Episode 20: Tokens of Liars

Before Derek reached his door, a loud crash accompanied by varied oaths greeted him, and when the door hissed open, his desk chair hurtled toward him. Derek dodged and nearly tumbled over a thick root adhered to the deck plate.

Bahn's planter overflowed with a jungle of vines, roots, and leaves. The formerly stoic plant was now tall enough to brush the ceiling and reach across the room twice over. He roared in a language so foreign Derek couldn't hope to reproduce a word of it.

Trapped near the closet was Deun. Bahn's vines tumbled over him in a waterfall of green, but Deun ripped through moments later with a curved knife. Green liquid covered his face and hands as he pulled free of the mass. He charged Bahn's planter as the Jeshurunian roared.

Derek got off one shot at Deun.

He missed.

"Eratite filth," Deun snarled. "Of course, you and this abomination are in league! I've already dispatched one of them." He evaded a root slithering for his throat and hacked it in two. "How many more do you have hidden on this ship? Wherever they are, I'll find them. You are hopelessly ill-equipped for this battle. As you've already proven."

Deun's face was so like Desslok's, but the air of desperation he radiated exuded imminent violence, while his brother's more resembled simmering bitterness and rage. Derek was fast wishing he faced Desslok.

Summoning more courage than he felt, Derek took aim at Deun again. "I am captain of this ship, and you've murdered one of my crew, not to mention the pilot you killed just before trying to destroy my ship and everyone on it. You won't be walking out of here uncuffed." This was the man he'd come to call his friend over the past weeks—the man he'd confided in, spent time with, trusted.

Deun laughed. "Such fire. I see why my brother hates you." He lunged at Bahn, grabbed the Jeshurunian's base, and yanked.

Bahn shrieked as Deun ripped him partway from the soil, tearing half his roots in two.

"You both are such fragile races." Deun's grip on Bahn tightened, and he held the Jeshurunian's remaining roots taut. "One well-placed hack to either of you. That's all it would take." His knife hovered near Bahn.

Derek adjusted aim to keep Deun's chest in his sights. "Isn't the same true of you?"

Deun didn't let go of Bahn or move to draw his EDF-issued side-arm. "You're a brazen one. But bravado won't save you." He raised his knife to deal Bahn's fatal slash.

Derek fired.

Deun's knife sailed under the bunk.

"Fool! You have no idea what this thing will become." Deun wadded Bahn's twisted stem in both fists. "I've met others of its kind—on your world. They are horrible creatures, seeking only their own survival."

"Another lie. There aren't any like him on Earth."

"Are you sure?" Deun's stony voice peeled away Derek's confidence, one layer at a time. "Didn't this one appear like any other native plant to you when first you met it? Didn't it? Until it spoke to you?"

Derek's gun hand didn't falter, but doubts clouded his concentration. Deun wasn't wrong. There was no way of knowing whether Earth harbored any Jeshurunians. But Bahn and Silesia had never harmed them, and Starsha had spoken well of them. This had to be a distraction. "Put him down." Derek gestured to the floor with his gun barrel.

Bahn groaned—a sound akin to an ancient oak swaying in rough winds—when Deun eased him to the deck. "Do… not… listen…" Bahn's voice was thin and raspy and broke after each word.

"I know," Derek said.

"Careful…" Bahn's voice bled from his broken body as his vines and roots withdrew, and green sap oozed from his wounds. Pieces of him littered Derek's quarters, just like Nova described the carnage left in her room.

"On the floor," Derek directed Deun. "Now."

"You expect me to lie on the deck like a commoner? I am a prince of the royal house of Gamilon. But you already know that." He cast a dagger-filled glance at Bahn's sagging form. "It and the other one told you everything. Cast me as the villain, I'm sure."

"Because that's what you are."

"Oh, really?" Deun rose and dared a step toward Derek. His height advantage never seemed so pronounced. "I'm the villain? The one who united my planet? Who sought unification between Gamilon and Iscandar after a long separation? Who filled the power vacuum after my father's untimely death? Who engineered a plan to save my world—which my brother executed so clumsily?"

The planet bombs hadn't been Desslok's idea?

