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Mission No. 52

Cerinia
CSS Justice

"Immortal Game"

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Several hours later, a defeated Bill walked through the hydraulic doors and onto the ship's bridge. He paused on the threshold, spotting Dr. Makepeace leaning against the back wall. Her lips were pursed, but otherwise she maintained a stoic expression. When she noticed him, she nodded towards the front of the room.

Bill turned and was surprised to find 19 seated in the captain's chair—his chair—and not Ariki. It was such a strange sight to see his former prisoner enthroned above the rest of his men like she was their new queen.

Ariki sat beside her in his own uncomfortable-looking throne made from the crew's confiscated weapons melted and twisted together. About the pair's feet sprawled a mountainous pile of the remaining weapons, reminding Bill of a dragon's hoard of gold. Ariki was currently rambling on to 19 while she probably tried her best to understand and/or care.

Bill was about to approach when several glimmers of light caught his eye, and he noticed dozens of thin, needle-like shards floating precariously around his crew. In fact, every officer on the bridge was accompanied by one of the needles, which threatened to stab into their necks if they made even the slightest aggressive move. The soldiers glanced behind themselves at the hovering weapons, fearing at any second Ariki might grow angry or bored and skewer one of them through the neck. So in the meantime they sat frozen at their stations, not daring to move except to fulfill their duties around the ship.

The doors hissed open behind Bill again, followed by the sound of rattling plates and a delicious scent. "E-Excuse me, Captain."

Bill stepped to the side and turned, allowing one of the ship's cooks to enter carrying a foldout stand and a platter of food. When Ariki saw him nearing, he glanced up at the ceiling, and Bill followed his gaze. Part of the steel bulkhead grew white hot till a thin sliver of metal peeled free and morphed into the shape of a needle. Ariki looked back down, and the spike descended to hover behind the chef's neck, following him wherever he went. As soon as the tip pricked the man's nape, he tensed up, visibly sucking in a breath.

Nervously the cook cleared a place in the pile of guns with his boot, then set the stand and food tray in front of 19's seat. "For the lady," he said, removing the polished lid from the food. He revealed some of the officers' special stock usually reserved for victory celebrations and holidays, though the fact that Ariki had pilfered his pantry couldn't concern Bill less in comparison to his other worries.

Ariki inhaled deeply. "Excellent meal, dear chef! It smells delicious."

He dismissed the cook, following him all the way out of the bridge with the needle, at which point it clattered to the floor. The doors closed, the sight of which gave Bill an odd feeling of déjà vu that he couldn't place. Doors closing… He glanced at Makepeace again, but she merely let her green eyes sparkle at his.

When the chef was gone, Ariki grabbed a fork and knife and began cutting pieces of steak free for 19. Bill cleared his throat impatiently and stepped closer.

"Ah, good to see you, Captain."

Bill glanced over his crew, making sure none had been harmed yet—but when he spotted an ensign struggling to man his station with a bloody bandage over his forearm, he turned and raised his eyebrows at Ariki.

The Cerinian followed his gaze. He smiled sheepishly and shifted atop his throne of guns and exposed triggers. "Uh, accidental misfire…" He offered a plate to Bill, hastily changing the subject. "Care for a taste?"

The bulldog cleared his throat. "No thanks."

"Come now, didn't Daddy teach you to eat all your food? From what I saw of him he could be very insistent."

Bill clenched his fists, trying to keep his cool as he worried about the memories Ariki had seen. "I'm not hungry."

The Cerinian chuckled, knowing he'd gotten to Bill. "Guess he's why you're such a hard-ass. In that case, suit yourself." And he plopped a bite of steak into his mouth and began chewing it.

Bill blinked. "You… you said you weren't going to eat aboard the ship!"

Ariki shrugged. "So I lied. I knew you wouldn't poison your 'precious asset' here if I requested food for her, and I figured she'd be generous enough to share some with me. And I must say…" He deposited another bite in his mouth and chewed. "This is the best food I've tasted in years."

"Enjoy it while you can. We'll reach the rendezvous point in about an hour."

Ariki swallowed and smacked his lips. "Mmm. Good news indeed. Perhaps the first thing I'll do in your system is rob a convenience store and fill up on snacks and candy. Most of the junk food left in our stores spoiled after a year, but a few months ago I found this little yellow confectionery filled with whipped cream, and remarkably it was still good!"

