ACT 1 – DISCOVERY

Chapter 9 – Visiting Jin

It was only when he was almost at the lobby that Oneakka realised that this trip to visit Jin Arezou would be his first excursion outside the Facility since his injury.

In many ways it felt as if no time had passed, his wound just a blip in his life, but the time of vulnerability and weakness still made an instinctive part of him feel a flash of nervousness at the trip ahead. As normal as that instinctive reaction was, it was to be ignored. It was an old enemy, familiar to all of Humanity after illness and injury, and he knew how to deal with it after more than his far share of injuries over the years.

Some days he barely thought of the scars through the right side of his face, after all he'd spent more of his life with them than without, but every injury since had paled in comparison to that first almost fatal wound from his battle among the decimated ruins of his people. So, this last injury, as dramatic as it had been, felt nothing compared to that old trauma. So the nervous caution at leaving the safety of the Facility today was easily surmounted.

As he strode into the lobby, he reached down and ran his hands over his holster, letting his fingers slide over the pouches and down to the single stunner against his hip, checking everything was secure. Today was also the first time he'd worn his holster since his injury, the well worn and comfortable holster undamaged from his fall. It felt like an old friend as he checked he had everything with old practice and familiarity, the focus on weaponry and preparedness counteracting the instinctive caution.

The holster fine, he ran his hand to his lower back where one of his two short swords sat. The Elite Blacksmith had repaired both of his damaged sword blades beautifully, encased them in newly made scabbards for his back, and had delivered them to Oneakka wrapped in red cloth. Their solemn delivery, presented to him personally by the Blacksmith, had not just been the return of old familiar weapons, but much more. As he had requested, the Blacksmith had etched into both blades the Ugun inscription copied from Raven's Ugun Guardian Knife, the original etching put there by Oneakka's own father. The Blacksmith had done an exceptional job, even having copied faint alterations in Raven's blade's etching so as to match Father's work as closely as possible.

Oneakka had kept his battling emotions in check as he had inspected the returned weapons and conveyed his appreciation and gratitude to the Blacksmith. However, once the Blacksmith had left, Oneakka had sat down alone in his quarters and let the tears fill his eyes as he ran his fingers over the Ugun inscriptions. And as no one else was there to overhear him, he had also whispered a greeting to his returned blade spirits. He had apologised for ignoring the spirits, believed to inhabit all tools of trade and weapons by his lost people. He had no idea if there was any shred of truth in those beliefs, but after seeing Father's sign, a blade made by him and therefore imbued with a blade spirit, having been owned by Raven all these years…

Whether blade spirits truly existed did not matter, as clearly a part of him still believed what he had been taught during his early years on Ugun. And if it were true, then, as the last of his people, then all blades he owned were to be the last of the Ugun blade spirits. That fact alone made him quietly promise his blades that he would honour them more. And if the blades were again broken, bent, or became unusable, he would keep them nonetheless and then, when his end came, they would be buried with him in Ugun soil following his people's tradition.

He'd even entered the additional instructions to his official death protocols that all his weapons and body armour were to be buried with him. He'd also told Halling, as Halling was the only one who knew of his vision and Father's sign, and Halling who, being Athosian, was far more open to religious beliefs than most Elite. Halling had understood and promised, should he outline Oneakka, that the instructions would be followed to the letter.

Now, feeling the returned gentle welcome weight of one sheathed sword against his lower back, Oneakka felt his confidence returning. He may not be battle-ready just yet, but even now he knew he was faster and stronger than most civilians. Plus, where he and Raven were going there was little chance of an issue.

And, if something did happen, he had Raven with him as back-up.

Having reached the far side of the lobby, he selected a place out the way of the main fairway to wait for Raven, his back towards the wall and at an angle that he could easily see the corridor entrance out of which he predicted she would arrive. He glanced around the quiet outer lobby, the hour just after First Meal's end, so most of the Facility staff was on rotation and the Recruits were in their classrooms. Well, except for one male Recruit who was legging it fast through the lobby, disappearing into a corridor with the panicked air of one who knew today's instructor did not tolerate any lateness.

The only other movement was a technician who was working on one of the two pillar displays in the centre of the lobby. Oneakka watched the female working on the insides of the side display, curious at what she was repairing. His gaze slid to the other side of the same pillar where the time was displayed. He was here far earlier than he'd predicted, suggesting he had walked here far faster than his usual pace of late.

