Cumbersome

He was flying through the vacuum of space, watching the star that this tiny planet orbited. His was a gaze of someone familiar with the life cycle of such bodies of lights, and used to the sight. Infared and X-ray gave him technical readouts that would be the envy of many scientists who studied bodies like this.

The red giant was in the slow process of going nova.

Maybe it wouldn't explode today, but it still held nothing that he was looking for, and neither, for that matter, was the dead planet circling it. There were signs that had led him to hope-- but all were false.

It would probably be best to get back to the ship, so that they could continue their journey.

He gave a quick call back to those still aboard, and sailed his way back towards the hatch he had exited only a few hours before. The constant radio chatter kept him company. His friends were waiting for him to return.

"Everything OK out there?" The complex tones of his language asked him in between the pulses of the star. With only a moment, the concern was relayed to him. "You're being awfully quiet out there."

"Perfectly fine," he responded in the time it took to think about the radio. It was natural. Just as the message being personalized to address only him was natural. "This sun is going to go nova soon, and there's no sign of life in the system. We can probably move on."

"You had to go outside to figure that out?" Another voice chided him, "I could have told you that from here. The sensors aren't showing anything important. Come on back."

And then there was silence, except for the song of a red star against the cold of space against his skin. He reached for the hatch, brushing against cold metal...

Jace woke hard, head snapping up from where he'd fallen asleep sitting up again.

For a moment, he felt the freedom of his dream-- the chill of space, the lightness of his body agilely moving towards a place that could almost be called a home.

And then he awakened here, sitting on the sofa of his sister's condo, still awkward. Still slow.

Cumbersome.

The computer on his lap glowed faintly at him, having turned its screen off to save energy hours ago. It was almost dark now. Danielle would be home soon, and ask him how his day had been. And he'd tell her the same thing he'd told her for the week and a half he'd been staying with her.

Tiring. Unproductive. Jace didn't want to tell her that the only reason he remembered her name right now is that he'd repeated it to himself every time he saw her.

Stiffly, he rubbed his face, wondering why the dream had felt so real.

He had never been in space-- and he'd die without the space suit that had been missing from the dream.

Jace flicked a key on the computer, waking it from its slumber. If he was awake, it should be working too. The last thing that he'd been looking at stared at him from the browser. The government didn't have an agency called 'Sector Seven'. There was no such thing. He'd tried just about everything on this slow interface to get more information-- and failed.

Which left Jace without any clues.

Except for one.

Six articles about the rebuilding going on in Mission City stared back at him as though they were accusing him of something. The very few pictures showed buildings destroyed, streets torn up.

Some sort of military and civilian joint project., they told Jace, gone awry, and costing a few million dollars-- and a few dozen lives.

He'd been there.

That much he'd confirmed from the hospital staff. They'd brought him in from Mission City on the day that this... disaster happened. Jace had been there, just as the spooky guy had told him. But he still didn't know what really happened.

The click of a key in the lock broke through his musings, and Jace quickly shut down the computer and picked up one of the books on the side table.

"Hey, Danni." Jace said easily, and before she could ask him, "How was work?"

"Same old, same old." The door clicked shut behind her, as she made directly for him. "How is my favorite brother doing today?"

"I thought I was your only brother," Jace smiled at her, "I fell asleep while I was reading, but otherwise I'm just fine."

"What're you reading?" Danielle looked a little suspicious as she leaned over to look at the title. "Nice try. I don't think that's quite your type though."

Jace looked at the book in his hands. The man and woman on the cover were in a state of undress, and...

Oh. Romance novel.

"Maybe I'm branching out?" He offered.

"Maybe." Danielle laughed, and took another look at him. "Hey. You're all spiffed up today. What sparked this change?"

"Change?" Jace frowned, glancing at the clothing he'd found tucked away in the spare room.

"Yeah." Danielle sighed, "Maybe that's what they were talking about. Personality changes-- You used to just hang out in jeans and a tee, if you didn't have to go anywhere. Now... you're all GQed up."

"... I guess it is a change then." Jace admitted, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be, silly. But since you're all dressed up, how about we go out for dinner, instead of hiding here."

"You mean you're gonna trust me to behave?" Jace laughed, as she playfully swatted him."Or are ya counting on me being too weak to fight you?"

"Little of both. Let me grab my purse, and we'll go." Danielle smiled, though she looked a little tired to Jace's eyes.

Jace rose and headed to the door, noticing how slowly everything seemed to respond. Reflexes felt dulled. The feeling of cloth against his skin was still irritating at times, but... he didn't mind that so much.

Stepping out into the fading daylight, Jace paused to look at the street. A car parked across the street caught his eye, and he pretended not to stare as he watched it.

Dark car. So new it caught the last of the sunset, and sparkled. And the driver was wearing what looked like a suit and tie.

Great. It looked like the mystery agency was still keeping an eye on him.

Danielle poked him in the shoulder.

"You ready to venture out into the big world, young man?" She teased. "C'mon. This way to the car."

Keeping a wary eye on the dark car, Jace followed.

Answers, he realized, might be a little dangerous. And if he were to find them, the agents would most likely close in-- and who knows what would happen then.

He had to get away.

Jace had to get to Mission City. The answers he was looking for had to be there.