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«Well, look at you!» Cipher cackled, hurrying to Serena. «Alive and kicking!»
In a matter of moments he was next to her, clasping his arms around in a bear hug of an embrace.
Serena grimaced, feeling pain from such a brutal gesture, and forced a smile to her face:
«I thought the guys already notified you?»
«Nope, we wanted to make it a surprise when they come back.» Hunter walked up, shaking Cipher’s hand.
He then did the same with Pher and Taliesin.
«How was your flight?» Wolfin approached, Lindon only a step behind the man.
«Longer than needed.» Pher smiled, feeling better knowing Serena was out of the Hospital.
«Hey, dickheads!» one of the women in the cargo bay screamed, collecting her blond hair into a ponytail. «Tell them we brought gifts!»
«And introduce us, for fuck sake!» the other woman chuckled. «We’re dying to meet this Captain of yours!»
Serena twitched her brow, studying the new addition to the team:
«And who might those be?» she asked.
«They used to be local militia fighting the Company forces back on…» Pher grunted. «I forgot, was it Dilson or the other one?»
«Dillison.» Taliesin smirked.
«Right. We took them in, cause we loved the way they fought.»
Serena chuckled, heading towards the ship:
«So, ladies… what are your names?»
«Lilith!» the blond smiled.
«Lola.» the other one winked.
«A pleasure to meet you both. Perhaps, we can share a drink and get to know each other better?» Serena smirked.
«We’d love that! You sound like a woman we’d be proud to call a friend!»
«They’re a bit hot-headed, buuut…» Fisk beamed a smile, walking past. «So are you, Captain! I’m so glad you’re back on your feet!»
Serena slapped his shoulder and looked at Dean, her smile fading. Lilith and Lola, knowing very little about what happened between the two, slowly retreated into the cargo bay to make themselves scarce and look like they’re getting ready to unload the few crates of booze they brought as a gift.
Dean scowled and approached Serena, his eyes dark and filled with disapproval.
«I know you don’t like what I did, Dean.» Serena said. «But I do hope you understand why…»
The man scoffed and walked by, heading to greet the others.
Serena slouched, realising he wasn’t at all wishing to talk to her, and saw the two women unloading the crates, using the anti-gravitational platforms.
«Uh…» Lilith approached, covered in the force field that shielded her from the heavy Veluthian atmosphere. «I don’t really know what happened between Dean and you, but I hope the booze we brought with us will brighten the mood a little?»
«I do have to ask… is there any way we could get rid of this field?» Lola glanced at Serena.
The Captain sighed, shaking her head:
«What happened is a long and harsh story. Booze is good. And about everything else… Lindon made his estate inside to Terran settings, so you’ll be fine without the shields being used. I have a lot of Terran descendants in my crew, we accommodate them above us.» Serena headed back to Lindon and the others, who were already engaged in a conversation.
Lola and Lilith exchanged glances, shrugged and followed her silently, dragging the stacked anti-gravitational platforms behind them.
At first discussions and conversations flowed slowly – mainly connected to the war and what the Growler crew was up to for the past few weeks. But as the booze kept filling glasses, the crewmembers began relaxing more and more.
Even Dean seemed to become a little less strained and tense. He kept glancing to Serena with a dark gaze every now and again, but with the passing of time he too joined in to the conversations, using a mixture of Gorzan and his device that Laneth provided him with before. The mechanic, happy to see the Ilarian joining in, started to think about ways to work on the device more – or, at the very least – how to make the device have a wider spectrum of words and phrases he could use for communication. Eventually she even caught Hunter aside and asked him about a possibility to work together again on making the translation device more applicable.
The cyborg, glad to see Dean interacting at all, agreed to help whenever he could.
Lola and Lilith, extremely intrigued by Serena, listened to her in awe, hearing the very same stories Cipher and Pher told them about. The only one the Captain of MSS Lyssandra left out – was the reason for Dean hating the woman.
«Captain…» finally, Lola gathered the courage to ask directly. «I can’t help it, but I am going to ask… What happened between you and Dean?»
«Yeah, was he your lover or something?» Lilith leaned in, drinking her whisky.
«No, nothing like that.» Serena shook her head. «Let me ask you this… Have you heard what happened to Terra?»
«I mean, we heard it was destroyed after the Company denied their crimes against the Laithorian Empire and the Terran colonies…» Lola frowned a bit.
«Yeah, well…» Serena cleared her throat. «We were there.»
«On Terra?» Lilith asked, shocked.
«Not on Terra. My ship, as well as the Growler… we were there, in orbit. Empress Alathea gave me the order and I went through with it. I was the one to pull the trigger that destroyed Terra.» the Captain glanced at Dean. «And while my order was justified… Dean didn’t think so.»
