, I felt like I was standing at the top of the world... too tiny and all alone, though my position was rather relative on this larger-than-world-sized spacecraft.

And like the suffocating feeling of uncontrollable loneliness, my only thought turned into a desperate outcry: how to get down from here to the place under my feet?!

I jumped again, looking around. The landscape analysis continued to bring no desirable results. All was sealed solid.

"What are you doing, rjgnis?" A black shadow separated itself from the dark hull, appearing right on my touchdown trajectory. I thought I was hallucinating at first, before the siSystem recognized the object. The shape and the fuzzy edges distinguished it from the regular sharp-edged space shadow. Bradoh's coating is a programmable metamaterial similar to metagrid, with properties to absorb, direct and transmit the incoming radiation. That's why the machine has no shadow and it doesn't reflect anything, making it appear like a 'hole' in space, or it can even become invisible. Combined with temporal cloaking, not only can it make the exomachine spatially invisible, but it can also hide its whole activity.

But this spacecraft... to hide something so huge from Quennah's sensors until the last moment... this spacecraft is amazing.

"I'm looking for an entry point." I never expected to be so genuinely happy to hear Baro's voice. "Why are you still here?"

Without giving me an answer, the Medan opened the cockpit to accept me, and I gradually descended right into his arms.

"I don't think you will be able to get into the ship through the gate that trapped Quennah. It would be impossible to breach it manually. I've shifted across the whole thing and didn't find any hatch to be opened from the outside."

His words voiced my growing concerns.

"Indeed, they are in a position to ignore anything outside the ship. It's too big; at this size it is definitely not vulnerable to any external threat. Any attack would be like spitting into the sla in the sky to make it fall down."

"Why didn't you use Falaighnn to get in?"

I froze. Was he testing me?

"I've kept the dive-bridge open," he continued. "Entry and exit points are still synchronized, and the dive-point is locked."

"Why didn't you tell me?" So he was planning to go back, after all!

"I think it was mutual. From now on anything left unspoken concerning the objective will put both us and those we are trying to protect in greater danger."

Having my bluff called like this was uncomfortable. But I had to admit he was right. So I ended up telling him everything.

"When I first heard you have Falaighnn and you wanted to help us, despite your father's denial and regardless of the overall situation, I thought I could use you in my plan. There was a glimpse of hope for us."

"And I haven't changed my mind about that." Deep down inside for a long time I had thought he was seeing me only as a potential weapon. But it didn't matter anymore. "Have you changed yours?"

"No. I just wanted to be clear with you." His straight answer put me at ease. Still cold-blooded and determined. He might survive.

"The data on Kan Diona, we must hide it before we go. Quennah has probably destroyed the original. We should also treat your wounds, however insignificant. I'm sorry, I was careless. The smell of blood can attract something unnecessary too fast. The pressure suit won't hide you once you adjust the open-cycle life support to the ship's environment. It will be your 'skin and lungs' if you get out of Bradoh. Unless you want to waste the Immediate Life Support."

I took out the medical supplies and we started preparing for our mission. First, the bite mark on the Medan's hand. Then the reopened wound on his face. I never wanted to be a rescuer, but I was glad Orewen had taught me the basics of tissue repair and many other things that come in handy on the battlefield. Especially with a teammate so vulnerable to bodily damage. Seriously, to get a mild concussion just from being kicked in the face! If I had hit harder, I could have crushed his skull. Luckily his lower region fared better.

"Say, is it normal to feel excited when you're going to a dangerous place?"

"Getting an adrenaline rush already?" He was working on the data with his free hand. "You'll get used to it."

We decided to drop several databoxes amidst the debris. Those are too tiny to notice easily and their beacons will respond only to the original owner. If someone else tries to get them, they will self-destruct.

"Aren't you afraid?"

"It happens."

Done with the Medan's finger, and relocating myself to face the man, I sat on top of him. "Now hold still," I said and started to apply tissue bandage to his bruised facial skin, removing the blood traces. He hadn't had a bath for some time, but one thing was for sure: I loved this man's earthy scent of trouble. "What about your spouse?"

"How is this relevant to our mission?" His eyes looked into mine. It definitely was a topic he preferred not to talk about.

"You don't have one." I found myself quite accustomed now to his unusual gaze which had given me the creeps before.

"No, I am single."

"Any kids?"

"None." Finished with Baro's upper lip, I continued with his nose.

"You are not very popular with women, are you?" The colorless face acquired some color and he pulled his head away, reacting to my question. "Don't move!" I caught his cheeks with my palms and realigned his head so I could work more comfortably.

"Where did that conclusion come from? My job simply isn't very compatible with committing to a relationship."

"Well, who's in your household then?" The color went away, his pupils dilated.

"My niece—if she's still alive out there somewhere."

"There. That will do for now. I've put on some resolvent for your broken nose so it won't swell and it'll start healing again. The patch doesn't look as pretty as Eyuran's work, though."

"Doesn't matter."

"Let's go then."