A faint ache in his wound suggested either he had slightly overdone the pace, or perhaps it was from the morning workout he'd done in his quarters in place of his usual mid-morning session in the Rehab Gym. He'd not missed the Physical Therapist's look of clear relief when Oneakka had cancelled his morning session with the specialist. He still had his afternoon session booked, so that rotation's Physical Therapist would still have to keep up with Oneakka's own advanced recovery plan. As usual, the Therapists did not approve of how much he pushed himself, but they never did through all of his injuries. And he was clearly right, given that he'd surpassed all his weightlifting and cardio targets in his own escalated plan. He should easily pass his medical review tomorrow, so having less time in the Rehab Gym today was no issue.

And it left today as his last full free day to spend with Seeal.

He'd purposefully timed the visit to Jin for today for that reason, allowing himself to dedicate this last special day to fully enjoy his friendship with her. They would visit Jin and return in their own time with no restrictions, have Late Meal together with Massa this evening and then visit the goats afterwards, sit on the glass slope together. One full day of enjoying her company before he passed his medical review tomorrow and would start filling his days with non-battle rotation work and sessions in the main Gyms getting back into sparring and recertifying in all weaponry.

The return of busy days that would get him back on track to his usual life, and put some useful distance between him and Raven.

But today…today he would allow himself to enjoy her company properly.

The technician shut the pillar display with a loud click and Oneakka watched the display light up and reboot. The female seemed pleased, picking up her tool-bag and moving across to the second pillar display.

The sound of footfalls off to the right, made him snap his attention round to the corridor entrance, but it wasn't Raven, just a member of staff crossing the lobby towards the docks.

Oneakka adjusted his stance, the muscles around his healed wound grumbling a fraction; standing still for long periods could do it, but he needed to get better at it, so he held his ground.

As usual, he was looking forward to visiting Jin, though the visits were always somewhat bittersweet. Jin had always had a rambunctious and brightly confident personality, and in his older years that had not changed; however, even after all these years of visiting Jin, the old Trader still grew very emotional when he saw Oneakka. Oneakka understood, knew how much Father's friendship had meant to Jin, but it was always a little painful for him. Still, it also felt good that someone, besides himself, still loved Father so deeply.

There was also the careful line to watch though as well. Jin had been very good at keeping to his agreement not to tell Oneakka any details of his family after he had left Ugun for his Elite training, for Jin had regularly visited Father and Mother right up to a month or so before Ugun's end. Still, especially as he grew older, occasionally Jin would accidentally say something. Oneakka always forgave the slip, of course, but it always restarted the inner conflict in him to know everything he could, but he knew learning all the details of his family would tear open deep grief.

Though after his vision, a part of him wondered if he still needed to keep to that old rule.

No, for now, he would keep to it. Once he was back on full battle-rotation and the next time he visited Jin, he would think about his old rule.

However, one area that Jin was a welcome wealth of information for Oneakka was that Jin knew a great deal about Ugun culture and traditions. As well as all the years he had been Father's friend, Jin had also spent time travelling around Ugun to trade, attending all the big festivals, and his excellent memory had helped Oneakka learn a great deal about artefacts he had recovered over the years.

Though today he had a very specific question for Jin about Ugun. Oneakka reached down to open pouch on his holster checking he had put the drawings in there. He pulled out the pieces of paper on which he'd sketched out his idea for a new tattoo, one to commemorate his vision, his survival and to honour his family. He considered the sketch of the twisting stylised snake that had represented rebirth, new beginnings, and the renewal of souls to his people. During his recovery, he'd read through the Ugun books he'd had in his quarters to research the symbols of rebirth. He'd eventually used a combination of sketches from those books and images he'd taken of Ugun artefacts he had in storage or on loan to museums. The result was a composite that he felt would adequately combine all the elements he liked, but he wanted Jin to look at it to check that it was accurate enough.

The sound of footsteps echoed again from a corridor and Oneakka quickly pushed the sketches back into the holster pouch, securing it closed as he looked down the lobby.

It was Raven this time and she emerged from the corridor he'd predicted. A quick glance to the time on the closest display pillar revealed that she too had arrived early.

She spotted him immediately and headed towards him across the white lobby.