No. This had to be another lie. Even if Desslok hadn't conceived that apocalypse, he'd carried it out. He'd had the power to stop it and chosen not to.

Arms down, palms open, Deun edged closer to Derek. "Go on. Shoot me. It's either that or shove me in that closet you call a brig. I've seen bigger sani-stations." One more step brought him within five feet of Derek.

"I said, get on the floor," Derek growled. He could use one or two of Knox's Marines right now.

Deun took stock of Derek, Bahn, the door.

"I will shoot you."

Deun grinned. "What's stopping you?"

Derek's finger tightened over the trigger, but the will to pull it wasn't there.

Deun closed the gap to four feet. "You won't shoot me because you don't know what to think. Your Erats is healed. My world is still dying of a terrible disease inflicted on it by accident thirteen years ago. Don't I deserve a chance to save it?"

"Not if it means killing my crew to do it."

"But isn't that what you did at Gehenna's Bridge?"

Records of that last battle with Desslok were classified. Only those who were there knew what happened. "How do you—"

"Don't… listen…" Bahn's fragile voice broke in. "Speaks… poison…"

"Well? Isn't it?" Deun hissed.

Guilt from that day and many others flooded over Derek. "That's not how it happened." His aim faltered.

Deun cut the distance between them again. Down to three feet. "I'm leaving this ship, and you can't stop me." He reached for Derek's gun.

In half an instant, Derek adjusted his aim and got off one shot, hitting Deun in the leg and sending him to the deck. "The only place you're going is the brig." He kept his weapon trained on Deun while he notified security.


Astro-automatic now holstered, Derek sat outside Deun's cell, knees up, fingers loosely tangled. Two doors away, traces of the Cometine pilot Mazer's murder still occupied the small interrogation room. Even wounded, it had taken Knox, Clemens, and Derek to wrestle Deun to the brig. Mazer hadn't had a prayer.

Dr. Sane had just left after treating Deun's leg.

The man inside this cell had deceived Derek, made him think he was a friend only to betray him, sabotage his ship, and try to kill his crew.

Clemens from security swapped watch with another crewman—a new recruit picked up on Luna II. The young man pretended to ignore Derek but kept sneaking wide-eyed glances at him. It happened sometimes—people staring. After the broadcasts celebrating Argo's homecoming, several people had stopped him, wanting to talk. The interruptions had always annoyed him. Now, they didn't seem so important.

The door to the brig hissed open, and Nova hurried in. Tear stains lined her cheeks, and dirt peppered her uniform from where she'd tried to help Silesia. Dried green sap shaded both hands and her uniform jacket. "Derek! Are you all right?" She knelt beside him on the cold deck.

"Yeah. He's not getting out until we make it back to Earth." Derek arched a thumb over his shoulder at the locked cell door. "I hope they lock him up to rot. He manipulated me into thinking he was my friend. Even when I had him at gunpoint back in my quarters, he was still trying to lie his way to freedom. If he hadn't pulled that stunt with the starflies, we'd never have known. He'd have picked us off one by one, and we never would have suspected. I trusted him to watch my back, Nova. And, instead, he shoved a knife in it." Each word tasted bitter, and new disgust rose for the man behind the locked door.

Nova folded limp hands. "I'm sorry, Derek…"

"He looks just like Desslok, but if we thought Desslok was dangerous, Deun is twice the threat."

"Has anyone else talked to him since you brought him down here?"

"No. And I don't think it's a good idea to let anyone in for a while."

Nova nodded. "Too many tempers on edge already."

"I'm sorry about Silesia. I know you valued her."

Nova's eyes glassed. "I'll miss her very much. How's Bahn?"

"Sandor's got two botany guys working on him. He's in rough shape, but Sandor's hopeful. They've got him in hydroponics."

"Want to go with me to see him?"

"Sure. I need to thank him for his help." And put distance between me and Deun before I shoot him again. "I'm sure the crew will be glad about the lockdown ending."

Nova dabbed her eyes dry. "Everyone's been so tense, stuck in their quarters all the time. Can't say I blame them. It's hard not spending time with anyone else."

As they left the brig, Derek matched stride with Nova. "You're shaking."

