Obscurabitur Domum
27 Nov 2016Hersilia
Perched on the top of a crystal mountain of ice sat a ship which was barely recognizable from what it once was. A bright blue star shined from afar down through the flakes of snow that fell from a darkening sky, casting a luminous blue hue over the crystal mountain. Deep snow covered the top of the ship and the canopy window. The rest of it had frozen over in the -126°C winds which thrashed against the sides, trying to pull it from it's point of sentinel and throw it down the mountain as if it were nought but a child's toy. The Indagator rocked quietly from side to side. Inside Hersilia floated silently above the pilots chair, eyes closed. She was thinking of nothing in particular until her lack of thought was interrupted by a loud growl coming from her stomach. She winced and tried to hold the growling beast in place with her hands as she hunched over. It was no use, she hadn't eaten in days, maybe a week now. She couldn't remember. She straightened herself while taking a deep breath, reached inside her robes to pull out her final Kamitra cigarillo. After twisting it round and inspecting it for a good few minutes she flicked it into her mouth. A flame sparked from her left hand and she puffed away gently on the cigarillo as she glided into position to take the controls of the Indagator."I guess we've been here long enough.." she remarked smugly to Indagator. The ship seemed to groan in response as she switched the main systems back online. She chuckled slightly then started to cough. The engines whirred into action and she pushed the throttle in such a way so the ship would take off vertically. The ship shuddered and stayed in one place. She tried again. The same thing happened. Hersilia frowned and slammed the throttle forwards. Indagator wailed under the strain. The landing struts had become frozen to the surface and the ships thrusters had not been online for long enough to have acquired enough power for such a take off. A distraught whine followed by a snapping suggested the ship had broken free, a comforting smile drifted over her face. If she were to die, it would be in a place of her own choosing. A gentle click of a button caused the landing gear to rise. A harsh grinding roused suspicion that at least one of the feet from the landing struts had snapped off. With a loud clunk and a glance to the right she determined that the struts had raised successfully. A sigh of relief. The Indagator powered on up through the thin layer of atmosphere painting two thick white lines streaking up through the sky as if it were a canvas and she the artist.
Upon arrival into the bubble nebula Hersilias' condition had suffered severely. Her bright blue electric eyes sat in dark hollow sockets which sat upon seemingly protruding cheekbones. Pale, nearly sheet-white skin appeared to be pinned to her skeletal structure. Her robes flowed more freely as she moved and roughly every half hour or so she would hoist the falling robes back into position onto her shoulder. Slowly she started the scan of the system she had just arrived in. One more final look wouldn't hurt. Hours passed by as the Indagator slowly trundled around the system, scanning planets and moons alike before turning it's thrusters from the star and blasting far away into deep space. She'd learnt that the further away you were from a star, the more spectacular the view of a nebula. Hersilia drew in a deep breath, compared to other people would be considered quite shallow, and she pushed the throttle to full, listening to the deep rumble of the engines. Further and further she went, past a few desolate metal-rich planets and their many moons, she skipped through the ice rings of the colossal gas giant she had scanned a few hours earlier, then finally passing the last stellar object. A tiny planet edged carefully around it's humongous orbit. The Indagator ignored it, it had seen too many planets just like it, there was nothing new. She turned her eyes upwards with great effort. There it was, the bubble nebula in all it's glory. A beautiful mixture of blue, indigo, teal and turquoise interstellar gasses shone all around her. The sight became more and more vivid. A weak smile spread across her face as she gazed out into the void.
A deep, dark, cooling shade fell upon Hersilia. She felt calm, satisfied with everything she had done to get this far. The relief of it all felt as if she was floating, weightless, but she was cold. A sharp shiver shot up her spine causing her to visibly shudder. She opened her eyes, something didn't feel right. She was met with pitch black. This wasn't right. She tried to open her eyes again. Nothing, above nor below. Her pale skin prickled in anticipation.
"Here again" she said to herself quietly. She stared dead a head of her out from two placid lakes of darkness. Her skeletal naked body hung lifeless yet again in emptiness. Time passed, she had no idea how long it had been. Seconds? Minutes? Hours? Days? Weeks even? She had no sense of time or space. Eventually through the darkness a scuttering caught her attention. Her eyes, deep black saucers, flicked to the right towards the creeping noise. Nothing. Fear started to rise within her gut. A terror buried so deep it shook her to the core. Quickly she looked around her feet, heart rate elevated. She was practically panting, her chest heaved. Something was there, she could feel it. Pulling at her. Pulling her legs, pulling her down further into the darkness. She tried to resist, to pull free, but she was unable to move and could still see nothing. The pulling and tugging became more forceful. The terror within her gut reached it's peak, she wanted to scream, to thrash and fight back, but it was useless. Suddenly the invisible force ceased, she was falling now, the scuttering sound drifted off into the distance. A pinch of relaxation was a gift, although her breathing did not slow. As soon as the feeling of terror faded the rancid scuttling rushed back over to her. Her eyes and mind burned in pain at the sharp stab in her neck.