She was dressed differently today. She was wearing her favourite black trousers, which though they covered her from waist to her boots, very loyally hugged the shape of her hips and long strong legs. Her top though was new to him; it was a bright red colour that flattered her complexion and the shape of the neckline emphasised her elegant wide shoulders. Her long black hair was styled differently too, instead of pinning the long locks up against the back of her head, today she had pulled it all together into one tail that was currently draped over her left red-covered shoulder, hanging down over her breast.

It all made various little sparks of warmth glow inside him as he watched her smile as she strode towards him.

Just one day dedicated to his friendship with her; there was nothing wrong with enjoying one day.

"What?" She demanded as she reached him, which he guessed meant he had been studying her new look a little too closely.

"You've dressed up for Jin, I see," he replied as casually as possible.

"I can be presentable," she frowned at him only to then look down at her outfit with far less conviction. "It's alright, isn't it?"

He had no idea what made her less 'presentable' on other days.

"Of course," he replied.

"Plus I used to wear my hair like this all the time when I knew him," she added as she ran both her hands over the long tail of black hair.

"I see," he uttered as he dragged his attention up from her hands stroking her hair at a level that meant she was surely also brushing against her breast. "Ready to go?" He forcefully focused on more practical things.

"Let's go," she nodded confidently, but he thought he saw signs she was feeling less confident inside. After facing the fish in the Gym Spa, he had an even more refined eye for her nervousness now. But he chose not to point it out to her; after all it just meant the visit to Jin meant a lot to her.

He turned and led the way towards the main exit out of the lobby, Raven falling into step with him.

"Do you think Jin will remember me?" She asked after a few seconds. "I mean, you said he's retired and probably a bit elderly by now…?"

"Sometimes it can take him a few minutes, but his memory is still excellent," Oneakka assured her. "If you remind him of the planet names and the pit fights, he will probably remember you."

How could anyone forget her?

They'd reached the dock where the small Transport Craft sat waiting for use, and Oneakka headed towards the closest. Beside the small Craft, the waiting Recruit Pilot straightened his back sharply.

"I'm just grateful I get to meet him again and thank him," Seeal continued as she executed a sudden burst of speed so that she reached the open hatch of the transparent Transport Craft first. He wasn't sure why she was so eager to be first in, but he had no problem with letting her board first.

"You mean, thank Jin for introducing you to the deadly sport of pit fighting?" He asked as she climbed up into the Craft, her backside briefly filling his view.

He glanced aside out of respect, noticing that there was a group of Recruit Pilots guiltily scurrying away from where they'd been sat in a circle on the floor of the docking bay. He knew exactly what they had been doing; gambling with game cards just out of view of any watching eyes that might see them from the dock entrance. He'd done just the same at their age in a far older Facility.

"You're not going to phrase it that way to him are you?" Seeal asked as he followed her up inside the Transport, his wound pulling only a fraction as he did, but he knew the sensation hadn't shown in his movements.

As soon as he sat down in the free seat next to Raven, the Pilot started up the vessel's engine and the side hatch slid shut.

"I am going to ask him why he was introducing young females to pit fighting, yes," Oneakka confirmed honestly, looking round at her.

"You're tetchy this morning," Raven replied, but she was glancing back over her shoulder to the dock that the Craft was now departing. "Were they sparring or gambling?" She asked of the Recruits.

"Gambling," he confirmed, amused how little seemed to be lost on her. "And I'm not tetchy," he replied, more just annoy her than argue.

Her eyes slid to him with a doubtful raised eyebrow, but a smile on her lips. The smile dimmed. "Did you have to send me another of those Portal address tests so early this morning?" She frowned.

He grinned as he settled his weight back in the seat, watching the moonscape sliding away under the craft. "You took your time opening it."

"I was in the shower," she complained.

He frowned away out the left side of the Craft to hide his wince. Did she have to keep referencing her taking showers lately?

"You know I searched for that Portal address in the Elite database-" she continued.

"Of course you did," he looked back round at her.

"Why would an address be restricted by the Elite if it's an Elite fallback position?"

"It's restricted from everyone, not just you," he replied in case that was her theory.

"That still doesn't explain it," she argued. "Why would the Elite hide the Portal address of their own emergency base in their own database?"

"Who said it was an Elite emergency fallback position?" He asked her, watching her expressive face move through surprise and confusion.