Nova slipped both hands into her jacket pockets. "Finding Silesia like that… I've seen less desiccated corpses. And she wasn't even human. I feel like I'm being silly." She swiped her eyes again.

"You're not silly at all. She was a friend, and losing her is well worth a few tears."


When they reached hydroponics, two science team members met them at the door.

"It's still a mess in here from the starflies, but we've got a lot of it cleaned up," said one of the young man. "Just don't touch any irrigation controls, or you might get drenched."

"We'll be careful," Derek said. "Where's Bahn?"

"The Iscandari plant?" said the second crewman.

"He's more than that, but, yes," said Derek.

"Sandor ordered us to give it a private space. It's walled off in the back of the bay. Looks like a hospital in there. Sandor's got us hooking up everything we can to save it."

"If it weren't for Bahn, there would still be a murderer loose. He deserves to be addressed by name." Though Derek suppressed most of the edge in his tone, the remaining sting barbed him, and he bit his tongue to keep from saying anything else.

"Yes, sir. Sorry, sir." The crewman seemed genuinely apologetic as he led them to Bahn's treatment area and returned to his post.

Outside Bahn's sanctuary, plants of differing maturity grew in kept rows. All had been helped along with growth accelerant to ensure the crew had enough food for their journey, no matter how long it took.

Behind the privacy screens, Bahn was hooked to water and various nutrient drips, and shaping rods curved to cushion and support his fragile stem so he wouldn't collapse under his own weight. Each ragged rip in his body picked at Derek. These wounds were serious, and Deun had inflicted them.

"Captain… Wildstar…" Bahn rasped. "Glad… here."

"And we're glad to hear your voice," Derek said. "How are you?"

"Could be… worse. Could be… better."

"I'm so sorry about Silesia," Derek said.

Bahn seemed to wilt a little. "Yes… She was… good friend. But…" He brightened. "Perhaps… not… gone."

"But I found her." Nova fought tears. "She—she's not coming back."

"Find… seeds."

"What seeds?" Derek said.

"Silesia… had… seeds… All… do…"

"We've got to get back to my quarters," said Nova.


Derek and Nova examined Silesia's remains as respectfully as possible, though some of her body was still strewn around the room.

"They're not here," Nova said, after sorting through the last few pieces of Silesia's broken stem. "Where else could they be?"

"Deun must've taken them."

"We've got to get them back."

Derek led the way to the brig, and the wide-eyed security officer let both of them into Deun's cell without a single question.

"If it isn't the little captain and his waif princess." Deun's hands and feet were loosely bound, allowing him freedom enough to eat, walk around, or take care of other personal needs without removing his restraints.

"We're here to collect something you have that doesn't belong to you." Nova held out an open palm.

"I'm afraid you're mistaken," said Deun. "Your guards took everything except the uniform."

"Pardon me if I don't believe you." Cracks formed in the wall holding back Derek's anger.

Deun's laugh filled the cell. "Well, I can't say I blame you. After all, I did get the better of you multiple times while aboard your ship without your knowledge until Starsha interfered. That woman has been nothing but trouble since I first saw her."

Nova crossed her arms tightly, as if to shield herself from Deun's ill-intent. "Silesia told me everything." Though her tone was controlled, she was shaking again, but subtly enough that Derek almost missed it. "She told me you tried to take Starsha as your queen, and when her and her family refused, you released a biological weapon on Iscandar."

"I did what I had to—to save my world."

"Well, you failed," Derek growled. "And then you ran and hid like a coward."

"Ah, there you would be wrong." Fire lit Deun's eyes. "I did not leave of my own volition. My own counselor betrayed me, said my brother was no threat. I trusted her, let down my guard for only a moment, and in that moment, he attacked, stole my throne, and exiled me forever from my homeworld on pain of death. So, do tell me how that was my choice."

"You murdered the entire Iscandari race because a woman snubbed you!"

"I protected my people from extinction," Deun roared back, taking deliberate strides toward Derek. "I saved them from divisive politics—from Iscandar's religious intolerance. I kept them from civil war!"

