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

Episode #50

"We're late."

"What?" I had to make sure I heard Baro right, as my heart, cold and heavy as a stone, dropped into my feet.

"Orewen is not here. But he was. There are fresh traces of combat, including ones similar to the damage from Bradoh's weapons. I took some blood samples, and I'm going to look around more. As things are, we might be in big trouble."

Yet there was also relief that the Medan hadn't run into the enemy. "Give me something to look at," I told him.

The place appeared to be similar to the hallway we had traveled here through. The battle site didn't look too impressive—a bit of scratching here and there, a couple of dive-shot craters, and blood stains in a few spots.

"It doesn't seem like the fight was long," Eyuran concluded.

"Here's what I think happened: Orewen's Bradoh was passively dive-marking the path as his captors were bringing him somewhere, and Falaha's connection triggered Bradoh's active response in him. Conscious or not, he engaged someone in a fight here. I'm not sure if he lost or is dead—there's not so much blood of either party here, and he could be a valuable trophy to investigate—the enemy has seen the machine. And if it ends up in the hands of the Baali, since Zero-One is connected to Zero-Two, we might be tracked down quite fast. All they have to do is take the data out. This is beyond bad. If rjgnan could hide us until now, he might become the perfect target—" Baro's voice became distant; I didn't hear what he was saying anymore.

I'd done it again. It seemed like my sole reason for existence was to cause trouble for these two men I love. Not to mention for everyone else... The world that we were putting together so hard was about to fall apart again...

I shook my head, chasing these thoughts away—it's not like I could have known this was going to happen.

I won't let it fall apart once more.

"Proceed," I told Baro, though I had been really close to aborting the mission just a moment ago.

"Rjgnis?"

"What?"

"Have you been listening to me?"

"Sorry, Baro. I kind of blanked out after the perfect target part."

"Uh—I'm sorry, rjgnis, I understand how hard it is for you—and rjgnan—to go through all this. I said, the battle might have relocated to someplace else—both parties are dive-capable. I will look for other traces—this place is huge. All I stated are only assumptions. We need more information to know for sure."

Why would someone drag the man around for three... four days? What were they doing with him?

I was also kind of happy I hadn't seen any of the Baali yet. Did Orewen manage to escape his captors, or has he been fighting someone somewhere alone? What if he'd been eaten?

"Baro, can you track down the second machine?"

"I'll try. We're safe while using Eyuran's private channel. Connections outside it can give our location away. Are you two good with the risk?"

"I am," I replied.

"No, I'm not good with this," Eyuran said. "It will endanger Falaha."

"Eyuran!"

"No. I will not approve. We have to go with the passive search for now, Baro."

"Understood." That other guy didn't even hesitate!

Was I becoming too soft?

I dropped on one of the bags, feeling crumbled under the mass of this whole ship on my shoulders. Was this how my father felt every time the people of our kennar were in trouble? He couldn't be in all places at once; sometimes all he did was wait, and observe, and expect, and trust.

There was something else that had been subtly sitting at the back of my mind. If Father really was somewhere on this ship, then this last marked dive-point could be the perfect place to meet up with him. I looked at my spouse, standing close, alert. These two probably realized it as well. Then, the main reason I haven't been in touch with Father through the Falaighnn could be that he was at his limit. Still, had Orewen really been taken by the enemy? Maybe he managed to escape after all.

Before I announced my thoughts to the Medan, Baro beat me to it.

"Oh shii—I've been discovered!"

"Eyuran, pull him out! Now!" I jumped to my feet.

"Don't worry, he safe," my spouse replied, laughing. "I freaked out as well when someone unnoticed knocked on my hull while I was being stealthy."

Knocked?

"I almost had a heart attack here," Baro told Eyuran. "Rjgnis, I'm about to pick up something interesting for you."

"What is it?" My stomach felt like I was in free fall. Eyuran's hand softly landed on my shoulder, comforting. He knew what was there before I could see it for myself.

"Well, I'm bringing him to you now. The person might have had his eye for the other ride though."

Stepping out of the blackness, Bradoh returned to the campsite.

When its hatch opened, Baro wasn't alone inside. A broad-shouldered person in a combat suit belonging to the Medan Defense Force sat by his side.

The person got up and climbed out of the machine. The huge figure, the precise, reserved movements—everything was his.

The other two had clearly expected this to happen.

Shedding my helmet to the dim suit's nightlights, I caught myself holding my breath.