"But you said it..." she paused, likely recalling their first conversation about the Portal address he wanted her to memorise. "You didn't say it was an Elite base," she realised and sighed, clearly annoyed at herself for not having noticed originally. "You send the test to Massa too," she started thinking it through more thoroughly.

He waited, enjoying seeing how long it would take her to work it out.

"Just you send the tests?" She asked.

He nodded, glancing from her to the view ahead of the approaching Portal and back. "They go to friends," he gave her that small piece of information.

"Who's friends?" She asked, eyes narrowed.

"Mine," he confirmed.

He saw her work it out, her expression shifting from annoyance at the puzzle to a new cautious look. He held her eyes for a beat and looked away, watching as the Recruit Pilot angled the Transport in a wide sweeping route down towards the Portal.

"It's the Portal address for Ugun isn't it?" She asked.

He nodded and looked back to her, her feminine scent stronger sat close to her in the small Transport. "Only select people know the address. I set up a protected field around the Portal and only those with recognised preset Beacons can move beyond it," he explained. "It's only to be used for emergencies," he stressed.

All the annoyance of the tests had gone and instead she had the very familiar look people had when he talked about his world. It wasn't just sympathy, but a caution about what to say. Even Raven had the look.

"You have a cache of weapons there don't you," she stated though, amusement replacing the sympathy abruptly.

"Maybe," he confirmed as the Pilot began to lower the Transport down next to the line of other Transport Craft waiting to ferry people back to the Facility.

"Maybe?" Raven scoffed loudly. "Probably many caches of weapons, right?"

"Weapons, a cabin, an underground hideout, and a few other useful things," he confirmed for her as the Transport settled on the ground under the expert handling of the Recruit Pilot. "But it's only for emergencies," he reiterated.

"Yes, I heard you the first one hundred times you mentioned that about these tests," she replied.

He chuckled as he triggered open the side hatch and climbed out. Halfway down the long step to the ground below, he felt his wound properly catch, his insides feeling like they just couldn't stretch that far. He compensated quickly by bringing his other boot down and turned the long step down into a jump to the ground, and quickly strode forward towards the waiting Portal Security staff. He had already informed the staff that he and Raven would be arriving and the Security member nodded politely and ordered the address be dialled for them.

The Portal was already activating as Oneakka strode past the line of waiting Recruit Pilots, none of which were gambling here since they were all within view of the Portal Security staff. Oneakka stopped when he reached the ring of red stone embedded into the ground surrounding the Portal, which designated the safe distance to stand when it activated, and watched the Portal dialling as Raven arrived at his side.

"Don't think I didn't see that," Raven uttered for him alone to hear. He guessed she was referring to his uncomfortable moment climbing out of the Transport Craft, but he didn't respond.

An Elite warrior should ignore embarrassment.

"So what planet, moon, or space-station does Jin live on then?" She continued.

"Bakhau," Oneakka replied.

"Bakhau?!" Seeal repeated, clearly shocked. "That's a fancy retirement location!"

"Have you been there before?"

"No," Seeal stated emphatically. "Central Alliance planet with that level of security oversight? No, I have not been there before."

He glanced at her out the corner of his eyes. "So there are places that intimidate you," he teased.

She reacted just as he wanted, glaring round at him. "'Intimidate' isn't the right word," she objected. "'Sensibly avoided', is a better description."

"There are a lot of lakes and pools on Bakhau," he pretended to consider. "Lots of fish," he smiled at her as the Portal rushed to life. He held still though, waiting for Portal Security to check-in with security on the other side first.

Seeal narrowed her eyes at him across the short distance between their heights. He just smiled more; pleased he'd won that round.

"Honoured Elite," the Security member called to him. "You are free to depart to Bakhau."

Oneakka nodded back to the female and started towards the shimmering Portal.

"From what I understand," Raven said from his side, "Bakhau is a very expensive place to live for an off-worlder, especially someone not born in the Alliance like Jin."

In fact Jin had amassed a significant fortune from his working years, having cleverly saved a portion of his currency with the early Alliance banking systems, adding further to it as he gained more trading contacts both in and out of the Alliance as the border had expanded over the decades. He had been prolific as a Trader and had made a lot of smart decisions in his years, though introducing young street children to pit fighting was not one of them. It struck Oneakka as very out-of-character for the Jin that he had known all his life, but then perhaps Jin had lived a very different life outside his visits. Oneakka would find out soon enough though.