"No." Derek stalked to meet Deun, matching the man step for step until barely two feet separated them. "You threw them into it."

"You weren't there, Eratite. You've only heard the second-hand ramblings of a sentient bush. Who are you to judge?" Deun's fierce words crashed against Derek's rage.

Deun threw the first punch and nailed Derek in the stomach.

Derek swung for Deun's face, but the Gamilon got his hands up in time.

"Derek, stop it!" Nova hovered at the edge of the cell.

He was so focused on Deun he barely heard her. This man had wronged him—wronged them all. "You aren't worth the air you breathe!"

He struck again, but Deun blocked with calculated ease.

"Stop!" Nova shouted this time and darted in to throw a strike of her own at both men, barely missing Derek, and whooshing at least a foot away from Deun.

Security wouldn't hear them in here, not with the walls soundproofed.

"Get back, Nova," Derek said between swings. "This is between me and him."

"No, it's not." Nova dove in again, but the move was ill-timed, and Derek's fist collided with the side of her head.

She dropped, out.

"Nova? Nova!" Horror drowned his anger, and flashes of that horrible moment from the return voyage from Iscandar flooded in unbidden. This was exactly what he'd feared—her getting hurt. But this time, it was his fault.

A bruise already purpled Nova's face.

Snarling a curse and Starsha's name, Deun reared back as far as his bonds allowed and aimed a kick at Nova's exposed face.

Derek flung himself between Nova and the blow.

Deun's boot knocked the wind out of Derek, and though he felt like he might suffocate, he grabbed Deun's leg and yanked.

Deun hit the deck with a dull thud as Derek's burning lungs strained to recover.

Even when the Gamilon tried to plant his free foot in Derek's face, Derek hung on. He wrestled Deun's feet under one arm, careful to keep pressure on Deun's wounded leg.

Deun batted at Derek with intertwined fists, striking a hard blow to Derek's exposed back.

Sweat-drenched hair slipped into Derek's eyes, but he didn't need to see to predict Deun's next strike. When the Gamilon rallied to take another swing, Derek shoved him away from Nova—who was still unconscious. Able to breathe again, he leapt at Deun, grabbed both bound hands and forced them to the deck so the length connecting Deun's hands ran in a tight line across his torso.

Deun knocked Derek's bruised back with both knees, sending him over Deun's head and into the cell wall.
The Gamilon lunged for Nova just as she roused.

"Stay away from her!" Derek dove after Deun, catching him around the legs so he crashed to the deck inches from Nova.

Though momentarily dazed, Nova didn't scramble away. She locked eyes with Deun and said in a tone that could have brought down an elephant, "Stop." One hand cradled her swollen cheek and eye.

Deun stilled as Derek secured his hands behind his back. "You look like her, you know." Poison filled his eyes, but there was also a flicker of something other than hatred.

"So I've been told." Nova eased to her feet. "Where are the seeds?"

Deun spit on Nova's boots.

Laying in the small pool of saliva were three black seeds, each no bigger than a fingertip.

Nova took out her comm. "Security, please come to brig cell three."

Within ten seconds the guard on duty barreled in, saw Derek, Nova, and Deun and blanched. "I'm sorry, Captain, Officer Forrester, I didn't realize—"

"It's all right. It was… my fault." Derek didn't look at Nova as the security guard took Deun and secured his leg bonds to the wall, limiting his reach to two thirds of the cell.

Guilt hit Derek as he and Nova left Deun's cell, the seeds dried and wrapped in a handkerchief inside Nova's jacket pocket.

"Are you okay?" Nova said quietly as they left the brig.

"I should never have gone in there without security."

Nova nodded. Winced. "True."

"And I hurt you. I'm so sorry." He couldn't look at her bruised face. "But that's not even all of it. When I went after that Gamilon pilot two years ago, I never once felt this way—never thought twice about losing my temper. Why does it feel like someone just stuck a knife through my heart?"

"Because Derek, I'm not the one you most need to apologize to."

"These past two days I've been so angry—with Deun, with Desslok, those Gatlanteans, even with Mark for not telling me about his investigating Deun before we found out who he was. I hated them, Nova—really hated them, and just now it's like I stepped back and saw a piece of what I really am… and it scares me."

