Disclaimer: There's a poem by William Blake called The Tiger that I quote bits of.
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Breathe
The evening wasn't as long and tedious as Zemma feared it would be. She scrubbed the Lady and hauled her out of the tub, poured liquor over her sores, and was dried before Lord Vaako returned. She might not have needed to use the liquor if the nanos worked. But best to be safe.
Right.
Lord Vaako seemed more alert when he returned. He even remembered her name, and thanked her stiffly after they had changed the bed and laid his wife in it.
"Don't let her stay in one position for so long."
"Do you think the nanos will help her?"
"I don't know, Commander." Zemma was ready to get the hell out of there, but there was one more thing. "Do you have the ring?"
Lord Vaako looked sharply at her.
"Commander," Zemma stopped and changed her tone. "Trygg. If I can find out who made the poison we might also find an antidote."
And maybe evacuate the air from the cabin of her chemist.
Maybe.
"I got rid of it. And all the rest of them I could find." His face showed some anger. She hoped it meant he wouldn't let her get back into her old habits. If she woke up.
At least I still have mine.
"Good enough," she nodded encouragingly at him. "Will you," she didn't want to insult this man but she needed some idea. "Will you be all right now?"
He glared at her. But his face softened a bit and he scrubbed at his eyes with one hand. "Yes. I don't know what came over me."
Grief. Guilt. The fog of madness. I think it's this ship.
"Why did you do this, Mi…Zemma?"
Good question. Thought of a reasonable answer yet?
"You're a good commander, Lord Vaako. Don't forget that. The Marshal hasn't." It sounded trite in her ears but hopefully it was exactly what he needed to hear.
Zemma turned to leave.
"You were always like this? You were never…"
"I was always just pretending to be an idiot, Trygg. And you were always kind to me." Zemma was heading to the door. The crisis was over and she wanted to go.
"How did you know that was my name?"
Damn. She was almost out. Well, one more for the myth?
Why not.
"The Lord Marshal knows everything, Commander."
Zemma felt pretty good now that she was out of there. Not for what she had done for Dame Vaako, but the Commander.
What, he gets treated special because he's Furian?
Yup.
You're a softy.
Probably.
Despite the amusing diatribe in her head she knew that an insane Commander would have been very dangerous for them all. Hopefully he was out of the fog.
But I'll still keep an eye on him.
If the Lady recovers you've simply re-created an old problem.
That's not Now.
Any other enemies you'd like to save just to avoid thinking about him?
W'Rdah?
Well, he's no friend. But you think he's an enemy?
Maybe.
Better make sure.
I'll talk to Jaron tomorrow.
Zemma found herself near the Lord Marshal's corridor.
Just found yourself…
Shush, listen!
Zemma heard a woman's voice and faded back into the darkest shadows of the nighttime concourse. It was coming from the Marshal's hallway.
"Will you give me the blue eyes, Lord Marshal?"
What the hell?
Zemma crept closer and angled her head around a statue while twitching up her lenses. A woman in one of the cloaks was standing at Riddick's closed door between the two guards. Zemma froze when the door opened.
"Will you give me the blue eyes, Lord Marshal?"
Riddick!
So they thought blue lenses was a sexually transmitted disease, huh?
The dirtier the better.
"No." Riddick's low rumbling voice sounded as amused as Zemma was right now. "But I'll give you something else." He seemed to be looking over the woman's head, down the hall.
He saw me!?
Zemma popped back behind the statuary, her heart pounding loudly in her ears.
He saw me.
'But I'll give you something else.'
Oh, fuck.
Probably.
No! Oh, no, no.
Zemma poked her head out again. The woman was gone. The door was closed. The long hall was empty except for the two ever-present guards.
Zemma leaned back against the wall, out of view of the hall and tried to control her breathing.
Nature of the beast, sweetheart.
Breathe.
Nature of the krugeri.
"Just breathe."
Nor would understand.
"Just breathe and walk home."
She told you to accept the beast for what he is.
"Just walk away."
Breathe.