Chapter 37: Epilogue - Hope

Rollo: The Gods are mistaken.
Floki: No, the Gods are never mistaken. - Vikings

"Gu-lee, sit down. I have unfortunate news to give you."

The High Matriarch, Honored Di'sa, speaks tightly through clenched jaws. The dark shades of sleeplessness underscore her eyes.

Obediently, I take the chair facing her, leaning forward even as my stomach flips upside down. Gripping the ends of the arm rests, I ready myself.

"Ro'gn and Anu, they took his ship out during the season and now…they've gone missing. No trace. No ship remnants – nothing."

"But they filed a flight plan didn't they? There should be something."

"Yes, there is a flight plan, but they seem to have deviated from it for some reason. I have sent crews to all nearby landing-possible bodies. Probes are scanning for chemical trace. There is simply…nothing."

"Ro-gn would have released a marker beacon!"

"Sei…if he had time. We have no idea what happened, except that they are missing. I will keep searching as long as there is any chance.

"It is a great…a horrible loss."

A tremor shakes her words and there is moisture seeping from the corners of her eyes.

She comes and puts her wonderful massive arms around my shoulders as my own eye-water drops onto my cloth.

My Anu. My wonderful daughter has been ripped from my life…

Darkness…nothing to see. Where am I?

Movement finds my left arm and I reach out. Something hard blocks the way. I begin feeling around.

I am in the cockpit. The ship cockpit. Why can I not see?

My right arm is tightly packed against my side by something heavy. Reaching for my face, I find my mask is on. It must not be functioning properly. I flick at the controls with my tusks until one of the vision settings returns.

The front viewer is completed covered with something. I cannot see out. A dim interior light allows me to make out the controls. Looking to my pinned arm, I see the huge bulk of Ro'gn leaning against me.

"Ro'gn!" I growl his name over and over, but there is no response.

I reach over with my free arm and begin to push at him while I try and wriggle my other arm free. None of my antics arouse Ro'gn. Is he dead?

Finally free, I squirm from the co-pilot seat and attend to the hunter. There is a large bump on his unmasked forehead. Bending close, I listen for breath.

Sei! He lives!

I crawl over him and search the small hunt craft for a med kit. Finding it, I return and try to get my mask to run scans over Ro'gn's still body.

Nothing broken. Must be unconscious from head hit on console. Minor internal head bleed. Apply cold, keep the rest of him warm.

I snap open a cold pack and use a bandage to fix it on his forehead bump. Then, I fiddle with his wrist com to turn up the temperature on his mesh. Only then do I turn to figuring out what has happened to the ship.

Shining a light on the dark viewer, I see plant matter, soil and rocks.

We went in nose first – buried our nose. Should be able to get out the back.

Fallen equipment is shoved to the side as I make my way to the rear. The hatch release is pumped and hisses as it opens. I take a quick reading and shut the door. It only takes a few moments for my wrist com to evaluate the air. It is breathable. Very similar to Yaut's.

Thank the gods.

I pop the door again and climb the ladder to peek out. The bright daylight sears my vision before I adjust the settings to shield me from the sun. It is near mid-cycle on this world.

We are in the middle of this planet's version of a forest. Tall green plants surround the ship. The undergrowth is thick, impenetrable. Better to traverse the high branches, if they will hold.

I pull back my urge to climb and return to Ro'gn. He still slumbers, but his breathing is lighter. I shake him.

"Ro'gn, we have crashed. Wake up!"

His faint groan surprises me.

"Wah? Crash?"

"Sei, we have crashed on some planet. The air is good. Our front is buried in the soil. You have a head injury."

He reaches up to touch the ice pack and then gives a low groan.

"Pauk. Give me the med kit."

I pass it to him. He takes the pack off his head and retrieves the healing serum.

"Huntress, will you do the honors?"

I take the needle from him and try to be gentle as I plunge it into his neck. One quick jab and it is over.

He puts his hands to his head and a creak of a sound ekes from him. Then he is able to stand.

We leave the ship together and stand on the burnt and crumpled hull.

"Anu, we are alive. That is good. But the other side of the blade is that no one knows where we are."

"You had no chance to deploy a beacon, did you?"

"I did not. Too busy keeping us alive."

"What was that?"

"I do not know, Anu. I have never seen or heard of anything like it before. Some anomaly in the fabric of space-time. Perhaps we witnessed the creation of a miniscule black hole's event horizon? I will see if anything remains of the ship's computer. Perhaps we still have a record of it that can be analyzed."

"Ro'gn, I am certain they are looking for us."

"Sei, they are. But I have no way of knowing if we are anywhere near our flight plan path. We may have been thrown some distance from it – possibly leaving no evidence of our trip to be discovered. Not any evidence as we understand it, anyway."

He turns to me and places his hands on the sides of my face, "Anu, we must consider that we are alone and will not be found."

"We are together. That is something good. And I do not believe Di'sa will stop searching for us, do you?"

"She will exhaust all possibilities. This, I know. Still, we may not be found. So we must consider, what is the most honorable thing to do?"

"I trust the gods, Ro'gn. Let us live as best we can on this world and pray that we will be found. In purity, there must be some purpose in what has happened."

"So we shall then. The trees?"

I nod and we leap up into the canopy. There is water and food to find, and shelter to create.

"Ro'gn!" I yell at him, "You still owe me Elite training."

"I intend to train you, my huntress. You will be the most formidable Yautja that has ever lived. Mark my words."

He grins his handsome face at me as he tests a few branches. With a nod, we are off. The wind rushes at me as I leap from trunk to branch and then to trunk again, clawing deep into the rough plant skin.

Hear my prayer, Paya and Cetanu. Keep us strong until Yaut finds us. Help us to find strength in each other as we find a way to live here. I vow to keep the path of honor and prepare for the day I return home.