«Oh.» the two women exhaled, shocked to hear this.
«As did Cipher. And Pher. And Tal…» Serena waved towards the men, who joked around and chuckled at the fun conversation they were having.
«Oh…» Lola shot a glance to Pher. «So that’s when they left…»
«Yes. Dean left my ship and my employ and followed Cipher instead, considering me a dishonourable bitch who killed millions of innocent people that day. I don’t blame him. I mean… Literally, I am the bitch who killed millions.»
«But…» Lilith frowned, gathering her thought. «Terra has been long cut off from its colonies mostly. We never got any help, but were always demanded to pay taxes to Terran representatives. Doesn’t that make what you did a bit… better?»
«Look, you can say what you want about the Company being vile and doing despicable things… It doesn’t negate the fact that there were loads of people living on Terra, who were just as abused as you were on the Terran colonies.» Serena shook her head, unable to have even a sip of her drink. «I did try to share information on the Company crimes, but it changed very little, and what outbursts and riots we saw on the planet… they were crushed by Company Militia within hours.»
«But it’s not your fault Terra started the war.» Lola said, feeling for the woman sitting next to her. «They’ve been plotting for years. Even our little colony saw how the company ships transferred stuff to some long abandoned places.»
«Yeah, we used to live in this warehouse far off into the forests when we were kids…» Lilith smirked. «We wanted to use that as a hideout, when the Company forces arrived to forcefully gather recruits for their army, but it turned out they filled it already with machines and men…»
«Fortunately, when Growler arrived by order of the Laithorian Empress, we managed to help Cipher and his crew get inside.»
«Is this how you’ve met?» Serena tilted her head.
«Yeah, when we guided them through a long forgotten tunnel that the Company thought was blocked off, we helped them set up some charges to destroy the machinery. And when the fight broke out, we helped. Since we had nowhere to go after our home was destroyed, he offered us a place on his ship.»
«I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that this single meeting led to us being part of history being made.» Lola shook her head. «Even more! A Laithorian General said we have Laithorian citizenship now!»
Serena chuckled, finally taking a sip.
«You find it funny?» Lilith scratched her ear, puzzled at such a reaction.
«No, I laughed, because…» Serena glanced at Cipher. «A meeting with Cipher, Pher and Hunter changed my life too.»
«He never really told us what happened when you met…»
«That story is long and, trust me, not as exciting as what we had next.»
«But what if we want a long story?» Lola chuckled. «We love long stories!»
Serena glanced at Cipher again and caught him twitching his brow at her.
«How about we tell that story some other time?» she asked, turning her gaze back to the women.
«Aw!» Lola pouted, and Pher walked up to her, leaning in with a chuckle.
«Are you bothering our Captain, ladies?» he asked, smiling.
«Not at all.» Serena beamed a smile to the man. «They were just interested to know how we’ve met. I’m surprised you hadn’t told them yet.»
«I mean…» Pher felt Lola tugging on his arm, pulling him closer.
«Please…» the woman begged.
«My, oh, my…» Serena took a sip. «Pher, you space devil! Are you at it again?»
Lilith and Lola laughed, seeing the man blush and reply:
«Uh… it’s not what you think, Captain. I, uh…»
Serena leaned in closer to Lola, catching her gaze:
«Are you two a thing?» a teasing smile appeared on her lips.
Lola replied with a cheeky smile.
«Aw, you’ve made them both blush!» Lilith chuckled. «How adorable!»
Serena shook her head:
«Tsk, tsk, Pher. If I hear anything about…» she fell silent, twitching her brow.
The man swallowed hard and nodded:
«You won’t Captain. I promise you.»
The three women burst out laughing at his embarrassed look, forcing him to retreat back to his friends.
By the end of the evening, when everyone dissipated each to their own provided rooms, Serena felt finally at home. And the night’s rest, spent with Hunter, gave her hope for the upcoming tasks that they were about to take.
Chapter 16. Ix Nabrax
«You realise this could be a trap, right?» John stood next to the others, tense and wary.
«Yes, John, I do. As I do not know anyone with the initials AS.» Serena watched the planet floating in space before their ship.
Ix Nabrax was a beautiful place, even though unsettled – none of the Terran Company members or Laithorian scouts ever labelled it as fit for life. Even though its atmosphere was breathable – at least, for Veluthians – the local wildlife was way too problematic. The ecosystem was filled to the brim with all kinds of creatures and plants – most of them either extremely dangerous, or poisonous.
So now this colourful – blue, red, emerald and purple – sphere was left to its own accord, unclaimed and untainted by anyone’s presence, until recently. There was one single signal that came from the planet.
Serena couldn’t even fathom how one would survive long enough on Ix Nabrax – even if the so-called «friend’ was of Veluthian descent.
