Titans

[50] Cal

TIMESTAMP: 15:45, March 22nd, 2122
LOCATION: Hermes Starship/Base Planet PORHOM1, Quadrant 1, Aion Universe

Time slows down.

I'm watching Lilith, angry and determined, shoving aside the doors, headed for Atara - Atara, who has only just landed the ship, who is turning around in her chair, wide-eyed and terrified. I'm seeing Merc entering behind Lilith, wearing an expression that reads, Watch out.

Run.

And in the elongated seconds I realise the mistake I've made by unlocking the doors. Because Lilith didn't want to come inside for a civil conversation. Far from it.

"Atara!"

Time speeds up again, sound returns to my ears. The alarms are blaring - who triggered them? Merc has been yelling - "Atara, run!"

Atara. Atara triggered the alarms, shocking Lilith with sound long enough to slip from her seat and move closer to the door. Now Merc puts himself between the two of them, hands raised as he tries to placate Lilith. She isn't having any of it.

"You don't understand!" she yells. "You're all blind - both of you! This girl has been tricking us and you can't see it because she doesn't want you to!"

"Lilith, please, you're not making any sense!"

"She tried to kill me! More than once! Why can't you remember that?! You pulled my unconscious body from this very room!"

Merc looks at me, a sliver of doubt passing across his features. He seems to be asking, Do you remember any of this?

And I feel it too - the itch at the back of my mind, like a path I once had access to has been sealed and forgotten. But that can't have anything to do with Atara. She's a girl, not a weapon. She's a friend.

"Listen, Lilith. We understand you're angry, but we need to talk this out. You can't-"

"I'm not a child, Cal! Don't try to change my mind about this. Atara is a danger not just to us, but to the mission! I've seen it!"

Merc seems just about as angry as Lilith at this point. His arms, once raised to pacify her, are now crossed. He's not on the defensive anymore - he's on the attack. "And so what's the plan, huh? Attack her? Lock her up? Kill her?"

Lilith replies but I don't hear her - because for the first time I'm noticing that Atara is no longer in the room.

"Atara's gone," I say.

"What?" Merc shouts.

I stride over to the control panel and turn off the alarms. We're greeted by heavy silence. "Atara's gone," I repeat.

"Christ," Lilith says. "She could be anywhere! Don't you understand? I'm not the bad guy here. We can't let her out of our sight, you hear me? She's dangerous."

"We should search the ship," Merc says. But when Lilith goes to exit the room, he steps in her path. "Not you. You're staying here."

"Like hell I am! She tried to flatten me under a ceiling panel not two hours ago. I want retribution. I want justice."

"No," I say, stepping up beside Merc. "You want blood. There's a difference."

"Cal," Merc says, "find her."

I nod and leave them behind, moving quickly down the hall. Even with the hum of the engine vibrating in the walls, the ship is as quiet as a ghost town. Strangely enough it feels as though there's less people on board than there was when we left Earth. It's an illogical thought but it feels right, deep down. Like somewhere between point A and point B, we lost something, and now the ship is hollow - haunted.