Bill cleared his throat, watching the two Cerinians eat their meal together. 19 appeared to enjoy the steak, but was still wary of her dinner companion.

"Ariki… may I ask what you plan on doing when you reach Lylat?"

He chewed thoughtfully. "Good question: you know, heh-heh, I never really planned on making it this far. Leaving Cerinia for another planet seemed like such a pipe dream. But I've passed the time by discussing it with Miss 19. Maybe if I wanted to play by the rules I could do fun little magic tricks in exchange for food, trick people in card games… perhaps make a name for myself and become a celebrity. I'd go on talk shows, do live performances—maybe even become famous! …But that's out of the question, isn't it? I've already killed several soldiers, and governments like yours have no concept of nuance. No, I'm already an enemy—why play nice when from the start I'm branded the villain? I may as well have some fun."

He set his knife and fork down, getting a far-away gleam in his eye.

"If I'm going to the underworld for my sins, I may as well go all-out, you know? I'd show up to town one day, steal a bunch of shit, and fly off into the wilderness with 19 in tow. We'd settle down somewhere, I'd construct a crude dwelling place, and we'd live like a king and queen in our own little slice of paradise. Once in a while I'd descend from our bower to terrorize a new town, steal more food and amenities, maybe kidnap a few of the local women for fun—or seduce them with my irresistible charm…"

He winked at 19, who didn't notice; her eyes were on the silverware Ariki had set down. When she didn't acknowledge him, he sighed and his tone turned somber again. "Do you know, Bill, what hell is really like?"

"Besides flying on a ship with you?"

"Hell is being—Oh-ho-ho, nice one! No, hell is being able to have it all: food, sweets, land, tail—whatever. Eventually you realize you don't need anyone else. In fact, you can't even stand anyone else. That one fucker rubs your pelt the wrong way? Blink your eyes and you're a thousand miles away from him—or snap your fingers and you've spread his guts just as far.

"So we split and went our separate ways, never to see each other again. We took what we wanted, but we couldn't give up anything in return. Everyone was his own king in his own little castle. His lonely, little castle. And that, Bill, is true hell."

He rubbed at his eyes tiredly; his sleepless night was weighing on him.

"Sometimes I wonder where my first mate ended up—"

His eyes flashed open and he slammed his hand down on the steak knife, causing all the silverware and plates on the table to rattle. 19 jumped; her gaze had been intently fixed on the knife all through his rambling monologue, yet Ariki hadn't noticed until now. Like Ariki, Bill realized she'd been trying to telekinetically lift it right from under his nose again. But after he caught her, 19 looked down at the floor in shame.

Scowling at her warily, Ariki lifted the knife and tried to cut more bites for himself, but his hands trembled too much. He laughed nervously, staring at his shaking palms; even the needles pressed against the necks of Bill's crew wavered dangerously, some drawing trickles of blood. Even Makepeace closed her eyes and tensed up—though strangely there was no telltale silver glint against her neck.

"Heh, see this?" Ariki raised his shaking fingers to Bill. "See the state I'm in? My life's been like this for years. I can't even remember what I was talking about… probably nothing that would interest you. Well Captain, how about you let us eat our meal in peace?"

The two Cerinians finished eating in silence, though Bill could feel the tension that remained between them. Nearly an hour passed, with the Justice on course to reach the rendezvous point in time for the scheduled opening. Outside the wrap-around window, the black sand desert and horizon sank beneath them, and the violet sky steadily darkened till stars appeared.

Ariki paced the deck in the meantime, his ragged cape swishing across the floor whenever he turned. His anxiousness seeped out into the surrounding crew, who continued to monitor the Justice's present course and systems while stealing glances at him. Their stares hadn't escaped the Cerinian, who suddenly came to a stop.

"Don't you all have like… spaceship things to do? I can't stand everyone gawking at me…" And he chose one unfortunate crewmember to bug his eyes out at. The officer flinched and went back to his monitor, avoiding Ariki's gaze along with everyone else.

The Cerinian snickered, then marched over to Bill, who stood resolutely by 19's side. "Why are we flying so far out into space? Hasn't it been an hour yet? Where's the gate?" he asked, wringing his hands.

"We're close," Bill promised.

