Do you seek forgiveness, for what you have done? So you seek escape from dark, in the light of sun?
Kalathi Song of the Dead, second verse
StarCraft: Ghosts and Shadows
Chapter 2: Awakening
It was dawn.
No, scratch that, it was late morning. But for Liddy, opening her eyes and immediately regretting it, it might as well have been before sunrise. She felt exhausted. She felt ill. And as she remembered why she was like this in the first place, she felt ready to drop dead as well.
John's dead. He'll always be dead. You'll be dead too someday. Life sucks that way doesn't it?
Groaning, Liddy sat on the edge of the bed, glancing at the mirror to the side. Even on a Fringe World like Mar Sara, she'd always tried to keep a decent appearance. Nothing fancy, with only minimalist makeup and varnish, enough to make her seem like a flower in the desert, as her mother had once said. But now…her hair was a mess, deep shadows were under her eyes, and there was something else. Something she couldn't quite put her finger on.
She stopped trying to as she dealt with another bout of coughs.
Fighting the pains in her chest, not to mention the rest of her body, Liddy headed downstairs. Time for breakfast…even if that amounted to nothing more than some Halcyon-brand tea. Her appetite had gone down over the last four days, as had her thirst. Making her way to the kettle, she turned on the radio.
…the death toll currently stands at twenty-four. The Sons of Korhal terrorist group has taken responsibility and-…
Liddy ignored the voice. More death. More destruction. More cold comfort that on whatever planet Mengsk's band of butchers had struck at, there'd be people like her. Children losing parents. Parents losing children…
Liddy shook it off and focussed on the tea. Then she focussed on the table.
A table for three. One at it. Jim gone, John gone…she was home alone. As had been the case since Jim had left. Not that he'd been eager to-he'd even wanted her to come with him. But she'd refused. Refused, sent him off, and after a day's worth of fone calls from the friends she'd made over the years, had left the fone off the hook and switched her mobile off. Opening the laptop on the other side of the table and checking emails…yet again, Jim had tried to contact her.
She didn't bother reading it. It would be the same crap. Institute not responding, desperately wanting her to respond, promising to be home soon…she'd had enough. Jim wasn't like John-he took after her more. John was hers. Not his. He couldn't…
Fighting the tears, Liddy buried her face in her hands, rubbing her aching head. Such thoughts weren't doing her any good.
…Moving onto sports, the TarKossian Blood Shrikes have taken a narrow win over…
Sports…John loved sports…
…the final score being-…
Liddy returned to the tea. Still tasteless.
…the result has ensured the Blood Shrikes will qualify for the-…
Liddy pushed the tea to one side. Maybe a shower would help. She hadn't taken one in…well, quite awhile. She got up…
…Then fell back down into the chair. Her lungs felt like they were on fire.
…In padball, the-…
Padball…they'd played that outside. John was good at it.
…in a gruelling match that-…
Liddy reached over for the radio. She ended up falling off the chair.
…the Ursadaks falling flat on-…
And found the rifle staring right at her.
Liddy blinked. The rifle…she must have cast it aside when she came back inside from…whatever she was doing outside in the first place. Swearing under her breath, she examined the gun and put the safety back on.
The Shadow. It was…
Shadows…it sounded crazy. Maybe she was crazy. Maybe she needed to see a doctor. A shrink, in addition to the physical kind. Not that doctors of either type were that easy to get a hold of on this planet, let alone in an area so far from the capital, but…
Have you ever dreamed of visiting the planet of your dreams? Well now you-…
Reaching up, Liddy shut the radio off. She'd had enough of dreams. They just ended up being broken.
Rest…she thought to herself, getting to her feet and ignoring the aches coursing through you. Need rest…
She headed upstairs, coughing all the way. She took the rifle as well.
She didn't know why either.