"Jagger, he's not going to eat all that," Juliet said, and watched as her friend brought an overflowing plate of fruits, vegetables, cheese, and bread over to Elnor, and placed it on the table in front of him.
"Sure he will," Jagger told her confidently, and the young Romulan knew he was right. He was starving. His new friend sat down across the table from him with his own plate, and then Simon plunked down next to him, eyes still glued to his padd.
"This is bad," he muttered.
"What's bad?" Juliet asked.
"Javier took the humans out to the crashed Borg cube before he brought them back here, it's the Artifact by the way," he replied and glanced over the top of his screen. "There were a bunch of ex-borg survivors there with some Fenris Ranger, Sassy or Sally or something, anyway-"
"Seven!" Elnor piped up.
"Yeah, that's it," Simon said. "Do you know her?"
"I know who she is," Jagger interjected. "Our paths have crossed before." He arched an eyebrow and added, "She's smokin' hot."
"Ha!" Simon laughed. "Javier said the same thing."
"What does that mean, smokin' hot?" Elnor asked, and looked around the table for an answer.
"It means they think she's attractive," Juliet told him with a knowing smile.
"Oh, like tall drink of water," Elnor said.
"Yes," Juliet replied. "That's certainly, how Salome meant it." The young monk's face flushed at the mention of Salome, and he quickly returned his attention to his plate.
"Anyway," Simon continued as he raised his voice. "Hot Borg ladies aside, they managed to get some of the cube's systems back up and running, and the long-range scans indicated there are two hundred and eighteen warbirds on their way. My information confirmed it."
Jagger's eyes opened wide. "Fuck me," he said. "That is bad. Do we even have close to the defences to take on that many?"
"No, we do not," Simon replied. "By my estimates, the orchids will only slow them down, and there is no way we can destroy a fleet that size without sacrificing someone, and also destroying the planet in the process. Then he paused briefly and took a quick breath. "Which is why I already sent Esmeralda, and Luka to Deep Space Twelve to beg for Federation help."
"You did what?" Jagger asked and stared at Simon in disbelief. "Those kinds of decisions aren't supposed to be made without consulting the rest of us."
"I told him he should do it," Juliet said.
"Oh, well, that's just super," Jagger retorted. "Now, we're down two fighters. I'm so glad the pair of you know what's best for everyone."
"Jagger," Simon said patiently, "Esmeralda, and Luka are not fighters, neither am I, neither is Aronnox, and neither is Juliet. We're scientists. The others have no experience with anything even close to this magnitude, and what's Salome going to do, seduce the entire Romulan fleet? You and Naseema are the only ones who've handled anything like this before, and she's so fucking distracted she's practically useless. We need backup, and the Feds are the only ones with the resources to give it. We need them."
"I know," Jagger sighed. "I just wish-"
"I can fight," Elnor chimed in. He was trying to be helpful, but all he managed to do was flip Simon's switch.
"No offence, kid, but your cute, little sword is going to be pretty fucking useless against an entire fleet of warbirds, and frankly, you're the reason Naseema can't pull it together, so I think you've done enough already," he said, with more anger and derision than necessary.
"Simon," Juliet said. "It isn't his fault. Naseema's doing this to herself."
"I didn't ask her to bond herself to me," Elnor said, with a hurt look on his face.
Juliet's eyes grew wide, Jagger choked on his food, and Simon stared at him with an appalled expression.
"What did you just say?" he asked, as the muscles in his face hardened. Elnor realized he shouldn't have said anything and closed his mouth tightly, but it was too late. Simon turned to Jagger. "Did you know about this?"
Jagger forced his mouthful down and took a drink. "What do you want me to do about it?" he finally asked. Simon shoved his chair back and stalked over to the coffee machine. He slammed his padd down and leaned against the counter with his back to them.
Juliet looked at Elnor. "It's not your fault," she said. "We're just a bit surprised."
"Juliet, stop coddling him," Simon told her over his shoulder. "Naseema violated the code, again, and trying to paint sunshine and rainbows over it is not going to make it any less of a disaster. He's in this as deep as we are now, and at the end of the day, he'll be just as dead as the rest of us. Honestly, what the fuck is wrong with her?!"
"Oh, just simmer it down over there," Jagger snapped. "Where has honouring the old ways ever gotten us? Look where we are, Simon. What the hell does it matter now?"