«Captain…» Wolfin’s frown grew deeper. «Allow me to scout around before you decide to go looking for that signal we found?»
«You want to go alone? There?» Serena twitched her brow.
«I’ve been to places similar to this. I know how to be cautious and survive amongst things that populate this world.» her mentor shrugged.
«I’m not willing to risk your life on your hunch, Wolfin.»
«It’s not a hunch, Scorpi. I’ll be careful. I promise. And I’ll be on comms all the time, in case anything happens – you’ll be able to come and get me.»
«You realise the passages you’ll have to take, according to our scans, are too narrow to take a Dragon?»
«I do. I’ll go on foot.»
«Laneth?» Serena glanced at her mechanic, who stood deep in thought next to Kayla, who was engaged with the scanners, learning about all the wildlife along the path they mapped towards the signal that kept pinging from deep within some semi-cave system, or a very strange canyon of sorts.
«Dalilah?» Laneth asked, distracted. «Yes, she’s ready. Though, not as big as I’d want her to be, but big enough to help in a scuffle. Plus, her armour will help, she’s programmed to protect our crew.»
«She’s perfect.» Wolfin smiled. «And small enough I can carry her around my torso if I need.»
«Yes, yes…» Laneth rubbed her chin, too deep in thought. «That was exactly my thought.»
«What are you thinking?» Serena asked, watching the mechanic attentively.
«The INVI-drones we sent found lots of side-passages. Some of those weren’t big enough for the drones to scout. Dalilah can scout them out as Wolfin will be coming upon them. Just to be safe. I’m worried that there are some… caves? halls? …without any signs of life we can register, except plants. Nature doesn’t do things like these. Something is there, we just can’t find what.»
«I’ll take a mask and will be on high alert…» Wolfin proposed.
«And what if it’s not a gas or anything like that? What if we just can’t find signs of life, because our scanners might not be registering them?» Laneth glanced at Wolfin. «You said yourself, this planet hasn’t been exactly researched or even explored enough to know what kind of things might be lurking there.»
Lindon, who stood silently all this time, glanced at their Captain, seeing her frowning:
«You know what else is bothering me?» he asked.
Serena met his gaze, still deep in her thoughts:
«The signal itself?» she guessed.
The Veluthian nodded:
«It is of Veluthian origin. Though, according to our logs, signals like these were used a long time ago.»
«Perhaps, the ship it was sent from was salvaged from one of ours?» Serena shrugged. «We did… use to have a wide array of scouting ships. Centuries ago, though… Maybe this one is an old Veluthian vessel that was lost or crash landed here…»
«While I do find these assumptions to be quite plausible, my lady…» Lindon cautiously said. «I am more interested in the fact that the identification codes within the signal belong to a ship that was said to have been destroyed with hundreds of witnesses to see it happening.»
«Hmm… I missed that detail.» Serena looked down, thinking everything over.
«I have double checked, Captain. Lindon is correct, the codes do belong to a Veluthian vessel named Terrefly, which was marked destroyed in a battle with a pirate fleet over six hundred years ago.» Lyssa reported. «Although, part of the files concerning the names of pilots that were in that battle are corrupted, so I cannot say which Veluthian warrior piloted this particular ship.»
«Whoever it was, they fought alongside Artemis Serdana herself, when she was struck down in the very same battle.» Serena shrugged. «But I do agree that is… surprising to find the ship that was deemed destroyed… here. Why here? Why Ix Nabrax? Who found it? And how?»
«Captain? If Veluthian warriors are courageous and just…» Kayla suddenly looked at Serena. «How come one of them ran from the battle and hid here?»
«Good question.» the woman fell silent for a bit.
«Maybe they thought that if others found out they were alive, they’d be considered a coward?» John assumed, somewhat understanding the logic behind Veluthian train of thoughts.
«Perhaps.» Serena agreed. «That can be a possibility. But this begs another question… did that Veluthian die here? Or were they rescued?»
«I think we’d hear in the Academy if someone survived on Ix Nabrax long enough to be rescued.» Lindon grunted, frustrated.
«I suppose…»
«We can discuss all week, but never get the answers we seek, sitting here and watching the planet.» Wolfin said. «Captain, allow me to be your eyes on the ground and scout out the possible hints to who sent that message to you.»
«I’m actually starting to doubt this message was for me, Wolfin.» Serena stood from her seat and approached the window, studying the planet’s surface. «But I do agree that we need answers.»
She turned and looked at her crew, watching her patiently. Hunter seemed too tense and wary, but he was silent, as was Fisk, who stood there, in the corner, biting his lower lip nervously.
«Alright.» Serena sighed. «Listen up. Here’s what we’re going to do… We let Wolfin disembark first, so that he could take a look around and scout the surroundings.»
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