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Rei could faintly hear machines around her, the noise driving into her awareness like screws into a bulkhead. She tried to open her eyes, but she felt so tired and the dark was so comforting.
She could hear them. They circled her immobilized form like vultures circling their next meal. More needles plunged into her arms and legs. The liquid burned as it flooded into her veins.
“How long until we know if it takes?” a man asked quietly, as though he didn’t want anyone else to hear.
“The physical changes are promising, but I would give it another few weeks before we give her more of the serum. That will give us the highest chances of success,” another responded, just as quiet.
Rei wanted to tell them off, to yell and scream against what was happening to her, but her mouth was obstructed by a breathing apparatus that was supposed to be assisting her during her torment. So, she offered the only bit of resistance left to her and thrashed against the bonds with all her might.
“Calm down,” the first man told her. “It’ll be easier if you would just cooperate.”
Instead of following his command, his words just made her throw herself around in earnest; she wouldn’t let them continue this without some fight.
But wait... this wasn’t right. This had happened to her years ago. She had managed to escape. Why was she back here? She should have been light-years away... below the ancient city... with the others...
Gas flooded the apparatus before she could ponder more, filling her nose and mouth. It was sweet like fruit but made her tongue feel like it was coated in wool. The apparatus shifted as her struggles continued, but the gas managed to maintain its assault unimpeded. She could feel someone reach over and position it so nothing could escape.
“That’s a good girl,” the first man cooed. “Go back to sleep... maybe in a few days your tantrum will have died down...”
Rei’s struggles slowed. If her eyes were open, she was certain her vision would be greying as the gas dulled her senses. Her limbs gave one final protest before they flopped back against the metal table beneath her.
~*~
She could hear the machines working at the edge of her awareness once more, not driving like they had been, but subtle. Bit by bit, she felt herself coming back. Her hand twitched, testing to see if the bonds were indeed there, relief flooded through her when she met no resistance. Her mind drifted between the images she had seen in her memory-filled dreams and what she remembered from the city until it arrived at the thing that had triggered it all...
The gem! Rei bolted upright, the medical blanket that had been covering her tumbling to the ground. Breathing hard, Rei looked around. She was in the Kathya’s infirmary. Fiara sat on a bed across the room, legs crossed and tense. Bandages still graced her wrists and faint bruises were still visible against her pale skin. The blue shirt she wore fit better than her rags had when they first found her but was still loose on her body. She leapt from her bed and walked over to Rei’s side.
“You had them worried,” she told her quietly. “Especially when you tried to fight everyone off. It was like you were in a bad dream.”
“How long?” Brown eyes met hazel.
“Seven complete shift rotations—” Fiara winced. “Sorry, I’ve spent so long just on ships with no clocks so it’s how I measure the days out of habit now.”
Rei swung her legs over the side and looked herself over. Someone had dressed her in a new shirt, but her pants were still the same leather ones she had worn into the city. The only thing completely missing was her boots.
“Oh! You just woke up so I should...” Fiara looked around frantically, but, as she saw none of the medical staff was in sight, she paled.
“I’ll be fine. If you would be so kind as to point me in the direction of my boots—” No sooner did she speak, the requested items, coated in blue, floated to an easy height for her to grab. Rei ignored the unsettled feeling in her stomach. “Well, there’s one way to get them,” she joked.
Fiara looked around, dancing from one foot to another.
“Captain, you’re awake!” A medic finally put Fiara out of her misery as he appeared at her elbow. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“I’m off to see Yeke and the others.”
“I don’t advise that.” He chuckled. “You just woke up. If you want them, I will call them to come back here, but I just managed to get them to leave and get some rest.”
“I appreciate your concern, Isam, but I feel fine. And no offense to either of you, but this is something urgent that should be private. If it makes you feel better, scan me first, but I am leaving.”
Isam sighed. Fiara’s gaze shifted back and forth between the two of them.
“Fine,” he reluctantly agreed. “Let me scan you and if we don’t find anything, you’re free to go so long as you promise to come back here at the first signs of trouble.”
Rei nodded and waved him away. While she waited, she turned to Fiara, offering the nervous woman a small smile. “Settling in well? Sorry, I haven’t had much of a chance to check in on you.”
“Well, you’ve been a bit busy.” Fiara shifted her weight from one foot to another. “But, yes, I am. The staff here is nice and everyone who has been here while you slept has kept me company for a while. But, I admit I am confused about something.”
“About what?” Rei could see Isam returning out of the corner of her eye, but as Fiara’s mouth just twisted in silence, she subtly waved him back off. Rei waited for her to speak, pulling on her boots and running the brush from the stand beside her bed through her hair.
“About why you let me come with you so easily,” Fiara said at last, her voice soft. “I’m not even sure why I asked in the first place. I watched you come aboard and, since everyone was busy with the damage your ship inflicted, I took a chance.”
“You were smart,” Rei approved. “You saw the opportunity and didn’t let it go to waste. Let me ask you—what made you trust us?”
“You didn’t destroy the ship and, from what I heard, you gave the other a chance to stand down before destroying them. That group sometimes didn’t even give their friends that much.” Panic flooded her face, she wrung her hands as she looked around expectantly.
“I guessed as much during our brief meeting.” Rei took her hands in an attempt to calm her. “Now, what confuses you about your coming with us?”
Fiara looked down. “I wasn’t kidding when I told you I was no one. I was only there—it’s complicated.” She paused, but Rei didn’t pry further about it. “There was no reason for you to take the slave girl with you just because she asked. You had finished what you were there to do and didn’t have anything to gain by letting me join you. Then, when I was talking to Miss Aede and your helmsmen while you slept... the helmsmen joked about you taking in strays. Miss Aede said that they both had been some of those strays, but the helmsmen said I was different.” She looked up at Rei. “She said something about you having more of a connection with me. Kindred spirits, she said. I asked what she meant, but Miss Aede said that was for you to tell. What did they mean?”
Damn you, Foniac, Rei thought and she released Fiara’s hands. Fiara stood there expectantly, her hands twisting again as she clasped them together in front of her. Rei sighed and tried to figure out what she could say to get out of telling her the entire painful truth.
“I shouldn’t have said anything.” Fiara backpedaled. “Never mind.”
Rei held up a hand. “No, it was a valid question.” She noticed the scars on her arms weren’t visible and a quick scan told her Yeke had been kind enough to lay an illusion of his own to maintain the appearance of normal fingers and skin. She sized up the woman in front of her once more. It had taken her ages to show what had been done to anyone else other than Yeke. Yet here was someone who was inadvertently demanding it so soon after just meeting her. Even if she didn’t grasp the scope of what she was asking Rei to reveal. Rei sighed and quickly unraveled Yeke’s handiwork on her body before she lost her nerve. Fiara stepped back at the claws glinting on her fingertips.
“I did see a bit of myself in you, more than most that have come onto this ship. These didn’t come by my own doing, some freak accident, or some weird marriage of races.” She indicated to the scars and claws.
“Then how?” Fiara breathed.
“The details are a story for another time, but let’s just say we were both guests of people who regarded us in the same way. That we were something they could do whatever they wanted with no consequences.” Rei fought to keep her rage from her voice. “And I, like you, saw my chance to escape and took it.”
“Captain.” Isam finally returned and Rei replaced the illusion. “Are you ready for me to examine you now?”
“Go ahead.”
He rolled over a cart and took some wires, attaching attached them over her heart and by her temples. While that ran, he took another scanning device and started to wave it along her body, taking notes as he went. Rei forced herself to look away but still winced when he took a sample of blood. This was quickly rushed over to another machine across the room. She rolled her eyes at Fiara as it was clear that he was going to take this opportunity to test everything he could. He returned and resumed his scan; on the third go through, she shot him an irritated look. He quickly withdrew to check on the blood sample.
“Well, Captain,” he said, “all the scans back up what you’ve said so far. I can’t find anything that might suggest something will come up. That said, I insist that if you feel anything new or just off—”
“I’ll come back to get it checked out.”
“Good.” He gave a curt nod before unhooking her and dismissing himself.
Rei hopped down from the table and landed in front of Fiara. She offered a reassuring smile before heading for the door.
“Captain?” Fiara called. “I’m sorry.”
Rei stopped and looked over her shoulder. “For what?”
“For making you tell me that about yourself. But I’m curious—how’d you get over it?”
Rei considered her reply. “Time. This ship. And deciding not to give them the satisfaction of ruining more of my life. Truth is, everyone deals with things in different ways. You’ll figure out yours in time.” Rei gave a half salute before she vanished through the door.
~*~
Rei wandered the hallways, trying to resist the urge to summon everyone to her office and figure out what had happened. The boots in the infirmary had terrified her—just a thought and her Essence had acted without her consciously directing it to do so. It made no sense, she felt no different. It seemed to her she had simply taken a long nap. Rei skidded to a halt in the middle of a junction and considered her options: there were only a few places they would be on the ship, and she doubted they would be enjoying the Drunken Inventor yet. No, chances were they would have sought out a more private place to gather and digest what was going on.
An engineer came out around the corner, laden with machine parts. Rei leapt toward him, thankful for the chance to avoid the ship-wide game of hide and seek she was certainly facing. “Have you seen Chia?”
He jumped and about dropped everything. “Captain! Yeah, I did, not too long ago,” he recovered. “She was on Aede’s floor with her and the others.”
“Thanks.” Rei took off down the corridor.
“Captain, it’s good to see you about again!” he called after her.
Rei gave a half-wave in acknowledgment as she rounded the corner. I wonder what the official story is about what happened to me. At the lift, she pushed the button and waited, tapping her foot. The closer she got to the others, the more the need for answers rose within her. A civilization’s knowledge of Essence and history—that’s all that was supposed to be contained within those gems and yet, something had gone into her, that much she was sure of.
The lift doors opened and invited her to step inside. As she reached to press the controls for her desired floor the doors shut and the lift started moving of its own accord. She flung herself against the wall and debated getting off completely. Her hand reached for the emergency control, but she paused when she noticed the readout. The floor Aede’s work area was located on was selected, despite not receiving the input from her. Rei groaned and let her head fall back.
First the boots and now this... What the hell is going on with me? She moved until she was next to the door, opposite the controls. She counted the seconds that remained until she could leave, all the while vowing to not take another lift until they figured out what was happening. Once the doors slid open, she flew into the hallway, casting a glare at it as she did so. The corridor was quiet, but she could hear agitated voices drift toward her. Her lips curved into a small smile despite her nerves. She followed the sound, coming to a stop in Aede’s doorway.
“Unfortunately, we won’t know more until she wakes up,” Chia concluded.
“Are you sure we can’t do more now,” Yeke said. “I hate waiting.”
“Good,” Rei replied as she stepped just inside the room, “so do I.”
Five heads whipped toward her and she couldn’t stop her smile from becoming a full-fledged grin. The group was gathered around Aede’s man workbench. The gem sat in the center of space, circled by wires and computers.
“When did you get up, Boss?” Foniac asked.
Rei took a seat at the bench opposite the others. “So, what have you uncovered here?” she asked, ignoring Foniac’s question, though their sidelong glances told her the avoidance hadn’t gone unnoticed.
“Not much. Yet,” Aede began. “Whatever this gem once contained, it’s gone now. These scans indicate that it’s just a normal diamond now.”
“That part went according to plan at least.”
“Then this is what the client was after,” Yeke concluded.
Rei nodded. “Though nowhere in his instructions was anything about a light show.”
“The images!” Chia’s ears twitched. “It was amazing! Pieces of history and discoveries... Even some battles.”
“Chia,” Kuv’s calm voice interjected.
“Sorry. Anyway, everything looked normal, but then you and the gem started to glow like nothing I’d ever seen before. The odd part is the images and everything else were unaffected.”
“What happened next?” Rei asked.
“When everything cleared, you were on the ground still glowing, and the safeguards were gone. Yeke and Aede arrived just as I reached you,” Chia said.
“And we swooped in to transport you back up here,” Foniac added. “We’re still planetside until you give the okay.”
“So we can’t get anything else from all of this?” Kuv asked gesturing to the gem in the center.
Aede and Chia shook their heads. “Regrettably, no,” Aede answered.
“We still have more to find, maybe they have answers,” Chia quickly added.
“What if they all do this? I’m not sure I feel comfortable risking anyone’s health like that,” Foniac said.
“For what it’s worth, I feel fine,” Rei broke in. “And the medics can confirm there were no ill effects.”
“You could have gotten lucky,” Yeke said.
“Why Yeke, do I sense a bit of a protective streak?” Rei folded her arms in front of her.
“I agree with Yeke,” Kuv said before he could respond. “What happened from your perspective, Captain?”
“I’m not going to be much help there,” Rei admitted. “All I remember is the same light following the images like Chia said, and that’s about it.”
“So much for the hope that we might get something more.” Yeke put his head in his hands, elbows propped up on the table.
“I still say until we better understand this, we pause our current course and evaluate if this is worth it,” Kuv said.
“I’ve never known you to be overly cautious on a job,” Chia said.
“We went in with little information and it ended with our Captain sleeping for seven days,” Kuv pointed out.
“We’re going to just keep arguing in circles about what to do,” Aede said as her fingers rapped against the desk. “One thing’s clear. We are at a dead end now.”
“Not quite,” Chia said.
All eyes in the room fell on the engineer. “Explain,” Rei said quietly.
“Once I realized what we were seeing, I pulled out the recording device I brought with me. I kept it going after the light show started on you. I haven’t looked at it yet because I was busy trying to get this—” she gestured to the devices and pedestal around the gem on the table “—set up.”
“And you just now mention this?” Yeke said.
“It slipped my mind because it might not provide any new information.”
“It’s a starting point,” Rei said. “More than we have right now. When you’re done looking at it, I want the footage destroyed.”
“Why?” Chia’s voice teetered on the edge of pure outrage. “Just from watching it while it happened what the gem contained has the potential to advance knowledge of what Essence can do by years, possibly centuries.”
Rei sighed. “Exactly why that we were given the job of deleting it—some things are better off left alone, so it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.” Their eyes met and she silently implored Chia to understand and let it go without more arguments. After what seemed to be an eternity, the engineer nodded and Rei let out the breath she had been holding. “As for the rest of this job, I want to keep going.”
The others around the table exploded, except for Chia, who jumped up and down on her stool. Rei sat there as their protests and arguments blended around her into one incoherent, jumbled mess.
“All right,” she said in hopes of bringing them back to order. “All right!” Silence descended. “We keep going. Because we know what to be on the lookout for now and if we can study the next gem before we trigger it we’ll learn how to avoid future situations like this. In the meantime, Chia and Aede can look at what Chia was able to grab and see what answers it provides.”
She felt like she needed a drink, though she was certain the medics would disapprove of anything alcoholic. The pitcher of water that someone had set far from any possible collisions with the electronics around them, floated over, accompanied by an empty glass. They hovered in front of her at eye height.
“Uh. Rei...” Yeke said. “I’m guessing that’s your doing. That water’s pretty blue.”
Rei snatched both out of the air and slammed them down on the workbench. She poured herself a glass and took a sip. The water remained blue, though it was lessening by the second.
“Essence can bleed into things that much in that short amount of time?” Foniac’s eyes were wide.
“It can’t,” Aede said, her purple gaze narrowed in Rei’s direction. “I thought you said you were fine?”
“I am fine.” Rei sighed. “My Essence’s just a bit more responsive at the moment.”
Chia hopped over e to a separate work pace she had spread several devices set out. She selected one that was just larger than Rei’s hand and came over. “May I?”
Despite the feeling of dread rising in Rei, she nodded. “What does it do?”
“It’s far from perfect, but it should help us gauge the exact levels of Essence you now possess. I’ve always found simply sensing levels to be rather imprecise. There’s still the need for adjusting, trying it again and again as you hone in on the exact levels needed to overcome someone or a spell... plus the danger...” Someone coughed around the table. “Anyway! After the light faded, I thought it might be useful to come up with something to solve that issue so we can see exactly what we’re dealing with.”
“Glad to be some inspiration,” Rei mumbled.
Chia turned on the device. It started to beep low, slowly increasing in volume and frequency. A number flashed on the screen, and Chia whistled. “Well?” Rei asked.
Chia didn’t answer, her dark eyes considering the others in the room. “Yeke or Aede, come over here.”
“Why?” Aede asked.
“Because you two are next closest to Rei’s ability levels and I need to compare numbers before I give a verdict.”
“Fine,” Yeke took a step forward. “I’ll be the brave one.”
Chia aimed the device at him. The beeping began low and grew louder, but nowhere near as shrill or frequent as it was with Rei. The number read out and Chia considered it with a slight tilt of her head. “Well, that’s interesting.”
“Are you going to fill everyone in?” Foniac asked.
“Rei’s more powerful than the rest of us...”
“And you’ll find no one arguing you on that point. Cut to the chase, Chia,” Kuv said.
“If these readings are right, at the moment, she’s measuring much higher than I would have placed her. Rough estimate, she added a fifth of Yeke’s power level to her own.”
“Rough estimate?” Aede echoed.
“Well, since I don’t have a reading from before we went into the city, we don’t have a benchmark. I’m using a combination of data that isn’t exactly compatible to draw my comparison.”
“Didn’t you say she was still glowing after she had collapsed? Do you think the source of the light caused it, maybe merged with her somehow?” Foniac asked.
“I’d need to review what footage I have before drawing that type of conclusion. No matter what caused it, you’ll be dealing with more responsive Essence for a while.”
“Oh, joy,” Rei groaned. “Now that I’ve been scanned for the tenth time today, we should set off for Seletta. Well, unless we have some stuff we need to still get onboard.”
“After we got you back to the ship, we loaded up some of the gold and other treasures in the cargo bays. After what happened to you, we weren’t about to leave empty-handed,” Yeke reported. “I was going to go down with Chia and Kuv to safeguard the rest until we can come back for it.”
“Good idea. I want to contact Nalju to start getting rid of some of our load after we get this next gem. We might as well start collecting what we can since we won’t get our client won’t pay until we get all the gems. Anything else need my immediate attention?” The others shook their heads. “Then, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to change and take a nice long shower.”
~*~
Rei was almost to the lift when she heard her name being called. She turned to see Yeke hurrying toward her.
“I don’t like it,” he said bluntly. “That thing incapacitated you for days and now you’re dealing with more Essence than normal.”
“That makes two of us,” Rei admitted. “Something doesn’t add up about all of this. I’m certain Foniac’s right and it comes down to that light.”
“What do you think it did?” He asked, concern filling his eyes.
Rei tried to search her fuzzy memories. “I’m not sure. I... I can’t... The only thing I do know is that it wasn’t in the briefing I got when I accepted this job for the crew.”
“What are you going to do?”
Her mouth twisted as she considered him for a moment. “Remember when you wanted a chance to sit on a meeting with Gen?” He nodded. “You’re about to get your chance.”
“When?”
“Before we set down on Selatta.”
He nodded. “In the meantime, shouldn’t you be in the infirmary, especially when you’re dealing with this Essence thing?”
Rei turned toward the window and watched the star field pass by. “You know how I feel about that place. I’m fine. Really. I was even good and let them check me out before I left. Besides, even if I braved it long enough to get prodded some more, I doubt there’s much more they could do about it.”
Yeke fell silent, for a moment she was certain he was going to press the issue. “After you shower and change, why don’t you meet the rest of us in the Drunken Inventor? We’re going up for a celebratory drink in honor of you being awake. I’m buying.”
“I’ll be there with bells on if that’s the case,” Rei replied, though her gaze remained on the stars.
Yeke started to walk back to Aede’s workroom, then stopped. “You sure you’re okay?” he asked quietly.
Rei glanced over her shoulder. “You shouldn’t worry so much, Yeke, it’s not good for you. You’re worrying about the wrong person, anyway.”
“Who should I be worrying about, then?”
She smiled at his confusion. “Whoever is responsible for this mess. I’ll see you in a bit.”
He accepted the dismissal and left. Rei watched the stars for a few more minutes before her gaze fell back on her right hand. The illusion fell away and allowed her a clear view of the scars before it gave the pretense that she had smooth skin once again. She exhaled deeply, flames appearing in her palm. Resolution that had only been a spark on her way down to Aede’s workstation had become a raging fire.
She wouldn’t voice it to Yeke until she spoke to Gen, but something in her gut told her this was something he expected. Maybe even planned for. And if it turned out to be true, he was going to answer for it. She was done with the manipulation and the games. And the beauty of it was that Gen or his Federation handlers wouldn’t even see it coming.