"Jagger, Data was one thing, but he's-he's a Romulan, this is a big-" Simon tried to argue, but Jagger kept going.
"No, it isn't a big deal, she's been grieving for twenty years, Simon. She needs to move on, and if Elnor can help her do that, then I don't see the big problem, even if he does have pointy ears." Simon spun around to face Jagger. He stared at him silently for a few seconds and then turned his eyes to Juliet.
"I'm sorry," she said. "I have to agree with Jagger on this. He knows her better than any of us, and he's right, she needs to move on. We all need her to move on."
"Thank you," Jagger said to her, then he leaned across the table and squished Elnor's cheeks together with one hand. "Come on, how can you resist this face. Just look at how cute he is."
"I hate you," Simon said, and grabbing his padd from the counter, he walked out of the cantina.
Jagger settled back into his chair and looked at Elnor with an exhausted expression. "Welcome to the family," he said, sardonically, but then softened his face and tone before adding, "Don't worry about him, he'll get over it."
"Nobody blames you, honey," Juliet added. "The timing's just not great."
"I shouldn't have said anything," Elnor said as he looked at the two Feeonix with regret.
"If I had a nickel for every time I said something I shouldn't have, I'd be living on my own private island full of naked women," Jagger replied. "It was bound to get out sometime. I don't think when matters."
"What's bound to get out sometime?" Salome asked as she slunk in the rear door. She took Simon's empty seat and rested her elbow on the table to prop her head up with her hand. "Hi there, baby boy," she said to Elnor with a vixenish smirk. "You look tense, anything I can do to help you relax?"
"No, thank you, I'm fine," he replied and eyed her nervously.
Still smiling, she placed her free hand on his leg. "Are you sure?" she purred as she crept up his thigh towards his groin. With an alarmed look on his face, he slapped his hand down on hers to stop her from groping him, and Jagger realized something was happening under the table.
"Give it a rest, Salome," he told her. "And put both your hands up here where I can see them."
"Fine," she replied, rolling her eyes. She pulled her hand from Elnor's leg, and thumped it on the table but continued to stare at him. He let out a low sigh of relief and inched his chair a little further away from her. At that moment, Naseema, and another Feeonix came into the cantina. The stranger spotted Elnor, and with a pleasantly surprised expression, approached him. He wiped his hand on his trousers and held it out. Elnor looked at his hand, and then up at his face, unsure of what he was supposed to do.
"Shake his hand," Salome told him, and he turned his eyes to her, still confused. Arronox reached down, and took Elnor's hand in his, giving it a hearty shake.
"There you go," he said with a smile. "Name's Aronnox. You must be Elnor, a pleasure to meet you."
"Pleasure to meet you too," Elnor replied and returned Aronnox's smile.
Salome looked at Naseema. "Oh my god, he's such a helpless little hayseed. Please, let me play with him," she said silently, and Naseema shot her a disapproving look.
"He is not a toy, and he is far from helpless," she replied. "He could take both your hands and your head off with that sword before you even had the chance to blink."
"That sounds like a challenge," Salome said, and arched an eyebrow. Naseema shook her head and rolled her eyes as she folded her arms across her chest.
Still holding Elnor's hand, Aronnox suddenly looked intrigued. He tightened his grip slightly and studied the young Romulan's eyes briefly before he turned to Naseema.
"You've bonded to him," he said to her and released Elnor's hand. "Interesting."
"Aronnox!" Naseema said sharply and glanced at the rest of the group to gauge their reactions.
"Yeah, you were outed about ten minutes ago," Jagger told her.
Naseema looked at him with hurt and disappointment. "Why did you-" she started to ask, but Jagger jumped in to defend himself.
"It wasn't me," he said, and then motioned towards Elnor with his eyes.
"I'm sorry," Elnor apologized. "I didn't mean to."
Naseema softened her expression. "It is alright, Elnor," she said. "You did not know it was a secret."
"Wait," Salome cut in. "What does that mean, she's bonded to him?"
"It means he's bought and paid for, so hands off the merchandise," Jagger told her, and she sneered at him in response.
"I don't think that's quite how it works," Aronnox said with a chuckle. "But, I guess it's not that surprising, considering your history, Naseema."
"It was not intentional," she sighed.
"Huh, very interesting," Aronnox mused and looked Elnor up and down. "I suppose there's nothing to be done about it now."
"Where is Simon?" Naseema asked.
"Sulking in his office," Jagger replied.
