Scission: Good-Bye
By the time they had reached the corridor where they had found the escape pods it was dark enough that Tyr was leading her by the hand. He stopped at an isolation door. She heard him work the mechanism and after the door shut behind them she pulled out her welder and ran a bead by feel along the seam.
"That's enough." He grabbed her hand again and pulled her after him. They repeated the process on doors from two other approaches.
"Can you see any utility hatchways?" Beka asked only able to see the faintest light in the upper walls of the corridor.
Tyr stopped abruptly. "Here." He pulled her in front of him and faced her away. "It is directly overhead." He crouched and picked her up so she nearly sat on his chest.
She hooked her legs behind him to steady herself. She felt along the ceiling for the hatch trying to ignore the warms hands on her stomach and thigh. She ran a bead along the door by feel alone. They were isolated now from the rest of the ship.
Beka was lead back to where the row of pod hatches and was left standing in the dark while Tyr worked a few feet away; soon light was cast from the two of the pods independent systems. She watched as Tyr went down the row and pulled the release levers on two of the pods causing them to eject.
Beka ran to him as a load crash sounded from the bulkhead. They looked out through the window in one of the vacant pod chute doors. They could barely make out the black bulk of another ship, its hull shifting in and out of the visual range no more than a hundred metres away.
"Fuck!" Beka said to no one in particular. She turned and slumped against wall and slid to the deck, scrubbing her head. "What do we do now?"
After a pause Tyr slide to the floor beside her. "I suggest we get into our pods and wait until the ships have separated. That way we can risk the collision should our barricades be breached."
"So this is where we separate."
Tyr nodded, "It will maximize the chances of at least one of us surviving."
Beka fought the tears that threatened to form. This was it. Here her path separated from not only from Tyr, the man she could never have, but from her last tie to what she had been calling home for the last two years. She took several deep breaths then pushed the thought away. She looked up at Tyr and gave his silhouette a bleak but resolute smile.
He nodded and stood, holding out his hand to help her up.
She accepted his assistance and stood keeping her grip on his hand. "Well Tyr it's been great working with you. You always kept us on our toes."
Tyr accepted the human gesture. His hand was so large and warm in hers. She could hardly make out the look on his face as they stood there awkwardly holding hands. The touch only served to remind her how generally undemonstrative Tyr normally was. It occurred to her that he had touched her more today than in probably all of the previous year. And most of those times had been in the last few months. She remembered their awkward dance that night in orbit around Savion, his natural grace evident despite his lack of enthusiasm for such a display.
"Tyr-" Her voice was throaty and she was unsure what to say and whether she could continue without actually breaking into un-Valentine-like tears.
"I also found it enlightening to work with you." He let go of her hand and raised his forearm to salute her.
She raise her own and crossed his. The sincere tone of his voice was more than she could take. The tears escaped her resolve and flowed freely. She dropped her arm, stepped into his solid aura of warmth and stability and hugged him. He paused for a second before wrapping his arms around her. She hoped he took as much comfort from their embrace as she did.
After a few minutes, she took a deep breath smelling him for what might be the last time and stepped back. "Thank you. Hopefully we will be back aboard the Andromeda in no time. If not I hope Rev is correct and we will be with the Divine."
She turned as her body threatened to break into sobs and crawled into the pod. Like Andromeda's it was ball shaped and the interior was covered in thick padding, only it was covered in a skin like material. The only hard surfaces were the view port in the door, the small panel beside it, a square panel above her head and the forward view port with it's two flip out joysticks. Above the front window was a large orange button.
"Tyr." she said looking out her still open door. The Nietzschean crouched and looked in. "These are slip pods, I think." She looked at the read out by the door, tapping it until the visual came up. The neighbouring ship was still clearly visible. She sat on the floor crossed-legged and flipped down the joysticks on either side of the front view port. She tapped the port with her knuckle and the Heads-up Display over-laid itself. She moved the sticks experimentally. "Whoever designed this thing should be lined up against a wall and shot."
She looked over her shoulder at Tyr. "You going too be able the fly this thing?"
"I will manage."
Yah right. This is stupid. It's liable to give me cramps he'll be lucky if he's able to keep the thing level. She nodded. There was no point in arguing with him, he was set and Tyr never budged. "Well let's hope this thing has a good autopilot. And one that is seeking nice human compatible planets." She locked the joysticks back up and keyed off the HUD to save power.
When she turned around to face him again the reality of the situation climbed back up her spine. The warm light made his skin glow, the shadows hugging the rounded curves of his face. She took a few seconds to memorize the beauty before brazenly hugging him once again to selfishly bathing in his aura and smell. She didn't indulge herself long. She pulled back to take his face in her hands and he closed his eyes as she kissed his brow. "Good luck. And if the Divine exists, may it shelter you."
He withdrew and whispered, "Good-bye."
She stared out into the dark and waited until she heard his pod door close and seal before she closed her own. Beka laid back hugging herself against the chill, her eyes never leaving the readout beside the door, and waited.
