PAST AND FUTURE GHOSTS

Lost in the nuclear explosion that destroyed Gehenna Station, a lone ship broke free and drifted among the stars, looking like one of many pieces of debris. It floated aimlessly until the Annihilators’ battleship had warped out and the November was nothing more than a tiny speck of light in the sea of space. It appeared, for all intents and purposes, to be the last remains of what had come before.

But the Palatine was not empty.

Gabriel Tosh sat in the captain’s chair, a living, breathing statue surrounded by darkness. Somewhere deep within his tortured mind, perhaps he was trying to make sense of what had happened; but on the surface, he had rewritten history to suit his own needs.

Kath Toom sat next to him. She appeared to be sleeping with her head slumped on her chest, and he didn’t blame her; she had been through a lot in the past few hours. Her wounds had been very serious. Even now, dried blood caked the yellowing flesh around her eyes and nose. He regretted pushing her so hard, but it couldn’t be helped. Still, he imagined he saw the adoration she held for him in her eyes, and he was glad for it.

His thoughts drifted to Nova Terra, and a rush of anger made him grip the seat until his fingers turned white. She had promised to join them at the Palatine, but she had betrayed him. He began to wonder exactly how much of a role she had played in the attack that had injured Kath so seriously. He had seen the footage of Bennett torturing her with his own eyes, it was true; but he also remembered what Dylanna had told him before the unfortunate accident, and he suspected there was more to the story. He sighed. Team Blue was not quite complete, after all, and it never would be now. This would have to do.

He turned Kath’s face to him, and he imagined he saw the depths of his love reflected in her glassy stare.

Annihilators are gone, she said. Where do you want to go?

Tosh thought about that. He needed a place to regroup and reassess his options. As he looked back, it was clear that his partnership with Bennett could never work. He was his own man, and he answered to no one, and the general’s goals had been far different from his own. But he was a spectre now, and there was no going back from that. He had enough terrazine and jorium stored in the Palatine to keep him going for a while, but it wouldn’t last forever. He needed a new plan.

Go on home, a familiar voice said. Back to Haji. You disappear for a while, do penance for Maman Therese, and be reborn stronger than ever. She still got plans for you, little one. It ain’t your place to question that.

He thought about Grandma Tosh’s suggestion. Maybe this was the sacrifice the loa had required. Was she testing him? Well, he would rise to the occasion. The Dominion, and Nova Terra, had not seen the last of Gabriel Tosh.

He stood up and made his way back through the empty bridge to the exit, ignoring the ghostly figures that seemed to intrude upon him from all sides. Outside, he followed the hallway to the end and took a narrow staircase down two floors to the lower level of the ship. The corridors were tighter down here, and his boots rang loudly on the steel grated floor, echoing back to him as if more than one person were moving around, although he knew he was alone. Well, almost alone, anyway. He had passengers, after all; they just weren’t talking.

Not yet.

Tosh entered a storage room off the landing bay. All was still, but in the darkness he could see the blinking green lights on the ends of the six stasis chambers he had stacked hastily in one corner before blasting away from Gehenna Station. Green was good; it meant they had survived the rather rough treatment just fine.

He regretted not having been able to retrieve all of them. In his agitated state, he had been unable to think clearly, and the spectres who had not been in stasis were lost in the explosion. He walked through the darkness to the chambers, put his hand on one, and imagined he could feel a very slow, steady heartbeat within.

They would come along for the ride, and when he was ready, he would wake them up and set them free.

Gabriel Tosh returned to the bridge and took his seat next to Kath Toom once again. Set a course for Haji. He removed the familiar canister of terrazine and took a long, slow hit, letting the drug spread through his veins, warming him and letting him know everything would be okay. Then he sat back and glanced at Kath, taking her hand in his own. Her fingers were ice cold.

It was going to be a long journey.