"I take it he knows as well?"
"Yes, indeedy," Jagger confirmed.
"Wonderful. Well, I do not think I care to fight with him about it now," she said.
"Give him a chance to cool off, I'm sure he'll be fine," Jagger advised. "You know how he gets."
Naseema made a displeased face but nodded. Then she turned her attention to Elnor. "I hope everybody is being nice to you," she said.
"Yes," he brightly replied.
"The nicest," Salome added with a smirk. Elnor glanced at her with a look in his eyes that contradicted her statement.
"I can see you still have not refastened your hair," Naseema observed, ignoring Salome's attempt to be provocative. "There appears to be leaves, and seed pods in it. I can help you with it if you like?"
"Yes, please!" Elnor said, eager to get away from Salome. He popped the last piece of bread in his mouth, got up, and dumped his plate in the reprocessor before heading down the hallway with Naseema. She took him to her room, and he looked around the small space as she fetched a hairbrush from the bathroom. There was a large bed in the middle of the room. The mattress made of the same fuzzy, green material as the one in the room he showered in. A long bookcase served as the headboard. She had a small table and chairs near the bed and a large, comfier looking chair on the opposite side. There was a stone fireplace against the wall that faced the bathroom with a tiny replicator next to it. Other than a couple of lamps, and a dresser, there were no other furnishings in the room. A few intricate tapestries decorated the walls, but otherwise, there wasn't much to look at. It was certainly more sparse than the re-creation of Picard's La Barre study on La Sirena. He lifted his scabbard off, placed it on the bed, and when she emerged from the bathroom, she led him to a small, sheltered outdoor area off the bedroom. It was almost completely hidden from view, enclosed by thick, lush vegetation, and there was a soft mat on the ground, a couple of stools, and a small bubbling fountain.
"Wow," he said, as he looked around the outdoor space. Naseema smiled and motioned for him to sit on one of the stools. He did, and then standing behind him, she gathered all his hair behind his shoulders, and gently cleaned the leaves, and burrs out.
"Do you usually manage all your hair by yourself?" she asked.
"Yes, but if it's really a mess, one of the sisters will help me. It can be hard to get at the back sometimes," he replied and tried to keep his head still.
"I can imagine it is," she said. "It looks like you take good care of it. It is very soft."
"Thank you," he replied. "Zani always loved my hair, and she encouraged me to take care of it."
"Zani is wise. There is nothing quite as lovely as beautiful hair."
"I think your hair is beautiful," he told her.
"Thank you, Elnor," she laughed. "I am afraid I gave up on my hair around the sixteenth century. It is rather unruly, and I simply cannot be bothered to do anything with it."
"Maybe it just hasn't found the right pair of hands to tame it," he suggested, and she laughed again.
"Perhaps." Once she finished cleaning the evidence of his walk with Jagger out, she delicately ran her fingers through it. She started at his hairline, went all the way around his head to the nape of his neck, and let her nails drag against his scalp. It was a pleasant sensation, and he let out a relaxed sigh along with a shiver as she reached the back of his neck. She divided it into two sections and began brushing each of them out for him, making sure not to be rough or tug at the few snags.
He was used to being self-sufficient, and could certainly handle brushing his own hair, but nobody had paid attention to him like this for a long time, and he was enjoying it. Plus, the effect her energy field had on him was extremely pleasant, and he was enjoying that too.
"How did Aronnox know about your bonding to me?" he finally asked.
"Because he is very nearly a hundred thousand years old," Naseema replied. "He is far more sensitive to everyone's energy than the rest of us, and he could feel me when he touched you."
"That's amazing," Elnor said. "Can all of you do that?"
"No, we are all too young," she told him. "The next oldest of us is Javier, and he is only nine thousand."
"Only nine thousand?" he asked, aporetically.
"Age is factored differently when you live as long as we do," she explained. "To you, I seem ancient, but to the other Feeonix, I am not considered to be much older than you."
"How old are the others?"
"Well, Simon is next down the line. He is around five thousand, and Juliet is a similar age," she told him. "Jagger is a few centuries older than I, and everyone else is younger. They are really only children still, and Salome is the baby. She is not even a hundred years old yet, which probably explains why she behaves like a belligerent toddler."
"Salome scares me," Elnor quietly admitted.