Right on cue one of the crewmen looked up from his station. "Sir, we've reached the rendezvous point. The radio communication gate is scheduled to open within the next five minutes."

Rather than emitting a relieved sigh, Bill felt his blood run cold, dismayed at the thought of releasing Ariki into Lylat.

After the anticipated five minutes passed, a second crewmember raised his voice, "Fluctuations in space-time detected. Gate is opening directly ahead of us and should be visible momentarily."

Ariki practically skipped across the deck to get a look out the window. The brilliant white sun was just peeking over the horizon, casting blinding rays over the haloed planet. He squinted his eyes and searched the empty space in front of the ship.

Bill watched for the portal as well, though ever since arriving on Cerinia he hadn't once looked back. Up to this point he hadn't planned on returning to Lylat until they found Fox and Cerinian 28, but with Ariki holding his entire crew hostage he didn't have any choice. And he couldn't fail Pepper a third time…

The Cerinian's eyes lit up. "I see it!"

A small ripple of green energy appeared on the horizon. The emerald ring expanded in size, revealing a circular slice of stars that stood out from those around it. The distorted area grew larger and larger till it was about the size of a house, at which point it stopped.

Ariki frowned. "How… underwhelming. Your ship can't possibly fit through. You're not going to send me out in a tiny shuttle are you?"

"It requires a tremendous amount of energy to keep open, so the smaller the better. The shuttle will have to do," Bill said.

The Cerinian angrily pointed at the gate. "And give up my flying fortress? Nonsense! I demand you have them accommodate the whole ship!"

"Ariki, you must understand!" Makepeace said from the corner, her tone like a parent losing patience with her child. "Our superiors will be suspicious if we request passage for the entire Justice. The captain has his mission to fulfill, remember? He's not supposed to return unless it's with the target."

"And I suppose a wig wouldn't be enough, huh…?"

Ariki scowled at Makepeace, and the two locked eyes for a tense few moments. Bill watched, only able to guess how the Cerinian was searching her mind.

Finally his frown twisted up into a smirk. He turned, shrugging nonchalantly. "Very well… But you, Captain, are coming along with myself and 19 as a hostage. Understood?"

Bill crossed his arms. "If it'll make you leave, then yes." He narrowed his eyes at Ariki. "But I want you to know, as soon as you leave us behind, the Cornerian military will ceaselessly hunt you down wherever you may hide. Eventually they'll find you, and regardless of your powers, one time they'll get in a lucky shot, and that'll be the end of you."

Ariki glowered in response at Bill, but after a time he grinned. "Great. I could use a challenge for once. Now take us to the damn shuttle."

The next fifteen minutes passed by agonizingly slow. Bill escorted the two Cerinians to the hangar bay, where the crew had prepped a shuttle for takeoff. It was a standard Cornerian troop transport shuttle, made up of two main compartments with an airlock in between: the forward section not much more than a cockpit with seats for the pilot, co-pilot, and two others, and the aft section a much larger troop and cargo bay.

Bill moved to take the controls in the cockpit, but was surprised to see a ROB unit already seated in the pilot's chair.

Without swiveling its head back, the unit said, "No need to pilot the ship, Captain; I will handle the controls."

Ariki poked his head curiously into the cabin behind Bill. "Saaaay, you even have robotic crew! Our robots never came close to this."

The unit's head pivoted to study Ariki. "Either I am unable to identify this passenger's dialect, or their accent is confusing my language processor. Could you please inform me of their specific language and regional accent?"

19 entered the cockpit behind them, curious about ROB as well.

Ariki frowned and stared at the robot, brow furrowing in concentration. "That's odd; I can't hear any thoughts coming from him… Oh wait, I'm so stupid. Of course I wouldn't, it's a robot. What did he say?"

"He said he couldn't understand you either," Bill explained. Then he turned back to ROB. "Don't worry about this passenger; you'll receive your orders from me. Now, take us out of the hangar."

"Roger, Captain," the ROB unit whirred.

The ship lurched as it rose off the ground; the canid braced himself on the back of the co-pilot's chair while the two Cerinians teetered slightly. 19 grabbed onto a seat while Ariki stubbornly stood alone, regaining his balance. Then the ship nosed outside the Justice's hangar bay and into Cerinia's geospace.

"Fly us to the gate ahead. Be careful on your approach; we need to fit through the portal."