"He was very good as his job," was all he confirmed to Raven.

"Clearly!" She muttered at his elbow as they reached the Portal and stepped through the watery surface.

The warm air and the gentle busy sounds of Bakhau's large Central City greeted Oneakka's ears as his boots landed on the top of the elegant stone steps that led down from the Portal. Bakhau had an entire Portal Security force always stationed in and around the castle-like structure they had constructed around their planet's Portal. Oneakka glanced to both sides of the steps, exchanging nods with the guards stationed in the watchtowers built either side the Portal. The polite exchange completed, he started down the steps, leading Raven down to the pale brown pavings of the city's pathways.

As was usual on Bakhau, even in this largest city, open space, wide public areas, and trees were prioritised. Everywhere was clean and well maintained, and the soft scent of tree blossom filled the sun-warmed air. He drank in the smell, enjoying the fresh air and the warmth of real sunshine on his skin. He had not realised how much he had missed being on a planet during his recovery, so used to the controlled environment of the Facility and its bare empty moonscape outside it.

Along the main wide avenue from the Portal, he led Raven onto a side curving path that snaked its way through the wide open public space. As usual, the space was full of people, not just those from Bakhau, but a myriad of off-world visitors and Alliance officials stationed on the planet. The warm sun was being enjoyed by all, but the frequent large blossom trees provided shade for the curved stone benches set around their trunks and the ground-level water fountains provided relief from the heat. Though, the fountains were mostly places for excited play for young children, who tore through the water with excited squeals, and a place for a very tolerant variety of birds to drink.

Surrounding the wide public space, were Central City's squat pyramidal shaped buildings of pale stone, no more than two stories high, though he could see the glint of the roof pools and gardens from the closest and biggest buildings. Everything on Bakhau was like this; beautiful, well maintained, and highly controlled. No one in Bakhau society feared for food, clean water, or power in their homes, but there were strict rules of conduct that had resulted in barely any crime on the Central Planet. That fact was mostly borne from the Bakhau belief that each of them was a cog in the wheel of society and that it was all their responsibility to keep their planet clean and functional. Children here spent as much time cleaning roads, paths and parks as they did studying. It was that already existing attitude of community cooperation that had made Bakhau part of the first wave of worlds to form the Alliance, so that now, no one born here had experienced a culling in over two generations, and that time of safety had birthed a secure and very wealthy planet. Not just a planet, he recalled, glancing up at the sky looking for one of their two moons. Only one was currently visible in the bright sunshine, but it was only at night that you could properly see the moon-cities.

He looked round to Raven, only to find that she was several metres behind him, turning as she walked, taking in the spectacle that was Bakhau around her. For someone who had been born on a thickly forested world buried in snow all year round, then lived the rest of her childhood in abject poverty, he imagined this was something of a culture-shock for her.

He paused, waiting for her to catch up with him and watching as she completed her full circle, her eyes running over everything around them, a shocked frown on her face.

Her full circle brought her back round to face him and she noticed him watching her. Her open-mouthed fascination shifted into casual indifference again as she caught up with him. "Nice enough planet," she shrugged dismissively.

He chuckled as he led her along a path to the left, which ran between two immaculate lawns up to another set of long shallow steps that rose up to the closest station on the Bakhau public Ground Transport system. The latest Ground Transport was just now sliding into the station, its long glass doors sliding aside, disgorging perhaps a hundred or so Bakhau residents and visitors.

Reaching the flight of steps, he led the way up, Raven falling in behind him to avoid the mass of the newly arrived passengers moving down the steps in the opposite direction. It was always easy for him to identify those from Bakhau, not from their clothing or hairstyles, but in the way they reacted when they saw him, or any Elite warrior. On Bakhau, the Elite were highly valued, almost to the point of worship. As he progressed up the steps, every Bakhau who saw him, smiled like they knew him before dipping their head and touching a hand to their forehead, which was the Bakhau sign of gratitude. Some even lightly touched their fingertips against his shoulder or arm as he passed. It was their way of thanking him and the Elite for their work, and though Oneakka had used to find it very uncomfortable, after visiting here so frequently to see Jin he had grown used to it. He had also taken Halling's view that, when he was on Bakhau, he became a symbol of the Elite and all they did.