"I do not believe she will do anything to hurt you. She's never met anyone like you before, and she finds you fascinating. If her behaviour upsets you, try not to be alone with her. She will lose interest soon enough," Naseema assured him as she finished brushing out his hair. She separated the top section with her fingers and pulled it back over the top of his head before using the brush to smooth it out. Then she twisted it into a small bun letting the loose end fall down his back.
"Do you have your ribbon?" she inquired, and he reached into his pocket for it, handing it to her over his shoulder.
"Naseema," he asked as she fastened the ribbon around the base of the bun. "Are you ashamed to be bonded to me?"
"No!" she replied, surprised. "Why would you think that?" She finished tying up his hair and came around to face him.
"You said it was a secret," he said with a wounded look in his eyes.
"I only meant that I did not intend for everyone to find out right now," she replied. "We have enough to worry about without the added complication of my own personal...issues. It is not as if I intended to keep it a secret forever."
"Jagger told me you weren't supposed to do it with people who aren't Feeonix," he said. "Did I get you in trouble?"
"No, I mean yes, what Jagger told you is correct, but no, you did not get me into trouble," she told him. "I did that all by myself."
"Is something bad going to happen to you?" he asked.
"I do not believe so. There is nobody left to punish me," she assured him. "A few of the others may be angry at first, but they will get over it."
"Are you sorry you did it?"
"I am sorry that my action has complicated your life," she said. "You did not deserve that."
"I'm not sorry," he said and looked at her decidedly. "I believe it happened for a reason."
"So, you are no longer angry with me?" she asked.
He shook his head. "I was confused and unhappy at first, but now I feel good about it. It makes me feel...wanted."
"Of course you are wanted," she said, surprised. "I know we have not known each other very long but-" She was interrupted by Manny knocking on the window. She waved him outside.
"I'm sorry to intrude, but it's important," he said, giving an acknowledging nod to Elnor as he spoke.
"It is alright, Manny," she replied. "What is the problem?"
"That Romulan we captured has escaped," he told her. "He murdered Saga and took off into the desert.
Naseema's face turned to stone. "Where is Juliet?"
"She's already gone down there with Aronnox," Manny said. "Shit's hitting the fan, and everyone is freaking out."
"Go tell Simon he must jam all planetary communications. If the prisoner has an ally here, we do not want them coordinating with each other. Simon and Javier know what to do at Control. Then, tell Jagger he must get down to the Station, and secure it. Nobody comes in or goes out. Go with him. Try to keep everyone calm. I will track the fugitive." Manny nodded even though he seemed scared and unsure, and retreated inside.
"I'm going with you," Elnor said with deadly seriousness in his eyes. Naseema looked at him with hesitation at first but ultimately nodded. They made their way to the small weapons locker where she armed herself and then headed away from Coppelius Control into the scrublands towards the downed La Sirena. They moved quickly to make up for their quarry's head start and hiked to higher ground for a better vantage point. It wasn't long before Elnor caught something moving in the distance. He crouched down and made his way to the edge of a small ridge. Naseema shadowed him, and as they stayed hidden behind a pile of rocks, he pointed at what he spotted.
"There," he said. "Do you see him?"
Naseema followed his finger and nodded. "I see him. He's headed for La Sirena. We should hurry, Raffi, and Mr. Rios are already there, and I doubt they are expecting him."
They stayed low and concealed, picked up their pace, and followed the Romulan spy to Rios' ship, but lost sight of him as they made a roundabout approach to avoid being seen. The sun was low in the sky as Elnor led them up to the ship, and found a way inside. They crept through the cargo hold, and Elnor moved like a ghost as he followed the sound of voices until they found Rios, and Raffi in the meeting room with Narek, the Romulan spy. Distracted by their discussion, they were oblivious to the arrival of the Qowat Milat, and the Feeonix. The pair slipped into the room and surrounded Narek on each side of the table. Elnor drew his tan qalanq, and pointed it at him, less than an inch from his throat.
"Feldor stam torret," Choose to live, Elnor demanded in his native tongue, his normally soft voice was hard with determination, and his eyes burning with anger. Narek leapt out of his chair and backed towards the wall with his hands up as Naseema came around the far side of the table, behind Raffi, with her weapon pointed at his head. The two humans were already on their feet, hands also raised.
"I do, I very much choose to live," Narek told Elnor.
"Hold up, kid," Rios broke in. "We disarmed him, searched him. We may very well have a common enemy coming for us. You're gonna want to hear what he came here to say."