"Aye sir."

Their automated pilot maneuvered the shuttle smoothly around the Justice's hull before pulling directly in front of the cruiser on an approach vector to the gate. The portal between the stars shimmered almost imperceptibly, on occasion blurring the celestial sky beyond like ripples in a forest pool. And past the doorway…

Ariki rushed to the front of the cockpit, leaning out over the controls to get a closer look. His eyes sparkled in child-like wonder at the sight before him, reflecting the sapphire-blue crescent of Corneria below.

"That's Corneria?!" he asked in awe.

"It's my home planet," Bill answered. "I owe everything to it; I was born there. And when I joined the Flight Academy, I swore I'd lay down my life for it…"

The swirling white and gray clouds over deep blue seas enchanted Ariki like a fisherman's lure. "It's beautiful, and unspoiled. A whole planet untouched by my destructive people, or poisoned by yours: a second Cerinia." He stared sideways at 19 with longing, who in turn seemed uneasy. "Our Cerinia…"

But where Ariki saw a breathtaking new world to inhabit, Bill saw visions of wastelands and burning cities: the Cerinia he feared it would become.

"You're afraid…"

He tensed, feeling Ariki's increased presence within his mind. The Cerinian turned to face him, icy cold stare penetrating to his deepest nerve. "You think I'll single-handedly destroy your precious home—just like you did mine. Is that it, Captain?" He lowered his voice and glared at Bill. "You would deserve it. You all do. Perhaps I'll never know what happened to Cerinia. I'll never know which military leaders or power-hungry politicians specifically are responsible. I'll never see their faces; I'll never know their names. But that's okay. When I make your planet mine, none of your people will ever see my face. And they damn well won't know my name, either."

The canine tensed. Instinctively he reached for the gun in his hip holster, but Ariki had already taken it hours earlier.

The Cerinian smiled wickedly, as if Bill were a silly child. "And still you entertain the thought of killing me. I love seeing your people squirm against the monsters you created. How's it feel being powerless, Bill? How does it feel being a captain who can't even kill a former sales clerk? I'm not proud of who I used to be. I come from nothing, but as long as I can grind you lower into the dirt with the stain of embarrassment I call my past, I don't really care."

Regardless of his taunts, Bill's mind continued to race for ideas. He could have the Justice open fire to obliterate the shuttle—

"Your crew would never sacrifice their captain or 19, who they need to complete their silly mission. Besides, I'd simply turn aside whatever they threw my way."

He could tell the ROB unit to crash the ship somewhere—

"I'd take control and drag us through the portal myself."

The muscles in Bill's fingers tensed, transforming them to quivering talons. He'd like nothing more than to—

"No, you'd never be able to strangle me, or even get within arm's reach before I remotely crushed your skull." He crossed his arms, smugly, like a chess grandmaster who'd cornered his opponent. "It's over, Bill. There's nothing more you can do. So why not admit it and just enjoy the ride?"

Sensing the tension between them, 19 got up and laid a calming hand on Bill's shoulder. The soldier looked back with a grimace, but then he saw her eyes; she couldn't speak his language well, or transmit her thoughts like Ariki could, but those eyes pleaded with him to back down before he got hurt. Sighing, Bill took comfort in her simple touch. He relaxed his hands and tried to think about anything other than violently murdering their captor…

"Approaching gate, distance: 50 meters," ROB's synthesized voice spoke.

Ariki turned around, shifting his attention back to the glowing doorway. On the other side he could make out the sprawling, donut-shaped space station that was Beltino's Orbital Gate. Together they saw the lanes of space traffic awaiting their turn to travel to the far corners of Lylat, though from this distance they looked like caravan constellations of space-faring insects. Between their shuttle and the base, however, loomed three imposing military cruisers.

The Cerinian took a step back when he saw them, then crouched and spread his arms. Bill felt a rush of energy pass through him, and the space outside the window began to faintly waver as if distorted by rising heat.

"I've thrown up a barrier in case those ships try anything, or the Justice attempts to shoot us in the back. Just a precaution of course."

"Approaching gate, distance: 20 meters," ROB informed them. He approached the door at an agonizingly-slow pace, as Bill had cautioned him to do. But the moments dragged on, the seconds ticking away slower and slower as they drew nearer. As a result, Bill, 19, and Ariki all felt on edge.