As respectful as the Bakhau were, the children were not as used to seeing an Elite warrior. Currently two young girls were stood in the middle of the staircase, mouths hanging open in shocked wonder at seeing an Elite warrior on their world. Oneakka ignored the gaping as he passed by them, feeling rather sorry for their mother who was struggling to get her children moving so to stop blocking up the staircase for everyone else behind her.

As he reached the top of the steps, he glanced up at the lights glowing above the Ground Transport to confirm there was time still to board, and then glanced over his shoulder to check Raven was still with him. She was right behind him, so he continued on into the Ground Transport's closest carriage, stopping in the open space inside and reached up to hold onto one of the metal bars attached to the ceiling. Raven moved up next to him, reaching up to hold onto the same shiny metal handle, but her attention was sweeping around the Ground Transport. He watched her inspect everyone inside the carriage, no doubt running her usual Security Lead habits, considering threats and looking for anyone looking suspicious. The doors bleeped loudly as they closed and the Ground Transport began a smooth departure, sliding along its magnetic rails away from the station.

"How far away is Jin's place?" Raven asked looking round at him, her assessment of the carriage complete. Due to the size of the handle above them, she was stood a little closer than normal, not that they were cramped up close. After all the carriage's occupants had all subtly moved away to the seats or to stand further down the carriage, giving him space, leaving him and Raven in a small open circle of their own.

"Not far," Oneakka replied as he completed his own quick assessment of the occupants. No one stood out as worrying, and he received many Bakhau smiles and signs of gratitude as his gaze passed over them.

"Do you have to do that all the time when we're out?" Raven asked as he focused back on her.

He frowned at the strange question. "Do what?"

"The whole big scowling routine," she replied waving her free hand towards his face, but there was clear teasing in her voice. "Glaring at people," she lowered her brow in what was presumably an exaggerated impression of him.

"I'm not glaring at people," he countered.

"You're certainly not smiling at them."

"I'm an Elite."

She rolled her eyes and shook her head at him, but it was their usual banter.

"What do you mean 'when we're out'?" He asked.

"Out, as in outside the Facility," she answered, her eyes focusing through the glass doors of the Ground Transport, watching the passing beauty of Bakhau's Central City. "You step outside the Facility and you get all frowny face."

"Frowny face?" He repeated, amused despite himself.

"Like you're expecting something bad to happen at any moment."

"There are many things wrong with your theory," he pointed out as the Transport began a long curving turn. Raven shifted her stance slightly to adjust to the floor's slight change of angle. "Firstly," he told her, "I don't have a frowny face."

She gave him a doubtful look.

"Secondly," he continued as the Transport slid into a tunnel, gentle lighting springing to life inside the carriage to illuminate the short dark section of the trip. "An Elite has to present a certain attitude and appearance."

"Halling doesn't frown at anyone," Seeal countered "Neither does Massa."

"You've not seen Massa outside the Facility, so how do you know?" He challenged her.

"I have, on the Sythus when he and Aki helped stop Karthig and I distinctly remember Massa smiling at me," she replied as the carriage filled with sunlight once again. She'd gotten used to the movements of the Transport now and she simply adjusted her weight against the handle as the latest long curve began. "So I think it's pretty safe to predict that Massa is a friendly Elite warrior wherever he goes," she continued, her gaze moving from the view outside back to him. "Unlike you."

It was banter and she was teasing him, but it felt like a challenge too. "I can be friendly."

One dark eyebrow lifted. "I have yet to see that outside the Facility." Which at least confirmed that she considered him 'friendly' inside the Facility.

"Thirdly," he continued his list of her errors. "You have your own frowny face whenever you're not on a safe world."

The Ground Transport began to slow as it approached the first station on this route. They would need the stop after that.

"When we were hunting down criminals? I think it's perfectly understandable to be frowning when you're being dragged around by an obsessive Elite warrior trying to arrest anyone vaguely linked to-," she stopped as the Ground Transport slid to halt and the doors slid open, distracting her for a second. A small number of passengers disembarked and a larger number climbed onboard, most of them Bakhau so they smiled and sent him the gesture of gratitude before they moved to stand or sit at a respectful distance.

"-A certain traitor," Seeal continued to him, her voice low so as not to carry too far. "Bringing entire buildings down around my ears."