Naseema kept her weapon firmly trained on her target and looked over at Elnor. "It is your call," she said. The young monk paused for a minute as his sword steadily waited for instruction.
"Please," Raffi said to him. "Just hear him out, and then, if you still want to kill him, we won't stop you." Both humans and the Romulan spy raised their eyebrows expectantly at Elnor, and after a few seconds of consideration, he lowered his weapon, and sheathed it, but still eyed his fellow countryman with anger and suspicion.
"The sun's going down," Rios observed. "And I don't want anybody skulking around my ship in the dark. Let's move outside, and I'll build a fire."
"That sounds like an excellent plan," Raffi agreed, and looking around at everybody, she added, "I'll go first."
Naseema holstered her sidearm as Raffi led the way out, and glared at Narek. "One false move and I will turn you into a torch," she warned. He stared back at her, almost daring her to keep her word as Elnor shoved him out of the room.
"I've seen her do it," the young monk added. "It won't be pleasant...or quick."
Once they were outside the ship, it became apparent that Elnor was much more adept at building a fire than Rios, and after the La Sirena captain fetched him some dry wood, he had a steady blaze going. Naseema sat near Narek to keep an eye on him, and when he was satisfied that the campfire would continue to burn without his attention, Elnor sat next to her.
Shooting daggers at the Tal Shiar operative with his eyes, he said, "I still don't understand why we're trusting him. His sister murdered Hugh."
"Good thing she didn't come along then," Narek shot back.
"I don't like you," Elnor retorted.
"No?" Narek replied. He matched his counterpart's antagonism and waved his finger condescendingly. "How do you feel about Ganmadan? Because if we waste any more time fighting each other, we will all die, and then whether or not you like me will matter even less."
"Whoa, hold on," Raffi interjected with an uneasy chuckle and held her hands out in a peacemaking gesture. "What is Ganmadan? What is the story?"
"It's just that," Elnor said as he became increasingly riled by Narek's obvious contempt for him. "A story."
"A story of the end," Narek corrected.
"Of?" Raffi pressed.
"Everything," Narek said decidedly.
"Like Ragnarok or Judgment Day," Rios added. "An ancient myth."
"Some say it dates back from long before our ancestors first arrived on Vulcan," Narek explained, and turned his attention to Rios. "The story of Ganmadan begins with two sisters. Twin khalagu."
"Demons," Elnor elaborated.
"Twin demons," Narek said. "Who come at the end of time to open the way, and unleash the ch'khalagu."
"Very bad demons," Elnor added, still chafed but willing to allow Narek to tell the story.
"One sister is called Seb Natan, the Foreteller," Narek continued, quickly gaining the attention of both the Feeonix and the two humans. "She plays a drum made from the skin of children. She strikes it with a chain of skulls, so hard, and so long that her heart bursts from the effort." Raffi leaned in with interest and took a long drag from her snake leaf pipe as Narek went on. "The other sister is called Seb-"
"Seb Cheneb?" Raffi interrupted. "Yeah, see we-we know about her." Narek acknowledged her with his eyes but went on.
"So you know that she carries a horn from a great pale hell beast called Ganmadan," he asked rhetorically, as his condescending tone returned. "You know when she blows a blast on the horn, it will unleash all the ch'khalagu who have been waiting since the beginning of time. You know the sky will crack, and through the crack in the sky, the ch'khalagu will come ravening. You know about the Thousand Days of Pain. You know the streets will be slick with entrails of half-devoured corpses. You know the worlds will burn, and the ch'khalagu will feast, and nurse their brats on blood, and pick their teeth with bones." He dramatically mimed his final words to illustrate his point.
"No, we did not know any of that," Rios replied, a little horrified by Narek's commitment to details.
"But, I mean, do you really-you really believe this is a-a prophecy?" Raffi asked, uncertain if Narek was actually insane or just a good storyteller.
"No," he replied and stared into the fire. "I believe it's history." Raffi sat back and looked at him with a mix of disbelief and concern as he finished speaking. "And the fascinating thing about history is, it always repeats itself."
"Huh," Raffi said as she glanced at Rios, who met her eyes with a skeptical twitch of his eyebrow. Naseema had reached her limit with Narek's dramatic recounting of the end of the world.