Hersilia awoke, sitting bolt up right, screaming, petrified. Her arms flung out to grasp a hold of something. Her mechanical left arm swung through open air, finding no target. The right grasped onto fabric with something solid underneath. She turned her face towards the object, a bright white blur stood in front of her. She gripped at the foreign fabric leaning closer in to inspect it. Then placed her palm against it. It was soft like silk, but it wasn't silk. She had never come across this type of material before. Before she could study it further a strange sound entered her ears causing her to look up. Her vision was still blurred so she blinked to try and clear it. Once she finally realised what she was looking at an expression of surprise flashed across her face. It was a person! She pulled herself up with help of the smooth silk-like fabric and found herself staring into the face of a young man. A quizzical look crossed her face. She had no idea how to react, this was quite unexpected. He looked Imperial, the fancy clothing gave it away, but she couldn't be completely sure.
"Ar-y-ight?" the young man spoke but she couldn't quite make out his words. Screwing up her face she moved closer to try and hear him easier, completely forgetting about any type of etiquette. The young man grimaced as a pungent smell entered his nostrils, she stank to high heaven. There was no need to bathe she had previously thought, certain death lay ahead and now, this encounter was surely a mirage. Enough surreal events had happened to her recently. She stared at him for a moment thinking; 'Why has this man appeared, what foul trick is my mind playing on me?'
"Are you okay?" he said slowly while moving down to her height, letting her see the shape of the letters as he spoke. She had no response. Everything felt wrong. Where was she? It felt familiar. She was definitely inside a ship but it wasn't hers. It was cleaner, much cleaner. Instead of the dull Federal grey walls of the Indagator these shined a vivid, nearly blinding white. The floor was clear of any type of debris or litter, wires were still in place, tucked neatly behind shining panels. Hersilia had been placed onto firm a bed, she recognized the shape of the room. It was an Asp Explorers medical bay and everything was immaculate.
"W-who're you?" she asked, or she would have but the sound that left her lips was nothing more than a dusty breath. She hadn't really spoken to anyone since she lost Magnus. She held her throat, it hurt. The earlier scream must have torn it.
"You don't look alright.." he said gripping at her shoulder gently. She looked up at him with bright all blue eyes making him stop for a moment before he could feel how thin her shoulder actually was.
"Do you need anything? I have plenty of supplies...You look starved." A dry cough escaped thin cracked lips. The man in white thought it didn't sound like a cough, more like heavy wheezing. Her shoulders shook slightly with each outward breath. He stood back, observing the girls weak condition and her strange rhythmic coughing. It intensified. He moved quickly to the nearest sink, fetching a glass of water and offering it to her tentatively, eyeing her suspiciously for any other symptoms. For an instant her eyes opened, catching a glimpse of the drink being offered. The odd sound stopped. Eagerly she grasped for the drink putting her lips to the edge of the glass and downing the liquid in one gulp. As she placed the glass down next to her she grinned at him and guttural chuckle escaped her throat. Then he realised, she had been laughing. He took a step back;
"Space must have taken its toll on me too, my manners apparently stayed in Imperial space. I am Duke Niatra of the Empire" He smiled and took a bow. Hersilias electric eyes widened and the chuckling stopped. He truly was an Imperial. Her body stiffened as she thought about making a move for her gun. Then another thought entered her mind. Why on Terra would she want to shoot this man? He had just saved her, if anything she should be thanking him. Imperial or not, whether she liked it or not, he had gone through the effort of rescuing her. She let her metallic hand fall to the medical bed with a thump of defeat and closed her eyes, took a deep breath and tried to compose herself. She tried to think of a reason why an Imperial officer would rescue a lowly Federal like herself. He must have some alternate reason, although he didn't know of her position, he had no idea she had been exiled for murder. If he knew that he would surely have left her to die in the void but, he hadn't. She was here, in his ship being offered food and water, salvation! Still in disbelief she pushed herself up onto weak, shaking legs and shuffled her way over to the nearest window. The grav' boots clung loosely to her thinned ankles. Their magnetism had become a strain, each step was like walking through thick motor oil. The hard metal toe of the left boot scraped heavily along the floor, the gravity in this ship was higher than the Indagators. It's systems had been lowered gradually as Hersilia felt her new limb pull her down more and more. Eventually the gravity within the Indagator was nil. Without gravity there was no pain. Now though the pain was coming back. She tried to ignore it and carried on towards the window. Finally after what seemed like twice the time of what it should normally take she arrived at the window and pressed her hand against the pure white wall, gazing out to see where they were. The bubble nebula. Minutes passed in silence, still staring out she spoke;
"I should have died here.." Her voice was solemn and stern. She had thought of something else. Niatra went to speak but she interrupted him, turning to face him, hand resting against the wall supporting herself, all blue eyes sparking venomously into his. Her expression of disdain and anger. She felt her face flush in fury. Saved by an Imperial! She felt disgusted. The metallic limb went behind her back for the heavy, hand crafted hand cannon. It wasn't there. Quickly her eyes flashed from side to side, searching. Finally she caught sight of it, tucked away neatly in Niatras' belt buckle.
"You Imperial basta-" she fell to the floor, a loud clang echoed dimly as her arm hit the hard metal. Overwhelmed by the situation, wracked by rage and the growing pain in her arm she had gone into shock and collapsed. All pain and fear vanished. The sweet sense of darkness enveloped her. A welcoming greeting. A warm hug from a friend. She floated freely once more. Peace and tranquilly flushed through her mind and the feeling of the cold metal which was meant to be her arm, gone. All memories of what just happened had vanished. She was and had always been here.
Home.