He focused away from the Bakhau and focused on her dark eyes. "It was one building, and I had nothing to do with how that club collapsed. As I remember it, you were the one who seemed to know first that the building was starting to collapse."

"And warned you and the rest of the team," she swept over his repeated suspicions as to how that club had started collapsing. "I saved you." The doors bleeped as they closed and the Ground Transport started onward again.

"I was on the top of the building, so I would have noticed even without you scampering after me all worried for my safety," he told her with a smile.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "I was worried for everyone in that building; you were the last person I was concerned about."

He nodded, though he knew that wasn't really true. After all, she had risked her life to help save him on the Rogue Hive. It was a connection they would always have going forward, regardless as to where they individually ended up in the future.

"I was more worried that you were going to end up killing Douro," she continued, glancing away.

"I would never do that," he stressed to make sure she knew that.

"No, you just threw him off the top of the building."

"Into the water," he reminded her.

"And we were forced to follow," she muttered.

"Which, now I think about it," he considered, "that river probably had fish in it."

The Transport started a short series of gentle turns; they were almost at their stop.

"There are no fish in the city rivers on Rimba, they're too polluted," she countered.

"Some fish live in polluted water," he pushed, seeing if that would freak her out. He didn't remember her being upset in that river water, but then he had been focused on keeping Douro afloat and under arrest.

"Not on Rimba, it's a known fact that they have to sail out further and further into the open ocean to catch any fish now."

"Did your thorough research on that fact then?"

"It was a significant meeting place I used; you think I would meet anyone near a big fish-filled river?"

The Transport was slowing.

"No, far too scared for that," he told her as the Transport slid into the station.

She looked suitably insulted, but he'd timed it perfectly as the Transport doors slid open and he strode forward back out into the sunshine.

"At least I'm not scared to smile at little children," she threw in her counterattack, but it was weakly delivered over his shoulder as she scurried down the station's stone staircase behind him. He didn't respond until he led the way off the steps, Raven falling into step at his side. He shifted over a little to give her more space on the path.

"I smile at young children," he made sure she knew. "Especially Aki yesterday when he spat all that berg vegetable over Massa."

She sniggered. "I wish I'd seen that."

He slowed his pace, indicating a crossing point ahead where they needed to cross an active roadway along which various means of transport passed; powered vehicles, pedalled vehicles and one small personal Transport Craft that was flying low above the roadway, ready to land nearby.

"Personal Transports?" Seeal said in bemused shock as the vessel passed above their heads. "It's true then, the stories of the wealth here?"

"Yes," he confirmed as they headed across the clean road and onto the bright pavings that lined the path on the other side.

A metre to the left and they reached the gate into a fenced off section of residential housing, within which Jin had his home. Oneakka held open the low gate for Raven as she passed through, and they started along the central long path that ran between the buildings and their immaculate front lawn gardens.

Even with these residential buildings, the second floor of each house was slightly smaller than the ground floor creating the distinctive Bakhau boxy pyramid architecture. Each house was painted in warm earth tones and he could hear the gentle song of metal chimes hanging in an open window. As they headed along the peaceful path, he glanced at Raven next to him. Her gaze was constantly moving, taking in everything new around her, but he sensed her nervousness had returned. Her shoulders were tensed and held a little higher than normal, and she held her arms slightly away from her sides in an instinctive preparation for potential battle.

It was slightly amusing to him that anyone would find the prospect of meeting Jin as something to be so nervous about, but he could also understand it was a big moment for her. Despite Oneakka's opinion of Jin's decision to introduce her to pit fighting, doing so had clearly helped enable Raven to change her life at that time. To start her on the path from a forgotten street child towards the warrior she was now.

The central path forked ahead and he led her silently down the left-hand path. Jin's home was only a few houses away now. It was always at this point on these visits when Oneakka began to prepare himself for Jin's tears in seeing him.

To hear Father's name spoken so often.

In the long years since he and Jin had reconnected following the loss of Ugun, Jin infrequently used Oneakka's name, preferring to refer to him as Father's son, as Akane's son. Oneakka didn't mind, knowing it was used as a sign of respect and love by Jin's own people, but it wasn't always easy for him. After his vision, he wondered if hearing Father's name would feel any different today.

"That's Jin's home," Oneakka indicated the house ahead on the left.

"So how do we do this?" Raven asked. "We just knock on the door? Explain I used to know him?"