A communications light blinked, indicating the ship was receiving a transmission. The filtered voice of Dr. Makepeace came through the cockpit's speakers.

"Ariki," she said, "I did my best to match wits with your raw power, but it was hardly even a contest. I wanted to at least thank you for a very enjoyable game. As someone who worked closely with Cerinians, I can't help but feel a bit of sympathy for you. I hope you find a new, peaceful life for yourself and 19 wherever you go. So please, be free."

The doctor's well-wishes caught Bill by surprise, as well as Ariki, who, not being near Makepeace to read her mind, had to glean the meaning from the canine's head instead.

"Distance: 10 meters," ROB interrupted.

Makepeace spoke hurriedly now. "Bill, whatever happens from here on out, do not attempt to interfere. Let Ariki go. There's nothing we can do. I'm afraid this is checkmate."

For some reason, that last word sounded ten-times louder in Bill's mind. It echoed incessantly and refused to leave his thoughts.

Then, it struck him like a lightning bolt.

One after another, almost faster than he could comprehend, a progression of images flashed through his head: him discussing something with Makepeace in the cargo hold; a holographic blueprint of the shuttle and warp gate; an odd-smelling, briny-tasting pill in his open palm; and finally a projector on the wall, with Makepeace sitting off to the side, speaking quietly while cloaked in darkness. Involuntarily he imagined a black and white chessboard rotating on the projector. His mind's eye zoomed in close, flying over the individual squares. They flashed by like streaks of paint on the road beneath a car. They filled his vision entirely with black, then white; black and white, black and white, blackwhiteblackwhite—

And then it clicked. He didn't need to come up with a plan to kill Ariki.

He was already executing it.

"Distance to gate closed; now crossing into the Lylat System."

Bill ceased to think. All he did was act.

While Ariki was distracted by the view from the window, the canine wordlessly took hold of 19's arm and pulled her backwards out of the cockpit and into the troop bay. Once there, he jammed his fist into the button that closed the doors of the airlock between the compartments.

Ariki's ear twitched and he whirled around, at once suspicious. He stepped towards them, but the doors closed in front of his feet.

Bill heard Ariki's voice in his mind as loud as ever, no matter that there were airtight gates between them. "What are you trying to pull, Captain?!"

In an instant Bill realized he might have acted too soon. He felt invisible fingers clamp down around his throat, choking him. He was dragged across the floor and against the other side of the door, watching Ariki through the windows with fading vision as his throat began to collapse. He coughed and grasped at his neck, but once again his fingers found nothing physical to fight.

"BILL!" he heard 19 scream, then felt her desperate grip on his arm as she tried to pull him free from the door.

Then the threshold of the gate passed over them, and the cockpit half of the shuttle entered Lylat—but instead of continuing, the shuttle floated to a stop, and the ROB unit swiveled his head around to face them. Without warning, the emerald circle shrunk around the ship, collapsing to an infinitesimal point before completely vanishing. The portal closed, sawing off the cockpit as cleanly as if it had been a two-dimensional knife. ROB, the orbital gate, and Corneria all vanished, leaving only Ariki behind in the middle of the airlock. The Cerinian's face contorted into a snarl as Bill's throat caved—

Then, all at once, the pressure vanished, and Ariki's face froze. Spherical droplets of blood began to fly from his back in every direction, wavering in zero gravity as the vacuum of space pulled them free. The force of the oxygen scattering from what little remained of the cloven cockpit pulled the Cerinian free from the door. His body floated out into space, turning slightly to reveal his back half was simply missing; cut cleanly away when the gate closed. Blood, sheared bones, and severed organs gracefully spread out like a firework in slow-motion. But even as his lifeless body drifted off, Bill thought for sure he could see something tugging at the corner of Ariki's lips.

Bill collapsed to the shuttle's metal deck, gasping desperately. For a second he lay there on his back, staring up at 19's horrified face. While he struggled in futility to swallow, he wondered for a second if she would resent him for killing another Cerinian—this time right in front of her. Would she hate him now? Had she secretly been enamored by Ariki's promise of freedom? Did she feel guilty for betraying her own people, after everything had finally been revealed to her?

