And so we run

"Did she say left or right?" Beka asked.

He check the diagram on the flexi Zally gave him. "Left. No… right."

"Well? Which is it?" Beka prompted.

"Right, I definitely meant right." Dylan stated. They turned right and walked down the corridor.

"Don't you think it's a little weird that we find an old friend of Harper's way out here in the middle of nowhere?" Beca asked.

Dylan shrugged. "I don't think it's a coincidence, if that's what you're asking."

"I didn't think so." Beka said. "So, what do you think is going on? What do you think she's up to?"

"Well, maybe it's not her. If she says that slipstream left her here, I'm not inclined to disagree. From what I do remember of our trip, it doesn't sound too different from how we got here."

"Are you saying that you believe that an all-powerful being brought us all here for a reason?" Beka asked skeptically.

He shrugged again. "Or it could just be an avatar of a sun toying with us like on Inaris. Keep your eyes open."

"Ready when you are." Harper said.

"Oh, I'm always ready." Zally replied.

Harper entered the computer and Zally followed.

"What are we looking for exactly?" Zally asked.

"A hidden file, a big one. It might be locked."

"I though I'd been through every file, trying to find ways to maximize power. I can't believe I missed one."

"Yeah, well, it happens to the best of us. Now, you were telling me about your life after Boston. You were on a Nietzschean satellite?"

"Yeah, no clue why I was there, nothing but the clothes I was wearing. The kids up there, they either ignored me or beat me up. No middle ground. There was this one kid though, a boy. Kinda spoiled. He was the eldest. We were about the same age. We became really close friends. In fact, I would even say best friends. He set me up with a transport to get back to Earth. He warned me that they would be looking for me in Boston, so he sent me to Johannesburg. That was about, 10078-ish."

"You were in Johannesburg? Were you there during the rebellion? 10089?" Harper asked. Zally nodded.

"Yeah. I got people out and fighting for their freedom because of you, Harper. Because you came back to do what you promised when you were ten. I even went to Boston to try and find you. But after you left, things got worse."

"How could things have possibly gotten worse?"

"Like I said before, The Ubers went into slaving-overdrive. They started using everyone who could hold a tool. Most of us were sent off world to mine raw ore."

"Why didn't your friend save you from being a slave, if you guys were so close?"

"He's still Nietzschean. I didn't expect him to risk his life for me in quite such an obvious way. But what he did was more than what you did to save me."

"I thought you were dead!" he reminded her. "Tell me, how was I supposed to save you if you were dead? Why'd you go back to Boston if you hated me so much, anyway?"

"I didn't hate you then. I thought you'd need help retaking Boston. Boston was where it started, Bunker Hill, yeah? I thought that would be where it would end. But by the time I got there, you'd already left, and the rebellion was crushed."

"I had no idea. I'm sorry." He said.

"Yeah. Your sorry. Everyone's sorry." Zally said venomously. "Why did you leave, Seamus? Was it because we were losing?"

"No! Well, maybe a little. It's just that a lot has happened since you die-since we thought you died," he corrected himself. "The Nietzscheans, they came looking for me because of all those stupid stunts we pulled with the shrillers. Mom and Dad, they were protecting me… I was only a few feet away… and then during the rebellion…they came so close to the bunker, and Brendon wanted me to go with him, to fight with him…I couldn't watch anyone else…" A lump formed in his throat and his stomach was in knots. Zally stayed silent.

"You know, after a while you just get tired." Harper said quietly. "Tired of the struggle. Tired of just surviving. Tired of watching the world around you turning to hell over and over again."

"And so we run." Zally added quietly.

"And so we ran." Harper agreed.

"I think that should do it." Beka said. "Now the only parts of the ship that are pressurized are this on, the one the Maru's on and the three levels between."

"Good." Dylan said. "Let's get back up to command and-" He stopped.

So did Beka. "What is it?" She asked.

"I thought I heard something." They listened, and heard someone moving out in the corridor. Dylan motioned Beka to take up a position on the one side of the door and he took the other. He looked out in to the corridor. Nothing. He motioned Beka to follow him, and he moved down to the end of the corridor, and peeked around the corner. He glanced at Beka, and she read the Aw, crap. expression on his face.

She was going to ask what it was, but Dylan put his hand over her mouth and moved back down the corridor towards the engine room. "We need to find a different way to the control room. We still have the schematic for this satellite, right?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah." She pulled it out and gave it to him. "What was it?"

"Magog," he replied. "Just the one but who knows how many more there are."

"I'll bet Harper's girlfriend does."