Oneakka guessed of course people knocked or rang the bell outside Jin's door to politely wait for him to answer, but Oneakka was free to just walk into Jin's home. Jin had insisted on it, saying it had always been that way for him when he had visited Father and Mother.

"I can go in first," Oneakka suggested as they reached the start of the short path that led across Jin's front lawn to the stone portico that shaded the closed front door. "Explain there is someone here to see him and then invite you in?"

"I'll wait out here then?" She asked from behind him as they walked down the narrow path to the house.

"I'll leave the front door open," he added, pausing outside the portico and turning to Raven. He could definitely see the nervousness around her eyes now. "He's very welcoming," he assured her.

She nodded and he nodded back before headed into the portico, reaching up and ringing the metal bell by the entrance as he pushed open the thick door.

"Jin?" He called as he stepped inside.

His eyes took a second to adjust to the lower light level inside, but soon enough the wide front dining room of Jin's home came into clear view, and Oneakka rather enjoyed the sudden coolness out of the sun.

"Akane Son!" Jin's voice called loudly through the doorway off to the right that led to his kitchen and, a second later, Jin burst through the open door. Despite his growing years and uncomfortable joints, Jin still had the bright exuberance that Oneakka had always associated with him from his childhood. All his young memories of Jin involved the male either laughing, excitedly describing other planets in vivid detail, or recounting a thrilling trading adventure he had been on.

Jin's beard looked a little greyer than Oneakka remembered it from his last visit, but other than that, he looked the same as always. Oneakka took several steps towards him before he was quickly wrapped up in Jin's forceful love-filled hug.

"Akane Son," Jin repeated in the tight hug, his voice breaking with his usual tears.

And this time, suddenly without warning, Oneakka felt his own throat tighten with emotion. As much as nothing had actually changed in his warm feelings for Jin – an honorary Uncle since as long as Oneakka could remember – the hug felt more meaningful today. Now he'd had the vision, after Father's sign… Though Oneakka had met many of Father's off-worlder friends that had visited Father, usually in relation to his blacksmith trade, no one was as close to family as Jin.

Today that felt particularly poignant.

Oneakka held onto Jin within their hug for a little longer than usual, letting the elder man express his feelings while Oneakka contained his own.

As Jin finally relaxed his hold, he reached up and ruffled a hand back and forth over Oneakka's Mohawk. Jin had seen the return of the old hairstyle in their link calls, but it was the first time he had seen it in person.

Oneakka chuckled as Jin lowered his hand, remembering the Trader had used to do that to his hair all the time as a boy.

"It is good to see you walking around again after your injury. You are fully recovered?" Jin asked, stepping back a pace as he looked Oneakka up and down. "You have lost some weight. Are you eating enough? You know healing requires fuel."

"Yes, Jin," Oneakka assured him.

"You were always so strong," Jin continued, tears filling his eyes again. "Akane was so proud of you."

Oneakka smiled, surprised to find that hearing that today honestly didn't feel as painful as it used to do.

"You're well, Jin?" Oneakka asked, his turn now to fuss. Jin had assured him he was well over link, but Oneakka preferred to see him in person to make a proper assessment.

"Yes, yes," Jin assured him dismissively as he turned away heading towards the nearby dining table on which were waiting bowls of food and a large jug. "Come, come, I have food, juice, and I pulled out some things from storage that I want you to see."

"That is fine, Jin, but I actually brought someone with me who knew you long ago," Oneakka interrupted him gently.

Jin turned back towards him, clearly shocked. "Someone? Who? Not someone who says I owe them currency? I paid all my debts when I retired, so if someone is saying-"

"No, Jin."

"Yes, there was that one Traveller who I've never been able to track down – you know difficult it is to find their Generational ships - but I've got his currency ready if he does ever show up."

"It's no one like that," Oneakka assured him as he turned towards the open front door. "Raven?" He called and she instantly stepped into view, clearly having been stood just outside.

Oneakka stood aside, making space for her as she walked into Jin's home.

A strange sudden flash of nervousness hit Oneakka out of nowhere, which made no sense since this moment was for Raven, not him.

Raven though looked like she had conquered her nervousness, moving confidently into Jin's house, her chin held high.

Oneakka switched his attention quickly round to Jin, watching and waiting with strange anxiety for Jin to meet Raven again.

000
TBC