But 19 dismissed those fears completely. Snapping out of her terrified stupor, she sat down and raised Bill's head onto her lap. Frantically she undid the buttons around his neck and ripped his collar open, better enabling him to breathe. Then for a few seconds Bill lay there, just trying to replenish his air supply. Thankfully it seemed easier and easier with each breath he managed, till his lungs found their usual gentle rhythm.

"Thank you," Bill coughed, looking up at her.

But 19 shook her head, tears forming in her eyes. "Nīe, dangatō siekim, fi rekyū tashich."

Her meaning was lost on him, but her tone felt reassuring all the same. Bill raised up and hugged 19, confirming for himself that she was safe. He didn't even care that she was a murderess; he was just grateful for both of them to be alive. He was so scared of losing her to Ariki—perhaps more so than anyone else.

At first he caught the Cerinian off-guard—perhaps even more so than himself at the instinctual act. She threw up her hands to balance herself as Bill caught her in his arms, then slowly, awkwardly, returned the hug. Bill hoped she truly trusted him now, in the same way he trusted her…

Checkmate… Makepeace's last word came back to him again, continuing to reawaken a dearth of memories he'd forgotten he had. It was like waking up and trying to recall the dreams you had in reverse order, each surreal event a clue to remembering the one before it. After he'd left Fay and Makepeace hours prior, the doctor had sought him out again in private. They never gave up their planning; he'd only forgotten it.

Momentarily his wrist unit buzzed and he answered it, once again hearing Makepeace's voice.

"Captain Grey, are you alright?!"

"I'm fine," Bill sighed. "Tell everyone Ariki is dead."

He heard Makepeace release a similar sigh of relief, followed by a throng of cheers the mic picked up in the background. "Then your plan was a success."

The canine's eyebrows raised. "My plan?"

"Of course. I merely told you I could block off your memories. You were the one who came up with Ariki's coup de grace. I must say, Captain, that was a very daring stunt you pulled. It appears when we set our minds to it, we work well together as a team."

Bill grinned, impressed with his past self's ingenuity. He found it hard to believe at first, but the more he concentrated, the more memories he rediscovered; the memories Makepeace had cordoned off until it was too late for Ariki to read them.

"I guess we do work well together—as long as we don't know we're working together."

The vixen chuckled. "Yes, an important distinction, isn't it?"

His radio buzzed again, and this time Fay's voice came through, delivering a scolding bite. "Bill, I can't believe you tried anything so dangerous and stupid! You almost got yourself killed with a stunt like that! You had me so worried…"

He laughed weakly. "Really Fay, it was the only way to—"

"Yeah-yeah, you can make excuses once we're back aboard the Justice. I'm coming for you now in another shuttle. It's a good thing the only person we lost was an impounded ROB unit… But how did you manage to trick Ariki?! I thought it was impossible!"

"That's mostly thanks to Makepeace. She's picked up a few psychological tricks from working as a therapist working with returning soldiers, and as a scientist on the Cerinia project. Among those skills she learned hypnotherapy, and how to guard her thoughts from nosy Cerinians. She was perhaps the only person on the entire ship whose mind was safe from our unwanted hitchhiker—besides the ROB unit we programmed. She said if we could brainstorm a plan together, she'd block off my memories of it via hypnosis until I needed to act.

"What inspired me was seeing that transport shuttle get sawed in half when we tried to close the gate on Fox. So when the portal opened for us, I had Makepeace secretly radio through, ordering them to close it on the head of the shuttle. Then once we got close enough, she used the trigger word on me, and, well, I simply acted according to her conditioning. The gate and the vacuum of space did the rest."

"Geez, I can't believe you came up with something like that!"

Bill smirked. "I don't know if I can take that as a compliment or not…"

"You're going to have a lot of trouble explaining all that to gate control!"

19 helped Bill to the rear of the transport, and sure enough, they saw a second shuttle flying towards them.

"Whatever. Let's head back to that desert as fast as we can. There's still a chance Miyu's alive, and after we pick her up, we can head straight for 28—and Fox."

Bill glanced back in the direction of the gate. He still couldn't get the final expression frozen on Ariki's face out of his head—that slight, nigh imperceptible, taunting grin.

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"BILL!"

Miyu bolted upright, screaming her captain's name—but he was nowhere to be seen. It was all gone: the Justice, the towering crystal shards, the ships of her fellow pilots, and the two Cerinians, so tiny and insignificant in comparison, yet in actuality an insurmountable threat.

She examined her surroundings, the adrenaline rush subsiding as she realized the present danger had vanished. The desert vista was gone, replaced by the interior of a brightly-lit cave, the crystalline walls of which glittered a dark blue. Smoke from the embers of a dying fire curled towards the ceiling before escaping through the cave mouth; a misshapen blob of white light in the distance.

Head still aching and feeling slightly dizzy, Miyu asked herself how she had ended up here of all places—and where here even was. She remembered Bill's missile malfunctioning—or intentionally being misguided—before it flew straight for her ship. She could still feel its heat and see the blinding white flash when it exploded. Worst of all, she could still feel the pain of shrapnel from the interior of her cockpit piercing her side.

The feline winced. She gently eased herself back down, trying not to aggravate her wound any further. She found herself resting on a ratty mattress with an old blanket lying over her lower half, having fallen away when she abruptly straightened. Her energy pistol and several other personal items sat neatly beside each other on the sand-covered floor, well within arm's reach.

The pain in her side knifed through her again, reminding Miyu of her recent injury. Carefully, she reached down to the side of her abdomen to check the damage. But she was surprised to find her outer flight jacket torn to strips and crudely wrapped around her stomach. They were soaked a deep red—but the metal shard that had pierced her was gone.

Someone else had brought her here…

A shadow fell across the mattress, and Miyu's head snapped up towards the cave entrance. In the bright halo of light stood a dark silhouette: a figure whose tattered cloak billowed in the wind—but even in the extreme contrast, she could make out his blue fur and icy, sparkling eyes.

Miyu gasped and reached for her gun. She brought it to bear towards the intruder, teeth clenched. "HALT!" she ordered. She knew she was at a disadvantage, wounded and bed-ridden, but she couldn't let an enemy wrest control of the situation away. She didn't have to think too hard about who he was.

The Cerinian stopped in his tracks. Miyu had to squint to make him out because of the bright light behind him, but it wasn't difficult to keep her weapon trained on them.

Her weapon…

"Why didn't… why didn't you take my gun?" she asked.

The Cerinian chuckled—but when his real response came, it startled her. It seemed to originate within her own mind, involuntarily firing the neurons used to form and interpret speech. At the same time, she heard him speaking aloud in an unfamiliar language, the likes of which she'd never heard before.

"Why would I need to take your gun?"

Slowly he crept into the cave, and Miyu was able to make out more of his features. What little of the fur that showed was ashen blue and caked with dust and sand. He had on a sort of improvised cloak that must've been a blanket to which he'd stitched a hood. His clothes appeared years old and in desperate need of replacement. His face looked weary, and his grayish-blue eyes told of an age beyond what the rest of his features suggested.

The lynx's gun wavered in her hand as he approached, conflicted about whether or not he was an enemy. If he was anything like the pair of Cerinians that ambushed the Justice, she was in grave danger.

"Please put that down. Would you shoot the one who saved you?"

Miyu bared her fangs. "You saved me? How fucking stupid do you think I am? You killed my men—and you nearly killed me! If you take another… step…"

Miyu's head suddenly spun with vertigo, and she was half-conscious of the blaster slipping from her fingers. D-Damn him! she cursed, but all she could do was hold her face in her hands and try not to puke or tip over from his effects.

She heard the Cerinian's cloak whip against the sandy floor as he drew closer, then he sat down at her bedside—and she was too weakened to make good on her promise.

"Shh, don't push yourself! You're suffering from a concussion or something."

She grimaced. "Ughhh. Wha…?"

"I was walking along the dunes when I saw your… ship floating over the desert. From afar it looked like a battle between my people and artificial creatures others had made. But the longer I observed, the more I realized what was really going on. After the crystals were all destroyed, and the ship left, I looked for survivors. You were the only one I could find that was still alive. Your fighter crashed not far away from the battlefield, and the impact knocked you out. I removed the piece of metal from your side and did my best to heal you."

He nodded towards a first aid kit he'd taken from her ship, and Miyu was surprised he knew how to use it.

"I'm afraid I'm not much of a doctor, but I picked up some life-saving skills here and there, some of which are a bit…" He tilted his head back and forth, "…unnatural."

"You're… a Cerinian?" Miyu asked apprehensively.