"Fucking spare me," she said and stared Narek down as her companions all turned their heads towards her, shocked by the viciousness in her tone. "Do you think that is original? Every culture, from every world, since the beginning of the universe has a variation on the end of days, and just as you are doing now, those stories have been used to justify unspeakable atrocities against those who are feared, not because they are demons, or witches, or heretics, but because they are different." She stood up and continued tearing into Narek as her voice grew dark, and enraged. "How dare you presume to tell me about history repeating itself. The only repetition I see here is a blind dedication to the persecution of those who have done nothing to deserve it. Ganmadan is no more real than any other irrational dogmatism."
Narek met her with steely eyes. "Temper, temper," he replied. "And you wonder why nobody threw themselves on their sword for your kind when you were all, annihilated. You're an abomination just like the synthetics." That pushed her over the edge. She lunged at him, but Elnor grabbed her, and as he struggled to hold her back, the others saw the orange rings in her eyes flash.
"Fuck you, and fuck your admonition!" she snarled, and then she turned to the two humans. "If you help him, you will be conspirators to genocide," she told them as she jerked herself free of Elnor's grasp and stormed off into the shadows.
The young monk chased after her, caught her arm, and spun her around. "I don't like him either, but what was that?" he asked, wide-eyed and surprised at how quickly her temper got the better of her.
"When you have lived as long as I have, it becomes easier to recognize patterns of behaviour, and where those patterns lead," she replied angrily. "You asked me how someone ends up being burned at-the-stake, well the answer is sitting right over there, sweetheart. People like him and his paranoid nonsense are exactly how people like me end up on the bonfire, and how innocents end up in a mass grave. The faces and the tactics may change, but the motives and the result are always the same."
"Rios and Raffi haven't done anything, why are you so angry at them?"
She stared at him for a second, the rage in her eyes growing strong. "Have they not? They may not fear Ganmadan, but they are afraid, and if they allow their fear to convince them to help him, then they are no better than he is. I have seen that many times before too, and I will not be a party to either inaction or collusion out of fear."
"Of course you're not afraid, you're not organic," he insisted and met her furious glare head-on. "What if he's right, and the androids are going to destroy the rest of us?"
"If that is what you believe, then perhaps you should return to your friends," she spat.
"I didn't say that I believed him, I only ask-"
"This is not the time for sitting on the fence, Elnor," she roughly cut in. "You need to choose a side."
"I'm on your side," he said and watched with growing concern as she pulled her disruptor out, taking the safety off before re-holstering it. "What are you going to do?"
"He did not have those grenades when he escaped, and he did not have time to retrieve them from the wreckage of his ship before we caught up with him," she said. "Somebody gave them to him, and I am going to find his accomplice."
"And then what?"
"And then I will unleash a thousand years worth of rage upon them."
"Do you realize that you sound as crazy as he does?" he asked as his voice hardened to match hers.
She glowered at him for an instant before she turned around and walked away. "Goodbye, Elnor, take care of yourself."
"Wait," he said. "I'll come with you."
"No."
"Why not?"
She stopped moving and looked over her shoulder at him. "You do not want to see what I am truly capable of, believe me, go back to your friends, Qowat Milat. I neither require nor want your help. I am beyond that now." Then she continued into the dark.
"Naseema!" he called after her, but she ignored him, and disappeared into the blackness.
"Is she coming back?" Raffi asked when Elnor returned to the campfire.
"No."
"Well, that's a real shame," Narek said, his tone loaded with sarcasm.
"I should have let her kill you," Elnor said and thumped back down in the dirt. "I still don't like you," he added bitterly, and Narek sneered at him.
"Look," Rios broke in. "We all need to set aside our deep loathing for each other for a few hours and get some sleep. I, for one, would like to be well-rested when the apocalypse comes tomorrow."
The group returned to the ship, and after they secured Narek, Raffi and Rios retired for a few hours of rest. Elnor went to his cabin and flopped unhappily on the bed. He tried closing his eyes, but he knew sleep wasn't coming for him tonight.
He couldn't stop thinking about how enraged Naseema had become over a dumb story, and she obviously hadn't been joking when she told him she was a difficult person to deal with, but he didn't agree that she was beyond saving, as she seemed to believe she was. Maybe she was crazy, but she was also willing to die to save this planet, and maybe it made him crazy too, but he knew if he didn't do something to help her, she would die. She went to the wreckage of the Artifact. He was positive about that, and he needed to find her if he had any hope of saving her from herself.
He crept through the ship slowly, and quietly to make sure he didn't wake the others, and then silently slipped out into the dark desert.