Dreaming of the Garden Story Thread

[inxsi]

I am probably not going to post tomorrow (9/14).

Chapter Seven: Awake - Part One

SpoilerShow

Beryl is disappointed to learn that she went under a lotai again, but at least she woke up on her own before the other loroi intervened. When she tries to discuss her dream with Tempo, the mizol tells her to wait until they can find privacy on Azimol. At least the preparations for docking keep her distracted from worrying about the contents of her dream too much.

I hope Alex does not feel offended at the size of the escort that has been provided, Beryl thinks as Tempo relays the instructions that torrai soshret Sunfury has provided. They are being met by the station commander and the ranking mizol on board, as well as a group of teidar to provide security. She is not sure if Alex will be offended by the small size of the group or the overwhelming number of teidar.

“Sunfury is taking Captain Jardin’s security very seriously, but also the security of Azimol,” Tempo informs her when she protests. “I will convey additional apologies to Alexander, but Sunfury feels it is best to keep our party segregated from the main population of the fortress for now. I thought you would be thrilled to have more time to learn about him.”

“I am glad to spend time with him,” Beryl replies, “but I worry that he will get a bad image of the loroi if he is treated by everyone as only a security risk.”

“My hands are tied, unfortunately. Until we can convince Sunfury that Alexander is not a telepathic threat or there is a more compelling reason, she does not want us dealing with the crew.”

“I agree,” Fireblade comments unexpectedly. “The dreams you are having are reason enough to keep him from meeting other loroi for now. And that is without you going under his lotai during them.”

“And that means we can have him all to ourselves,” Talon adds with a mental wink.

“Not you too, Fireblade,” Beryl protests. “Does everyone think he is a possible enemy?”

“Not an enemy,” the teidar counters. “But maybe dangerous. There is something more about these dreams. None of us have been able to sense you when you are asleep, nor have we determined why you are linked to his dreams. It seems likely to me that it is because he trusts you the most, but is it limited only to one loroi? Is it dangerous in any way? Is it linked to whatever lotai the Shells now seem to possess?”

Beryl frowns. She does not have an argument against these points, but does not want to admit it. “Fine. I just hope he is understanding and we can resolve this matter soon.”

“I would love nothing more,” Tempo says. “After we get settled in, we need to discuss these dreams. Perhaps Reed can keep him occupied while we talk?”

“We can keep him occupied,” Talon and Spiral both chime in.

Ignoring them, Beryl replies, “ok, if you feel it is best. When are we going to reveal these dreams to Alexander? I do not like keeping these secrets from him.”

“Once we know that these are not the flights of fancy of a listel who has humans on her brain,” Fireblade teases. “At that point it might be helpful to see what Alexander can confirm about the dreams.”

“Ok, I will try to look for specifics if the dreams keep happening.” Beryl knows her doubts can be read in her sanzai. “Are there other things I should be doing with Alexander?”

“I would like you to start working on some of the mental discipline exercises and meditations that loroi children are taught. Try not to overdo it - I hope we can work up to making mental contact with him while he is conscious. When he seems to tire of that, continue working with him on languages and cultural references. I am going to see what information can be shared on the strategic front. I would like to keep him informed, but I am not sure how much information we will be getting since we are cut off. I would like to get his thoughts as we go,” Tempo says.

“I will do my best. Please let me know if you hear any updates,” Beryl says.

“Do not worry,” Fireblade tries to cheer her. “Stillstorm will fight through anything on spite alone.”

“Stillstorm is not who I am worried about,” Beryl responds. “There is a whole strike group of loroi warriors with her.”

“Stillstorm is a very capable leader, despite her obstinate nature. I am sure she will manage whatever tricks the Shells are hiding,” Tempo says.

*** *** ***

Docking at Azimol is smooth. When the ramp lowers the only personnel present are a mizol with an elaborate braid of light pink hair and two teidar waiting for them to disembark.

“Greetings, mizol parat Tempo. I am mizol torimor Opal, the ranking mizol on Azimol. The teidar accompanying me are Cloudburst and Ravenclaw.” Beryl had not thought there was a mizol on Azimol, and hopes that Tempo can handle any dealings with her. Tempo had been the mizol on board the Tempest as long as Beryl has been a member of the crew but the listel still feels uneasy around her. Cloudburst and Ravenclaw look slightly younger than Fireblade.

“Captain Mozin informed us of the discovery of humanity. Are you certain that they will join on the side of the loroi? Or was that typical barsam religious certitude?” Opal asks.

“I regret that Captain Jardin has not yet made such a decision. I am certain that with a proper understanding of the situation, he will realize that aligning with the loroi is the best choice for humanity. However, I am sure you are aware that there is a lot of room for misunderstanding with any alien species, and humanity’s similarities and differences present a unique set of challenges. Lasheret Stillstorm treated him quite poorly even considering her valid concerns about security. I was hoping to avoid a repeat of that experience.”

“I see,” Opal responds. “We acknowledge his status as an ambassador for his species. However, we will be limiting his movement to a set of rooms. This is for his safety as much as to limit rumors. You had similar concerns on the Tempest?”

“We did. Several loroi were very interested in trying to see him. Fortunately, teidar pallan Fireblade has a very fearsome reputation which kept most of them at bay.”

“Then I am sure you understand our caution. You will have plenty of space, but we are going to limit your team as well as him.”

“Ok,” Tempo says, pausing to think. “Where are these rooms?”

“Well,” Opal begins, then is interrupted.

A different mental signature intrudes as a new pair of loroi walks into the hangar. “They are in the male quarters of the station.”

All of the newly arrived loroi save Tempo stare at the speaker, a black-haired torrai who is with a teidar with short green hair. Tempo lets her gaze slowly move over. “The male quarters, torrai soshret Sunfury?”

“Yes,” she says. “They should be very comfortable for such an honored guest. And they are presently unoccupied.” Beryl shares in the feeling of disappointment that pulses out from the loroi at that revelation.

“Very well,” Tempo agrees.

“I am glad to hear you approve of my decision. I would like to speak with you at your earliest convenience regarding this ambassador – Alexander Jardin, is it?”

“Yes. Will we be kept informed of the strategic situation? It may be useful in earning Captain Jardin’s trust.”

“You think that is wise?”

“If he is an enemy agent, I cannot fathom his end game. He has had ample opportunity for betrayal, but I hardly think he is in a better position here than elsewhere. And with the way the Enemy is moving, we may need to gamble on every piece that we have on the board.”

“You have not managed to pierce his lotai?”

“No, though I am working on it. I hope that more time to earn his trust will give better result than a direct interrogation. We did determine that he is not consciously generating the lotai – at least, it persists when he is unconscious.”

“That is... interesting,” Opal says. “I will search the archives here, but I doubt there is anything similar in documented loroi history.”

“I trust you will be discreet,” Sunfury reminds and commands her. “I would prefer to keep rumors to a minimum, though I am sure we will hear all sorts of stories tomorrow.” At the mizol’s acknowledgement, the torrai turns back to them. “My bodyguard, Dream, Cloudburst, and Ravenclaw will escort your group to your chambers.”

[inxsi]

Chapter Seven: Awake - Part Two

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As their party walks down the corridors, their escort instructs the loroi females to change clothes in a small changing room. “What is this?” Tempo asks.

“Purely a security precaution,” Dream explains. “Sunfury thought it best for you to wear distinctive clothing so that no one could mistake you for station members.”

“These are clothes for courting a mate,” Tempo states, holding up the bright skintight outfit. Spiral and Talon giggle, and even Fireblade looks like she is fighting to keep her expression serious.

“What is going on?” Alex asks.

“We are being given new uniforms since we are not crew members of this station,” Tempo says, sending a warning to anyone who would mention the purpose of the different uniforms.

“Unfortunately, those were the only other uniforms available on short notice. They are not so bad, just a different color scheme for a normal loroi skinsuit and a slightly different cut,” Dream says. “I realize the lack of armor may be uncomfortable, but Sunfury felt the security of the station overrides such concerns.”

Once their party settles into their new quarters, Tempo signals for Beryl and Alex to join her and Fireblade.

“I am sure that you feel that the loroi on Azimol mistrust you,” Tempo begins. Alex’s eyes flare, then he nods but keeps quiet. “You must understand that your appearance would be very disruptive to the loroi. I am sure you feel a similar disquiet given our species obvious similarities. While we believe your story,” Fireblade sniffs but holds her mental tongue, “we will need to prove your trustworthiness. I will continue to share information with you to keep you informed on the current situation, but I would like you to spend some time trying to sense or send thoughts with the one who seems best suited to this task.”

“If you mean Fireblade,” Alex begins.

Tempo cuts him off. “You seem to trust Beryl the most, so I think she is the most suited for this task. Please take this seriously, since it may be a required step to any alliance between the loroi and humanity.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m fine with spending time with her,” he says. “But you understand this seems impossible, right? I have to figure out a thing I never knew existed until I met you however long ago. Do I also need to defeat the umiak fleet with my bare hands to prove my trust?”

“I do not question the trust I am placing in you, but my superiors likely will. I realize this seems to be an insurmountable task, but I am sure this is much more achievable than that,” Tempo assures him. “She can show you some meditation techniques to go through.”

“Ok,” he agrees, allowing Beryl to lead him into one of the side alcoves with small cushions on the floor. They sit down facing each other, preparing to meditate.

“How do we do this? Guessing shapes?” he asks.

“What? No, that is too error-prone. I’d like for us to hold hands loosely,” Beryl says. “This physical contact should aid any sanzai that occurs. Now, close your eyes and picture yourself wherever you are most relaxed.” She recites the meditation ceremony, most often used in a nedetan appointment. “Focus on your breathing. Make it slow and smooth, with pauses between each inhale and exhale.” She feels his pulse slow through his hands. “Let your thoughts drift. Be aware of where they go, but do not try to direct them. Just let them flow like water.”

She closes her eyes, hoping to sense anything from him. Nothing. Just the empty sense of his lotai as if she were holding a warm statue instead of a living being. Why is there nothing? Does he not trust me? Or am I too weak? Maybe Tempo or Fireblade would be better choices. No, there are those dreams. “Let your thoughts slow and focus on a particular image and how it makes you feel. Think intently on it.”

Nothing. She can feel him making a great effort. Is that real or imaginary? I’m a listel, not a mizol, to train someone in the techniques of mental projection. Beryl lets another sixty solon pass, then decides to try a new tack. “Tempo, I am going to try have him try to receive my sending. But, what should I send? Beyond a strong image that he is unaware of.”

“Most of your work on the Tempest is either known to him or off-limits for security reasons,” the mizol informs her. “Perhaps something from your days in the diral band?”

“The birth of my son?” Beryl asks, focusing on one of the happiest days of her life. Being chosen to serve on board the Tempest is higher, but that is definitely up there.

“Too personal,” Tempo says. “Try to avoid such personal entanglements for now. Maybe send your strongest memory from your diral band days.”

“Fine,” Beryl replies.

She opens her eyes and suggests, “maybe we would have more success if I focus on sending an image and you clear your mind and focus on receiving it.”

“Just clear my mind?” he asks skeptically. “How will I know-”

“We will try for three of your minutes. Afterwards, just recount any vivid thoughts or impressions you had and we will see if anything matches up.”

“Ok, you are the one with sanzai,” he agrees, closing his eyes again.

Beryl closes her eyes as well, trying to think of what to send. The clearest picture coming to her mind is her dream of them holding hands in bed. Would that disturb him? We were only holding hands, but it might be awkward if he knows I dreamt of him in such a state. Try to think of something else. She tries to think of other things, but discards them one by one as something that he would have also experienced or things she thinks are too sensitive to share. Finally, she sighs and decides on a memory.

“Ok, I am picturing it now,” she says, trying to hold her voice steady. She thinks back, remembering every detail as it happened. He remains sitting for a heartbeat, then begins to fidget. After a few more seconds, he removes a hand and then there is a slapping sound.

Beryl opens her eyes as Alex topples over on his side, rubbing his ear. She quickly grabs his hands. “Alex, you are safe. Do not claw your ear. I am sorry. All is well. Please trust me.”

“It is – it is,” he moans, then opens his eyes. “It is gone?”

“I am sorry to put you through this but – please tell me of your experience,” she asks, hating herself.

He frowns. “All right. But don’t laugh if I’m just making this up.”

“I won’t,” she promises.

“I was somewhere warm… the air smelled of water. I’m not sure why that surprised me, but a rainstorm had gone through earlier that got me and my fellows wet since we hadn’t set up any shelter yet. We decided to start a fire to warm up and dry off since the sun was going down and the wind was coming up. We didn’t realize that the rains had triggered the eggs of local insects to hatch, or that the light of the fire at night would attract them. Soon, we were surrounded by swarms of flying insects. They weren’t dangerous – they would swarm us for a minute, decide we were uninteresting to them, swirl around, then forget we were uninteresting and inspect us again.

“We were slapping them when they were too insistent. I was going to suggest we just put the fire out and call it a night, when I slapped one particular aggressive bug. Somehow, that pushed the bug into my ear. I could feel it crawling around in there. I couldn’t get it out. I panicked, trying to pull it out. And that’s when you grabbed me.” He shakes his head. “I still feel something in there.”

“I am sorry – I swear to you that that feeling is all in your head. You definitely received the image I was sending.”

“Why did you send that?”

“Sorry, I was trying to pick out a moment from my time in my diral band. Unfortunately, that is strongest memory I have.”

“Wait – that was your memory? I was – what, in your body?” He stares.

Beryl blushes. “You were seeing a memory from my point of view, yes.”

“Why didn’t I notice anything weird about that? Being an alien or,” he blushes, “being female?”

“Do you go around all the time thinking that you are human or that you are male?” She asks. Seeing the look on his face, she clarifies, “outside of the current circumstances. Say, when you were on the Bellarmine?”

“No,” he says after another moment. “I suppose not. What ended up happening?”

“I couldn’t get it out. Several of the diral band tried with their fingers, but couldn’t. Then they held me down so our leader could use the diral-seii, but it also didn’t work. After some debate,” she decides to omit the details of that debate, “someone suggested using some of the emergency wax fuel we had to make a candle and use that to get it out.”

“How did that work?”

“Results were mixed. The flame was a few inches above my ear and did pull the insect out, but then it started to rain again. Since our camp was still not set up, we spent a cold night huddling together. In the morning when I was waking up, a wing from the moth fell out of my ear onto the shoulder of another loroi.”

“Thank you for all of this – trusting me enough to send me this memory. Though next time, maybe not a memory that is so uncomfortable.” He yawns. “Sorry. I guess I’m really tired though.”

She leans forward, eying him carefully. “It might be the effort of projecting and listening. Or just that it has been a long several days. Would you like to go to bed?”

He agrees and she guides him to a different alcove that is almost filled with a large, luxurious bed piled high with blankets and pillows.

As he settles in, she turns to leave, saying, “I’ll be in the next alcove if you need anything.”

“You’re not sleeping here? This bed is huge.”

“No. I trust it is more comfortable than the shuttle.”

“Maybe the bed is softer, but I don’t have my listel to keep me warm.”

Beryl laughs. “There are plenty of covers, and the others would be jealous.”

As she leaves, Talon sends, “moth wing? How have we never heard this story before?”

“Because it is something I wanted to leave behind,” Beryl returns, aware that they can pick up her embarrassment.

“Your whole diral band seemed unprepared,” Spiral remarks. “How did you end up soaked twice in one day?”

“It was supposed to be an arid world,” Beryl grouses. “Our leader thought other activities were more important than setting up shelter. My misfortune was a lucky opportunity for her to deflect any responsibility for not having any shelter set up. They were debating if they could expel me from the group if they were unable to get the bug out of my ear.”

“Truthfully?” Fireblade asks.

“Yes. They blamed me for not having known there would be rains on the planet, so they considered it a fitting punishment for failing the group.”

“Sounds like a tenoin diral band,” Spiral comments. “I thought listels were supposed to be less rowdy.”

“If so, no one told my diral,” Beryl complains. “At least we got the shelters set up in time for it to stop raining. That was when I figured that the research we did on the planet was incorrect but it took a long time to convince the others. Our leader insisted that I was incompetent, but as more of the others also had errors in their work the truth mounted until she could not deny it. It was only when we graduated that we found that they had made sure all of the references we found about the planet we were being sent to were incorrect so that we would have to use something other than our memories to survive.”

Talon laughs. “And here I thought listels were good at planning.”

“They really called you Mothwing for a year?” Reed asks. “It is not a terrible name.”

“No, they wanted to suggest my adult name should be Mothwing. They called me Mothear. I had nightmares for weeks that I could still feel it crawling in my ear. Some complained that I woke them up, so I had to sleep at the far end of our camp.”

“That is horrible,” Fireblade sympathizes. “But Mothwing would be a pretty name if it wasn’t attached to those memories.”

“Not you too,” Beryl complains. The others chime in with their opinions on the name, until Beryl excuses herself and heads to Alex’s alcove and crawls in under the covers.

“I thought you were going to sleep elsewhere?” he asks as she curls up near to him.

“I was, until everyone started making fun of my name.”

To her surprise, Alex starts laughing.

“It is not funny!” she says angrily, the emotions from that day being brought back in her recounting. “I was nicknamed Mothear by the diral for over a year. I had nightmares that that would be my adult name. They did talk about recommending Mothwing for my adult name, but luckily that did not happen.”

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have laughed at what was a bad experience,” he says, turning serious. “I laughed because you are a valued member of an elite unit, trusted to be responsible for this alien ambassador. I’d wager you did better than all of your diral band put together.” He grins again, “though I agree that Beryl is a much better fit for you than Mothwing.”

She frowns at him, then gives up and joins him in laughing. “Well, I guess you are right. But you owe me some embarrassing story of your own.”

“Tomorrow I’ll try to remember one,” he says, making room for her a little closer. She moves in and he grips her hand. “Good night.”

[inxsi]

Chapter Eight: Nightmare

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Beryl awakens next to Alex on the cold floor of the dimly lit tunnel.

“We survived,” he sends. “Thank you for coming up with that plan. You saved my life.”

Beryl shrugs, his praise feeling awkward. “It was a joint effort,” she says, realizing he must have pulled her deeper into the tunnel. She glances at the door behind them. Something had rammed it from the other side with great force, leaving a jagged imprint, though the door held. “Looks like we’re going forward, wherever that leads.”

“Where there’s life, there’s hope,” he replies. She nods and they turn to head further into the tunnel.

“Do you know where this tunnel goes?” she asks.

“I’m not sure. I overheard that the area is riddled with tunnels, most of which were built by the people who think they are occupying this place.”

“Who are these people?”

“There are armed men. I suppose they are soldiers. I’ve avoided them, but they patrol most of the established paths so that is a pain.”

“Soldiers? Are they well-armed? Are they human?”

“Soldiers, sometimes extremely heavily armed,” Alex shrugs. “As for whether they are human - they seem to be, but when I was observing them they seemed to move oddly. I cannot really explain it, just that their gait did not seem correct. And I'm not sure how anyone would get here - or why they would come here. There is something about their attitude towards this place I don’t trust. I think they’re too complacent, and don’t have enough fear of this place. I guess they think they are in control here.”

“Aren’t they? Isn’t that what that creature told us?”

“He said the creature wasn’t in control, not that these soldiers were. I’m not sure who is actually running things, but I’m pretty sure that nothing from the real world is ultimately in charge. One thing I’ve learned is that when you think you have everything figured out here, is when you are about to be blindsided.” He nods as they pass a side tunnel that branches off, approaching a dead body dressed in the tattered remnants of a uniform. It looks like a series of small razors struck his body, and most of his head and upper throat is gone. “Does he look like he is in charge?”

“Point. Though, even a victorious army takes casualties. He looks human enough.”

“True enough.”

A crackling noise suddenly comes from the body, then a voice. A radio, Beryl realizes. “Muldoon, report in. Any damage from the flood?” a clipped, precise voice asks.

After a long pause, a reply comes in a slow drawl. “Muldoon here. Why wasn’t there any warning about the flood? I lost a few people who were sweeping the tunnels to make sure they were ready for the upcoming move.” Beryl frowns and approaches the body, looking for any indication of the radio, while Alex glances around the tunnel nervously. The marking on the uniform does not look like anything she saw from the Bellarmine.

“The sensor net does not cover the highlands. We think the water came from there, and had to be diverted to prevent the loss of the main complex. I’m sorry for the loss of your men, but surely you can see that was a preferable course of action. Their sacrifice will not be in vain,” the precise voice replies.

“Of course not. They pave the way for the future security of all who dwell under the Umiak Hierarchy. I don’t suppose we can do anything for the next time?” She sees a knife hanging on body’s combat harness. The radio should be a bit further back behind it. She gingerly grabs the body, trying to turn it. It is heavier than it looks, and more rigid.

“There shouldn’t be a next time.”

“There wasn’t supposed to be a first time.” She tightens her grip and puts her body weight into it, managing to twist it to the side as it falls. She grabs the exposed radio, careful not to hit any buttons on it. Luckily it has its own lanyard that she can loop over one shoulder. She shrugs and grabs the knife, noting it seems nearly identical to the one Alex carries.

“We all agreed it was a sensible risk. And no, the time table is too tight to try to expand the sensor net. Even if we did, it might not provide enough warning for any truly critical areas.”

“Understood. I am waiting for word from crews out completing the assessment, but everything looks good so far. The wildlife is all shaken up though, so it might take a bit longer.”

“Everything should still be contained.”

“It seems that everything is. But it will take a while to verify.”

“Very well. We need to get the packages moved, and then prep the creature for movement to the next area of operations. I assume the creature is fine?”

“He doesn’t seem to have suffered any ill effects from either the operations or the flood. We are preparing the channels now to move him to the next sector.”

“Good. We will have the packages there in time for that operation to begin in four days. Remember that this is the most critical phase and the timeline cannot be adjusted. If we fail, all of our sacrifices are worth a lot less for our cause.”

“We should move on,” Alex says. “There are some things watching us. I think they just want the body, but wouldn’t mind killing us if we are easy prey.”

Beryl looks over and sees several sets of eyes glowing down the side corridor. “Agreed. Let’s continue on,” she says, turning to watch the path in front as Alex covers the rear.

After a long, tense minute, Alex reports, “they are eating the body. Hopefully they don’t follow us, but stay on guard. There might be more of them.”

“What are they?”

“Compsognathus. They are small creatures, mostly scavengers. But they have a venomous bite and are not afraid to create their own food if they are in a large enough group.”

“They must have killed that soldier?”

“Yes. This tunnel didn’t flood, but that fellow will probably be written off as a victim of that. You sure you want to keep that radio?”

“Do you have any ideas on how to free the leviathan in five days?”

“No,” Alex admits. “I’m not sure what is keeping it locked up.”

“Then we need to see if we can find any information. Maybe someone will broadcast something, or there are other functions on the radio. I didn’t see a map on the body, but I didn’t have time to get a good look.”

“Ok. Just don’t hit anything on it until we discuss it. I don’t think anyone knows we are here, and I’d like to keep it that way. I don’t fancy our odds if these soldiers are looking for us.”

“Agreed.”

They continue on, until, eventually, there is a ladder leading upwards.

[inxsi]

Chapter Nine: Dream - Part One

SpoilerShow

Beryl sighs quietly to herself. She had hoped to study more about humanity at the library but Alex had explained that one of the instructors had suggested that it was never too early to ensure a cadet is familiar with firearms and the physical skills required of an officer in the TCA. Which is why she is allowing Alex to lead her to a gym just off of the Academy grounds.

At least he seems excited to show it to me. He had picked at his breakfast that morning. When she asked if anything was bothering him, he said that Ellen and the others would be back this evening. He had said he is looking forward to seeing them but it is one day closer to when the grades for the exercise are being released. She had wondered if his mood is related to the feminine cry she had heard from his bedroom as she was dressing but she did not think he would appreciate her asking. She had heard a door slam and saw the blur of a woman with cherry blond hair turning the corner at the end of the common hall when she opened her door, but she had decided to pretend not to notice and gone back inside before Alex came to his door.

“This is a private gym, but it has a deal with the Academy for all of the students to join for very small fee. Almost everyone uses this gym – the one on the Academy grounds is not nearly as well equipped,” he explains as he leads her inside, and she immediately sees what he means. The lobby is fairly large, with several attendants waiting patiently at a large counter.

“Hi Alex,” a female attendant greets him with a smile. “Are you going to use the facilities today?”

“I’m getting Lynne here acquainted with the system. She’s a new recruit,” he explains.

“We can get the introductory course set up. I assume she is doing the timed course?”

“Just a test run to get an idea of her current fitness,” he says.

“Understood. Are you doing any weapons simulation or live-fire exercises?”

“Simulation for now. Then we’ll run her through everything else,” he replies.

“Do you require weapons familiarization?” the attendant asks Beryl.

“I can run her through it,” Alex answers.

“Ok,” she replies, clicking something on her machine and handing her a badge. He leads her through the double-doors and upstairs, to find a set of VR machines.

“These are still a little clunky, but they will get you used to the weight of a pistol and the feel of shooting it. That is the part I always have issues with, since I anticipate the recoil too much and it throws everything off. We just have to attach these sensors to your body so the computer knows where you are.” As he is pulling out the sensors, a woman’s voice calls his name. Both Alex and Beryl look around, spotting Ellen and the girl from the photograph from Alex’s room waving and heading this way.

“Ellen!” Alex says in surprise. “I didn’t think you would be back yet.”

“The courier captain must have had a hot date,” she replies. “He took a deep jump so we got here early. He’ll probably be written up for that, but it works out for me. I see you’re teaching Lynne your excellent marksmanship technique.”

“I was just getting her adjusted to the system. One of the officers suggested it.”

“Who is Lynne?” the other woman asks. She is slightly taller than Alex with ash blonde hair that falls past her waist. Several large bags hang from her shoulder.

“She’s the woman Alex rescued from the Wolf system. She’s a new student at the Academy, so they sent Alex back to make sure she gets her bearings,” Ellen says.

“And your training her on the VR sims for firearms? Do you want her to shoot as badly as you?” the woman exclaims.

“My shooting passes the exams,” he protests.

“Barely,” she scoffs.

“This is Kaetlin,” Ellen says, then adds, “Alex’s girlfriend.”

“Sorry, forgot my manners. Pleased to meet you,” Kaetlin holds out her hand. Her handshake has a very firm grip, enhanced by calluses. “With hands like that, you don’t shoot much,” she observes.

“Just some laser pistol a few years ago,” Beryl evades. She has managed to look at a variety of weapon specifications, and those seem the closest to the handling of the loroi weapons she is trained on. Much worse performance, but similar handling.

“Those were probably good back there, but they prefer slug-throwers here. I can give you a quick introduction if you’d like. My normal practice isn’t for a bit.” Beryl nods and the group starts making their way to the gun range downstairs.

“I didn’t expect to see you until later today,” Alex tells Kaetlin.

“I normally wouldn’t be here, but Ellen got in early. She’s wanted to watch me shoot for a while, but our schedules have never matched up, but she said this would be the perfect chance. I didn’t expect to see you here though,” she says.

“Happy coincidence,” Alex agrees. “I was expecting to meet up with you a little later.”

“I’d rather you be out there impressing senior officers to help out your career, but I suppose rescuing someone is quite the feather in your cap.”

Ellen laughs. “Yes, Alex made an impact when he rescued her.”

“Glad to hear it. I’m sure you’ll be assigned to the First Contact mission. When I imagine Alex making peace with the loroi in a dashing uniform, I get chills.”

“More likely the umiak,” Alex comments.

“What? The slavers? Why?”

“How did you miss the broadcast?”

“I was traveling for the past few days for a tournament since you were gone,” she says. “The first for me in a while. What broadcast?”

Alex quickly explains the high points of the information that had leaked.

“Hmm…” she muses. “I didn't know about that information. I suppose if the people support the umiak, then we will ally with them unless their situation seems hopeless. Maybe you’ll be even more of a hero if one side is viewed more favorably.”

They arrive at the gun range. Kaetlin nods to the attendant at a desk, who tells her to use any station. She leads them to one of the shooting lanes and starts to unload her bags, carefully taking out and checking multiple guns.

“What if I don’t make it into the Scout Corps?” Alex asks, breaking the silence.

“I thought the instructors loved you?” Kaetlin eyes him suspiciously. “Is there something I should know?”

“No,” Alex stammers. “Everything’s fine. It’s just that the Scout Corps is really competitive, especially now.”

“Well, if you don’t make there is still the military. I’m sure that you will make a name for yourself there in whatever battles happen to support our allies. I’d prefer you to be in the Scout Corps since it is more prestigious, and safer.” She frowns. “I know it will be hard for us to be apart for so long, but it will only be a few years. After that, you can request assignment closer to home, or retire. Don’t you agree?”

“Of course,” he replies.

“Good,” she nods. “Ok Lynne, I’ll show you the basics of firearms now.” Beryl is quickly shown the basics of a firearm and safety. “I think you have the proper technique down and good form for having used lasers before. I’d rather you start with something lighter than any of the weapons I have with me today to get used to the noise and recoil. You should be able to see what I mean in a moment when I start warming up. You all can stay and watch with Ellen. None of this after the basic target work I explained to you applies to Navy applicants, despite various recommendations over the years –”

“There are marines for those tasks,” Alex interjects.

“But you might find it interesting. After all, marines are not posted on every ship, and when seconds count, the marines are minutes away. Just remember that using a gun is a weighty responsibility and to never take it lightly.”

“Thank you for the lesson,” Beryl tells her.

“Anytime. It is nice to have such an attentive and respectful student,” Kaetlin says as Beryl walks back to the group. She turns back to the targets with her pistol, aiming and firing swiftly. Beryl blinks and looks at the target. Every round fired is a bullseye.

“She’s pretty good, right?” Ellen pitches her voice to not disturb Kaetlin, who is switching to a slightly larger gun, which Beryl recognizes from her research as a submachine gun. It is a similar size to that the loroi use during boarding actions. Alex nods. “Wouldn’t want to have her mad at me,” Ellen continues.

Satisfied, Kaetlin sets the gun aside and takes up a larger rifle.

“What kind of shooting does she do?” Beryl asks as the echoes die off.

Kaetlin answers. “It is a version of three-gun competitive shooting, modified to be more suitable for real-world military scenarios. This club believes it is more authentic than these static target ranges, or even dynamic ranges with automated targets. I only use this range,” she gestures at their surroundings, “to warm up and double-check my guns. The real course is a lot larger, since the goal is moving through a set of obstacles that require the shooter to decide which gun to use at a given time. Scoring is a combination of speed and accuracy.” She starts equipping a harness and hanging her guns off of it. “A lot of shooters find it too much of a pain, but I like the challenge.” She finishes by holstering her pistol, then leads them out of the range. “The shooting complex is further in. Most competitors, including me, use live rounds, so it is pretty large to allow for the safety insulation.”

“Live ammunition outside of a shooting range?” Alex questions. “Isn’t that dangerous?”

“Less dangerous than your motorcycle,” she replies. “I’ve seen the statistics. And in the unlikely event of an accident, there is a full medical response team nearby.”

They emerge from the corridor into a decent-sized room with monitors, with one wall made entirely of glass looking over a series of concrete and metal walls. The monitors in the room show hallways, staircases, and other areas that must be inside the course.

“Only the shooter is allowed inside when the course is live. You can watch from here on the monitors – I don’t think the window really lets you see anything. It is fully bulletproof, it just doesn’t have a great view. The score and comparison to my personal best shows here. It might not make any sense to you guys though,” Kaetlin explains. As they watch, the panel lights up with the words “Death’s Shadow”.

Alex does a double-take. “You’re Death’s Shadow?”

Kaetlin giggles. “Yes, but I didn’t choose the name. Daryl, the owner of the course, chose it for me. I should have come up with a name before I entered that tournament, but now I’m stuck with it.

“You didn’t tell him?” Ellen says.

“No. She doesn’t tell me much, other than her plans for our future,” Alex sighs.

Ellen explains for Beryl’s benefit. “The gun range keeps a scoreboard for different activities, but to keep the privacy of the shooters, everyone goes by code names. Death’s Shadow is the top scorer on a number of shooting events.”

“And I’d prefer to keep that privacy,” Kaetlin says. “I trust you will be discreet.” They both agree. “Good. All shooters wear a headset with a radio for emergencies,” she continues, pulling one out from her bag and donning it. “You shouldn’t have to worry about it, since the shooting attendant should have already alerted me if one comes up, but there are controls = if you need to get in touch. I like to stay in the zone while shooting, so please don’t call me unless something serious happens.”

Everyone nods their understanding. As Kaetlin enters the lift to ride down to the course, Beryl realizes that she looks far more like a warrior that Stillstorm would respect than Alex does.

[inxsi]

Chapter Nine: Dream - Part Two

SpoilerShow

Beryl finds the way Kaetlin works through the course interesting. Her shooting is superb, better than even most of the elite units that Beryl has heard of, though she is no expert on loroi marine operations. And her movement is crisp and confident. She cringes slightly at her door clearing techniques – she has received extensive briefs on how it should be handled on the Tempest, which included steps to follow beyond the general recommendation of “wait for a soroin or teidar squad to handle fighting beyond holding a defensive position.” Maybe it is because she is one person for what would usually require a team of people to do, she wonders. I’ll have to ask Fireblade. On the other hand, Reed might have a better perspective. Kaetlin seems reckless in how she moves from one room to the next.

On the other hand, the targets do shoot back and she has avoided taking any hits. It is not a very realistic simulation; the targets are slow to track her and fire and do not do so when she is behind cover. Kaetlin is able to keep moving from cover to cover, shooting as she goes. The speed at which she is moving is impressive while keeping her accuracy up, though Beryl suspects that in a real situation she would have been killed due to not properly clearing the rooms. On the other hand, she is handling a variety of smalls rooms, corners, normal sized rooms and longer hallways, include one huge room configured as a hangar bay with very long-range shooting. She very rarely requires a second shot on a target.

Beryl is surprised to see that the targets are holographic images of umiak. They are unaugmented specimens, not the armored but agile weapons platforms the umiak use for ship-boarding or the hulking tanks deployed to planets. How would she react to the real thing? Hopefully these aren’t the weapons human marines use, though she could probably take down an armored drone with the way she shoots. They most have only the most basic biological information from the orgus. They do bleed simulated black blood when shot. The images fade away instead of having realistic death animations, but it appears that learning how to navigate over their dead bodies is not a goal of the course. “Why umiak?” she asks Ellen.

“Darryl thought it would help the course stand out over the competition, so he invested in hologram projectors. They used to be generic human combatants, or sometimes robots, but once the general physiological data on the umiak was released, he couldn’t resist updating the projectors to show their images. He got a kick out of promoting it as the only real simulated bug-hunt in the TCA. Maybe not the most professional if we ever ally with them, but what they don’t know won’t hurt them. Though he’s trying to figure out what to show next, since the pro-umiak sentiment is currently leading.”

“He’s not going to show the loroi?” Beryl asks.

“Darryl would sell his first-born for data on the loroi, but no one knows of anything credible. He asked us about our best guess so he could let the shooter choose which side to be on, but decided he would be called out when actual photos of the loroi ever get revealed.”

Beryl shivers thinking of Kaetlin battling loroi. She can picture Kaetlin waiting, scoped in on a closed door, waiting for the first member of a loroi squad to try to clear it. Would even a teidar be helpful in such a situation since the humans are undetectable behind their lotai? We can always use robots, she thinks, then shivers again as she remembers a brief round of sparring with a teidar using mental shielding. Even though her opponent used only very basic combat techniques and pulled her punches, she had been defeated handily. Afterwards, Fireblade explained to the class that the difficulty came from the unconscious reliance on their mental senses in combat to judge the intentions of the enemy. Without continuous training to fight without that information, warriors rely on their mental abilities at an instinctive level, leading to severe shortcomings when forced to fight against an opponent that can block their senses.

Alex also seems withdrawn while watching Kaetlin’s shooting. I wonder if he feels like it is a challenge to his warrior status? Or would it be a boon to be partnered to someone so skilled? I need to research this “marriage.” How could it possibly work out for anyone, to be devoted to one person your whole life? It appears they do not have to stay physically together, since Alex is going off into the Scout Corps. Do I need to tell Talon and Spiral to stop flirting with him, since he is pledged to another?

Seeking a distraction from these troubling thoughts, Beryl comments, “she seems extremely good at shooting. But it seems like she would be shot easily if the targets behaved more realistically. Does all of the military train this way for boarding, or is this just for a military competition?”

Ellen and Alex burst into laughter. Ellen manages to stop first, and explains, “Kaetlin is civilian, not military. This is a civilian sport, despite the efforts to market it as more military-oriented.”

“We don’t train with the marines until the very end of second year,” Alex continues. “The footage I’ve seen of their exercises is a lot more energetic than this.”

“Oh,” Beryl says. That explains the poor technique. But how can a civilian shoot that well? No, I’m assuming they are more similar to loroi, just with male warriors. But – why would a civilian learn to shoot this well? Is it so she can be worthy to mate with Alex?

Kaetlin soon finishes and rejoins them in the control room. “Great run,” Ellen congratulates her. “Lynne thought you should try out for the military.”

Kaetlin blushes. “No disrespect to you folks, but I don’t think I could handle killing someone for no better reason than duty.” She waves off their protests. “I know that isn’t one of the main reasons any of you are joining, but at some point, it might come to that for you, though I hope we can avoid getting involved in the present war. Anyway, if I do end up having to kill, it’d better be for something personal. Like if Alex cheats on me – I might even kill the woman involved.” There is a silence that stretches awkwardly, then she laughs. “I know that would never happen, since Alex loves me. Right Alex?”

“Right,” Alex agrees with a laugh. “Not in a million years.”

[inxsi]

Chapter Nine: Dream - Part Three

SpoilerShow

Beryl is already wondering if she should have accepted Alex’s invitation to hang out for the evening as he leads her back to the bar. I have gotten a lot of work done, she tells herself. Both for the loroi and for Lynne’s duties. I deserve some time to relax. And this is also research, to see how humans interact with each other.

Ellen has already arrived and it sitting at a table flanked by two males in unfamiliar uniforms. She waves at them as soon as they enter. “Hi Alex,” she says as they reach her table. After a short pause, Beryl realizes that Alex is waiting for her to sit first. She slides into the booth, already feeling overheated as Alex sits, blocking her in.

“Hi,” Alex replies. He seems subdued. Maybe due to the other men? “This is Lynne. You’ve already met Ellen. On her left is Jonny, and to her right is Vincent. Jonny is one of the mechanics who supports the fleet. I’m surprised he has free time, actually, since I thought they were doing some major overhauls?”

“You know how the navy is – hurry up and wait. We did the teardown with overtime, then got time off since we need parts for the rebuild,” Jonny says.

“Vincent is analyzing everything we know from the orgus for whomever gets to make first contact. I’m also surprised he’s here, since he’s used to everyone asking for information he doesn’t have yet,” Alex concludes.

“Since the leak, everyone’s been leaving us alone," Vincent confirms. "Which is good, since we can’t get any work done right now. Everything’s getting audited – now I need an escort just to go to the bathroom at work.”

“I heard the broadcast. Any comment?”

“I was hoping the recruits would miss it.”

“There’s this thing called the internet,” Ellen informs Vincent. “Everyone who missed it looked it up as soon as they could. So, any comment? Are we going to join the umiak and rid the galaxy of the hated loroi?”

“You know that I can’t answer moral questions such as that," Vincent says in exasperation. "I can say that the situation is more complicated than the current debate is, and whoever goes out there and takes a look will undoubtedly find new information relevant to the decision.”

“Right – so our job is to go out there and possibly ally with the space Nazis?”

“We prefer less loaded terminology in our internal discussion. But, if you do get selected, yes, you might have to sign us up as a whole to support the space Nazis, whichever side that turns out to be. I will say that I am glad I don’t have to make that call.”

Jonny coughs. “What do you do, Lynne?”

Ellen answers in a clipped tone. “Lynne’s a new student. She just arrived, so she’ll be behind our class. We just met her.” Beryl nods, flustered by her tone.

“How did the exercise go? Did the modifications work well?”

“The modifications looked great but we didn't end up getting to see how they worked,” Alex says. “Thank you for working on them. I hope the specifications I provided were accurate enough.”

“The specs were fine. But you didn't use them - did you not need them to get top score or what?” the mechanic presses.

“We would have used them,” Ellen explains, “but Lynne here was mysteriously adrift in the system for the exercises.”

Jonny stares for a long moment. “Have they figured out how you ended up overboard? That’s a pretty serious incident, especially if the ship she was on didn’t notice you were adrift. Was your suit ok?”

“As far as I know, they have not figured out how I ended up adrift,” Beryl answers. “I don’t recall what happened – I was shipping out to meet up with the exercise, then I was waking up in a spacesuit that was booting up.”

“Booting up? I hope they recovered that suit – I’m glad it saved you, but that could have delayed the rescue significantly depending on how the suit computer failed to start. It should broadcast an emergency beacon almost immediately – they can be tethered from a ship for up to three minutes to cut back on people jerry-rigging the same effect. It is rare for someone to be rescued by a different ship barring some absolute disaster,” he replies.

Ellen breaks in, “I want to know as well. Rescuing her did break up our whole deployment.”

“It didn’t have to,” Alex replies. “The main issue was that everyone wanted to change plans when our ship went to rescue her. That meant no one was in position to launch the ambush.”

“Everyone was out of position because we were rescuing the damsel in distress here.”

Jonny coughs, again changing the subject. “How was the second day? Were you able to try the tactic again, or had you already tipped your hand on the first run?”

“Thanks to someone here,” Ellen stares at Beryl, “we had to repick our commanders. I wasn’t able to convince anyone to try the plan again, so we were stuck with conventional tactics. Which did better, but still resulted in a loss.”

The waitress stops at their table and puts a plate of wings and a glass of water in front of Beryl and Alex. We have not ordered yet. Alex pokes his food slightly, then says, “don’t eat yet Lynne.” Beryl nods. Clearly Ellen is bothered by something, and Alex wants to relieve the tension before we eat. But why was food brought for us?

“What’s this really about, Ellen?” Alex asks. “You’ve been awfully rude to Lynne tonight.”

“Where have you been sleeping?” Ellen asks, eyes flashing. A fight over mating? Alex didn’t seem to have any interest in me. Maybe human males express their interest in a very circumspect manner? Or maybe just due to his young age?

Alex sighs. “Housekeeping didn’t have Lynne’s room set up when we arrived the first night, so we both slept at my place. I wanted to sleep on the couch, but Lynne wouldn’t hear of it, so we slept in the same bed. Absolutely nothing happened between us.” Ellen snorts. “Wait, that’s what this is about? You think we’re having sex?”

“I saw the way you started when you heard her name!” Ellen quickly quiets herself.

“She’s not the one I cheated – am cheating – with. I swear to you, nothing happened with Lynne. You heard them say that she had just arrived from Esperanza, but you can check yourself if you don't trust me.” He starts reaching into his pocket to pull out his datapad, stopping when he sees Ellen pause, her mouth partway open.

Deflating suddenly, she says, “oh. Sorry about that Lynne. I thought it was you – I shouldn’t have taken it out on you before I knew for sure. Please accept my apologies.”

Beryl stares. Humans take their relationships very seriously. But then – why is Alex cheating? Is it just because he was gone from Kaetlin for so long? Or to advance his career? Everyone at the table is relaxing, so she nods, eager to drop whatever vendetta was being held against her. “No worries,” she replies. Wanting to defuse all of the tension, she grabs one of the meat strips from her plate and takes a big bite of it. Alex and Ellen reach out but both are too late to stop her.

Expecting an odd, unpleasant taste, Beryl is utterly unprepared for just how awful it is. She feels an intense burn, and then her throat is spasming. She doubles over, coughing the food up. I must be having an allergic reaction. The pain intensifies. Her eyes blinded by tears, she gropes for her glass of water, hoping to wash out whatever toxin is in this hell-food.

“Hold on for a second,” someone says, grabbing her wrists. She can hear her glass being moved away across the table. Ellen must really have hated me. She is held for what seems like forever, her thoughts consumed by the pain in her mouth and throat. As she thinks to start kicking people under the table, something cold is put to her mouth and she instinctively starts drinking. It has an odd taste, not unpleasant. Most importantly, the fire in her mouth is smothered. She drinks greedily, almost choking before the glass is pulled back. When she can see again, Ellen is leaning forward, looking concerned and holding a glass of white liquid.

“I am so sorry,” she says. “I didn’t mean for you to eat them. It’s a tradition among cadets in the Academy that when they have been wronged, they buy the wrongdoer a plate of the flaming death chicken wings. If the wrongdoer doesn’t resolve the issue, then they must eat the plate. I didn’t realize you wouldn’t know.”

“Milk makes the pain subside, but water makes it worse,” Alex explains, “which is why I grabbed you. I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

“No, I’m fine,” Beryl replies, rubbing her forearms.

Ellen frowns as she looks at Beryl. “Sorry about that – I spilled some on you. Let’s go to the bathroom and get you cleaned up.” Beryl nods and follows her.

In the bathroom, Ellen uses water and paper towels to clean the spots on Beryl’s clothes. “Again, I’m very sorry. I completely misunderstood the situation. I thought you and Alex were dating, while Alex is already almost engaged with Kaetlin. I’d like to be friends, if that’s ok with you.”

“I’d like that,” Beryl replies. “Alex’s cheating is a big deal? Why haven’t you told Kaetlin?”

“I promised Alex that I wouldn’t. I was assuming he would have resolved it by now, but he say it is complicated. I actually believe that he thinks that. Anyway, you don’t need to get pulled into all of that drama. I think we should do something together tomorrow to cement our friendship. How about shopping?”

“Sounds great. I haven’t bought anything since I got here, but they just figured out my living allowance,” Beryl agrees.

As they exit the bathroom, Ellen asks if she has played Polybius yet.

“Yes, I’ve played a little bit,” Beryl says.

“Wait – you are Beryl? Eilis, in trade?”

“That is what the game called me,” Beryl admits reluctantly. “But please don’t call me that.”

“No worries,” Ellen agrees. “Lynne it is. I was just wondering who the hotshot rookie was while I was waiting for Alex.”

“Are you angry?”

“Jealous maybe. It took me a few weeks to get that good.”

“Alex showed me the ropes,” Beryl explains uneasily.

“I suppose that makes sense. No one in our class knew anything about the game, so we all had to learn as best we could. I was a bit annoyed that I couldn’t find any tips or techniques on the internet. It is like no one ever heard of the game. We could play a bit if you want.”

“That is fine, but won’t Alex miss us?”

“Well, it should show Alex that we’re friends now - since you are new here, we should go shopping together tomorrow to make sure you have everything you need and you can pay me back when you can. And if it makes him sweat a bit, I won’t feel too bad. He deserves a bit of grief for letting me think you were the one he was cheating with.” Beryl decides not to comment on her logic. She pulls out her remaining free tokens. “You still have the free tokens? You should use those before anyone else sees you with them.” Beryl nods and inserts a token, starting to focus on the shapes on screen as the strange musical rhythm begins in the background. “There is a rumor going around that the game is being used to rank cadets for the First Contact mission, so some of them, like Claude, would be really angry if they saw how good you were without having played much.”

“Do you think there is any truth to the rumor?”

“No,” Ellen laughs. “It is pretty crazy to think that a video game, no matter how complicated or useful it is, would be used in such a way. Most of them were always the best student in their school, so they aren’t sure how to deal with the competition. Cadets are stressed out already, even though there is still a year before any decisions are made on the First Contact mission. I think the instructors like stressing us out, to see how everyone reacts. It breeds weird behavior and rumors. Like the rumor that you won’t have to take the final if your roommate dies.”

“Roommate?”

“Crazy right? You and Alex are lucky, getting single rooms. Most of us have roommates. How did you swing that?”

“I’m not sure. Alex just showed me the room. How did Alex get one?”

“No clue. The ways of the room algorithm are as incomprehensible as any of the teachers.”

“Are there any other weird rumors I should know about?”

“Nothing important since they banned the annual pillow fight last year over injuries. We’re not yet old enough to need challenge coins, though you should be on the lookout for next year. I guess you also missed the Ritual of the Stars, since you weren’t technically part of the navy. Though maybe it got out of hand and that is how you ended up in space? Sorry, I didn’t mean to bring back bad memories,” Ellen adds as an afterthought.

Beryl waves it off. “It’s fine. But what is the Ritual of the Stars?”

“It commemorates the first hyper jump that a cadet makes. Mostly, it is an excuse to get drunk and embarrass the cadets. Hopefully you won’t have to go through with it until you are part of a new class. For us, it wasn’t so bad since the officers had to spread their attention to all the cadets. We’ll have to go through it again at some point after we are in active service after graduation, which will probably be worse.”

Beryl winces. The loroi have a somewhat similar ceremony for newly graduated warriors who have just joined their military unit. Traditionally, the new warriors are assigned to serve the senior member of a different caste, with the listel being assigned to serve the teidar. Fireblade was already the senior teidar on the Tempest when Beryl joined the unit, so Beryl had been assigned to be her assistant for the day. The memory of trying to impress the skilled teidar still causes her embarrassment when she thinks of it.

As they are walking back to the table, Beryl’s attention is drawn by the “breaking news” banner on the television that dissolves into a stern-faced woman in some kind of uniform speaking to the camera.

“While the death of Gary Busano appears to be from medical causes, the local government announced that due to the rash of deaths by under similar circumstances that a task force will be launched to investigate if these deaths are related by any factor. The medical investigation will be headed up by Lauren Sommers, the respected epidemiologist who is famous for addressing the air filtration issue of five years ago. In addition, one new death of similar causes was reported today. Out of respect for his family, his name is being withheld pending further investigation.

“Shown here is police lieutenant Desiree Montana, who will be leading the police investigation. She stressed there is no reason to believe that foul play was involved, but in light of the phone call to the Apology Line and a series of anonymous phone reports, the police task is being created to reassure the public that all avenues of investigation would be pursued. If anyone has any information, please contact the phone number shown below or email us securely at the address listed.”

[inxsi]

Chapter Ten: Awake

SpoilerShow

My dreams have definitely grown even stranger. Hopefully Tempo will have some ideas, I haven't talked to her about them lately, Beryl thinks while waking, then stiffens slightly. Alex rolled in his sleep and is pinning her left side. She carefully extricates herself, but he stirs just as she finishes.

“Sorry,” Alex says. “I’m not used to sleeping with anyone. I hope I did not offend.”

“Alex, I used your shoulder as a pillow on the shuttle,” she reminds him, smiling and taking his hand to try to share her lack of concern with him.

“I remember,” he says. “But as you said, those were different circumstances.”

She agrees. “If anything, I was worried about offending you. It is difficult not knowing what taboos humanity might have, and I do not want to cause you any distress.”

“Well, this is…” he frowns. “I was going to say this is fine with me, but… you have a point. You were worried about what the others would say about this?”

“Yes,” she says. “There will be some jealousy and teasing. But nothing happened, so it will not be that bad. Though we should not make a habit of this.” She looks closely at his face. “You are worried about this?”

He nods slowly. “I don’t want to cause any problems that I can avoid, both for you personally and for any human-loroi relations in the future. You can show everyone with your sanzai that we only slept, but I doubt my superiors will have as understanding an attitude. But I’m sure I will be subject to jokes and innuendo about my time among the loroi no matter what.”

“How so?”

He blushes. “I don’t mean to offend you, but being surrounded by many alien women who look very…” he coughs, clearly trying to find a way to continue, “compatible with human standards of beauty would be viewed as a sexual fantasy for many human males. Even the ones who are not interested in it would doubtless see it is a source of humor, and that is before they hear about the loroi concerns with male reproductive health.”

“I… I’m not sure I see. You are attracted to us, but are unable to act?” she asks.

“There are standards of conduct,” he tries to explain. “It would not be appropriate for me to become sexually involved with any loroi at this time. Maybe once negotiations are concluded. But it is probably an ethics violation for me to even hint at that. I hope I didn’t upset you too much,” he finishes softly.

“No, it is good to establish these limits,” she says, sitting up. “I would not want to offend your human propriety, or cause you issues in your career.”

“I’m sorry if I have hurt you,” he says, reaching out to grab her hand. The guilt and remorse hits her like a blow through his sanzai, causing her to stop and look at him as he sits up. “I need to apologize for something else as well.”

“What?”

He grimaces. “I deceived you back on the Highland Seven, right after you gave me the data pad. When I was getting dressed, the historian construct uploaded part of itself to it. It said it was in contact with the Prophet’s Reason and would direct them to rescue us. It also warned me about the loroi.”

She hisses involuntarily. “And you didn’t tell me this earlier?”

“I thought the barsam would have mentioned it, but I realized this morning that they did not. I wasn’t thinking about it at the time since we were busy. I know that is a terrible excuse, but I don’t have any others. I intentionally deceived you on the shuttle. I don’t know how to make this up to you.”

“Stay here,” Beryl says, exiting the alcove. “Tempo, we have a problem. Alex has deceived me - deceived us.”

“What happened? Tell me everything,” the reply arrives almost instantly. Beryl relates how the historian loaded a program onto Alex’s data pad.

After long solons, Tempo replies with a message stripped of all emotional content. Beryl shivers. Fireblade usually uses her mental shields to some extent during sanzai but Tempo has never done so in Beryl’s experience. “This is most serious. Please keep an eye on Alex while I deal with this.” The mizol exits the main room to use a discreet comm terminal.

After a few minutes, she returns and opens the door to their quarters. A soroin guard hands her a bag. “Beryl, where is the data pad now?” the mizol asks.

“Still in Alex’s room. Do you want me to retrieve it?”

“No, I think it is best that I handle this.” Tempo enters the alcove, and there is a brief conversation, too low for Beryl to make out. She exits with the bag carefully folded up and sealed. “I am going to meet with Sunfury regarding this matter. Please do not discuss it with Alex for now. I am not sure if this will affect his status as an ambassador.”

With the mizol gone, the tension only increases for Beryl. Fortunately, Alex stays in his alcove, looking glum, but the others have comments on this development, which does not help her sort through her own reaction to this revelation. The fact that Reed and Fireblade keep watch on Alex matters little for their involvement in the conversation.

*** *** ***

“What is to be done with Alex?” Fireblade asks when Tempo returns.

“Sunfury and Opal are being lenient. We are to keep an eye on him, and restrict his access to any electronics, but he is still recognized as the ambassador of humanity,” she announces. Beryl lets out a breath she had not realized she was holding. “This is being treated as an accident. It is possible he did not realize the severity of bringing a compromised device onto Azimol – I am sure you all remember stories of young warriors who nearly compromised information security.

“It is unlikely that this device was able to penetrate any of the networks, but Sunfury wants to be cautious. As a serious incident, no official action is being taken against Alex. I think he knows that we would not have noticed this if he had not come forward with it. I think he regrets his choice, and his apology shows his trust and respect for you, Beryl. That said, we need to make sure he realizes that such deceptions do not help the cause of humanity. While this may have been an accident, we should all be on the lookout for any other signs of deceit, while still earning his trust. Beryl, I will relay this information to Alex. I do not think you should be present at this time..”

“Fine,” Beryl says curtly.

“Do you disagree with your decision? If you want, we can punish Alex more harshly,” she offers, hiding any emotions in a neutral tone.

“No,” Beryl replies. “I think I’m disappointed that Alex didn’t trust me.”

“Alex did trust you,” Tempo’s reassurance comes over her link. “If he did not, I have no doubt his lotai would still be intact and that we would never have known about this breach. I truly believe that he desires mutual friendship between our species, but is understandably concerned about the loroi losing the war but also about whether such a relationship is possible. I am confident that relationships such as yours will be critical in proving that that is possible.”

“Plus, he is easy on the eyes,” Talon sends. “What was it like sleeping with him?”

Beryl’s shock echoes over her response. “Nothing happened between us other than holding hands,” she protests. “Actually, this morning he was concerned. He feels that physical relations with any loroi would be a breach of humanity’s sense of ethics.”

“Interesting. You think he believes this?” Tempo asks.

“I do,” Beryl replies.

“You do not seem happy with that,” Fireblade observes.

“I am unsure of how far he considers this prohibition to go. He implied that just being alone with all of us warriors would be the subject of rumor among humans since they would find us attractive.”

“Do tell,” Talon prompts.

Beryl ignores the tenoin. “Since we cannot leave him alone with any loroi males, and the final treaty will be subject to the approval of humanity’s leadership. I am unsure why he is bringing this up, unless he is unhappy with me.”

Fireblade sends, “human males. Who can understand them?”

Beryl laughs. “I guess that is true.”

“It is our job to understand them,” Tempo reminds them. “Anything else? Any luck on finding a better source of nutrition for Alex?”

“I have an idea for Alex’s nutrition,” Beryl informs Tempo. “But it is from an… unusual and distasteful… source.”

“Hopefully his digestion approves of it,” Reed says.

“What is it? Azimol has a large amount of goods since it is also a supply depot,” Tempo replies.

“The humans drink milk,” Beryl begins.

“None of us are lactating,” Fireblade points out.

“It is not human milk – it is from an animal they call a –”

“Animal?” Fireblade interrupts again, her disgust leaking past her shields. “No wonder our rations disagree with him so much. What a disgusting practice.”

Beryl continues. “That is not the point. The point is that we might be able to use loroi infant formula to supplement his diet. It wouldn’t be a complete replacement, but it should stretch out the rations he has. It might also serve as a basis for adding in additional nutrition as we determine what is missing from his diet.”

“He does not have any ideas what he eats?” Tempo asks.

“Alex seems to have a basic grasp of their nutrition, but doesn’t know all of the details of what they need to eat to survive. And he is not sure of the chemistry of any of the nutrients he requires, even with the basic framework we have worked out to discuss chemistry. Maybe if we had access to any of the material from the Bellarmine, but we weren’t able to take much with us. I think our only hope is studying some of his rations,” Beryl explains.

“Are you willing to sacrifice some of his rations for a group on Azimol to study? They should have the equipment and knowledge necessary. We can still try the loroi supplements in the meantime.”

“Yes, I am fine with that choice. It should only take a day or two of rations, which seems reasonable. If we haven’t figured out something by then, a few more days won’t matter.”

“Good. I will arrange for us to get the infant supplement from Azimol.”

“They have that?” Beryl says.

“Yes – you’ve obviously never had to deal with the food resupply logistics from Azimol. They are very insistent on trying to get us to accept any amount of infant formula.”

“Stillstorm instructed everyone to forward those requests to you,” Fireblade informs her with a smirk. “I’m surprised you didn’t know. Why do they send so many requests though?”

“The torrai who was in command before Sunfury had a concern that they would have a lot of infants on board during a siege, so she ordered specialized machinery to synthesize infant formula. It ended up never being needed, since infants are shipped off of the station either before or with their mothers, so there has never been a risk of babies going hungry. For budget reasons, this equipment is a big drain unless it gets used, so they try to get any ship resupplying here to accept the formula as some of their rations.”

“Has anyone ever done so?” Fireblade asks, horror leaking through her sanzai.

“No,” Tempo says with a laugh. “At least, not anyone who remained a torrai for any length of time.”

“Imagine loroi warriors drinking that for their rations,” Talon chimes in.

“I will hope that human warriors will be able to drink it,” Beryl replies.

“Ok. I am sure Sunfury will be pleased if we can find use for it,” Tempo finishes. “I will arrange matters with Sunfury. It might take a while to come up with a formulation we want to try with him, so do not tell him yet. Has Alex been alone all of this time?”

“Not entirely,” Reed explains. “Fireblade and I kept watch on him, but have not spoken with him. I think he is unhappy, but it is hard to tell.”

“Ok, I’ll go explain the situation to Alex. We will see what we do from there - Beryl, your sanzai sessions with him will have to wait until I show you some mizol meditation techniques. I truly do think Alex desires to be our friend, despite the difficulties he has caused.”

Beryl nods, unhappy but knowing that she needs some time to come to terms with Alex's actions.

[inxsi]

Chapter Eleven: Nightmare

SpoilerShow

Beryl and Alex wake up in the culvert they had chosen for their camp.

“Do you know what happens when we return to the real world?” Beryl asks. “The sun has moved in the sky, so time still passes. Are our bodies still here?”

“No idea,” Alex answers. “I assume we leave something that could be noticed, so I try to pick a secluded area. I’ve always wondered though. Especially since we don’t seem as much time here as a full night’s sleep would. Not that I get the best sleep anyway, but I’ve noticed I only spend half an hour to an hour here. At least, that’s the best I can figure it.”

“Interesting. Maybe it has something to do with how long a dream cycle can last.”

“Maybe. We should move out, if you have an idea for where we should go?”

“The radio has a mapping function. It looks like the shipment of, well, whatever it is, is being held in a warehouse several miles away. I figure we should head over there and see if we can figure out what the shipment is and where it is going.”

“Sounds good,” Alex says, gesturing for her to lead the way. She quickly gets her bearings, glad that she took an advanced orienteering course as preparation for her time with a diral band. After a minute of walking, Alex speaks again. “I’ve got another question for you. Did you get a good look at the creatures in the tunnel? And can you remember how they looked?”

“Yes. I have a perfect memory.”

“Heh, what are the odds?"

"What?"

"You are the second person I've met with a perfect memory. Must be nice - I know my grades would be a lot better. Anyway, could you describe them to me?”

“Why? You saw them too.”

“Humor me, please. I’m curious on how you would describe them.”

She gives a rough summary of their size, shape, and the claws and teeth she could see. He asks for more details on their eyes, heads, general body configuration, and coloration. She replies in detail on each point.

“Interesting.”

“What?”

“Near as I can recall, that is what I saw.”

“Right, because that is what was there.”

“How do you know?”

Beryl stops and stares at him for a second. “Because I was there? What kind of question is that?”

“You gave a textbook description of a Compsognathus, as depicted in a movie series on my home world from over one hundred years ago. Scientists have since showed that that interpretation was inaccurate. I had wondered if my senses were interpreting this world to conform to the closest analog I had experienced, and part of that was wondering if you perceived things differently or the same. If you had perceived them as a different animal that fills a similar niche in the environment, it would have been interesting.”

“And the fact that I perceived it the same? As some animal I had never heard of before?”

“Well, that is also interesting. I assume you know other similar animals?”

“I do,” she replies, deciding not to bore him with the details. “How do you perceive our communication?” she asks.

“Well, I can understand it.”

“Obviously. But is it in your native language? Or something else?”

“It is in Trade. How would you possibly know my native language?”

“Ok. And is there anything odd about it?”

“I am surprised I can remember this much of my Trade vocabulary,” he admits. “I have been studying it diligently, but only for a few months.”

“I see. And the fact that we are communicating mentally is not odd to you?”

“That seems normal for here. I suppose that could be filling in the gaps in my vocabulary though.”

The hill they are on provides a view of the warehouse yard where a squad of soldiers are forming up as vehicles carrying racks of metallic cylinders roll out. A few soldiers are assigned to each truck, both in the front cab and riding in the back.

“We’ll never get close enough to find out what they are doing,” Alex says with a frown.

“They changed frequencies, and I don’t want to risk messing with this radio. Besides, it looks like the batteries are almost dead,” Beryl explains. “I think we’re going to have to follow them.”

“That could be a problem since they have vehicles.”

“The map on here makes it look like if they exit to the right, there is only one path they can take for a long way. If they go to the left, we’re not going to be able to follow since it becomes a tangle of paths.” She studies the map, feeling like she has seen a map like this before but unable to place it.

“We’re in luck,” he says as she mulls the issue over in her mind. “They turned to the right.”

“Good,” she says as the batteries finally die and the map flicks off. “Let’s follow them.”

As they set off to shadow the road at a distance through the thicker vegetation, it hits her. This looks like a map of the space around Leido Crossroads and Nebel. It goes out further than we normally deal with on the Tempest and is oriented differently, which is why I didn’t recognize it. Those facts, and, why would there be a road network shaped like that?

[inxsi]

Chapter Twelve: Dream - Part One

SpoilerShow

Beryl consults the map on her data pad again, then looks at the nameplate on the nearest door. Maybe she should have asked Alex for help finding the place, but she is enjoying the time away from him. Even with the guilt she feels from that enjoyment. This should be Captain Hamilton’s office. But the nameplate says it belongs to an admiral. Do I knock and ask the aide for directions? Or would that disturb an admiral?

While she is debating the best course of action, a woman’s voice addresses her. “Hello again – Cadet Lynne, wasn’t it?”

Beryl turns and sees one of the godmother twins. “Yes sir.”

“I see you’re lost.”

“That obvious? I’m in the right place according to the map, but this isn’t Captain Hamilton’s office.”

“Appearances can be deceiving,” the admiral replies, knocking on the door. A man’s voice tells her to enter.

“Greetings, Admiral?” the man asks.

“Mary,” she says.

“I thought they were going to make you both wear name tags. What brings you by?”

“You’re one to talk, Captain Hamilton – or should I say Admiral Briggs.”

“I’ll never understand why it takes procurement so long to get a proper nameplate. This is why I stay shipside.”

“You stay shipside because you want to be able to see the universe, and you hate the thought of being stuck planetside. Have you tried a post-it note?”

“You two know entirely too much. But yes, I tried one. They used some anti-stick coating on the walls and doors. Nothing would stick.”

“Well, I can put in a word with procurement. I can’t have one of my best leaders for the First Contact mission sidelined by such a trivial matter. Anyway, I saw Lynne waiting for you, so I’ll leave you to it. I do hope you aren’t torturing such a young, innocent cadet,” Mary says.

“Hardly. I need an aide-de-camp since I don’t have any staff planetside.”

“That’s even worse. Isn’t she young for that?”

“It is mostly filing – very light work. Captain Togashi’s staff is handling most of the refit work on the Bellarmine so I’m a bit at loose ends at the moment. This should provide her plenty of opportunities to continue her studies without the distractions of the rest of the cadets.”

“I see you are already being corrupted by the politics of this place,” Mary laughs. “I had better not hear of any issues from this. And remember that I hear everything.”

“No sir. Bellarmine was supposed to be getting refit later, but due to an issue it is getting refit now. With my command temporarily unavailable, I’ve been given the task of evaluating personnel for the First Contact mission. Unfortunately, everyone wants to be on my staff now to influence that process, so I’ve settled on using Lynne since she is not tied into too much of that.”

“Another of your intuitive decisions that cause your superiors acid reflux. You do know that she is friends with Alex Jardin and Ellen Kirkland? And probably will be entangled with all of the cadets in the Academy?”

“Of course. I am still making the final calls, but it should help speed up the process, especially with the cadets. If she wants the job, that is,” he says, turning to Beryl.

I am so glad this is a dream, Beryl thinks. I’m not sure if this is a good move for a cadet’s career or not. Some loroi officers take a shine to young warriors, but that can be a bane just as easily as a boon. “If you recommend this, sir,” she says to Mary.

Mary thinks for a moment. “I think this could be a very good learning experience, so long as it does not interfere too much with her progress in the Academy. Which should not be an issue, since second-year cadets get assigned similar positions. But if I hear any complaints, I will investigate and take whatever action I deem appropriate,” she warns him.

“Yes sir. Ok Lynne, here is your first job. Get these posted in the different dorm and academic halls,” he says, tapping a large stack of papers on his desk once Mary has left.

“Sir?” Beryl asks.

“Speak freely cadet.”

“Can’t they just be sent electronically, sir?”

“I keep forgetting that you are new here. In fact, they have been sent electronically. But the Navy way is to also post important information in physical copy, because many people ignore electronic notifications. Since it is also relevant to civilians, the Academy wants to have a convenient posting for them as well. I’ve sent you a map of where they should be posted to your data pad. I’ll also see that you have access to the files of the cadets and officers I would like you to evaluate.”

She nods as she takes the stack. Bureaucracy must be a rule of the universe.

“That will be all for today, thank you,” he dismisses her.

As she walks towards the closest location on her pad, she reads over the announcement.

For IMMEDIATE Release to All Personnel, Naval and Civilian
Subject: Purpose of the First Contact Mission

Given the repeated inquiries about the purpose of the First Contact mission, the office of the Navy is reiterating that the main intention of the mission is to make contact with the leadership of the Umiak Hierarchy and the Loroi Union to gather facts on the current strategic situation for each side. The mission is to assess, in order of importance from HIGH to LOW:
1. The likelihood of victory for each side.
2. The likelihood of peaceful relations with each side.
3. The terms of the agreement necessary for a treaty with each side.
4. Amount of cultural diversity that each side tolerates.
5. The amount of interference in human affairs from each side.
6. Cultural and moral values that may be shared with each culture.

We ask everyone to keep in mind that all of the information on each side that is deemed reliable has been released. While reading third-party document dumps is tempting, the information in them should be treated with caution as it is not deemed reliable, even if it is a verified government document. In addition, the choice of an ally should not be prejudged by the data that is currently available. There is no doubt that additional relevant data will be discovered by the First Contact exploration teams, which will be essential in moving forward to determine the best alliance for the future interests of the TCA and humanity.

Signed,
Xavier Musk
Secretary of the Navy

[inxsi]

Chapter Twelve: Dream - Part Two

SpoilerShow

Beryl is pleased to see Ellen is still waiting for her on the sidewalk outside of the store. Beryl had not realized she was expected to wear civilian clothes for this until Ellen messaged her as she was finishing posting the memos for Hamilton. I hope this shopping trip is a good bonding experience. I haven’t really bought much in my life – it would be easier if we could just comb each other’s hair but maybe that is not something humans do. Or is it something more intimate than it would be for the loroi?

Ellen gives her a hug. Beryl returns it after a stunned second. Or maybe not.

“Pleasure to see you,” Ellen says. “Are you ready?”

“I’m ready. I’m not sure what I should be doing though,” Beryl admits.

“We’re mostly just window shopping,” Ellen explains. “But if you see something you need or really want, we’ll look at getting it. The bigger issue is how much space there is in a room – unfortunately, the Academy doesn’t agree that a girl can’t have enough clothes or shoes. So we’ll probably be looking at just some of the basics for casual wear on the evenings or weekends, maybe something similar to what you are wearing.”

“Don’t we have off-duty uniforms for that?”

“Technically, but there are times that you might want to wear something else. Particularly now since everyone is so fired up about the First Contact mission. Maybe that dies down, or maybe it gets worse as we get closer to the mission. Despite being around the Academy, too many people think all of us are going on the mission, or can set any kind of policy for it.”

“I understand.”

“Sorry, didn’t mean to make things so serious. Shall we go in?”

Beryl nods and Ellen leads her into a crowded store. Merchandise is everywhere, with people browsing through cluttered aisles and music playing over speakers throughout. Ellen quickly guides her into the depths of the store. “Clothing is in the back,” she explains as she guides her swiftly along the narrow aisles.

When they reach the rows of clothing, Beryl is surprised to see a huge variety of colors and designs. How does anyone keep this straight? She quickly realizes that Ellen’s definition of the basics is very different from hers. From what she can tell, the goal is to wear a different outfit every day for a month, but also to have the parts of the outfits be able to mix and match with each other, while still retaining distinctive differences. She quickly gives up on offering an opinion as Ellen picks out piece after piece.

Soon, Beryl’s arms are full and Ellen is holding several items. Ellen says, “I should have grabbed a cart. Sorry, I guess I’m out of practice on this. You can stay here, or make your way to the fitting room.” She gestures vaguely down the aisle.

Beryl casts a doubtful look at the distance to the wall in the direction indicated. “I’ll stay here,” she replies. Hauling this much clothes would be good exercise, if impractical. I doubt I’d make it halfway there before I drop something.

“Ok,” Ellen says, hurrying off.

Beryl waits for her for a minute, then sighs. I should have asked how long she would be gone.

The music changes. Beryl has ignored the mostly instrumental pieces, but the new music is more aggressive, with a man singing. “Baby I’m preying on you tonight,” he sings loudly. Beryl hears something scrape behind her and turns, hoping it is Ellen, but just sees some clothes swinging. “Hunt you down, eat you alive.” What is with this song? And where is Ellen?

She turns back to the direction that Ellen had gone. Claude, the angry cadet from her rescue days ago, is standing two feet away, staring at her.

“I see you’re still lost, with no idea how you got there,” he jeers. He is dressed in an off-duty uniform. Beryl curses the way her civilian clothes make her feel that she is less than he is.

“Just getting my bearings,” she replies, ignoring his tone.

“Sure. Girls like you come into our Academy to pretend to be sailors, leaving it to the real men to clean up the messes you make.” He gets in her faces, his breath smelling of alcohol.

“I haven’t even started training yet,” she protests, trying to control the alarm she feels at way he is crowding her.

“That’s the problem with today’s Navy. Bitches like you don’t even do the training. You just bat your eyes and get any male you want to do the work for you,” he sneers. Just get out of here. The fitting room is behind me, so I can just walk away. “I’ve heard about how you have Alex doting on you. That poor sap, too dumb to realizes how he’s being used by Ellen and you. I guess some guys are just suckers for a pair of tits and a warm hole.”

Forgetting her decision in rush of anger, she pushes on his chest with one arm, dropping some cloths. “Alex is not like that.”

He grabs her arm, pulling her off-balance and whispering in her ear, “I know how you sluts are. Always ready to get ahead by stabbing some man in the back and taking credit for their work. Are you spreading your legs for him?” He laughs as she protests ineffectually. “You’re just stringing him along? Now that you’re alone with Captain Hamilton every day, you’re too good for us cadets?”

She twists again, dropping the remaining cloths. “Let me go,” she says as he tightens his grip.

“You going to make me? I don’t see any of your boytoys here to save you.” As she prepares to perform a lishranen move to break his grip, he knees her in the crotch. She doubles over from pain, barely hearing him say, “bitches never realize how much that hurts.”

He grabs her arm and twists it behind her, forcing her face down onto the ground as he leans over her. His mouth still by her ear, he continues, “assaulting a senior cadet. That won’t look good on your record. But I’m a reasonable person. We can work something out between us. In kind payment for damages, if you will. It shouldn’t be anything a girl like you isn’t used to.” She freezes in her struggles as she feels his erection pressing into her. “Yes, sluts like you are all the same. Pretending you’re too good for us, but once you get excited, you can’t contain yourselves.” He giggles as his other hand starts to work at her pants. “If it helps, you can close your eyes and picture Alex. Hell, picture Captain Hamilton if you want.”

He suddenly stops laughing. In the relative silence, she hears a rhythmic squeaking getting louder as the song continues, “maybe you think that you can hide. I can smell your scent for miles.”

“Crap. Don’t tell anyone or it will be worse for you, and her,” he whispers as she hears Ellen’s voice call out for her. He lets go of her and she is preparing to stand when he punches the back of her head, driving her face into the floor. As she pushes herself back to her knees, she hears the sound of footsteps hurrying away from the sound of Ellen approaching.

“Lynne, where –” Ellen’s voice cuts off and she rushes over. “Are you ok? What happened?”

“I… I fell,” Beryl says. I’m not sure if he can follow through on his threat, but it isn’t worth finding out now. I can’t accuse him – it would just be my word versus his, and he is more senior. Who are they going to believe?

Ellen looks at her for several heartbeats. “Ok,” she says finally. “Sorry it took so long. I got a little lost on the way back from getting the carts. I should have walked you to the fitting room. You’re sure you’re ok? It looks like you hit your head.”

“Just a bit when I fell,” Beryl lies. Tempo would be so proud of me. “It is nothing. Let’s just finish our shopping trip, ok?”

“Ok,” Ellen replies after helping her stand and starting to gather the cloths. “Let’s go to the fitting rooms. You can take us much time as you want to try the clothes on. I’ll be right outside. In case you want an opinion on the clothes." She pauses, looking Beryl in the eye, and adds, "or if you need anything else."

[inxsi]

Chapter Twelve: Dream - Part Three

SpoilerShow

Beryl is standing in the fitting room, still trying to process what had just happened. I was at the mercy of a male. Was it due to his strength? Did I underestimate him because he is male? Not much like a warrior. There are no stories of Tempest being overcome by males, whether they want to mate or otherwise. Despite what Talon’s fantasies about Alex becoming overcome by the flames. And no loroi male would be so hateful – desperate, maybe, but they would be glad for relief, not angry. At least Ellen won’t see me in this state, but I have to report my failure to Tempo and Fireblade. Dejected, she slumps against a wall.

Suddenly, the fitting room door rattles against the lock. “It’s occupied,” she calls. The door opens and a beautiful woman with waist-length cherry blond hair enters. I thought I locked the door. I should have double-checked though. “Why are you here? And who are you?” she asks the strange woman.

The woman stands in the doorway, appraising her for long seconds while slowly twining a strand of her hair idly around her fingers. Beryl finds herself looking from fingers to the woman’s oddly bright eyes and back.

The woman smiles. “I’m a friend. Ellen was worried and wanted me to check in on you. That is a nasty bruise,” she says, reaching out with her free hand to run a finger slowly along Beryl’s cheek, withdrawing it when Beryl flinches. “Sorry, I hope I didn’t hurt you.”

“It’s fine. It takes more than that to hurt me.” Ellen could have mentioned she was going to have someone check on me.

“Oh, I should introduce myself. You may call me Caitlyn, with a c-a-i-t and a y for the last part. Do you like the name?”

“It is a nice name,” Beryl agrees, more interested in the way the light shifts in her eyes as Caitlyn moves her head in time to her fingers slowly spinning her hair over and over.

“Are you sure you are ok? You look a little tired. You can just sit back and relax while we have our little chat.”

“I am a little sleepy,” Beryl says, sitting in the chair in the room.

“You look much more relaxed like that,” Caitlyn says approvingly. “It is good to relax, without a care in the world, don’t you agree?” When Beryl agrees, Caitlyn continues. “Now, you know that I am Caitlyn, but I’m not sure who you are?”

“Beryl. But everyone here calls me Lynne.”

“Lynne is a good name. You know Alex Jardin?”

“Yes,” she says.

“How did you meet?”

“In space. There was a rescue.”

“Oh, that was you? In the news?” Caitlyn asks.

“Unfortunately.”

“And what have you been doing with him on Mars since then?”

“He’s been showing me around the Academy. I’m new and behind on the coursework so he’s been helping me adjust.”

“Did you ask him to do that?”

“No. He was ordered to do so, since he was being sent back to Mars.”

“Ok. Do you love Alex Jardin?”

“No. He’s just a friend. Maybe someday years from now, but not right now”

Caitlyn looks at her for a long moment, then nods. “If that day ever comes, if you ever want to be more than friends with Alex, that is fine so long as I know about it. Just know that I will always be first in his life, but I can share with others if he wants. Let me know when you desire that though – you do not want to see me when I am jealous.”

“Ok,” Beryl nods in agreement.

“Good. I’m glad you are so reasonable about this. Now, why are you in here crying and have that bruise? Just stay calm and breath and tell me what happened.”

Beryl feels herself relax, relating clinically what happened as if she is giving a dispassionate after-action report to Stillstorm on some trivial matter. Caitlyn’s eyes grow dark as she listens, but somehow Beryl is sure that the anger there is directed at Claude.

“I see,” Caitlyn says when her recitation ends. “Do not forget what happened, but take no action against Claude. Make sure you are not alone with him, and try not to see him at all if you can without being obvious about it. You have a concussion – you should get checked out by the medical staff as soon as I’m done with you. Ellen will take you. Tell them you fainted and fell on a hard floor. When you are healthy, have Ellen recommend a teacher for some self-defense techniques. If you are ever in a situation where your honor is on the line, use them without hesitation or remorse. Understand?”

“I understand.”

“Good. Now, once I leave, you will not remember this conversation but will keep to the agreements you have made. Ok?” Beryl nods. “And try to be more careful out there. There are some real predators out there. You might run into one who is not as friendly as I am at some point.” Caitlyn flashes another smile as she turns and exits.

Beryl blinks, then stands and walks towards the door. I did take a hard hit to my head, so I should get it looked at. I must not be thinking clearly to not have realized that. Ellen must know how to get medical attention - I'll ask her.

[inxsi]

Chapter Twelve: Dream - Part Four

SpoilerShow

“I can’t believe you fainted,” Ellen says as she helps Beryl across the street toward the nearest medical office.

“Just low blood sugar,” Beryl grumbles. “If it weren’t for hitting my head, I wouldn’t even be worried about it. I can walk fine, you know.”

“Let’s see what the medic says,” Ellen soothes her testy companion. “Head injuries can be serious. I’m just glad I found you – those aisles were so full of clothes I could have spent another hour looking.”

Beryl sighs. “That’s a bit dramatic, but I am glad you found me. I’m just annoyed that I fainted and ruined our outing.” Which is partially true. Showing weakness in front of Ellen is embarrassing, but I am glad I don’t have to try on all the clothes Ellen picked out for me. “Once I’m fine, I’d appreciate it if you could show me anything for self-defense.”

“Sure,” Ellen replies. “Any particular reason?”

“I just realized that I’m in a city surrounded by men I don’t know. They could be thinking anything, and I’d feel safer knowing I could take care of myself if it comes to that.” Where did that come from? But it is true – I cannot tell what any human is thinking, and the males are stronger than I am. I’m not sure how well my loroi training would handle them, or if it would draw suspicion. Maybe knowing that I can take care of myself would show I am a warrior.

“Some men are real creeps. I can recommend someone who can teach you, she taught me what I know – I suppose Esperanza was a much smaller place if you didn’t need to worry before, not like the big city here.”

“Yeah,” Beryl agrees wistfully as they enter the first aid station.

The technician, a short woman, is busy watching something on television and does not notice their arrival until Ellen clears her throat. “Who’s there?” she calls out, then looks up. Seeing them, she hurries out from behind her desk. “Sorry, sorry. What medical service do you need?”

Beryl quickly explains that she had bumped her head on hard flooring after fainting.

“No worries. I just need some information to get you set up in the system first,” the woman says, waking a terminal near her. After Beryl answers her questions and provides an identification card, the woman beams. “We’ll do a quick scan of the head injury first while I ask some questions about the fainting. The scanning table is in the back.” They down a hallway past an office, into a small room with a table. Beryl is pleased to see that the equipment seems not too primitive. As the bed hums away for a small eternity, the woman peppers her with questions about the fainting. Finally satisfied that the main issue is the head wound, she goes back to watching the game while the scan finishes.

Eventually, a completion alert sounds and the woman comes back to review the results. “I should have an idea in ten minutes or so,” she says. “It takes the machine a while to check through everything and for me to review it. You can wait in the waiting room if you’d like somewhere more comfortable.”

“Sounds good,” Beryl says, then adds, “is there a bathroom I could use?” I’ve been listening to Tempo too much, but this might help figure out what is going on with these dreams. Beryl waits until Ellen is out of sight, then slips into the office. The terminal requires a password, but her memory allows her to replicate the keystrokes necessary. She quickly searches for Alex Jardin. Only one patient shows up, with a fairly lengthy history. Beryl quickly scans the pages, trusting her memory to allow her to review it later. Done, she closes the search results and puts it back in sleep mode, slinks off to the bathroom and flushes the toilet, finishing by walking back to the waiting room to sit with Ellen. I can see why mizols get training for this. It is nerve-wracking.

After long minutes of waiting where Beryl keeps having to remind herself that Ellen is looking at her with sympathy, not suspicion, the woman walks out of the back with a data pad in one hand and a tray with a few pills and a glass of water in the other. “Well, the good news is that nothing is life-threatening, but you do have a concussion. Judging from the areas it affects, it might make you moody or irritable, but it should not be causing many other symptoms – no headaches, blurred vision, or so on.

“I have a few pills that will reduce the swelling and prevent permanent damage, but the emotional effects will stay with you for a few days. You should be feeling like yourself in three days; if not, come back in. Until those effects resolve, you should avoid any strenuous activity – normal day-to-day activities are fine, but no exercise programs or anything similar. I can give you a certificate to show to your instructors if you’d like for if you are worried about any mood swings affecting your coursework. I can show you the scans if you want to see them – most patients don’t. If you want to take a look later, I can email them to you securely. I have your contact information on file, so you are free to go once you take the medicine unless you have any questions.” The woman beams, obviously pleased to be providing such efficient care. Three days? For a concussion? They really are primitive. Does that even matter in this dream though?

“Please email the images to me,” Beryl says, downing the pills with water. Just let me get out of here.

“Ok. Let us know if your symptoms do not improve in three days,” the woman says as the two cadets leave.

“Wow, that was quick,” Ellen enthuses. “I hadn’t realized medicine had come so far – a few years ago when I had a concussion, I had to just endure the headaches for a month.”

Super, Beryl grouses mentally. I’m never going to live down getting a concussion from falling in a stupid dream. “Can you give me that self-defense recommendation? I’ll tell them I have a concussion so I can only walk through the movements, but I’d like to see them at least.”

Ellen gives her a sidelong look, then agrees, fishing out a card and handing it over. Beryl studies it quickly, noting the name, Caitlyn Dabriah, and that they are affiliated with the Navy. As they walk, Beryl focuses her thoughts, recalling Alex’s medical files. It looks like he did suffer the injury he described to her. The medical scan on Tempest might have missed it, judging from the way it was repaired and the age of the injury. Another failure on my part. If I were any good at all as a listel, let alone a warrior, I would have figured out how close to reality this dream is by now.

*** *** ***

“Hello?” Beryl enters the unadorned room at the address that the text message mentioned, surprised that no one is around since the door had not been locked. It looks like she is in the right place - the padded floors seem to be in place for teaching unarmed combat. A man is singing softly in the background, "In her heart there's a hole, there's a black mark on her soul. n her hands is my heart and she won't let go til its scarred."

"Hello," Beryl calls, loud enough to be heard over the music.

“Hello,” a woman says, coming through an opening in the back. “Glad you decided to seek out training in self-defense.” Beryl nods shyly. “Not really sure what to expect? I understand. Do you have any background in any of the combat arts?”

The music continues, "tried to breath but I can't cause the air she feeds me is damned. Gt a touch like a thorn, cause the girl is hiding horns."

“I’m pretty good with a laser pistol, and I know a little bit of jiu jitsu.” Beryl had done some research and decided that that was the best way to describe her loroi training.

“Well, the authorities tend to take a dim view of walking around with a laser pistol here,” the woman says. “But I can train you in what you need to know. My name is Caitlyn, by the way.”

“Pleased to meet you, Caitlyn.” Beryl is surprised at how easy it is to ignore the man singing "she's got blood cold as ice and a heart made of stone. But she keeps me alive, she's the beast in my bones" while they are talking.

“The pleasure is all mine. Training young women to be confident in these situations is very rewarding to me, personally. Now, I’ll just walk you through some of the basics.”

“Because I’m limited physically?” Beryl asks as the song continues, "she gets everything she wants when she gets me alone, like its nothing. She got two little horns and they get me a little bit."

“No. I teach everyone this way due to the risk of causing permanent injuries. Unlike the jiu jitsu you have likely learned, these techniques are only to be used when an attacker is trying to disable or kill you. Once you have grasped the basics, you will practice against a dummy to perfect the techniques in a way that keeps their potential without risking anyone’s health. Understand?” Beryl nods. “Good. Now, there are two main areas of training. The first area covers movements to incapacitate your opponent so that you can escape. The second are moves that will cause significant injury, have a substantial risk of killing accidentally, or will kill your opponent. The second should only be used if necessary, but are important to keep in mind if the situation warrants. You can always explain afterwards why you had to use them, but you will not be able to explain why you let youself be killed.”

“Ok,” Beryl replies.

“Good. I will begin your instruction then," she says. The man's voice rises as they prepare to train, "she's the fire in the sin and I burn breathing her in. Now its love suicide, and I sell my soul for the high. Truth be told I don't mind cause her hell's my paradise. She can crush every hope, got her heels stomping down my throat."

[inxsi]

Chapter Twelve: Dream - Part Five

SpoilerShow

Beryl settles into her seat in the Adrift Astronaut, trying not to show her annoyance with herself, which has not abated even with the self-defense lessons. Beryl is glad to accept the offer of going out to dinner with Ellen and Alex, hoping it would take her mind off of things. Now that she is here, she realizes she has made another mistake, but it is too late to back out without worrying her friends.

She is not sure if Alex notices the slight bruising on her face or if Ellen has told her, but he immediately offers his sympathies for her and best wishes for her recovery. “I am fine,” she says, adding mentally, it is nothing, but does not say it out loud.

“She is,” Ellen adds. “We’ve been together since then, and she’s doing well.” Of course you are keeping an eye on me.

“Glad to hear it. Keep an eye out – there can still be some emotional or mental effects, despite the best medical care,” he warns. Your medical care is primitive.

“Are you hungry?” Ellen asks.

“Yes,” Beryl says, placing her usual order to keep them from questioning her appetite. Wanting to change the topic, she asks, “how did your day go Alex?”

“Ok. I finished up my after-action report on the exercise. Hopefully it is not viewed as blame-shifting.”

“Why would it be viewed that way?”

“I think I can answer that,” Ellen says. “You explained the compromises made in our leadership structure and how that affected the plans that were accepted?” When Alex nods, she continues, “most years, one of the cadets on the attacking force is nominally in command based on the recognition of their peers. This year, that process broke down into competing groups. Since no one could come to an agreement on the leader, everyone agreed that leadership would rotate, each leader getting one turn. Alex had the most innovative plan, so the rest of the cadets decided he should go in the middle, to try to lull the attacking force into carelessness. However, his plan would only work with precise timing, which was thrown off when one of the attacking ships had an engine issue, delaying the start of the exercise.”

“I told them – the exercises were delayed most years that I studied, I think on purpose by the attackers, though it could just be the problem of trying to get so many ships that aren’t well maintained together. We needed to be able to move my plan up, but no one listened. As a result, the defensive forces were spotted since the moons and planets were not in the correct positions to provide cover for their movements,” Alex says.

“You planned out everything so that the they could get in close without being seen? In space?” Beryl asks, her curiosity piqued.

“Mostly. One light force was going to rush ahead in an apparent attempt to counterattack the enemy jump lane, but would break off at high speed. The hope was the attackers would follow, right into an ambush by the heavier forces as they come out of cover from the planets. There was a lot that could go wrong with the plan, especially since the whole defensive group had not practiced it, but I think it had better than even odds of success. I tried to keep everything clinical to describe why my implementation of the plan failed, but I’m not sure how it will be interpreted. Ultimately, the failure is my responsibility as the commander in charge of the defense.”

“You were busy rescuing Lynne,” Ellen says. “And everyone else rushed the plan anyway. I told you to have a backup plan that was simple.”

“I wanted to, but I ran out of time working on the main plan,” Alex says sheepishly. “And Kaetlin ended up being free the evening before we left, so I wanted to spend some time with her.”

“Without telling her what is going on?”

“I was going to, so she could decide how she felt about me without me around at all. But she seemed really happy so I didn’t want to ruin things for her.”

Ellen stares at him. “I’m not sure if that is brave or selfish, but it does seem like something you would do.”

“Yeah, I’m not sure either,” Alex agrees. “Enough shoptalk though.”

“Let’s go play some Polybius,” Beryl suggests.

“I’ve got first game,” Ellen calls, bouncing up first to head to the arcade cabinet.

“Ok,” Alex says, then turns to Beryl. “But if you feel off just watching it, let us know and look away.”

“Fine,” Beryl agrees.

“Something has changed on the scoreboard,” Ellen says as the game comes up.

“Did someone move up?” Alex asks.

“No. It looks like someone got replaced. Or rather, renamed. I think the score looks the same.”

“Who?”

“Claude – or at least, who we think is Claude. Do you recognize that Trade word?”

“No,” Beryl says in disbelief.

Alex frowns and looks at it. “I think it means ‘wrongdoer.’”

“Weird. Maybe someone finally figured out that that incident in the medical bay was Claude’s fault,” Ellen says as she clicks through and starts playing, the screen filling and depleting with strange geometric shapes as she maneuvers and fires rhythmically.

“If so, they have a weird way of showing it. I’d rather he gets a demerit or something. Unless some cadet figured out how to hack the game to get back at him.”

“Ruling you out, since you are terrible at that sort of thing.”

“Programs have user interfaces for a reason,” he shrugs. “I’m not sure who it could be – there were several cadets there, and they could have told anyone. I know you wouldn’t do it.”

“Of course not. If I had a problem with him, I’d deal with him directly.”

“Doesn’t seem like we’ll figure it out. Not sure we should ask anyone either.”

“Worried people will blame you?”

“No, I’m worried they will blame you. Or maybe Lynne.”

“You know how the rumor mill works. I’m sure the story has already gotten around about what happened. Everyone should know that if you wanted to cause a problem for Claude, all you had to do was tell Captain Hamilton. And they should know that you mostly don’t go behind anyone’s back, other than your girlfriend.”

“Your words cut me to the quick. You’re not wrong, but I find that sometimes what people should know and what they do know are not aligned.”

“Fair enough. You doing ok, Lynne? The lights aren’t bothering you?”

“Yes,” Beryl replies. She has mostly been concentrating on their conversation, trying to figure out if anyone would blame her for this recent event. Without knowing any of the other cadets, she decides to not worry about it. Reminding herself that she wants distractions from her problems, not to add to them, she focuses on how Ellen pilots the ship through stage after stage. She switches weapons smoothly as she flies around dodging and scoring points. Beryl thinks she sees a few areas where she would have handled things differently, but tries to stop thinking about the game and just enjoy the experience of watching it. Eventually, the session ends, with the screen displaying a message of “your hard work will be rewarded.”

“Good run,” Alex says.

“I hate all of the math,” Ellen says, moving away from the screen. “I studied various math tables and flash cards yesterday to try to improve. I hope this game is worth it. Maybe I’m buying into the rumors.”

“Well, I think some of those exercises would probably help on some of the quizzes in our math courses. I’m not sure of the real-world applicability. Does anyone ever eyeball a course change in the real world? Studying for an exam might be a better use of your time, but as long as you are having fun with the game,” he says as he steps up to the controls.

“Yeah, that might be a bridge too far right now. I’m doing fine academically. Maybe you should spend more time studying?”

“I have been. But it has been hard to focus lately. Too much on my mind. I’ll thank you both for not offering commentary on that.”

“You know my position, so I wasn’t going to say anything,” Ellen says. “Lynne, you want to go to the bathroom?”

“Sure,” Beryl says.

Once they are away from Alex, Ellen turns to her. “Sorry for dragging you away. You are feeling fine, right? No effects from the lights?”

“I’m fine,” Beryl reiterates. “I’ll let you know if that changes.”

“Ok. Sorry, I just worry about my friends. I’ll try to relax, but I think I blame myself for leaving alone you in the mall, even though there was no reason to think you would faint.”

“I understand.” Beryl is pleased to find that she means it, having felt similar pointless and illogical regrets from her time with Strike Group 51. “Was there anything else?”

“Are you still interested in odd rumors floating around?” When Beryl nods, Ellen continues. “I heard this earlier today. I’m not sure when it started, but it seems to be making the rounds. The rumor is that a witch is responsible for the recent deaths,” Ellen says.

“A witch?” Beryl questions.

“It sounds crazy, I know. Supposedly, a witch is listening for those who have been wronged to wish death upon their wrongdoer. When they do so, the witch curses the wrongdoer to die a horrible death, which comes to pass shortly afterwards. So, despite how frustrating Alex can be, please don’t wish ill on him. I know I’m overreacting lately, and I don’t believe the rumor, but just in case?” Beryl agrees and the two exit the bathroom.

“You’re done already?” Ellen asks.

“Yeah, it hit me with a real doozy right away. I didn’t figure out the trick until it was already too late. It did tell me to stay focused on what is important, so now I feel like I’m getting life advice from a video game.”

“Well, it is very saccharine, but it is not wrong,” Ellen admits. “I think it goes for generic messages like that to seem cryptic. You could apply it to anything. Anyway, you are up Lynne, unless you want to skip playing today.”

“No, I’m good,” Beryl says, not wanting to worry her friends. Maybe she is not as good as normal, but she feels fine. She takes the controls, and endures it welcoming Listel Tozet Eilis back again. She plays through several stages, before she again gets overwhelmed while trying to juggle the different weapon switches.

“Still not used to doing that much with your right hand?” Ellen asks. “I wonder if they could update it to also have a control panel on the left.”

“I doubt I’d make a good pilot anyway,” Beryl says.

“Don’t be too hard on yourself. The flight simulators we use at the Academy are at lot simpler, but should replicate everything a pilot would need to juggle, even in an emergency situation.” Alex points out.

When it shows her score, it adds the message, “Your wish has been granted, Listel Tozet Eilis.”

“What wish?” Alex asks. Beryl shrugs, completely confused.

“Maybe just for a swift recovery from her concussion,” Ellen says. “It’s late, so we should head back.”

[inxsi]

Chapter Thirteen: Awake

SpoilerShow

Beryl wakes up alone in a foul mood. What a stupid dream. At least I saw Alex’s medical records, but I will have to explain why I ended up needing medical care to everyone. Maybe I can arrange to only tell Fireblade and Tempo? I can hear how everyone else would laugh – at least those two would hide their laughter from me.

She glances at Alex’s alcove, then frowns. No, Alex cannot know, and he would not be able to help anyway. I need to handle this on my own. She walks out into the main area and sees Tempo. “What is the plan for today?” she asks.

“I have petitioned Sunfury to let us continue testing Alexander's lotai. Apparently the farseer has done so as well, so we are waiting to see what Sunfury approves. I think we will take it slow today and see how he is feeling. You can take the time to think about anything that might help.”

“Ok. I would like Fireblade to show me some defensive techniques.”

“That is fine with me,” Tempo replies after a pause. "I will contact the guards so they are ready to escort you two."

“You have passed all of the required training,” Fireblade frowns. “A third of our personnel are trained to gives their lives protecting you and Alex. Do you feel the need for more training?”

Beryl bristles. “We are on a station cut off by Enemy forces that might attack at any moment. It is possible they would try a boarding action. Alex is ultimately my responsibility, so I would like to practice in a sparring session to ensure I am ready to fulfill that duty. Do you see an issue with that? Are you busy?”

Fireblade’s shields hide her emotions as she replies. “Very well. There is a room nearby we can use.”

The guards lead her and the teidar through a few sections of empty halls to a large room equipped with light padding on every surface. The pads are enough to limit injures without hampering footing or blunting the pain from striking them overmuch. Loroi believe that the loser is better served by having incentive to improve, only limiting the risk of injury to what are deemed acceptable levels. After all, the doranzers also need some work to keep them on their toes.

The two loroi take their positions on the markings on the floor. Beryl starts advancing on her opponent, who falls back to maintain the distance between them. Hoping to tire me out? she thinks, reviewing her options in her mind. Drive her into a corner and then grapple? It is dangerous since she is an expert in lishranen. No, I have to trust in my training.

As if sensing her indecision, Fireblade steps forward, throwing a quick punch as she does. Beryl blocks it, her arms stinging from the blow, then lashes out. She gasps as Fireblade traps her first with her own, grasping and turning her body to force Beryl to the mat. She falls with a startled exclamation, her shoulder striking hard. Got to get her off. Adrenaline flooding her system, she twists her body to prevent Fireblade from locking in the submission hold. She partially succeeds and feels Fireblade release her. Fireblade should have kept going. She’s holding back. Flaunting her superiority.

Beryl stands to find her opponent has backed off into a very loose guard stance. She’s mocking me. I’m clearly the less skilled, so her tactics will prefer caution. Beryl casts a quick glance around the room. I need to be more aggressive or I’ll get worn down. She rushes forward, diving into a crude tackle, surprising Fireblade but only managing to knock her backwards. As Fireblade struggles to stay standing, Beryl drives a knee at her groin. Fireblade turns, taking the blow on her leg but has to hop backwards and crouch low to maintain her balance.

Keep pressing the attack, Beryl recites her lessons. She feints a blow to her opponent’s body, then slams her fist against the side of Fireblade’s neck.

The teidar drops to her knees, but holds up an arm to defend her head from further blows. Why won’t you go down? Beryl sidesteps, then snaps a kick right into Fireblade’s ribs. The impact lifts Fireblade slightly, but she grabs Beryl’s foot and takes the listel down again. Beryl stares at her foe, their heads a foot apart on the floor. Feeling a tug on her foot, Beryl hooks her fingers into claws and slashes at her assailant’s face. The tug vanishes as Beryl feels warm blood on her fingers. A cut has appeared above her opponent’s left eye. I missed. Something has to connect, Beryl thinks, lunging forward with a snarl to wraps her hands out to grasp her attacker by the throat.

Her opponent’s face contorts as she gasps for air. Are you that confident to keep fighting? Do you think I am too weak to finish this? Hands finally push on Beryl’s arms, but they are weak and Beryl easily ignores them. I’m going to win. I’m going to survive. The hands fall away from her arms. They do not rise again.

Her opponent’s lips move but no sound comes out. Are you asking for mercy? Surrender? Before Beryl can decide, pain erupts across her body and she sees the ground and her opponent rush away. I was going to win. That’s cheating, she thinks right before she impacts the ceiling. Not so bad, she thinks past the pain as she starts to fall. If you don’t get out of the way, I can still win, she thinks, bracing her arms in front of her face.

The last thing Beryl remembers seeing is Fireblade rolling to the side. She does not remember striking the ground, or the way Fireblade embraces her afterwards.

[inxsi]

Chapter Fourteen: Nightmare

SpoilerShow

As Beryl and Alex walk in a silence that to Beryl seems born of suspicion and her own confused feelings about her fight with Fireblade, the voice of the leviathan sounds in her head as a welcome distraction. "As humorous as your suspicion of your companion is, I assure you he is as bewildered that they appear to be human as you are."

"How so?" she asks. "Speak no lies to me."

"I would only lie to safeguard you or your interests, but am currently speaking truth in the same service. You perceived the compsygnathus falsely, and so it is with the human soldiers."

"Then what are they?"

"Umiak soldiers that Alex's brain has misinterpreted for its own convenience, much as this environment is a fabrication for the sake of his sanity. It is not surprising that his dream perceptions are more strong, since he is here for the punishment of his sins in a way that you are not. Count yourself fortunate, as you are guilty of sins equal to his. Though it is interesting that he sees you as what you are. But time is so fleeting and you have arrived, so I shall leave you for now."

Beryl is spared having to reply as they finally spot their destination, the undergrowth ahead opening up into a clear-cut field containing a fenced compound with a set of blocky warehouses. A few guards patrol along the fence, and guard towers sit at two of the corners of the compound.

“There were more guards in the convoy,” Beryl says. “Are they inside?”

“Maybe. There’s enough security that they could want someone patrolling the buildings. I take it we don’t have time to see if anyone else comes out?” Alex asks.

“I don’t think we do,” she confirms. “This is the fifth time I have been here. I am not sure how that relates to time here.”

“They might have guards in there who wouldn’t come out anyway. Ok, do we want to figure out how to get in there?”

“I think we have to. I want to know what they are doing here and what they are transporting.”

“Ok. Do you remember anything about this facility from that map?”

“I told you that I have an eidetic memory.”

“Except for being able to remember this nightmare when you wake up, right. So, do you know of a way in?”

“There were a number of tunnels under it. It looked like they might connect to something inside the facility. I don’t really like the idea, but I’m not seeing another option, are you?”

“No,” he admits after looking at the patrols again. “I don’t see us getting in from up here at any rate. Hopefully they are lit, since I don’t think we want to bring fire with us. Lead on to the most promising entrance.”

She closes her eyes and visualizes the map, lining up where the access hatch should be. When she is confident that she has it, she opens her eyes and turns until she faces almost directly away from the building. “Guess we won’t have to worry about guards,” she says as she leads him towards it.

The hatch is easy to spot, kept closed by a series of pins. They both look them over but do not see any alarms. Which is not saying much. There could easily be sensors we would not be able to see. Shrugging, she grabs it and, with his help, hefts the heavy metal door open. Damp air flows out. She sighs in relief as she sees a dim light down the ladder.

“I think we are in luck,” she says. “It looks like there are lights down there.” He grunts and starts down the ladder. She follows a few moments later.

As they descend, she gets a sense for the scale of the tunnel they are descending into. It must have a diameter of at least two hundred feet, though it is cut as a hexagon instead of a circle. When she reaches the bottom, she pauses to inspect the ground. It looks like it is a constructed compound instead of natural rock. The light is coming from a series of symbols carved lightly into the floor, walls, and ceiling.

“Can you read them?” he asks.

“No,” she admits. “I’ve never seen anything like it. Have you?”

“No.”

She turns away and starts down the tunnel when the sanzai of the leviathan strikes her again. “Those are runes of binding, keeping me bound to the promise I swore to my treacherous servants. If you scored an imperfection on any of these characters, you will have fulfilled your end of the bargain with me, even if they do not use this channel for a few days.”

“You would? What will you do if we do?” she asks.

“You have my word that I will do what I can to keep you safe, though you could still meet an unfortunate end before then so please be careful. Though, there are other things you should see. It might be instructive to you.”

“Will we ever get to remember this?”

“Perhaps. That is out of my control.”

“Fine,” she says, taking out her knife and cutting a tiny line through one of the symbols.

“Good, I thank you.”

“What is this place?”

“This is the final stage in the plan that the umiak have devised to defeat your people by influencing your world.”

“How so?”

“It may seem presumptuous to you, but my servants would say that your world is nothing more than a distorted reflection on the waters of the universe of our reality, so that changes in this realm can be reflected in yours.”

“And you aren’t going to tell me what they are doing?”

“All children should learn to walk on their own. That is one of the lessons the umiak need to learn as well.”

“How so?”

“Perhaps you will learn that answer as well in the future.”

“Fine. Keep your secrets.”

They walk on in silence for a few more minutes, before Alex asks, “why are you asking about that?”

“The umiak are trying to kill those I care about. Of course I want to know what they are doing,” she says. “Wouldn’t you?”

“I would. I guess my question should be, why are you asking the leviathan? He loves his secrets. If he parts with them, it would only be at a cost you don’t want to pay. Besides, you can’t even remember any of this in the real world, so knowing we need to stop whatever this is here is enough,” he says, waving his arms vaguely up and down the tunnel.

After a minute, Beryl concedes. “Maybe you have a point.” A few more minutes of walking in silence brings them to a ladder.

“Do we try this?” Alex grabs it and asks.

“We must have come far enough,” she replies, estimating how far they have walked. “If anything, we’ve gone too far. I’ll go first though, since I’m the one who wants to know what is happening.”

“Ok,” he says as he steps aside. “Just remember that we’re both in this together.” She nods, not sure what she should make of that, and starts climbing. At the top, she struggles with the closed hatch but eventually gets it open and emerges into a cramped corridor. The only light is a flicker coming from down the hall. He joins her and they both set off towards the light. She wishes she had a better option, but it is too dark to go away from the light. The flickers lead them to a side chamber where a row of computers and screens are hooked up.

“Are those monitoring devices?” he asks.

“It looks like it,” she says, taking in the different camera views on the screens. “Looks like it also includes audio if we want to listen in.”

“This does not seem like where a security station would be,” he points out.

“It does not, but I have never seen an umiak facility. Maybe this is normal for them. They do some obsessive about security from what I have heard.”

“We can use this to get the lay of the facility and plan our next move,” he says. "If there is one.

“Does this not seem too…” she struggles to put her feeling into words.

“Convenient?” At her nod, he continues, “yeah, but you get used to it. This place doesn’t necessarily work on the logic of the real world. It thrives on chance encounters that become important events.”

“Like me falling into the lake near you?”

“Yeah, like that. I almost didn’t see you, and then where would we be? Somewhere totally different. It seems to me it could drive you crazy thinking about, so we should just start reviewing the cameras. The leviathan did say there were still important things for you to discover, and you wanted to know what that cargo was. This seems like the best way.”

Luckily, the controls are intuitive enough and clearly labeled. There are cameras covering most of the facility, and she realizes that without them they could have spent days trying to scout the whole place. One of the cameras overlooks an area with the metallic canisters lined up. A group of scientists in lab coats are standing in a huddle near them. She turns on the audio pickup.

“You got the containers here with no problems?”

“None. The guards were not taking any chances, so there were no issues. Why are there so many guards?”

“Not my call. Some umiak committee decided they had too many spare soldiers and should send some. Seems they aren’t happy with the loss rate of the packages.”

“But losses are in line with the predictions we gave them.”

“I know. They think they should be lower though, despite me telling them the main issue is that some of the packages just fail to protect the contents and that the issue was not all physical protection. However, someone reported that physical protection was an issue, so we end up with more soldiers trooping around to protect us. Anyway, what else is there to report?”

“The historian construct has a message.”

“You still have that device? I thought you dealt with it.”

“I have considered doing so, but it is fascinating that a machine intellect is able to perceive this realm, let alone operate within it.”

“How is it doing?”

“Poorly. It appears to perceive this reality a bit too well. I’ve had to dial up an inhibitor function on its processes, but it is still very sensitive to disturbances.”

“Yes, I imagine that could be an issue. What message does it have?”

“The constructs in their reality have determined that the plan to prevent human-loroi contact has failed. They had predicted a 99.97 percent chance that they would be able to terminate all of the ships in the human mission, but a human miraculously survived and was rescued by the loroi.”

“That is interesting. It doesn’t seem to affect us though.”

“I agree. They do think that the human may be able to access this reality through its subconscious telepathic abilities though.”

“Speak clearly.”

“Its dreams. It may be able to get here by dreaming, since it has been exposed to the connection by both the umiak lotai and repeated use of jump drives. They speculate on whether this ability could show the way for the loroi to enter this realm.”

“Fascinating. I assume they have no evidence for this?”

“It has reported that the human reports strange dreams and nightmares, which could be consistent with entering this realm.”

“Or any other event, traumatic or not.”

“And that one of the loroi seemed to share these dreams, complete with a lotai.”

“Loroi returning to this realm.”

“Yes sir. The umiak are very concerned with this news. That might also be why they have increased security.”

“This is the best news I have heard since the umiak found this realm. Both humans and loroi able to enter as well? We are not worth such bounty.”

“Shall we celebrate then?”

“Yes, this does call for a celebration. Open two of the packages. We shall feast well today.”

One of the scientists taps several buttons on a nearby canister and it slowly folds open. A mist rises from it and Beryl zooms the camera in as the mist clears, revealing a silvery looking umiak. Its eyes open wide and look around in fear at the scientist as one of them reaches in to lift it out. Holding it carefully, the scientist’s jaws distend, ripping part of the scientist’s face open as it bites one of the arms off of the umiak. A thin trail of glowing white liquid dribbles from the stump as the scientist chews and swallows.

“Marvelous,” the scientist says, picking at sharp teeth with a finger that is now clearly a claw. “They taste delicious, so I can see why we have problems with spoilage. Have a bite. Soon, this operation will be over and we can feast in earnest on everyone.”

As Beryl watches one scientist after another bite into the umiak, its eyes still darting around in panicked circles, she feels light-headed and drops to the ground as the leviathan sends, "I will enjoy chastising my servants for their hubris thanks to you. And for mentioning the name of the trespassers in my realm."

[inxsi]

Chapter Fifteen: Dream - Part 1

SpoilerShow

“If only I can get through this,” a woman’s voice wakes Beryl in her bed at the Academy. "I just gotta get through this."

“Fireblade… I’m sorry,” Beryl whispers, burying her head in her pillow as she relives every blow that she dealt Fireblade with her perfect memory. “I didn’t mean to – please be ok.” She sobs as the song continues.

Eventually, there is a knock on her apartment’s door. “Lynne?” Alex calls. “Are you ok?”

She thinks about ignoring him but decides it is something only someone new to a diral band would do. “I’m fine,” she says. No, I’m not. You were probably cheating on your girlfriend while I might have killed one of my friends. I’m so stupid.

“Would you let me in? Please, Ellen wanted me to check on you. If you want, she can go in to check on you.”

“Go away,” she says, then sighs. I’m mad at myself, not Alex, she admits. “Wait, I’ll get the door.” She walks over and opens it. “See. I’m fine.”

“You do not look fine,” he says, after a quick glance. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“It is not due to the concussion.”

“I have it on very good authority that people can have more than one problem at a time. That same source told me that a burdened shared is a burden lessened, which is advice I usually wish I applied more often than I do.”

“Ok,” she admits. “I could use some company.”

“May I come in? I assume you want some privacy.” She nods and lets him into the living area, closing the door behind him. “I’m an expert at solving other people’s problems. Now, I’m not sure how this part works, do you want to talk or do you want me to ask you questions?”

“I’ll talk. Last night, I had a fight with a friend. I lost control and I… did things that I regret. I tried to hurt her… and I succeeded. I’m not sure if she’ll forgive me.” All these lies. I wish I could just share the truth.

“That sounds awful. It sounds like you really care about this friend.”

“Well, I don’t want to have hurt her. I want to make sure she is ok, but I’m scared that she won’t be and I don’t know what I’ll do if she isn’t.”

“Believe it or not, I understand. I’ll give you the advice I wish I had listened to when I was in a similar situation.”

“What advice?”

“Since time cannot be reversed, the best moment to undo a wrong you have done is the present moment.”

“And you are giving out this advice?”

“I did explain that I’m an expert on other people’s problems, not my own. But, if you care about them, telling them you didn’t mean it as soon as you can is the best way to see if there is anything that can be saved in the relationship.”

“You do realize everything you just said applies to you and Kaetlin, right?”

He looks down again. “Yeah. Like I said, advising others is a lot easier than taking the advice. I’ll consider it, but I’m scared that there won’t be anything to salvage with Kaetlin.”

“You can’t know that until you apologize and see how she feels, right? And putting it off won’t make the pain any less.”

“You’re right. I’ll see about following your recommendation.” He stands to leave, then turns again. “I almost forgot. Ellen wants to have lunch with you today, ok? I think she feels responsible for your concussion so please go. She wants to meet you at the Astronaut.”

“She’s got classes,” Beryl protests.

“She has time to get out to the Astronaut to talk to you away from the other cadets. She’ll even treat you.”

“Ok, I’ll be there.”

*** *** ***

Beryl decides she should review the cadets and officers to get her mind off of how much of a mess she has made of everything. I’ll just make sure I don’t review Claude’s file, she reminds herself as she sets up her data pad to scroll through all of the files except that one. I suppose I’ll need to at some point, or give Captain Hamilton some excuse as to why I cannot. I am so tired of lying.

After scrolling through the records of several cadets she does not know, Ellen’s record comes up. Generally high marks until the courses get fairly advanced. Several disciplinary marks. Significantly more than the average that she has seen so far. Noted that she shows initiative and a willingness to take on duties above and beyond the standard cadet duties, with a reference to the recent exercise. I wonder if that was for the medical care, or for something after I left? Possibly she replaced Alex as the ship captain.

The next record she recognizes belongs to Alex. It notes that he was initially reviewed as very promising, but his performance has fallen badly in the past month. Instructors have not been able to pinpoint a cause, but notes he seems tired in class and is less mentally alert and sharp. They also note that his fellow cadets have noticed this and their lack of trust in his abilities have eroded his formerly high leadership potential. There is a specific note on the discipline for physically striking Claude, which, if Beryl is interpreting their meaning correctly, indicates that they know Alex was not at fault but are punishing him because no one admitted what had happened. Added to this, it looks like Alex was involved in most of the same conduct as Ellen for demerits, and Beryl is surprised that the summary still concludes that Alex has some time left to prove he can maintain a productive attitude and work ethic. It encourages instructors to be on the lookout for any way to determine the cause of Alex’s problems, but notes that he is rapidly running out of time to get back on track.

Beryl quickly finishes up with the rest of the cadets. If Alex’s good reviews had continued, it looks like it would still be a toss-up for him to get included. I wonder how he was selected? I cannot really recommend him at present, though I could include him with a note that if he corrects his behavior, he could be a valuable asset. He does have enough superlatives in the initial part. Though my friendship with him will likely call that into question.

Sighing, Beryl looks at the clock. Too early to call Ellen to plan lunch. Sometimes there are real drawbacks to being able to read so quickly and having a perfect memory. Might as well work on the officers.

She reads through several officers, trying to keep in mind that being in command of a three-ship squadron is likely a very impressive feat in the Navy as she does so. She quickly senses the patterns of who is respected for handling administrative work and who is respected for space operations. She is disappointed to find that the mix is so skewed towards the administrative side. Even assuming those who are good at simulated tactics will be good at actual space combat, that is still barely a fifth of the fleet officers. Even the actively at space positions seem to be filled more with those good at logistics and maintenance than those who seem to be prepared for anything like combat. Still, it is unfair to compare them to the loroi combat forces as we currently are. I should have read more on the early days of the war, but some of my instructors were not even born when the war started. Ok, only two of them were born after the war started, but there was not much emphasis on what happened early on or if the loroi had to deal with leaders who were not capable of leading in real combat.

Her heart races after she clicks to the next individual’s file. The image shows the face of the woman who she has seen briefly around Alex’s apartment and received her defense training from, Caitlyn Dabriah, a captain who is twenty-six years old. Her record seems very sparse, consisting of a list of assignments, all of which were planet-side on either Earth or Mars, the longest of which lasted for a year. Most of these ended with very favorable reviews from her superiors, the details of which leave unclear what precisely she accomplished but make clear that she accomplished it extremely well. What does 'she evaluated our logistical system and implemented a training program that led to a synergistic flow-state' mean? I guess even the dream translation cannot make sense of it. She looks for more details, but everything she finds seems similarly opaque despite the amount of words spent on her postings.

Is she one of those women Claude complained about? It seems unlikely that Claude knew what he was talking about, and a quick check confirms that she has had favorable reviews from superiors of both sexes. She arrived at her current posting eight months ago when she was promoted to captain. Her official job title is Logistics Paperwork Control and Accounting Specialist. She cross-references that job description and frowns. Do they really have someone whose job is to track the overall flow of paperwork in a station? Paperwork is important in the loroi military, but this seems excessive even for a peacetime force. If this is a cover job, what is her real job? Her duties seem like it would give her access to everything that a given unit is doing and preparing to do. Is she the equivalent of a mizol? I suppose it does not matter other than being interesting to see how the TCA government controls the military.

[inxsi]

Chapter Fifteen: Dream - Part 2

SpoilerShow

As Beryl waits at a table in the Adrift Astronaut, she is disappointed to see a text from Ellen that she will be late to lunch. As Beryl turns back to her reading to distract herself, she is annoyed when someone suddenly takes the seat across from her. Ellen just messaged me the she would be late. Raising her eyes from her pad, she is surprised to see Detective Montana.

“Mind if I sit here?” Desiree asks.

“A friend is going to be joining me shortly,” Beryl replies.

“I’ll try to keep this brief.”

“You have questions for me?”

“Just some background questions for my curiosity. I promise that you are not the subject of my investigation.”

“Of course - why would I be?” Beryl tries to hide her fear.

“Is there a reason you should be?” Desiree responds. “Don’t answer that. You were off world until recently, so you did not kill any of the victims I’m investigating.”

“Thanks, I think. Since I’m not, what questions did you have?”

“I was hoping you could tell me about Claude,” the detective says, then chuckles. “You obviously had an encounter with him. Why don’t you tell me about it?”

“I did,” Beryl says slowly. “There were two encounters. No one else saw the second one.”

“Ok. Why don’t you tell me what happened during the first encounter?”

“I had just been rescued from space. While I was receiving medical care, Claude came in with some crazy theory that I had been stranded out there to affect the exercise.”

“How did you end up out there?”

Beryl glances down. “I don’t remember. I just woke up in a space.”

“I see. Was Claude angry with you?”

“He seemed to be. He tried to punch me. Alex had to stop him. I should have mentioned it to Captain Hamilton but I was too shocked at the time. Alex got blamed for fighting Claude, which is why Alex was sent back early.”

“Did anything else happen?”

Beryl shakes her head. “Claude left the room. I was still getting medical treatment.”

“Who all was present for this?” Beryl lists the people who were present. “And what happened in the second encounter?”

Beryl takes a deep breath, annoyed that her hands are shaking. “I’m… not sure.”

“What do you mean?”

“It was confusing. I’m not sure if I was at fault or not.”

Desiree looks at Beryl, then gestures. A moment later, the waitress slides a glass of water in front of Beryl. “Take your time. Let’s start with where this was?”

As Beryl slowly relates the encounter, Desiree’s eyes grow fiercer. “I’m sorry, I obviously misunderstood when I pushed him and escalated the encounter,” Beryl apologizes. Desiree stares at her for a heartbeat, then blinks and visibly relaxes her posture.

“I’m sorry you read my reaction that way,” the detective says. “Please believe me, Claude was one hundred percent in the wrong. If he were still alive, I would gladly arrest him for what he did to you.”

“You would? Wait - Claude is dead?”

"Yes. He died sometime last night, similar to the other deaths I am investigating." Desiree meets her eyes. “An I absolutely would have arrested him given what I've heard. From speaking with other cadets, I believe what you are saying about Claude. And I intend to discuss the matter with the instructors at the Academy to see how this was not noticed earlier.” The door opens, admitting Ellen and the godmother twins, all in informal uniforms. The pace of their steps changes as they spot the two of them, becoming a march as they approach.

“Pestering another of our cadets?” one of the twins asks. Beryl thinks it is Tia.

“You do not have to answer her questions,” the other puts in. “Did you learn anything interesting, Detective Desiree?”

“Lynne trusted me enough to reveal a serious allegation against Claude, which I feel is credible. Unfortunately, the current circumstances mean it will not be investigated, but I will be forwarding details to your office,” Desiree says.

“Very well, we will look forward to your request through official channels,” Tia says.

“I am sorry we have failed to protect you, Lynne,” Mary adds.

Desiree turns back to Beryl, handing her a card as she stands. “If you think of anything else, please call or message me.” The twins exit with her, leaving Ellen looking at Beryl uncomfortably.

“Sorry I’m late,” Ellen says as she sits. “The police questioned me as well, and only let me message you that I would be late - I think they still would be if the godmothers had not shown up and made them stop. I hope the incident you had with Claude was not too bad?”

Beryl shrugs noncommittally, still uncomfortable with what has transpired.

“I realized he was a jerk, but I didn’t realize how much he’d harassed the female cadets. I’m not sure how I missed the signs,” Ellen says. “If the police think someone murdered him, they have plenty of suspects.”

“Are you a suspect?” Beryl asks. I want to ask if I’m a suspect, despite what Desiree said.

“I guess so. Everyone knows I hated the guy, though he never did anything to me. I’m sure any investigation would be brief. I assume you aren’t a suspect since you were so cooperative, and I can’t believe any cadets killed him.”

Beryl nods. “I think I’m going to go back to my room and just study after lunch.”

“Ok. This has me stressed out to, but I’m sure it will be fine. Oh, I suppose I should warn you in case you hear. There is going to be a wake tonight for Claude at the Adrift Astronaut, so you probably want to skip it tonight.”

“A wake?”

“Yeah. A bunch of his classmates are going to swap stories about Claude. I don’t think anyone knows what a jerk he was, so I guess I can’t blame them, and even Claude must have made friends. If I hadn’t heard, I might have gone myself just to be social, but I’m going to skip it now.”

“Thank you for the warning.”

[inxsi]

Chapter Sixteen: Awake - Part 1

SpoilerShow

The steady beeping of a medical monitor awakens Beryl.

“There she is,” Fireblade says. “Beryl, can you hear me?”

“You are ok?” Beryl says, her worry and apology laced through her message. She opens her eyes to see Fireblade looking down on her, an ugly bruise ringing her throat. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what came over me.” Beryl sits up with a groan. "I feel like I fought all of the teidar on the Tempest."

“I’d say you are ready to defend Alex if you need to,” the teidar replies, then winces as Beryl sits up and hugs her. “Mind the ribs. They’re a bit sore. Though not as much as you are, apparently.”

"Sorry," Beryl sends, releasing her grip. "I did not mean to cause you any pain."

"I do not think you did permanant damage to either yourself or the teidar," the doranzer informs her, "though I was waiting for you to awake to complete the scans of your nervous system. You have microtears large enough to hurt on several of your muscles - I assume you overused them while fighting?"

"I suppose so," Beryl sends. "I don't remember how hard I hit her."

"Much harder than I expected," Fireblade admits.

"It is possible with the hormone levels I recorded that most of the damage is self-inflicted. Other than the concussion, of course. Please, lie back down so I can complete my diagnosis."

As Beryl complies, Tempo sends, “I am pleased that you are recovering, Beryl. Now Fireblade, once the doranzers have checked her out, you are letting them treat you.”

“Once the doranzers are free, mother,” Fireblade replies.

“Everything seems to be fine now,” the doranzer says after consulting the monitors. “There is no sign of the concussion anymore - it looks like the treatment was successful. I’ll let you check her memory.” The doranzer moves away and Fireblade steps back in, resting a hand on Beryl’s shoulder.

“What is the last thing you remember?” she asks.

“I was strangling you, and you could have died. I could have killed you. And then you threw me into the ceiling, and I was so worried I’d killed you,” Beryl tells her, glad for the personal link.

“I am fine," Fireblade sends reassurance, then embarrassment and guilt, "a bit bruised. I should apologize to you – I could have killed you with my telekinesis. I’m sorry, I was weak and I failed you.”

“What do you mean? I was in the wrong,” Beryl protests.

“I’m supposed to protect you. I thought I would be able to up until the very end. You’re…” there’s a complex mix of emotions and images that Beryl cannot begin to sort through before Firbelade continues, shutting the emotional component of her sanzai off, “more important than I am. That’s why I asked Stillstorm for this assignment.”

“I’m not sure I understand, but you are important too.”

Fireblade nods. Beryl can tell she is not agreeing but does not want to argue. After they run through a few standard questions, Fireblade asks “are you ready to speak to the others?” Beryl agrees, and Fireblade removes her hand, announcing, “her memory is fine.”

“Good. Now, Fireblade, will you let the doranzers look at you?” Tempo asks.

“Fine, but only since they aren’t going to look at Alex more,” Fireblade agrees, then adds for Beryl’s benefit. “He seems to be fine, but was unconscious.”

“He is awake now,” Tempo says. “He led us towards the sparring room before any of us noticed that anything was wrong with Fireblade or Beryl, but collapsed on the way. And he seemed better on the scans than he did on the Tempest.”

“It was quite a mess,” Reed adds. “I’ve never seen Fireblade bested before – you will have to show me what you did.”

“It won’t work on me twice,” Fireblade glowers.

“No. But there are other teidar on Tempest with whom I could win a wager.”

“How did Alex know there was anything wrong?” Beryl asks, ignoring their byplay.

“He said he sensed fear and pain coming from Beryl. He said it was life or death. I could not reach either you or Fireblade, so we followed him. We only heard Fireblade calling for help once he collapsed,” Tempo says.

“You couldn’t reach Fireblade? I might not have noticed in my condition,” Beryl says, shame washing over her again.

“None of that,” Fireblade chides her. “We’ve established that you did not intend it. But what did happen?"

“I was angry,” Beryl recalls. “I’m only here because I have dealt with Alex, not because I’m a warrior. It was stupid, but that’s how I felt. I wanted to be on the Tempest, helping my friends, or on the way to Seren to negotiate a treaty, and instead we’re stuck here not helping anyone.”

“I think we have proven that you are a warrior. We are still learning about Alex, which is helpful,” Fireblade says.

“But what are we learning?” Beryl says. “You both still think he’s a security risk. I’m getting more worried that he’s dangerous.”

“You are?” they all ask simultaneously.

“What if he’s been using these dreams to mess with my mind? Programming me to kill Fireblade?”

“I have considered it,” Tempo says. “But it does not seem to fit with what we know, and it is too early to make such a determination. I am curious on how both you and Fireblade were under a lotai.”

“And where you learned those attacks,” Fireblade adds. "I didn't teach you anything like that."

“In my dream, I asked for some self-defense training. They did warn me that the techniques should I only be used when my life was on the line. I guess I panicked while sparring,” Beryl explains.

“Why did you ask for that?”

Beryl takes a deep breath. “I had an encounter in my dream by a male cadet. Not Alex, someone else. After talking with someone in the dream, I think it was an attack, but it was confusing at the time. He took me by surprise and overpowered me. Which is probably why I wanted to prove myself. In the dream, he gave me a concussion.”

“What kind of concussion?” Tempo asks.

“It was minor – no symptoms, other than,” Beryl frowns. “Irritability and impulsiveness. Do you think that carried over?”

“Purely mental attacks can cause physical effects in the brain, so perhaps these dreams could cause a similar effect. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to get any evidence now. Someone showed you the attacks to use?”

“Yes. I wanted to better be able to defend myself in the future.”

“And they showed you the mental attacks as well?” Fireblade asks.

“Mental attacks?”

“You managed to mislead my mental senses during the fight. Once I adjusted, you hid your intentions from me totally, and you attacked me mentally when we were touching. It was intense and disorientating.”

“I cannot do mental attacks or hide my intentions. You have seen my records.” When Fireblade agrees, Beryl continues, "does that not make it seem Alex is a problem? If he somehow trained me in how to make a lotai and extend it to Fireblade, does it not seem likely that humans are hostile to the loroi?”

“We need more information. I propose we interview Alex again today once Fireblade is done with her medical treatment,” Tempo admonishes Fireblade again. "I doubt this was something that Alex planned - he seemed to be as surprised as any of us."

[inxsi]

Chapter Sixteen: Awake - Part 2

SpoilerShow

After a quick examination of her injuries and a minimal amount of medical treatment, Fireblade insists that she is fine to get back to Alex, despite Beryl’s and Tempo’s protests.

“She is in no danger,” the doranzer informs them when they complain. “She will likely be in pain and have some stiffness though. I would recommend additional treatment, but she is fit enough for light duty.”

Tempo frowns while Beryl appeals to Fireblade. “Please, you are not fully recovered.”

“I have trained through worse,” Fireblade informs her as she leads them out of the room. “This is minor. You must see to Alex.”

“How so?” Beryl asks, focusing on his presence. “He seems fine.”

“He is fine. You are not fine though. You need to tell him about your dreams. You are not a mizol or even a teidar to withstand the corrosion that lies wreak on the blade that is you.”

“Are you saying I am weak? Again?”

“It is not about strength or weakness,” Fireblade sighs. “It is about training and suitability. Tempo can no more throw an enemy with her mind than I can remember anything that I have observed perfectly. Does that make us weak?”

“Of course not!”

“Then accept that you are not weak. If you were, I would not have forced Stillstorm to accept you for this position.”

“Ok. What am I telling him about these dreams? What if he mistakes them as something hostile, or as…” Beryl blushes and cuts her sanzai off.

“As a sign that you are interested in mating? Are you interested in mating?”

“No! He is… not loroi. And it would be weird with someone who is a warrior.”

“Those concerns don’t apply to Talon or Spiral.”

“They have not experienced mating with a… oh, I don’t mean to offend,” Beryl remembers too late that Fireblade has also never mated.

“I am not offended. I agree with you that Alex does not seem like he would press the matter while he is the ambassador for his species. But it seems to me that with his increasing telepathic abilities, you will not be able to keep the dreams from him for much longer, and he could interpret that as an attempt to deceive him.” Tempo agrees wordlessly.

“Fine. I’ll tell him,” Beryl submits.

“Good. Otherwise, I will tell him.”

“You wouldn’t!”

“You forget that he is getting better at sanzai. I would not need to speak out loud.”

“You know that is not what I meant.”

“But I if I needed to speak to tell him this, I would.”

[inxsi]

Chapter Sixteen: Awake - Part 3

SpoilerShow

Alex is in his alcove when they return. He looks over as Reed welcomes them back.

“Is he well?” Beryl asks, chiding herself for seeking assurance after her bold statement to Fireblade.

“I am,” he answers.

“His range has improved a great deal,” Reed says. “But it still does not quite cover this room.”

“Wow,” Beryl says, walking into the alcove with Fireblade trailing her. “I am impressed.”

“Thank you… what happened?” his shock at Fireblade’s condition is apparent.

“I… overreacted during our practice session. I caught Fireblade off-guard,” Beryl explains.

Alex looks back and forth between them. “Ok,” his surprise coats the message.

“It is true,” Fireblade states. “And is partly why Beryl wants to discuss something with you.”

“Discuss what?” Alex asks.

“From our time on the shuttle onwards, I have been having dreams about you,” Beryl explains nervously. “I believe these dreams are drawn from memories of your past – they have involved the Academy on Mars where you were a cadet. At least, I assume you were a cadet on Mars? Hellas Planitia?”

“Yes, that’s right,” he confirms.

“And were friends there with Ellen Kirkland?”

“Yes. Are you sure this wasn’t something you learned from the wreckage though? Possibly something you put together unconsciously as you learned more about our language?”

“I… I suppose that is possible. But it was very vivid. I didn’t want to keep it from you once we decided that the dreams might be some form of communication between us, instead of just fantasies I was making up.”

“Ok,” he nods, his skepticism clear. “I understand. I guess I can’t say it is impossible since I’m having a conversation using only my mind with lovely alien warrior-women. Are there other details you can share to see if we can corroborate them with the dream?”

“I think the easiest is probably the name of the restaurant where you relaxed in the evenings. The Adrift Astronaut.”

“That’s right,” Alex says, wonder and a touch of fear coloring his response.

“I am sorry. I did not mean to pry. I was only attempting to determine if there was any hope of mental communication with humanity. Since then, I have had these dreams every night.”

“What else do I need to know about them?”

“They have become… odd. I was attacked by one of the students, Claude –” Beryl feels Alex’s anger for a split-second before their link is severed.

“Alex?” she asks as he looks down at his hands that are clenched.

“Sorry, I’m just concerned that I’ve hurt you,” he sends with sincerity mixed with self-recrimination. “There was a Claude at the Academy. He had a temper and withdrew partway through a semester. I was never sure what happened, but I don't recall any rumors of anything that bad. But maybe my mind filled in the blanks for me in your dream?”

“I think it means it is not all drawn from things that have happened. Maybe I need to have someone else take over my responsibilities if I am unable to avoid being influenced by this dream,” Beryl says.

“Is that an issue?” Alex asks. “I don’t mean to offend you, and I am not sure of your customs, but I have come to like working with you. I’d rather not lose that unless you feel it is necessary.”

“You said it yourself, Beryl,” Fireblade points out, “once negotiations are underway, there will be plenty of people involved on both sides. You are not wholly responsible for human-loroi relationships, so I do not feel that you need to step down now. And besides, there are also positive aspects of this dream.”

Alex’s eyes widen as he picks up a hint of Beryl’s thought before she snatches her hand away. “What was that?”

“That was… fine,” Beryl sighs and holds his hand again, showing the image of the two of them holding hands and staring at each other across a ridiculous heart-shaped bed. “This was one part of the dream. Nothing happened other than sleep – in the dream, you insisted on that.”

“Now I know this is not from my memory. I definitely would have remembered a blue-skinned woman sharing my bed even if I didn’t know she was loroi back then.” Fireblade laughs, and after a moment, Beryl joins in.

“I do not appear as myself in the dream. I take the form of a human student at the Academy,” Beryl informs him.

“Oh? I’m not sure I want to know. I like the memory as I have it, if that is ok with you. I hope that one day we can make it a reality. We just have to get through the current unpleasantness.”

“Speaking of which,” Tempo cuts in. “Starcry wants to meet with you later today.”

“Who?” Beryl and Alex send simultaneously.

“The farseer on this station. She would like to meet Alex and Beryl. The teidar Dream will also be present.”

“Just like that?” Fireblade asks.

“Sunfury finally approved it after being pestered by the farseer ever since Alex arrived,” Tempo sends. “I think it has to do with Alex and the umiak dropping their lotai.”

“What?” everyone asks at once.

“Yes. According to Sunfury, Starcry has been able to detect the umiak heading towards the Nezel base starting a few hours ago.”

“That’s great news,” Beryl says.

“It gives us a view of the war,” Tempo says. “Unfortunately, the view is very limited - Starcry was positioned here because she can determine when and where to send the resupply convoys, but she is not skilled enough to follow the actions of a strike group, let alone something on this scale.”

“I think I follow,” Alex says. “But… does this mean my lotai is linked with the umiak?”

“The umiak lotai broke a few hours before yours,” Tempo answers. “Perhaps the Bellarmine was caught up in whatever effect the umiak used to generate it, or perhaps humans have their own lotai.”

“Or perhaps humans are working with the umiak?” Alex asks. “And you are too diplomatic to state that?”

“I will admit that I considered that, but I feel that we can trust you. I cannot fathom the logic that has led us here if that is the case. Humanity would have had to be working with the umiak for many months at least for the umiak to ready this assault. Assuming that is the case, I see no evidence that you are aware of that. I think your assistance speaks favorably towards the disposition of humanity in this war, and that such action against the loroi would need to be analyzed to determine if the government of humanity supported it.”

“I could decide that the safety of humanity would require me to not assist,” Alex replies. “If this assault seems to be the turning point that leads to the end of the loroi.”

“That would be one view. But I do not think you are seriously entertaining that view.”

“No, I think the loroi would be better friends than the umiak. If I can aid you in any way, I’ll do so, unless I have to directly go against my government. I’ll admit I don’t know what use I can be though.”

“Hopefully Starcry will find out. Maybe she can learn about your lotai, allowing her to pierce the lotai of the umiak.”

“Great. Tell her not to poke the guinea pig too hard. I’d like to live long enough to be the hero who convinced the loroi to spare humanity.”