He nodded. "Yes. At least I used to be. I'm not really sure what I am now…"

"Do you have powers like those two who attacked our ship?"

The Cerinian frowned and looked down, then back towards the cave entrance. "Yes, though I try not to use them. It's been years since I have—but I made an exception today." He looked back and gestured at her wound, grinning sheepishly. "I didn't know how to staunch the bleeding after I removed the shard, so… I cheated."

"Oh!" Miyu's expression softened towards the stranger. "I can't thank you enough, Mr…?"

He shrugged. "Just call me Anake. What's your name?"

"Miyu," she answered, then hurriedly corrected herself, "I-I mean, Lieutenant Miyu Lynx of the Cornerian Defense Force."

Anake lowered his hood and bowed, revealing silvery-white hair. "Well Miyu, pleased to make your acquaintance. Are you… an alien?" He coughed into his fist, catching himself. "Sorry, I don't mean to offend. I know it's a relative term—"

But Miyu shook her head quickly. "No, don't worry; no offense taken. I guess to you I would be. I'm a lynx: a species of feline from the Lylat System, one of the closest to the Lilith System. We came to Cerinia to… for a secret mission."

The fox lowered his head. "I understand. I gleaned that you were a pilot from some alien military after I found your ship. But this isn't Cerinia."

Miyu raised an eyebrow, returning a curious look. "It's… not?"

"Not really. At least, not anymore. This ruined wasteland can't be Cerinia; we must be on a different planet. Cerinia was always beautiful and full of life: the forests, the lakes, the hidden streams, and the cities bustling with neighborly people. But now I don't recognize anything or anyone anymore. There are no cities, no forests, no people. All my friends are missing. Nothing is as I remember it. So no, this isn't Cerinia."

Miyu couldn't help but take pity on him. She looked up into his downcast eyes, so full of sorrow and longing, but underneath his stubborn hopefulness and defiance there were hints of resignation to the planet's fate. He seemed to be telling her to convince himself more than anything else.

"Do you live here alone?" she asked.

"I live with— …myself," Anake seemed to catch himself. "Yes, this has been my cave of solitude for a year now. But soon I will pack what little belongings I have and move on, wandering the wastes until I find a new home. It's been months since I've spoken with another person. When I first discovered my powers I… I hurt someone."

His eyes widened and he rushed to add, "B-But I didn't mean to! It-it was an accident! I didn't know what I was doing, nor how to control any of it. Afterwards I traveled with others like myself, careful to hide what had happened, but someone always ended up getting hurt. When the pain and conflict showed no sign of stopping, we split up and went our separate ways so as not to hurt each other again. Once in a while I'd meet someone else traveling through the wasteland. If I was lucky they'd let me join them for a day or two before I guided them free of the desert. Others wanted nothing to do with me, and some even hunted me. But over time I met people less and less."

"Do you know the Cerinians who attacked us?"

Anake pursed his lips. "I never had the misfortune of meeting them, but I heard rumors of them from other travelers I'd met. They call themselves Ariki and Hime. They're everything I didn't want myself to become, so I retreated into self-imposed exile. Maybe… maybe I should have opposed them and tried to end their tyranny. But then I'd only take their place. At least I could have spared the attack on your ship."

"Our ship… the Justice, is it safe?! Did those two destroy it?!"

"It didn't crash—unlike your poor fighter craft—if that's what you mean. They destroyed several other ships, but the main one left the battlefield intact. It looks like your people were successful in fending them off."

"Then they're still alive!" Miyu shot upright and pushed the covers aside, attempting to escape the bed—but the wound in her side stung painfully, and she doubled over. Anake's gentle hands pushed her back down and pulled the covers over her.

"Shhh! Be careful not to move too much, or you'll reopen your wound."

"But I have to return to my ship!" Miyu exclaimed, beginning to worry. "If they return to look for me, they'll find me missing and assume I'm dead! I have to get back to my fighter and radio them!"

"You're in no condition to move anywhere!" Anake insisted. "Please, rest here for the night, and give that wound some time to heal. Tomorrow I'll take you back to your downed ship, and we'll see about contacting them." He laughed. "I'm sure they'll do a better job of patching you up than I ever could. But, in the meantime—"

Anake reached for a plastic package containing a fluffy yellow cake stuffed with whipped cream.

"—Are you hungry?"