Nova's light touch on his arm fed him enough courage to look at her. To his surprise, her eyes held only kindness. "You're not alone anymore. There's Someone who can take away that hate, and He's already giving you a little perspective on how your anger looks and feels to Him."

He gingerly touched her swollen face.

"Ow." She flinched.

"Sorry." He pulled his hand away.

"You already apologized." She gave him a weak smile. "Remind me to pick you for my team next time."

Derek nodded, but he couldn't bring himself to smile. "Let's get you to Dr. Sane. Make sure you don't have a concussion."

"But what about—"

"We'll get the seeds to Bahn soon enough. Right now, I'm walking you to the med bay."

"You sure can show a girl a good time." The spark crept back into Nova's smile before she turned serious again. "Just don't forget what I said. About perspective."

Derek nodded. "I won't forget."


Starsha shouldered another load of old vegetation and hauled it to an organics recycler.

All the plant life the refugees were removing from abandoned buildings would be sorted by the machine and reused, as fertilizer, food, or raw materials for other organic products.

Starsha couldn't remember the last time the recyclers had so much work ahead of them. Clearing debris and undergrowth wasn't riveting, but at least it kept her mind off her severed link with the Eratites. She hadn't heard anything from Silesia and Bahn since she'd asked them to tell Argo's crew about Deun.

A prayer for her friends' safety accompanied every step.

She loaded the intake chute and went back for another round. Though the work was hot and long, it felt good to wear work clothes again. To tackle something this monumental was refreshing. Even when Adam and Alex lived on Iscandar with her, the three of them could never have accomplished something on this scale. Already they'd cleared twenty houses and a communal space. Several families had properly moved in, and a half dozen more would be settled by week's end.

Mothertown was looking habitable again, and with every house they cleared, it seemed some of Iscandar's past tragedy drained away.

"Queen Starsha?" A little Gamilon girl, only six or seven, approached. "Would you like some water?"

"Yes. Thank you." She took the thick crystal cup from the girl. "It's very nice of you to help. What's your name?"

"Irii." The girl blushed and tucked long, gray-green hair behind one ear. "My mamma used to say she wanted to meet you someday." She twisted her waist-length hair into a nervous roll and fiddled with it, an embarrassed smile on her lips.

Starsha sat on her knees. "You're very sweet, Irii. Would you like me to put your hair up for you? So it doesn't get tangled?"

"Can you braid it like yours?" Irii brightened.

"I'll do it even better than mine."

Irii turned her back to Starsha and let her twisted hair escape down her back.

"Does your mother braid your hair for you sometimes?"

Irii sagged. "She used to, before she died."

Starsha's hands froze inches from Irii's hair. "I'm sorry."

"Your mamma died too, didn't she?"

"Yes." Starsha finger-combed the girl's straight hair into five sections. "She died before I turned fifteen. So did my father."

"Are you sad?"

"I'm sad I can't talk with them for now, but I'm glad they're with Yahweh, away from sickness and death, and one day, I'll be with them again."

"That's a really nice thing to think about." Before Starsha finished braiding, Irii turned and threw her little arms around Starsha's neck. "I'm gonna think about that for always now."

A long moment passed before Starsha returned the girl's embrace, but when she did, a distant longing ignited in her—to hear her older sister's scolding, her younger sister's jokes, her mother's instruction, her father's encouragement—to be part of a family again.

But that family would have to be a new one. She would always remember her sisters, parents, friends, teachers, and she looked forward to being with them again. But it was time to stop dwelling on their absence and see the people right in front of her.


Episode 20 Notes:

Editing pass, 8/25/2022

To read about the incident at Gehenna's Bridge, head over to "Cure Seekers", Episode 100: One Man's War.

To read about Deun's dethroning, check out "The Right of Kings," Chapter 40: The Outcast.
The title for this episode was taken from Isaiah 44:24-28

"Thus saith the Lord, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the Lord that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;

That frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish;

That confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers; that saith to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited; and to the cities of Judah, Ye shall be built, and I will raise up the decayed places thereof:

That saith to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers:

That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid."